A group of experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) has given new names to the monkeypox virus variants

And the names for the virus and the disease itself look set to change soon too.

Let's unpack the changes and why this is happening.

What are the new names?

There are two monkeypox variants — one of those having two subvariants.

After the WHO-convened meeting of virologists and public health experts, it was decided:

The Congo Basin variant will now be referred to as Clade one
The West African variant will now be referred to as Clade two
The experts agreed the second clade consisted of two subclades.

And they decided on a naming convention with a Roman numeral for the clade number and a lower-case letter for the subclades.

So the new names are:

Clade I
Clade IIa
Clade IIb
Clade IIb is the group of variants dominating the current global outbreak.

The WHO says these name changes should come into effect immediately.

What is a clade?

It's a term for a group of organisms that come from a common ancestor.

Are they changing the name 'monkeypox'?
It looks very much like it, but we don't know when that will happen yet.

The WHO is holding an open consultation to come up with the new disease name — and is currently taking suggestions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/monkypox-variant-names-changed-clade/101336662

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

DeSantis Unveils Ultimate Florida License Plate - And Libs Are Completely Losing Their Minds

Another day, another empty outrage from the left.

Woke scolds have now found a way to get upset over a flag closely associated with the American founding and the Revolutionary War.

Florida has unveiled a new license plate featuring the Gadsden flag. Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the new license plate in a July tweet.

American revolutionary Christopher Gadsden designed the flag in 1775 for the newborn U.S. Navy, according to the Charleston Museum.

Gadsden took inspiration from pro-American imagery created by Benjamin Franklin, who was the first to use a rattlesnake to symbolize the 13 colonies.

The flag was intended to symbolize defiance of the British crown’s tyranny, and features a rattlesnake rising against a metaphorical treading boot.

A Wednesday hit piece from NPR sought to link the license plate and the Gadsden flag to “dangerous far-right extremist ideology.”

“The state can’t claim a lack of knowledge about what this image represents to most of the public,” said a representative of the Southern Poverty Law Center quoted by NPR.

The SPLC representative linked the flag to the Jan. 6, 2021, disturbance at the U.S. Capitol. The flag has been used for decades by libertarians and other critics of government overreach — far before the Capitol incursion.

Six states already offered Gadsden flag-themed license plates in 2014, according to The Washington Post.

https://thefederalistpapers.org/us/desantis-unveils-ultimate-florida-license-plate-libs-completely-losing-minds

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Facebook Overturns Decision to Censor Pro-Women Group for Sharing Post Saying Men Can’t Give Birth

Facebook has removed its censorship on an Australian independent think tank group for sharing a post saying men can’t get pregnant.  

The social media giant claimed it was an error following public backlash despite initially saying the decision to impose the ban was “final.”

Women’s Forum Australia, which promotes a pro-women approach to social and cultural issues, became a target of censorship when it posted a screenshot of a tweet on July 22 which said: “Exactly zero men have ever given birth in any year, in any country.” The screenshot was accompanied by an affirming caption consisting of three underlined red 100 emojis.

The original tweet was published by Sall Grover, founder of women-only app Giggle, in response to a news.com.au article that stated, “each year in Australia, several men give birth to children.”

Facebook removed the post a few days later, explaining that it “goes against our Community Standards on dangerous individuals and organisations.”

However, after the issue was reported by the Australian media on Aug. 11, Facebook reversed the ban and said it was a mistake.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/facebook-overturns-decision-to-censor-pro-women-group-for-sharing-post-saying-men-cant-give-birth_4659943.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

We must resist the cancellers and the linguistic revisionists

After reading The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Guide in the early 1990s, I never realised how infectious, dangerous and widespread political correctness would become.

Most of the examples back then were humorous and appeared far-fetched with constructs such as vertically challenged instead of small and chemically inconvenienced for being drunk.

Fast forward to more recent times and it’s obvious that the ­cultural-left language controls and group think now dominate the Western world.

Whether it’s in the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, not a week goes by without yet another example of books being banned, ideas being censored, the past being rewritten, statues being demolished, and ­authors and academics being vilified and publicly shamed.

Now rebadged as being “woke”, political correctness represents an existential threat to Western societies, including concepts such as rationality and reason, religious freedom and freedom of expression. We have entered an ­Orwellian world where Big Brother and the Party control how citizens think and where anyone who questions the thought police is victimised, punished and silenced.

For years praised as an accomplished and successful author, JK Rowling is now condemned as transphobic for arguing against radical transgender theory. In her resignation letter, Bari Weiss, an accomplished writer for The New York Times, describes how she was bullied and isolated because of committing what she terms “Wrongthink”. Such is the destructive nature of what he terms the “appalling ideology of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity” that Jordan Peterson resigned from his academic position at the University of Toronto.

As argued by feminist Camille Paglia, such is the debilitating and destructive nature of political correctness, “We are plunged once again into an ethical chaos where intolerance masquerades as tolerance and where individual liberty is crushed by the tyranny of the group”.

In schools and universities, as a result of neo-Marxist inspired critical race and post-colonial theories, students are taught Western societies are inherently racist, there is nothing beneficial about Western civilisation and, if they are white, told they must atone for past crimes committed against People of Colour including exploitation, cruelty, slavery, dispossession and genocide. Such is the insidious and dangerous impact of critical race theory on schools, American parents are orchestrating campaigns and state governments are now legislating to ensure a balanced and impartial curriculum.

In Australia, the neo-Marxist inspired gender fluidity program Safe Schools, funded by state, territory and commonwealth governments, tells primary and secondary school students boys can be girls and girls can be boys. A recent discussion paper informing government guidelines for kindergartens and preschools argues gender is fluid and binary and young children can self-identify anywhere on the LGBTIQ+ spectrum as there is nothing normal about being a boy or a girl. To suggest gender and sexuality are binary is to be guilty of hetero-normativity and cisgenderism.

Such is the power of woke ideology that much valued and appreciated literary works are regularly condemned and cancelled. Examples include Huckleberry Finn (using racist language), To Kill a Mockingbird (promoting white saviour complex), Moby Dick (killing whales) and Lord of the Flies (all the characters are white, male and privileged). Children’s stories are not immune to wokeism and cancel culture. Victims include Thomas the Tank Engine (enforcing capitalist hierarchies), Little Black Sambo (racism), Sleeping Beauty (heteronormativity and non-consensual sex) and Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree (no assertive roles for girls).

Much valued literary works published with the best of intentions are also targeted by the woke thought police. In England, the University of Leicester has decided to cancel such literary classics as The Canterbury Tales, Beowulf and Le Morte d’Arthur in order to decolonise the curriculum and present students with texts that properly reflect “ethnicity, sexuality and diversity” characterising contemporary society.

Nothing is immune for the cultural-left’s thought police, with even food and beverages targeted. The list includes American and Australian food brands like Coon Cheese, Red Skins, Aunt Jemima, Dixie beer and Eskimo Pie being condemned for cultural appropriation and reinforcing unconscious bias. To cure Western societies of racism, all that has to be done is to rebrand and market products now considered politically incorrect and offensive. Ignored is such misplaced tokenism does nothing to redress the very real disadvantage often suffered by people of colour. Instead of virtue signalling and acting morally superior a much better idea is to address what causes disadvantage and to empower those at risk to better their lives.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/we-must-resist-the-cancellers-and-the-linguistic-revisionists/news-story/a9a456781b7da307b35a0b8a598356ee

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Christian influencer slams Addison Rae's 'Holy Trinity' bikini ad: 'I felt sick to my stomach'

The Holy Trinity is rubbish doctrine anyway. Most Christian denominations believe in it but it is mentioned nowhere in the Bible. It's a theological compromise from the 4th century, promoted by the Egyptian Athanasius. The bikini is a reasonable mockery of it.

Christian influencer Brittany Dawn Davis has gone after TikTok star Addison Rae for posing in a “Holy Trinity” bikini for the brand Praying by Adidas.

Rae has faced so much backlash over the photo since she posted it a week ago, she already took it off her Instagram. The bikini is still available on Praying’s website for $100 — the top features “Father” and “Son” on either side of the piece, while the bottoms read “Holy Spirit.” Rae has not publicly addressed the controversy beyond deleting the ad.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/brittany-dawn-davis-slams-addison-191329967.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Kathy Hochul, Democrats demand ‘inmates’ must now be called ‘incarcerated persons’

While even some Democrats are calling for immediate legislative action to address rising crime, Gov. Kathy Hochul acted Monday to help the people getting arrested feel better about themselves.

Hochul signed into law a bill passed by the Democrat-controlled Albany legislature that replaces the word “inmate” with “incarcerated person” in state law.

“For too long, we as a society have thought of incarcerated individuals as less than people. The use of the word ‘inmate’ further dehumanizes and demoralizes them,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) said of the bill he sponsored with Jeffrion Aubry (D-Queens), which Hochul signed into law Monday.

But Hochul’s latest effort to make the state more politically correct has her critics arguing she has got some seriously misplaced priorities considering how shootings spiked 13.4% last month alongside a 34.3% murder increase compared to July 2021.

“Another ‘Woke’ Criminals 1st Law supported by our Governor instead of doing her job & protecting the public from rampant crime,” state Sen. Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) tweeted Monday afternoon.

“Welcome to Democrat-controlled New York … Where the “incarcerated individuals” are running the asylum,” Michael Fraser, a spokesman for Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay said in a tweet.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/08/kathy-hochul-democrats-demand-inmates-must-now-be-called-incarcerated-person/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

LinkedIn drops climate-change skeptics from networking site

An organization that is skeptical of man-made climate change was booted from the popular LinkedIn networking site for unspecified reasons but the guess is an easy one: Expressing the wrong, disapproved opinions.

Gregory Wrightstone, executive director of the Virginia-based CO2 Coalition, says its page at LinkedIn was terminated “out of the blue” over the weekend, except there were hints the group was a target.

“We just got a statement at the top that we had violated their terms and conditions of LinkedIn,” Wrightstone tells AFN. “There does not appear to be any recourse to this.”

That punishment came after Wrightstone was permanently banned in July and after a second Coalition employee, Darren Nelson, was blocked just weeks ago.

https://co2coalition.org/news/linkedin-drops-climate-change-skeptics-from-networking-site/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Associated Press Injects Woke Ideology Into Its Stylebook

Since 1953, the AP Stylebook has been a go-to manual for journalistic grammar and style at most media outlets. It lays out basic rules about grammar, punctuation, phrasing, and the like, intended to have universal applicability. In the past, it was aimed at reducing bias and creating a framework for evenhanded reporting.

Those days are gone.

Now, the AP is outright suggesting that reporters inject bias into stories on behalf of the more important goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion. All now must serve the new god, DEI.

In May, AP issued guidance following the leak of the then-pending Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade.

The left wanted to frame the issue of abortion as vital to women’s rights. The only problem was that the left’s ideology now makes it nearly impossible to define what a woman is.

AP stepped in to check their privilege.

“Phrasing like pregnant people or people who seek an abortion seeks to include people who have those experiences, but do not identify as women, such as some transgender men and some nonbinary people,” read the new AP guidance.

Saying pregnant “women” is now offensive. The rules of grammar and language must conform to any self-proclaimed marginalized group that says it’s offended. Truth and accuracy are secondary concerns.

AP followed up last week with a more extensive “Topical Guide,” on transgenderism and other issues. It suggests using “unbiased language” and to “avoid false balance [by] giving a platform to unqualified claims or sources in the guise of balancing a story by including all views.”

It then proceeded to elucidate its commitment to carrying water for the transgender advocacy movement and ensure that everyone using the AP Stylebook does, too.

“A person’s sex and gender are usually assigned at birth by parents or attendants and can turn out to be inaccurate,” the guide says, with no evidence or explanation.

“Experts say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only men and women, that can vary among societies and can change over time,” AP continues.

Do other experts disagree and does that not count?

The Topical Guide includes a section about sports that tells reporters and editors not to “misgender or imply doubt” about transgender athletes, especially biological males competing in women’s sports.

Of course, even using the phrase “biological” males would be a no-no, according to the AP.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/07/28/associated-press-injects-woke-ideology-into-its-stylebook

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Pennsylvania moms react to education dept suggesting kids may use 'ne, ve, ze/zie and xe' pronouns

Pennsylvanians blasted their state's department of education's new gender identity page which suggested teachers should not make assumptions about students' pronouns, and listed "ne, ve, ze/zie and xe" as some examples.

Fox News Digital spoke with people from Pennsylvania, including mothers, about the education department's webpage.

"In addition to the traditional pronouns (he/him, she/her, they), some people prefer to use gender-neutral pronouns, such as ne, ve, ze/zie and xe. If you don't know a student's preferred personal pronoun, it's always best to ask," the Pennsylvania DOE said.

"This is grooming of our children," said parent, a chair at the PA Economic Growth PAC, Veronica Gemma. "[W]hen it comes to sexuality, whatever they identify as, that's their personal business. And it's not academics. It doesn't belong in the classroom."

"They need to focus on the terrible reading scores in this state, the terrible math scores in this state… [Instead,] they're focused on indoctrinating this next generation to change the fabric of our country," she added.

The Pennsylvania website also claimed the concept of two genders, male and female, was a "faulty concept."

"As a Pennsylvania parent, I’d like to know what qualifies them to all the concept of biological gender as faulty?" said a mother named Megan Eileen.

"As a mom, my children know who they are and they were created in God's image. So God created a man and a woman and that's it. There's only two genders," said Gemma.

"Why do they feel that it’s appropriate to teach this to a third-grader? It’s not appropriate. So many children in Pennsylvania are struggling with grade competencies, particularly after the long COVID-19 mitigation disruptions," Eileen said.

"The [Pennsylvania Department of Education] needs to stop spending money and classroom hours on leftist indoctrination and focus on academics. I think that’s something most parents and teachers, regardless of political affiliation, agree on."

Proponents of teaching gender ideology in schools say that it helps maintain tolerance and an accepting environment for LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals, "[O]ne in three transgender youth reported attempting suicide, almost one-third reported being a victim of sexual violence, and more than half reported a two-week period of depression."

Pennsylvania's education department had previously told Fox News in a statement that it was crucial to "support all learners" and to help them feel "welcome in their schools and communities."

One of the web pages included an article written by an activist, who said, "A gender-diverse child’s best predictor of success is whether that child receives support at home and from teachers."

Republican. state Rep. Barbara Gleim said, "I think that a lot of this is coming down from the Biden administration through his executive orders."

"I'm not anti-trans, but these discussions have a time and a place. And I don't think that elementary school [and] middle school are the time or the place for these discussions," she added.

Kara Kowalski from York, Pennsylvania, said, "I'm not a parent, but I have three nieces who are young. They're eight, six and three. And I pretty much spend every day and every second that I can with them. I'm gay myself. But I don't align with all of this."

Fox News Digital also spoke with the feminist writer of "The Abolition of Sex," Kara Dansky, who has been a vocal voice against the gender identity movement.

"I think that what we're seeing is a vicious combination of woman hatred and greed," she said. "I absolutely think that our society should be accepting of people who do not wish to conform to sex stereotypes. That's a good thing. We have been saying for decades that women especially, ought to be able to transcend sex stereotypes. And we should champion and accept that," she said.

"But that's very different for a school or an education department trying to persuade children that they actually are the opposite sex," she added. "That's extremely dangerous."

https://www.foxnews.com/media/pennsylvania-moms-education-department-suggesting-ne-ve-ze-zie-xe-pronouns

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Alum used to be a chemical that was helpful with mouth ulcers and such things. No more

Kel Richards

A reader has alerted me to the use of an odd word ‘alum’ to refer to the graduates of his old university. When he wrote to protest that this was a nonsense word he was told ‘Alum is the non-gender specific term for a singular graduate (rather than specifying gender – alumnus/masculine or alumna/feminine)…’

He was also told that ‘alum’ had been coined in the 19th century. Which rather surprised him, since he hadn’t realised the 19th century was flush was trans-gender issues (and the fear of being transphobic). He asked me to investigate.

After some digging, I discovered that ‘alum’ is indeed recorded in the Oxford as American ‘non-standard’ usage from 1877 with the meaning you’d expect: ‘A former student of a school, university, etc.; an alumnus or alumna’.

But it had nothing to do with gender. As I read the citations it seems to have begun as an abbreviation rather than as a non-gender-specific term. It’s only around the year 2000 that wokeness took over and unis started referring to their graduates using a word that makes them sound like ‘an astringent mineral salt, typically occurring as colourless or whitish crystals’.

https://spectator.com.au/2022/08/language-23/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

The ever-shifting language of ‘culture wars’

‘Come on, old girl,’ said my husband as though encouraging a cow stuck in a ditch, ‘you must know.’ It was because I’d asked him in the far-off days of last week what woman meant, just after Rishi Sunak had said: ‘We must be able to call a mother a mother.’ Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch then tussled in a hate-crime triangle on television over who said what, when about people self-identifying in a gender.

Such matters are said to belong to culture wars, which we had thought an American phenomenon. Culture wars acquired their name only in the 1980s. Since then we have grown used to language (as part of their armaments) changing rapidly. Politically incorrect began as something assumed bad; then politically correct became a shorthand for the false and absurd. Politically correct was overtaken by woke. This grew in popularity thanks to the refrain ‘I stay woke’ in Erykah Badu’s Master Teacher (2008) (‘What if it were no niggas / Only master teachers? / I stay woke.’) But soon it became impossible for most British people to use woke without irony. The thinking behind it was instead derided as wokeness, wokery or wokeism.

Doubt is also more widely being cast on the assumption that gender can be changed by self-identification so as to require a change in sex-linked terminology (woman instead of man, he instead of she). But the Equalities Act 2010 had confusingly used the term transsexual person to someone undergoing or even proposing to undergo gender reassignment.

When asked at the General Synod this month ‘What is the Church of England’s definition of a woman?’ the Bishop in Europe (as it happened) said there was ‘no official definition’, as it had been ‘thought to be self-evident’. Yet the C of E can by law only marry a man to a woman.

And now politicians fear to say what a woman is, caught between the lines of a culture war, not knowing whether to call a self-declared trans woman a woman or a man; whether to say shibboleth like the Gileadites or sibboleth like the Ephraimites. It matters: the book of Judges tells us 42,000 Ephraimites were killed. Will the next prime minister be a Gileadite or an Ephraimite?

https://spectator.com.au/2022/07/culture-wars-2/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

The Battle Over Renaming 'Racist' Monkeypox

Nearly seven weeks after the World Health Organization said it will change the name of the monkeypox disease, agreeing with scientists who called it "discriminatory and stigmatizing," the controversial label doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Critics say the name "monkeypox" plays into racist stereotypes about Black people, Africa and LGBTQ people — and, they note, it falsely suggests monkeys are the main source of the virus.

"Monkeypox should be renamed for two major reasons," said Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor, a global health equity advocate and senior New Voices fellow at the Aspen Institute. "First, there is a long history of referring to Blacks as monkeys. Therefore, 'monkeypox' is racist and stigmatizes Blacks."

"Second, 'monkeypox' gives a wrong impression that the disease is only transmitted by monkeys. This is wrong," he adds.

Yet despite growing criticism of the name, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses told NPR that even if the name is changed in the next year or two, the term "monkey" will likely still be part of any revamped name. While WHO names diseases, the ICTV determines the formal names of viruses.

In recent discussions held by the ICTV, "the consensus is that use of the name 'monkey' is sufficiently separated from any pejorative context such that there is no reason for any change," Elliot Lefkowitz, the organization's data secretary, told NPR via email.

And when asked for an update on WHO's name-changing process, WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said last week: "We, as far as I know, have not received any proposals for a name to replace monkeypox." The process, she adds, remains open for suggestions.

Nonetheless, the movement to change the name of the virus is continuing. Last Tuesday, New York City public health commissioner Ashwin Vasan sent a letter urging WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to act immediately to rename monkeypox, citing "potentially devastating and stigmatizing effects."

As calls to rename the disease are growing, so is the current outbreak. In fact, the disease's spread prompted WHO to declare it an international public health emergency in July. When WHO announced its plan to rename monkeypox in June, there were around 3,100 confirmed or suspected cases worldwide. There are now 22,485 cases, according to the CDC — only 344 of them in countries with a history of monkeypox.

One of the worst outbreaks is in the U.S., which has reported 5,189 cases, including 1,345 cases in New York state, the CDC says.

The fact that the name change is still being debated presents a contrast to the urgency the agencies showed in labeling COVID-19.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/08/01/1113908154/critics-say-monkeypox-is-a-racist-name-but-its-not-going-away-anytime-soon

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Beyonce to change ‘deeply offensive’ word in song Heated from new album Renaissance

Beyoncé has removed an ableist slur from her new song Heated following backlash from fans and disability advocates.

Virtual hellfire was sparked on social media by the star’s use of the term “sp*z” on the track, which is featured on her recently released Renaissance album.

On the upbeat number, Beyoncé, 40, sings the lyrics: “Sp*zin’ on that ass, sp*z on that ass/ Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass”, prompting disability advocates to call her out for using derogatory language.

“So @Beyonce used the word ‘sp*z’ in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community …” penned one Twitter user in a now-viral tweet.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

In Australia, the UK, and other countries, “sp*z,” which is derived from the word “spastic,” is viewed as a derogatory slight against people with cerebral palsy — a congenital disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture caused by abnormal brain development during gestation.

However, in the US, the term is often casually used to suggest that a person is going to wildly let loose or has expertly completed a major feat.

Representatives for Beyoncé told the NY Post, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” adding, “The road to success is always under construction.”

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/beyonce-to-change-deeply-offensive-word-in-song-heated-from-new-album-renaissance/news-story/4e5ef7b766e8d26c5ed830b98810b0ab

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Twitter Stops Censoring Epoch Times Content After Outcry

Twitter has halted its censorship of content from The Epoch Times following a flood of public criticism.

Links posted on the social media platform were working properly on July 30. It’s unclear when the change was made by the technology company.

Earlier in the week, Twitter users who attempted to click on an Epoch Times link on the platform were told that the link “may be unsafe.”

“The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe,” Twitter said.

The link could be “malicious” and attempting to steal personal information, “spammy” and trying to mislead people, “violent or misleading,” or otherwise in violation of Twitter rules, according to the warning.

The censorship affected all of The Epoch Times’ content.

Multiple U.S. lawmakers decried the development, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

“Twitter must explain itself for this outrageous act of censorship,” Rubio, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter.

Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) were among the other members of Congress who criticized Twitter’s actions.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said Twitter’s warning was “an outrageous act of censorship.”

Twitter has not responded to requests for comment.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/twitter-stops-censoring-epoch-times-content-after-outcry_4632452.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Twitter Censors All Content From The Epoch Times

Twitter on July 28 imposed a blockade on all content from The Epoch Times without explanation, raising further concerns about freedom of speech on the platform and drawing ire from three U.S. senators.

The platform enforced a warning on all links from The Epoch Times. A click on a link directs users to a page titled “Warning: this link may be unsafe,” which prompts users to return to the previous page.

“The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe,” the warning stated, citing Twitter’s URL policy.

The notice said that the link could fall into any of four categories: “malicious links that could steal personal information or harm electronic devices”; “spammy links that mislead people or disrupt their experience”; “violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm”; or content that “if posted directly on Twitter, are a violation of the Twitter Rules.”

Twitter’s warning page allows users to proceed to the Epoch Times link if they click on the word “continue” at the very bottom of the page.

The platform has not responded to multiple requests from The Epoch Times for clarification.

“Twitter is blocking all links to @EpochTimes, including a story about a human trafficking survivor, and labeling them as ‘spammy’ and ‘unsafe.’ Twitter must explain itself for this outrageous act of censorship,” Rubio wrote in a July 29 tweet.

Johnson described Twitter’s action as “alarming.”

“Twitter is censoring @EpochTimes under the guise of ‘unsafe’ speech. Remember what happened the last time corporate media and big tech tried to censor my investigation on Hunter Biden corruption?” he wrote. “The truth always prevails.”

Scott asked Twitter in a July 29 tweet “where’s the respect for free speech and freedom of press, Twitter.”

“We all remember your biased censorship of [The New York Post] and how that ended for you,” Scott said.

Among the first to be affected by Twitter’s blockade was Eliza Bleu, a human trafficking survivor. In an interview that premiered at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, Bleu shared about how abusers groomed her by preying on her vulnerabilities.

Bleu tried to repost the link after watching the interview, and to her surprise and dismay, found that she “couldn’t even click on the link.”

“I’m pretty disheartened that the interview link was labeled as unsafe, because it’s not unsafe,” she told The Epoch Times.

“By watching the interview, anyone can tell it’s pretty educational,” she said. “I wasn’t talking about anything that wasn’t factual. I was just really just trying to educate, raise awareness, and bring attention to the issue.”

She added that the link seemed to be accessible when the interview first aired but became blocked sometime afterward.

Twitter Targets American Media, Not Chinese State Media

The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 by Chinese Americans who fled communist China and sought to create an independent media outlet to bring uncensored and truthful information to the world.

At least 10 staff members for The Epoch Times were arrested that year in China, with one editor-in-chief spending a decade in prison.

While operating outside of China, the media outlet has remained a consistent target of attacks from the Chinese regime over the past two decades.

The printing press of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times has suffered a series of violent break-ins, including arson, over the years, viewed as attempts by Beijing to intimidate the publication. In an official statement last year, President Joe Biden’s State Department condemnded an attack on an Epoch Times reporter in Hong Kong.

Major Chinese state media, by contrast, remain accessible on the platform as of press time.

Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the Brownstone Institute think tank and a contributor for The Epoch Times, also expressed his shock.

“The @EpochTimes, the entire media complex, has been declared by Twitter to be unsafe. This stuns me, even though I thought I was beyond shock at this point,” he wrote.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/twitter-censors-all-content-from-the-epoch-times_4631372.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Recession another victim of Democrats’ rewriting of the English language

When is a recession not a recession? When a Democrat is in the White House, apparently.

The traditional rule of thumb for when an economy is in a recession is a decline in gross domestic product for two consecutive quarters — a shrinking economy for half a year. Under previous presidents, that was not a controversial definition. In 2008, Joe Biden’s National Economic Council director, Brian Deese, wrote, “Economists have a technical definition of recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”

But here’s Deese Wednesday: “Two negative quarters of GDP growth is not the technical definition of recession.” He’s not the only one. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Sunday: “we are not in a recession now” even if GDP declines for a second straight quarter. “That’s not the technical definition.”

You can guess the reason for the spin: When the second-quarter GDP number came out Thursday — surprise! — it was negative for the second straight quarter. Just don’t say the R-word. President Biden’s response: “That doesn’t sound like recession to me.” It’s like a three-card-monte dealer looking you in the eye and saying, “That’s not the queen.”

Two fig-leaf excuses are offered for this rigamarole. One is that unemployment is falling — but with inflation around 9%, the stock market down about 10% this year, the labor force shrinking and business output restricted by the millions of unfilled jobs, the fact that people are working harder while their dollars aren’t going as far is not much to crow about.

Yellen also argues it’s not a recession until the National Bureau of Economic Research says it is. But the NBER does historical statistics, so it often takes a year for it to declare a recession. Talk about trying to run out the clock.

https://nypost.com/2022/07/28/recession-another-victim-of-democrats-rewriting-of-the-english-language/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

17 Attorneys General Warn Google About Censoring Pregnancy Crisis Centers

A coalition of 17 attorneys general is threatening Google with an anti-trust investigation if it censors pregnancy crisis centers from search results related to abortion.

Pregnancy crisis centers are different from abortion centers in that they provide resources for women who choose to carry their babies to full term.

The attorneys general of Virginia and Kentucky, Jason Miyares and Daniel Cameron, respectively, are leading the group, which sent a letter to Google on July 21.

In the letter, the group asks whether the tech giant has taken any steps to treat crisis pregnancy centers differently in search results since Roe v Wade was overturned.

Google, Miyares, and Cameron did not respond to requests for comment. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he joined the effort because he did not want to see Google succumb to political pressure.

The AGs’ joint correspondence was in response to Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Congresswoman Elissa Slotnick’s (D-Mich.) June 17th letter asking what steps Google CEO Sundar Pichai will take to limit the appearance of anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers in Google search results when users search for “abortion clinics” or “abortion pills.”

“Google should not be displaying anti-abortion fake clinics or crisis pregnancy centers in search results for users that are searching for an abortion clinic or abortion pill,” Warner and Slotnik wrote. “If Google must continue showing these misleading search results and in Google Maps, the results should at the very least be appropriately labeled.”

An additional 12 Senators and nine members of Congress, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), signed the letter.

“Senator Warner believes that users who search for “abortion services” should receive results that are relevant to their searches,” said Valeria Rivadeneira, a Warner spokesperson. “Crisis pregnancy centers—which routinely misinform and mislead clients about their reproductive health—make every effort to appear in these search results in order to deceive individuals into thinking they offer a full range of reproductive health services.”

Rivadeneira added that Warner has not yet received a response to his June 17th communication to Google and that Google should apply appropriate labels to all organic search and map results.

Curtis Hill, former Attorney General of Indiana, said the cadre of Democratic politicians want Google to act as an arm of the government in suppressing information.

“It’s a typical sidestep that some government officials try to create, and we’ve seen it in other areas,” he said. “So, it’s highly appropriate for the state’s attorneys general to call it for what it is…possible antitrust violations for which they would face sanctions.”

Because Google operates in all their states, the company falls under the jurisdiction of each AG’s consumer advocacy responsibilities.

“They have the right to investigate companies that are operating within their state on information that consumers are being duped or otherwise are having difficulty being treated fairly,” Hill told The Epoch Times.

He commended his former colleagues for demanding to know whether Google intends to comply with the request made by members of the Senate and Congress.

“I’d want to know if the algorithms had been changed by a particular date and if any differences or distinctions seem to be in compliance with the request that was made,” Hill added. “It’s been suggested that some of the searches be limited. So, I would want to see the searches.”

Pregnancy crisis centers like the Crisis Pregnancy Support Center (CPSC) in Texas City, Texas, don’t just rely on Google for clients.

Instead, it’s word of mouth that brings pregnant women to their doorstep, according to Christy Anne Collins, CPSC executive director.

“Most of our referrals come from people in the community who are involved in social service type of work and know the services we offer,” she said. “We’re not competing with the abortion listings, and we don’t want to.”

Collins thinks it’s appropriate that Texas AG Ken Paxton is among the Generals who signed the letter.

“Google or anybody else shouldn’t be stifling free speech, not on this issue or any other issue,” she said.

Serving up to 170 individuals per month ranging in age from 9 to 52 years old, CPSC has been in existence since 1992.

“If somebody is interested in alternative information or they are interested in crisis pregnancy centers, we shouldn’t be blocked out,” Collins told The Epoch Times. “I’m very concerned that that kind of thing could happen very easily.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/17-attorneys-general-warn-google-about-censoring-pregnancy-crisis-centers_4619340.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

British council slams 'woke nonsense' bid to replace chairman with gender neutral 'presiding person'

A council has voted to keep using the term 'chairman' after plans to replace the title with a 'gender neutral' alternative were branded 'woke nonsense' by local councillors - including several women.  

The Conservative-run South Kesteven District Council, in South Lincolnshire, had introduced a proposal to change its constitution that would have seen 'chairman' replaced with 'presiding person.'

But critics said the move amounted to 'policing language', arguing that the current title projected authority, according to the Local Democracy reporting service.

Labour and Independent members, meanwhile, said changing the name would 'promote equality' by ensuring the default title was no longer masculine.

Conservative councillor Helen Crawford, blasted the plans, saying: 'I don't like 'presiding person'. It sounds like I should be a judge with a handkerchief on my head.'

Tory councillor Ben Green branded them 'woke nonsense', adding: 'We should spend half as long talking about the future as we do policing language.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11049579/Council-slams-woke-nonsense-bid-replace-chairman-gender-neutral-presiding-person.html

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

Twitter says calling trans and non-binary people ‘groomer’ is hate speech

Twitter has said that it has banned the use of the word “groomer” when directed at trans and non-binary people as an anti-LGBTQ+ slur.

The use of the word “groomer” as an anti-LGBTQ+ slur, conflating queer identities with paedophilia, has been rapidly increasing in recent months.

This week, Twitter confirmed to Daily Dot in a statement that describing trans or non-binary people as “groomers” was now against its hate speech policy.

“We are committed to combating abuse motivated by hatred, prejudice, or intolerance, particularly abuse that seeks to silence the voices of those who have been historically marginalized,” Twitter’s health product communications lead Lauren Alexander said.

“For this reason, we prohibit behavior that targets individuals or groups with abuse based on their perceived membership in a protected category.

“Use of this term is prohibited under our Hateful Conduct policy when it is used as a descriptor, in context of discussion of gender identity.”

However, enforcement of the rule has been patchy, with the word being used in many different contexts.

Alexander added: “We recognize we have more work to do to ensure this content is addressed in a timely and consistent manner and we continue to invest in our automated tools and people teams to identify and address gaps in our enforcement.”

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/07/22/groomer-twitter-hate-speech-slur/

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************

The Left does not think the First Amendment applies to the Right: Rep Jim Jordan

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revealed the Left's double standard on free speech Saturday on "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino."

REP. JIM JORDAN: They don't think that the First Amendment rights apply to you and [me]. Think about what they've said about your free speech rights. The Left today says if you don't agree with them, you're not even allowed to talk — and if you try, we're going to call you racist, and we're going to try to cancel you.

And now we have the Left giving a wink and a nod to people actually trying to use violence and intimidation tactics against people they disagree with. So that's what frightens me — their attack on your First Amendment rights, your Second Amendment rights, your Fourth Amendment due process rights. And now [there's] this almost this double standard that they have when it comes to violence that they see from people [who] agree with their political position.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/left-think-first-amendment-applies-right-rep-jim-jordan

***********************************

My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com/ (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

*******************************