Our Betters In Distress
From the Times, a tale of evil seen, if you tilt your head and squint:
The three wise monkeys have been a cultural trope throughout the world for centuries as a symbol of seeing, hearing and speaking no evil. Academics at the University of York have decided that they could be seen as an oppressive racial stereotype, and pulled an image of the animals from their website to avoid offence.
Organisers of a forthcoming art history conference apologised for using the picture in their call for submissions. “Upon reflection, we strongly believe that our first poster is not appropriate as its iconology promulgates a longstanding visual legacy of oppression and exploits racist stereotypes,” they wrote. “We bring this to your attention, so that we may be held accountable for our actions and, in our privileges, do and be better.”
I doubt that doing better is on the cards, somehow. Just more of the same.
The fretful academics – who deploy the words “Orality, Aurality, Opticality and Hapticity” and then applaud themselves – claim to be concerned for the feelings of others – others who may, hypothetically, be offended, indeed oppressed, by a seventeenth century Buddhist figurine showing three helpers of the divine, and whose monkey form is a phonetic pun to speakers of Japanese.
Readers may note that the agonising – in which any depiction of a monkey immediately conjures thoughts of black people – does rather speak to the weirdly dogmatic assumptions of the agonised, rather than the object being agonised about, or how said object is generally understood. It must be those intersectional lenses we hear so much about. Which is to say, lefties project.
Via Mr Muldoon.
I believe it was Hadrian who famously said “recti, rectu, rectum”
Who was it who said “vini, vidi, viscera”?
There seems to be an unusual preoccupation on this site with pigs’ bums.
Incorrect, good sir.
You forgot the “boneless” part.
Any other topics?
OK, I’ll bite.
Do you suppose this “You can trace a lot of the cultural norms of mathematics back to various European cultural quirks” might have something to do with the reason that sub-Saharan Africans never managed to build anything higher than you could stack bundles of sticks?
“recti, rectu, rectum”
…rectum? damn near killed ‘im!
[ Ba dum tss ]
OK, I’ll bite. Do you suppose…
Yes.
We are keeping ourselves occupied with pig rears so as not to contemplate even worse things, such as tortured smurfs, aluminininum, big x’s representing some Internet thing that peeves David, and untranslated German paragraphs.
—Lady Cutekitten
Just came across this article today. Apparently what we thought was haggis here in Canada is fake. No true haggis can be served without sheep lungs and here, in Canada and I believe the U.S., sheep lungs or animal lungs in general are not considered a food product and cannot be served. Our fake haggis uses sheep hearts as a substitute.
Our fake haggis
A couple of years ago the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Legion served a vegetarian haggis for Robbie Burns’ Day.
I was conflicted.
Apparently what we thought was haggis here in Canada is fake
Piece by piece, inch by inch, our world crumbles and our hope disappears.
*lights pipe, stares into the fading embers of the fires, and draws his cloak over his shoulders as the deep cold penetrates even the heart of the house*
…sheep lungs or animal lungs in general are not considered a food product…
Fact check – correct, not only not considered, they are not fit for human consumption.
I am beginning to believe that Pol Pot had a point when it comes to intellectuals.
I am beginning to believe that Pol Pot had a point when it comes to intellectuals.
I am beginning to believe that this slow drip of surrender, the slow boiling of the frog, this continuing failure theater of the right needs to stop. Full-on surrender would probably be best. Introduce legislation to tax Bill Gates, the Google boys, Warren Buffet, etc. at 99% of their net worth. Just do it. It’s for the greater good. They’re the ones with the real white privilege, not those of us who grew up with depression-era, dirt poor, single parent household raised parents. Screw these bastards. Make them defend why they hold billions of dollars, not those of us who worked our asses off to attain a modest retirement.
Make them defend why they hold billions of dollars, not those of us who worked our asses off to attain a modest retirement.
If anyone can save enough for a modest secure retirement, then they are insufficiently dependent on the whims of people like Bill Gates and should be paid less. We all must become day laborers competing for much fewer jobs than there are workers. But I’m sure Bill Gates has convinced himself that he is a Great Humanitarian.
Our fake haggis
OK, who’s going to say it? You know you want to.
Alright, alright…
Band name!
Full-on surrender would probably be best.
I won’t surrender, but I’ll retreat. Right now I’m planning to make my last stand on a 40-foot sloop, or maybe a cutter. My interactions with the State will be limited to various harbormasters, who are generally amenable to leaving one alone in exchange for a very reasonable bribe. I can live with that level of government corruption.
And the pirates?
Yes, there really are Pirates of the Caribbean. They have speedboats and they are not nearly as nice as Johnny Depp.
Have you ever noticed that in the series of films “Pirates of the Caribbean” that there is a distinct lack of any actual piracy?
Have you ever noticed that in the series of films “Pirates of the Caribbean” that there is a distinct lack of any actual piracy?
Heh. Actual piracy would not fit with the Disney Theme Park origin of the movies. 🙂 But they do prance about a lot in a pirate-y way and maybe even say “yarr” so they must be pirates, right? 😀
IIRC in Tom Wolfe’s much-overlooked novel ‘I Am Charlotte Simmons’ a furious professor describes three dim-witted student athletes he’s saddled with as ‘Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil and Comprehend Nothing Whatsoever’.
‘Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil and Comprehend Nothing Whatsoever’.
Heh.