Tongue Tied 3: October 2021

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Must not approve of conservative policies on Australia's ABC

ABC TV political reporter Jane Norman is once again in the firing line of social media critics for 'gushing' coverage of Scott Morrison's net zero climate plan.

On Tuesday, Ms Norman said the plan was 'practically achievable' while covering the announcement of Mr Morrison's plan to net zero emissions by 2050.

'There are a few heroic assumptions or statements made in this new plan,' she told the audience.

'The fact that Scott Morrison got a deal on climate, the fact he's still the prime minister, is a significant achievement given Australia's long and tortuous history with climate policy.'

Social media critics were quick to jump on Ms Norman's characterisation of the plan, focusing on use of the word 'heroic'.

'For the ABC to use the term "heroic" re the nonplan, it must have been in the [Prime Minister's Offce] media instructions,' one commenter on Twitter wrote.

'Jane Norman's relentless cheerleading for Scott Morrison is just embarrassing,' wrote another.

Twitter account @medianalystoz said Ms Norman had 'gushed' about the plan. 'LNP spin from the ABC,' it concluded.

Others noted, however, that an 'heroic' assumption in the sense in which Ms Norman used it generally means there is doubt about the accuracy of that assumption.

Contacted by Daily Mail Australia, Ms Norman said she had no comment to make on the backlash but that trolling of her on social media was 'nothing new'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10134839/ABC-reporter-Jane-Norman-cops-barrage-abuse-coverage-Scott-Morrisons-climate-plan.html

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PETA Urges MLB to Replace 'Bullpen' with 'Arm Barn'

Animal rights organization PETA has called for Major League Baseball to "strike out" the word "bullpen" in favor of "arm barn" because, as the organization claims, the current term is a reference to a "holding area where terrified bulls are kept before slaughter."

"Words matter, and baseball ‘bullpens’ devalue talented players and mock the misery of sensitive animals," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a press release. "PETA encourages Major League Baseball coaches, announcers, players, and fans to changeup their language and embrace the ‘arm barn’ instead."

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/landonmion/2021/10/29/peta-urges-mlb-to-replce-bullpen-with-arm-barn-n2598288

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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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Friday, October 29, 2021

Twitter Suspended Republican Lawmaker over pronouns

Twitter is quite infamous for its notorious cherry-picking and one-sided political agenda, blocking tweets and suspending accounts of Republican lawmakers.

And Rep.Banks is their recent target, suspending his Twitter account for using the wrong ‘Pronouns.’

Indiana Republican Representative Jim Banks has been suspended from Twitter after he uses the wrong pronouns in a tweet about Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, who is transgender.

After he wrote out a tweet stating “the title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man”, Bank’s Twitter account was then suspended.

The leftist media praised Levine as the first “female” four-star admiral, prompting Banks’ post.

https://theinformedamerican.net/why-twitter-suspended-this-republican-lawmaker-is-absolutely-insane/

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Australian University professor avoids jail after admitting sending threatening letters and underwear to HERSELF

Fake hate speech. It happens in America too

A former university dean has been spared jail time over her 'bizarre' fake letter campaign and will serve her custodial sentence within the community.

Judge Ian Bourke sentenced Diane Jolley on Friday in the District Court to serve an intensive corrections order of two years and six months for committing her 'somewhat bizarre offences,' he said.

The judge said he was unable to arrive at a clear conclusion as to why the academic had gone 'to such extreme measures' as cutting up her own clothes and sending herself her own underwear.

He could not find she had shown genuine remorse given she proclaimed to have only sent herself one of the fake letters, despite a recorded phone call of her admitting to being 'naughty twice'.

The former University of Technology Sydney professor was found guilty in July of 10 charges of conveying information likely to make a person fear for their safety, knowing that it was misleading.

The 51-year-old academic was also found guilty on one charge of causing financial disadvantage by deception to her work after UTS spent more than $127,000 in security measures protecting her.

For months Jolley pretended to find alarming notes, one reading: 'Goodbye, cya and good luck,' with her photograph and a red line drawn through her face. Another read: 'Chop our future we chop yours'.

The elaborate ploy between May and November 2019 included shredding nearly $2000 worth of her own clothing, and sending herself underwear.

Her employer racked up an expensive bill providing CCTV cameras installed in her home and office, monitoring alarms, private security chaperoning her around the university, and hire cars driving between home and work.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10143087/Dianne-Jolley-Former-University-Technology-Sydney-UTS-professor-AVOIDS-jail.html

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Caitlyn Jenner says Dave Chappelle is '100% right' to face down angry transgender mob over his new Netflix special and says backlash against him is 'woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech'

Caitlyn Jenner has come to Dave Chappelle's defense amid controversy over his Netflix special The Closer, saying the comic is '100% right' to stand up to transgender protesters angered by his gags.

Jenner, the world's most famous transgender woman, tweeted Tuesday: 'Dave Chappelle is 100% right. 'This isn't about the LGBTQ movement. It's about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech.'

'We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds,' the retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete wrote.

She spoke as LGBTQ activists continue to bash the comic for his jokes about the transgender community in the special.

Jenner was also moved to speak-out after transgender employees at the streaming service's office staged a walkout in protest of the production last week, with Chappelle taking to Instagram Monday to clear the air.

In the video, which contained a clip from one the comedian's recent sets, Chappelle extinguished rumors that he turned down an invitation to speak with Netflix's trans employees, and urged fans to not blame the LGBTQ community for the backlash he is currently facing, saying 'this has nothing to do with them.'

The comic further clarified that 'even though the media frames it as me versus that community,' the controversy stems from 'corporate interests, and what I can say and cannot say.' Jenner issued her Twitter defense while reposting Chappelle's speech.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10136147/Caitlyn-Jenner-says-Dave-Chappelle-100-right-face-angry-transgender-mob.html

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Australian regulator wants Facebook to censor a political party

Australia’s medical regulator has written to Google and Facebook to ask for the removal of “seriously misleading” posts from Clive Palmer’s political party.

In a letter, the boss of the Therapeutic Goods Administration asked the digital giants to remove the content from the United Australia Party, citing their selective use of the regulator’s data on adverse vaccine events.

“As you may be aware, the TGA has expressed concern about material promoted on social media, including YouTube by the United Australia Party which we believe provides a seriously misleading picture of the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and could discourage individuals and their families from becoming vaccinated,” Adjunct Professor John Skerritt wrote.

“Extracts of information have been selectively taken … and have been presented in such a way on social media that many could conclude that the vaccines have been responsible for several hundred deaths in Australia.

“Over the last couple of years the TGA has worked successfully with YouTube to remove advertising that allegedly was in breach of the Therapeutic Goods Act and Code, such as promotion of fraudulent products that claimed to treat Covid-19.

“While for the reasons described above, the communications from the UAP do not fit into the category of advertising, I would ask you to consider removing such communications as they undermine Australia‘s vaccination campaign and are not in the public interest.”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/breaking-news/tga-asks-youtube-fb-to-take-down-misleading-palmer-ads/news-story/3df495dac33f005f525d09215efebd92

Social media executives will be prosecuted for hatred and abuse online, says Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has pledged to introduce criminal sanctions for social media bosses who allow “foul content” to be posted on their platforms.

The prime minister was responding to criticism from Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who said that the government should make senior managers of social media platforms criminally liable for extremist and hateful content on their sites.

Speaking during prime minister’s questions, Starmer pushed Johnson to take advantage of the “inescapable desire” of MPs, in the aftermath of the killing of the Conservative MP Sir David Amess, to “clamp down on the extremism, the hate and the abuse that festers online”.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/social-media-executives-will-be-prosecuted-for-hate-and-abuse-says-boris-johnson-pxf6hspdh

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Protection for controversial NZ ritual

Fresh calls to ban the All Blacks' haka have emerged after a special clause to protect the war dance's cultural tradition was included in last week's New Zealand-United Kingdom free-trade agreement.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her British counterpart Boris Johnson agreed terms on a deal designed to boost trade and relations between their two countries during a Zoom call on Thursday.

The free-trade agreement, which officials believe will be worth $1 billion to New Zealand's GDP, will eventually eliminate all tariffs on New Zealand exports to Britain.

But in what some in the UK are calling an unusual move, the deal also commits Britain to "co-operate with New Zealand to identify appropriate ways to advance recognition and protection of the haka, Ka Mate".

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi welcomed the clause, which is understood to be designed to stomp out inappropriate use of the haka.

"We must be looking at cultural appropriation - not misappropriation, treating it with a lot more respect," Waititi said.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/calls-to-ban-all-blacks-haka-after-nz-uk-trade-deal-protects-ritual/NQFJ6RUUFRCFKFQLBK2ZCE4EIA/

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

UK: Priti Patel considering removing right to anonymity on social media to stop ‘relentless’ abuse of MPs

Social media users could face a ban on anonymous accounts, as home secretary Priti Patel steps up action to tackle radicalisation in the wake of the murder of MP Sir David Amess.

Police questioning Ali Harbi Ali on suspicion of terrorism offences are understood to be investigating the possibility that the 25-year-old UK national of Somali background was radicalised by material found on the internet and social media networks during lockdown.

Ali had in the past come into contact with the government’s Prevent deradicalisation programme, but was not considered a significant enough risk to come to the notice of security services.

Investigations are believed so far to have found no evidence of extensive contact with terror groups abroad. His father Harbi Ali Kullane was a former media spokesman for the prime minister of Somalia and had been involved in campaigns against the extremist al-Shabaab group in the east African country.

Diane Abbott, who receives more online abuse than any other MP, gave her backing to legislation forcing tech giants to reveal the identity of those who peddle hate on their platforms.

She told The Independent that police investigations into racial abuse and threats against her had repeatedly foundered because of social media companies’ insistence on protecting anonymity. And she said: “Persons inciting violence and racial hatred online should know that they will no longer have this cover.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-david-amess-social-media-b1939775.html

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Spooky? Theatre fears word has racist past

The National Theatre of Scotland has stopped using the word “spooky” to describe shows after it was flagged up as a racial slur.

The state-funded arts company has previously used the word to promote a production of A Christmas Carol in 2016.

The term has been dropped as part of its commitment to tackling discrimination and prejudicial language.

The Dutch word “spook” translates as ghost and has been used in English since the 19th century as well as being used as a synonym for a spy.

However, during the Second World War US military officers used it as a derogatory term to describe black pilots.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spooky-theatre-fears-word-has-racist-past-lbkjttg6r

Monday, October 25, 2021

Popular Australian Cartoonist Michael Leunig axed from prime spot at The Age over ‘offensive’ vaccine toon

Newspaper cartoonist Michael Leunig has been axed from his prized position in The Age over an image comparing resistance to mandatory vaccination to the fight for democracy in Tiananmen Square.

In an image posted to his Instagram account, Leunig — whose career has spanned five decades — drew a lone protester standing in front of a loaded syringe, mimicking the iconic “tank man” image of protest in China. An inset of the 1989 photo also appears in Leunig’s drawing.

The image was posted at the end of September and never made it to print in The Age, and speculation about Leunig’s job at the newspaper began after a cryptic 39-word statement on its letters page last Monday. The statement said the Melbourne newspaper was “trialling new cartoonists” on the page.

Now, Leunig has confirmed to The Australian columnist Nick Tabakoff he has been taken off the newspaper’s prized Monday editorial page position — not long after his Tiananmen Square cartoon emerged and stoked outrage from Daniel Andrews fans.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10126303/Cartoonist-Leunig-AXED-cartoon-comparing-Dan-Andrews-vaccine-mandates-Tiananmen-Square.html

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Cambridge University archive slaps 'trigger warnings' on classic children's books because of potentially 'harmful content'

Classic children’s books in a Cambridge University archive will in future be labelled with ‘trigger warnings’ for ‘harmful content relating to slavery, colonialism and racism’.

Researchers are reviewing more than 10,000 books and magazines to expose authors who have been ‘offensive to historically enslaved, colonised or denigrated people’.

It comes after anti-racist campaigners demanded teachers censor racial slurs when reading out the text of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird.

The archive at Cambridge’s Homerton College is being reviewed as part of a move to upload texts to a digital library.

In online versions, words, phrases and images deemed harmful will be flagged and content warnings placed at the beginning of each text.

Offending authors include Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote Little House On The Prairie, for her ‘stereotypical depictions of Native Americans’.

Another is Dr Theodor Seuss Geisel, author of the Dr Seuss books, for ‘overt blackface’ and cultural insensitivities.

The Water Babies, Charles Kingsley’s 1863 children’s classic about a young chimney sweep, is described as having the potential to ‘harm readers without warning’ for comments about Irish and black people.

L Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, is also cited for ‘white supremacy’ in his Bandit Jim Crow, written under the pen name of Laura Bancroft.

The project, conducted jointly with the University of Florida, funded by the US National Endowment for the Humanities, will prioritise the online provision of children’s books by ‘people of colour’ and texts that ‘showcase diversity’.

Authors such as Enid Blyton, Peter Pan writer JM Barrie and Roald Dahl have been criticised for racist and insensitive portrayals in their novels and are likely to be among those attracting a warning.

But critics said content warnings were unnecessary and could lead to overt censorship.

Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘The whole point of much of children’s literature is to introduce them to alternative worlds. Fairy tales, for example, are saturated with scary characters and that is partly the point of them. Only woke-afflicted adults have such silly notions as trigger warnings.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10126173/Cambridge-University-archive-slaps-trigger-warnings-classic-childrens-books.html

Devon Parish magazine faces backlash after publishing cartoon featuring a priest joking that killing a politician is 'community service'

A parish magazine is facing a backlash after publishing a cartoon about a woman and a priest joking about the murder of an MP.

Residents reacted with fury over the 'joke' cartoon published in Instow Parish News - a parish magazine covering the North Devon village and nearby Westleigh and West Yelland.

The cartoon features an elderly woman giving a confession to a priest, saying: 'Bless me, father, for I have sinned. Last night I killed a politician...'

The priest responds: 'My daughter, I'm here to listen to your sins, not your community service work.'

The cartoon was published in the magazine's August edition, two months before the killing of MP Sir David Amess.

The Tory politician was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery held in a church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex earlier this month.

The cartoon has since been removed from the online edition of the publication, after a backlash from residents who wrote in to the publication saying it was in 'bad taste'.

And now one councillor from the area now called for an end of 'demonising our MPs' in the wake of Sir David's death.

The row over the carton began after it was first published in the Instow Parish News magazine in August. A number of residents wrote into the magazine, which is published in print and online, to complain about the joke, including the local Bishop Revd. Brenda Jacobs.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10115993/Devon-Parish-magazine-faces-backlash-publishing-cartoon-woman-killing-MP.html

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Voluntary Asisted Dying law in Queensland, Australia

Applegarth is Labor’s golden-haired boy right now after successfully steering the assisted suicide laws into the Parliament via his role as the Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission.

However, I will not forgive nor forget how the architects of the VAD Bill avoided using the word “suicide” because of the stigma associated with it. And Applegarth and others who framed the laws ludicrously pretend that suicide is not suicide at all.

“The Bill provides that a person who dies as a result of self-administration or administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance does not die by suicide and is taken to have died from the disease, illness or medical condition from which they suffered,” says an explanatory note given to MPs.

To my mind that is intellectual dishonesty.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-labors-goldenhaired-boy-unsuitable-to-be-chief-justice/news-story/d4e71aceb243c7c0768f4c6e0e856329

Friday, October 22, 2021

A battle of gender-identity pronouns

Culture wars latest: the campaign group Sex Matters has today launched a guide for employees and bosses on the law regarding the use of gender pronouns. The group was launched by Maya Forstater — a tax expert who in June scored a landmark appeal tribunal victory in an employment row over gender self-identification — and the guide warns employers that forcing workers to state their pronouns could be a breach of equality legislation.

The group points out that UK employers are “starting to ask staff to state their pronouns at work in email signatures, organisational and social-media bios, on name badges and application forms, and sometimes even at the start of meetings”. But it maintains that doing so “is a form of compelled speech

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-battle-of-gender-identity-pronouns-b2j3ndk2b

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Boston Celtics games blocked in China after NBA player Enes Kanter's comments on Tibet

Chinese broadcaster and NBA partner Tencent has blocked Boston Celtics games on its platforms after comments from Celtics centre Enes Kanter advocating Tibetan independence.

Kanter, as part of a series of social media posts, also called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "dictator." Kanter did not play in Boston's season-opening 138-134 loss to New York on Wednesday night local time.

The game was not shown on the streaming services that typically broadcast most NBA games to millions in China.

The NBA had no immediate comment and the Celtics did not practice Thursday local time. It was also not immediately clear how long Tencent plans not to air the Celtics.

Kanter was wearing shoes emblazoned with the words "Free Tibet" during Wednesday night's game.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-22/boston-celtics-games-blocked-china-enes-kanter-tibet-xi-jinping/100559154

Thursday, October 21, 2021

'You should be ashamed': MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong slams British radio host for calling Tilly Ramsay a 'chubby little thing'

The fact that she is a chubby little thing does not count, of course

A MasterChef Australia judge has lashed out at a British commentator for fat-shaming Tilly Ramsay on his radio show this week. Tilly, 19, who is the daughter of chef Gordon Ramsay, became the subject of criticism for UK radio announcer Steve Allen, 67, on Wednesday, after he made derogatory comments about her weight.

Allen had referred to Tilly as a 'chubby little thing' - a statement that sparked backlash among fans and celebrities alike.

Hours later, Tilly wrote on Instagram that she was 'hurt' by the shocking remarks.

Among those to publicly slam Allen was MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong, who met Tilly when she competed on the Celebrity spin-off of MasterChef Australia earlier this year.

Posting to her Instagram Stories on Thursday, Melissa, 39, re-shared Tilly's online statement, while adding her own strongly-worded message.

'This is not cool. Steve, you should be ashamed at your behaviour... you're not exactly a supermodel mate,' Melissa wrote.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10114047/MasterChef-Australia-judge-Melissa-Leong-slams-British-radio-host-fat-shaming-Tilly-Ramsay.html

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Democrats Propose a Federal Speech Czar

Tucked inside a supposedly ‘moderate’ voting bill is a provision that would empower a lone bureaucrat to wield outsized control over elections.

Deep inside the Democrats’ latest “compromise” proposal on elections and campaign finance is a new cup of poison for free speech and fair campaigns.

Of course, the sponsors bragged that they dropped some controversial provisions. One such provision altered the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which polices campaign-finance laws, from a bipartisan agency to one with a partisan majority appointed by the president.

The bill, now dubbed the Freedom to Vote Act, abandons that direct attempt to give the president a partisan majority at the FEC. But it still abolishes the principle of bipartisan approval of enforcement actions. Even worse, it rigs court review of FEC decisions against defendants.

In a sign of the bill’s hostility to free speech, the measure also proposes doubling the statute of limitations for most violations of federal campaign-finance laws to 10 years. That’s longer than the statute of limitations for the crime of attempted assassination of a member of Congress.

The FEC was created nearly 50 years ago, in the wake of Watergate, to prevent the president from weaponizing campaign-finance laws against political opponents. The most important feature is the Commission’s bipartisan makeup — six commissioners, with no more than three from any one party. At least four commissioners must approve initiating investigations or finding violations, thus assuring some measure of bipartisan agreement that a law may have been violated.

Under the Democrats’ proposal, the FEC would keep the same structure, but scrap the bipartisan requirement for enforcement action. Instead, the Commission’s general counsel would take control of actions such as starting an investigation and declaring a violation. The counsel’s decision would prevail unless, within 30 days, four commissioners voted to overrule it.

In other words, it would take a bipartisan coalition of four commissioners to stop an investigation rather than launch one. It would also take four votes to declare that no violation occurred. The bipartisan requirement for finding a violation is removed, just as it was in the earlier bill.

It’s hard to think of the measure that would do more to undermine confidence in the fairness of our campaign-finance laws.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/10/democrats-propose-a-federal-speech-czar/

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

BBC ‘gagged me after I blew whistle on bullying’

A former BBC public relations manager says that she has been gagged by the corporation after raising concerns about bullying and harassment.

Una Carlin, who was the chief spokeswoman in Northern Ireland for 15 years, reached a £100,000 settlement with the BBC in February after she had sued the corporation in 2014 over grievances dating back a decade.

Carlin, who left the BBC in 2015, said that she had been bullied and harassed for asking whether recruitment practices were in line with employment laws in Northern Ireland. She signed her settlement after appealing to Tim Davie, the director-general, to draw a line under the feud, which she said had left her in financial ruin and damaged her mental health.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-gagged-me-whistleblowing-bullying-harassment-30wnhgx9r

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Top Berkeley physicist RESIGNS in protest at colleagues who refused to invite acclaimed scientist to speak there after his MIT speech was canceled over his criticism of George Floyd riots and pro-meritocracy views

A leading scientist has dramatically resigned from his post at Berkeley University in protest at his colleagues' refusal to invite a physicist to give a speech previously canceled by another college at the behest of a woke mob.

David Romps was the director of Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC), in California.

He resigned Monday after Berkeley refused his request to invite Dorian Abbot to speak on campus, and said he would stand down by the end of the year, or when a replacement candidate for his current role was found.

In the first of a series of tweets explaining his decision, Romps said: 'I am resigning as Director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center (BASC). To reduce the odds of being mischaracterized, I want to explain my decision here...'

Abbot, an associate professor at the University of Chicago's department of geophysical sciences, was due to deliver the prestigious Carlson lecture at MIT on 'new results in climate science'. But he found out that the October 21 lecture had been called off after protest at his views.

Abbot posted several videos on YouTube last year denouncing the rioting in Chicago that erupted in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin.

He also argued that students should be given the same opportunities and marked on their academic merit, rather than equity - equality of outcomes, a phrase whose use has become increasingly widespread.

Romps, angered by Abbot being disinvited from MIT, suggested to his own university that they allow Abbot to deliver his lecture there instead.

Princeton University took the same step, and on Thursday Abbot will speak at the New Jersey institution's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

But at Berkeley, Romps met resistance.

'I asked the BASC faculty if we might invite that scientist to speak to us in the coming months to hear the science talk he had prepared and, by extending the invitation now, reaffirm that BASC is a purely scientific organization, not a political one,' Romps explained on Twitter.

'In the ensuing discussion among the BASC faculty, it became unclear to me whether we could invite that scientist ever again, let alone now.

'I was hoping we could agree that BASC does not consider an individual's political or social opinions when selecting speakers for its events, except for cases in which the opinions give a reasonable expectation that members of our community would be treated with disrespect.

'Unfortunately, it is unclear when or if we might reach agreement on this point.'

Romps said he felt strongly that Berkeley denying Abbot the right to speak about science because of his political views was disturbing, and harmful to their scientific work.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10106001/Top-Berkeley-physicist-resigns-colleagues-refused-invite-acclaimed-scientist-speak.html

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

This Doctor Opposes COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate. Now His State Won't Let Him Practice Medicine

A Rhode Island dentist has been ordered to stop caring for patients after he publicly said he was going to defy the vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday.

Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott issued the ordered against Dr. Stephen Skoly Friday.

According to the order, Skoly did an interview with the Providence Journal and said he was knowingly unvaccinated and was still going to continue to see his patients.

Alexander Scott also noted he there were several other public recording echoing that message.

Skoly cannot continue rendering services until he complies with the order. He also has ten days to request a hearing, according to the order.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/ri-dentist-ordered-to-stop-seeing-patients-after-publicly-defying-vaccine-mandate

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Home ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is Banned by Canadian Government

“Let’s Go Brandon,” the popular anti-Biden meme that took off as a jab at fake news media, has been banned by the Canadian government.

The Canadian agency Shared Services, a department that is responsible for providing and consolidating IT services across the government, issued a stern warning to federal employees that referencing the phrase could lead to instant termination “without recourse or labor union participation.”

“This is a formal notification that all government correspondence must be professional in nature and approved by department heads,” the letter warns. “When applicable all correspondence must be vetted by the PMO for framing and message prior to public disclosure or internal distribution.”

The letter, dated October 14, then goes on to state that “Let’s Go Brandon” has been specifically “banned” by the Canadian Public Service.

“The uses of colloquialisms or sayings with intended double meaning or offense are strictly prohibited in all means of correspondence and/or communication,” the memo stated. “Specifically, the use of the wording ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ and any variation thereof under any circumstance is banned by the Canadian Public Service.”

Monday, October 18, 2021

Katie Couric’s RBG Coverup

The mainstream media’s credibility took another big hit this week. Katie Couric, the former co-host of NBC’s Today show, revealed in a new memoir that she chose not to air some controversial comments made to her five years ago by the sainted Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, involving RBG’s criticism of NFL players like Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem.

Couric says she was “conflicted” because she was a “big RBG fan,” so she only aired some of the harsh words RBG had for the football players refusing to stand for the national anthem. According to her story, after talking with New York Times columnist David Brooks, Couric concluded that Ginsburg—who was on the Supreme Court at the time—was “elderly and probably didn’t fully understand the question.” Couric confesses in her book that she “‘wanted to protect’ Ginsburg and felt that the issue of racial justice was a ‘blind spot’ for her.”

Couric’s revelation comes on the heels of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) being forced to apologize for altering a famous RBG quote. During her 1993 confirmation hearings, Ginsburg said, “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity.” In keeping with today’s gender-neutral nomenclature, the group changed “woman” to a bracketed “[person’s]” and swapped the word “her” with a bracketed “[their].”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/katie-couric-covering-up-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-colin-kaepernick-comments-shows-how-we-ended-up-with-trump

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Fury as Tory Nick Timothy attacks police for attending 'politically-correct' Pride

A former Downing Street adviser has been slammed for mocking senior police officers for attending Pride celebrations.

Nick Timothy, who was one of Theresa May's Joint Chiefs of Staff, used Twitter to criticise a senior West Midlands Police officer for taking part in the parade celebrating LGBT rights in Birmingham.

He retweeted a short video showing the force's Chief Constable Dave Thompson and West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster in attendance at the parade wishing people a 'happy Pride'.

Mr Timothy said: "In Birmingham I’m proud to report that the complete eradication of crime means the police now play a purely ceremonial role for politically correct causes."

His comments, first reported by Birmingham Live, attracted ire from across the political spectrum, and sparked calls for his role as a board member of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to be reconsidered.

In response, the chief constable wrote: "Nick, I am disappointed at this response. I am proud to walk with my @WMPLGBTNetwork colleagues in @BirminghamPride on our day off work.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/fury-tory-nick-timothy-attacks-25075813

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Corporate America has a censorship problem

Peter Rex

Tripwire Interactive CEO John Gibson just became another casualty of cancel culture, which threatens tremendous harm to our civil society and the American way of life.

Gibson’s sin? Expressing support for the Supreme Court’s decision not to block Texas’s recently enacted heartbeat law . For that, he lost his job.

It is a sin of which I am also guilty. As the founder and CEO of a tech, investment, and real-estate firm, I have likewise used my personal Twitter account to express pro-life views, as do millions of people every day.

No one should ever lose their job over such an intrinsically American act. Yet that was the result of Gibson’s tweet stating his opinion. Following his tweet, other companies announced they would no longer work with Tripwire, which led to Gibson’s inevitable exit.

While Gibson was singled out and removed for expressing an opinion that according to Tripwire “disregarded the values of the whole [Tripwire] team,” other companies have decided to take sides on the Texas law regardless of how their actions might conflict with the values of their employees.

More than 50 businesses have signed a letter in public opposition to the law. Bumble is setting up a relief fund for those seeking abortions in Texas. Lyft and Uber announced they would cover legal fees of drivers who might be sued under the new law.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/corporate-america-has-a-censorship-problem

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Lithuania tells citizens to throw out Chinese phones over censorship concerns

Lithuania’s Defence Ministry has recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now, after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.

Flagship phones sold in Europe by China’s smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “free Tibet”, “long live Taiwan independence” or “democracy movement”, Lithuania’s state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday.

The capability in Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G phone software had been turned off for the European Union region, but can be turned on remotely at any time, the ministry’s national cybersecurity centre said in the report.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/lithuania-tells-citizens-to-throw-out-chinese-phones-over-censorship-concerns

Friday, October 15, 2021

LGBT activists get word ‘mother’ axed from Scottish government policies

The term “mother” was removed from Scottish government maternity policies after they were lobbied by a leading LGBT+ charity, it has emerged.

Stonewall urged ministers to remove gendered terms from policy documents and replace them with “gender neutral equivalents”.

Documents released under freedom of information (FoI) legislation confirm that the charity wrote to the Scottish government last year encouraging them to adopt terms featured in their inclusive policy toolkit. The word mother now no longer appears on documents outlining maternity leave.

The FOI requests were made by the broadcaster and journalist Stephen Nolan for his BBC podcast Nolan Investigates.

Since 2013 the Scottish government has been part of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lgbt-activists-get-word-mother-axed-from-government-policies-q6q6bxtf6

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The Rolling Stones retired one of their most popular rock songs due to lyrics that depict the horrors of slavery

The Rolling Stones are doing a tour of the USA, which they have called The No Filter Tour.

Despite the name of their tour, the Stones have caved in to leftist bullying and stopped singing one of their hit songs, Brown Sugar.

Brown Sugar is a song about the horrors of slavery, so one might think that lefties would appreciate the song.
But lefties cannot think straight because they have no real principles.

Lefties just want to sound righteous while imposing bans and conditions on others.

Underneath their fake “caring/compassionate” persona, they really just love power and control over others.
And when we accept that, then everything that lefties say and do, makes sense. They are power lovers, nothing else. /i>

The Stones have not played the 1971 hit “Brown Sugar” on their current tour and said the blues classic has been removed from their setlist.

“You picked up on that, huh?,” Keith Richards, 77, responded to the LA Times when asked if the Stones had cut the second-most-performed tune in their catalogue amid a climate of heightened cultural sensitivity.

“I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out with the sisters quite where the beef is. Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they’re trying to bury it.”

The first verse of the hit song depicts slaves being sold and beaten in Louisiana, with references to a “slaver” who whips “women just around midnight.”

The famous chorus portrays a non-consensual sex encounter between the violent master and a young female slave, while possibly also alluding to heroin use.

In the next verse, the song describes the abuse suffered by slaves on a plantation. Lead singer Mick Jagger ends the tune by singing, “How come you taste so good … just like a black girl should.”

“We’ve played ‘Brown Sugar’ every night since 1970,” Richards told the newspaper.

“So sometimes you think, ‘We’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes.’ We might put it back in.”

The Stones have played the song live 1136 times, second to only “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” according to setlist.fm.

“At the moment I don’t want to get into conflicts with all of this s***,” Richard said of criticism of the song. “But I’m hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track.”

The Stones were five shows into their “No Filter” tour Wednesday. The concerts marked the septuagenarians’ first gigs since 2019, and the first performances without drummer Charlie Watts, who died in August at the age of 80.

Jagger is clearly not singing the song in the first person, but the danceable tune has been slammed in recent years, with some critics dubbing it “stunningly crude and offensive.”

Other commentators have conceded it is “gross, sexist, and stunningly offensive,” but still rocking.

“I never would write that song now,” Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1995. “I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.’

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/rolling-stones-retire-controversial-song-after-push-to-bury-it/news-story/9f915b220d535cc0ce8e72bb139c138d

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Instagram censors evolutionary biologist for posting a chart from transgender study by prominent science journal that showed biological men are stronger than biological women in a range of Olympic sports

An evolutionary biologist was censored by Instagram after the woke social media giant removed his post about a transgender study by a prominent medical journal that said biological men were superior to biological women in a wide range of sports.

The study - titled Transgender Women in the Female Category of Sport: Perspectives on Testosterone Suppression and Performance Advantage - was published in Medicine & Sports in Sports & Exercise, a peer-reviewed science journal founded in 1969.

Colin Wright, who has been published in the Wall Street Journal and was in academia for 12 years, posted a chart from the study - conducted by researchers at University of Manchester and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm - showing that biological males have a performance advantage over biological females across many Olympics-contested sports.

Similar scientific conclusions were reached in a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine called 'How does hormone transition in transgender women change body composition, muscle strength and haemoglobin? Systematic review with a focus on the implications for sport participation' - conducted by researchers at Loughborough University and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.

Both studies were published ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which saw many historic milestones for the transgender community, including the most transgender athletes competing and the first openly transgender athlete to ever take part in an individual event.

They each concluded that even after three years of hormone therapy transgender women on average still retain strength advantages over biological women, which may not allow for an even playing field in sports competitions.

The studies were conducted to test if the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) criteria for athletes to be eligible to compete in the women's category removes the performance advantage linked to male bodies.

The IOC has established that an athlete's total serum testosterone levels to be suppressed below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months prior to and during competition.

Both studies found that the reductions to strength, lean body mass, muscle size and bone density through the use of typical testosterone suppression regimes shows a minimal difference compared to the average difference between biological men and women, leaving them with a performance advantage.

The chart that Wright shared displayed the male performance advantage that cisgendered men's bodies allowed them when compared to cisgendered women.

The illustration shows that while men have a performance advantage it varies over different sporting events depending on the level and type of physical or physiological skill or measure of success each sport requires.

The Sports Medicine study suggest that instead of a guideline for all transgender athletes, the individual sports federations should determine their own conditions for their events.

Wright posted the image of the chart as part of his defense of 'the reality of the two sexes' and that children should 'compete in sports with their own sex.'

Many of his posts comment on bills that are being introduced by more than 20 states across the country prohibiting transgender girls from competing on girls' sports teams - despite most sponsors' inability to cite an instance that has caused problems in their community.

Wright avidly rejects ideas of gender and sex fluidity and often posts his stance on his social media accounts.

He told DailyMail.com that he is 'extremely careful' not to post anything 'mean-spirited' or target any individuals but said his views are criticized as being transphobic.

He took to Twitter to show that the post of the scientific chart was removed from Facebook-owned Instagram for violating Community Guidelines on hate speech or symbols.

Wright tweeted that he was unable to appeal the social media company's decision claiming that they 'lied' when they wrote 'You can ask us to review our decision if you think we made a mistake.' Instagram also warned that he risks 'losing access' to his account if he is violated their Community Guidelines again.

Although his social media accounts are filled with his controversial commentary on sex and gender, he says he has never been told that he violated the platform's policy before and was given no warning.

The evolutionary biologist is a managing editor for Quillette, an online magazine associated with the intellectual dark web - an informal group of renegade thinkers who oppose identity politics, political correctness, and cancel culture in academia and the media.

Last year, he left academia after struggling to get hired, which he claims was due to 'ideological policing' and his position 'that biological sex is binary and not a spectrum,' according to the Daily Caller.

According to the Instagram Community Guidelines, the platform will 'remove content that contains credible threats or hate speech' but notes that it may be allowed 'when hate speech is being shared to challenge it or raise awareness.'

As Instagram and its parent company Facebook have come under fire for it's lack of censorship and unsafe practices, they recently announced their commitment to 'sharing more information about the nuts and bolts of Instagram.'

One of the new features, Account Status, will 'give people more information' about post that they reported and to inform people if their post went against the Community Guidelines.

The Request a Review feature, which Wright tried to use, allows users whose content has been deemed in violation to dispute the claim against them.

Instagram did not respond to requests from DailyMail.com about why they took down Wright's post.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10088147/Instagram-censors-evolutionary-biologist-post-transgender-study-Olympic-sports.html

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Australian government minister flags further free speech measures as sacked climate sceptic loses High Court case

Universities face the prospect of further rules to protect academics’ free speech after Education Minister Alan Tudge raised concerns about a High Court decision upholding the sacking of marine physicist and climate change sceptic Peter Ridd by James Cook University.

The decision ends Dr Ridd’s four-year legal battle with JCU after he was censured and ultimately sacked for challenging his colleagues’ views on climate change and the Great Barrier Reef, along with the university’s attempts to discipline him.

Mr Tudge said on Wednesday he was “concerned that, in some places, there is a culture of closing down perceived ‘unwelcome thoughts’ rather than debating them” and was seeking advice on the case’s implications.

“While I respect the decision of the High Court, I am concerned that employment conditions should never be allowed to have a chilling effect on free speech or academic freedom at our universities,” he said. “University staff and students must have the freedom to challenge and question orthodoxies without fear of losing their job or offending others.”

Dr Ridd, a long-serving professor at the university, was fired in 2018 after forming the view that the scientific consensus on climate change overstated the risk it posed to the reef and vigorously arguing that position.

In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, five justices of the High Court dismissed Dr Ridd’s appeal, finding his early criticism of climate research and the reef was protected by academic freedom but that he later went much further, justifying his termination.

The university welcomed the outcome as confirmation “that the termination of Dr Ridd’s employment had nothing to do with academic freedom”, saying in a statement it strongly supported the freedom of staff to engage in academic and intellectual freedom.

Dr Ridd took a parting shot at the university as he informed his supporters of the outcome on Facebook. The university’s actions, he said, “were technically legal” but it was “never right, proper, decent, moral or in line with public expectations of how a university should behave”.

Dr Ridd said one of the worst consequences of the decision was it allowed universities to demand disciplinary processes stay confidential, undermining government legislation designed to support intellectual freedom.

“I know a couple of really egregious cases happening right now where freedom of speech has been curtailed, and the university is sitting on confidentiality,” Dr Ridd told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. “I can’t even tell you who they are because they would lose their job.”

Dr Ridd, who says he is only sceptical about “cataclysmic climate change”, wants the government to legislate to provide further protections to free speech directly in academics’ employment contracts.

Mr Tudge has previously used the threat of legislation to force universities to adopt free speech protections, warning earlier this year he would act if they did not fully implement a model code on free speech. All 41 Australian universities now have policies aligned with the code, proposed by former High Court chief justice Robert French, and will report against it annually.

Dr Ridd, the Institute of Public Affairs and the National Tertiary Education Union had argued that whatever the merits of Dr Ridd’s views, he was protected by a right to academic freedom in the university’s collective pay agreement with staff.

The university argued Dr Ridd was not sacked for his views but instead breached its code of conduct, which required staff to act in a courteous and respectful way, and confidentiality requirements about the disciplinary process.

The High Court found intellectual, or academic, freedom as contained in the university’s pay deal “is not qualified by a requirement to afford respect and courtesy in the manner of its exercise” and as a result, an initial censure in 2016 against Dr Ridd was not justified.

The justices quoted 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill in their reasoning.

“Whilst a prohibition upon disrespectful and discourteous conduct in intellectual expression might be a ‘convenient plan for having peace in the intellectual world’,” the justices held, “the ‘price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification, is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind’.”

The union hailed that aspect of the judgment as a win. But that did not result in a win because the court found Dr Ridd’s conduct extended well beyond the expression of opinion within his area of academic expertise.

Had his conduct related only to his area of expertise or criticism of the JCU decisions through prescribed processes, it would have been protected by intellectual freedom. Because his case was run on an all-or-nothing basis, that meant Dr Ridd lost.

“This litigation concerned conduct by Dr Ridd far beyond that of the 2016 censure, almost none of which was protected by the intellectual freedom. That conduct culminated in the termination decision, a decision which itself was justified by 18 grounds of serious misconduct, none of which involved the exercise of intellectual freedom,” the judges found.

The Institute of Public Affairs, which had helped Dr Ridd run his case via crowdfunding and public relations support, said the decision showed Australia’s universities were mired in a crisis of censorship.

“Our institutions increasingly want to control what Australians are allowed to say and what they can read and hear,” executive director John Roskam said in a statement that also announced Dr Ridd would be joining the institute as an unpaid research fellow to work on “real science”.

The federal government in March legislated a definition of academic freedom into university funding laws – a push led by former education minister Dan Tehan, who said last year he’d received legal advice that Dr Ridd would not have been sacked had the definition been in place at the time.

The definition, which was also based on wording recommended by Mr French in his government-commissioned review of free speech at Australian universities, includes “the freedom of academic staff to teach, discuss, and research and to disseminate and publish the results of their research” and “to contribute to public debate, in relation to their subjects of study and research”.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sacked-climate-sceptic-loses-high-court-case-20211013-p58zk2.html

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Australia: Fired climate sceptic loses High Court case

The amazing thing about this verdict is that the court agreed it is wrong to criticize your colleagues. How could science progress without disagreements? Criticisms are the springboard to new knowledge

A marine physicist sacked after challenging his colleague’s views on climate change and the Great Barrier Reef, along with the university’s attempts to discipline him, has lost his High Court battle against James Cook University in a mixed decision for academic freedom.

Peter Ridd had been a long-serving professor at the university when he was fired in 2018 after forming the view that the scientific consensus on climate change overstated the risk it posed to the reef and vigorously arguing that position.

He took a parting shot at the university as he informed his supporters “with a heavy heart” on Wednesday that the High Court had dismissed his appeal over his sacking.

“So JCU actions were technically legal. But it was, in my opinion, never right, proper, decent, moral or in line with public expectations of how a university should behave,” he said in a statement posted to Facebook.

“It has cost me my job, my career, over $300K in legal fees, and more than a few grey hairs. All I can say is that I hope I would do it again – because overall it was worth the battle, and having the battle is, in this case, more important than the result.”

Dr Ridd, the libertarian Institute of Public Affairs and the left-wing National Tertiary Education Union argued that whatever the merits of Dr Ridd’s views, he was protected by a right to academic freedom in the university’s collective pay agreement with staff.

The university argued that Ridd was not sacked for his views but instead breached its code of conduct which required staff to act in a courteous and respectful way, and then further breached confidentiality requirements about the disciplinary procedure.

On Wednesday five justices of the High Court unanimously found that intellectual, or academic, freedom as contained in the university’s pay deal “is not qualified by a requirement to afford respect and courtesy in the manner of its exercise”.

The justices said that, as a result, an initial censure in 2016 against Dr Ridd was not justified and quoted the famous 19th century philosopher John Stuart Mill in their reasoning.

“Whilst a prohibition upon disrespectful and discourteous conduct in intellectual expression might be a ‘convenient plan for having peace in the intellectual world’,” the justices held, “the ‘price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification, is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind’.”

However, that did not result in an overall victory for Dr Ridd because the court found that his conduct extended well beyond the expression of opinion within his area of academic expertise. Had his conduct related only to his area of expertise or criticism of JCU decisions through proscribed processes it would have been protected by intellectual freedom. Because his case was run on an all or nothing basis, that meant Dr Ridd lost.

“This litigation concerned conduct by Dr Ridd far beyond that of the 2016 censure, almost none of which was protected by the intellectual freedom... That conduct culminated in the termination decision, a decision which itself was justified by 18 grounds of serious misconduct, none of which involved the exercise of intellectual freedom.”

The Institute of Public Affairs, which had helped Ridd run his case via crowdfunding and public relations support, said the decision showed Australia’s universities were mired in a crisis of censorship.

“Our institutions increasingly want to control what Australians are allowed to say and what they can read and hear,” executive director John Roskam said in a statement that also announced Dr Ridd would be joining the institute as an unpaid research fellow to work on “real science”.

Ahead of the decision on Wednesday, federal Education Minister Alan Tudge announced that all 41 Australian universities were now compliant with the French model code on free speech, proposed by former High Court chief justice Robert French.

“This has taken two years to get to this point, but each university now has policies which specifically protect free speech,” Mr Tudge said.

The federal government has also legislated a definition of academic freedom into university funding laws - a push led by former education minister Dan Tehan who said last year that he’d received legal advice that Mr Ridd would not have been sacked had the definition been in place at the time.

The definition, which was also based on wording recommended by Mr French in his government-commissioned review of free speech at Australian universities, includes “the freedom of academic staff to teach, discuss, and research and to disseminate and publish the results of their research” and “to contribute to public debate, in relation to their subjects of study and research.”

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sacked-climate-sceptic-loses-high-court-case-20211013-p58zk2.html

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‘Transgender’ Experts Silenced by Rainbow Mafia

The New York Times refused an op-ed from experts who don’t toe the line on gender dysphoric children.

The paper’s selective and activist journalism now includes having recently chosen to reject an op-ed written by two “transgender” experts, both doctors, who warned against the growing reckless use of puberty blockers on children. Will anyone stand against this growing fad of child abuse? Not the intrepid “journalists” at the Times.

The two doctors contend that “transgender” activism has essentially silenced any genuine examination of often-promoted claims that it is completely safe for children to go on puberty blockers in part because doing so is “fully reversible” should they decided against “transitioning.” Thou shalt not question The Narrative™.

Indeed, the Times’s decision seems only to further underscore this new leftist-created alternate reality. Abigail Shrier’s 2020 book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters was temporarily banned by Amazon due to opposition from “transgender” activists, so she knows about this sort of censorship. She interviewed the doctors and observed, “For nearly a decade, the vanguard of the transgender-rights movement — doctors, activists, celebrities and transgender influencers — has defined the boundaries of the new orthodoxy surrounding transgender medical care: What’s true, what’s false, which questions can and cannot be asked.”

Meanwhile, the Times had no qualms regarding running a recent op-ed by a “transgender” runner, nor another article fully affirming a “transgender” person and lamenting the “discrimination, delays and systemic hurdles [that] prevent young trans people from reaching the care they need.” On the other hand, the findings, data, and professional opinions espoused by longtime experts in the same field is no good if it dares question the “transgender” dogma.

Dr. Marci Bowers, one of the article’s writers, observed something that happens far too often these days: “When you have a female-assigned person and she’s feeling dysphoric … and then they see you for one visit, and then they recommend testosterone — red flag!”

These doctors come from the very heart of this movement. Bowers’s op-ed partner is, Shrier explains, “Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the University of California San Francisco’s Child and Adolescent Gender Clinic.” Bowers herself is “a world-renowned vaginoplasty specialist who operated on reality-television star Jazz Jennings,” a young boy who’s spent many years flaunting his “transition to female” before the whole world.

The story Bowers tells regarding the horrific abuse perpetrated on Jennings will turn your stomach, break your heart, and blow your mind.

Anyone should know that getting a second opinion, especially regarding a serious health-related issue, is recommended. Not all doctors see everything the same way or have all the answers. The notion that daring to question a child or teenager struggling with identity issues is to somehow do them harm is nonsense, and yet the Rainbow Mafia has so thoroughly succeeded in scaring doctors, scientists, and journalists that even to question a child’s gender dysphoric claim is to supposedly engage in hate and malfeasance. The tragic result of such thinking and fear is growing numbers of youth being subjected to medical abuse, doing permanent damage to their bodies and minds.

Anderson put it far too mildly, saying: “It is my considered opinion that due to some of the — let’s see, how to say it? what word to choose? — due to some of the, I’ll call it just ‘sloppy,’ sloppy healthcare work, that we’re going to have more young adults who will regret having gone through this process. And that is going to earn me a lot of criticism from some colleagues, but given what I see — and I’m sorry, but it’s my actual experience as a psychologist treating gender variant youth — I’m worried that decisions will be made that will later be regretted by those making them.”

https://patriotpost.us/articles/83288-transgender-experts-silenced-by-rainbow-mafia-2021-10-08

UK: Teachers are urged not to read out the N-word when teaching To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice And Men

Secondary school teachers are being urged not to use the N-word when reading from two classic novels. More than 100 academics, campaigners and parents have signed a letter sent challenging the reading out of the racial slur used in To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men.

Campaigners say reading the slur from the books 'adds nothing to the lesson'.

The open letter, organised by anti-racist educator Marsha Garratt, asks all the schools to stop teachers reading the racist slur out loud. It follows reports pupils at two Teesside schools challenged the use of the word during lessons on the two books.

Ms Garrat said the two young pupils, both of African heritage, challenged teachers saying the word was racist.

She told the BBC: 'In both cases the teachers said it wasn't racist because they were using it from a text and because of the situation.

Once a corner stone of the English GCSE syllabus, Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird make reference to race and contain racial slurs including the N-word.

To Kill a Mockingbird, written in 1960 by US author Harper Lee, is a fictional book set, set in the state of Alabama, about the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a young white woman.

He is represented in court by a white lawyer, Atticus Finch, who agrees to defend Mr Robinson despite protestations from the local community.

For agreeing to defend Mr Robinson, Mr Robinson is called a 'n****r lover'.

Race is as a key theme to the Pulitzer prize winning book, which has won plaudits for its portrayal of the topic.

US Historian Joseph Crespino described it as 'probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its main character, Mr Finch, as 'the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism'.

However the book has been criticised by others for its use of the N-word and its 'white saviour motif'.

Of Mice and Men, a 1937 novella by US Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, similarly features references to race.

It chronicles the lives of fictional characters George Milton and Lennie Small - displaced migrant ranch workers on the hunt for jobs in California.

The book features a character named Crooks, a black stable-hand who befriends Lennie.

Crooks, a relatable character who provides a sense of rational, is often regarded as Steinbeck's attempt to highlight discrimination in 1930s America.

But the book, which contains racial slurs and disparaging references to Crooks' skin colour, has faced regular criticism for its use of language. It even featured on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century.

Both books were once a key part of the English GCSE curriculum. But they were replaced in 2014 by novels by British authors at the insistences of then education secretary Michael Gove.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10080283/Teachers-told-not-read-N-word-teaching-Kill-Mockingbird-Mice-Men.html

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UK: Don't call pupils' behaviour 'good' or 'bad': Headteacher tells staff

Teachers have been banned from calling pupils' behaviour 'good' or 'bad' by a school which is trying to avoid using 'emotional' phrases while managing discipline.

Julian Murphy, headmaster at the private Loughborough Amherst School in Leicestershire, has instead asked staff to describe behaviour as 'skilful' or 'unskilful'.

He is hoping to 'take the emotional heat out of language' at the independent school for children aged four to 18, which costs up to £13,545 a year to attend.

Dr Murphy said he had taken the idea of using the different terms from Buddhism, which teaches that there are skilful and unskilful ways of thinking and acting.

The headmaster, who has 313 pupils at the school, told i: 'While I don't want teachers to be soft, I also don't want them to be shouty and make pupils feel guilty.

'I think it's human psychology even when you're an adult. If people make you feel guilty, then you get angry.

'And then actually that's when you're likely to play the blame game and not to work that well. That's when things get into a bit of a vicious circle.'

He said the school teaches pupils that 'there's a set of rules that are there for practical reasons', adding: 'I'm not interested in making young people feel bad.'

However Dr Murphy also insisted that the school is 'quite strict' and will expel pupils for handing in homework late or dropping litter if they did either enough times.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10080485/Dont-call-pupils-behaviour-good-bad-school-headteacher-says.html

Monday, October 11, 2021

Using woke phrases like 'people of colour' helps racists who say 'you're just obsessed with language not action' says comedian Phil Wang

A comedian has argued that 'woke' campaigners who argue over politically-correct terms for different ethnic groups are doing more harm than good by granting racists more ammunition.

31-year-old Phil Wang, a British-Asian stand-up comic, criticised the usage of the term 'people of colour', arguing that it was simply a reversal of 'coloured people' which has long been seen as an offensive and outdated term.

Wang believes that arguing over the minutiae of closely-related terms does nothing to advance society's attitudes and treatment of different ethnic groups, and instead simply gives racists a target to aim for.

'For the woke, saying ''people of colour'' is the correct [phrase]. Saying ''coloured people'' is the worst thing you can say,' he said.

'It gives ammunition to [opponents of the left wing] because they can say: ''Oh, you're just obsessed by language, not action.''

He also mocked the idea that 'people of colour' implies a kind of brotherhood or community, describing the term as lumping every minority group in together for their 'non-whiteness', despite each group being different and having their own prejudices and biases.

Wang, whose full name is Philip Nathaniel Wang Xing Gui, was born in Stoke-on-Trent to a British mother and a Chinese-Malaysian father, but after just three weeks was whisked away to Borneo and spent much of his childhood and teenage years in Malaysia.

The comic has previously revealed how he experienced casual racism while working in various venues across the UK during his early years in the industry, but despite this has risen through the ranks to become one of Britain's best young comedians.

During a talk about his memoir Sidesplitter at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, Wang also took aim at cancel culture, arguing that the very concept of cancel culture doesn't allow anyone to be held accountable for their words or actions; rather, it silences them.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10078735/Using-woke-phrases-helps-racists-says-comedian-Phil-Wang.html

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Village named after Lord Nelson comes under fire over his support for slave owners

A village has been added to a dossier of sites connected to the slave trade because its name comes from a pub styled after Lord Nelson.

The inn at Nelson, near Caerphilly, was named after the naval hero following his visit to the area in 1803, two years before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The village expanded around the pub because of coal mining and adopted the same name.

Although the admiral never took part in slave activities, he expressed support for slave owners – believing that abolition would undermine the Royal Navy, which depended on merchant crew in wartime.

Officials at Labour-run Caerphilly council compiled the list of suspect places linked to slavery for a national audit.

Tory Welsh parliament member Natasha Asghar branded the dossier ‘absolutely absurd’. ‘To slander an entire village in this way is outrageous,’ she told the Sunday Telegraph.

The controversy has led to calls for Nelson – population 4,600 – to go by its Welsh name, Ffos y Gerddinen.

Labour first minister Mark Drakeford said of the audit: ‘It is about learning from the events of the past.’

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10078643/Not-admirable-Nelson-Village-named-seafaring-hero-comes-fire.html

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