Elsewhere (309)
Christopher Rufo on Victoria’s Secret and social-justice lingerie:
The company presented the new spokeswomen not only as representatives of their intersectional identities — the original line-up included an African refugee, a pink-haired lesbian, an obese biracial woman, and a male-to-female transsexual — but as social-justice activists committed to “systemic change.” […] It would be a ghastly faux pas to point out that some of the women… are, to put it delicately, not as beautiful as their predecessors. To the contrary, the public must affirm [“LGBTQIA+ activist” Megan] Rapinoe and [overweight “body advocate” Paloma] Elsesser as at least equally beautiful as the outdated and oppressive standards embodied by Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. One cannot point out, either, that the Collective’s social-justice activism is mostly a self-serving scam.
Needless to say, the results of this woke rebranding have not been entirely positive.
And Mr Rufo again, on woke Disney:
The core of Disney’s racial program is a series of training modules on “antiracism.” In one, called “Allyship for Race Consciousness,” the company tells employees that they must “take ownership of educating [themselves] about structural anti-Black racism” and that they should “not rely on [their] Black colleagues to educate [them],” because it is “emotionally taxing.” […] White employees, in particular, must “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed.” Disney recommends that employees atone by “challeng[ing] colourblind ideologies and rhetoric” such as “All Lives Matter” and “I don’t see colour”; they must “listen with empathy [to] Black colleagues” and must “not question or debate Black colleagues’ lived experience.”
Or put more simply, “You are guilty by default, so just stand there while we scold you.” With seemingly unintended irony, employees are also informed that thoroughness and punctuality are “white-dominant” values and products of “white supremacy culture,” and therefore, presumably, bad. As a measure of woke perversity – one might say, unhingement – a pretty good indicator.
From the comments here, this:
A Connecticut social worker has filed a race and employment discrimination lawsuit against Bridgewater State University after it asked her to “defend her whiteness” in a job interview.
Pale skin being regarded by the University as “a common obstacle” to both social work and teaching.
And Not The Bee on creepy teachers and woke journalism:
You can always tell how insular a person has become in their politics when a term that has been used regularly regarding a topic that has been in the news for years strikes them as something “new”:
“Fans of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have a new favourite word: ‘grooming’”
Of course, people who don’t share [Washington Post columnist] Monica Hesse’s… value system have actually been using the word for some time… To understand the disconnect you have to understand that they start with the premise that you are anti-gay (whatever that means) and then move on from there… And so, opposing a bill that would prohibit teachers from talking about sexual matters with kids 4 to 7 years old makes you “squeamish about gay people.”
If an adult’s erotic preference and/or niche sexual ‘identity’ somehow requires the involvement of, and validation by, children, including pre-schoolers, this isn’t exactly a basis for reassurance. That this should apparently need saying is itself quite a thing.
Or, put another way, “Good morning, class. Today, I’d like you to entertain thoughts about my private life and sexual activity.” I paraphrase a little, but not, I think, wildly.
There’s no such thing as other people’s children.
Feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
If it’s any consolation, I am convinced that the relatively small size of the readership is one of the reasons this blog remains such a delight
This.
[ Weeps into handkerchief, slams door. ]
Heh. These days, all blogs are backwater.
I did type “fifth-rate,” but I knew an obscure James Thurber reference would require too much explanation, which kills the joke.*
* An artist asked Harold Ross, the editor of the New Yorker, why he published the fifth-rate drawings of Thurber. He replied:
“Third rate.”
If it’s any consolation, I am convinced that the relatively small size of the readership is one of the reasons this blog remains such a delight
And yet the readership doesn’t seem small, if you go by the length of the comment threads. Maybe we are a small (relatively, I guess, compared to Instapundit) but loyal and prolific commentariat. I think more people read than comment (some come out of lurking to donate), but the ones who do comment contribute a lot. I read a few other blogs, and some do seem small, with handfuls of comments. This blog doesn’t have that feel. I come here for David’s commentary and sense of humor about the clown world we’re living in, and I stay for the reader comments. There’s quality on this here blog, and I like it. It’s a very civil place, which is a rarity these days, sadly.
I think more people read than comment
Oh yes. The overwhelming majority of people here – between 2,000 and 12,000 a day – are, as it were, lurking in the bushes.
I am a dreaded Instapundit reader; oddly, I almost never read the comments there because they are filled with rancor and bigotry.
I not only adore David’s sense of humor, but also the creativity and wry wit of the commenters. I don’t often comment because I fear the competition. Winks.
on a backwater blog
It’s not backwater, it’s artisnal. And curated!
I am a dreaded Instapundit reader
As am I. In fact, Instapundit was one of the first blogs I started following, back even before Glenn was named one of the Four Horsemen of the Ablogalypse. Impossible to remember if I found David via a link on Glenn’s blog, but it seems very possible.
back even before Glenn was named one of the Four Horsemen of the Ablogalypse
If anybody wants Glenn’s puppy smoothie recipe, they’re a tasty nutritious alternative to David’s bar snacks.
Sentenced to 26 years? He should have been sentenced to be shot 26 times.
between 2,000 and 12,000 a day
Well, I do hit ‘refresh’ a lot. Didn’t think it was THAT much.
This backwater blog is the best one on the interwebs.
The commenters are the smartest.
on a backwater blog
Suggested nom de plume for David: Lord Backwater.
If we’re to take on terribly British-seeming noms de plume like that, can I be Lieutenant”>https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/swinton.pdf>Lieutenant Backsight Forethought?
Oh dear, I properly mangled that link. Apologies.
Canada, a ‘low tax, high interest’ country? Who knew?
We have subsidies and tax incentives for tech R&D like you wouldn’t believe.
So much for business acumen and foresight.
There’s a very good book that I can’t find the title of now that made the case that Microsoft outlasted all of its early competitors simply by not massively fucking up. It’s a litany of disastrous decisions by WordPerfect, Borland, IBM, etc. that sank their products while Microsoft simply stayed the course and incrementally improved.
The book was written before IE 4 and the browser wars, which I think undermines its case a bit; being able to turn a company the size of Microsoft on a dime to focus on the WWW really was a unicorn event and couldn’t have been done by any other organization.
ccscientist: …no one should ever feel bad about themselves ever for any reason.
Unless you are white, male, cisgender, hetero…
Victoria’s Secret and social-justice lingerie
The worst thing about this VS ‘collective’ is that – as far as I can tell – most of the lazy moos aren’t even prepared to dress up in VS scanties for our delectation. I’d be quite happy to see Amanda de Cadenet or Priyanka Chopra in silky pants and even the pink haired one ought to be in reasonable nick. Meanwhile, the interwebs suggest there is a keen, if niche, audience for chunky lasses and chickboys. TBF, the chubby one is on the VS website, but most of the women modelling the clothes look rather like the VS models of old.
These organisations rarely have the courage of their own (claimed) convictions….
…there was a clever Dark Side of the Moon parody image…
“Gender” is not a spectrum, but Cluster B personality disorders are.
It’s not backwater, it’s artisanal.
Heh.
[ Raises price of drinks. ]
Ten-year-olds.
There’s no such thing as other people’s children.
The power trip is, of course, purely coincidental.
When middle-school children are encouraged to “share their sexuality” with a somewhat vain, identity-fixated adult, a grown man who makes TikTok videos, and this is called a “safe zone.”
The above is a fairly mild example, given some we’ve seen, but it’s curious how these assumptions are aired as if unassailable. As if the territory couldn’t possibly be regarded as inapt.
it’s artisanal
It all depends on how one emphasises the four syllables
Ten-year-olds.
There’s no such thing as other people’s children.
Unfortunately I fear this is going to go largely unopposed save for the occasional parent making a bit of a nuisance of themselves.
When I was in high school, a not-very-bright English lit teacher took a disliking to one of the students in the class. After a particularly indefensible failing grade on one of his assignments, that student’s parents – both at once – descended on the vice-principal and read him the riot act over the teacher’s conduct. The grade was erased and the student’s work was marked by a different teacher the rest of the year. And that was for an elective course.
The fact that these schools are still standing, and have not been burned to the foundations and the faculty tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail, means that the parents are not serious about protecting their children.
Ten-year-olds.
That’s a classic psychological exercise of long-standing. I’m not surprised, though, that it is being mis-used these days for nefarious purposes.
and this is called a “safe zone.”
As a parent that wouldn’t make me feel safe.
After the training, we had a dept meeting and were asked to give our input on management and how things were run. Everyone knew that managers in this org would punish you if you crossed them, so no one said a word. Not a word.
This is why Putin is frustrated at not having a swift and decisive victory. It turns out he asked his intelligence for analyses of what an invasion of Ukraine would look like and no one wanted to tell him the reality, instead painting far rosier pictures to keep their jobs.
If an adult’s erotic preference and/or niche sexual ‘identity’ somehow requires the involvement of, and validation by, children, including pre-schoolers, this isn’t exactly a basis for reassurance. That this should apparently need saying is itself quite a thing.
What goes on in the public school system makes the Catholic church sex abuse scandal look like a fart in a tornado.
This is why I think any Bishop with a spine – and yes, that may be mythical – should place on administrative leave any priest who feels the need to “come out” to his parishioners in a Sunday morning sermon by surprise. I have never had to endure such bilge but I have seen plenty of parishes where the Gospel may narrate Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Father somehow uses that to announce proudly his status in the LGBTQ community.
But then, I have a personal rule that if you have four or more bumperstickers on your car, you’re crazy, even if I agree with their message. So anyone who feels that other people MUST know with whom they sleep – and proclaims it loudly – is suspect.
As a parent that wouldn’t make me feel safe.
I’m guessing that parents assume Mr Ulloa is employed to teach English to their 11-year-olds – rather than encouraging the children in his class to “share their sexuality.” And again, note the mocking disregard for expectations of dress codes and workplace professionalism. And so, his classroom is a venue for a twink fashion show. As if he were going on a date.
Presumably, teaching middle-school English isn’t sufficiently self-exalting, and so the job is inflated, its scope expanded and redefined, regardless of parental wishes, to accommodate ‘identity’ and a role-play of heroic radicalism. Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag.
and this is called a “safe zone.”
Best comment: “When my students feel comfortable enough to share their clothes with me.”
no one wanted to tell him the reality, instead painting far rosier pictures to keep their jobs.
Not a problem, I think, only in Russia.
As if he were going on a date
Maybe he hopes to get lucky?
on any subject
A touch of overwhelming stupidity made manifest:
Google Hong Kong images and you will find a plethora of photographs of masses of people queuing for hours in close proximity to get tested for The Virus and pictures of elderly-home residents in beds crammed together waiting outside overnight in cold conditions for admission to A&E. Truly 4th World.
Now, to reinforce the frankly illogical and stupid “social-distancing” rules the city’s beaches will be closed (again) by the administration. That’s right, shut down the few places people have to enjoy fresh air and sunshine to boost their Vit D levels that most HKers are sadly deficient in.
Mind-boggling doesn’t even come close as a description of incompetence.
When middle-school children are encouraged to “share their sexuality”
While my memory isn’t what it used to be, I still remember middle school (grades 6-8 for you brits). Girls were just beginning to look attractive (though actually talking to them…well) and most of us were in awe of the rare boy who had a “date”. It is really stretching things to say any middle schooler had a “sexuality”. And sharing it? woah. stop right there. And some of these wokies want to explain to elementary kids how to have gay sex at an age when kids can’t even imagine straight sex, when the idea that their parents had sex is just ewwww when kissing is just ewwww. Before middle school, it is way off the charts to bring up sexual topics. At all.
Bad news in organizations: I worked in a large gov lab where they were building a big facility, very high tech. A “retired” engineer heard about my unconventionality somehow and invited me to breakfast. He had warned them that this facility was technically infeasible in a big way–ie not something fixable. They didn’t want to hear it, accused him of alcoholism, and forced him to retire (at least he kept his pension). A few years later, when they turned it on for testing it failed completely and was shut down. At least no one died but it was a $600million USD boondoggle. Your money at work. It didn’t matter that he was right, the ship was sailing and he was making waves.
In Russia, Putin is still fighting the cold war as if W europe is going to invade (TBF, last time invaded they were devastated). His generals told him the people would be grateful to be liberated. They are not.
Ten-year-olds.
Well, TBF the Presbyterian Biblical fundamentalist school that I attended for a while did the same thing with us 8th graders (13-14 yo). One class was divided by hair color, the other class…I forget. Our class the teacher made the girls the ‘superior’ race and the boys the inferior one. The girls would address us as ‘slave’ and make us do things like tie their shoes…and stuff…if one was lucky… We played a Civil War war game along these lines as well.
“Cluelessness also comes from playing follow the leader”
A great example being the current lack of new autos.
A few idiots (and that’s being polite) decided that the flu was going to shut down new car demand, so in Q1 of 2020, they began canceling component orders.
Other lemmings soon followed, all in an orgy of self congratulations.
Demand, however, never took the expected dive…
Until the inevitable happened.
Bad news in organizations
Most successful organization in film captured in two lines:
Jack Wolz: You’re not leaving, are you, Tom?
Tom Hagen: I’m flying back tonight. Mr Corleone insists on hearing bad news immediately.
mouse: we just went furniture shopping (in US). My wife said to the salesman “you must have had a rough year” he said “sales were up 15% last year. People stayed home and saw their old furniture…” so much for conventional wisdom.
On the kids and sex thing: parents do not want adults talking to their kids about sex, sexuality, sexual identity or any of that. Any adults and this includes teachers. A biology class in 8th or 9th grade is touchy enough. Otherwise, hands off (in every sense). No transvestite story hour. No lessons in masturbation. No instruction in anal sex. No handing out of condoms. No rainbow flags. No ranting against parenthood. No encouragement to get genital surgery. None of that. None
It all depends on how one emphasises the four syllables
Just ask Arti about his fixation
parents do not want adults talking to their kids about sex, sexuality, sexual identity or any of that. Any adults and this includes teachers
The schools are still standing. And this battle was fought decades ago over sex education in schools, and lost. Again, the schools know they can and will get away with this.
George Smathers was an old-school Democrat, Florida senator, and a strong anti-communist. My alma mater, whose libraries are named for Smathers, now has a study room named for Karl Marx in one of those libraries.
WouldDo a larger percentage fight for their own football club?And in similar SEC-ish news, UGA Heisman Trophy running back Hershel Walker, who is now running as a Republican for the GA senate (whom we saw at a small rally several months ago), has a gay son who has some words regarding the FL anti-grooming law. (Twitter link warning)
WTP: a little graffiti could change it to the Groucho Marx reading room, which would be much better.
a little graffiti could change it to the Groucho Marx reading room, which would be much better.
Heh. Good thought. And I was just in town there on Saturday having lunch with my old college roommate. Again….timing. But not necessarily the funny kind.
Yes, my ex-roommate, a Democrat but not the far-far left stupid kind, was rather apologetic about the Biden-Harris mess. He’s been slowly getting red-pilled. Especially as he’s a strong free speech person who has been getting canceled by his old punk rockish friends for not denouncing the right hard enough and for having a willingness to listen to other points of view. It’s sad and bloody scary to hear how such people as him are soooo deeply tied to the Democratic party (his father taught and was a research entomologist and mother something similar) that they are caught like squirrels trying to cross the road in front of a fast moving truck. He’s an exceptionally reasonable guy, very bright, and very funny in an abstract way. And much easier to talk to than even many of my more mainstream and even conservative…”conservative” friends.
WTP: some of our friends who were so proud and loud about voting biden are quite sheepish now that it is too late. They apparently didn’t believe Biden when he said he was going to shut down the oil industry. The dems announced their war on america but no one was paying attention.
Most of my B-H supporting friends are still supporting them. A few have gone silent but for the most part, any criticism of the current regime brings out defenders. Similar, I just posted a Not-the-Babylon-Bee article regarding the #DetransAwarenessDay. One of my other former roommates gave it a chucklehead response. Of course that’s pretty much all he is capable of.
parents do not want adults talking to their kids about sex, sexuality, sexual identity or any of that. Any adults and this includes teachers
As pointed out, the schools did push through a lot of the agenda. But I think the strategy has to be to say “well if I wouldn’t let a complete stranger say these things to my child, why would I let a teacher?”. “”But, but, we’re professionals” they would answer. Then have a long list of all the teachers convicted of child porn charges, sexual assault, and other improprieties. Force them back on the defensive – have you proven that you are especially trustworthy ? Push back always.