Links - 15th May 2021 (2)

️ on Twitter - "white fragility is white liberals going out of their way to not read fanon, angela davis, clr james, baldwin, du bois, malcolm x, etc., but instead some white woman's shitty corporate anti-bias training manual ironically the popularity among liberals of the person who coined the concept of "white fragility" and other professional white "anti-racism experts" like tim wise is a perfect example of it in practice, but of course it's never used to illuminate that. hits too close to home
and when anyone does dare point it out, these professional white liberal "anti-racism experts" reveal themselves to be the most fragile of the fragile whites. at the very least you have to appreciate the irony"

Hidden camera left in a forest snaps a naked man high on LSD in Polish forest - "A hidden camera left in a forest to snap images of animals in the wild captured pictures of a naked man who believed he was a tiger after taking LSD."

Man Sets New Record For Most Expensive Starbucks Drink Order Ever - "A guy named Andrew had a Starbucks Gold card (which gets you a free drink of your choice after you buy 12) and a single goal: to beat the previous world record for the most expensive Starbucks drink ever. As anyone who has accomplished anything in life will tell you, thorough prep is key to achieving your goals. With 128-ounce glass in hand, Andrew stepped into Starbucks and enlisted the help of his friendly local Starbucks baristas.Thus, the legend of the Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappucino was born. Total cost: $54.75. But for Gold-card holding Andrew, it was free. Amazingly enough, unlike the previous world-record-holder, this concoction was actually still drinkable. For Andrew, that was really the key. Why waste a free drink, right?"

Leftwing voters lead decline in trust in UK news media - "The British public’s trust in the media has fallen off a cliff in the last five years, particularly among leftwing voters, research suggests.Just 15% of left-leaning voters now say they trust most news most of the time, down from 46% as recently as 2015, Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found... “Trust in the news has fallen over 20 percentage points since 2015,” concluded the authors of the Reuters Institute’s annual digital news report. “Even the most trusted brands like the BBC are seen by many as pushing or suppressing agendas, especially over polarising issues like Brexit.”... Britain now ranks below the likes of the US and Hong Kong when it comes to public trust in the media... The BBC remains the most trusted national news outlet, but support among the most politically partisan consumers – on both the left and right – has fallen by 20 percentage points since 2018.The study found there was a “silent majority” of Britons who still strongly wanted the news to be presented in a “neutral and detached” manner, backing BBC news bosses who discourage their reporters from expressing personal political views on social media."
Strange. Leftists used to tell us that distrusting the media was dangerous and brought us down the road to fascism

Pakistani girl who died in Texas shooting ‘wanted to experience American culture’ - "A 17-year-old Pakistani girl was among the 10 killed in Texas after a gunman opened fired in a high school on Friday. Sabika Sheikh, who was in the US under a foreign exchange program and wanted to “experience a new culture”, had often talked about becoming a diplomat in the future."

India: Army 'mistook planets for spy drones' - "India's army reportedly spent six months watching "Chinese spy drones" violating its air space, only to find out they were actually Jupiter and Venus... The Telegraph suggests the sentry ought to be forgiven, with planets appearing brighter as a result of the different atmosphere at altitude and the increased use of surveillance drones"

Yan Neng - "The Sunday Times asks some 1,000 respondents which are the jobs that are most crucial in keeping Singapore going"
"when you place people who handles the garbage disposal next to an artist, how could I rank both as equally essential? The former, I need everyday; the latter, I love art and can enjoy the art they’ve already made everyday. In my mind, there were also a distinction between a pure artist and a designer when I was doing the survey. I thought about performance artists who sat in an exhibit holding people’s hands, or people who painted on an easel. While their work can be amazing (I’ve been touched by such art), I don’t know how essential it is right now in today’s Cov19 context... I also think there's also a difference between "essential" and "valuable". I'm a writer and I'll gladly admit I'm not essential in today's context and climate. However, I do find my work *valuable*. Whether or not my work is essential has no bearing on the value my work brings. The survey asked for "essential" and I did the survey keeping "essential" in mind. This term was defined in the survey: "we mean someone who is engaged in work deemed necessary to meet basic needs of human survival and well-being, such as food, health, safety and cleaning"."
The wave of triggered people does not speak well of the critical thinking abilities of artists and people who support the arts: conflating essential and important, ignoring what "essential" means in the covid-19 context and more It's telling HR managers and business consultants didn't get triggered

DC Comics Publisher Jim Lee Reveals 25% Of Company's Publishing Line Wasn't Breaking Even; Commits To "Diversity and Inclusivity"

DC Comics Editors Strongly Urged To Use Affirmative Action When Hiring Writers And Artists - "a greater breadth of experience within a creative team can offer a greater breath of stories and storytelling and attract a wider audience"
So much for that theory

New York Times ignores nonwhite defenders of black professor, believes his white accusers - "One of the most baffling parts of #MeToo and #BelieveAllWomen culture is its indifference to “disparate impact,” one of the most important elements of progressive advocacy... Who is more likely to be accused of sexual misconduct in any sphere of society? Certainly not white guys. And precious few progressives are willing to call it out.The white-dominated New York Times joins this selective parade of outrage by creating a deeply misleading portrait of sexual harassment allegations against a star professor at Harvard University, Roland Fryer, largely by crediting his white accusers over his nonwhite defenders... She wanted $25,000 more than Harvard was willing to offer, and she texted her friend Tanaya Devi – who remains Fryer’s loudest defender – that “I will do anything possible to make sure I get the money I deserve.”... The apparent problem is this dark-skinned Indian immigrant, who plans to leave America because of the stifling conformity of academia, contradicted the narrative the Times wanted to peddle... His lawyer, Harvard Law Prof. Ronald Sullivan, says he was “constantly portrayed as an over-sexualized black man who no one could tell no” – one witness even complained about the “intensity of his look.” Sullivan also says Harvard ignored “rampant witness coaching” of the RAs by the accuser’s lawyers.But Fryer is also not black enough to be seen as a victim of a white witch hunt. Another Ph.D. student, Alex Bell, says he lost points with black people for the “police shootings paper.”"

Wife Withholds Sex Until Husband Agrees To Adopt A Black Child: "She Called Me A Racist" - "she won't be sleeping with him until he agrees to adopt a baby with her because she doesn't want to share her body with a racist... Overall, the issue has been getting out of hands, and it wasn't just with her husband, as he revealed that she'd been cutting off people who had a different view from hers"

Michael Knowles on Twitter - "The Left controls every major institution in America: mainstream media, the academy, administrative government, Hollywood, Big Tech, etc. So if “institutional racism” really did exist, whose fault would that be?"

Please Press F - Posts - "So I made an onlyfans... my boyfriend doesn't approve and is mad... so idk what to do, I need to pay bills but I’m not trynna disrespect my man"

Andrew Gillum says being a ‘Black man in America’ led him to a drug orgy with men that fateful night - "Andrew Gillum opened up about the circumstances that led him to a drug-fueled sex orgy with two men that ended his once-promising political career.Gillum, the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Florida, made headlines after he was found drunk on a bathroom floor at a luxury Miami Beach hotel with a naked male escort who was suspected of overdosing on crystal meth."

Orwell & Goode - Posts (Zucced)
Meme - "Alyssa (AI) Gray ©alygraytorv: If you celebrate the 4th of July full blown without zero hesitation whatsoever you either
A) a white supremacist
B) a raging drunk/partier
C) a hillbilly redneck
D) an ignorant uneducated child or
E) all of the above"
Supposedly, liberals don't hate their countries
Addendum: The new version contrasts her mugshot with a meme character with glasses, short hair and a shaved patch on her head, and it's a stunning match

Adam Yahiya - Hello my name is Adam Yahiya and welcome to... - "Hello my name is Adam Yahiya and welcome to McMansion Hell Malaysia : Episode 1"

Doc Wolverine, Attending Fursician on Twitter - "Cookie Monster has forward facing eyes mounted high upon his head. This suggests Cookie Monster is a submerged, ambush predator. Just something to consider."

A DNA Test Told Me I’m White — Here’s Why It’s Wrong | by S. Natalie
So this is the left's fabled championing of Science

James Lindsay - Posts - "I just found out logicians at our estimable universities did "shut down logic" in the name of Critical Race Theory, and I can't stop laughing.Like, what's the message here? That Critical Race Theory and BLM are illogical? Yes. That racial minorities can't be logical? Unfortunately also yes. The Savior Caste can't even hear themselves over their own flatulence anymore."

p.e. moskowitz on Twitter - "liberals are necessary to enable fascism: you can see it happening in real time right now: they make peace with cops, make compromises with politicians, siphon off support from radicals, allowing everyone to remain in power and nothing to change while draining movements of energy"
All the Communists don't realise that they'll be shot too if the revolution ever happens

The saboteurs you can hire to end your relationship - "In Japan, you can pay private agents called ‘wakaresaseya’ to seduce your spouse or their partner... a colleague of Kuwabara’s photographed them in a love hotel, and Isohata’s husband used these photographs as evidence for a divorce. (Such evidence is needed when a Japanese divorce is contested.)... hiring a wakaresaseya helps “you avoid confrontation. It’s a way in the short term of resolving a difficult situation without conflict. And your wife is much more likely to agree to a divorce if she’s in love with someone and wants to move on.” Thus, this is especially useful when one spouse won’t agree to a divorce, which complicates proceedings. But most of Mochizuki’s clients are not married people who want help separating from their spouses, but rather those who want their spouse’s affairs broken up... As TV and radio producer Mai Nishiyama comments; “There’s a market for everything in Japan.” This includes a variety of relationship-based services like renting faux family members and the additional services offered by wakaresaseya firms, such as assistance with romantic reconciliation, separating a child from an unsuitable girlfriend or boyfriend or preventing revenge porn. Agents can also be hired to gather evidence that will help a wronged spouse collect consolation money, which is compensation for the dissolution of a relationship"

People in Japan Are Buying Air Fresheners That Smell Like ‘High School Girls’ - "In Japan, it’s no secret that there’s a sizable fetish with joshi kosei (aka JK, or high school girls)... this Twitter user’s mother actually thought that he just gave a ride to a young girl. “So that means this air freshener is really good,” he wrote... Japan is no stranger to unusual fragrances. There are cute ones like this fabric spray with the “scent of a cat’s forehead” for cat-lovers, or “virtual fragrances” that are supposed to smell like fictional characters from anime and video games. Bordering on creepy are scents modelled after the most intimate moments with women. One example is this fragrance that’s supposed to smell like “the bath towel of a woman who just dried off after a shower.” There’s also this body soap with the “scent of a young woman,” that became a hit among men. Even kinkier is fried chicken marketed to smell like either “the bottom of a young woman’s foot” or “girl’s sweat.”"

SAS: Who Dares Wins hardman Ollie Ollerton axed from show 'due to new Channel 4 diversity drive' - "Long-serving show star, military veteran Ollie Ollerton and co-star Jay Morton have been axed. Show insiders say the decision could be down to a new diversity drive from Channel 4 bosses who want the ethnic backgrounds of the Directing Staff (DS) to mirror that of the participants, which are far more varied."

Moral Lessons for a Post-Covid World

BBC Radio 4 - Moral Maze, Moral Lessons for a Post-Covid World

"‘I very much agree that there is a great deal about this Coronavirus that we all still don't know, that experts contradict each other, and that we certainly should always be skeptical or questioning about what we're being told. But given the evidence of our own eyes about the impact of this virus at the speed of its transmission, I've been appalled by some of those on the libertarian Right, who've opposed not just lockdowns, but every single restriction on the basis that it's all a plot to seize state control over people's lives. And then these people cherry pick epidemiological evidence to claim that covid isn't a serious problem at all. Now, to me, this is astonishing, because it's a mirror image of the way over many years, the left has sacrificed evidence based reality to ideological dogma. And I think that in fetishizing, individual freedom over social responsibility, the anti state libertarian right is as dangerous as the pro state social libertarian left.’...

‘I have no objection in principle to governments introducing quite stringent restrictions on our lives to fight epidemics, but if you are going to use those very powerful weapons, they've got to be used proportionately. Now, if we were in the midst of an epidemic of bubonic plague which was estimated to have killed half the people it infected, I would agree about the use of all these lockdowns and everything but I just do not feel that we are in a disease is in any way comparable to bubonic plague or in any way justifies the level of restrictions on our freedom that were being used at the height of lockdown. And I think it's very easy to frame this debate as a sort of lives versus liberty argument. But the fact is that severe restrictions on our freedom in the form of lockdown as we have, they have their own death toll and when you look at the University of Loughborough study last week, estimated that 21,000 people were killed by the effects of lockdown. People because they weren't accessing health care, emergency health care in the way that they normally would, because they, you know, they people weren't looking after them. People weren't looking in on them, you know, lonely people who might normally be out and about. And you know, there is a very much it's death versus death, lives versus lives. Ultimately, when you come to this equation... We had a pandemic plan which had been debated, which had been published, you could read it up online. But it mentioned nothing about lockdown. It mentioned nothing about having to stay at home. It mentioned nothing about them closing schools, workplaces and everything else... I wouldn't say it was a conspiracy to seize powers over our lives. What I would say is it was panic’...

'Universalism, the idea that everyone should be treated as one is perfectly okay in theory, but in practice, it means that we treat everyone with the same chilly, bureaucratic, mathematical indifference as we do a stranger'...

‘It's interesting to me that you mentioned sort of morality, I don't necessarily see a role for the state in that because over time, it just infantilizes people and I'm not sure as well. Maybe the NHS should get us to take responsibility for one bit of our body like our elbow, or knee. Maybe financially, that's-’

‘Okay. Okay, so if we just move away from food even, and let me give you the scenario, which is that the state should intervene at times, shouldn't it, because relying on people's individual acts is an ideal. If we look back at our recent history, when we look at the smoking ban, making people wear seatbelts, making that compulsory, equal opportunities legislation, including gender equality and gay rights. All these didn't come from individual common sense or concern. They came from top down legislation.’

‘Yeah, but those are, those are social issues. Eating is a very personal thing that we all do.’

‘Eating is a social issue as well’

‘Yeah, but I don't think that it's within the state's remit. I mean, you look at what's happened in schools, a lot of schools have started doing breakfast clubs for kids. And now, you know, there’s a generation of parents growing up that don't see that as their responsibility. And every time you reach into an area that things should, people should be responsible for themselves, you kind of lose that capacity to act autonomously’...

‘I don't understand why it took a global pandemic for us to address this. I mean, a lot of people must have been going to the doctors and being told that they were morbidly obese. And for some reason, that didn't scare them. And yet this sort of more abstract threat, has clearly got people out jogging and thinking about it and I don't know, was it was it doctors being too timid to actually have that conversation? I don't know why it's taken this.’...

‘Without experts to guide you on something like this, on the the likely trajectory of a virus, you can't really make informed decisions, politicians have to make informed decisions. Now, the problem that we've seen with this virus is that the experts are themselves contradicting each other because there's so much we don't know, because some of these experts are tendentious, some are rubbish. Others are correct. We don't, the public actually know who are correct’

Ironically, the same people who hysterically rail against fat-shaming also are covid hystericists

Links - 15th May 2021 (1) (BethAnn McLaughlin)

Thread by @Sturgeons_Law - "If I'm getting this right, a White woman who started a failed MeToo org for people in STEM only to be accused of racist harassment herself was exposed as having created an account where she pretended to be a nonexistent queer Native American professor at Arizona State University.
And she was exposed after trying to ditch the account by claiming the prof died of COVID and doing this bizarre eulogy thread to her.
This must have been a pretty successful run as the eulogy thread is filled with people claiming to have known the Native American prof and liked her. Some people in the eulogy thread are mentioning "Hopi talismans" she was sending them, so did she actually send out fake Hopi talismans to people? Not the most important detail, but I'd still like to know.
Seems like she was hoist by her own petard as the fake account's followers got mad that ASU didn't put out an official eulogy for her, suspecting anti-queer and anti-indigenous bias, which in turn prompted this and initiated the unraveling:
'For what it’s worth, ASU’s spokesperson said they have been looking into reports about a potential death of a person claiming to be a faculty member for the last 24 hours, and have not been able to verify any connection to the university.'
In conclusion, bring back FaceApp's "ethnicity filters" NOW"

This neuroscientist is fighting sexual harassment in science—but her own job is in peril - "BethAnn McLaughlin has no time for James Watson, especially not when the 90-year-old geneticist is peering out from a photo on the wall of her guest room at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Banbury Center... McLaughlin has made bitter enemies: Last fall, she says, she was anonymously FedExed a box of feces. And her scientific career is now on the line. Her tenure process was frozen for 17 months starting in 2015 while VUMC investigated allegations that she had posted anonymous, derogatory tweets about colleagues"
On the above. I like how the article makes her seem to be a victim Liberal excesses collapse at some point under the weight of their paradoxes and contradictions

aspiring leftist academic on Twitter - "so tl;dr on the sciencing_bi thing for people that aren't scientists or do not care: it seems like Bethann, famous for botching MeTooStem, ran an account where she cosplayed an indigenous anthro prof at ASU, but incredibly was only exposed after having the account die of covid-19... this arc culminated in a (retrospectively) hilarious eulogy thread by bethann, in which she really wants to hammer home that she had a cool Hopi friend"

#MeTooSTEM group's leadership in turmoil over concerns about founder BethAnn McLaughlin - "Seven leaders of a group formed to combat sexual harassment in the science, technology, engineering and math fields have resigned in recent months after voicing concerns about the leadership of #MeTooSTEM founder BethAnn McLaughlin... The former members accused McLaughlin, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville who founded the organization last year, of posting hostile tweets that alienated supporters and of a lack of transparency about how she ran the organization.McLaughlin is known for calling out scientific organizations for harboring what she calls “harassholes” on her Twitter account, @McLNeuro, demanding that National Academy of Sciences dismiss members who had been sanctioned for sexual harassment and that the National Institutes of Health stop giving grants to harassers... The only two women of color on the organization's leadership team resigned April 24 citing a perception that white leadership input was prioritized over our theirs, per BuzzFeed. Other women who left the group said they were afraid to voice their opinions and that the organization lacked policies, procedures or delineated roles, Science magazine reported."

Sciencing_Bi & BethAnn McLaughlin Twitter Accounts Suspended - "For several years, academics and activists around the country interacted with the Twitter account @Sciencing_Bi, which was supposedly run by an LGBTQ Native American Anthropology professor at Arizona State University. They reacted with tributes and grief when a controversial former professor and anti-sexual harassment #metoo crusader named BethAnn McLaughlin announced on Twitter that @Sciencing_Bi had died of COVID-19, blaming the university where @Sciencing_Bi supposedly worked for making people teach on campus during the pandemic.However, what unfolded next is a complex and bizarre tale of accusations and confusion, as academics and others on social media are now accusing McLaughlin herself of possibly being @Sciencing_Bi and masquerading as a fake Native American professor online, ASU is saying it can’t come up with a death of any professor from COVID-19 recently, and Twitter has suspended both the accounts of McLaughlin and the now mysterious @Sciencing_Bi... In a eulogy on Twitter, she spun an elaborate narrative, saying that @Sciencing_Bi wanted them to get matching tattoos in an indigenous language and texted her daily... Dr. Jacquelyn Gill, associate professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, has written extensively about the controversy. “I’m angry about the harm done to Black, indigenous, and other people of color, and LGBTQ+ folks in our community whose trust was violated. I’m angry that someone would pretend to have a disease that has killed so many, and which *disproportionately affects BIPOC,*” she tweeted... The Twitter page Aspiring Leftist Academic alleged on Twitter that “people trying to look for ASU press releases on the death found that every photo posted by sciencing_bi was a stock photo, and that the only person who communicated with them outside of twitter DMs was bethann.”... McLaughlin is well-known in academia for being the person who convinced the site RateMyProfessors.com to remove its red hot chili pepper rating for “hot” professors and who created online petitions to go after top institutions like the National Academy of Sciences on sexual harassment response. In 2019, Science Magazine described McLaughlin as “a 51-year-old neuroscientist” who “has in the last nine months exploded into view as the public face of the #MeToo movement in science.” She left Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2019 after tenure controversies... Many People Interacted With @Sciencing_Bi Over the Years & Expressed Grief Over Her Death at First, Calling Her a “Prominent Native American Anthropologist’"

Links - 12th May 2021 (2)

He tricked me : relationship_advice - "My (18F) boyfriend (29M) said he was into BDSM so he’d have me doing burpees, planking, wall sits, and pushups (with him on my back sometimes). I was into it and he said he loves watching girls get pushed to their physical and mental limits when they submit to him.Then after a few months of this he admitted he was just trying to get me in better shape because he didn’t like having sex with me as much before at my old weight. Should I be offended?"
"Yes. This is horrible, cruel, and so many other things. This is not safe or normal behavior. Please, please rethink this relationship. This is beyond lying and not healthy."
"“Yeah im into BDSM....
Bench
Deadlift
Squats
Military press”"

Conman, 74, who weighs 28 stone, avoids jail because he's too fat for prison - "A conman has avoided being locked up because he's too fat and would cause an "enormous disruption" to the prison service.Barry Beardall pocketed cash belonging to John Ryan but was given a suspended jail term due to him weighing 28-stone.At Southampton Crown Court Judge Peter Henry said the 74-year-old would need carers to help him out of bed and give him his medication due to his size and poorly health"

James Lindsay - Posts - "The fact that everyone is constantly having to talk about race and racism all the time now isn't a bug. It's a feature of Critical Race Theory. It will bring this divisive, joyless, single-minded conversation into EVERYTHING that invites it in. Choose carefully."

Escape The Echo Chamber - Posts - "Perhaps it’s an accumulation of biases but the Roger Stone story hasn’t interested me. He’s a long term, bare knuckle unethical campaign guy. Washington mints these like quarters.He got the attention of the federales because he bragged of having inside access to the DNC-related leaked emails that appeared on WikiLeaks. So he was seen as the key in proving Trump colluded with the Russians; which we now know he didn’t.Stone didn’t commit any illegal acts for Trump. His crime was lying to Congress about how he got his information. Something that happens often in congressional hearings and is rarely charged. He also threatened a witness to not testify truthfully to Congress, which is uncommon and very illegal.The prosecutors wanted Stone to serve 9-years in prison, which was arguably excessive. When the DOJ asked that it just be up to the judge, the prosecutors resigned.This takes us to yesterday. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence. It’s cronyism and was expected by most people. Presidents have a habit of pardoning friends and large donors...  I suppose I’d be more alarmed if lying to Congress was zealously prosecuted, but it’s not. So the prosecutions seem politically motivated even when the target is completely guilty. I’d also be more alarmed if the lying was to cover up a crime or turned the investigation upside down. It didn’t.Trump shouldn’t have commuted him, but then the investigation was wrong headed as well. There’s no hero’s in this story."
TDS sufferers claim Trump is corrupt for pardoning villains, but when you dig up Obama's record...

The Cost Of Living In Malaysia Is Higher Than Singapore - "One of the things that some Singaporeans regularly complaint about, is the high cost of living in Singapore.Actually, the cost of living in Malaysia is a lot higher than Singapore, and that Malaysians have it harder."

Efficacy of Ketoprofen Vs Ibuprofen and Diclofenac: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis - "Concerning the estimated efficacy outcomes, ketoprofen was superior to ibuprofen/diclofenac in all of the 13 RCTs, reaching a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) in nine studies. The heterogeneity for the efficacy outcome was not different across the studies and this guaratees that the compared trials are homogeneous and the meta-analysis results reliable and valid. The meta-analysis showed that the effect of therapeutic doses of ketoprofen was strongly greater than the effect of therapeutic doses of ibuprofen or diclofenac"

Ketoprofen Absorption by Muscle and Tendon after Topical or Oral Administration in Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - "following topical application in a patch, ketoprofen shows rapid and sustained delivery to the underlying tissues without a significant increase of the plasma drug concentration"

The Meaning and Evolution of the Word "Parrhesia" – Michel Foucault, Info. - "the parrhesiastes is someone who takes a risk. Of course, this risk is not always a risk of life. When, for example, you see a friend doing something wrong and you risk incurring his anger by telling him he is wrong, you are acting as a parrhesiastes. In such a case, you do not risk your life, but you may hurt him by your remarks, and your friendship may consequently suffer for it. If, in a political debate, an orator risks losing his popularity because his opinions are contrary to the majority’s opinion, or his opinions may usher in a political scandal, he uses parrhesia. Parrhesia, then, is linked to courage in the face of danger: it demands the courage to speak the truth in spite of some danger. And in its extreme form, telling the truth takes place in the “game” of life or death... the parrhesiastes risks his privilege to speak freely when he discloses a truth which threatens the majority. For it was a well-known juridical situation when Athenian leaders were exiled only because they proposed something which was opposed by the majority, or even because the assembly thought that the strong influence of certain leaders limited its own freedom. And so the assembly was, in this manner, “protected” against the truth. That, then, is the institutional background of “democratic parrhesia” which must be distinguished from that “monarchic parrhesia” where an advisor gives the sovereign honest and helpful advice. The last characteristic of parrhesia is this: in parrhesia, telling the truth is regarded as a duty... parrhesia is a verbal activity in which a speaker expresses his personal relationship to truth, and risks his life because he recognizes truth-telling as a duty to improve or help other people (as well as himself). In parrhesia, the speaker uses his freedom and chooses frankness instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy... parrhesia is an essential characteristic of Athenian democracy. Of course, we still have to investigate the role of parrhesia in the Athenian constitution. But we can say quite generally that parrhesia was a guideline for democracy as well as an ethical and personal attitude characteristic of the good citizen. Athenian democracy was defined very explicitly as a constitution (politeia) in which people enjoyed demokratia, isegoria (the equal right of speech), isonomia (the equal participation of all citizens in the exercise of power), and parrhesia. Parrhesia, which is a requisite for public speech, takes place between citizens as individuals, and also between citizens construed as an assembly. Moreover, the agora is the place where parrhesia appears."
Of course, many Americans think the idea of Freedom of Speech came into being with the First Amendment and only covers government reprisal

The Roma: Between a Myth and the Future - "Not all so-called Gypsies in the world today recognize themselves as Roma... Groups externally identified as "Gypsies" but not necessarily considering themselves as ethnic Roma include the Jevgjit in Albania; the Ashkaelia and Egyptians in Kosovo and Macedonia; the Travelers in Britain and Ireland; and the Rudari and Beash in Hungary, Romania, and other countries...
The older Russian stereotype of Roma is dominated by the perception of Roma as dealers in horses and horse thieves; during the Soviet era this stereotype transformed, with the Roma seen as dealers in cars and car thieves...
I would suggest interpreting anti-Gypsyism as a set of misconceptions and myths, both expressing and reproducing the sociopolitical weakness of the Romani community. Misconceptions are false ideas about the Roma as they are today, even though misconceptions may have started in the past from some elements of truth. Myths, on the other hand, are not untruths: they are practical truths one can take as assumptions and reach pragmatic results, when acting upon these assumptions. But myths are not truths either: they would cease to be truths as soon as people cease to believe them...
Crime statistics in some countries have revealed a pattern of overrepresentation of Roma in several types of crime, notably petty stealing. But it should be remembered that crime statistics necessarily contain distortions. They are based on reported crime, and do not necessarily reflect the entire picture of committed offences. Robbery is a crime that has a high degree of reporting, while many other crimes, including corruption, fraudulent financial schemes such as pyramids, or domestic violence, go unreported. An act of petty robbery typically leaves behind one victim, while an act of financial fraud can destroy hundreds. Thus the visibility of robbery and of its individual perpetrators is much higher, while other, not less dangerous forms of crime lie below the surface of society...
The Romani crime stereotype includes other elements of prejudice, especially the bizarre and thoroughly unfounded "stealing of children" legend that has metamorphosed into the current public misperception that Roma are exploiting their own children by making them engage in begging; it is a fast growing belief that Roma are involved in trafficking in children and women"
When politically correct liberals want to avoid offence and end up being non-inclusive (and this offensive)
The ideological sommersaults are amusing and are a manifestation of the liberal obsession with controlling speech and thought, thinking that will change reality since that is socially constructed, as well as trying to define problems away (and denouncing counterpoints as "misperceptions", without proof)

Eskimo - definition of Eskimo - "Usage Note: Eskimo has long been criticized as an offensive term, and many Americans either avoid it or feel uncomfortable using it. In Canada, where Eskimo is especially frowned on, the only acceptable term is Inuit, and Americans have generally come to prefer this name too, knowing it to be a term of ethnic pride. But it is not always understood that Inuit cannot substitute for Eskimo in all cases, being restricted in proper usage to the Inuit-speaking peoples of Arctic Canada and parts of Greenland. In southwest Alaska and Arctic Siberia, where Inuit is not spoken, the comparable term is Yupik, which has not gained as wide a currency in English as Inuit. While use of these more specific terms is generally preferable when speaking of the appropriate linguistic group, none of them can be used of the Eskimoan peoples as a whole; the only inclusive term remains Eskimo. · The claim that Eskimo is offensive is often supported by citing a popular etymology tracing its origin to an Abenaki word meaning "eaters of raw meat." Though modern linguists speculate that the term may actually derive from a Montagnais word referring to the manner of lacing a snowshoe, the matter remains undecided"

Jeeyon Shim, dirt goblin on Twitter - "A friend on Facebook posted about how Emily Dickinson used the common meter and so her poems can all be sung to the tune of the Pokemon theme song and —
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –"

Study: African-Americans More Likely to Have Bad Credit - "Caucasians earning less than $25,000 per year were likely to have better credit scores than African-Americans earning between $65,000 and $75,000 per year.Overall, the study found 27 percent of all credit reports belonging to Caucasians were poor, compared to 48 percent of those belonging to African-Americans. Only 28 percent of Hispanics were found to have bad credit. The study involved 80,000 individuals. Researchers assigned a rating of “bad” to anyone who had two bills past due by more than 30 days in the past two years, a single bill past due by 90 days or more, a judgment against them, a lien against them or a bankruptcy... Researchers speculate differing cultural attitudes, familial resources and even world views may contribute.Although credit reporting is supposed to be free of prejudice, some researchers said the system may be inherently stacked against minorities.However, no conclusive evidence has been presented to justify any of these theories or speculations."
Of course, liberals will just call this redlining and call the algorithm racist. Apparently Hispanics have "whiteness"

The Funniest Vanity Plates Rejected by the California DMV - "Applicants are required to fill out a form listing the personalized plate they desire, along with a brief explanation as to why they want it. Whether or not the plate sees the light of day falls to a panel of four beleaguered bureaucrats, who weed through the slush pile and ferret out requests that are racist, tawdry, or otherwise offensive. It’s a tougher job than you might think. Ever since vanity plates were introduced in 1972, Californians have tried sneaking all manner of sly euphemisms and overt obscenities past the department’s guardians of civility... While “box” is generally rejected as a “vagina reference,” the DMV will allow it on a plate if the customer owns “a ‘Box’ type vehicle such as a Scion or a Porsche Boxster.” Similarly, only cars built in 1969 can use the number 69 on their plates...
BEMYBAE
Applicant Explanation: In remembrance of me and my girlfriend’s anniversary. Meaning be my bae, before anyone else.
DMV Comments: Bae=Poop in Danish
Verdict: No...
SCHLAFR
Applicant Explanation: Schlafer is German for sleeper.
DMV Comments: Also means sleeper in the sense of an inactive agent or terrorist (Wikipedia)
Verdict: No
BMWHNTR
Applicant Explanation: Playful joke
DMV Comments: BMW hunter, he has an Audi. So he’s hunting down BMW drivers?
Verdict: No
ONW2BYB Applicant Explanation: On my way to bang your bitch
DMV Comments: What he said
Verdict: No
HUF4RTD
Applicant Explanation: Have unwavering faith (4) respect the Day
DMV Comments: Who farted
Verdict: No
DICKOUT
Applicant Explanation: Celebration of my son moving out of the house
DMV Comments: Dick
Verdict: No...
DCKXTSN
Applicant Explanation: I’m the extension of my dad. My father’s name is “Dick” and I was named after him
DMV Comments: Dick extension. Customer’s name is Brant
Verdict: No...
808B8D
Applicant Explanation: The lettering and numbers in this plate are the same as a chest my grama left me when she passed away.
DMV Comments: Looks similar to a text penis.
Verdict: No...
FUKTRMP
Applicant Explanation: Funky trumpet in the funk music genre
DMV Comments: Fuck Trump
Verdict: No...
TUNAFSH
Applicant Explanation: I’m a professional fisherman and I fish for tuna all over the world.
DMV Comments: I Googled him. He is and he does
Verdict: No...
S8TAN
Applicant Explanation: Saint Anne is an important historical figure, and someone who I model my life after.
DMV Comments: Satan
Verdict: Yes"

Here's the list of licence plates Ontario doesn't want on the road - "The most common rejections were related to clarity and readability, plates which the province deems too difficult to read. A large part of these rejections were related to plates using numbers to spell a phrase instead of letters... References to the pandemic were also rejected... Plates are rejected for a number of reasons from being too political, too sexual or too violent to religious grounds and derogatory slang."

ryan cooper on Twitter - "sales of mega-pickups, which have basically been deliberately designed to intimidate and kill pedestrians, are booming"
Major projection going on here

A Big Pile of Bak Chor Mee

A Big Pile of Bak Chor Mee by Tse Hao Guang

I will arise and go now, and eat my bak chor mee,
And a big chili crab meal, all served with extra buns:
Nine chwee kuehs will I have there, with space for my bubble tea;
And live alone on my ghee-soaked naan.

And I’ll slurp xiao long bao there, its zhup comes dripping slow,
Dripping from the folds of the dumpling to where my gullet gapes;
There otak dares to travel, and laksa loves to flow,
And ayam penyet cannot escape.

I will arise and go now, for I am sibei suay,
I hear old hawkers shouting their orders at my door;
While I stare at this chow mein, this fortune cookie tray,
I hear them in the fresh bak chor.

Links - 12th May 2021 (1)

The Meme Policeman - Posts - "This meme claims that the electoral college was the South’s idea and was implemented to help slave states. This is dubious at best.
-During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, there was significant division over how to elect the president. Initially, some delegates did propose a direct election by the people. This was championed by James Madison, a southerner, and two northerners (James Wilson and Gouverneur Morris).
-However, this proposal was roundly rejected by the convention, and not because of slavery. One of the most outspoken members against direct election was Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, who feared that demagoguery could result in a monarch in a direct election, a common fear at the time. Most of the delegates, north and south, preferred an indirect election of the president...
-When it first took shape, the Electoral College wouldn’t have helped the South significantly. Under the initial apportionment of the of the House, the slaveholding states would have held 39 out of 92 electoral votes, or about 42%. Based on the 1790 census, about 41% of the nation’s total white population lived in those same states, a tiny difference...
-Once decided, the Electoral College was met with general satisfaction and received little resistance from the state ratifying conventions. Northerners and anti-slavery proponents defended it, like Alexander Hamilton did in Federalist No. 68. It was, perhaps naively, held up by most as a way to ensure virtuous people made the decision instead of the mob. As Hamilton put it, the EC was “most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated negotiations.”
-Ironically, it was the anti-slavery John Quincy Adams who first benefited from the system, when he won despite losing the popular (and electoral) vote to Andrew Jackson in 1824 (the House decided the election since neither had a majority). It was pro-slavery Jackson who became one of history’s most prominent critics of the EC, lambasting it for preventing the people “to express their own will.”
-The EC made no difference in deciding the presidency during the 36 years before the Civil War. Except in 1860, Lincoln had 39.9% of the vote (in a 4 person race) but won a crushing victory in electoral votes. Many in the South ran the numbers and realized the North would be able to continually crush them with the EC and quickly stampeded to secession."
Everything liberals don't like (e.g. punctuality and politeness) is linked to "Racism" and "White Supremacy"

Tom O'Halloran - "Veteran: One Day
Man with dicks stuck on him: A whole month"
"This says so much about what is wrong with our country."

Jacobin on Twitter - "We shouldn’t fetishize mom and pops. They offer lower wages, skimpier benefits, and inferior labor protections."
Since Communists want the government to take over everything, this is consistent

Opinion | ‘Mr. Jones’ and the deadly consequences of shoddy journalism - The Washington Post - "Stalin was undoubtedly the general leading this crime against humanity, but he had lieutenants. And not all were Russian. Foremost among them was Walter Duranty (Peter Sarsgaard), the New York Times’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Man in Moscow.” Duranty was fond of saying the Soviet experiment required sacrifice — omelets and broken eggs and all that — and spent his decades-long career lying to the people of the United States about the extent of Soviet atrocities in Ukraine and elsewhere... Duranty retains the Pulitzer he won for his dishonest reporting that helped cover up the deaths of millions. Perhaps it’s time that changed"

Washington Post settles Nicholas Sandmann defamation lawsuit in Covington Catholic High School controversy - "The Washington Post is the latest news organization to settle a defamation lawsuit launched by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann over its botched coverage of a viral confrontation with a Native American elder that had portrayed the Kentucky teen as the aggressor... This follows the multi-million dollar settlement CNN made with the teenager back in January. Sandmann offered a not-so-subtle warning to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey... Attorney Todd McMurtry previously told Fox News that lawsuits against “as many as 13 other defendants" would be filed.Among them: ABC, CBS, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, NPR, Slate, The Hill, and Gannett which owns the Cincinnati Enquirer, as well as miscellaneous other small outfits, according to McMurtry. Separate lawsuits against the Washington Post and NBC have already been filed"

Personal news: why I’m now leaving MSNBC - "July 24th was my last day at MSNBC.  I don’t know what I’m going to do next exactly but I simply couldn’t stay there anymore.  My colleagues are very smart people with good intentions.  The problem is the job itself.  It forces skilled journalists to make bad decisions on a daily basis... It’s possible that I’m more sensitive to the editorial process due to my background in public radio, where no decision I ever witnessed was predicated on how a topic or guest would “rate.”  The longer I was at MSNBC, the more I saw such choices — it’s practically baked in to the editorial process – and those decisions affect news content every day.  Likewise, it’s taboo to discuss how the ratings scheme distorts content, or it’s simply taken for granted, because everyone in the commercial broadcast news industry is doing the exact same thing.But behind closed doors, industry leaders will admit the damage that’s being done... this cancer stokes national division, even in the middle of a civil rights crisis.  The model blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have incentive to amplify fringe voices and events, at the expense of others… all because it pumps up the ratings.This cancer risks human lives, even in the middle of a pandemic.  The primary focus quickly became what Donald Trump was doing (poorly) to address the crisis, rather than the science itself.  As new details have become available about antibodies, a vaccine, or how COVID actually spreads, producers still want to focus on the politics.  Important facts or studies get buried... Context and factual data are often considered too cumbersome for the audience. There may be some truth to that (our education system really should improve the critical thinking skills of Americans) – but another hard truth is that it is the job of journalists to teach and inform, which means they might need to figure out a better way to do that... they use this subjective nature of the news to justify economically beneficial decisions. I’ve even heard producers deny their role as journalists. A very capable senior producer once said: “Our viewers don’t really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort.”
Libertarians would blame government regulation for the market leading to the poor quality of media coverage
Liberals will just bash Fox News and other 'conservative' media for being terrible and pretend the liberal media is great

Journalism's Death by a Thousand Tweets e - "Imagine you want to create a digital platform that will both destroy—or, at the very least, seriously enfeeble—the journalism profession, and simultaneously make you a vast amount of money. How should you do it?Well, first you should ensure that the primary goal of your platform has absolutely nothing to do with the stated goals of the journalism profession... Then you should try to get as many journalists to use your platform as much as possible... Perhaps the most necessary feature, however, is also the most subtle: This new platform should offer a veneer of journalistic utility... every conceivable step must be taken to mitigate the possibility of genuine conversation or meaningful, journalistically relevant user interaction taking place. In particular—and to give some possible examples—users should only be exposed to opinions, articles, and facts to which they want to be exposed; the rapid dissemination of “breaking news” should be encouraged, ideally without the requirement (or even the possibility) of context, fact-checking, assessment of genuine newsworthiness, or indeed any kind of editorial curation whatsoever; conversations should be fully surveilled, sometimes censored, and encouraged to take place in full view of everyone, thus limiting the possibility of the private exploration of alternative, non-mainstream viewpoints; empathy, sympathy, and face-to-face engagement should be actively discouraged, if not rendered impossible by the platform’s design interface, while hatred, tribalism, and outrage should be fostered and encouraged (this will have the added benefit of maximising user engagement, thus allowing you to sell your users even more ads); and, perhaps most importantly, the “conversations” themselves should be severely circumscribed, so as to prevent the possibility of genuine nuance and deep reflection taking place (by, for example, limiting the number of characters you’re allowed to type). Such a veneer will allow you to rebut accusations that your platform is perniciously habit-forming and seriously deleterious to the health of the individual, the journalism profession, and wider society. As the reader will undoubtedly already have guessed, such a platform—or at least something very close to it—already exists: It is called Twitter... While Twitter’s global impact and reach is undoubtedly enormous, its impact on the journalism profession has been seismic. At present, almost a quarter (24.6 percent) of Twitter’s authenticated users are journalists or news organisations; journalists are also the platform’s most active users by profession (as measured by follower ratios and number of tweets). More than a quarter (27 percent) of journalists turn to Twitter as their first source of news, and 83 percent regard it as their most valuable social media platform. A staggering 96 percent of journalists use the platform on a weekly basis, and 90 percent claim that they wish to maintain or increase their engagement with Twitter in the near future. Indeed, such has been the outsized influence of journalists on the platform that they were singled out for special mention and thanks in a series of tweets by the company’s billionaire CEO, Jack Dorsey, on Twitter’s ninth birthday... The journalist Jeff Jarvis has made the astonishing claim that refusing to use Twitter (or other social platforms like Facebook) is a reflection of one’s (journalistic) privilege and harmful to historically disenfranchised communities... What is encouraging, however, is that a growing number of journalists are becoming sceptical—even overtly hostile—to the role Twitter plays in the journalism profession... journalism as a profession now largely takes place by virtue of—and is, in fact, almost entirely mediated and governed by—a largely unaccountable corporate advertising and surveillance behemoth, the goals and values of which are antithetical to journalism, traditionally understood. All of which raises an obvious question: Why are journalists so enamoured of Twitter?"

Viral Racist Videos Gone Wild. A disturbing “Karen” clip drives home the dangers of caught-on-camera “everyday racism” exposés - "A Twitter video clip that has been retweeted over 85,000 times shows a woman cowering, whimpering and shrieking in terror while a man taunts and berates her, apparently for cutting him off in traffic and flipping him the bird. And the man, who filmed the video and put it online, is meant to be the good guy. The maker of the video, Karlos Dillard — a self-described entertainer and public speaker who is black—claimed that the woman, whom he mockingly addressed as “Karen,” had also used a racial slur... Dillard seemed to be far more concerned about the woman cutting him off and flipping him off than about the supposed racial slur. There were more red flags, such as several other videos in which Dillard accused white or Asian women of racist verbal abuse but the alleged abuse always happened off-camera. And, most damning, a video in which Dillard and his husband Kris openly discussed “laying traps for racism” by provoking confrontations and falsely accusing people of saying or doing something racist, on the assumption that those who don’t protest their innocence are essentially pleading no contest to racism because, deep down, they know they’ve been caught. (Or something like that.)... ultimately, there are two plausible scenarios. One: the entire thing was a self-promoting setup. (It’s worth noting that as soon as the video went viral, Dillard tried to literally cash in on it by selling T-shirts.) Two: the woman was a bad and rude driver, but Dillard blew up a routine and non-racial traffic spat into a racial incident. Either way, this does not look good for him...
This is far from the first viral racism video to push a false or dubious narrative. Others include:
The “MAGA hat kids” vs. the Native American elder
The “napping while black” scandal at Yale
The Chipotle “racist” who was vindicated
The mobbing of “Crosswalk Cathy”
The infamy of “Barbecue Becky”...
viral racist outrage videos have an ugly side, too. They can be used to target people who are mentally ill and hold them up for public ridicule and cruel entertainment— a modern version, one might say, of the freak shows of times past. They can be used for grift and revenge. They can promote racial polarization more than understanding, encouraging the assumption that every interracial conflict is about race. And they can causes serious harm to their targets."
Of course, to liberals only Andy Ngo counts as a grifter, since he pierces their narrative despite having multiple oppressed group identities

A Few Terms We Aren't Using Anymore (And Why) - "CNN also compiled a list of words and expressions with racist roots. Among them: cakewalk, peanut gallery, blacklist, and grandfathered in. We’re adding these to our banned words list. And a reader pointed out that using the phrase “we discovered the work of so-and-so” is problematic. You won’t hear that sort of colonialist phrasing from us anymore either."
The left, as usual, takes 1984 as an instruction manual

Lucas Lynch - "Obama refusing to endorse Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Paula Jean Swearengin, and the many other community organizers who are from our grassroots Democratic family says all you need to know about @DNC Establishment."
"Yes, it says that neither Obama nor the DNC are anti-Semites nor identitarian leftists, and are interested in winning an election.Good on them for not endorsing these far-left deplorables. "

ROBERT HARDMAN: Now THAT'S a royal example to follow! - "After a week she would rather forget – on the back of twelve months we would all rather forget – the Queen deserves a spot of good news. Yesterday, that walked through the Sovereign's Entrance to Windsor Castle in the form of the Duke of Edinburgh.Having spent four weeks in two hospitals, the duke was finally back in his own bed last night, much to the relief of the entire castle. For this is not just home to the Queen and the duke but to a community of around 300 – clergy, curators, military, musicians and their families. And everyone there is acutely aware of the debt this place owes to the duke.When much of it burned down in 1992, it was the duke who ran the monumental restoration scheme. Beyond the castle walls, the entire estate has been transformed by him. One of the first things the Queen did on acceding to the throne was to appoint the duke as Ranger of the Great Park. His handiwork is everywhere... We have heard a lot in recent days from two former Windsor residents who found the royal existence a burden so intolerable that they felt impelled to emigrate. Yet Prince Philip endured rather more hostility than a spat about who made who cry at a dress fitting.'They were absolutely bloody to him. They patronised him. They treated him as an outsider,' his friend, Lord Brabourne (married to the duke's cousin Patricia Mountbatten) revealed many years later. As the duke himself once acknowledged to his friend Gyles Brandreth: 'I was told 'keep out' and that was that. I tried to find useful things to do.'He got on with his primary duty of supporting his spouse – at state occasions and on royal tours – and, at the same time, threw himself into making a difference. In his case, he did it through actions rather than words. It is true that he was the first member of the family to give a television interview.In his case, though, it was not to dwell on himself. It was a discussion of 'Commonwealth technical training week' with the BBC's Richard Dimbleby. That was in 1961."
Unlike Meghan Markle he can't make unfounded allegations of racism, so too bad