This document is part of an archive of postings on Tongue Tied, a blog hosted by Blogspot who are in turn owned by Google. The index to the archive is available here or here. Indexes to my other blogs can be located here or here. Archives do accompany my original postings but, given the animus towards conservative writing on Google and other internet institutions, their permanence is uncertain. These alternative archives help ensure a more permanent record of what I have written.
This is a backup copy of the original blog
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" -- 1st amendment
28 February, 2021
"Mister" is now incorrect
Mr Potato Head is no longer a mister. Hasbro, the company that's made the potato-shaped plastic toy for nearly 70 years, is giving the spud a gender neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year.
Many toymakers have been updating their classic brands in recent years, hoping to relate to today's kids and reflect more modern families.
"It's a potato," said Ali Mierzejewski, editor in chief at toy review site The Toy Insider.
"But kids like to see themselves in the toys they are playing with."
Barbie, for example, has tried to shed the blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. The Thomas the Tank Engine toy line added more female characters, while American Girl is now selling a boy doll.
As part of the rebranding, Hasbro will release a new Potato Head playset that will let kids create their own type of families, including two mums or two dads.
The Mr and Mrs Potato Head characters will live on in some form, Hasbro said.
Both have appeared in the Toy Story movies.
Mattel's Creatable World dolls, released in 2019, are the first line of gender-neutral dolls produced by the company famous for Barbie.
The company describes the range of dolls as "designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in", for which Mattel consulted physicians, hundreds of families as well as experts in gender identity in researching the product.
Dropping the "Mr" from Potato Head's name could encourage other companies to stop assigning genders to its toys, a trend that has already been happening, Mierzejewski said. "It's setting this new standard," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-26/mr-potato-head-goes-gender-neutral/13195698
*****************************************Australia: Panic attacks as kids taught not to use words ‘boy’ or ‘girl’
Gender language warriors are making kids frightened to say “boy” or “girl”, with one Queensland doctor warning we risk a generation scared “to admit they are heterosexual”.
The warning from Logan doctor Thomas Lyons comes as mums of two transgender children who say kids need support, not gender neutral language.
Midwives are also battling to head off the push to drop “breastfeeding” for “chestfeeding” and “mother’s milk” for human milk.
“If the push to eliminate gender from society continues we are likely to see a wave of suicidal adolescents who are too anxious to admit they are heterosexual and happy in the bodies they were born into,” GP Dr Thomas Lyons said.
The medic is angry that a non-binary blanket is being thrown over the wider community when the majority of the population has no problem with the words ‘boy”, “girl”, “father” or “mother”.
“Who are these fascists who assert authority over the lives, culture and values of the majority, This coup will fail,” the doctor said.
Dr Lyons admits that the drive to outlaw gendered language became a problem for him after an experience where he had six kids visit his surgery. When he was testing their sight with a chart showing the drawings of animals and people, four of the kids refused to say the words ‘boy” or “girl” and all six were stressed and panicky.
“These children, without the knowledge or permission of the principal and parents, had been taught by teachers that the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ had some kind of bad magic and to utter them would somehow harm people. The children knew what they could see and hear but could not reconcile themselves with the notion that this was wrong to see boys and girls as different. Watching a six-year-old have a panic attack over use of gender identifying language is disturbing,” he said.
Adding to the debate, two Queensland mothers who have lived the reality of raising transgender children are not fans of gender-neutral parenting.
“Most children are happy in who they are and to raise them in a world without the word ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ and letting them decide for themselves is putting undue pressure on young minds,” Meagan Hayes, mother of 16-year-old transgender daughter Emma, said.
“I respect those who make this choice but it is my experience that children are what they are and nothing will change that,” the Gympie mum told The Sunday Mail.
“My daughter tried to cut off her own penis at the age of four. At that very young age she instinctively knew she was a girl and told everyone that she was a girl.
“My parenting style or any restricted use of language would not change that in any way.”
Michelle Suters from Rothwell, north of Brisbane, is the mother of four children and two step-children. Her son Nate, 17, is transgender.
“My children were all raised the same. They could play with whatever toys they wanted whether trucks or dolls. Nate wasn’t interested in dolls, he wanted to be a superhero and loved worm farms. He wanted his hair short from when he was 10. We just accepted him as he was no questions asked,” Ms Suters said.
“I am not a fan of gender-neutral parenting. Most children are happy to be either a boy or a girl. I don’t think they need to be made frightened of being one of the other. Nature has a way or making things happen as they should. All any parent can do is support and love their child for what they are or what they want to be,” she said.
Both mothers agree that gender words should not be erased but children should be taught that their opportunities are not hindered by gender and it’s OK to buck stereotypes.
But on the flip side Nate Musiello himself told The Sunday Mail that he believes that in the future people will adapt to a world without gender. “I think my generation see things a bit differently and the world is ready for the shift. The use of the words ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ were hurtful to me as I grew up. I will raise my own children gender neutral and I think small things like removing the Mr from the toy Potato Head is a good thing. Why does a potato have to be a man?” Nate said.
Social commentator David Chalke said the bid to wipe out the words “girl” or “boy” in society is ludicrous. “Parents can raise children in whatever way they see fit but to throw out these ideas to fit the wider community is a mistake,” he said.
“No child should be directed to be scared of certain words and children are too young to understand the extreme message.
“This trend is a push by a minority that should not impact the whole community particularly children. I have a manhole leading up to my attic, is that going to be a problem?”
A push for midwives to use more gender-inclusive words like “chestfeeding” rather than “breastfeeding”, “feeding parent” rather than “mother”, and “peri-natal” instead of “maternity” is gathering momentum, but the Australian College of Midwives is standing firm against the drive, determined they will not wipe out “women” from the health system.
Maternity consumer advocates state that removing words such as “mother”, “breastfeeding” and “woman” from experiences that are direct experiences of women is “completely misogynist”.
“This is something that is coming to the fore and we hear about it regularly but our stance is that changing the vernacular to remove the word “women” is going to take us backward rather than forward. Women make up over 50 per cent of the population,” Ruth King, adviser to the ACM said.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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26 February, 2021
France could ban 'confusing' gender neutral words that 'endanger the language' under law proposed by 60 MPs
The MPs argue that the gender inclusive nouns make learning proper French more difficult and could even endanger the entire language.
The new legislation was proposed by MP François Jolivet and close allies of President Emmanuel Macron.
The MPs claim that the gender neutral words 'create a gap between the spoken language and written language.'
'It is therefore the whole of French linguistic heritage which risks disappearing,' they said in a statement quoted by the Telegraph.
'The fight for equality between women and men is fair. The road it takes is sometimes confusing. 'Do the rules of grammar no longer exist?'
Concerns have also been raised over the accessibility of the grammar changes for people who are blind or have learning difficulties.
The proposed law will be debated in the national assembly in the coming weeks.
Proponents of 'écriture inclusive' argue that it prevents the erasure of females from the French language.
Currently, a French grammar rule taught in schools dictates that the masculine plural of nouns 'always wins'.
The masculine plural of friends, 'amis', is used to refer to both women and men, even if the majority of the group is female.
The feminine plural, 'amies', would only be used if everyone in the group was female.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9300593/France-ban-confusing-gender-neutral-words.html
************************************Biden Administration Banning the Term 'Illegal Alien' in Government Documents
As President Joe Biden gears up to push a massive amnesty bill through Congress, effectively solidifying Democrat political power for decades to come, officials at the Department of Homeland Security have reportedly been told to stop using long held terms like "illegal alien" to describe those who enter the United States unlawfully.
From Buzzfeed:
Department of Homeland Security officials have been directed to stop using words such as “alien” and “illegal alien” from communications with the public or within the agency when referring to people who aren’t US citizens in an effort by the Biden administration to recast immigration terminology.
The planned wording change, recounted in a memo obtained by BuzzFeed News, is the latest flashpoint in a yearslong debate over the way immigrants are described in federal laws and by the agencies that oversee immigration.
The term "alien" is found within US Code and is regularly referenced in the immigration system and in court rulings to describe everyone who is not a US citizen. In recent years, however, the word has been wiped from the California Labor Code and the Library of Congress after advocacy efforts.
The direction to strip this language does in fact undermine federal law, where the term is clearly present.
25 February, 2021
Twitter Suspends Free Speech Group’s Account
The Twitter account for a national free speech organization has been suspended for allegedly violating Twitter’s rules, but the group’s president says she has no idea why the account would be suspended.
“I looked at all the tweets that I had approved for the couple of days before, and nothing is like doxxing anybody,” Nicole Neily, Speech First’s president, told The Daily Signal in an interview Tuesday. Doxxing is the publishing of private or identifying information about an individual on the internet, usually with malicious intent.
The national organization, which works to promote free speech on campuses, in the media, and in the courts, had its Twitter account suspended on Feb. 8.
“I’ve read the terms of service and why you might be suspended, and literally nothing lines up,” Neily said.
“It was like we were sharing news articles, nothing controversial, not like, you know, ‘flat-earthing’ or ‘COVID-denying’ or any of that stuff. So … it’s like it’s a total mystery today.”
Lora Ries, director of the Center for Technology Policy at The Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, told The Daily Signal in an email that Speech First deserves an explanation.
The very first line of the “Twitter Rules” states “Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation,” Ries said. “Twitter also states in its introduction to its rules that ‘Our rules are to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely.’”
Ries added:
Twitter’s actions indicate otherwise. What possible reason would Twitter have for suspending the account of Speech First, an organization to promote free speech on campuses?
Twitter policies also indicate that when it permanently suspends an account, it (1) notifies the account holder; (2) explains which policy or policies were violated by which content; and (3) permits “violators” to appeal the suspension.
Twitter is not following its own process. The company owes Speech First an explanation and an appeal. This suspension and lack of promised process by Twitter compounds the belief held by many that the company is censoring conservative speech.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/02/16/exclusive-twitter-suspends-free-speech-groups-account
***********************************'Critical Race Theory' Costs a Brave Smith College Whistleblower Her Job
A staff member at Smith College, Jody Shaw, resigned her position as a student support coordinator because of the “hostile atmosphere” at the college. It appears that Ms. Shaw ran afoul of critical race theory fanatics who forced her to “participate in racially prejudicial behavior as a condition” of her employment.
Shaw, being a normal, intelligent, woman rebelled. She blew the whistle on the racialists at Smith College in a scathing video she posted to YouTube.
“I ask that Smith College stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself,” she said. “Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color. Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based on their skin color.”
In her resignation letter to the university president, she didn’t pull any punches.
"Every day, I watch my colleagues manage student conflict through the lens of race, projecting rigid assumptions and stereotypes on students, thereby reducing them to the color of their skin. I am asked to do the same, as well as to support a curriculum for students that teaches them to project those same stereotypes and assumptions onto themselves and others. I believe such a curriculum is dehumanizing, prevents authentic connection, and undermines the moral agency of young people who are just beginning to find their way in the world."
We need more Jodi Shaws in the world. The problem is that it takes otherworldly courage to speak out, to demand change. I daresay Ms. Shaw’s life will never be the same. And given her stand was made on a college campus, any career she was hoping for in higher education is probably ruined. She’s probably lost some friends over her stand. Her life has been changed forever.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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23 February, 2021
NYT columnist Bret Stephens blasts woke culture that saw Bon Appetit rewrite its archive of recipes amid allegations of culinary appropriation
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, whose recent column was pulled by the paper when he criticized the firing of a reporter who repeated a racial slur in conversation about the word, has lashed out at what he says is excessive 'wokeness' in the media and academia.
In a column published on Monday, Stephens took aim at Bon Appetit's 'Archive Repair Project', which launched last July as an effort to identify and edit 'problematic recipes' over the past 55 years.
In a recent example, Bon Appetit apologized for a 2015 recipe that had promised 'actually good hamantaschen,' a triangular cookie that is traditional for the Jewish festival of Purim, hours after someone on Twitter complained that the author wasn't Jewish.
'Most Jews would probably be grateful for an 'actually good' hamantasch,' wrote Stephens, who is Jewish. 'No transgression of sensitivities is so trivial that it will not invite a moralizing rebuke on social media.'
Food writer Abigail Koffler had written on Twitter of the hamantaschen recipe: 'Traditional foods do not automatically need to be updated, especially by someone who does not come from that tradition.'
Hours after the complaint, Bon Appetite had changed the headline on the six-year-old article to read 'Five Steps to Really Good Hamantaschen' and added an editor's note of apology.
'As part of our Archive Repair Project, we have edited the headline, dek, and content to better convey the history of Purim and the goals of this particular recipe,' the note read in part. 'We apologize for the previous version's flippant tone and stereotypical characterizations of Jewish culture.'
Stephens, a Pulitzer-winning conservative columnist, slammed the move, writing 'no charge of cultural insensitivity is so far-fetched that it won't force a magazine into self-abasing self-expurgation,' saying that the incident was 'the apotheosis of Woke.'
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Slate Podcast Host Suspended for Discussing Controversy Over NY Times Reporter Fired for Using Racial Slur
The controversy over the use of the word that shall not be spoken intensified when the New York Times fired star reporter Don McNeil, who had worked there for 40 years, for using the word that shall not be spoken during a conversation with some kids he was chaperoning in Peru.
The hysteria generated by the use of the word that shall not be spoken was beyond belief. More than 150 Times staffers signed a letter demanding McNeil be fired. The context of the use of the word that shall not be spoken made the reaction to it frightening.
Clearly, McNeil’s intent was not to insult or injure but rather to gather information. But Baquet dismissed McNeil’s explanation as irrelevant.
Now, another reporter has been caught in an even more ludicrous trap. A Slate podcast host, Mike Pesca, was apparently discussing McNeil’s situation with colleagues on a Slack channel and defended McNeil — as any rational person would do — and ended up getting suspended indefinitely for it.
In that forum, Pesca and his colleagues discussed McNeil’s exit from the Times after it was revealed that he had used the n-word while leading an educational trip in 2019. McNeil, while offering an apology, explained that his use of the word came during a discussion about the word itself and was not meant as a pejorative.
According to Defector, the conversation explored whether McNeil’s use of the n-word was justified, as well as whether White people are allowed to say the word in certain contexts.
Pesca suggested that McNeil, the star Times science reporter covering the coronavirus outbreak, should not have been fired, writing: “McNeil’s journalism made the Times more valuable to more Americans than having ousted him in 2019 would have.”
Defending McNeil might be a career-ending mistake for Pesca. He never used the word that shall not be spoken. He was discussing the circumstances surrounding its use by someone else. The reaction of his colleagues to Pesca’s defending McNeil is terrifying.
Slate employees told Defector they felt “outraged” toward Pesca’s comments, with one of them saying, “I cannot believe I had to watch him enthusiastically provoke people on whether or not it is appropriate to use a racist slur.”
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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23 February, 2021
Another woke joke: Furious fans slam 'Kaftan Queen' fashion designer Camilla Franks' latest clothing collection featuring the Union Jack because it 'glamourises colonialism and genocide'
Fashion designer and self-confessed 'Kaftan Queen' Camilla Franks has come under fire for incorporating the Union Jack in her latest collection, with fans blasting the fashion icon for 'glamourising colonialism'.
Some of Australia's biggest influencers packed the opulent launch of the Mad Manor collection on Monday, including Tammy Hembrow, Ruby Tuesday Matthews, Tegan Phillipa and Nikki Westcott.
Photos and Instagram Stories show Franks donning a Union Jack blouse, with Union Jack bunting lining the walls of the Gold Coast luncheon.
But social media users were quick to call out Franks for using British themes in her garments, accusing the celebrated designer of disrespecting the plight of Indigenous people.
The launch was held just two days after Australia's National Sorry Day, which commemorates former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the stolen generation.
Reality TV podcast 'So Dramatic' posted a screenshot of a now-deleted post by @wethe_wildones, run by influencers Lucy Kate Jackson and Nikki Westcott, posing in Union Jack-themed garb and captioned 'back to our roots'.
'Influencers at Colonial-themed party with Union Jack clothing on Stolen Land, one day after the the national apology is not a vibe,' So Dramatic captioned the screenshot.
The gossip podcast's call-out post kicked off the wave of criticism, with hundreds of fans slamming not only Franks, but guests who attended the event.
'There's a lot of cultural borrowing from this brand, it's just tone deaf. How can they be inspired by African tribal and Native influences while holding onto a vision that represents British imperialism?' Said another.
The party was held on February 15, just two days after Australia's National Sorry Day which commemorates the day former prime minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the stolen generation.
The Mad Manor collection is described as where 'social worlds collide', combining 'ethereal dames, posh aristocrats, counter-culture icons'.
'Each dressed with particular aplomb, this season we explore all the eccentric characters so intrinsic to the English narrative,' the Camilla website states.
The 44-year-old designer was diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer in 2018, just three months after welcoming her first child Luna.
In an emotional Instagram post shared in October 2019, Camilla said her battle with the disease left her in the loneliest place 'she has ever been'.
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Cherokee Nation requests Jeep drop namesake from line-up
A spokesperson for the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma has formally requested Jeep drop its namesake from the 4X4 line-up.
Speaking to US-based automotive outlet Car and Driver over the weekend, Chuck Hoskin Jr – principal chief of the first nations administration – said: “I’m sure this comes from a place that is well-intended, but it does not honour us by having our name plastered on the side of a car.”
"The best way to honour us is to learn about our sovereign government, our role in this country, our history, culture, and language and have meaningful dialogue with federally recognised tribes on cultural appropriateness,” he continued.
Jeep – which is now owned by the Stellantis group courtesy of the recent high-profile FCA and PSA merger – has been using the aforementioned nameplate on and off for close to half-a-century, with the first “Cherokee” launched in 1974 as an off-road station wagon (shown above). The name was retired in 2001 for the North American market with the introduction of the Liberty, however reintroduced in 2013.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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22 February, 2021
Freedom to boo
Fans MUST be allowed to boo players who take the knee in support of Black Lives Matter, claims Free Speech Union as they lobby FA to stop supporters from being banned by clubs
Football fans who boo players taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter should not be banned by clubs, a free speech group has demanded.
In a letter to the Football Association, the Free Speech Union insist that if players are free to make the gesture, then fans must be free to disagree with them.
The FSU argued in the letter to the FA’s interim chairman Peter McCormick that the ‘simplest solution’ to an issue which continues to split football and other sports, would be to stop players taking the knee at all on the grounds that it shows support for a political cause and not a moral one, something banned in football law.
And extending that argument, the FSU said players who advertise their support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) by taking a knee should ‘face similar penalties’ to booing supporters.
The FA insist taking the knee is an apolitical stand against discrimination, yet a list of high-profile footballers — among them Les Ferdinand, Wilfried Zaha and Britt Assombalonga — have started to rail against the gesture, which they believe has become devalued and is covering up a lack of real change in anti-racism policies.
On Saturday, more players in the top two divisions didn’t kneel before kick-off than the concerted support shown for the gesture when it was first conceived last summer post-lockdown.
General secretary of the FSU, Toby Young, wants the FA, whose president is Prince William, to issue guidelines for clubs ahead of the return to stadiums later this season or at the start of the next campaign.
In the letter, he said: ‘If the position of the FA is that it is perfectly legitimate for players to express their support for BLM in the stadium by taking the knee it should make it clear that it is also acceptable for fans to express their feelings about this political movement.
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Australian National University hope to introduce gender-inclusive education
Utter nonsense that will go nowhere
Staff at Australian National University in Canberra have been asked by academics to stop using the word 'mother' and instead say 'gestational parent', alongside a list of other bizarre changes.
In a bid to introduce gender-inclusive teachings, ANU's Gender Institute Handbook also asked for fathers to be referred to as the 'non-birthing parent' and 'breastfeeding' to be replaced with 'chestfeeding'.
'Mother's milk' was also said to be replaced with 'human or parent milk'.
'While many students will identify as "mothers" or "fathers", using these terms alone to describe parenthood excludes those who do not identify with gender-binaries,' the handbook, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, reads.
'This non-gendered language is particularly important in clinical or abstract academic discussions of childbirth and parenthood, both to recognise the identities of students in the class, and to model inclusive behaviour for students entering clinical practice.'
Staff have been asked to 'correct' themselves if they accidentally use the wrong terms. 'Language habits take practice to overcome, and students respect the efforts you make to be inclusive,' the guide read.
But a spokesman for ANU, Australia's top ranked university, said the document is not an official policy of the institution.
The spokesman said the handbook was produced by experts who are allowed to 'research in their field of expertise under our policies on academic freedom'.
The changes come a week after a hospital in the United Kingdom told staff to use terms like 'birthing parents' and 'human milk' rather than just referring to 'mothers' and 'breast milk' to avoid offending transgender people.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust unveiled a blizzard of 'gender inclusive' phrases in a drive to stamp out 'mainstream transphobia'.
The Trust is the first in the country to formally implement such a radical overhaul for its maternity services department - which will now be known as 'perinatal services'.
Other changes include replacing the use of the word 'woman' with the phrase 'woman or person', and the term 'father' with 'parent', 'co-parent' or 'second biological parent', depending on the circumstances.
It said: 'Gender identity can be a source of oppression and health inequality. We are consciously using the words 'women' and 'people' together to make it clear that we are committed to working on addressing health inequalities for all those who use our services,' a policy document read.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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16 February, 2021
Parler announces its relaunch with Mark Meckler named as interim CEO a month after being shut down
Parler has announced its official relaunch a month after it was shut down in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riots.
The conservative social media site delivered the news in a statement on Monday.
'Parler, the world's #1 free speech social media platform with over 20 million users, is announcing its official relaunch today, built on sustainable, independent technology and not reliant on so-called "Big Tech" for its operations,' the statement read. 'Parler's relaunch - open to Americans of all viewpoints - is available immediately.'
Parler's existing users were able to log back in to the app and the desktop site on Monday, but some reported issues with connectivity. New users will be available to sign up beginning next week, the company said.
Parler did not disclose where its relaunched site is being hosted after Amazon kicked it off of its web-hosting service on January 11, effectively wiping it off the internet.
Apple, Amazon and Google each banned Parler from their app stores days after the Capitol siege due to a failure to moderate 'egregious content' posted by users in connection with the violence.
Parler's statement on Monday included a quote from its new Interim CEO Mark Meckler, a Tea Party activist who stepped in after the previous chief executive, founder Mark Matze, was fired earlier this month.
'Parler was built to offer a social media platform that protects free speech and values privacy and civil discourse,' Meckler said.
'When Parler was taken offline in January by those who desire to silence tens of millions of Americans, our team came together, determined to keep our promise to our highly engaged community that we would return stronger than ever. We're thrilled to welcome everyone back.
'Parler is being run by an experienced team and is hear to stay. We will thrive as the premier social media platform dedicated to free speech, privacy, and civil dialogue.'
The Verge confirmed that old accounts have been restored on Monday but said pre-shut down posts - called 'parleys' - are unavailable.
The outlet said some high-profile users, including Fox News host Sean Hannity, have already started posting on the relaunched site.
However some users said they were having trouble accessing content on the app. One user shared a screenshot with DailyMail.com which showed an error message that read: 'It seems that we are either over capacity or you are experiencing a poor network connection.'
It remains unclear who is hosting Parler's relaunched site. Parler sued Amazon in federal court last month in a bid to get back online, arguing that the tech giant had breached its contract and was abusing its market power.
A judge rejected Parler's request to have its web service immediately restored by Amazon on January 22 but did not dismiss the case altogether.
On January 19 Parler reappeared with the help of a Russian-owned web security service.
Parler's domain name is now registered with Epik Inc., a website services company based in Sammamish, Washington, according to public records made available by internet regulator Icann.
Epik is also the domain registrar for Gab, another less restrictive social networking site popular with the far-right.
New community guidelines on Parler state that the platform is 'viewpoint neutral' and will not allow for promotion of crime or unlawful acts.
Meckler was brought on to help with the relaunch by Republican mega-donor Rebekah Mercer, one of the app's key financial backers who owns a majority stake.
The 58-year-old attorney and political activist from California rose to prominence in 2009 when he co-founded the Tea Party Patriots (TPP), a grassroots conservative organization advocating for free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility.
Meckler left the TPP in 2012 and went on to found Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG), a nonprofit conservative political group best known for its efforts to amend the Constitution to decrease federal spending. Meckler currently serves as president of CSG.
Meckler voiced his support for Parler in a tweet last November in which he blasted Twitter for suppressing free speech.
'Twitter sucks...I mean seriously sucks. They hate free speech. Especially conservative free speech. Come join me at Parler,' Meckler wrote in his final post on Twitter, dated November 20.
Meckler is not expected to stay on as CEO of Parler for the long term, but will hold the role until the site finds a permanent replacement for his predecessor Matze.
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Sharia-Enforcing Amazon Brownshirts Delete Book That Criticized Islam
The freedom of speech is on the ropes, and it just received another body blow. Over at Amazon, you can still get Friedrich Nietzsche’s God Is Dead. God Remains Dead. And We Have Killed Him. You can still get Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. You can get Christianity Disproved: The conclusive proof that Christianity is false. You can get God Needs To Go: Why Christian Beliefs Fail. You can get All That’s Wrong with the Bible: Contradictions, Absurdities, and More. You can get Four Disturbing Questions with One Simple Answer: Breaking the Spell of Christian Belief. And on and on and on. But you can’t get Allah is Dead: Why Islam is Not a Religion by the New English Review’s Rebecca Bynum.
Now that the winter of Leftist/Islamic censorship is upon us in a big way, Amazon has removed Bynum’s book from sale, so as not to offend those who must not be offended, and to stick to offending those who can and must be offended with impunity. This is done at least in part because those who must not be offended might kill you, while those who must be offended will not. But the book was available for ten years. The difference now is that the fascists are emboldened as never before, and have decided that now is the time for them to act.
And so we see it yet again: criticize Christianity, and you’ll be celebrated as a heroic, courageous intellectual, standing up against the forces of reaction. You’ll be feted and laden with honors, a la Dawkins today. Criticize Islam, on the other hand, and you’ll be excoriated as a “racist” (one more time, kids: Islam is not a race, and indeed, any belief system that you can ascribe to or discard is not and cannot be a race), “bigoted” “Islamophobe,” and the Southern Poverty Law Center will call you a “hate group leader” and make sure that all good, right-thinking people don’t come near you with a ten-foot pole.
Now, I don’t agree with my old friend Rebecca that Islam is not a religion, but I am not being churlish or fastidious to point that out. But in saying that I disagree, I am most decidedly not saying that I believe that she should be silenced. I believe that ideas should be evaluated on the basis of whether and to what extent they correspond to and elucidate reality. Ideas should be discussed freely and accepted or rejected on their merits.
But that is an old-fashioned idea, as retro and yesterday and hidebound as if I said that men are men and women are women, and that men should wear ties and fedoras and address other people as “sir” and “ma’am” and try to refrain from announcing that they’re actually women. The totalitarian fascists of Amazon believe that the ideas they have judged to be beyond the pale must not be heard, and since they have an effective monopoly on the book business, when they drop a book, it will indeed for the most part not be heard.
Yes, there are other bookstores here and there. But the situation has changed drastically since I was a young man and every city had several, and sometimes many, independent bookstores. Now the decision of what is acceptable for you to read is in the hands of a very small group of people, and they all think the same way. If Amazon drops you, you’re as dropped as you are when Twitter bans you. What’s that, libertarians? Just start your own social media giant? Sure. Tell it to the folks at Parler.
Now that Amazon has begun dropping Islamocritical books, expect more of this. They certainly won’t stop with Rebecca Bynum’s book, and they won’t stop with books that are critical of Islam, either. And as this endeavor starts to gather steam, who on the Left will raise a voice for the freedom of speech? Not Old Joe. Not Kamala-in-Waiting. Not Old Joe’s handlers. Not Schumer or Pelosi or AOC or Ilhan Omar. Not a soul.
The fascists are on the march. This is their hour, and the power of darkness. It has been nice knowing you all, but it’s clearly coming to an end. Soon the only way you’ll be able to hear dissidents will be via whispers and furtive handovers of shoddily printed material, by the few who have the courage to continue to dissent when the darkness that is descending has finally enveloped us completely. I hope to see you there.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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15 February, 2021
Conservative outlet Epoch Times demonetized by YouTube
The conservative-leaning Epoch Times has been demonetized by YouTube, allegedly on the grounds that it had promoted material contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"YouTube demonetized the Epoch Times and related accounts last week," said publisher Stephen Gregory. "This is the latest example of big tech suppression of free speech, a step on the road to communist-style censorship."
YouTube acknowledged the decision on Tuesday, saying that the outlet had "repeatedly" violated its community guidelines.
The far left-wing watchdog Media Matters also ran an article on Tuesday criticizing the Epoch Times for its coverage of the presidential election.
"A network of associated YouTube channels promoted various 'Stop the Steal' events and right-wing election misinformation on the video sharing platform prior to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and they have downplayed the riots and obfuscated details about them since," said Media Matters.
The watchdog company also argued that the Epoch Times was started by Chinese religious dissidents from the Falun Gong spirituality movement "whose anti-Communist agenda lends itself to right-wing ideology and conspiracy theories."
The Epoch Times, however, says it is an independent business that, while it was indeed started by Falun Gong practitioners, "neither represents Falun Gong nor is owned by it."
https://disrn.com/news/conservative-outlet-epoch-times-demonetized-by-youtube
************************************Army special ops school labels all sorts of logos as ‘extremist’ symbols; punishable if worn
The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School advised its students and personnel last week from using 14 different logos, including the Roman numeral “III” symbol, which they link to extremist groups and ideologies. The school banned personnel from wearing the symbols on duty and have told students using the symbols outside of duty hours could also result in punishment.
Janice Burton, a spokesperson for the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) provided a list of the 14 “extremist” symbols to American Military News on Wednesday. The list of symbols comes from a database of symbols the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau has labeled “extremist imagery.” The symbols include:
QAnon symbols
The III symbol
Proud Boys symbols
Oath Keepers symbols
Symbols of National Social Club 131
The “Kek” flag
Boogaloo symbols
The Swastika
A Swastike and dagger symbol
14
88
The Nordic “Sunwheel”
“SS” lightning bolts
The Wheel Cross, also known as an Odin’s Cross or Celtic Cross
“WP” symbols, including as a hand sign
The Archangel Michael Cross
The Othala Rune
The Norse Algis Rune
The “Totenkopf” or “Death’s Head” skull and crossbones
The Universal Order, skastika and scales symbol
The nuclear symbol
Triple parenthesis ((( )))
Pepe the frog
Col. Matt Gomlack, chief of staff at the training center, advised all personnel that if they wear or post any of the symbols going forward they could face “military punishment.”
Burton said the command policy is that personnel must wear their normal duty uniforms during duty hours, precluding non-uniform symbols during duty hours. She also said personnel are made aware that displaying the symbols off-duty could also be “misconstrued” and could also face negative consequences.
One particular symbol, the “III” symbol, has been as an unofficial symbol of Trauma 3, an 18-month, special operations medical course at SWCS that instructs service members on tactical combat casualty care.
“Certain aspects of that logo have a striking resemblance to the symbology of an extremist organization — specifically the Roman numeral three with the Betsy Ross star circle, which was used by Trauma 3,” Gomlack told Military.com.
The “III” symbol has also been associated with the Three Percenters, which a SWCS briefing slide described as a “militia movement/paramilitary group with members who adhere to a far-right/libertarian ideology with a primary focus on firearms ownership right and opposition to expansive U.S. federal government authority.”
The Three Percenters say the “III” symbolism is rooted in the belief that just three percent of the American colonial population actively fought against the British government at any given time during the American Revolution. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says the Three Percenters believe that “just as a small revolutionary vanguard overthrew the tyrannical British rule in America, a dedicated group of modern patriots could rid the United States of today’s alleged tyranny.”
While Gomlack said Trauma 3 has used the “III” symbol “way longer” than the Three Percenters, and even placed the symbol on shirts the training center sold. Gomlack said the parallels between the shirts and the Three Percenter symbolism were “organically detected” but “those shirts that we sold five years prior in a blissful state of ignorance of our symbology that parallels this extremist group — they are still out there.”
Another symbol listed by SWCS is the Oath Keepers symbol, which is the group’s name enclosed in a black and gold tab similar to those worn by Army Rangers.
The Oath Keepers are a group that derives their name from the oath military service members and police officers take to defend the Constitution “from all enemies, foreign and domestic.” While the Oath Keepers describe themselves as a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, the ADL has described them as an “anti-government right-wing” organization. The ADL states the group asks its members to pledge to disobey unconstitutional orders they might get from their superiors, such as mass gun confiscation and rounding up citizens to place in concentration camps; concerns the ADL says are based on conspiracy theories.
The JFK SCWS’ efforts to distance itself from various symbols come as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said he will rid the ranks of extremists. Last week, Austin ordered a 60-day stand-down across the entire Department of Defense, to address extremism within the ranks.
Gomlack said the special operations training school is working to develop rules for reviewing its symbolism “so that we can avoid producing a T-shirt or a unit logo or a course logo or something that somebody could mistakenly attribute to an extremist organization.”
Gomlack said, “The command is doing two things: We are protecting our formation from potential misperceptions … and two, we are also sending a message that extremism is not tolerated in the Department of Defense and certainly not in our organization.”
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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13 February, 2021
Hospital drops "breast milk" for "chest milk" to be inclusive of transgender people
Brighton and Sussex University Hospital in England has issued a directive to all midwives and those assisting new births: terms like "breastfeeding" and "breast milk" will be replaced with "human milk," "chest milk," or "milk from the feeding mother or parents."
The decision has been made in an effort to be more inclusive of transgender people, making the hospital the first in the country to cater their language to LGBT preferences.
"Gender identity can be a source of oppression and health inequality. We are consciously using the words 'women' and 'people' together to make it clear that we are committed to working on addressing health inequalities for all those who use our services," the hospital said in a statement.
"As midwives and birth workers, we focus on improving access and health outcomes for marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Women are frequently disadvantaged in healthcare, as are trans and nonbinary people."
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Here's What Caused Twitter to Ban Project Veritas
This was only a matter of time. During the 2020 election, James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, an investigative journalism outfit, did an interview with a US Postal Worker from Erie, Pennsylvania who alleged that there were discussions about illegally backdating mail-in ballots. The type of journalism Veritas doles out upsets the establishment and is invariably fearless. In the wake of 'wokeness' and Joe Biden winning the 2020 election, that’s a problem. In an era of increasing censorship from big tech, that’s a problem. So, it should shock us that after Project Veritas did a story where they reported that social media giants were allegedly crafting hate speech algorithms, Twitter came down with a two-handed sword and decapitated the media outlet from their platform (via Washington Times):
Project Veritas and its reporting by President James O’Keefe have been suspended by Twitter in the wake of a story on social media hate speech algorithms.
The investigative reporting organization, long a thorn in the side of Silicon Valley, announced the move early Thursday.
“WOW! Twitter has just LOCKED DOWN James O’Keefe’s and the Project Veritas account for reporting on Facebook VP Guy Rosen and his statements that Facebook ‘freezes’ comments in places that algorithms think there ‘may be’ hate speech,” the group said via its Facebook page.
Yeah, mainstream conservative thought has now been reclassified as neo-Nazi rhetoric by the Left. Anything that doesn’t kowtow or fall within the parameters of what the institutional Left views as acceptable are racist, sexist, or par of any “ism” they weaponize to destroy their enemies. And they know they can get away with it.
Like it or not, hate speech is free speech. Crazy speech is free speech—and we have a constitutional right to believe it, support it, and advocate for it—or not. This is America. You don’t have to subject yourself to any one person’s views. If someone having a view contrary to yours bothers you, then I don’t know what to say other than you might be the problem or you might have a problem.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2021/02/11/twitter-bans-project-veritas-n2584614
***********************************My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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12 February, 2021
Morgan Wallen's sister Ashlyne comes to his defense after the country singer was dropped by his label and 1.5K radio stations for his use of the N-word
Morgan Wallen's sister Ashlyne has come to her brother's defense after the singer landed in major hot water for being caught on camera using racist and derogatory language.
Ashlyne, 26, took to her Instagram on Friday with a lengthy statement about her older brother, 27, and the 'snowball effect of hate' he has experienced since video leaked of him using the N-word to say goodbye to friends.
She said in the post that Morgan 'has one of the biggest hearts,' and that his behavior and language choice 'did not come from a place of hate or malicious intent.'
'There are 3 things you should ever do about a mistake: admit it, learn from it, and don't repeat it,' Ashlyne began her statement.
She then called out cancel culture, saying it is 'the worst thing to come out of our digital world. It leaves no room for forgiveness and growth.'
She later added, 'I do not believe the pure hate he has received is beneficial to the situation in anyway. There is criticism he is receiving that is positive and educational -- this should continue to happen, as it will help him grow and learn from his mistake.
'But, making a comment out of pure hatred about someone that you do not personally know, based on a short clip of him at a low point in his personal life, is unwarranted.'
Ashlyne's statement comes after Morgan was suspended 'indefinitely' by label Big Loud last Wednesday.
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#CancelDisneyPlus trends after Gina Carano fired from 'The Mandalorian'
The firing of outspoken actress Gina Carano from The Mandalorian over her Twitter posts sparked a galaxy-size backlash Thursday — with calls to cancel Disney+ trending online.
The former MMA fighter who played Cara Dune in the hit Star Wars-themed show was confirmed to have been booted Wednesday after a since-deleted tweet comparing the current political climate to being Jewish in Nazi Germany.
But her ousting by Lucasfilm provoked outrage among those who said it was yet another example of cancel culture run amok, with #CancelDisneyPlus quickly trending on social media as fans decided to give the streaming service a dose of their own medicine.
“Disney has cancelled @ginacarano, so I’m cancelling my @disneyplus,” The Rubin Report host Dave Rubin tweeted. “We need to stop giving these people our money and we must build new franchises.”
Paul Joseph Watson, meanwhile, said that the firing proved that “Gina Carano was completely correct” about her point about political bullying and cancel culture.
Others pointed out the hypocrisy of the move.
“Stop giving money to people who hate you,” right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec tweeted — while also noting that Disney had rehired director James Gunn despite horror over old posts he made that made light of paedophilia and rape.
“Disney rehired James Gunn but fired Gina Carano tells you everything,” he wrote.
Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway shared an image proving she had cancelled her service, while Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv insisted that “Gina Carano was fired for being conservative.”
“Gina Carano’s post made the point that mass violence starts with hatred for your neighbour. This is not only uncontroversially true but also one perspective of the commandment to love your neighbour,” tweeted Katrina Haydon, an associate editor at the right-wing Daily Caller.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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11 February, 2021
Twitter Silences "Focus on the Family" for 'Hate,' That Is, Telling the Truth About Biology
Last week, Twitter locked the account of The Daily Citizen, Focus on the Family’s news outlet. What heinous crime did The Daily Citizen commit that justified this ban? It reported on President Joe Biden’s decision to nominate transgender Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine (born Richard Levine) for assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The outlet went on to describe Levine as “a man who believes he is a woman.”
“On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he had chosen Dr. Rachal Levine to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of HHS. Dr. Levine is a transgender woman, that is, a man who believes he is a woman,” the tweet read.
Twitter flagged the message, claiming it violated the platform’s standards against “hateful conduct.” The Daily Citizen has been locked out of its account until the outlet deletes the offending tweet.
The Daily Citizen appealed the case, but Twitter denied the appeal.
Focus on the Family President Jim Daily defended the tweet, warning supporters that Twitter will likely silence others for expressing the truth about biological sex.
“Our comments in The Daily Citizen were not hateful or politically motivated in any way. They simply reflected an understanding of gender that has been recognized and embraced for millennia.
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City Orders 'Racist' White Lives Matter Banner Removed
Over the summer, activists in Oakland, California sprawled the words, “All Black Trans Queer Nonbinary Women’s Disabled Imprisoned Lives Matter” on a busy public boulevard in pastel colors.
In San Francisco, “Black Lives Matter was written in giant yellow letters over a three-block stretch on a busy public road. Another street in Martinez, California also had the words “Black Lives Matter” painted in large bright letters.
Yet when a “White Lives Matter” banner was hung in Union City last week, it was labeled as illegal and vandalism because it hung on public property. The city therefore ordered it removed.
https://thinkamericana.com/city-orders-racist-white-lives-matter-banner-removed/
***********************************My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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9 February, 2021
A Christian Prof's 'Wrongthink' on 'Transgender' Issue
The Rainbow Mafia wants a Christian English professor canceled after she dared to criticize the rationale behind Joe Biden’s recent executive order expanding Title IX protections to include so-called “transgender” individuals.
Baylor University professor Christina Crenshaw responded in agreement with a social media post by Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, that accurately labeled Biden’s policy position on “transgenderism” as “anti-science and bad for human flourishing.” Crenshaw posted her thoughts: “But what if I don’t want my biological sons in the bathroom with my biological daughters? Do the 99% of us who do not wrestle with gender dysphoria have a voice? No? What if I told you Title IX was never meant to apply to >1% of the students over the 99%? Doesn’t matter? OK. Cool.”
Crenshaw is reportedly not teaching this spring semester. Dr. Kevin Gardner, the English department chair, said, “Dr. Crenshaw is a temporary lecturer in the English department” who “has been teaching for us off and on for several years.” There’s not yet any further information as to her future with the Southern Baptist university.
The Baylor Lariat, the student newspaper, quoted Ashley Nitsche, a senior and secretary and treasurer of Gamma Alpha Upsilon, “a support group for the LGBTQ community.” Nitsche lamented Crenshaw’s post “because it eliminates another professor as one of our allies, because we have been searching for potential allies and professors for the past 10 years.” She added, “I feel confused and conflicted about all of it. I’m very worried about if any other professors at Baylor align with these ideals as well because that just means more and more supporters falling away.”
Gamma Alpha Upsilon president Emma Fraley also weighed in, ridiculously complaining, “To know that this is a person who was hired by Baylor University, they’ve given her their stamp of approval. Even if she isn’t a teacher here this semester, she was at one point, and she might be again. … We do not want this to be the sort of thing that people see Baylor as. We don’t want to be known as a transphobic university. We don’t want to be known as a homophobic university. We want to be known as a safe and loving place where we can show Christ’s love to all people.” Fraley might want to read up on what Jesus actually had to say, but we digress.
Following its first publication of the story, the Lariat issued a correction and an apology for originally describing Crenshaw’s social media post as “transphobic.” The paper changed its characterization of Crenshaw’s post to “controversial.”
It’s amazing that expressing concern that men and women should be accurately identified by their biological sex is now deemed “controversial.” And yet this is exactly what the Left and Biden’s EO is intended to do — sow division and discord. The vast majority of Americans are expected to embrace and uphold the insanity of the few or risk being canceled and labeled a bigot. Tell us again how this brings “unity.” Not only is this a threat to free speech, free thought, and religious liberty, but it’s a threat to our nation’s cultural sanity.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/77357-a-christian-profs-wrongthink-on-transgender-issue-2021-01-29
**********************************Must not mention differences between the sexes
A swimming blogger has slammed Speedo for 'sexist' marketing on its website, saying she 'despairs' at the brand's outdated messaging.
Sally Goble, who pens regularly writes about swimming on her Postcards from the Pool blog, called the swimwear brand's website a 'disgrace' in a series of scathing posts on social media.
The engineering manager posted photos from Speedo's UK website showing men being encouraged to rediscover their 'race pace' alongside a photo of a female swimmer with the captions 'new season, new style' and 'compliment your shape'.
A spokesperson for Speedo said it 'strongly refuted' claims of sexism.
Adressing the swimwear goliath, Goble wrote: 'I despair that this needs to be said OVER and OVER again @SpeedoUK but your sexist website is a disgrace.
'MEN are encouraged to "Rediscover your race pace" while WOMEN to "Compliment your shape [and] Feel good". What actual century do you live in?'
She added that while the images of male swimmers showed them 'standing by the blocks with goggles and hat, about (presumably) to dive in and race, whereas women are floating, inactive, (presumably) meditating rather than swimming, on top of the water, no goggles, no hat. Just F*** ***.
Others claimed they'd experienced similar sexism in sport and exercise, with one recounting how she'd been told she could attain an 'hourglass figure' with certain exercises.
However, Speedo strongly defended its website, saying: 'At Speedo we believe the water is for everyone. We make swimwear for a wide range of reasons, from racing competitively to swimming for fitness and wellbeing.
'We strongly refute any claims of sexism and our website and social media content reflects the diversity of our customers and celebrates all swimmers who enjoy the water, whatever their motivation.'
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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8 February, 2021
Lou Dobbs Show Canceled By Fox Business News
Lou Dobbs, the conservative face of Fox Business News, has been taken off the air “effective immediately” according to a statement from the network. Dobbs show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, was the highest-rated- show on the network. Dobbs was one of Donald Trump’s most vociferous supporters and is perhaps most closely identified with theories that the election in November had been stolen by Democrats — a belief that directly led to his ouster.
Last week, the voting technology company Smartmatic filed a multi-billion lawsuit against the network with Dobbs being named as a defendant. While Fox Business gave no reasons for Dobbs’ firing, most insiders believe the lawsuit was the primary reason for his dismissal.
In one of Trump’s first statements since leaving the White House, he effusively praised his friend, saying Dobbs “is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.”
The pro-Trump propaganda bent juiced Dobbs’ ratings. But his far-right programming choices repeatedly caused consternation within the company, a source close to the matter said, and his program was a loss leader for Fox because many advertisers didn’t want to be associated with his content.
Dobbs will continue to be paid, but won’t appear on any Fox networks. It’s an industry practice to prevent Dobbs from suddenly showing up on CNN or MSNBC. When his contract expires, Dobbs may find it difficult to land another job. It’s the new “blacklist” and instead of commie sympathizers and fellow travelers, it will have on it conservatives and anyone who ever supported Donald Trump.
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Pro-Trump Covfefe Coffee Brand Canceled by Chase Bank
Chase Bank has abruptly stopped a pro-Trump coffee company from using its payment processing service, WePay, and is currently preventing them from withdrawing any funds.
Covfefe Coffee, founded in 2018, brands itself as “Coffee For Deplorables By Deplorables.” The company, which says their goal is to “provide proud to Americans access to world-class coffee without having to fund your political and cultural opponents,” was informed via email on Wednesday that they would no longer be able to use their payment processing service because payments were “for one or more of the activities prohibited by” their terms of service.
“Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to use WePay Payments to accept additional payments,” the email continued. “Any pending payments will be canceled and you won’t be able to withdraw funds at this time.”
A spokesman for Covfefe told National File that they’ve been using WePay without issue for two years, and that the disruption of service came out of nowhere. WePay’s terms of service makes their list of prohibited activities very clear, but there doesn’t appear to be any legitimate violation of any of these prohibited activities.
This is not the company’s first experience with being canceled by big tech. In 2019, following a successful launch on Amazon, they were suspended from advertising on the platform. They were eventually told that having the phrase “Make America Great Again” couldn’t be included on a listing that is in being advertised because Amazon believes the slogan “incites hate.”
Covfefe Coffee currently appears to be using PayPal to process payments at this time, though it seems likely that is only a temporary fix. In October of 2019, conservative street artist Sabo was deplatformed by PayPal without explanation.
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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6 February, 2021
I've Been 'Canceled' Because of My PJ Media Articles
BY PHILIP CARL SALZMAN
An open letter published by the McGill Student Society cited my publications in PJ Media and demanded that McGill University cancel me. More specifically, the society demanded that my status as Emeritus Professor of Anthropology be revoked. This letter was signed by the McGill Student society, anthropology undergraduate and graduate societies, four student Middle Eastern and Islamic groups, and a black student group.
The open letter targeted a more general policy, that of academic freedom. The view expressed in the open letter is that academic freedom should not allow opinions that the signatories disagree with or facts that they might find uncongenial. The signatories believe that they should be the arbiters of what may be thought, said, and written. This is an ambitious role for students to claim, rather akin to a ministry of truth in a closed, Soviet, or Maoist dictatorship.
The open letter takes particular exception to one of my PJ Media articles:
In one recent example [originally published in PJMedia], Salzman goes on to write that “the Middle East is a place where doing harm and being cruel to others is regarded as a virtue and a duty.” …
The open letter does not take issue with the truth of the offending statement, or offer argument and evidence attempting to show that it is incorrect, but the letter’s authors limit their efforts to calling me names—“racist” and “Islamophobic”—about an article in which neither race nor Islam were mentioned. In other words, there is no attempt to engage in academic or even common civil discourse to ascertain truth, because truth is not of interest to the students; as far as they are concerned, only their feelings count.
Unlike most of these student signatories, including the ones from Middle Eastern and Islamic families, I have spent considerable time living in the Middle East, much of it engaged in ethnographic research in the desert with tribal peoples. My concern about the violence in the Middle East might be taken by fair-minded readers as an admirable, humanitarian concern. It seems likely that many of the McGill student signatories are from families that left the Middle East and brought their children to Canada in order to have a safer and more secure, as well as a freer and more prosperous life. These students do not appear to have learned the lesson of their emigration, or the values of the country to which they immigrated.
Let’s just stick to recent events. There is the on-and-off war between Turkey, Iraq, and Iran against their Kurdish citizens, the war against Middle Eastern Christians, Baha’i, Yazidi, and other minorities, and, most egregious, the fanatical Islamic State and its maximal brutality, from capturing Yazidi girls and women, gang-raping them, selling them as sex slaves, and then murdering them; to beheading prisoners; to burning alive opposition soldiers. Finally, there is the Syrian war, whether seen as a war of the government against its citizens, or a civil war inspired by Sunni-Shia conflict, in which up to a half-million people—men, women, children, the elderly—died of bullets, bombs, exposure, or starvation.
Perhaps the McGill Middle Eastern and Muslim students do not see any of this as cruelty and harm. Perhaps they are fine with it. Then they should tell us exactly what this is, and how they justify it other than trying to blame someone else.
Students, encouraged by their Marxist and neo-Marxist professors, and by university policies of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” that privilege students from some minorities, have become America’s and Canada’s Maoist Red Guard, upholding the official lies by attacking fellow students and professors who do not endorse extremist views in order to silence and destroy them. No unwelcome opinions are tolerated, and no discussion of difficult questions allowed. This is no less than the death of the Enlightenment academic tradition and its replacement with far-left Marxist and far-right Islamist propaganda.
Recently many academics have been “canceled,” losing their posts, salaries, and even careers for expressing an opinion or even saying a word that some students and professors found objectionable. In my case, the McGill Red Guard was foiled. Strong support for academic freedom and for myself was provided by the Canadian Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship through letters to the University and to the student signatories, the American National Association of Scholars in an international petition, and the British Free Speech Union in another international petition, as well as letters and articles from a number of colleagues.
In the end, McGill affirmed its commitment to academic freedom, saying that “no single idea, argument, word, or work is ‘prohibited’ at McGill.” Regarding the student demands that my emeritus status be revoked, McGill stated that “Although ‘emeritus’ status may be revoked for misconduct, that term refers to misconduct as defined by the regulations and policies that apply to tenure-track and tenured academic staff. The exercise of academic freedom or freedom of expression, within the boundaries acknowledged by law, is not misconduct under those regulations and policies.” I am an Emeritus Professor still.
Top New York Times reporter RESIGNS and apologizes for 'extraordinarily bad judgement' over his use of the N-word in a question
A top New York Times reporter has resigned and apologized for his 'extraordinarily bad judgement' over his use of the N-word after 150 staffers wrote a letter to bosses citing new allegations of 'bias against people of color' and slamming the paper's handling of the incident.
In a letter to staff Friday, Donald McNeil Jr. announced he was standing down from the paper after 45 years saying he 'originally thought the context in which I used this ugly word could be defended' but now realized 'it cannot.'
Top bosses had previously said he should be 'given another chance' saying McNeil hadn't used the word with 'malicious or hateful intent' but also changed tack Friday telling staff 'we do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent.'
The ousting of the man who was the paper's star COVID-19 reporter came after a group of staff sent a letter to the executive leadership Wednesday stating they were 'deeply disturbed' by the paper's lack of action and demanding a full investigation into 'newly surfaced complaints' against him.
The veteran journalist described the 2019 incident saying he said the N-word when asked by one of the students whether he believed a classmate should be suspended for using the racist slur.
'On a 2019 New York Times trip to Peru for high school students, I was asked at dinner by a student whether I thought a classmate of hers should have been suspended for a video she had made as a 12-year-old in which she used a racial slur,' he said, according to the Washington Post which obtained a copy of the note.
'To understand what was in the video, I asked if she had called someone else the slur or whether she was rapping or quoting a book title. In asking the question, I used the slur itself.'
He extended his 'sincerest apology' to the students on the trip as well as his colleagues who he said he 'let down.'
'For offending my colleagues - and for anything I've done to hurt The Times, which is an institution I love and whose mission I believe in and try to serve - I am sorry.
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Pictures put up on a blog sometimes do not last long. They stay up only as long as the original host keeps them up. I therefore keep archives of all the pictures that I use. The recent archives are online and are in two parts:
Archive of side pictures here
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