He apparently meant unusually good looking. A matter of taste, of course
Columbia University suspended its top shrink Wednesday after he suggested a black model’s dark skin could make her a “freak of nature.”
Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, head of the school’s psychiatry department, retweeted a photo of South Sudanese-American model Nyakim Gatwech and wrote, “Whether a work of art or freak of nature she’s a beautiful sight to behold.”
Columbia did not provide a statement on Lieberman’s comments. But the Manhattan school confirmed that he was suspended from his department chair role Wednesday due to the comments and was also removed as the psychiatrist-in-chief at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
“I tweeted from my personal account a message that was racist and sexist. Prejudices and stereotypical assumptions I didn’t know I held have been exposed — to myself and to you — and I’m deeply ashamed and very sorry,” Lieberman wrote in a Tuesday email to faculty and staff that was provided to The Post.
https://nypost.com/2022/02/24/columbia-top-shrink-suspended-for-calling-a-dark-skin-model-a-freak-of-nature/
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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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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, 2022
High school principal sparks outrage for claiming 'better breeding' is needed to improve student grades
I think he was just saying that there is a limit to what schools can do. The real educational work needed has to be done in the home
A former high school principal has been slammed for suggesting 'better breeding' is required in order to improve students' grades at a NSW public school.
The acting principal at Lithgow High School had been in a meeting with the director of educational leadership in September 2020 when they made the accusation.
They were asked by the director: 'What will it take to move students from Band 4 to Band 5 in each HSC course?' to which they replied 'better breeding'.
Their contentious response, which was recorded in the minutes of the meeting, has been unearthed by One Nation MP Mark Latham, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Mr Latham condemned the 'slur' as 'nasty, elitist and condescending' to the people of Lithgow as well as the students enrolled at the school.
The MP stumbled upon the comment when reviewing documents about a School Excellence Policy, following a parliamentary call for papers.
Mr Latham said the 'nasty' slur was the last thing the Lithgow community needed as it entered an economic transition following a loss of jobs in the mining sector.
'Is this really how schools in Lithgow are being run? With elitist, condescending, nasty reflections on the breeding of this working class community? he said.
'These are leaders who are supposed to have effective ways of improving school results – yet instead they are sneering at the school community by saying there's something wrong with their breeding.'
The Department of Education has responded to concerns by launching a formal investigation into the comments.
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CBS News’ Charlie D’Agata apologizes for saying Ukraine more ‘civilized’ than Iraq, Afghanistan
Ukraine is mostly Eastern Orthodox Christian, so one might be forgiven for holding that as more civilized than Islam
An Orthodox church in Kiev, Ukraine
A senior foreign correspondent at CBS News apologized Saturday after he said on air that the war in Ukraine can’t be compared to those in Iraq and Afghanistan — because the Eastern European nation is more “civilized.”
Correspondent Charlie D’Agata was reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine when he said Friday that Ukraine “isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades.
“This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen,” he continued.
D’Agata issued an apology on the broadcaster’s streaming network Saturday, after his comments went viral — racking up more than 1.5 million views on Twitter — and were swiftly condemned as racist and historically inaccurate.
“I spoke in a way I regret, and for that I’m sorry,” he said, adding that he was trying to convey that Ukraine hasn’t seen “this scale of war” in recent years, unlike other countries.
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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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Sunday, February 27, 2022
Columbia top shrink suspended for calling a dark-skin model a ‘freak of nature’
Friday, February 25, 2022
A year after Alexei Navalny's return, Putin's crackdown has left Russians silenced
In early 2021, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny flew back to Moscow after recovering in Germany from an assassination attempt carried out by Russian security services. His return prompted an authoritarian turn that transformed Russia – again.
I have studied the emergence of Navalny's strategy and organization from the mid-2000s, documenting his threat to the regime led by Vladimir Putin.
Given the loyalty that Putin commands among military and security officials, governmental leaders and economic elites, I was not surprised when security authorities diverted Navalny's plane to avoid the supporters gathered in Moscow to welcome him back. Nor was I shocked when border patrol forces arrested him before he passed through passport control. The charge: failing to meet parole requirements while recovering in Germany.
Navalny's arrest in 2021 prompted some of the largest protests since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Street actions extended across the nation's 11 time zones. The Kremlin responded with police violence and arrests by the specialized anti-protest force, Rosgvardia. The level of coercion was unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia.
After popular backlash against the violence, the state used facial recognition software to track down participants beyond Navalny's core team of opposition activists. Public-sector workers were fired for participation and support. Security services made nighttime visits to protesters in their homes. Journalists were arrested. The regime used new laws to punish TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram users who supported the protests.
New tools of state surveillance continue to erase the barriers between public and private lives and violate social and political rights. Navalny remains in prison but has continued to speak out. In January 2022, one year after his return and the massive protests that followed, 53% of Russians say that they fear the authorities' abuse of power.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-year-after-alexei-navalnys-return-putins-crackdown-has-left-russians-silenced/ar-AAUgcAJ
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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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Thursday, February 24, 2022
Estée Lauder has suspended a top executive without pay following backlash over a post on his personal Instagram account that contained a racial slur and jokes about Covid-19
The New York-based cosmetics company suspended John Demsey, who serves as executive group president and oversees a portfolio of brands including MAC and Clinique.
A meme posted Monday to Mr Demsey’s Instagram account pictured a spoof book cover of the children’s TV show “Sesame Street.” The post, which contained the N-word with some letters replaced with asterisks, no longer appears on Mr Demsey’s account.
“Effective immediately, John Demsey is being placed on unpaid leave due to content posted on his Instagram handle,” Chief Executive Fabrizio Freda and Chairman William Lauder said in an internal memo to company leaders Tuesday. An excerpt of the memo was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
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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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Wednesday, February 23, 2022
New taboo -- Wordle removes 'insensitive' words
The New York Times has censored some words from the accepted list of words in its hit-game Wordle
Some four-letter words are taboo, but the New York Times has added a few five-lettered ones to the list -- by removing them from the hit game Wordle.
"We are updating the word list over time to remove obscure words to keep the puzzle accessible to more people, as well as insensitive or offensive words," said Times spokesman Jordan Cohen in a statement to AFP. Wordle now has millions of users around the world, and versions have sprung up in many different languages.
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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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Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Black female high school student is identified as vandal behind racist graffiti that saw Sacramento high school's water fountains scrawled with 'white' and 'colored'
There have been many instances of blacks and Leftists inventing "hate" like this. There are so few actual incidents of racism in schools, colleges and universities that the left feel the need to make such incidents up. They NEED demons in life -- to show how wonderful they are by contrast
A black female high school student has admitted to scrawling racist graffiti over the drinking fountains at her high school, district authorities said Friday, telling them that it was a 'prank that went sideways.'
The vandal inked the words 'colored' and 'white' over two water fountains at McClatchy High School in what appeared to be a reference to segregated drinking fountains found during the era of segregation in the Jim Crow South.
The unnamed girl was caught on video and confessed to the act. The school district has said she will still be disciplined.
'It was a prank that went sideways is my characterization of what the young woman said in her confession,' Mark Harris, a community liaison for the Sacramento Unified School District, said at a press conference.
He said that he didn't think that the girl was motivated by racism or hate.
'I don't believe those words that were on those water fountains were racist,' Harris said. 'I do not believe they were hate crime or hate speech. Part of it quite honestly is because the admitted perpetrator is a young African American woman.'
Harris, who stood beside local black leaders at a press conference, specializes in civil rights issues and was hired by the district to help address racism and racial equity issues in local schools.
He asked the community for its patience and understanding when it comes to the fallout for the vandalism.
'It should be a moment for our community to come together and make sure this doesn't destroy this person's life,' he told the Sacramento Bee.
'We don't know why she did it,' said Harris. 'This is not a situation that is the same as an overt deliberate move to do something that is racist, destructive, negative, etc.'
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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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Monday, February 21, 2022
UK: Parent fury as Brighton primary schools tell students NOT to say 'mum' and 'dad' and use 'grown ups' instead
Headteachers at schools in Brighton have sparked anger from parents by cancelling the words 'mum' and 'dad' and replacing them with 'grown ups' - to avoid discriminating against 'non-traditional' families.
Parents at four state primary schools in the seaside town say they and their children have become confused by the edict contained in equalities policies which outline the language staff should use to ensure that pupils raised in diverse families are not stigmatised.
St Luke's Primary School in Brighton states on its website: 'We have an Equalities Language Code for staff (eg to value all families we never refer to "mums and dads" and instead talk about "grown-ups").'
Elm Grove Primary School maintains in its Equalities Statement: 'We try to talk about our "grownups" rather than our "mums and dads" to acknowledge the different family groupings our pupils live in.'
The guidance to 'cancel' the words 'mum' and 'dad' is also upheld in the school vision statement of Carlton Hill Primary School, which states: 'We try to talk about our "grownups" rather than our "mums and dads" to acknowledge the different family groupings our pupils live in.'
One parent with a child at the school told MailOnline: 'It's very confusing for us adults, never mind the kids. They just don't understand why the teachers can't call their mums or dads, mum or dad?
'I know the schools are trying to take into account the different kinds of families pupils may come from, but the majority have a mum or dad, regardless of if they are together or not. So why can't staff just keep it simple for the kids and call their parents what they are; mum or dad?'
Another added: 'In trying to be more inclusive, the schools are forgetting about mum and dad, the most important people in a kid's life. This is just madness, where will it stop?'
The schools maintain that they are refraining from using 'mum' and 'dad' because of the increasing number of children that are not brought up by their biological parents.
One school, Saltdean Primary stated on its Equality and Diversity Policy that it prefers to use another term altogether.
It stated: 'Language- we use the terms parents/carers rather than "mum" and "dad" as we recognise that our families are made up of many different people. When children start at Saltdean, they discuss and share what makes a family for them. This allows children to see different family dynamics than their own but also helps them to recognise that it is the relationships that make a family.'
But the schools' position on 'mum' and 'dad' has left them at loggerheads with Brighton & Hove Council, the local authority which is responsible for supervising them.
It insisted that it had not issued any directive on the matter and schools were free to make up their own minds.
It said in a statement: 'Our advice to schools is that it is of course fine to use words such as mum, dad or grandma if staff know a child's family circumstances.
'But we have a very diverse school population and we want all members of the school community to feel included.
'In cases where a child's family is unknown the term grown-up or grown-ups can include, for example, grandparents, foster carers, families with same sex parents and single parent families.
'Schools make their own decisions about their equality policies.'
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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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Sunday, February 20, 2022
Australia: Pronoun email sparks bitter City council row
A councillor in inner-city Melbourne who questioned the use of pronouns in email signatures has been blasted by the mayor for his “harmful” actions.
City of Stonnington councillor Alexander Lew questioned why council managers had started including gender pronouns like “he/him” in their email signatures. He also declared that staff who didn’t want to add their pronouns “may themselves feel ostracised or pressured”.
“Can you please advise of how the adding pronouns to email signatures is consistent with the need for council staff to remain apolitical,” he wrote to Stonnington chief executive Jacqui Weatherill, in emails seen by the Herald Sun.
His email – which was also copied in to other councillors – also included a link to a federal parliamentary committee hearing where a heated exchange between a Victorian Greens senator and a City of Melton councillor over the transgender issue took place.
Mr Lew’s message was met with fury by a number of his colleagues, including Stonnington Mayor Jami Klisaris.
“Your email has caused great offense (sic), and I am deeply concerned that you don’t appreciate the harmful ramifications that your communication is having on many people,” she wrote in response to Mr Lew’s suggestion, the Herald Sun reports.
Ms Klisaris said the council’s leadership team fully supported staff to “choose and share their gender pronouns in the workplace should they wish”.
She also suggested Mr Lew undergo diversity and inclusion training.
Greens councillor Mike Scott denied that using gender pronouns in emails was political, telling the paper it was “a small step in making people feel accepted for who they are, welcomed at council and that they are safe to participate as their full selves
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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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18 February, 2022
Children’s book pulled after complaints over Indigenous petrol sniffing, alcohol references
Must not depict Australian Aborigines realistically
Publisher Pan Macmillan says it is “deeply sorry” for offending Indigenous people after temporarily pulling supply of the Macquarie Junior Indigenous Atlas due to concerns over its content, including references to petrol sniffing and alcohol use that were criticised for lacking context.
In a brief statement issued on Monday, Pan Macmillan said the book would undergo a further round of “sensitivity” reading.
“Several items in this title have caused concern with members of the public, and, as the publisher, we take their comments seriously,” the statement said.
“We are temporarily withholding further supply of the Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia from today (15 February 2022) in order to ensure it undergoes a further sensitivity read.”
Bardi and Kija woman Sharon Davis criticised several sections of the book on social media last week alongside screenshots of pages explaining petrol sniffing and alcohol use.
"Hey @MacmillanAus... Just wondering the thought process behind including this kind of information in the Junior Atlas book for children, without referencing the cause(s) such as dispossession, genocide, colonisation etc etc?" she tweeted.
The page on petrol sniffing cited by Ms Davis discussed the issue without explaining causes for the problem.
“Since the 1970s the deliberate inhalation of petrol fumes has been a damaging form of drug use among younger people,” the page began, before explaining the health risks of the practice.
“In 2005, a low-aromatic lead-free fuel called Opal was made available. It lacked the ingredients which produced the ‘high’ sought by sniffers.”
“A large number of remote communities and nearby petrol stations replaced their standard fuel with Opal and the number of people sniffing petrol dropped dramatically.”
Another page on alcohol use was also criticised. “Although many Indigenous Australians do not drink alcohol at all, those who do are more likely to do so at dangerous levels,” it said.
In a statement to The Sydney Morning Herald, representatives of Pan Macmillan apologised to the Indigenous community.
However, the publisher defended specific sections regarding petrol sniffing and alcohol use, and said more information would be included in companion teaching notes to the atlas.
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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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17 February, 2022
Australia: Now there’s political correctness for SHARKS: Push to call shark attacks ‘shark bites’ and ‘shark interventions’
Ben Fordham has hit out at a move by bureaucrats to rename shark attacks 'interactions' and 'negative encounters' after a swimmer was mauled to death by a great white.
The 2GB radio host mocked the changes after a swimmer was attacked by the 4.5m great white shark at Little Bay Beach in Sydney's east on Wednesday afternoon.
Nearby fishermen and beachgoers filmed his horrifying final moments from a nearby rock shelf.
In July, it emerged officials in Queensland and NSW would be rebranding shark attacks to change the animal's image as a 'man-eating monster'.
Fordham on Thursday morning said he didn't know how changing the language around the attack 'helps anyone'.
'There was a push from bureaucrats to stop using the word "attack" when talking about sharks,' he said.
'They prefer "shark bite", "shark interaction" or "shark encounter". I don't know how that helps anyone.'
The NSW Department of Primary Industries had started describing a shark encounter as 'incidents' or 'interactions' in their official reports, The Sydney Morning Herald reported in July.
Leonardo Guida, a shark researcher at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said that the word choice can be 'potent'.
He said public fears can be inflamed by language used by politicians and the media.
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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, 2022
"Freedom" is now a suspect word
As demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions continue across Canada, the word freedom is on the lips and placards of many protesters.
Often associated with protests and rallies in the United States, the term has taken hold among protesters who are part of the Freedom Convoy, which rolled into Ottawa in late January and has become entrenched in the city's downtown.
For many, freedom is a malleable term — one that's open to interpretation.
That flexibility, in part, has fuelled its growth among certain groups, said Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at the Oshawa-based Ontario Tech University.
"It is a term that has resonated…. You can define it and understand it and sort of manipulate it in a way that makes sense to you and is useful to you, depending on your perspective," she told Cross Country Checkup.
It's also a term that has thrived among far-right groups, said Perry, one of a number of experts who say the presence of far-right groups in Canada is growing.
As seen among some protesters currently opposing vaccine mandates and other public health measures, freedom signals a desire for freedom from government intervention or overreach, Perry noted.
"I think it resonates very much with what we've been seeing — and maybe takes some inspiration from what we've been seeing — in the U.S. over the last year and a half or so, leading up to the last election and events of Jan. 6," she said, referring to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
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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, 2022
Australia: Push to remove ‘woke’ anti-racist street signs from affluent suburb fails
Anti-racist signs will remain on display in some of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs after a push to remove them from streets in the inner east narrowly failed.
Woollahra Municipal Council voted 8-7 to keep the “racism not welcome” signs in their current locations after a contentious debate on Monday night.
Three Liberal councillors originally proposed removing all 12 red signs from the local government area (LGA) because they created the “false impression that Woollahra locals are racists”.
A compromise proposal to remove the signs from residential streets and reposition them in public areas such as parks and transport hubs failed after councillor Mary-Lou Jarvis insisted the signs be removed from the area entirely.
Ms Jarvis said she was distressed by how the “politically correct” signs had set residents in the area against each other.
“This has divided the council, it’s divided the community.”
Mary-Lou Jarvis, Woollahra councillor
“This has divided the council, it’s divided the community,” she said. “It’s wokeism writ large and has created division where there wasn’t any before. This is all about making people feel good rather than taking actions to reduce racism.”
She added: “I hope the people who got us into this mess feel good about what they’ve done.”
Ms Jarvis said she was reflecting the concerns of residents upset that the “race-based politics” of the inner-city were being imported to the eastern suburbs.
Other residents told her they went to local parks to escape politics but were instead confronted by anti-racist signs which they regarded as “graffiti to the eye”.
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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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14 February, 2022
Christian disability assessor who was sacked by the DWP for refusing to call transgender woman 'she' takes fight to High Court - insisting his faith means he should not be forced to address a 6ft bearded man as 'madam'
A Christian doctor who was sacked because he refused to refer to transgender people by their chosen sex or 'call any 6ft tall bearded man madam' will take his fight to the High Court.
Dr David Mackereth claims his Christian beliefs are being 'coerced and threatened' in a bid to 'affirm' the increasing number of patients who identify as transgender.
Dr Mackereth, an A&E doctor with 28 years' experience, was sacked as a medical assessor for the Department of Work and Pensions in 2018 after refusing to identify clients by their chosen gender instead of their biological sex.
In July 2019, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, he took his case to an Employment Tribunal in Birmingham claiming harassment and discrimination based on his Christian beliefs.
He claimed his employer had breached his right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
But a panel condemned his view of what it means to be male and female as 'incompatible with human dignity'.
Dr Mackereth said during proceedings that he was asked in a conversation by his line manager: 'If you have a man six foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as 'she' and 'Mrs', would you do that?'
Dr Mackereth, who now works as an NHS emergency doctor in Shropshire, said that in good conscience he could not do this. His contract was subsequently terminated over his refusal.
Bringing his case, the 56-year-old said he was wrongfully sacked for refusing to call people who were born male 'she' even if they now identify as female.
The tribunal 'found that his beliefs were likely to cause offence and have the effect of violating a transgender person's dignity or creating a proscribed environment, or subjecting a transgender person to less favourable treatment'.
As well as claiming religious discrimination, Dr Mackereth said no effort was made to accommodate his beliefs, such as referring transgender clients at Birmingham's Five Ways assessment centre to another doctor.
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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, 2022
Video emerges of former Australian TV star saying the N-word on national TV - sparking gasps from the audience and an astonished reaction from comedian
14 years ago, he addressed a white man as "N*gger", clearly using the word as a putdown. Even 14 years ago that was pretty egregious. But how is digging up the past helpful today?
Shocking footage has resurfaced of troubled former TV host Andrew O'Keefe using a racial slur during an interview on national television.
The disgraced star used the N-word while interviewing comedian Dylan Lewis as part of the Seven Network's short-lived television series This Is Your Laugh in 2008.
'I thought, this guy is wack, that's how we used to say it back then,' O'Keefe says during the segment.
'Wack means s**t,' replies Lewis.
However, the interview then takes a turn for the worse when O'Keefe responds: 'Not where I came from, n****r.'
The offensive remark draws collective gasps from the audience, including Lewis, as an unfazed O'keefe carries on with the interview.
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Swedish school is ordered to pay student £12,000 compensation after teacher refused to use gender-neutral pronoun for them
A Swedish school has been ordered to pay a non-binary student £12,000 in compensation after a teacher refused to refer to them using gender-neutral pronouns.
The teacher said she could not use the gender-neutral pronoun 'hen', prompting the student's guardians to tell the headteacher about the teacher's refusal and the pupil's gender identity.
Despite the headteacher of the school in central Sweden promising to speak with the teacher, the student was referred to with the wrong pronouns for at least one school term, The Local reported.
'Hen' is Sweden's gender-neutral pronoun, replacing 'hon', meaning she, or 'han', meaning he. The English equivalent is using the single-person pronoun 'they'.
After the Equality Ombudsman (DO) investigated the case, it was ruled that the student was subject to discrimination and the school were ordered to pay £12,000 (150,000 Swedish kronor) in damages, local media said.
The teacher who repeatedly refused to use gender-neutral pronouns was later fired by the school, according to reports.
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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, 2022
UK: Labour MP ‘banned from Commons bars after racist remark to British-Chinese journalist’
A Labour MP has been accused of constructing racist remarks to a British-Chinese language journalist in a Home of Commons bar.
Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Previous Southwark, has reportedly been banned from all bars on the parliamentary property after an alleged incident through which he made a Sinophobic comment concerning the look of Henry Dyer, a Enterprise Insider reporter.
Mr Dyer stated the pair had been discussing Barry Gardiner, a Labour MP who received funds from a suspected Chinese spy, when Mr Coyle stated his colleague had been “paid by Fu Manchu”, a cartoon villain that attracts on conventional Chinese language stereotypes.
The journalist stated that he prompt the reference to a “Chinese language trope” was not applicable and famous that he was British-Chinese language.
He stated the MP advised him his heritage was obvious “from the way you appear to be you’ve got been giving renminbi to Barry Gardiner”.
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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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10 February, 2022
South African GP who raised alarm about Omicron says she was pressured not to call it ‘mild’
The South African GP who first raised the alarm about Omicron says she was pressured by governments “not to publicly state that it was a mild illness”.
Dr Angelique Coetzee told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper this week that European governments asked her to portray the new strain as just as serious as previous Covid-19 variants, including Delta.
“I was told not to publicly state that it was a mild illness,” she said. “I have been asked to refrain from making such statements and to say that it is a serious illness. I declined.”
Asked what she meant, Dr Coetzee said she was a clinician and “based on the clinical picture there are no indications that we are dealing with a very serious disease”.
“I’m not saying you won’t get sick if you’re mild. The definition of mild Covid-19 disease is clear, and it is a WHO definition – patients can be treated at home and oxygen or hospitalisation is not required. A serious illness is one in which we see acute pulmonary respiratory infections – people need oxygen, maybe even artificial respiration. We saw that with Delta, but not with Omicron. So I said to people, ‘I can’t say it like that because it’s not what we’re seeing.’”
“Because of all of Covid’s mutations, all of these scientists and politicians who aren’t from South Africa were contacting me telling me I was wrong when I spoke out, that it was a serious disease … they were telling me I had no idea what I was talking about, they kept attacking me,” she told the newspaper.
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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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9 February, 2022
Rogan Won’t Be Silenced
Joe Rogan will remain on Spotify despite recent controversies spurring from his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
The longtime comedian and UFC commentator issued apologies on Instagram this past month after musician Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum. Young declared that the platform could only have one of them after he caught wind of COVID-19 related anti-vaccine comments that came from Rogan’s show. Joni Mitchell also joined Young in the removal of their library on Spotify.
Additionally, clips of Rogan using the N-word on various episodes of his podcast from years prior would be brought to light. Rogan apologized for those instances as well.
In 2020, Rogan signed a $100 million deal to exclusively host his podcast on Spotify. Per Axios, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek released a memo Monday addressing the recent issues surrounding Rogan.
“Spotify Team,
“There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you. Not only are some of Joe Rogan’s comments incredibly hurtful – I want to make clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard.
“I think it’s important you’re aware that we’ve had conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language. Following these discussions and his own reflections, he chose to remove a number of episodes from Spotify. He also issued his own apology over the weekend."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mma/rogan-won-t-be-silenced/ar-AATA2FB
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Censors step in after Weibo users savage Chinese figure-skater Zhu Yi over fall at Winter Olympics
China's censors appear to have stepped in after a naturalised US-born figure-skater was savaged online after falling flat on the ice and finishing last at the Beijing Games.
Nineteen-year-old Beverly Zhu — who was raised in the United States but now competes for China under the name Zhu Yi — suffered a meltdown in the women's short program team event on Sunday.
She fell twice during her Olympic debut, which nearly cost the Chinese team their place in the next round of the competition. Zhu came last and the team dropped from third to fifth place.
"I'm upset and a little embarrassed," Zhu said after the event, wiping away tears. "I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for the women's singles and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do it, but unfortunately I didn't."
There was little sympathy for Zhu, with the hashtag #ZhuYiFellOver reportedly gaining more than 230 million views on Chinese social media platform Weibo soon after the event.
Social media users slammed her nervous performance and questioned her selection for the team.
A hashtag trending on social media that was being used to slam Zhu's performance appears to have been deactivated
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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, 2022
Canada trucker protest silenced with 10-day injunction to stop honking horns
Truckers in Ottawa have been silenced from honking their horns with an injunction amid protests over Covid rules.
The capital of Canada has been paralysed as demonstrators blocked roads and blared their horns in protest of Covid mandates bringing misery to many residents.
Judge Hugh McLean ruled the truckers were to be silent for the next 10 days after noisy honking sparked fury among the residents. “Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I’m aware of,” he said in the ruling.
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Twitter Suspends Anti-CRT Education Group Amid Pressure from Teachers Union
An anti-Critical Race Theory education organization and several of its staff members were suspended by Twitter after a teachers union member reported the accounts. Twitter lifted the organization's suspension Friday afternoon, following an appeal.
Chalkboard Review, an education website that publishes commentary on education and frequently criticizes the teaching of CRT, was suspended Thursday without notice, just one month after the National Education Association sent a letter to social media companies urging them to censor speech targeting the controversial doctrine.
In addition to CR's account receiving a suspension, several of its team members – including its scheduling editor and two members of its social media team – were also suspended by the social media giant. CR's social media director was suspended despite not making any Twitter posts on their personal account for a month.
Tony Kinnett, CR's co-founder and executive director, told Townhall that it was "truly dumbfounding" to see CR's Twitter account suspended without an email or notification after "over a year of hard work providing an outlet for teachers to publish diverse perspectives."
But Friday afternoon, following a suspension appeal, CR's Twitter account was restored, with the social media company telling CR in an email that the account was unsuspended as it "does not appear to be in violation of the Twitter Rules."
But CR's staff members who received suspensions remain suspended following failed attempts to appeal.
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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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7 February, 2022
Trump Fans Flock To New Social Media Site After Trump Shuts Down His Communication Blog
After the lackluster release of My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell’s “Frankspeech” and the sudden decision of President Trump to shut down his blog, there was a bit of concern among MAGA supporters as to where they could reliably get information and communicate outside the censorship limitations imposed by Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
In a recent poll conducted by this news site, the social media forum called Spreely (www.spreely.com) has emerged as the overwhelming favorite alternative to Facebook.
Seventy-eight percent of the participants in the poll agreed that Spreely offered the easiest to adapt, the best content and offered a facebook-like feel without the risk of being banned for comments, memes, and opinions.
Many Spreely members are already refugees of the Facebook purge and are no longer able to even access their Facebook accounts at all.
Spreely was launched in October of 2018 and has grown steadily. The owners have continued to add interesting features to the site including a messenger feature that works much like the Facebook messenger app.
The name “Spreely” is a contraction of “Speak Freely” and the platform has certainly lived up to its name.
Spreely has recently expanded into a video platform, similar to YouTube, with the launch of Spreely.video. While currently, content creators are limited, there is still a huge amount of content added daily.
In response to several members, Spreely has also expanded its video platform to “Connected TV” apps such as Roku, Apple TV and others. More information about this can be found on the website Spreely.tv.
According to recent news reports, as many as 15.4 million people have been removed from social media platforms for simply having a differing political ideology from the tech giants.
On October 11, 2018 Facebook took the unilateral decision to wipe out hundreds of pro-Trump pages and groups totaling over 70 million fans. When asked by page owners why they were removed, Facebook responded with a generic letter that simply said that pages were in violation of the terms of service.
Spreely is absolutely free and is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple store
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Australian Survivor goes woke: The word that is now BANNED from Channel Ten reality series as gender-neutral terms are mandated to promote 'inclusivity'
The Channel Ten reality show has kicked off this year's Blood v Water season with the introduction of 'de-gendered' language, as producers attempt to promote 'inclusivity' on-screen.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the word 'guys' has officially been banned from the cast's lexicon, meaning that host Jonathan LaPaglia has had to change his iconic catch-phrase: 'Come on in, guys.'
The 'gendered' phrase, which is considered by some as sexist, has been used by LaPaglia to welcome contestants into challenges since the show's inception in 2016.
'With the ever growing conversation around inclusivity, it was a natural progression to adapt our language to reflect this,' LaPaglia told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday. 'The US has also adopted a similar change,' he added.
Indeed, Survivor USA host Jeff Probst also officially stopped using the line, 'Come on in, guys', during last year's season.
Jeff had previously used the phrase for a whopping 40 seasons.
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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, 2022
PragerU license plate banned!
Each year, officials at the Georgia Department of Revenue reject about 200 applications for personalized license plates they deem obscene, defamatory, profane…or “political.”
This means PragerU was censored by a state governmental agency—now “The State” is censoring PragerU!
Georgia decided that a license plate that reads “PRAGERU” was simply too dangerous for other drivers to see on the road. We haven’t heard anything this ridiculous since YouTube restricted our videos on The Ten Commandments.
info@update.prageru.com
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Climate skeptic censored
Alan Moran
My monthly newsletter, Climate News, deals with the politics, economics and scientific developments around the world. Together with a brief commentary, graphs and charts it contains links to recent longer pieces. Over the past eight years there have been roughly 90 different climate news editions which are available on the site, Regulation Economics.
The hosting site, Wix, suddenly blocked the February newsletter as well as all previous newsletters.
We were told that the February newsletter was not compliant because it contains a link to an article by the Heartland Institute about Anthony Watts (of Watts up With That) and distinguished former NASA scientist Roy Spencer being demonetised by Google.
Wix said the account could only be reinstated if we removed the link, but that any further use of the link would result in a permanent ban.
One support officer said the problem is that Heartland is a spam site; another attributed the ban to our using the term ‘demonetise’. Upon further review, Wix rescinded its objection to the use of the link to Heartland and have restored business as usual.
What is clear is that a comment about Google seeking to prevent diverse views on climate change triggered Wix’s actions, doubtless at Google’s behest. Google, YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter are all controlled by people who wish to prevent certain issues, especially on climate policy, being debated by those whose views they oppose.
https://spectator.com.au/2022/02/can-big-tech-remain-as-the-arbiter-of-politics/
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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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4 February, 2022
Australian mining magnate takes on Facebook in court over scam ads
Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest is bringing criminal charges against Facebook, alleging the social media giant funnelled users to cryptocurrency scams that used his name to defraud unsuspecting victims.
In a highly unusual lawsuit, one which required the approval of the Attorney-General’s Department, Dr Forrest accuses Facebook of breaching Australia’s money-laundering laws. The West Australian Magistrates Court will first hear the matter in late March.
Dr Forrest is one of several high-profile Australians including Chris Hemsworth, Waleed Aly and David Koch whose images and names have been used to endorse a boom in cryptocurrency scams on Facebook since 2019.
In a separate lawsuit lodged in California, the businessman accuses Facebook of aiding and abetting fraud, alleging the company “knowingly profits from this cycle of illegal ads”. Facebook failed to create controls or a corporate culture to prevent its systems being used to commit crime, he claims.
“These scenarios played out in the underlying scam which used Dr Forrest’s name, likeness, and reputation to find victims, who often reported being swindled after believing Dr Forrest was actually endorsing the investment scheme,” documents filed with the California courts read. One Australian victim, according to the filings, lost $US670,000 ($952,000) after falling for a fake endorsement from the mining magnate.
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A 'victory' in the 'war' against cancel culture
Sky News host Rowan Dean says there has been a “great victory” in the “war” against cancel culture.
“Outsiders fans will remember Harry Miller, who appeared live in this studio ... just after he himself became the victim of cancel culture,” Mr Dean said.
Mr Dean said the British Police had turned up at Mr Miller’s workplace to "check his thinking" after he retweeted a limerick about a transgender woman, and Mr Miller was then accused of a "non-crime hate incident".
“Under the British legislation, no evidence of hate is required for someone to be officially found guilty and labelled as having committed a hate incident," he said.
"Harry took his case all the way to the British High Court and just a few days after our last show last year we received the fantastic news that Harry won his case and the judge had agreed that nobody has a 'right to be offended'.
“That's one blow against cancel culture, but the tragic reality is, cancel culture is like a cancer eating away at our rights and democratic freedoms.
“Unfortunately too many people suffer these sorts of injustices but don't have the means or the courage to speak up and fight back like Harry did.”
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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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3 February, 2022
Newspeak and rewriting history
David Flint
As our captured two-party system embeds robotic politicians in the parliaments, their language is drying up and becoming highly formulaic. This is associated with another Orwellian phenomenon, rewriting history, even for opinion polls.
As to politicians’ NewSpeak, they now regularly release some vision as if it were from the Oracle at Delphi. To stop any questioning, this is announced with that dissent-closing phrase, ‘The modelling says…’
Modelling? You cannot answer that.
The Sybil has spoken and it will come to pass. And yet something always tempts me to repeat the immortal words of the great Anglo-American statistician, Professor George E.P. Box, ‘All models are wrong’. As indeed they are.
Meanwhile, in days still dominated by the viral gift from Dictator Xi and Dr Fauci, politicians constantly rely on an all-purposes formula to justify some new decree they have just dreamt up.
At this point I must reveal that the good doctor has long reminded me of the evil genius that haunted my childhood, Dr Sivana. (A mad scientist determined to destroy the world, we were always saved in the nick of time by the ubiquitous Captain Marvel.)
As to the all-purposes decree-justifying formula, the politician looks at the audience and says with the straightest face he can muster, ‘The medical advice says…’
There are two rules he must observe: never reveal the advice nor name the author.
Call me foolish and ill-informed, but why does this medical advice never, ever, include any one of the Nobel laureates and the many other distinguished internationally celebrated scientists who openly dissent from the Fauci line, a line which Australia’s federal and state political leaders curiously but unanimously accord the medical equivalent of pontifical infallibility?
Another example of politicians’ shorthand phrases designed to silence dissent are those used to make Australians accept why those same politicians are making the nation’s energy even more expensive and less reliable than they already have. This is for two purposes. First, so the temperature can be set with extraordinary precision several decades hence and second, so that floods and bushfires are made things of the past.
The shorthand phrase used to do this is simple, effective and indeed, irresistible: ‘Just follow the science’.
When I hear this, it must be the Devil who makes me think of those two Australian Nobel laureates who refused to follow the science and were originally ridiculed when they dared announce that peptic ulcer is no longer a chronic, frequently disabling condition, but a disease that can be permanently cured.
Let me also mention the politicians’ third favourite formula.
This is to just say: ‘Believe the experts’. But again, something makes me think of those many lawyers on both sides of a court case who regularly and normally engage and pay for highly qualified experts for the purpose of, believe it or not, giving contradictory expert evidence.
At least we know that in relation to polling, no politician ever looks at this, especially if it suggests a loss. As we know – and for this we have their word – the only poll politicians are interested in is the election.
Now the latest poll is in the Sydney Morning Herald (24 January, 2022) Republic Push: Majority agree but split on how.
David Crowe’s opening line is ‘Australians are willing to vote for a republic by a narrow majority of 54 per cent but are split over the best way…’
This contrasts with two prominent lines of pie charts on page four which tell the reader that ‘general support’ for a republic is only 36 per cent and support for the Australian Republic Movement’s new model is 38 per cent.
It is only when you go down to the seventh paragraph of the text and look at another pie chart on the page opposite just above the Queen’s picture, that you realise where the 54 per cent figure comes in.
Headed AUSTRALIAN REPUBLIC FORCED CHOICE (only the first two words are bold) the question reads:
‘The real referendum vote question will force you to vote Yes or No. Even if it’s just a slight leaning or a guess would you vote Yes or No to Australia becoming a republic?’
This is a rewriting of law and fact. No one is ever forced to vote Yes or No. You can vote informal and many people do.
The answer to this question will be higher than it should have been.
Then there is the opening question, ‘Are you personally in favour or against Australia becoming a republic independent of the UK?’
The question rewrites history. We have long been ‘independent of the UK’. Australians do not need to become a republic to be independent of the UK. Australia already is. The Yes vote is higher than it should have been.
Then there is the long second question. It includes these words ‘…the UK’s monarch automatically being Australia’s head of state’.
In the No case campaign in the 1999 referendum, the argument was clear: we already have an Australian as head of state, the Governor-General. Every Australian government, Labor or Coalition expects foreign governments to receive the Governor-General as the Australian head of state, as the Hawke government famously informed the Suharto government in 1983.
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy has a team of experts in constitutional and international law and vice-regal practice chaired by the Hon. Kenneth Handley, a former Australian judge so distinguished he has been asked to sit on four courts in other Commonwealth countries. They are unanimous in their advice that the Governor-General is Australia’s head of state.
Once again, the question rewrites the facts and the law and favours one side in the referendum debate. This poll is corrupted at three significant points.
On the day it appeared I wrote a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald setting out the last two matters vitiating the poll.
The letter was not published.
https://spectator.com.au/2022/02/newspeak-and-rewriting-history/
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Gender-neutral pronoun 'hen' is set to enter Norwegian dictionaries
The gender-neutral pronoun 'hen' will officially enter dictionaries in Norway after rising popularity in the use of the new word.
The Language Council of Norway confirmed that the term, which is an alternative to the feminine pronoun 'hun' and the masculine pronoun 'han', would likely enter official Norwegian language within a year.
Daniel Ims, a representative for the council, said the use of hen had increased in the country and had been discussed in the country's linguistic and grammar community for some time before a decision was made by the council.
He told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK: 'It will be part of the spelling, both in Bokmål and in Nynorsk.
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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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2 February, 2022
Actress Fired for Rant About Road Closures During NYPD Officer’s Funeral
A New York City actress found herself without employment at her theater company after she posted an insensitive rant online, complaining about the road closures for slain Officer Jason Rivera's funeral.
Although Jacqueline Guzman deleted the post once it went viral, the damage was already done.
“We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly. They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason, and we don’t shut down the city for them,” she said in a TikTok video under the username @vinylboobs.
People did not take kindly to her rude rant and condemned her comments.
One Brooklyn officer described it as “totally disrespectful, not only to the NYPD but to all New York residents and to all humans. If this is the only way she can get publicity, I feel very sorry for her.”
Her now former acting employer, Face to Face Films, announced, "Face To Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman."
They continued on to say they do "not support nor can condone these comments made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company."
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Scientists speak out on being silenced when raising concerns about COVID lab leak theory
Some scientists have begun speaking out about efforts to silence researchers who raised concerns about the possibility that COVID-19 could have originated in a Chinese lab.
"It shot from every direction from people who we now know were actually thinking exactly the same thing but have chosen to say the opposite, which is extraordinary," Australian Dr. Nikolai Petrovsky, a Flinders University Medicine professor, told Fox News of the backlash he received for voicing concerns that the pandemic may have originated in a lab.
Petrovsky was not alone, according to reporting from Fox News' Benjamin Hall, who spoke with scientists from Israel, the U.S., Australia, Germany, the U.K., Australia and Germany. The scientists told Fox News that they received backlash and resistance to getting their work published, even from those who quietly believed in the possibility of the "lab-leak theory."
"It's taken two years for that to finally come out and be exposed," Petrovsky said.
The scientists say that there was a top-down effort aimed at protecting the scientific community from negative public attention, with fears spreading among scientists that a public realization that the pandemic may have spread due to gain-of-function research in a lab could hamper future experiments.
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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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1 February, 2022
What EXACTLY does Joe Rogan say about Covid and is it that outrageous? The views that got vaccine-sceptic podcaster in hot water with the cancel-crowd
Comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan has hit the headlines in recent days after he was accused by singer Neil Young of 'spreading Covid misinformation' via his Spotify-hosted podcast The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE).
Much of the controversy was sparked by two recent episodes of the podcast in which Rogan spoke with an acclaimed cardiologist and expert virologist, both of whom were critical of the way in which the pandemic has been handled in the US.
But Rogan, 54, has criticized the American government and the CDC's approach to the pandemic since late 2020, speaking out against vaccine mandates, vaccine passes and enforced mask wearing, while cautioning healthy young people under pressure to get jabbed.
He has also been vocal about the government's reluctance to discuss any other potential treatments of Covid-19 besides the vaccine, and questioned why public health organizations have been so quick to encourage vaccine uptake without extolling the benefits of improving one's baseline health.
The JRE is Spotify's highest-rated show, with each episode bringing over 10 million listeners, and the streaming service cut a deal believed to be worth over $100 million in late 2020 for the exclusive rights to host his podcast.
The podcaster's detractors have long decried what they perceive to be an 'anti-vaccine' stance, accusing the podcaster of discouraging people from following government guidelines around Covid.
Others meanwhile have pointed out that Rogan's words are often taken out of context and that he is simply giving people access to views and opinions - often expressed by experts - that question the official narrative of the US government. Many have also argued that the media's attempts to discredit Rogan are tantamount to censorship.
These are some of the key sentiments Rogan has expressed on the pandemic - many of which have received considerable support - amid the long-running debate over the comedian and his wildly successful show.
Rogan says big tech is censoring alternative views on vaccines and the pandemic - December 31, 2021: JRE #1757 with Dr Robert Malone
Rogan has hit out at big tech for its de-platforming of reputable individuals who presented viewpoints alternative to the official narrative, pointing to Malone's Twitter ban as an example.
'They removed [Malone] for not going along with whatever the tech narrative is because tech clearly has a censorship agenda when it comes to Covid in terms of treatment, in terms of whether or not you are promoting what they would call 'vaccine hesitancy' - they can ban you for that' Rogan said.
Malone, whose Twitter account with over 500,000 followers was suspended one day before the podcast's release, is the owner of several patents related to mRNA vaccine technology and has been involved in the development of vaccines and repurposing of drugs for several viruses.
The podcast quickly went viral as the doctor, whose career has been inextricably linked to the creation and promotion of vaccines, ripped into the way in which they have been rolled out in the US.
'I'm personally offended by watching my discipline get destroyed for no good reason at all except, apparently, financial incentives, and - I don't know - political a**-covering.
'Our government is out of control. They completely disregard bioethics. They completely disregard the federal common rule.'
Rogan questions the refusal to promote alternative treatments - December 15, 2021: JRE #1747 with Dr. Peter A. McCullough
Rogan accused the government of deliberately holding back or discouraging the use of alternative treatments for Covid, such as monoclonal antibodies, and selectively preventing some people from accessing the treatments.
'There's an unlimited supply or a very large supply, more than adequate for the entire population, of monoclonal antibodies. So what is stopping the distribution of them? Because not only have they made it difficult to get in Texas, they actually put these parameters on who gets it and who doesn't.'
Rogan also hit out at the FDA and CDC's refusal to list Ivermectin as a Covid treatment, citing the anti-parasitic drug's widespread safe usage around the world and pointing out that his own doctor prescribed Ivermectin with positive results.
Dr. Peter McCullough – an acclaimed cardiologist and highly published medical scientist - appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience shortly before Malone.
He shared Malone's view that the US government's handling of the pandemic has been abysmal, but also accused the government of actively suppressing early treatment of the virus.
'Multi-drug therapy, as an outpatient, works substantially, and we've had a giant loss of life – a giant number – millions and millions of unnecessary hospitalizations,' said McCullough.
'It seemed to me early on that there was an intentional, very comprehensive suppression of early treatment in order to promote fear, suffering, isolation, hospitalization, and death.'
More here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10459419/What-does-Joe-Rogan-say-vaccines-outrageous.html
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