Know Your Place

In the new, progressive pecking order: 

I just saw a notice go out to the alumni of Caltech, saying we had to eliminate anyone who still resisted these measures to increase awareness of our terrible bigotry. And quite honestly, the key problem that we’re facing here is that we are all for some reason terrified of telling the black community, “you’re wrong.” The black community that is behind Black Lives Matter is frequently wrong… They make terrible arguments... [But] if you contradict [these terrible arguments] then it must mean that you don’t think black lives matter… and that’s not how science works… If a person says, “Two times three equals a chicken,” that person is wrong. I don’t care how trans they are. We have to have the ability, inside of a free society, to treat each other as equals. And if I can’t tell you you’re wrong, you’re not my equal.

Eric Weinstein pokes at academia’s deference to Black Lives Matter. Via Rafi. 

It’s worth noting just how often professed egalitarians delight in overt hierarchies. Of which type of person matters, and does not.

Update, via the comments. The point made above, but in slightly more direct terms.

Also, open thread.

Comments

[JuliaM]

’ I just saw a notice go out to the alumni of Caltech, saying we had to eliminate anyone who still resisted these measures to increase awareness of our terrible bigotry.’

We aren’t so far behind them:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8418321/DJ-Stuart-Peters-suspended-denying-white-privilege.html

*glances beseechingly at spam filter*

[David]

*glances beseechingly at spam filter*

[ Creates elaborate distraction involving smoke bombs and a marching band, rescues Julia’s comment. ]

[Trevor]

For any of our international friends reading the story linked by Julia above, I should explain that the Isle of Man is not generally considered a hotspot of intersectional activism. In fact, I didn't know the internet had reached there. Last time time I checked it was still in the 1950s.

[WTP]

They're just beginning to realize this? And they're the 'smart' people.

[David]

I should explain that the Isle of Man is not generally considered a hotspot of intersectional activism.

Heh. Still woozy from exposure to the Daily Mail without an ad blocker. It’s a migraine-inducing garbage fire, practically stroboscopic.

[David]

And some of you may be amused to learn that the spam filter is now intercepting my comments.

You can imagine the indignity.

[Ted S, Catskill Mtns, NY, USA]

And some of you may be amused to learn that the spam filter is now intercepting my comments.

You can imagine the indignity.

No refunds; credit note only.

[David]

A glimpse of utopia.

You may celebrate at will.

[Karl]

I really must re-recommend Channel 4's jaw-dropping interview with pastor Lorraine Jones, Chair of the Lambeth Police Independent Advisory Group, as recommended by Trevor in the previous discussion.

The woman is an absolutely genuine moron - here are some of the interview highlights:

Cathy says "Boris Johnson has said that removing statues is lying about our history. Is it?":
I think that what needs to happen, which I know has already started, we need to look at the people that are being placed on a high pedal stool in this society.

Yep. A pedal stool. No, that's not an ironic IT Crowd reference.

Cathy asks "Should the statue of Churchill be there or not do you think?":
Well I've heard many arguments on both sides some say that he's a racist, some say that he's a hero, I haven't personally met him.

Yep. She really thinks Churchill is alive. Possibly selling car insurance.

Again Cathy presses: "What would you say though if you were asked about the statue of Churchill?":
Well, I'm gonna be honest - I haven't done a lot of history work with Churchill but if I was to do that and it would be based on my findings we're raising a generation that are highly intelligent I mean technology in itself is increasing we want to have a society where young people can feel free, they can feel at peace with their surroundings so that they can strive and build this country.

Yep. An honest-to-God actual moron.
I sure look forward to the next highly intelligent generation's striving in peaceful surroundings to build this country. After they've cleared away the litter of the previous generations of course.

[David]

Yep. A pedal stool.

That’s… quite a thing, isn’t it?

[Trevor]

Yep. An honest-to-God actual moron.

And sadly far from a rare case. Thanks to her many stunning achievements (being black, having spawned multiple illegitimate children, being the bereaved mother of a stab victim) she is untouchable and will doubtless go on to receive further accolades. It's telling that such an entity is almost certainly easily on the right-hand side of her relevant bell curve. When the cream of your crop is more akin to rancid sludge it doesn't bode well for your future.

[Hal]

Yep. An honest-to-God actual moron.

And sadly far from a rare case.

At one company I worked at, a particular department head had a rather established history of needing damage control.

An example of why was the time that company staff doing particular event things was discussed with a possibility that there could be related expansion.

The department head then tried hopping onto the announcement coattails by announcing that if things really did mushroom cloud out, the possibilities could get looked at.

Well, I'm gonna be honest - I haven't done a lot of history work with Churchill but if I was to do that . . .

That does sound awfully familiar, or familiarly awful, as the case may be . . .

I personally believe that U. S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should—our education over here in the U. S. should help the U. S., uh, or, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq, and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children.

[Steve E]

A glimpse of utopia.

“Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in ‘t!”

[Darleen]

A glimpse of utopia

Utopia's dance line ...

[Steve E]

Utopia's dance line ...

That's just cruel. Reparations to BLM in the form of white people dancing.

[David]

That’s just cruel.

Excuse me while I jack the house. Jack-jack the house.

[Squires]

My soul cringes every time I am reminded that cybergoths exist.

[pst314]

Heh. Still woozy from exposure to the Daily Mail without an ad blocker. It’s a migraine-inducing garbage fire, practically stroboscopic.

Indeed. Even without its endless tsunami of tits, ass, and celebrity morons, its format makes it intensely painful to look at. It is a terrible shame--and a reflection on just how bad American "news" outlets are--that we ever go to the Mail for the stories that are not covered elsewhere.

[Darleen]

It's not really theft, just think of it as an unplanned donation.

[asiaseen]

Ladies first

Does that mean that men now always get to have the last word?

[Trevor]

How long before an unplanned donation' becomes a 'planned confiscation' in Somalia?

[Trevor]

Bloody autocorrect. That should have been 'Soymalia'.

[Steve E]

Even without its endless tsunami of tits, ass,

You say that like it's a bad thing.

[Steve E]

just think of it as an unplanned donation.

My guess is somebody threw lightning and the whole kit-and-caboodle disappeared.

[Steve E]

Nickolodeon outs SpongeBob SquarePants.

Though I'm not sure how that works. Most sea sponges are hermaphroditic. Apparently they can also reproduce asexually. Personally I find sponges too self-absorbed to have a proper relationship.

[David]

Speaking of demands for public prostration, this made me smile:

My theory about Daniel Radcliffe is that he secretly resents Rowling’s influence on his life. He was heading for a decent career as a chartered accountant or estate agent when he was dragged into the Harry Potter world simply by his looks, with that stupid round face and glasses. Ever since then he’s had to struggle as an actor when it’s quite obvious to everyone that he’s no good at it. As a result, his life is a succession of public embarrassments. Without Rowling he would have settled down in Pinner by now to a nice quiet suburban life.

I mean, as an adult actor, he is quite ungifted.

[Cloudbuster]

It's encouraging to see that the woman featured in that "overt heirarchies" link, Stephanie McKellop, has apparently been unemployable since about then. From her linked in:

Independent Researcher
Self-Employed
Jan 2017 – Present 3 years 6 months

[Jay Guevara]

The department head then tried hopping onto the announcement coattails by announcing that if things really did mushroom cloud out, the possibilities could get looked at.

My very favorite corporate solecism was the memo that made reference to "polo bears."

Care for a few chukkers, do they?

My secretary came into my office to see why I was laughing out loud.

[Jay Guevara]

Posted by: Karl | June 14, 2020 at 15:10

That face-off between Cathy Newman and Lorraine Jones was to stupidity like the Ali v. Frazier was to boxing.

Notice also that young Newman is at pains to assert that a "very small minority" of BLM types were also just a tad bit violent. Just a little, in the nicest way possible. Hardly noticeable, really.

[a different james]

My theory about Daniel Radcliffe

It is extraordinary that he and the other Harry Potterites could not just have kept their mouths shut, even if they did not agree with JK Rowling.

She is the cause of their fortuitous wealth and still they had to pile in with the mob.

What a collection of repellant, ungrateful, disloyal shits

[pst314]

Nickolodeon outs SpongeBob SquarePants.

Though I'm not sure how that works. Most sea sponges are hermaphroditic. Apparently they can also reproduce asexually. Personally I find sponges too self-absorbed to have a proper relationship.

So it's even better than mere gay liberation; it's Queering the Telly. :-D

[David]

It is extraordinary that he and the other Harry Potterites could not just have kept their mouths shut, even if they did not agree with JK Rowling.

It isn’t a good look, no; but I wonder if the woke chest-puffing is some kind of compensation for, or distraction from, his rather limited talents as an actor. I don’t follow his career, you understand, but the little I’ve seen of his acting as an adult – say, the Young Doctor’s Notebook series – wasn’t impressive. He doesn’t seem able to not be Daniel Radcliffe, which isn’t ideal, frankly.

[Joan]

He doesn’t seem able to not be Daniel Radcliffe, which isn’t ideal, frankly.

LOL. That.

[David]

LOL. That.

Well, I mean, when I’ve seen him acting, I don’t see whatever character he’s struggling to play. No magical transformation occurs. There’s no suspension of disbelief. I just see Daniel Radcliffe trying not to be self-conscious.

[Trevor]

Daniel Radcliffe

His great good fortune was to have Emma Watson to be compared with.

[Darleen]

This

A vicious hoax has been perpetrated on America’s young black men by the liberal establishment. University administrators are the most liberal collection of people in any American institution, private or public.

and

For white liberals, a black identity shaped by rage is not only to be condoned, but celebrated. All politics is identity politics to liberals, because the whole object of their existence is to invent one’s identity according to therapeutic needs. That is why the progressive movement took up the cause of transgender rights with such passion: To change one’s gender is the ultimate expression of self-invention in defiance of nature and tradition.

and especially

Among all the identities that modern liberalism has constructed, black identity is the first and most practiced: In place of the Christian culture that made black churches the bearers of the civil rights movement, black identity politics has constructed a culture of rage and rejection.

[Steve E]

In place of the Christian culture that made black churches the bearers of the civil rights movement,...

I don't think it's a coincidence that the left has become so anti-Christian. It has been in the Democrat's best interest to manage their "plantation" and the leadership that came from the Black churches looked like it would eventually threaten their control of that voting base.

This new group of Black leaders-rising aren't stupid people and they're positioning themselves to get the best "group" deal they can get that keeps them in their leadership, power position. Right now that means they will continue to deal, or broker if you will, money and power from the Democrat Left. The Republicans are babes in the woods and haven't found a way to break that chain.

Trump is trying to revive the Black Christian base in hopes that it can again rise to a predominant leadership role in the Black Community based on the tenets laid down by Martin Luther King.

Buy popcorn futures.

[Steve E]

Off topic, and as an aside, Farnsworth Muldoon has been extremely quiet lately. Does anyone know if he's okay? His contributions can only be described as prolific, and though we've had our differences, I miss what he brings to the comments. With all that's going on the world, I hope that he's keeping well.

[Daniel Ream]

It is a terrible shame--and a reflection on just how bad American "news" outlets are--that we ever go to the Mail for the stories that are not covered elsewhere.

The Spanish flu is called that not because it had anything to do with Spain, but because the Spanish newspapers were reporting on it in the US and the US papers refused to.

I mean, as an adult actor, he is quite ungifted.

Most child actors aren't very good actors; they're cast because they can take direction and have the look and personality that matches the director's vision of the character. They're just being themselves on camera.

On this side of the pond, the ur-example is probably Wil Wheaton.

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

Daniel Radcliffe

His great good fortune was to have Emma Watson to be compared with.

I saw him in "Now You See Me 2," playing the shit son of Michael Caine. He manages to leave a hole in the screen that should have been filled by an actor.

[Sam Duncan]

Steve E, I think that might be the most perceptive and profound comment on this whole farrago that I've read all week.

[David]

Morning, all.

Behold your betters.

[David]

UCLA lecturer Gordon Klein is now under police protection following his refusal to grant special treatment to minority students in light of the George Floyd protests, the Washington Free Beacon reported Tuesday. A spokesman stated that the Malibu Police Department has increased police presence around Klein’s home in response to multiple threats against the professor.

That tolerant utopia.

[JuliaM]

It seems George Orwell’s statue is to be removed from outside the Beeb because it ‘makes staff uncomfortable’.

And damn, if my irony meter Isn’t out of warranty...

[sH2]

Behold your betters.

2020 is one hell of a year.

[David]

2020 is one hell of a year.

And still six months to go.

[David]

And still six months to go.

[ With an appalling noise and sickening judder, the fabric of spacetime starts to come undone. ]

[David]

Attention, citizens. Your daily reminder: Always respect the media.

[David]

A classic, repurposed.

[David]

By now it was not just that Watson, Remayne and Radcliffe had ‘called out’ and ‘spoken up’ about Rowling’s views. They had spoken up — as reporter after reporter put it – against Rowling’s ‘controversial’ views. It is a very interesting thing this modern use of the word ‘controversial’, often and indeed usually put in front of a person who holds views which are in absolutely no way controversial.

In fact what polling there is on trans issues suggests that while it is ‘controversial’ to believe that a person who was born a man is exactly the same as a woman, it is not remotely controversial to believe (as Rowling does) that while they are deserving of exactly the same rights and respect as everyone else, trans women are not the exact same thing as biological women. So the commonly held view is the ‘controversial’ one, while the ideas of a small number of campaigners are held up as the only acceptable and non-controversial opinion to hold.

Douglas Murray on Daniel Radcliffe and co, and our garbage media’s ongoing inversion of reality.

[Jonathan]

Heh

[Squires]

It is a very interesting thing this modern use of the word ‘controversial’...

Big Nurse is watching.

http://www.littlereview.com/goddesslouise/art/cuckoo/cuckoo16.jpg

[David]

Big Nurse is watching.

See also.

[Trevor]

The Orwell statute story is from a spoof Guardian article. Enjoy a bit of humour while you still can.

[Trevor]

Heh

Over the years I've been paying increasing attention to checking the bona fides of medical professionals I encounter. One thing that stands out is the number of (usually West) African doctors trained in former Soviet countries. The GPs at my local surgery are all Ghanaian (as are the nurses) and attended medical school in the Ukraine. As they barely speak intelligible English, and I frankly doubt advanced proficiency in Ukrainian, I do wonder what the medium of instruction might have been. Dance, probably.

[Mike]

Behold your betters.

What the actual f...?

[David]

What the actual f...?

As someone notes in reply, the would-be kneecap-breaker would be an ideal candidate for a series of photos, one taken each decade. The journey from 20 to, say, 60 would be quite instructive, I suspect. Something tells me it’s not a look, or indeed attitude, that will age well.

[CJ Nerd]

As someone notes in reply, the would-be kneecap-breaker would be an ideal candidate for a series of photos, one taken each decade. The journey from 20 to, say, 60 would be quite instructive, I suspect. Something tells me it’s not a look, or indeed attitude, that will age well.

I suspect the eventual look will resemble Clem, a friendy demon in Buffy theVampre Slayer.

[Burnsie]

I thought that little goblin was saying "If you don't support black asthmatics..." and wondered what the hell did I miss now?

It must be the fangs making her barely intelligible.

[Trevor]

The journey from 20 to, say, 60 would be quite instructive, I suspect.

I suspect suicide way before 30 is more likely.

[David]

I suspect suicide way before 30 is more likely.

I ain’t goin’ near that bet.

[Trevor]

I ain’t goin’ near that bet.

I love it when you go all demotic.

[David]

I love it when you go all demotic.

I like to slum it, on occasion.

[David]

[ Slides into fur coat, whips off knickers. ]

[Trevor]

[ Slides into fur coat, whips off knickers. ]

I thought you only did that on Friday nights. Evidently lockdown really is disorientating.

[Brian, follower of Deornoth]

I'm not sure if this is real but it is too good to check.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/jeff-reynolds/2020/06/14/chaz-chop-creates-conflict-resolution-council-and-the-rules-are-spectacular-n527988

[Squires]

Pro tip: If you ever find yourself writing “demand” in all caps repeatedly, you are being a jackass.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/06/oberlin-college-black-student-union-issues-21-demands-from-institutional-change-to-extra-meals-and-parking-spots/

[David]

If you ever find yourself writing “demand” in all caps repeatedly, you are being a jackass.

Even the idea of humility seems wholly inconceivable to them.

[Sam Duncan]

“If you ever find yourself writing “demand” in all caps repeatedly, you are being a jackass.”

Demand, eh? Who do they think they are?

[pst314]

"I can't breath" play acting, part 1.

Police arresting a black criminal, who goes into a common script: "He's hurting me!", followed by constant screaming, followed by fake convulsions, followed by "I can't breathe".

[pst314]

"I can't breath" play acting, part 2.

Police stop car because man and woman are fighting. Angry and indignant that they were stopped, they refuse to answer questions. When arrested, the woman fights and then repeatedly screams "I can't breathe", while the driver insults the police, even using racial slurs. The police released the full dash cam video because of angry talk on social media about police violence against innocent black people.