Social stigma, self-esteem, social justice etc

Still not enough time for anything, but this case deserves all attention one is able to muster. The experiment described in the following page (a copy from a book by Arnhild Lauveng) has implications far beyond a simple personality quirk. Click on the image to make the reading easier.

Just to make sure the story is true, I have done some fingerwalking with Google. First of all it is Major and Crocker, and, besides, the experiment was performed by Kleck, R. E., and Strenta, A. in 1980. However, the description above summarizes the results in a simple and easy language, so I have decided to use it, despite the wrong reference.

In our brave new world, when the battle cry "Discrimination!" is used by so many small and large groups of people, for a good reason or (more frequently) without any reason at all, this experiment should serve as a litmus paper for a lot of cases.

Social justice advocates' hourly rate

This is really phenomenal: the goddess of Political Correctness in overdrive.

The blow-up involves the university seeking $10-an-hour students who would be responsible to focus on “the mosaic of diversity, multiculturalism and inclusivity,” including creating and maintaining bulletin boards in residence halls.
But the bigger concern is that the successful applicants would be reporting bias, a description that led to comments that students are going to be spying on each other.

Denial level is about 99 in the university:

“The position has been mischaracterized,” Scott told Capitol Media Services. She said the aim is to provide support to students, especially in dormitories.
“It’s an opportunity for students to come to student peers, share their experience, and for that student peer to either counsel them on how to report that bias incident through the Dean of Students’ website, or that the student peer may report the bias incident directly,” she said.

Snitching for $10 per hour, in other words.
What is the minimum wage in Arizona, by the way?
Just asking.

And - wouldn't it be better to pay per each reported microaggression?
We don't want paid underperformers, do we?

When the Holy Inquisition of Political Correctness stutters

Robert Barchi, the president of Rutgers University

Gee how the time flies. The ink on the post The Holy Inquisition of Political Correctness and toxicity has barely dried out, and we are up to a new twist on the subject of Political Correctness and freedom of speech in academia.

That post referred above was about a teacher in university almost crucified for showing her students a clip with an opinion on gender-neutral pronouns that goes against a prevailing PC line. Thus, according to the faculty, creating a toxic environment.

Now some people, as some people's habit, have painted a swastika on the wall of a Rutgers university building. You would expect that the toxicity, introduced in such quantity into the peaceful environment of the august institution, would cause the anti-toxicity mechanisms going at full tilt.

And you would be wrong in your expectations: apparently this is fine in the framework of that elusive and hard to define freedom of speech thingy:

The president of Rutgers University has argued that the recent rash of anti-Semitism on campus is protected by the First Amendment.
Speaking during a student government town hall last week, Robert Barchi said: 'If I'm a Ku Klux Klan member, and I'm going to burn a cross on a vacant lot, that's a constitutionally protected right.'
'You put that cross on my front yard, and you light it, that is not constitutionally protected, that's harassment,' Barchi said, according to Tap Into New Brunswick. 'It's an exception to the First Amendment.​'​

Well, I really don't know what to say about it. Not without introducing some unneeded toxicity into the argument.

One should conclude that the consistent and correct use of gender-neutral pronouns beats a swastika any time.

Or is it the other way around?

P.S. There is more to the good dean than this post shows. Read the article.

The Holy Inquisition of Political Correctness and toxicity

Watching the goings-on in the modern academia is a hazardous occupation. From the point of view of many actors on that scene, all they are doing is cleaning the scene of "toxicity" - real or imaginary. The viewer, though, gets the full dose of the toxicity directly in his/her face... but it is rather a personal complaint.

Here is a really heart-wrenching example of the juggernaut of Political Correctness squashing under its wheels an innocent and well meaning young person. Because of some overly sensitive human embryo, whose pea brain and overwhelming sensitivity and entitlement don't bear a shadow of debate.

Lindsay Shepherd, a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, said she ran afoul of school authorities after she aired a clip in two tutorials of a debate on gender-neutral pronouns featuring polarizing University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson.

At this point I feel the need to stop for a moment and to explain. Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His ascent to notoriety came with his opposition to the use of genderless pronouns and his attacks on political correctness. Here he explains some of his views.

Now, does Lindsay Shepherd share the views of the illustrious professor? Not at all, rather the opposite:

Shepherd said she was trying to demonstrate that the structure of a language can affect the society in which it is spoken in ways people might not anticipate. To illustrate her point, she said she mentioned that long-standing views on gender had probably been shaped by the gender-specific pronouns that are part of English’s fundamental grammatical structure. The clip of Peterson debating sexual diversity scholar Nicholas Matte, she said, was meant to demonstrate ways in which the existence of gender-specific pronouns has caused controversy.

So, her crime was not in expressing support for the professor's views - just in showing a clip where his views are explained to the pupils. That's all, but this was sufficient for the faculty Inquisition** to open a so called "investigation", when one of the students complained.

And here are the results:

She said she was permitted to keep her position so long as she agreed to file copies of her lesson plans in advance and allow faculty members to sit in on her sessions whenever they wished, constraints she said are not standard practice for Laurier.

Mind-boggling, isn't it? And here is what the proud institution says about itself:

“Laurier is committed to fostering a learning environment that is open and challenging, protects academic freedom and freedom of expression, as well as being welcoming, supportive and respectful of human rights,” the school said in a statement.

Here goes* your "open and challenging" and here go your "academic freedom" and "freedom of expression"...

In this article you can listen to a partial recording (made in secret, I understand) of the meeting between Ms Shepherd and faculty. It was quite painful to me for personal reasons, having being present at several Soviet meetings of this kind. The chief interlocutor (the male voice in the recording), with his incessant probing and incessant attempts to detect the crime in Ms Shepherd's words, is chilling. Here is a really toxic character.

I was thinking about historical parallels. It will be a gross exaggeration to compare the treatment of Ms Shepherd to the Stalin's trials. After all, the results were almost immediate execution of the "enemies of the people". But two other similar cases come to mind: McCarthyism and its frequently baseless punishment of innocents. And the Soviet times public (lead by Communist party) denouncements of everyone who crossed the imaginary line, which could be just telling a joke considered "anti-Soviet", or writing a politically incorrect article, or...

In short, McCarthyism that is coming back under a new guise and is promoted by another breed of PC priests.

Too bad.

(*) At least there is a voice of protest from Wilfrid Laurier. Good for you, professor Haskell!

(**) And let's listen a bit to one of the Inquisitors, part of the above mentioned "investigation" committee.

Dr. Pimlott is currently working on an anthology of Karl Marx's journalism as well as developing research on strategic communications and social justice movements in Canada.

Any questions?

Update: Nathan Rambukkana, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies is the chief speaker in the clip, and here is the transcript for your convenience. Shocking.

Update 2: Happy End:

Laurier president and vice-chancellor Deborah MacLatchy apologized to Shepherd on Tuesday after media outlets carried the full audio of a conversation between her, her supervising professor Dr. Nathan Rambukkana as well as another professor, Herbert Pimlott, and the manager of Gendered Violence Prevention and Support, Adria Joel. Shepherd recorded the conversation in secret.

Update 3: Full recording of the meeting.

Update 4: Prof Nathan Rambukkana apologizes in an open letter. Which letter reeks insincerity from the first sentence. Or the second...

Update 5: I sincerely hope that this will be the last update on the subject (unless Mr Rambukkana and Mr Pimlott are fired, then I will be happy to amend this post again).

The lawyer engaged by Wilfrid Laurier University to prepare a fact-finding report into a controversial reprimand of graduate student Lindsay Shepherd has confirmed there was never a formal complaint about her tutorial.

In a letter dated Dec. 4, and sent to Shepherd's lawyer Howard Levitt, from the Laurier-hired lawyer Robert Centa, it reads: "You asked for a copy of the complaint or complaints filed against your client. At this point in my investigation, I do not believe there is a document that contains a 'complaint' made about Ms. Shepherd nor is there anything I would describe as a formal complaint under any WLU policy," wrote Centa.

How do you like them chickens?

Update 6: A fitting summary by Terry Glavin:

In the Shepherd affair, the left has sided with the bosses

Hat tip: M.R.

Hummus, Islamophobia and a politically correct way to eat a taco

From time to time the goddess of Political Correctness throws a juicy morsel in my direction. This one is even more than a morsel - this is a whole enchilada dish. Well, perhaps missing a few beans, but let's not complain.

As you know, the PC folks have become tough on the issue of cultural appropriation (shame on you if you are unfamiliar with the term, but go to the link in this case). Apparently cultural appropriation these days spread its wings over the PC ways to munch your food. No, I don't mean drooling or eating with your mouth open - rather saying some rudely un-PC words while consuming whatever you happen to be consuming.

This fascinating article (I would even call it "field guidance" in deference to you know who), written by a feminist, author and (obviously) a politically correct food connoisseur Rachel Kuo is certain to set your brain cells right in the ways of consuming your food without blurting out some horrible, P-Incorrect and hurtful to minorities words. Especially if you are one of the "dominant culture" privileged species used to oppress brown, black and otherwise colored people. PC Deity forbid if you dare use the word "authentic" - which is worse than anathema to Ms Kuo and points to your trait of... I shudder at the mere thought... your cultural appropriation. Here comes a (small) part of the PC food consumption theory:

When food gets disconnected from the communities and places its from, people can easily start forgetting and ignoring historical and ongoing oppression faced by those communities.

America has corporatized “Middle Eastern food” like hummus and falafel, and some people might live by halal food carts, but not understand or address the ongoing Islamophobia in the US.

Folks might love Mexican food, but not care about different issues such as labor equity and immigration policy that impact members from that community.

I hope you are beginning to see the ray of light now. Let's try to practice together, in terms that might be simpler to you.

• When you eat hummus and falafel - keep your mouth shut and think about Islamophobia. You can write on your napkin the word "Islamophobia", but do it correctly, not "IslamAphobia" and not "IslamoFobia", you hear?
• When stuffing yourself with tacos, think about all these downtrodden Mexican laborers crossing the border between you know what and you know where, risking their lives and freedom. 
• When you are sinking your teeth into a schnitzel and don't know what the heck you should be thinking to be PC, at least try to remember Wilhelm Tell. Or the rat-catcher of Hamelin, fer PC sake!
• When shtupping your face with gefilte fish, spare a thought to the Palestinian children whose Zionist oppressors deny them same opportunity. 
• And chew with your mouth closed, for crying out loud!

Etc. I hope that by now you got the drift. If not, it is a re-education school for you, with proper field guidance and work in the rice fields - to get some sense of agricultural solidarity in you when you scarf risotto in an Italian restaurant next time.

All in all, I strongly advise that you read the whole article and imbue yourself with the right approach to taking your food - or else.

I have only one remark to make and one question to ask. First the remark. Apparently, Ms Kuo, while clearly being in the front of the PC culinary revolution, herself is still not 100% imbued with... well, with all that a really 100% PC feminist thinker must be fully imbued with. The proof, from that same article:

Often, when we talk about “ethnic” food, we’re not referring to French, German, or Italian cuisine, and definitely not those Ikea Swedish meatballs.

This was shockingly unexpected. Why would a fully PC thinker lay into a food item produced by a minority nation? Why is that Swedish meatballs, a beloved dish of so few, is being derided? And what does Ms Kuo, in her heart of hearts, really think about lutefisk? I shudder at the thought of a possible breach of all PC canons.

And a question, regarding this sentence:

In seeking “authentic” food, we’re hoping for a truly immersive experience into another culture.

To be totally truthful, when I am seeking food, “authentic” (PC deity forbid) or not, I am more concerned with my chances to let that food to immerse itself inside me. To borrow the term, I want to wrap myself around that food, no matter the culture. Only if I am out of my mind with hunger, may I allow part of the food to immerse me - like in that picture above. So please explain that apparent contradiction, Ms Kuo.

And bon appetit!

In related news: I Sometimes Don't Want to Be White Either

There was a time in my 20s when everything I learned about the history of racism made me hate myself, my Whiteness, my ancestors... and my descendants. I remember deciding that I couldn't have biological children because I didn't want to propagate my privilege biologically.

Yeah...

Hat Tip: Greg.

Modern Educayshun

No need to interpret this one.

And the toilet saga rolls on and on

Dick Stanley mentioned the latest in the waste disposal, as it is going to be practiced in the sunny state of California soon.

Well, now, all those jokes about seeing girls’ underpants will now be passe’.

According to my latest and very imprecise count, there are now somewhere between 15 and 86 different genders, if we go by the New Age Politically Correct progressive field guidance. In a situation like this it might be simpler to destroy all public toilets altogether. Just provide some open safe zone somewhere behind the building, where everyone will be able to do whatever everyone wants, without triggering and abusing one's privileges.

Just make sure this measure is coordinated with the Greens. They might want to add some of their own... I mean some of their own wisdom on the best way to go.

Oh, and whoever had trouble with grokking the precise meaning of the expressions "shit storm" and "cut the crap": now you know, I guess.

LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM: Wesleyan University leaves pedophiles out in the cold. Protest!

It is with a feeling of discombobulation and chagrin that I follow the latest in the lack of sexual inclusiveness in this hallowed institution of higher learning.

A post on a Wesleyan University webpage advises of an open house for LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM.

No idea what that means? Don’t worry. Wesleyan explained it on its website.

Open House is a safe space for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderf**k, Polyamourous, Bondage/Disciple (sic), Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism (LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM) communities and for people of sexually or gender dissident communities. The goals of Open House include generating interest in a celebration of queer life from the social to the political to the academic. Open House works to create a Wesleyan community that appreciates the variety and vivacity of gender, sex and sexuality.

Oh and be careful of the lead paint.

Lead Paint Disclosure

Housing built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. Lead from paint, paint chips, and dust can pose health hazards if not taken care of properly. Lead exposure is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women. Before renting pre-1978 housing, landlords must disclose the presence of known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in the dwelling. Tenants must also receive a Federally approved pamphlet on lead poisoning prevention. The pamphlet may be viewed at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/library/enforcement/pyf_eng.pdf. The University recognizes that any housing built prior to 1978 may contain lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards. By accepting your housing contract, you are affirming that you have reviewed the pamphlet Protect Your Family from Lead In Your Home.

All Wesleyan housing was built before 1978 with the exception of the following: Bennet Hall, Fauver Apartments, 19 Fountain Avenue, 20 Fountain Avenue, 25 Fountain Avenue, 231 Pine Street, and 14 Warren Street.

Lead Paint Reports for 154 Church Street

In short, whoever stands behind the initiative, has given a thought to everything. Almost everything, aside of poor unappreciated minority of pedophiles, who are left out in the cold, snowed in streets without a shelter and without a hope...

Yes, and this effort fell short of expectation on another account too:

By limiting itself to the English alphabet, LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM are not being inclusive and should check their privilege.
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) February 25, 2015

Fuck your trauma

Trigger Warning: the headline of this post might have contained some non-conventional language. Since the author doesn't know yet how to insert a trigger warning before the headline, he can only hope that "fuck your trauma" doesn't mean you personally, dear reader. In case it does: too bad.

Here are two examples of “trauma” from the “Microaggression Project” (http://www.microaggressions.com/):

My dad jokes with my younger sister that he remembers selling Girl Scout Cookies when he was a Girl Scout. She laughs, understanding the fact that since he’s a boy means that he could not have been a Girl Scout. Thanks, Dad. I’m a boy and a formal Girl Scout.

The assumption that Girl Scouts will be girls. That causes trauma.

24, female-bodied, in a relationship – so Facebook shows me ads with babies, wedding dresses, and engagement rings. Change gender on Facebook to male – suddenly I get ads pertaining to things I actually care about.

Facebook thinking a woman might be interested in marriage and children. That causes trauma.

As one might expect, “Microaggressions” and “Trigger Warnings” are most popular in our universities. In late 2013 A group of UCLA students staged a “sit-in” protest against a professor for – no joke – correcting their papers. These “Graduate Students of Color” began an online petition stating “Students consistently report hostile classroom environments in which the effects of white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and other forms of institutionalized oppression have manifested within the department and deride our intellectual capacity, methodological rigor, and ideological legitimacy. Empirical evidence indicates that these structural and interpersonal microaggressions wreak havoc on the psychophysiological health and retention rates of People of Color. The traumatic experiences of GSE&IS students and alumni confirm this reality” (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/931/772/264/ucla-call2action/)

A college professor expecting graduate students to write grammatically correct papers. That causes trauma.

All of the above comes from an excellent post “Microaggressions”, “Trigger Warnings”, and the New Meaning of “Trauma”, please read it in its entirety.

About its author:

Chris Hernandez is a 20 year police officer, former Marine and currently serving National Guard soldier with over 25 years of military service. He is a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and also served 18 months as a United Nations police officer in Kosovo.

And another fine article on the subject.

More on political correctness

Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end.

This was a great and all-inclusive definition of PC picked up here.

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's chosen term was 'political correctness'.

(With thanks to Peter the Hungarian for the tip).

I kept this quote for a nice case of PC absurdity and here comes a yearly resume of some blissfully idiotic cases. Ladies and gentlemen, The 11 Most Politically Correct Moments on College Campuses in 2014! Laugh or cry - it's up to you.

(I will let you read the article, putting here just the highlights to whet your appetite):

1. Princeton University students launched a microaggression-reporting service.
2. College students invented a roofie-detecting nail polish — only to be told that that’s actually also rape culture.
3. Students hosted an anti-rape-culture rally only to be told that’s — yep — actually also rape culture.
4. A school campaigned against “offensive” language such as “wuss,” “you guys,” and “derp” because it has an “oppressive impact on culture.
5. Students opposed a female-to-male transgender candidate for class diversity officer because he’s a white man.
6. A school told its orientation officers not to use the word “freshman” because it promotes rape.
7. A liberal group demanded the school teach a mandatory transgender-sensitivity class to right the wrongs of colonial America.
8. A student newspaper’s editorial board wrote a whole piece about how racist bras are.
9. The War on Tacos.
10. The War on Coconut Bras.
11. Harvard University was about to stop buying water machines from the Israeli company SodaStream because they might be a microaggression.

Victor Pelevin on political correctness and the case of prof Walter Lewin

Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?

Victor Pelevin, one of the very few best and brightest in modern Russian literature (if not the best and brightest) has the following to say about the malady that consumes the Western civilization nowadays:

I think political correctness is justified when it allows you to preserve human dignity. When it becomes a fetish and a national cult, it is a bit ridiculous. Nobody wants linguistic He-or-shema, as in America, but in any society where different ethnicities live one next to the other, a certain minimum of politically correct clichés will not hurt. Americans are very pragmatic people. They introduced political correctness because it instantly creates a formal bridge across the emotionally charged quagmire. Call a black person a Negro and you immediately acquire a share of responsibility for the slave trade. Call him/her an African-American, and it will be easy to fire him/her. Political correctness creates clear rules, relying on which you can avoid ambiguity, although by itself political correctness is a very ambiguous thing. The essence of political correctness - a social contract in the shortest form. This is convenient because it saves time and effort...

Well, it saves also the necessity to think in many cases, but otherwise: spot on.

Update: this post and its headline updated due to the following news item :

MIT has removed the lectures of a retired faculty member from a popular online learning platform after determining that he had sexually harassed a woman on the Internet, the school’s News Office announced Monday.

I don't doubt that MIT's investigation of the case was thorough:

During the investigation, MIT also looked at additional interactions between Lewin and other online learners. According to the News Office, Lewin, 78, ended his teaching on campus in 2008 and last taught an online MITx course in 2013.

And the measure described below is totally justified, if the allegations checked out:

When the investigation of Lewin began, MIT said it instructed him not to contact any students or online learners, current or former.

However, the additional decision could have been only a rotten fruit of our PC age:

By indefinitely removing his online lectures, MIT hopes to prevent any further inappropriate behavior, the News Office said. The lectures were taken down from MITx and the broader education platform edX.

More in an excellent post by Scott Aaronson.

Say yes. And yes. And yes...

George F. Will is not loved very much by the politically correct crowd, I guess. So what, he certainly delivers.

This year, for example, we learned that California’s Legislature includes 93 people who seem never to have had sex. They enacted the “affirmative consent” law, directing college administrators to tell students that sexual consent cannot be silence but must be “affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement” and “ongoing throughout a sexual activity.”

Just this single quote caused me a real ROFLMAO moment. Just think about implementation of that law a bit: wouldn't the necessity of the word "yes" being repeated all the time (by both sides of that sexual congress, I presume) create a soundtrack* so typical for a cheap porn flick?

But read the whole article, it's certainly a treasure of tomfoolery. Enjoy.

(*) Although, I have to say this is not the only way to express consent. For some reason a slate hanging in a public restroom of a five star hotel (that will remain unnamed) came to mind.  The janitor responsible for that restroom has to sign in every half an hour or so on this slate, filling in the time of his visit and his signature. Of course, half an hour is too long a time interval for the activity discussed above. But, most probably, two or three minutes intervals will be OK with the California's elected leaders. And no soundtrack!

London School of Economics and Kung-Fu Pandas

Whatever you think and/or say about the deity of Political Correctness, sometimes it (the deity) gets a sidewise blow from a totally unexpected direction. In this case, from a place very close to being a birthplace of that deity, London School of Economics.

London School of Economics wrote to all students who had successfully gained a place on undergraduate courses a confirmation email entitled ‘Dear Kung-Fu, Panda’.
...
Unfortunately for the university, nearly 70 per cent of their students come from overseas and a third of those are from Asia.

Apologies galore in the article...

My quick patch proposal for good people of Castrillo Matajudios

The brouhaha with the name of that Spanish town, which name means Castrillo Kill Jews, is really getting to me. It is probably the tenth article on the subject I stumble upon.

Apparently the solution is going to be voted on soon, by all 56 citizens of that place. And what it is?

If they agree to the change, locals will be able to choose between the rather less offensive Mota Judios and Mota de Judios, which both mean Mound of the Jews.

And what is "mound", if you look at it closer? Let's see, avoiding baseball, of course:

• A small natural hill
• A collection of objects laid on top of each other
• Structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones

I don't know, to my suspicious mind is all sounds kinda funereal, don't you think so?

So I have a capital idea: take some masking tape and just stick it over the Matajudios part on the road signs. Smear some black ink over same on the official papers and you are done! Think about savings of time and money!

And there is another point:

"It is a name that we know today is not very correct,” the mayor explained.

Indeed. But political correctness is not like correctness in, say, science. Today it is incorrect, tomorrow - who knows? And then all you have to do is to remove some masking tape. Big deal?

Nah...

Merry Christmas - a first early entry

First of all, Merry Christmas to all our Christian friends.

Now to the reason I have started with this today: this.

When even Fox News, that bastion of conservative opinions, breaks down and wishes its readers/viewers some dumbed down “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas, it is time to be worried.

Being Jewish and an atheist, I am not heavily invested in any religion, but I can't abide the artificial veneer of political correctness, the new religion practiced by fake progressives and sourpuss flat-assed bureaucrats. And I don't mind calling Christmas, Eid Al-Fitr, Hanukkah (Chanukah, Chanukkah), Rama Navami etc by their real names, political correctness be damned.

So: Merry Christmas again, and we'll be back at the right date.

Update: and, in related news: The Silencing of the Ducks.

Are you eating PB&J sandwich? Check your privilege! Oh, and you are a racist besides.

There are different ways to get your secret longings or secret aversions validated and even vindicated. Take me, for example: for several years spent in US of A, I have been suspicious of that concoction called peanut butter and jelly sandwich. No force in the world would have made me even taste one.

Now I know why.

Did you know that eating or even talking about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich could be considered racist?

That’s right.

Apparently, it’s because people in some cultures don’t eat sandwich bread. Verenice Gutierrez, principal of Harvey Scott K-8 School in Portland explained in and interview with the Portland Tribune:“Take the peanut butter sandwich, a seemingly innocent example a teacher used in a lesson last school year,”

“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” Gutierrez asked. “Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.”

Yeah, and by taking each bite of PB&J sandwich you are exercising your white privilege, too (no matter whether you are black, yellow or of any other color).

And these are the people who are teaching our kids, mind you.

For those who didn't know yet what "Check your privilege" means, look it up.  Oh, and by the way, the fact that you don't know what this means classifies you as a potential racist, capitalist and male/female chauvinist pig. Visit your neighborhood commissar immediately.

Do you need your medicine urgently? Wait till Minister Yael German stops celebrating language accessibility.

Warning: this post appears in four languages - English, Hebrew, Russian and Arabic for your convenience. Please scroll down till you reach the text of your choice. If you are unable to perform the scrolling, please consult with the closest pharmacist.

אזהרה: פוסט זה מופיע בארבע שפות - אנגלית, עברית, רוסית וערבית לנוחיותך. אנא לגלול למטה עד שתגיעו לטקסט על פי בחירתך. אם אתה לא מצליח לבצע גלילה, יש להתייעץ עם הרוקח הקרוב ביותר.

Предупреждение: этот пост появляется в четырех языках - английском, иврите, русском и арабском для вашего удобства. Пожалуйста, прокрутите вниз пока не дойдеte до текста по вашему выбору. Если вы не в состоянии выполнять прокрутку, пожалуйста, проконсультируйтесь с ближайшим фармацевтом.

تحذير: يظهر هذا المنصب في أربع لغات - الإنكليزية والعبرية والروسية والعربية لراحتك. يرجى بالتمرير لأسفل حتى تصل إلى النص من اختيارك. إذا كنت غير قادر على تنفيذ التمرير، يرجى التشاور مع أقرب الصيدلي.

This post is being written after two events: first, I read a post by my friend Dick Stanley, where he rightfully complains about a bureaucratic incursion into the gasoline can (jerrycan in local slang - obviously borrowed from the Brits back when) business. Commenting on this post, I promised Dick that our bureaucrats will adopt that idea soon. Little did I know that... but continue reading.

The second event was my recent run around pharmacies of the fair city of ... in the search for a totally regular ear drops - yeah, I got me a bit of an ear infection. Normally every pharmacy will have these drops - but not on that day. So here comes the story.

It started quite a long time ago, more than two years if I have my dates right. Pharmaceutical companies were required to add to all prescription drugs' packages notices in two languages - Arabic and Russian, in addition to Hebrew and English as it was accepted before. The text of these notices is meant to guide the customer in a politically correct way to the leaflet in several languages (already including the four languages mentioned), located inside the package.

The pharmaceutical companies and their local representatives, as is their custom, blew off the stern warnings of our ministry of health and kept dragging their feet. And many packages remained as they were: with only two languages (but still, with all these required languages on the leaflet inside). And on April 30, 2013, the wrath of our brand new minister of health, Yael German, struck mightily. Here is a translation of her celebratory Facebook message:

It was not easy, but "drug law" that proscribes the inscription in Arabic and Russian - was unanimously passed passed this evening during the second and third reading!
Remember I told here that the big drug companies have announced that they could not meet the law and write on all the boxes in Russian and Arabic by the date set: May 1? And this after they've received a deferment of nine months ...
Remember that the drug companies have announced that if they will be given a deferment it may cause a shortage of some drugs?
So by law we promoted in the Ministry of Health, it was decided that anyone who didn't adhere to the law can market the drug, but will have to pay a fee of NIS 30,000 for each type of drug.
Ministry of Health undertook to establish a call center where help with language accessibility (sic!) will be provided.
The public will have its drugs on May 1, and the companies will have to understand that the law must be upheld.

Everything in the above text is fine and dandy with me. I too think that it is vital that people who don't dig neither English nor Hebrew and are too shy to ask the pharmacist or their relatives, are told to stick their finger in the package and get out that multilingual leaflet.

Only one small problem: that promise about having our drugs on May 1 appears to be what many of us, pessimists, suspected - pure bullshit. It was three weeks after May 1 when I have done my run around, and lots of pharmacies complain about lack of drugs, some of them essential. The list of missing drugs, helpfully provided by one of the pharmacies, was impressive and, for people who need some of these drugs, could be quite fateful.

It is not that Ms German wasn't aware of the problem:

Pharma-Israel: “serious shortage” of drugs expected when new Arabic and Russian language requirements take effect next month.

But:

There will be no shortage of prescription drugs on May 1, Health Minister Yael German declared on Thursday, despite Pharma-Israel representatives in the pharmaceutical industry saying they cannot meet a new law requiring Arabic and Russian explanations on drug packages and on leaflets inside. “They had plenty of time to prepare for the change,” German said. “They are showing contempt for the public. There won’t be a lack of drugs. We have a solution,” she said, but did not give details.

Meanwhile, her ministry proudly displays the confiscated politically incorrect drugs:

To my chagrin, in this picture I recognized two drugs I take regularly for that dicky ticker of mine. In a few days I have to renew my prescription...

Here is an article in Hebrew that I wouldn't translate, it goes into a detailed analysis of the situation, bringing up a lot of different essential drugs missing for quite a long period, with several examples of (essential) drugs that aren't expected to be brought back, because the companies involved will simply not bother to go to the expense and the effort of adding text on the packages, due to low prices of the products that don't justify the expense economically. You may bet any amount that our minister of health didn't even think about a possibility like this. And what does Ms German think about the situation?

I discovered to my amazement that this time too the drug companies were not ready, and put us before the fact: in two days we will not be able to sell drugs because then we will be criminals. Outcome: The State of Israel will remain without drugs," says German, adding, "But we have a responsibility to the public, we can not make the people of Israel into a hostage by pharmaceutical companies.

So the finger-pointing has already started, but where is the solution? Pharmaceutical giants couldn't care less about the puny Israeli market and are in no hurry to introduce the new packaging. The health ministry principled and politically correct stance will not be softened anytime soon, you may bet on that.  Meanwhile the sick people are the only ones paying the price.

And all this for the tiny number of Israelis who speak and read only Arabic and Russian and are too stupid to open the package and get out that instruction leaflet (to remind you, already translated into both Arabic and Russian). Now try to get your head around this shining example of politically correct absurdity...

Ms German got a bachelor's degree in history. So, most probably, she learned how to get her name in history books, albeit in a quite skewed way.

Smile, Yael, you are in history books already!

To make sure this post reaches its destination, it is translated below into three additional languages: Hebrew, Russian and Arabic (unchecked to my sorrow, since I don't know any Arabic).

***

פוסט זה נכתב לאחר שני אירועים: ראשון, אני קואתי את פוסט על ידי חבר שלי דיק סטנלי, שבו הוא מתלונן על פלישה בירוקרטית לעסק של מכלי בנזין (ג'ריקן בסלנג המקומי). בהתייחסי פוסט זה, הבטחתי לדיק שהביורוקרטים שלנו יאמצו את  הרעיון בקרוב. לא היה לי מושג ש ... אבל תמשיכו לקרוא.

Read more »

Middle-aged grump on transsexuality and its haters

Francis Sedgemore, by his own definition a middle-aged grump with a disdain for collectivist ideologies*, posted several articles on the subject. In chronological order (or time line as Facebook regulars know it), the first article is the definitive one, where you can trace the whole story:

On Suzanne Moore, gender identity and penis fixation

As a personal disclosure: being a practicing hetero wihout transsexual friends, I don't have an ax of my own to grind in the matter discussed. On the general level, any outburst of hate to a group, especially one that was (and still is) oppressed and maligned as much as transsexuals do, causes me not a small measure of disgust. And when terms like “trans cabal” are freely employed, it is guaranteed to transform the disgust into revulsion. But read the whole article, if you please.

Now the second item in the series:

Inciting hatred of transsexual and transgendered people is a criminal offence

The circle of haters widens, it seems, and to my growing surprise, women of a feminist streak are the main inciters. Of course, the main venue (the Guardian Media Group) is significant too, but of secondary importance, and anyway I prefer to leave it without comments to Francis.

The next one contains an element of surprise:

Inciting hatred of transgendered people in general terms is acceptable in law

Apparently expressing your hate of transgendered folks in general is OK, as long as you don't aim your hate at a specific person or group of such. Nah, I am not a lawyer, but that one sucks big time, I have to say.

And the last piece for dessert:

Burchillgate is no free-speech issue

In this respect I tend to lean more to the lighter view as expressed** by Terry Glavin in his Censored No More: Julie Burchill. Ms Burchill, being a equal opportunity kneebiter, is known to have a strong word for everyone and everything and is really more entertaining than serious. But of course, she went over the top professionally and with habitual grace.

Anyway, read the whole and weep. As a side lesson (for myself, at least), I see another confirmation to the lingering suspicion of mine: our political correctness is still a thin layer of veneer. Scratch it (like in case at hand) and the old prejudices and hatreds erupt in force.

Too bad.

P.S. And three posts by Zoe Brain, a real authority on the subject, to complete the picture:

The Observer Screws Up

They've got form

They've got form (Part II)


(*) Which make him a member of my karass, between other things and in spite of other things, no matter whether he wants it or not.
(**) Although I strongly protest his use of "defenestration". But I suspect he done it on purpose...

Patty Lewis - still here to entertain

If you have never seen this PC-inspired series of e-mails from an alleged Human Resources Director of a medium sized company, you should read it - it's a must. While not new, it warms my heart again and again, once a year when Christmas is closing in.

I thought it may be worth to mention that:

• Snopes, being terminally serious people, have dedicated an entry to "Patty Lewis" and her frantic e-mails.
• If you google for "Patty Lewis, Human Resources Director", you shall, to your surprise, discover a lot of high-powered women, named Patti Lewis, some of whom are Human Resources Directors... go figure.

Google Search news: no more boobs, ladies and gentlemen

Mostly gentlemen, I guess, but who knows: I don't have any access to statistics of that kind. Anyway, here is the gist of the news:

If you’re in the U.S. and trying to search for boobs on Google Images right now, you’re going to have a tougher time. That’s because Google has prevented U.S. users from disabling SafeSearch. And if you want to find NSFW images, you’re going to have to be more specific with your searches.

Google users should be familiar with the SafeSearch toolbar at the top right of Image searches. Until recently, that bar allowed users to select MODERATE, STRICT, or OFF. As of right now, those options have been removed from the drop-down menu – but only in the U.S.

A few remarks to that:

1. Not only in US, I have to correct the writer (of course I checked immediately, what do you think?). Here too.
2. In fact, Google didn't prevent you totally from searching for hardcore stuff. Read the whole article, it's more of a canard than real McCoy.
3. And what the heck Googlebots think they are doing to law abiding boob-seeking citizens of the world? Boils my blood to think of it, and I don't even remember why...