Dean Martin's Daughter Defends 'Baby, it's Cold Outside'

Radio stations from Cleveland, Ohio to Madison, Wisconsin have stopped playing "Baby, it's Cold Outside" amid a national movement against the song's lyrics. The Christmas song, famously sung by Dean Martin and written for the film Neptune’s Daughter, is no longer the popular tune it once was

The lyrics that give critics particular pause are the lines:

"So really I'd better scurry (beautiful please don't hurry).
But maybe just a half a drink more (put some records on while I pour).

The neighbors might think (baby, it's bad out there).
Say what's in this drink? (no cabs to be had out there)."

Cleveland's Star 102 radio station started the trend of taking the song off their Christmas playlist after receiving caller complaints. "Now, I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong," radio host Glenn Anderson wrote in a blog post.

Dean Martin's daughter Deana Martin is shocked by how people are suddenly treating her dad's classic song. She said critics have got it all wrong.

“There's nothing bad about that song," Martin said adamantly on "Fox & Friends" Monday. "And it just breaks my heart and I know my dad would be going insane right now…He would say, what's the matter with you? You know, get over it. It's just a fun song.

Martin continued to explain that the song's original intent is not nearly so sinister as its critics are suggesting. "It's a sweet, flirty, fun, holiday song," she said, adding that the current controversy is "madness."

Martin said she has no plans to change the lyrics. “I don't want to. I don't want to change the lyrics. Where she says, you know, ‘hey, what's in this drink?’ I don't think she's talking about some pill being put in that drink. You know, like, ‘is this punch? You know, what's in this drink? Is it vodka?’ You know, I mean it was, it was nice. It's just breaking my heart that people would turn that around.”

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Whining New Zeland woman didn't like being called a Kiwi

A New Zealand woman who accused her former boss of racial discrimination says it's ruined her life.

Julie Savage, a former supervisor at the Vili's Cakes kitchen in Adelaide, said she was 'disrespected' when her co-workers repeatedly called her a 'Kiwi' instead of using her name.

But her complaint, which was heard before the South Australian Employment Tribunal, was dismissed as a 'perceived lack of respect'.
Julie Savage, a former supervisor at the Vili's Cakes kitchen in Adelaide , said she was 'disrespected' when her co-workers repeatedly called her a 'Kiwi' instead of using her name
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Julie Savage, a former supervisor at the Vili's Cakes kitchen in Adelaide , said she was 'disrespected' when her co-workers repeatedly called her a 'Kiwi' instead of using her name

Ms Savage, who was referred to as 'Kiwi' by bakery owner Vili Milisits, said the colloquial term was used in a derogatory way, NZ Herald reported.

'I had a Kiwi flag on my desk, I am proud. But that wasn't my name, that's the issue. No-one called me that but him. He used it like it was my name, like ''go and do the dishes, Kiwi'', or ''wipe the table, Kiwi''.'

Ms Savage said her boss used the name to order her to do jobs, rather than use the word as a term of endearment. 

'He used that like it was my name,' she said, claiming it caused her to suffer from depression and low self-esteem.

Ms Savage and her husband and son moved from Auckland to Adelaide in 2006. She was hired the next year.

She was eventually promoted a supervisor role after working as a short order cook for a few years.

While she would take some New Zealand jokes on the chin, Ms Savage said the persistent use of 'Kiwi' wore her down.

A year-and-a-half after laying her official complaint in 2016, Ms Savage lost her racial discrimination case.

On Sunday December 2, the claim was dismissed by Tribunal Judge Leonie Farrell, who said: 'Calling a New Zealander a Kiwi is not of itself offensive. Kiwi is not an insult.'

The bakery's owner admitted he had called Ms Savage the moniker, but argued that it was a fond nickname and never intended to be demeaning, Adelaide Now reported.

Judge Farrell ultimately agreed, throwing out any accusations of discrimination.

'It was pretty satisfying when I saw what the commissioner said ­– I'm happy with that,' Mr Milistits said.

He thanked the tribunal for finding in his favour, but said the 18-month-long trial was 'slow'.

Ms Savage who is a 'a proud Kiwi' said she's lost her self-esteem and suffers from depression.

She said she was disappointed with the tribunal's decision but wouldn't be able to afford an appeal.

The case wasn't about money but rather about receiving an apology, Ms Savage said.

'I feel this case is a moral victory for me against Vili Milisits and that hopefully he will no longer call people that he employs by another name other than their given name.'

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Truce achieved in Berkeley free speech fight

A truce of sorts was reached last week in the latest battle over free speech at UC Berkeley. Rare is the lawsuit settlement in which each side can credibly claim a level of vindication. This is one.

Young America’s Foundation, the conservative nonprofit that bankrolled the lawsuit against the university, hailed the settlement as a “landmark victory for free expression.” Its statement triumphantly declared that UC Berkeley could “no longer wantonly treat conservative students as second-class members of its community while ignoring the guaranteed protections of the First Amendment.”

Conversely, a spokesman for the university said the settlement essentially validates its existing policies on security fees and time-and-place restrictions that apply to all campus speakers, regardless of ideology. Spokesman Dan Mogulof also emphasized that a federal court had upheld the constitutionality of those policies seven months ago.

Here is the welcome bottom line: Conservatives are guaranteed a platform at the university of the 1960s Free Speech Movement. The demonstrators who have tried to silence high-profile appearances by right-wing provocateurs such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Ben Shapiro and Ann Coulter will not be able to stop future appearances by threatening havoc.

And, just as important: The conservatives who have tried to claim censorship and martyrdom when they encounter the conditions imposed on all other groups have lost their talking point. The Young America’s Foundation agreed to this deal and will be paid $70,000 of its attorney fees.

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Australia: How it could be ILLEGAL to say 'he' or 'she': Failing to use transgender terms could land Australians in court under proposed laws

Using the pronouns 'he' and 'she' could land Australians before the courts under Tasmania's controversial transgender rights reforms, legal experts have warned.

Landmark reforms - put forward by the Labor opposition, the Greens and slammed by Scott Morrison as 'ridiculous' - could include a provision that would make it illegal for people to refuse to name others by their preferred pronoun.

The proposed laws would allow parents in Tasmania to decide whether their child's gender is recorded on birth certificates - and enable people aged 16 or older to legally change their gender.

The bill passed Tasmania's lower house last month and must now pass the state's 15-member upper house - nine of whom are independents - to become law.

Dr Greg Walsh from the University of Notre Dame Australia said the reforms were largely 'admirable', but condemned dictating how people use pronouns as 'completely unacceptable'.

'The Tasmanian parliament's proposed changes to its anti-discrimination legislation could make it illegal for a person to not accept a transgender person's gender identity,' Dr Walsh told The Australian.

'Although it is admirable that parliamentarians want to ensure those who are transgender are ­respected, the attempt to use state power to force individuals to use language that contradicts their deeply held beliefs is completely unacceptable.'

Conservative ­activist group Advance Australia described the proposed changes as a 'slippery slope', 'compelled speech', and asked: 'What's next?'

'If a trans person said to me, ''I would prefer it if you called me or address me by X'', out of respect, you would do it. But the government has no place telling you that you must say that,' the organisation's national ­director, Gerard Benedet, told the paper. 

The changes were last month passed by the casting vote of Tasmania's Liberal Speaker Sue Hickey, who voted against her party and with Labor and the Greens.

Liberal Attorney-General Elise Archer believes the amendments are deeply flawed.

'This amended bill contains legally untested, unconsulted and highly problematic changes that we could not support,' she said in a statement last month.

Transforming Tasmania, a transgender and gender-diverse rights group, has lauded the proposed changes, as have Labor and the Greens.

'These changes will make people, who we should all care about, feel happier, safer and more included,' state Greens leader Cassy O'Connor told parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously criticised the debate over the removal of gender markers from passports and birth certificates.

'A Liberal national government will never remove gender from birth certificates, licenses and passports - who are Labor kidding? Get real,' Morrison wrote on Twitter.

'This is the problem with Labor, obsessed with nonsense like removing gender from birth certificates rather than lower electricity prices, reducing tax for hard-working families and small businesses.'

Campaigners condemned Morrison's remarks as an 'outdated' and a 'totally inappropriate' attack against the LGBT+ community.

'Yet again, we see a destructive statement from someone in a position of prominence and influence,' Sally Goldner, a spokeswoman for Transgender Victoria, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

'To attempt to link the words transgender and nonsense is vilification and totally inappropriate.'

In September, the prime minister drew widespread criticism after commenting on social media that schools do not need 'gender whisperers' in response to a report that teachers are being trained to identify transgender children. 

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Calif. University 'Whiteness' Panel Claims 'Veggie Tales' Is Racist

Last week, a two-hour "Whiteness Forum" held by students at Cal State San Marcos added the children's Christian program "Veggie Tales" to the list of forbidden "racist" media. I fondly recollect waltzing with potatoes up and down the produce aisle in my childhood years, and can report with certainty that evidence for this claim is just as hard to find as a Cebu.

According to The College Fix, a female student at the "Whiteness Forum" argued that "Veggie Tales" is racist because the villains are vegetables of color. "When kids see the good white character triumph over the bad person of color character they are taught that white is right and minorities are the source of evil," the project stated.

As The College Fix's Drew Van Voorhis explained, the female student argued that "the accents of the evil characters tend to sound ethnic, such as Latino, while the good characters sound white."

For those unfamiliar with the children's program, "Veggie Tales" is a kid's cartoon show featuring vegetables and often portraying biblical allegories. The main characters are Bob the Tomato — certainly a "vegetable of color," namely the color red — and Larry the Cucumber. Contrary to protestations of racism, the show even has a blatantly anti-racist song.

Eric Metaxas, a bestselling author and former "Veggie Tales" writer and narrator, offered a playful yet profound comment to PJ Media's request for comment.

"All vegetables are part of one race, even though they are of many colors," Metaxas said. "They are all descended from the same parents — the Adam and Eve of vegetables, who foolishly ate a forbidden fruit (irony?) and screwed everything up for all vegetables descended from them. At least I’m pretty sure that’s the story."

Christianity teaches that all people — regardless of race — were created in God's image, have sinned, and are in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. "Veggie Tales" has presented the same message, over and over again, and if there was a latent racist message, Metaxas would know about it.

The villains do often have silly accents, often for purposes of humor.

Perhaps the most memorable of these silly accents has nothing to do with race. In "Josh and the Big Wall," the allegory about Joshua's capture of the city of Jericho, the villains are a pair of particularly stuck-up peas ... with French accents. Is this racist? Against white Europeans?

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An “In God We Trust” sign is causing a serious uproar in one town

It’s found on American currency. It can be seen in one Missouri town’s government chambers. And all it’s done is cause heated debate.

A sign bearing the words “In God We Trust” in the Wentzville city government chambers has led to an intense divide. As explained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the fight over the sign became worse when neighboring Maryland Heights resident Sally Hunt was escorted by two police officers out of a city council meeting at the direction of Mayor Nick Guccione. Hunt is opposed to the sign and had come to the meeting to speak against its display. When she ran out of time, Guccione made her leave.

According to KMOV, Guccione said he had to stand by his decision to remove Hunt from the meeting the way he did.

“Maybe in hindsight, I should have given a warning to sit down, but you know what, I make a decision, and I have to stand by it,” he said.

While the sign has overwhelming support in the town, several residents expressed displeasure either with the sign or with the way Hunt was removed from the meeting.

The divided opinions on the sign became clear as the public comments section of the meeting began.

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'It wouldn't say white if I was Caucasian': Asian woman claims hipster café gave her a 'racist' receipt after she ordered raisin toast

It is normal for cafe staff to identify customers in some way on the order docket.  It can be by a table number and it can be by asking a name.  In this case the staff member has apparently   forgotten to ask a name so used a description

An Asian woman has claimed a cafe gave her a supposedly racist receipt which described her ethnicity.

Katherine Chen had ordered her raisin toast to take away from a café in Sydney's trendy Surry Hills but was surprised when she saw her receipt.

While some cafes use the customer's name to identify whose order it is, this café chose to write the woman's ethnicity as her identifier instead.

The word 'Asian' was written in capital letters above her raisin toast order.

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‘Bringing home the bacon’ offensive to vegans

Has vegan activism gone too far?

Common phrases like “bring home the bacon” and “put all your eggs in one basket” have been deemed offensive to vegans and vegetarians, who want them replaced with animal-friendly alternatives like “bring home the bagels” and “put all your berries in one bowl”.

Instead of “kill two birds with one stone” we should say “feed two birds with one scone”. “Take the bull by the horns” should become “take the flower by the thorns”. No longer should we “beat a dead horse” but instead “feed a fed horse”. And rather than “let the cat out of the bag”, we should simply “spill the beans”.

According to one academic, as increased awareness of vegan issues filters through society, meat-based metaphors may end up being ditched from the language altogether.

“If veganism forces us to confront the realities of food’s origins, then this increased awareness will undoubtedly be reflected in our language and our literature,” Swansea University researcher Shareena Hamzah wrote in The Conversation.

According to Dr Hamzah, meat is “more than just a form of sustenance, it is the very king of all foods”.

“Historically, the resources required to obtain meat meant it was mainly the preserve of the upper classes, while the peasantry subsisted on a mostly vegetarian diet,” she writes.

“As a result, the consumption of meat was associated with dominant power structures in society, its absence from the plate indicating disadvantaged groups, such as women and the poor. To control the supply of meat was to control the people.”

Dr Hamzah, whose research interests include contemporary literature, women’s writing, gender and sexuality studies, equates meat to the “patriarchal mindset of the early 20th century” when “a man’s right to eat the best meat is unquestioned”.

“Meat is power, meat is for men,” she writes.

“(In Jeanette Winterson’s novel The Passion), the main female character, Villanelle, sells herself to Russian soldiers in order to have some of their scarce and valuable supply of meat. The female body is just another type of meat for these men and carnivorous desire leads to carnal pleasure.”

Today, she argues, meat is “repeatedly the subject of much socially and politically charged discussion, including about how the demand for meat is contributing to climate change and environmental degradation”.

“Studies have indicated the negative effects of meat-eating on the human body,” she writes. “When concerns about animal welfare are added to the broth, the growth of vegetarianism and veganism threatens to dethrone meat from its position at the top of the food hierarchy.”

Animal rights groups PETA has been campaigning for “animal-friendly idioms” for years. On its website, it provides helpful alternatives for teachers to “common phrases that perpetuate violence toward animals”.

“While these phrases may seem harmless, they carry meaning and can send mixed signals to students about the relationship between humans and animals and can normalise abuse,” the organisation says.

“The words that we use have the power to influence those around us. Teaching students to use animal-friendly language can cultivate positive relationships between all beings and help end the epidemic of youth violence toward animals.”

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‘I was fired for saying Brexit is good’

Brexit is Britain leaving the EU

Andres Georgi had been earning a living as a bicycle courier for Deliveroo in Berlin. But earlier this month, he made the mistake of making smalltalk with a British customer, Redfern Jon Barrett, a writer, activist and Remainer. Georgi said that Brexit was a good thing.

After the exchange, Barrett sent a tweet complaining to Deliveroo and branding Georgi a Nazi. The accusation cost him his job. ‘The Deliveroo delivery guy just went on an aggressive nationalist rant when he saw the EU flag in our hallway. We are gay immigrants who live in Berlin. Deliveroo: please don’t send Nazis to our door!’, read the tweet.

I caught up with Georgi after his story was reported on in Ruhrbarone, a German-language blog.

For him, the tweet came as a shock. ‘I was having a great weekend doing lots of deliveries. Then I got this email from the coordinator asking whether the tweet’s accusations were true’, he tells me.

Georgi is 41 years old and had been working for Deliveroo for 13 months. When we meet, there is nothing visibly Nazi about him: no questionable tattoos, no big black boots, no insignias that might arouse suspicion.

From what Georgi remembers, the conversation with Barrett lasted only a few minutes. Barrett came to the door, and spoke in English. Georgi saw two flags in the hallway: a rainbow flag and an EU flag. ‘Are you from England?’, he asked Barrett. ‘I like the rainbow flag, but not the EU flag. I think Brexit is good’, he said.

Barrett asked him why, and he replied that Germany had too much influence in the EU. In other words, ‘nothing nationalistic at all’, Georgi says. ‘I was in a good mood as I was about to meet my girlfriend and I was definitely not being unfriendly’, he insists.

When I contacted Deliveroo, it told me that it had terminated Georgi’s contract not because of this specific incident, but because of ‘other unprofessional behaviour’. But Georgi showed me an email conversation with his Deliveroo coordinator which suggests otherwise.

The exchange focuses almost entirely on the conversation about Brexit. One email says that he had behaved irresponsibly by speaking about touchy political issues with customers. ‘It was especially inappropriate to tell an obviously pro-EU Brit living in Germany that Brexit was a good thing’, it reads.

Although another case was also mentioned – a female customer had complained about an unwarranted remark – it was clearly the tweet that triggered the sacking. (An accusation, however spurious, that a company employs Nazis is no small matter in Germany.)

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Black college lacrosse player, 21, is arrested for racist N-word and swastika graffiti targeting HIMSELF and other minority students in two incidents that terrorized the campus

This happens all the time and college authorities always swallow it

A black college lacrosse player has been arrested in connection with two incidents of racist graffiti found in a dorm on the Goucher College campus in Maryland.

Fynn Ajani Arthur, a 21-year-old from Brunswick, Maine, was charged with two counts of malicious destruction of property on Thursday night in Baltimore County. 

His arrest came after graffiti aimed at black and Latino students was found on the second floor of a campus dorm, one floor above where similar graffiti had been found on November 14, Goucher College administrators said in a statement.

Both incidents that shook the Towson campus involved backward swastikas and targeted specific individuals, according to the statement.  

Thursday's graffiti depicted swastikas, the letters 'KKK' and appeared to include the last names of four black students, including Arthur. The previous graffiti reportedly said all 'n*****s' on campus would be killed.

Arthur was released his own recognizance after a bail review hearing on Friday, according to jail records. He has been banned from campus pending a student conduct review. 

Goucher Public Safety officials worked with Baltimore County Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office to investigate both of graffiti incidents.

They determined that Arthur was responsible for the messages based on evidence found Thursday, police say.

Goucher vice president and dean Bryan Coker condemned the racist incidents during a Friday press conference, according to the Baltimore Sun.  'These acts of hate have consumed our community and we feel strongly that the suspect should be prosecuted with the strongest charges, which reflect the seriousness of these crimes,' Coker said.

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A "racist" Christmas tree

Apparently, all the products displayed are popular with blacks in Minneapolis.  Not sure why that is offensive

Two Minneapolis police officers placed on leave after racist Christmas tree display. As a "prank," an officer decorated a tree in the north Minneapolis precinct with ornaments many called racist.

Longtime civil rights activist Ron Edwards called the Fourth Precinct tree decorations — a Newport cigarette pack, a can of Steel Reserve malt liquor, police tape, a bag of Takis and a cup from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — a “wink wink” to racist stereotypes.

“It’s a modern-day version of a dog whistle, tainted with racism, specifically against the African-American community,” Edwards said.

The photo, which first hit social media this week, created a hectic Friday at City Hall, with Frey condemning the decorations as “racist” and “despicable.” The mayor vowed that those responsible “will be fired before the day is over.”

Jeremiah Ellison, who is now a City Council member, was among the leaders of the 2015 precinct protests. On Friday, Ellison was at a loss for words to describe his reaction to the photo of the tree.

“Man, every way I could put it would understate it,” said Ellison. “It’s disappointing, but also I think deeply disturbing to wake up to something like that. Not just for myself, but for my neighbors.”

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Arizona Lawmaker Says Black People 'Don't Blend In'

It seems to me that what he said was frank and truthful but I guess that is no longer allowed

An Arizona lawmaker known for his past racist remarks continues to remind everyone he is still a racist.

Republican State House Rep. David Stringer was captured on audio calling non-native English speaking students a “burden,” saying black people “don’t blend in” and lamenting a supposed “white flight” in more diverse areas of the country.

The audio, obtained by the Phoenix New Times, was of Stringer speaking with Arizona State University students following a lecture. After telling a student that “diversity in our country is relatively new,” ASU sophomore Stephen Chmura challenged Stringer, saying there was early immigration from places like Ireland and Italy.

“They were all European,” Stringer responded in the audio. “So after their second or third generation, everybody looks the same. Everybody talks the same. That’s not the case with African-Americans and other racial groups because they don’t melt in. They don’t blend in. They always look different.”

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'Apu arrives': Argentine TV news show uses image of the Asian shopkeeper from The Simpsons in a report about the Indian Prime Minister flying in for the G20 summit in Argentina



Argenties are half and half Spanish and Italian and this sounds verry much like an Italian sense of humor -- as with Silvio Berlusconi.  Narendra Modi is however a very dignified and constructive man who does not at all deserve this

An Argentine TV channel used an image of Asian shopkeeper Apu from The Simpsons as the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi flew in for the G20 summit.

Cronica – known for its tasteless quips – wrote the headline ‘Apu arrives’ combined with an image of the character and music from India-based movie Slumdog Millionaire.

The Simpsons shopkeeper, voiced by a white actor who puts on a heavy Indian accent, has been accused of promoting outdated racial stereotypes.

Indian-American comic Hari Kondabolu, who made a documentary about Apu last year, said of Cronica’s coverage: ‘This couldn’t be true, right?’

Cronica also flashed words from the Slumdog song across an image of Mr Modi.

The channel has already offended Turkey and Rwanda at the summit with jokes about their leaders.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar Reminds People ‘Not to Overeat’ on Thanksgiving: Apologizes To Those She Offended

Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar apologized to her fans Tuesday for posting a public reminder to herself “not to overeat” on Thanksgiving, saying that she’s “terribly sorry” if she fat-shamed anyone.

“I’m just going to pin these up all over my house as a reminder not to overeat on Thursday #thanksgivingprep,” Sarah Michelle Gellar initially wrote in an Instagram caption, along with old photos of herself.

The post’s caption offended many of her followers, some of whom accused the actress of promoting fat-shaming and unhealthy eating disorders. One user said that Gellar’s caption was “very dangerous” and included “insensitive wording.”

The 41-year-old immediately buckled to the social media campaign against her, saying, “It’s come to my attention that some people think I was ‘fat shaming’ with this post. That could not be further from my intentions.”

“I love Thanksgiving and unfortunately my eyes are often bigger than my stomach, and I tend to eat so much I make myself sick. This was a joking reminder to myself not to do that,” she continued. “I’m terribly sorry that people were offended by my attempt at humor. Any one that knows me, knows I would never intentionally ‘shame’ any one on any basis. I am a champion of all people.”

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White Leftists Dumb Down Language for Minorities

A recently released study conducted by two researchers from Yale and Princeton Universities found that white Democrat politicians dumb down their speech when addressing minorities — specifically blacks. On the other hand, the study found no language change when white Republicans spoke to minorities. Study authors Cydney Dupree and Susan Fiske were surprised by the results, noting, "It was really surprising to see that for nearly three decades, Democratic presidential candidates have been engaging in this predicted behavior."

The researchers further studied the speech of white liberals and conservatives when addressing minority individuals. Again, the researchers found that white liberals engage in a "competence downshift" in their language, whereas white conservatives did not. Dupree noted the uncomfortable irony, stating, "It was kind of an unpleasant surprise to see this subtle but persistent effect. Even if it's ultimately well-intentioned, it could be seen as patronizing." It most certainly could.

Brandon Morse of RedState observed, "We often hear from social justice adherents that we carry an implicit bias toward people of other races, and then immediately point to anyone other than themselves. Now we see why. On average, the white left is guilty of believing minority individuals are of lower intelligence than they are and dumb down their speech in order to feel like they're being kinder to them by doing so."

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CNN Fires Contributor Marc Lamont Hill Following His Outrageous Comments About Israel

CNN fired contributor Marc Lamont Hill after public outrage followed upon incendiary comments he made about the country of Israel.

Both CNN and Hill were deluged with criticism after comments Hill made that many saw as advocating for the destruction of Israel in favor of Palestinian land claims.

“We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action,” Hill said in the speech, “grass-roots action, local action and international action that will give us what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea.”

Much of the criticism came from his use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which is used by extremist groups to advocate for the erasure completely of the Israeli state and replacement with a Palestinian nation.

Hill denied that his use of the phrase was in support of the destruction of Israel, and said that he was merely favoring more freedom for Palestinians.

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Google blocks gender pronouns including 'him' and 'her' from its AI tool that completes sentences over fears it might predict YOUR sex or gender identity incorrectly and offend you

Google is removing gender pronouns from the predictive text feature found in its Gmail platform.

The feature will no longer suggest pronouns that indicate a specific gender such as 'he', 'her', 'him' or 'she' for fear of suggesting the wrong one and causing offence.

Google staff have revealed the technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because the risk is too high that its 'Smart Compose' technology might predict someone's sex or gender identity incorrectly. 

Gmail product manager Paul Lambert said a company research scientist discovered the problem in January.

He wrote: 'I am meeting an investor next week and Smart Compose suggested a possible follow-up question: "Do you want to meet him?" instead of "her".'

Consumers have become accustomed to embarrassing gaffes from auto-correct on smartphones but Google is being cautious around such a sensitive topic.

Gender issues are reshaping politics and society, and critics are scrutinising potential biases in artificial intelligence like never before.

Mr Lambert said the Smart Compose team of about 15 engineers and designers tried several workarounds, but none proved bias-free or worthwhile.

They decided the best solution was to limit coverage and implement a gendered pronoun ban.

It affects fewer than one per cent of cases where Smart Compose would propose something.

'The only reliable technique we have is to be conservative,' said Prabhakar Raghavan, who oversaw engineering of Gmail and other services until a recent promotion.

The company apologised in 2015 when the image recognition feature of its photo service labelled a black couple as gorillas.

In 2016, Google altered its search engine's autocomplete function after it suggested the anti-Semitic query 'are jews evil' when users sought information about Jews.

Google has banned expletives and racial slurs from its predictive technologies, as well as mentions of its business rivals or tragic events.

The company's new policy banning gendered pronouns also affected the list of possible responses in Google's Smart Reply.

That service allow users to respond instantly to text messages and emails with short phrases such as 'sounds good.'

Google uses tests developed by its AI ethics team to uncover new biases.  A spam and abuse team pokes at systems, trying to find 'juicy' gaffes by thinking as hackers or journalists might, Mr Lambert said.

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Council slammed over N-word funeral post for former employee

A Queensland regional council this month posted a funeral notice on its Facebook page for a local Aboriginal man under the heading “John Hagan (N..... Rat)’’.

The November 8 post was only removed today from the Facebook page of the Paroo Shire Council, in the state’s southwest, after a complaint and threatened legal action from the three children and a cousin of Hagan.

A long-time employee of the council, Hagan, 67, was described in the funeral notice as being “known to all’’ by the racially ­offensive “N..... Rat’’, a claim disputed by his family.

Hagan’s son, Bruce, said he had never heard anyone refer to his ­father, who volunteered helping local Aboriginal youth, in the way purported by the council.

“I have never heard anyone call him by the N-word. It’s wrong, and it has been very, very hurtful to the family,’’ he said. “He worked for 45 years on the railway and then council, paid his taxes and I don’t want my dad remembered that way, it’s degrading.’’

Paroo Shire Council chief executive Oliver Simon today said he was “looking into the facts’’ behind the posting of Hagan’s ­funeral notice but that family were “usually consulted’’.

His three children, who are considering making formal complaints under state and commonwealth anti-discrimination laws, said they were not aware of any family member being consulted by the council.

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Twitter Permanently Bans Feminist For Writing That ‘Men Aren’t Women’

Must not question Transgenderism

Months after Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey said his platform didn’t take sides, his platform is not only taking sides but becoming more progressive and Orwellian than ever.
 Nicole Russell By Nicole Russell

Last week, the social media giant permanently banned Meghan Murphy, a writer based in British Columbia, for critiquing transgender ideology online. The platform repeatedly suspended her account for this then ultimately banned her last week, saying such behavior “violated [its] rules against hateful conduct"

Murphy:

What is insane to me, though, is that while Twitter knowingly permits graphic pornography and death threats on the platform (I have reported countless violent threats, the vast majority of which have gone unaddressed), they won’t allow me to state very basic facts, such as ‘men aren’t women.’ This is hardly an abhorrent thing to say, nor should it be considered ‘hateful’ to ask questions about the notion that people can change sex, or ask for explanations about transgender ideology. These are now, like it or not, public debates — debates that are impacting people’s lives, as legislation and policy are being imposed based on gender identity ideology…

Twitter also recently banned “deadnaming”—the practice of referring to a trans person by his or her legal name, or birth name. This also likely played a role in Murphy’s suspensions and ultimate ban.

 Murphy said her account was locked again on November 15. She was told she must delete tweets that read: “Women aren’t men,” and “How are transwomen not men? What is the difference between a man and a transwoman?” Murphy deleted the tweets to regain access to her account. However, at this point, she was angry and tweeted:

“This is f—— bull—, @twitter. I’m not allowed to say that men aren’t women or ask questions about the notion of transgenderism at all anymore? That a multi-billion dollar company is censoring basic facts and silencing people who ask questions about this dogma is insane.”

This tweet went viral, garnering at least 20,000 likes. ThenTwitter locked her account again and demanded she conform—I mean, delete it. Following these suspensions, Murphy was then permanently banned. Her fans were disappointed, to say the least.

Of course, Twitter is a private company and can do whatever it likes. But they have billed themselves as an open platform, one that welcomes debate, ideas, and sharing. In an April article about how Twitter turned toxic, Fast Company reported that Alex Macgillivray, Twitter’s first general counsel, used to say, “Let the tweets flow.” Yet, Murphy writes, the platform has so persistently done the opposite in its treatment of her and other trans-critical feminists that she has started to think about the political right’s positions and be willing to dialogue with them:

While Murphy is outspoken, her tweets were far from hateful. It’s not just disappointing to see Twitter ban the social media account of a woman who was simply calling a spade a spade, but a clear example of Twitter saying one thing and effectively doing another. Instead of the “Thought Police” and “Big Brother,” now we have Jack Dorsey and Twitter.

SOURCE 

Nooses Hung At Mississippi State Capitol Just Before Runoff Election

Almost certainly put up by Democrats

Nooses hanging from trees and signs about lynching were found at the Mississippi State Capitol early Monday morning, just a day before a runoff election to decide whether a black man will represent the state in the U.S. Senate for the first time since the 1880s.

Two nooses and six signs, including one referencing murdered black teen Emmett Till, were hung around the Capitol campus at about 7 a.m. on Monday, according to Chuck McIntosh, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

“We’re hanging nooses to remind people that times haven’t changed,” read one of the signs, NBC News reported Tuesday. Another sign referenced Mississippi’s history of lynchings.

The imagery was first obtained by a WLBT reporter, who received a call in the morning about the nooses and then notified Capitol Police.

McIntosh told HuffPost on Monday that it was unclear, based on the signs alone, whether the incident was related to Tuesday’s runoff election between Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Democratic candidate Mike Espy, who is African-American. He described the signs as focusing on lynching and Till, a 14-year-old who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of interacting with a white woman.

“While I can’t speak to their mindset, it is notable that it was done the day before the special election,” McIntosh said.

However, a Capitol Police spokesman told NBC News that one of the signs referenced the election. The sign read: “On Tuesday Nov. 27, thousands of Mississippians will vote for a senator. We need someone who respects the lives of lynch victims,” NBC News reported, citing the spokesman.

Hyde-Smith made headlines and lost campaign funding after she joked about wanting to attend a “public hanging” earlier this month. She apologized, but the hits kept coming: a Rhodes scholar at the University of Mississippi called her a white supremacist; the NAACP and Espy himself called the comments “hurtful and harmful”; and her uncritical views of the Confederacy and Mississippi’s legacy of racism were made public.

So far, there are no suspects in the incident at the state Capitol, though police are looking at surveillance footage, McIntosh said. There are no immediate plans to beef up security at the building or elsewhere during Tuesday’s election.

SOURCE 

Despite the attempt to frighten people, Hyde-Smith won