Elsewhere (283)

John Staddon on Ethnic Studies standards: 

The anonymous sociologist’s claim that empirical facts are irrelevant… raises an important question: if theories in the social sciences are not constrained by empirical facts, what are they constrained by? The answer seems to be that theories in Race and Ethnic Studies sociology are mainly constrained by the political opinions prevailing in that branch of the field… [‘Race theorist’] Eduardo Bonilla-Silva scorns the very idea [of truth], speaking of the “devil of ‘objectivity’” (note the scare quotes). Without the possibility of objectivity, there is no science. Has sociology become, then, just political activism? To some extent, yes. According to Tukufu Zuberi and Bonilla-Silva: “The aim is to attain epistemic liberation from White logic.” 

Professor Bonilla-Silva and his nasty, paranoid contortions have been mentioned here before. When not denouncing objectivity and “white logic” - or complaining that his employer, Duke University, “oozes whiteness,” which is, it goes without saying, a terrible thing to ooze - the professor equates critics of affirmative action with 19th century supporters of slavery. He also claims that non-racial ‘colour-blind’ attitudes and policies are merely a “way of calling minorities niggers, Spics or Chinks.”

One of the more bizarre indicators of Bonilla-Silva’s mental state is his written insistence - published in a course syllabus - that students must control their “body language” and avoid any “irresponsible contestation” of his arguments. Black students who disagreed with the professor’s lurid racialist theories have been denounced by him as “Uncle Toms.” Oh, and Professor Bonilla-Silva, a grown man, a tenured academic with a six-figure salary, refers to the United States, in class, as “Gringoland” and “AmeriKKKa.”

Further to this recent hoaxing drama, James Lindsay on laundering hokum: 

‘Critical race theory’ is a mess, for example. It’s an explicitly political situation, in which ‘whiteness’ has to be bad and therefore can’t do anything right, and they take these ideas and launder them through the academic process. And these departments exist specifically to launder these ideas, to put them through the academic process and give them the appearance of being rigorous studies, so then activists can go and say, “Oh, a study has shown…”

For more on so-called “critical race theory,” see also this. 

At Colorado State University, where “inclusive excellence” is a goal stated many, many times, matters of great import are being decided:

The school’s guidelines urge those who are posting about the university: “Avoid gendered emojis when possible. Instead use one of the variations of the yellow smiley faces or object emojis.” The guide also suggests that individuals “use inclusive pronouns” such as “they/them/theirs.”

For further illustrations of “inclusive excellence,” and the delightful, not-at-all-unhinged people it attracts, see also this. 

And while I find the term “intellectual dark web” faintly silly, David Fuller’s interview with Douglas Murray is not without its moments: 

It is preposterous that almost everything that is true is so hard to say in public, and so controversial to say in public. And so disputed, and so howled against. I think everybody who’s been described as a member of the ‘intellectual dark web’ probably has one thing in common, which is that they’re all used to being howled at for saying things that are self-evident - howled at in public - only to then discover that the public come up to them in private and say, “Thank you so much for saying what we think.” […]

Somebody came up to me after the event in London [with Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson] and they had a copy of that day’s New York Times, and page one, two and three, I think, were about something to do with trans [issues]. And this person said, “This is why people are here.” I said, I’m not sure they’re here because of the New York Times running so much about trans, and we didn’t address anything to do with that, but I got what he meant. We’re being given really weird, quite fringe stuff, all the time, as our diet, and we’re starting to rebel.

As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.

Comments

[David]

Brandon Morse on a gamers’ term for Mao-ling behaviour:

All of their beliefs seem to be uniform, no matter which college or protest you go to. Even if you bring the facts that debunk their beliefs, they can’t or won’t deviate from “their truth.” They think what they’re told with seemingly no capacity for critical analysis, and once their dialogue tree runs out on a certain subject they either clam up or begin shouting a phrase over and over again, like “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” “HEY HEY HO HO (insert thing) HAS GOT TO GO,” or “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE!” […]

This is awfully reminiscent of the way [non-player characters] interact with gamers in the virtual world. Outside the bounds of what the programmers gave them, the NPCs aren’t capable of doing much else. Talk to one enough and eventually, they’ll run out of things to say, and begin repeating the same phrase over and over again.

A phenomenon we’ve witnessed more than once.

[Jonathan]

Yet another example of a non-white person choosing to reap the benefits of living in a majority white country and getting paid, by those same white peoples taxes, to demonise and dehumanise white people.

See also 'Professor' Kehinde Andrews.

It's almost as if our Establishments hate us.

Deportations commence when?

[Connor]

One of the more bizarre indicators of Bonilla-Silva’s mental state is his written insistence - published in a course syllabus - that students must control their “body language” and avoid any “irresponsible contestation” of his arguments.

*backs away slowly*

[Joan]

[‘Race theorist’] Eduardo Bonilla-Silva scorns the very idea [of truth], speaking of the “devil of ‘objectivity’” (note the scare quotes).

Translation: he *really* hates losing the argument.

[David]

Translation: he *really* hates losing the argument.

That would be a more likely explanation, yes.

[Jonathan]

The correct reaction to insane leftists:

https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1050794829482008576

Status: Owned.

[Y. Knott]

I suggest for the SJW's in our midst, two powerful symbols of critical mob-think:

- for their identity symbol and badge of office, a little red book to wave at their rallies and protests; and

- To feed them, the bountiful harvests of Lysenkoism.

The benefits for us? the first will help us determine which rallies (courses/professors/media) to avoid, and the second will solve the whole SJW problem - slowly.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

All this is nothing new, alas. Many moons ago six of us from similar organizations were sent to a course originally founded in genuine sciency principles, but which has become overrun with moonbats. As part of this course there was a mandatory sub-course wherein a problem in Africa was brought up, and the moonbat "solution" discussed. By "discussed" I mean put forth as the only solution. My comrades and I, all being about 15 years older on average and having real jobs which in a couple of cases included actually having encountered said problem while in Africa, were shouted down for proposing an alternate solution.

In the back of the class was a gentleman who had the temerity to say we were right. The fact that he was Deputy Minister of Department Related to the Problem in the African country he came from did not stop his being shouted down by the 99.4 % pasty white other students who had never set foot off of a campus.

Almost the entire canon of leftist thought can be summed up by the quote from Patton, "If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking". I am sure it has been said before, but not thinking is easy, spit back the rote drivel and you get the garbage above and maybe a six figure sinecure, or a seven figure contract as a "comedian", etc. etc.

[David]

In the back of the class was a gentleman who had the temerity to say we were right. The fact that he was Deputy Minister of Department Related to the Problem in the African country he came from did not stop his being shouted down by the 99.4% pasty white other students who had never set foot off of a campus.

Despite the blather about “critical thinking,” autonomous mental activity is in fact actively discouraged, as we’ve seen many times, including the last item here. The whole thing is premised on begged questions and predestined conclusions of an intensely ideological nature, and as a result, evasion and dishonesty are hard to avoid.

If someone retreats into conspiracy theories and rejects any unflattering attempt at objectivity – the obvious means by which one determines the validity of an argument – along with rejecting mountains of statistics and evidence, then this doesn’t exactly signal good faith on their part. Or indeed competence. Likewise, Professor Bonilla-Silva’s various, rather infantile, rhetorical contortions, most of which boil down to, “You should lose because you’re white and therefore wrong by default.”

And this is a man who, for a very generous salary, teaches the credulous and impressionable, and who has considerable say in who else may, or may not, be employed.

[Charlie Suet]

Re: NPCs - it would be interesting to know how much overlap there is between reading lists in grievance studies at American universities. The beliefs of their graduates do seem to be uniform; I wonder if in practice we’re talking about roughly a dozen activist academics who’ve managed to get their views spoon-fed into unquestioning minds.

[Diver Down]

I’m sorry but I’m new here. Where’s the mop? I’ve oozed whiteness everywhere.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Share a snippet, he says - OK, here is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a WTF.

Playing fetch on all fours might seem like an unusual activity for an adult, but one man who identifies as a dog says it has brought him closer to his husband.

We'll gloss over the "man" who thinks she is a dog is a woman who, per the photos, still has all her lady bits.

'Imagine if the easiest way to delight your partner is you just throw a ball across the room. Relationships wouldn't fail anymore if that's all you had to do.'

Andrew added: 'I hang out and I provide him with lots of attention and tell him he is a good boy. That's basically 90 percent of it...'I bring water and just tell Tony when he needs to chill out.'

I wonder what would happen if Andrew told "Tony", "Shut up bitch, and make me a sammich". It is all very confusing.

[David]

If anyone has trouble with comments not appearing, email me and I’ll plunge a hand into the spam filter.

[Jacob]

Oh, and Professor Bonilla-Silva, a grown man, an arrested adolescent, a tenured academic with a six-figure salary, refers to the United States, in class, as “Gringoland” and “AmeriKKKa.”

FTFY.

[David]

an arrested adolescent,

Well, yes. Quite. And it does seem to be a common feature, this kind of moral neoteny.

[Adam]

The word "critical" in "critical theory" does not have the meaning of the word in "critical thinking". Critical theory simply means criticizing, tearing down, abusing, demeaning, and defaming any ideas that are not approved by this crypto-Marxist worldview. Those views are mainly the opposite of modern Western ideas of humanity, science, knowledge, and generally civilization. Critical theorists simply want to tear down society and destroy whatever holds it together. They do not have any cares about rebuilding or reconstituting it under some new ideals. They are purely destroyers. That is all they want. Any claims they make about building a 'better world' are just bafflegab for the rubes. There are a lot of rubes - many of them college students.

[Adam]

“HEY HEY HO HO insert thing HAS GOT TO GO,”

Is this a quote from Professor Christine Fair PhD?

heh heh

[Adam]

"...remains innocent despite the sexual overtones..."

Dr. Freud, call your office.

[DrD]

Ethnic "studies" have simply become faiths, newly invented pseudo-religions seized upon by intellectual mediocrities to act as cover for an academic sinecures. If anything, openly admitting to it by declaring facts as irrelevant is a form of progress insofar as no one need further pretend that this academic emperor is wearing any clothes.

[Jonathan]

Critical theory simply means criticizing, tearing down, abusing, demeaning, and defaming any ideas that are not approved by this crypto-Marxist worldview.

See Bill Whittle's video on the origins of cultural marxism.

[Killer Marmot]

The modern way to be anti-racist is to be really, really racist.

[Killer Marmot]

Critical theory is a form of Marxism. That it is being taught in universities -- not studied as you would a frog in biology, but advocated and used to analyze society -- with public funds is a scandal.

Although many of the educated elite will despise it, the public has a right to ensure that their tax dollars are well spent. The public has to start holding universities accountable for their decisions.

[Alice]

We’re being given really weird, quite fringe stuff, all the time, as our diet, and we’re starting to rebel.

"Related"...

https://twitter.com/SamWhiteTky/status/1051002544632131584

[David]

“Related”...

Once in a while, and cynical as I am, it’s still possible to be taken aback by the inevitable, almost instinctive condescension of these clowns. Their utter failure of self-awareness. As if issuing “I really am okay with you being gay, honest” badges, and then congratulating themselves for this alleged sensitivity, somehow didn’t patronise everyone involved.

[Sam Duncan]

“The aim is to attain epistemic liberation from White logic.”

Or, as everyone else calls it, “reality”.

“calling minorities niggers, Spics or Chinks.”

He didn't capitalize the first one. Racist!

“Status: Owned.”

Can someone please give a dose of whatever the GOP's taking to the British Tories?

“The word "critical" in "critical theory" does not have the meaning of the word in "critical thinking".”

Yes, but I would posit that the ambiguity is deliberate. They're hijacking the word “critical” in the same way they did “liberal”. Orwell was right: you can't argue for something if you don't have the words. If “liberal” means “socialist”, how can you be a liberal? It has to be called something else: “conservative”, “far-right”, “Nazi”, whatever bogey-word the “liberals” can think of. Same here: if “critical” means “uncritical”, then real critical thinking becomes “violence”, “white logic”, “denial”...

[Geoffrey]

Has anyone noticed that 'Tony' puts an awful lot more effort into looking like a dog than she does into looking like a man? She isn't even wearing her hair short or anything. I suspect this is just a move to get Progressive Points, since the far left has argued that literally the only thing that matters is what you identify as, and questioning someones actual behavior or mental state is oppressive, thus it opens up the 'trans' label for anyone who wishes to use it. I suspect this ability to adopt a high-ranking oppressed label without having to actually do anything for it is part of what will cause the whole progressive stack to collapse.

I’m sorry but I’m new here. Where’s the mop? I’ve oozed whiteness everywhere.

I think it's over there, by the taps. Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in...

[David]

Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in…

[ Turns on big-screen TV as a diversion, cranks volume. ]

Ooh, a sporting event of some kind.

[David]

an arrested adolescent,

That Professor Bonilla-Silva has been employed and repeatedly promoted at a prestigious institution, with a handsome salary - despite his obvious shortcomings and obnoxious racial views – does seem somewhat at odds with his own fantasies of oppression.

See also his Duke colleague Wahneema Lubiano, another ludicrous creature who invokes personal victimhood and regards the classroom as a vehicle for her own, quite demented “activism.” Professor Lubiano also rails against “Western rationality,” and boasts that universities are “engines of dominance” that should be “sabotaged” by people suitably radical and enlightened. People like her, in fact. (A transformation, incidentally, that one might think had already taken place.)

[Jim Whyte]

So I sidled over to the "related" post "Think Good Thoughts" to refresh my memory (the UWM microagression instructions). And I noticed something I hadn't before: Warren Scherer's preferred pronoun "per" has no case structure. It's per, per, per all the way down.

(Slips on some oozed whiteness, curses softly so the bouncer won't hear.)

[Diver Down]

Now that I think about it, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any shipments of drinks coming in…

[ Turns on big-screen TV as a diversion, cranks volume. ]

Ooh, a sporting event of some kind.

With apologies to our gracious host but junior badminton doesn’t really qualify as a sporting event.

[Daniel Ream]

Ooh, a sporting event of some kind.

I hear they could go all the way this year.

[Daniel Ream]

Uh-oh.

[Pogonip]

“oozed whiteness everywhere”

Henchlesbian with mop to aisle 5, please.

[Pogonip]

David, I really am OK with you being gay, but I will NEVER accept the low quality of the pickled “eggs” in this establishment. I just can’t even.

[Pogonip]

Now that I think about it, if someone isn’t OK with you being gay, what exactly are you supposed to do about it?

Also, up above, who’s Tony, who apparently looks like a dog? 🐶. I missed something somewhere.

[Geoffrey]

This is Tony.

Anyway, this well loved popular sports game has me enthralled. I'm starting to sweat along with the players. Whatcha got on tap for me, barkeep?

[Pogonip]

I have one question: does Tony poop in the bathroom, or the yard?

[WTP]

Tony is in LA so I would presume on the city sidewalks. Better question is does Andrew pick up after Tony?

[Hal]

Anyway, this well loved popular sports game has me enthralled. I'm starting to sweat along with the players. Whatcha got on tap for me, barkeep?

It's Houston vs Madrid. The winner will be playing against Tokyo in the semifinals.

[Pogonip]

I thought it was Sacramento where people pavement-pooping problematically prevails. Or is it now all of CA’s big cities?

[David]

Uh-oh.

Nice save.

[David]

The modern way to be anti-racist is to be really, really racist.

You don’t say.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Or is it now all of CA’s big cities?

San Francisco, the US answer to the slums of Nairobi, and there is an app for that.

LA, telling San Francisco to hold its free range, cruelty free, organic, gluten free soy kombucha, and the US answer to the slums of Bombay, has the typhus outbreak.

[Clam]

The guide also suggests that individuals “use inclusive pronouns” such as “they/them/theirs.”

That doesn't make me feel included.

[David]

That doesn’t make me feel included.

Well, quite:

Ms Kovvali believes that gendered pronouns and honorifics are an “outdated linguistic tic.” And not a useful, rather concise source of information, a signal of respect, and a way of clarifying who it is we’re talking about. And yet despite this claim, almost all of us seem quite happy to be referred to as either male or female, as if it were in fact “relevant,” and the demand for gender-neutral pronouns remains, to say the least, a niche concern. I’d even venture to suggest that some of us might feel slighted by the wilful omission of – diminishing of – our respective maleness or femaleness…

That a tiny minority object to gendered pronouns, or pretend to object in the hope of seeming morally fashionable, is apparently grounds for the rest of us to be imposed upon, and possibly insulted, with a widespread and routine denial of our gender. It isn’t clear to me why un-gendering everyone is hugely preferable to the highly unlikely mis-gendering of one person, potentially, in theory. And much as I hate to be a bother, my “preferred pronouns” are masculine. Like almost all human beings, I am not alienated from my sex in psychologically hazardous ways. I am not of indeterminate gender. I am not a they.

The objections above are hardly esoteric, and yet the Harvard-educated Ms Kovvali and the woke-lings at Colorado State act as if they had never encountered them, even in passing.

[David]

Oh dear.

Via Julia.

[Millie Woods]

The best response to these people is to educate your children prior to sending them to university. And buy more ammo.

[Pogonip]

Ms. Kovali no habla espanol y es una idiota.

[Pogonip]

Well, it IS Halloween season... 🎃

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article219809315.html

There’s a cat-lady sort of college not too far from here, but if they’re hexing Trump they haven’t informed any reporters yet.

[Adam]

Tony said: 'To me a dog is everything pure in the world. Dogs experience the world through a lens of pure joy that I don't think other animals have'

Why does Tony hate other types of animals? Why is he/she/per/they so angry? I fear that Tony might be literally Hitler!

[Darleen]

Oh dear

Now imagine the situation without cameras and the 9 y/o boy as any adult male who accidentally brushed by this female.

Monday morning arraignment, I'd wager.

[Sam Duncan]

“apparently grounds for the rest of us to be imposed upon”

As I think I said before, this is important: you don't get to change “your” pronouns, because - unlike your proper name - they aren't yours to change.

“a cat-lady sort of college”

*snigger*

[Pogonip]

🐱😸

[Samantha]

Oh dear

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a #Becky demanding police #BelieveWomen that a 9-year-old black boy touched her butt and an angry black crowd shouting at her #StopPolicingBlackBodies — forever."

[fnord]

I propose that when Professor Bonilla-Silva next falls ill that he be removed from hospital, flown to Brazil, then deposited with one of those remote Amazonian tribes to be treated uncontaminated by eevill 'white' medicine.

[Darleen]

How's that saying go? A conservative is just a liberal who has been mugged?

[Hal]

The modern way to be anti-racist is to be really, really racist.

You don’t say.

The quite apropos comment very near the top of that thread:

Can we just take the far left and far right and ship them to like Neptune? The world would be way cooler without any of them. Send the rapists and murderers along with them too.

[fnord]

The public has to start holding universities accountable for their decisions.

==========
You misspelled:
Burn them to the ground.
Scatter the stones.
Salt the earth where they stood.

[fnord]

The best response to these people is to educate your children prior to instead of sending them to university.

===
Fixed

[Clam]

The objections above are hardly esoteric, and yet the Harvard-educated Ms Kovvali and the woke-lings at Colorado State act as if they had never encountered them, even in passing.

Followed the thread and got to this:

apparently Ms Kovvali has found the time to tell Twitter that I’m a “bro” making a “cunty manoeuvre.”… But remember, we mustn’t gender pronouns.

Actual LOL.

[David]

Actual LOL.

Ms Kovvali’s response - which didn’t address any of the points I’d raised, at all, and instead got all haughty and indignant, with lots of gendered epithets - does rather suggest a touch of hypocrisy. As if those shiny pieties aren’t entirely sincere.

Imagine my surprise.

[David]

Actual LOL.

The tweet in question has, I think, been deleted, possibly on account of my drawing attention to it. Such was my impertinence. Ms Kovvali seemed terribly upset that I hadn’t been sufficiently flattering and awe-struck, both with regard to her educational credentials, and to her article, which isn’t supposed to be poked at, apparently. It should just hang there, unquestioned and inviolate.

[David]

Not entirely unrelated to the above, this made me laugh:

Again, I question the sincerity.

[Watchman]

Ofter the years and years of advancement in justice, the Justice Kavanaugh appointment in the USA has shown an apparent reversion to an older time. Compare the wonderful movie To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) with what some people are demanding as justice in 2018, as parodied by Steven Crowder in To Kill A #MeTooBird (2 glorious minutes).

[David]

Tim Newman has some thoughts on woke sport.

[Alice]

apparently Ms Kovvali has found the time to tell Twitter that I’m a “bro” making a “cunty manoeuvre.”… But remember, we mustn’t gender pronouns.

Yo bro. :-)

[David]

He’s a teacher, obviously, and “an advocate for mental health.”

[David]

Yo bro. :-)

I’m not sure how this ‘bro’ business works. Do we fist bump? I don’t have to chug beer, do I?

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Tim Newman has some thoughts on woke sport.

Similarly, if a trans woman tried playing tennis at Wimbledon, they’d be told to sod off in no uncertain terms.

In a world where the cops are made to drive cars tarted up with "pride" decoration in lieu of the standard Battenburg markings but are banned from displaying remembrance poppies, I wouldn't bet the riverboat they would be told to sod off.

Do we fist bump?

Recommended, unlike other forms of contact with these bozos, it is the least likely to result in your getting a communicable disease.

[[+]]

"White women" is the new "white men".

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/white-women-becomes-a-disparaging-term/

[WTP]

Was going to cross-post this at Tim's when I woke this morning but I just now see over there that JerryC and Kevin B beat me to it....

My point is I reckon this nonsense will be stopped dead in its tracks as soon as trans women start trying to compete in women’s sports in events which draw reasonable crowds of serious fans and there is money at stake.

Am I (and JerryC and Kevin B now as well) some sort of freak that I remember such things? It was in all the papers at the time...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9e_Richards

[David]

“White women” is the new “white men”.

Another election-winning strategy.

[Pogonip]

Tim Newman has some thoughts...

Am I a bad person because I giggled at that obvious man flanked by 2 obvious women? And at “snatch discipline”?

[David]

And at “snatch discipline”?

I knew one of you would point to that. I just wasn’t sure who.

[Sam Duncan]

“He’s a teacher, obviously, and 'an advocate for mental health.'”

Presumably his pupils all want to be corrupt politicians or obvious scam artists.

“I’m not sure how this ‘bro’ business works. Do we fist bump? I don’t have to chug beer, do I?”

Don't worry. I'm sure a meaningful glance over the absinthe will do.

[David]

I’m sure a meaningful glance over the absinthe will do.

I do quite like the sound of the life that you heathens imagine I have.

[a different James]

My point is I reckon this nonsense will be stopped dead in its tracks as soon as trans women start trying to compete in women’s sports in events which draw reasonable crowds of serious fans and there is money at stake.

The Lingerie Superbowl.

That's the Rubicon.

[Pogonip]

Or when bearded hairy guys who insist they are girls are hired to model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

[Governor Squid]

Or when bearded hairy guys who insist they are girls are hired to model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Has SI identified their target market for such an issue? Have they pitched that market to their advertisers?

(Come to think of it, I'd probably buy an issue if it had Captain Lou Albano going full-cheesecake on some tropical beach, just for the marvelous absurdity of it all. But I'm not sure my purchasing power is enough to sell a lot of ad space.)

[bgates]

which isn’t supposed to be poked at, apparently. It should just hang there, unquestioned and inviolate.

Like a woman's penis.

[Pogonip]

😄😄😄😄😄

[R. Sherman]

Been away and thus, late to the party. I see the buffet now consists of some shrimp tails and a few cold meatballs.

#Disappointed.

No matter, I brought gifts for everyone!

No need to thank me.

[Jacob]

“Avoid gendered emojis when possible. Instead use one of the variations of the yellow smiley faces or object emojis.”

Why White People Don’t Use White Emoji. Light-skin-tone symbols are used far less often in the U.S. than their darker counterparts. Does shame explain the disparity?

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/white-people-dont-use-white-emoji/481695/

Whitey gets damned either way.

[David]

Whitey gets damned either way.

Pretentiously agonising over emojis as an excuse to disdain white people, and thereby signal class status, is a pretty good example of the relentless fringe diet that Douglas Murray mentioned.

[ Added: ]

When the terms “white men,” and now “white women,” are fashionable pejoratives in the New York Times, and in The Atlantic and in The New Yorker, and on NBC News, and when city officials agonise over whether hosing human excrement from pavements constitutes a “microaggression” and a form of “racism,” then I think it’s fair to say that Mr Murray may be onto something.

[Jonathan]

An excellent review of Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff's new book: "The Coddling of the American Mind"
Which tries to explain the origins of the disease that US colleges are currently suffering from.

By Steve Sailer, over at Takimag

[David]

She’s a teaching assistant at the University of Washington and is not at all fixated, intrusive or creepy.

[David]

Tim Newman probes the politics of dating apps.

Related.

[Governor Squid]

She’s a teaching assistant at the University of Washington...

Zach Wildfang, Cameron Edwards and Chevy Swanson? Somebody send a note down to the Writers Room and let them know that the stereotypical character naming needs to be toned down quite a bit.

[Steve E]

Similarly, if a trans woman tried playing tennis at Wimbledon, they’d be told to sod off in no uncertain terms.

But they'd let zer play at the U.S. Open.

[Captain Nemo]

She’s a teaching assistant at the University of Washington

A question for our American readers - would that sort of behaviour by faculty staff be considered grounds for a lawsuit? I'm British, like our host, so American law escapes me.

[Pogonip]

Probably.

[Governor Squid]

Washington State requires consent from all participants if a conversation is to be recorded, so this TA is certainly in hot water. It would be a civil action, where the students would need to show that they suffered harm to their reputations, or suffered mental pain due to the disclosure of the unauthorized recording. Since I think we can assume that the TA is judgement-proof (English grads not being know for their burgeoning savings accounts), it's likely that they'd go after the University with a claim that the TA was working as an agent of the organization.

I'm guessing the 'Go Away' money will be in the low five figures.

[David]

I’m guessing the ‘Go Away’ money will be in the low five figures.

As the leftists who devise these situations generally seem incapable of thinking of their own behaviour as morally unacceptable, it’s important that they at least learn that such behaviour has material consequences.

[Darleen]

She’s a teaching assistant at the University of Washington

“I hope you won’t allow these men to celebrate the success of putting a rapist on the Supreme Court and enact this kind of violence on the U district.”

I've argued with so many who have dismissed that any harm was done to Kavanaugh over false allegations he groped a girl when he was in high school. Indeed, they sniff, he should have never even lost his temper. Yet, this is what continues to be said. The TA should be fired over that charge alone.

[WTP]

they sniff, he should have never even lost his temper.

This. Meanwhile pretty much the entire D party runs about foaming at the mouth, etc. over not just Kavanaugh's appointment but damn near everything that has occurred, even the good stuff, since that glorious morning in November, 2016. These people have lost all credibility and composure, yet we continue to treat them like rational human beings. I dare to ask how much more absurd can it get while it continues to spiral further and further into absurdity. Especially at our colleges and universities. The "thinking" places. Bah. Sometimes I like to think that it's me that is schizophrenic. It helps me to deal with my anxiety.

[Daniel Ream]

As the leftists who devise these situations generally seem incapable of thinking of their own behaviour as morally unacceptable, it’s important that they at least learn that such behaviour has material consequences.

As Kate over at SDA likes to say, "not showing up to riot is a failed conservative policy". I think what the Kavanaugh circus has at last brought home to the RINOs and GOPe is something Trump knew from day one: the Democrats, their enablers in the media, and their activist groups are the enemy. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are destroyed, personally and professionally. More importantly, there's no real down side to punching back twice as hard, as the silent majority of centrist and conservative people have had just about enough of this. Hammering these louts with implacable, well-funded and very public lawfare might convince these miscreants that they do not have the impunity they think they do.

(Personally, I prefer the Heinlein solution to such slander, but that's not practical. Yet.)

[L]

Pick ANY measure: longevity, freedom from disease, literacy, numeracy, height, weight, infant mortality, maternal survival of childbirth, caloric intake, environmental health, educational attainment, female equality in society, freedom from violent crime, food security (freedom from starvation and malnutrition-related maladies), political freedom, artistic freedom, freedom from racism, freedom from threats of ethnic genocide, freedom from political genocide, freedom of conscience, percentage of leisure time, freedom from government corruption....LITERALLY ANY MEASURE. By almost EVERY measure nearly ANYONE living in the "white" world is better off than 99.999999% of EVERYONE living in the non-white world.

This is not debatable. These measures are NOT a "white" construct or a socially-invented idea designed to enforce some imaginary hegemon. They are the measures that EVERY human on Earth desires and prioritizes ABOVE "feelings" and all the rest of the touchy-feely goo-gaw this evilmoron and his ilk push on vulnerable captive minority audiences in our colleges.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

By almost EVERY measure nearly ANYONE living in the "white" world is better off than 99.999999% of EVERYONE living in the non-white world.

Japan and the Four Asian Tigers might take exception to being called "white" regardless of whether "white" concepts were adopted (or imposed by MacArthur in the case of Japan).

[L]

Which is why I put "white" in quotes.

Bottom line is that creating and managing a civilization based on facts is VASTLY, INARGUABLY SUPERIOR to basing it on a "measure" some commie hipster dipshit invented in a lame attempt to increase his access to co-ed poontang.

[WTP]

Oh FFS. We’re this close...