Category Archives: Political Correctness

West Hams three best players against Wolves as Hammers get second wind with important 1-0 victory at the London Stadium.

David Moyes and his players knew they were standing at a crossroads ahead of the home match against Wolves.

Wins for Arsenal and Spurs had put the Hammers under pressure in the race for the European spots.

Conversely Manchester Uniteds failure to beat Watford also offered a carrot ahead of Sundays game.

The pressure was on with West Ham knowing a Wolves win would put Bruno Lages side above them in the table with a game in hand.

But there were really positive signs here that West Ham still have a bit of fuel left in the tank.

Moyess side have looked like they were running on empty of late.

If that was the case then the Scot saw his players get a second wind against a very strong Wolves side.

It was far from perfect. And still a far cry from the swashbuckling West Ham who have been putting teams away with ease over the last couple of seasons.

But make no mistake this is a superb result for West Ham after draws against Newcastle and Leicester. It also serves to highlight just how important not losing was in those games.

The east Londoners are now two points off Man United in fourth.

Arsenal have three games in hand but they are by no means a sure thing with Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool being their catch-up matches.

It was a solid team performance but who were the standout performers?

It has taken the outbreak of war for the reaction to the Zouma saga to quieten down. But the defender has not put a foot wrong since his daft actions brought an unwelcome spotlight onto West Ham.

Zouma was immense again and comfortably the man of the match. I have not seen who was awarded that by Sky Sports in the live coverage, but if it wasnt Zouma then it would have been political correctness gone mad.

The 29m man was absolutely everywhere, first to every ball and every header. And he made several potentially goal-saving interventions and tackles. A superb performance and without him West Ham may not have won that match. Man mountain.

This was more like the Rice we know and love after some rare below par performances from the West Ham talisman.

Breaking up attacks, charging forward, picking the right passes and using his athleticism and power to ensure West Ham got the win.

A mature display in which he was desperately unlucky not to get at least one goal with a brilliant curling effort from outside the box hitting the post.

What a player. A real captains performance in every way.

It was a toss up between a number of players including Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Lukasz Fabianski, Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals to pick out West Hams third best player on the day.

Fabianski did so well and showed why he is still Moyess number one. He just does all the basics so, so well. Dawson was excellent again and Lanzini was so tidy on the ball when he was able to get on it.

Fornals, though, was back to his hard-working best and was involved in most of West Hams good play going forward. Full of intent, full of running and really put a superb shift in for the team. Came off right at the end to much deserved big hugs from all the coaching staff and rapturous applause from the home fans.

Fabianski 7, Johnson 7, Dawson 7, Zouma 9, Cresswell 7, Rice 8, Soucek 6, Lanzini 6, Fornals 7, Bowen 6, Antonio 6.

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West Hams three best players against Wolves as Hammers get second wind - Hammers News - West Ham United FC

Everyone has somewhere they consider home. For many, it may not be where the heart is, but it is generally a place of formative memories that have left an indelible impression. For me, home is a town called Montrose in Angus on the north-east coast of Scotland even though I left more than 30 years ago.

Most will be unfamiliar with it, but Montrose has plenty to be proud of. Its home to the worlds fifth-oldest golf course, a testing par 71 that I once negotiated in 74 shots. It has a pro football team, whose winning of two major honours I was present for. And there is a beautiful three-mile beach, which I appreciate now, but used to hate on mid-winter school cross-country runs.

So Montrose has a lot going for it, even if in global terms it is... unremarkable. However, it does have one other curious claim to fame that has always mystified me; it once had a car named after it. As youre probably aware, this is an accolade generally bestowed on more glamorous locations Montrose does not, normally, rub shoulders with the likes of California (Ferrari), Rio (Kia) or Monte Carlo (Chevrolet).

However, in 1979, Mazdas UK operation named its latest model the Montrose. Why this was has never been clear. The odd badging exercise has always irritated me, and so, given that I was due a visit to meet up with family, I decided now would be a good time to try to find out how or why it rather unexpectedly became a footnote in motoring history.

But first, what of the car itself? Launched as the Capella in Japan, and the 626 elsewhere, it was available until 1982 as a mid-size four-door saloon or two-door coup, and its classic three-box design was typical of the period. Its aim was simple; it was key to Mazdas plan to recover from the financial difficulties caused by the 1974 fuel crisis by making true world cars of quality and versatility that would be acceptable everywhere that mass markets exist. It targeted the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Cavalier as its main UK rivals.

Images of the Montrose confirm how so much has changed over the past 40 years; they reveal a rather basic design with an unfussy interior that is light years away from the comfortable, stylish and rather upmarket Mazda 6 Tourer that I chose to accompany me on my 500-mile odyssey from North London to Scotland in search of the truth.

Sifting through some vintage marketing materials, its clear that technology and engineering arent the only areas where significant advances have been made. One brochure uses the rather unenticing The Rational Alternative as its main catchline, while an advert for a sporty TWR-tweaked version suggests, Let the girls in the office think you made a rash decision. Political correctness? Forget it.

As a starting point in my quest, I decided to Google Mazda Montrose. Predictably, one of the most prominent entries returned by the search engine was Wikipedia, which stated that the Capella was known on [sic] export markets as the 626, with the exception of the United Kingdom, where the vehicle was called the Mazda Montrose, the name being changed to honour the local dealer in Montrose.

This seemed to be backed up by another leading Google link, to a feature Whatever Happened to the Mazda Montrose? on an irreverent motoring website. It stated in their infinite wisdom, the official [UK] importers decided, after one too many post-work beverages, that theyd name their car after their favourite UK dealer. Case closed, then.

Or was it? Because there was a fairly major problem with this theory. I was a car-mad kid who lived in the town at the time, yet I had no recollection of any Mazda dealer. And even if there was one, there is no way it would have sold cars in significant numbers, given the towns population of just 12,000.

Aware, however, that the passing of time may have dulled my memory, I contacted a local historian and journalist in Montrose, Forbes Inglis, to see whether he could help me in my research. Despite admitting to not being a motoring enthusiast, Forbes was familiar with the car, and he recalled how itd made an impact on the local football rivalry, when an unfortunate local Montrose driver had been subjected to abuse from fans of Arbroath FC (13 miles down the coast). To supporters in this region, naming a car Montrose was as incendiary as calling it Rangers or Celtic in Glasgow...

Forbes was eventually able to cautiously confirm that there had been no such dealer at the time, with none shown in the listings of the local Montrose Review newspaper. This seemed to debunk the online theory, but I wanted to check one other line of inquiry. A readers comment under the Whatever Happened to the Mazda Montrose? piece had specifically named the dealer as Barnetts, which remains a prominent motor retail group in the north-east of Scotland.

Barnetts once had a dealer in Montrose, but had it sold Mazdas? The group changed hands three years ago, yet via some sterling detective work I tracked down the former chairman, who was able to confirm that it had sold Volvos and Nissans, but never Mazdas. The mystery deepened.

At the same time, Id been in contact with Mazda to see whether it could shed any light on the matter an obvious move, you might think. Well yes and no. Because Mazda UK was formed in 2001, and prior to that the cars had been imported by MCL Group. None of MCLs brochures, records or data were transferred across in 2001, so there was nothing official from the late 1970s to research or reference.

Nevertheless, Mazda UK was keen to unearth an answer, too, and so it contacted veteran MCL employees, UK dealers and even the wider global operation to track down anything definitive. Despite this, there were no answers other than an affirmation that there was no record of a Montrose Mazda dealer. Feeling frustrated, as a last throw of the dice I wondered whether the journalists of the time had reported on the naming of the car; I turned to eBay for a number of titles from 1978 and 1979 that carried articles on the model.

Auto Express didnt exist then it would have carried a full explanation if it had, Im sure so I had to rely on these publications for any information I could glean. And I finally unearthed an answer, of sorts. Setting the scene for a 1979 test of the car, one article explained: Mazda in this country knew that customers were getting confused by the Japanese apparently random numerical model-identification system, so they gave the car a name Montrose.

My conclusions? The dealer theory, as with so much of what is published, then republished, online, is nonsense. The sober, business-minded truth is that in seeking to appeal more to UK customers, Mazda chose a more European-sounding name. Montrose obviously offered the appeal of alliteration, although why it was chosen ahead of the likes of Mansfield, Morecambe or Merthyr is still a mystery.

Maybe it was down to some extensive market research. Id like to think, however, that an MLC bigwig had holidayed in my hometown and been bewitched by its majesty. But I appreciate thats rather unlikely. If you know any different, though, and can definitively prove why Mazda chose Montrose, Id love to hear from you after 42 years, this is one motoring mystery I would love to put to bed.

...or was it named after another Montrose?

Of course, my hometown isnt the only use of Montrose. Could the car have been named after one of the others? Rock band Montrose achieved some prominence between 1973 and 1977, but given that they were from California this seems unlikely. I very much doubt Mazda would have been inspired by Montrose, Colorado, or by the suburb of Melbourne, Australia, for a UK-only car, either.

Click here for our list of the greatest ever Mazda cars...

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Mazda Montrose: where did they get that name? - AutoExpress

The posts were viewed by hundreds of people and shared among groups with thousands of followers. In screenshots included in the court documents, one person commented: The more I read this the more Im thinking did teddy get out or was he just helped out of ur yard. Another said: These two are guilty AF and need to return poor Teddy. A third: I hope shes a better vet than she is a liar because Im not buying that story at all.

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One woman took issue with Ms Wheeler naming the women in the CCTV footage, calling it bullying.

The women may have been taking the dog to have its microchip scanned so they could return it to its owner, she said. She said she was concerned that people had rushed to judgment before the facts were determined because she knew how small town vitriol worked.

But she was quickly shot down by another member of the group: Political correctness gone mad. A victim of a crime has been told by the public she has now become the bully. REALLY??!!

Ms Curry and Ms Wheeler are now being sued over the comments posted to their Facebook pages.

Ms Marchant and Dr Munro claim that the Facebook publications and the comments carried various defamatory meanings, including that they were liars, dog thieves and criminals and were prepared to steal a puppy, re-chip the same and on-sell it to members of the public. Dr Munro has claimed she took 15 months off work due to the depression, anxiety and mental anguish caused by the publications.

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They are claiming $250,000 in damages.

In defence pleadings filed to the NSW District Court, Ms Wheeler and Ms Curry claim that to the extent those meanings were conveyed, they were substantially true, and that the comments were honest opinions based on facts.

Greg Loader, the meat inspector to whom Dr Munro brought Teddy, was a registered breeder of dogs crossed with poodles, and the pair had previously supplied each other with dogs for the purposes of breeding, the defence pleadings claim. A cavoodle is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel crossed with a poodle.

In all the circumstances, it may be inferred that the first plaintiffs purpose in taking Teddy to Mr Loaders house rather than to a vet or to a council pound was to have Teddys microchip changed or removed and replaced or alternatively to supply Teddy to Mr Loader for either of their breeding purposes, Ms Wheelers defence pleadings said.

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The High Court confirmed last year that news outlets were responsible as publishers for readers Facebook comments about youth detainee Dylan Voller because they had facilitated those comments by setting up public Facebook pages. It did not matter that they had deleted those comments once they became aware of them.

Michael Douglas, a senior lecturer at the University of Western Australia, said the ruling had implications for all social media users. The public seemingly isnt aware that you can get sued for something someone else says if you publish it, in the same way that a newspaper can get sued, Mr Douglas said.

Teddy has never been found.

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The missing puppy, the pet detective and the defamation claim - Sydney Morning Herald

Actor, comedian, and talk show host Steve Harvey is furious at the cancel culture, which he says has killed comedy, and the fact that every joke now, it hurts somebodys feelings.

The host of the new Judge Steve Harvey series told the media Tuesday that he feels imprisoned by the cancel culture.

Were in the cancel culture now, Harvey told a Television Critics Association press tour panel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nobody can say anything he wants to Chris Rock cant, Kevin Hart cant, Cedric the Entertainer cant, D. L. Hugeley cant. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because hes not sponsored-driven. Hes subscription.

Harvey went on to say that his career as a standup is seriously hampered by the Hollywood left today.

If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, theres no way I could maintain it because political correctness has killed comedy, has killed it, he added. Every joke now, it hurts somebodys feelings. What people dont understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something. It has to be about somebody. We cant write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke cant be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes have to be about people because thats the most interesting topic. So if I come back, I have to wait until Im done [with my TV career]. And Im not done. Id have to call it This Is It or something like that.

(Maury Phillips/Getty Images for BET)

However, standup is on hold, Harvey noted, after his wife informed him that God was about to do something I had no idea what hes going to do he was going to give me this [new show], and it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me.

Harveys latest show sets him up as a judge presiding over a small claims court, in the vein of ground breakers such as Judge Joseph Wapner and Judge Judy Sheindlin.

Small claims cases suit Harvey just fine. Violence and criminal cases just arent his speed, he noted.

Every law is not a correct law. We have a law in this country that everybody has the right to bear arms. But everybody shouldnt bear arms. Everybody shouldnt have a gun. Thats clear to me. Every stand your ground [law] everybody shouldnt be told to stand their ground. Thats why Im glad [my show is] not that type of court, de said during the panel.

Harveys new show premiered on Jan. 4 and is seen on ABC affiliates, Tuesdays, during prime time.

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Steve Harvey Blasts Cancel Culture: Political Correctness ...

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Steve Harvey sounded off on cancel culture, blaming it for his decision to take a step away from stand-up comedy in recent years.

The comedian has been significantly more focused onhis TV hosting work in recent years, such as leading "Family Feud" and his new ABC show in which he presides as a judge over low-stakes cases, "Judge Steve Harvey." Speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour to promote the new daytime courtroom series, Harvey explained that hes afraid to get back on the standup stage for fear of facing career-ending criticism.

"The only way I can do one more special is if its at the end of my television career because it will end my television career," Harvey said (via Variety). "Were in the cancel culture now. No stand-up that is sponsor-driven can say anything he wants to. Chris Rock cant. Kevin Hart cant. Cedric the Entertainer cant. D.L. Hughley cant. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because hes not sponsor-driven. Hes subscription-driven."

STEVE HARVEY COMMENTS ON STEPDAUGHTERS ROMANCE WITH MICHAEL B. JORDAN

Steve Harvey revealed that he has no plans to get back on the stand-up stage due to cancel culture. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Harvey was referencing the recent controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle over his Netflix special "The Closer." The comedian continues to face immense backlash after he dedicated the final third of his sixth special with the streamer to discussing his gripes with the transgender community and criticism he faced after speaking about them on his fifth special, "Sticks & Stones." Despite the controversy hitting Netflix hard, the company announced he will participate in thecompanys new 11-day stand-up comedy festival titled "Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival," in Los Angeles.

Steve Harvey noted that he believes doing a stand-up special in the age of cancel culture would be too risky with all that he has to lose. He concluded his thoughts on the matter by lamenting the impact that he believes "political correctness" has had on the world of comedy.

STEVE HARVEY DEFENDS ELLEN DEGENERES AMID SHOW SCANDAL: SHE'S 'ONE OF THE COOLEST AND KINDEST PEOPLE'

Steve Harvey sounded off on cancel culture. (Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

"If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, theres no way I could maintain it," Harvey explained. "Political correctness has killed comedy. Every joke you tell now, it hurts somebodys feelings. But what people dont understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something. It has to be about somebody. We cant write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke cant be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes will have to be about people, because thats the most interesting topic. So if I come back, Ill have to wait until Im done. And Im not done. I want to do one more. Ill probably have to call it This Is It."

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Steve Harvey spoke out against cancel culture and its impact on stand-up comedy. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Despite keeping himself off the stand-up stage, Harvey hasnt beenimmune from lectures about political correctness. He revealed during a recent appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that ABC gave him a talking to after he called a man on his courtroom show "stupid" several times.

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"I said, this is the stupidest dude I've ever met and ABC had a little talk with me afterwards because you know, Steve, it's not politically correct to call anybody stupid." Harvey told the host.

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Steve Harvey says cancel culture made him stop doing stand ...

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Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to stop "trying to be woke" by investigating parents at school board meetings and to instead focus on "actual threats" like the terrorist attack at a Texas synagogue over the weekend.

"Instead of trying to be woke/politically correct and targeting parents who care about what schools are teaching their children, the FBI/Dept of Homeland Security should focus on actual threats like the jihadist who terrorized the Texas synagogue," Gabbard tweeted Wednesday after, Malik Faisal Akram, a Muslim with radical ties took a rabbi and several others hostage on Saturday while demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national in prison for trying to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan who was dubbed "Lady Al Qaeda."

Law enforcement process the scene in front of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Colleyville, Texas. A man held hostages for more than 10 hours Saturday inside the temple. The hostages were able to escape and the hostage taker was killed. FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno said a team would investigate "the shooting incident." (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

TEXAS SYNAGOGUE HOSTAGE SUSPECT TIMELINE: MALIK FAISAL AKRAM'S CRIMINAL RECORD AND WHEN HE ENTERED US

The FBI has faced criticism on social media and from some Jewish leaders for initially saying that the hostage takers demands at the synagogue were "not specifically related to the Jewish community."

COLLEYVILLE, TEXAS - JANUARY 15: FBI Special Agent In Charge Matthew DeSarno speaks at a news conference near the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue on January 15, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The FBI later clarified that the incident was a "a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted."

TEXAS SYNAGOGUE HOSTAGE SUSPECT'S 'EXTREME' VIEWS SURFACED AT JAILHOUSE MOSQUE AFTER 2012 THEFT CONVICTION

Additionally, the FBI was slammed last year over a Department of Justice crackdown on potential violence at school board meetings.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also criticized the FBIs handling of the hostage situation and accused the Biden administration of "downplaying" the attack.

General view of the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2019. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert

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The bureau also faced scrutiny from Republicans over the summer regarding "woke training" in the department specifically from Rep. Lauren Boebert who suggested the FBI is distracted by "wokeness."

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.

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Gabbard tells FBI to ditch 'woke' political correctness ...

Steve Harvey slammed cancel culture at the Television Critics Association press tour while promoting his new ABC daytime courtroom series Judge Steve Harvey. The television host said that it would be impossible for him to do a comedy special in todays climate because cancel culture could cost him his courtroom show and his career.

The only way I can do one more special is if its at the end of my television career because it will end my television career, Harvey said. Were in the cancel culture now. No stand-up that is sponsor-driven can say anything he wants to. Chris Rock cant. Kevin Hart cant. Cedric the Entertainer cant. D.L. Hughley cant. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because hes not sponsor-driven. Hes subscription-driven.

Chappelle generated controversy last year for anti-transgender jokes made in his Netflix special The Closer. Despite the outrage, Netflix stood by the comedian and did not pull the special from its streaming platform or end its working relationship with him. Chappelle is set to appear at Netflixs upcoming comedy festival Netflix Is a Joke later this year.

If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, theres no way I could maintain it, Harvey told reporters. Political correctness has killed comedy. Every joke you tell now, it hurts somebodys feelings. But what people dont understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something. It has to be about somebody. We cant write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke cant be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes will have to be about people, because thats the most interesting topic. So if I come back, Ill have to wait until Im done. And Im not done. I want to do one more. Ill probably have to call it This Is It.

Harveys courtroom series Judge Steve Harvey started its run January 4.

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Steve Harvey: Cancel Culture and Political Correctness ...

PARIS Until a couple of years ago, the great replacement a racist conspiracy theory that white Christian populations are being intentionally replaced by nonwhite immigrants was so toxic in France that even Marine Le Pen, the longtime leader of the countrys far right, pointedly refused to use it.

But in a presidential race that has widened the boundaries of political acceptability in France, Valrie Pcresse, the candidate of the mainstream center-right party in the coming election, used the phrase over the weekend in a speech punctuated with coded attacks against immigrants and Muslims.

The use of the slogan in what had been billed as the most important speech so far by Ms. Pcresse, a top rival of President Emmanuel Macron has fueled intense criticism from both her opponents as well as allies within her party. It also underscored Frances further shift to the right, especially among middle-class voters, and the overwhelming influence of right-wing ideas and candidates in this campaign, political experts said.

The great replacement, a conspiracy theory adopted by many white supremacists worldwide, has inspired mass killings in the United States and New Zealand.

ric Zemmour, a far-right author, television punditand now presidential candidate, was the leading figure to popularize the concept in France in the past decade describing it as a civilizational threat against the country and the rest of Europe.

In a 75-minute speech before 7,000 supporters in Paris intended to introduce Ms. Pcresse, 54, the current leader of the Paris region and a former national minister of the budget and then higher education, to voters nationwide Ms. Pcresse adopted Mr. Zemmours themes, saying the election would determine whether France is a a united nation or a divided nation.

She said that France was not doomed to the great replacement and called on her supporters to rise up. In the same speech, she drew a distinction between French of the heart and French of papers an expression used by the extreme right to point to naturalized citizens. Vowing not to let France be subjugated, she said of the symbol of France, Marianne is not a veiled woman referring to the Muslim veil.

By using the great replacement, she gave it legitimacy and put the ideas of the extreme right at the heart of the debate of the presidential race, said Philippe Corcuff, an expert on the far right who teaches at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon. When she talks of French of papers, shes saying that distinctions will be made between French people according to ethnic criteria. Her stigmatization of the Muslim veil is in the same logic of the extreme right.

The use of a term once limited to the extreme right by Ms. Pcresse who is the candidate of the Republicans, the party of former Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac marked a Rubicon, said Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist presidential candidate and current mayor of Paris.

But it also made uneasy people inside her own party, who still want to draw clear lines between it and the extreme right. Xavier Bertrand, a party heavyweight, said, The great replacement, thats not us, according to French news media.

Polls show Ms. Pcresse, Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Zemmour neck and neck for second place behind Mr. Macron in the first round of voting, scheduled for April 10. One of them would face off against Mr. Macron, who has also shifted to the right, especially in the past two years of his presidency, in the second round on April 24.

The sudden rise of Mr. Zemmour as a candidate has injected the great replacement and other explosive issues into the race, forcing other candidates on the right to fine-tune their positions at the risk of losing support to him.

Ms. Le Pen had expressly rejected the slogan, criticizing it as a conspiracy theory. While she has kept her distance from the term, her partys president, Jordan Bardella, has started referring to it in recent months.

Facing criticism, Ms. Pcresse backpedaled a little, saying her use of the expression had been misconstrued.

But Nicolas Lebourg, a political scientist specializing in the right and far right, said that her use of the term simply reflected a political calculation: the center rights traditional middle-class supporters have also shifted rightward in recent years.

The campaignbegins. French citizenswill goto the polls in April to begin electing a president. Here is a look at the candidates:

A center-right candidate. Valrie Pcresse, the current leader of the Paris region, recently won the nomination of the Republicansby adopting a vocabulary with racial and colonial undertones. She now faces the difficult task of enlarging her support base.

The far-right veteran. Marine Le Pen, who has long used fiery rhetoric to fight her way to power in France, is seeking to sanitize her image.She finished third in 2012 and was defeated by Mr. Macron in the 2017 runoff.

Since 2010, theres been a significant hardening by upper-middle-class voters against immigration and Islam, but we hadnt seen its political effects yet, Mr. Lebourg said. So what were experiencing now is a tipping over of part of the middle-class and upper middle-class.

These voters are worried about issues like wokisme the supposed contamination of France by woke American ideas on social justice that they see as overwrought political correctness.

Its middle-class voters who care about wokisme, while Le Pens working-class supporters are completely uninterested in that, Mr. Lebourg said.

The great replacement was conjured up by a French writer named Renaud Camus in 2010. In an interview in 2019, Mr. Camus bemoaned the fact that leading politicians had rejected the slogan. The slogan and his embrace of the far right had turned him into a pariah in Frances literary and media circles, forcing him to publish his own books.

But in recent months, Mr. Camus has been invited back on television talk shows.

In an email exchange on Tuesday, he said, I can only be delighted by the use of the expression, great replacement, during this presidential campaign.

Other campaign issues, like the pandemic and consumer purchasing power, were minor next to the reality described by the slogan, he said.

The rest is of no importance by comparison, he said.

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In France, a Racist Conspiracy Theory Edges Into the Mainstream - The New York Times

The school board race in Waukesha is a microcosm of school board races around Wisconsin and the nation. In Waukesha, many voters took their frustration out on existing school board members in the 2021 school board elections, choosing a more conservative board.

On Tuesday, the Waukesha school board primary showed just how much momentum conservatives have going into the new year. Waukesha conservatives came out ahead of more progressive candidates in the Feb. 15 primary but only by a narrow margin. Nationally, right-wing organizations, including the Republican party, are targeting grassroots races all the way down to school board and city council elections, pouring in money and resources. In Waukesha, they have had some success, but it wont be clear how much until the April 5 general election.

Last year, the deciding issues in Waukesha and many other school board elections was whether schools should remain virtual or in hybrid, or whether students should go back in person and even be allowed to remove face masks. Now citizens are voting against boards that they feel paid too little attention to learning loss and emotional stress in their children. Voters want to know what their school boards are going to do to correct the situation even as schools begin to go back to normal.

A new controversy developed in Waukesha which had little to do with the pandemic highlighted divisions. Diversity, minority rights and especially LGBTQ issues came to the forefront led by a progressive grassroots organization Alliance for Education in Waukesha. In August, the school administration ordered signs posted for Black Lives Matter and counter-signs supporting police with the symbol of a thin blue line removed from hallways and classrooms. The ban also included safe zone signs for LGBTQ students. The administration also disbanded diversity training for staff members. By simply removing the signage, the administration hoped it could make the conflicts go away.

The three incumbent board members up for reelection questioned the administrations actions. School board member Greg Deets asked for an accounting and contended those actions were ill-advised and counterproductive.

Deets and other board members supporting his position consider themselves common sense moderates. However, they inherited the progressive label because they were supported by self-identified progressive organizations.

A political action committee (PAC) supporting the incumbents in the February 15 primary was Waukesha United 4 Kids.They began an introductory posting with the words, Dear progressive friends of Waukesha public schools and featured, as part of their logo, a multicolored rainbow in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

Conservatives countered with an attack on critical race theory making it part of the mix in the minds of voters in the 2022 primary election. But in general, voters wanted to know what school board members were going to do to get their children back on track. Conservatives made that their featured issue.

The conservative candidates called themselves the common sense candidates claiming critical race theory and other diversity issues are distractions from academic success.

The move away from fundamental educational principles to emotionally charged diversity, inclusion, and equitable training and teaching is decreasing student achievement states conservative candidate Karrie Koziowski on her campaign website.Waukesha conservatives are operating from a national playbook linking decreased academic performance to the preoccupation of liberal school boards with political correctness. And that scenario has gained support even in ultraliberal communities like San Francisco where several school board members were recalled because voters believed these elected officials were spending too much time on political correctness and too little on academic performance.

Speakers at Waukesha school board meetings and in conservative candidate literature highlighted the percentage of students who were below math and reading proficiency and an increasing number of high school students failing one or more classes this past year.

In fact, the Waukesha school system is rated one of the top academic school districts in the state and the latest district report card rates the district as Exceeds Expectations. The more moderate progressive candidates stated that the pandemic had a negative impact on education that cut across all school districts despite the heroic dedication of school officials and staff. But for parents with struggling children, having a school district highly rated by the state is small consolation.

Progressives say what is distracting from academic success are the actions of the administration: taking down signs supporting minority and LGBTQ students and even suspending a teacher who refused to comply.

While conservatives spoke before the school board on the loss of academic achievement, they were far outnumbered by those who spoke against sign removal for minority and LGBTQ students. For these supporters, the issues go far beyond political correctness. Even conservative members of the Waukesha school board concede that there has been an increase in bullying, placing student health, safety and academic achievement at risk. The removal of signs supporting the targeted students has been seen by other students as a green light to marginalize and belittle them.

Conservatives won primary victories, but the more progressive candidates were only a few percentage points behind. Carl Lock of Waukesha United 4 Kids and Laura Pisoneault of Alliance for Education in Waukesha both stated in emails that they were satisfied with the close finish of the more progressive candidates.

They believe that conservative voters are far more likely to vote in primaries than moderates and progressives who often show up only for the general elections. Lock believes that conservatives won in 2021 because of low voter turnout. Moderates and progressives will not make that same mistake again, he says.

Lock also contends that the conservative narrow victory could be related to Republican operatives pouring money and expertise into the races. He saw a whole lot of flyers supporting conservative candidates, but not much coming from the other side.

Conservatives narrowed their preferred candidates to just three, equal to the number of seats opened in this election: Karrie Koziowski, Mark Borowski, and Marquell Mooerer. A fourth candidate, Jaymz Touchstone, who was also perceived as being more conservative but was not supported by Republicans. The three top candidates ran a coordinated campaign.

The progressives were far less organized and operated with fewer resources. Progressives did not even support all of the same candidates. Waukesha United 4 Kids PAC supported all incumbents: Greg Deets, William Baumgart, and Amanda Median Roddy. But the Democratic party could not endorse Roddy, a moderate Republican. Instead, they supported newcomer Sarah Harrison. Nor does it appear that either Waukesha United or Democrats put money and expertise into the primary.

Pisoneault laments that the Republicans have made school board races part of their political agenda. Progressives who have viewed such races nonpartisan may be pushed to take a more partisan political stance.

Roddy got squeezed out because her status as a moderate Republican meant she had trouble gaining support from either side. Making the cut was Harrison who was seen as the most liberal candidate and made that known in the one public forum.

The January 28 forum was hosted by the Waukesha Forum Planning Committee and was moderated by Alan Borsuk, longtime Milwaukee journalist who wrote all the questions himself. But the three conservatives refused to participate, claiming that the forum was put together by progressives, despite Borsuks efforts to remain neutral. Only non-endorsed conservative Touchstone agreed to participate.

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The Republican endorsed candidates probably solidified their support with the conservative base but may have done little to gain support from the more moderate voters in the April 5 general election.

All four progressives ran independent campaigns. Had they agreed to trim the slate to just three candidates, the results show that Deets would probably come in second or third fighting it out with Borowoski. That would still leave conservative Koziowski, who was the most outspoken conservative, in first place.

After the April election, even if progressives prevail and win all three contested seats, they would still be in the minority. Only an overwhelming victory might change some minds of some board members. The more likely scenario is a slim win or a loss of one or even all three contested seats.

So far, progressives have dutifully attended school board meetings for nearly six months making their case that the ban on signs for Black Lives Matter and safe zones for LGBTQ students be lifted. The board has listened, even commended them for having the courage to speak up, but the board has done nothing.

The Alliance has shown no inclination to take aggressive civil disobedient actions beyond teachers refusing to take down signs from the classrooms on their own which resulted in one teacher being suspended.

A complaint has been filed with the Department of Education, Civil Rights Division. That will likely take months with no certain outcome.

School board member Greg Deets has warned that teachers may flee the district and prospective new teachers might shun Waukesha creating a major teacher shortage.

While progressives have no chance of winning a majority on the school board even if they hold on to all three seats, they could lose more seats in April.

The Waukesha school board February 15 primary election results:

Karrie A. Koziowski 17% 5,408

Mark Borowski 16% 5,102

Marquell Moorer 16% 4,912

Greg Deets (inc) 13% 4,204

William A. Baumgart (inc) 12% 3,852

Sarah Harrison 12% 3,612

Defeated in primary:

Amanda Medina Roddy (inc) 11% 3,470

Jaymz Touchstone 2% 701

Read the rest here:

What the Waukesha school board primary tells us - Wisconsin Examiner

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Renowned Polish fantasy author Andrzej Pilipiuk was removed from a list of guests invited to participate in the Avangarda Association fantasy convention for the crime of holding conservative values, it has emerged.

He was initially invited by the association itself to speak at the virtual event, but the management canceled his invite and de-platformed the writer because members and the management of the Avangarda Association did not appreciate the presence of writers with right-wing views, a reason confirmed by the organizations board members.

The organization released a statement about the exclusion of right-wing authors, claiming that the writers had been invited by mistake for which improper communication among the convention organizers team was responsible.

Pilipiuk responded to the situation on social media, slamming the organization for its decision.

The terror of political correctness has made it so that more and more fields of science, art and pop culture in the West are becoming gears in the neo-Marxist social engineering machine, he declared.

Rafa Ziemkiewicz, author:

This is a lurking invasion of Bolsheviks who are constantly reemerging. This is like a plague. This is the same plague, but the germs are coming in new variants.

The author warned that academics and creators who did not comply by holding so-called socially acceptable opinions were being punished using methods reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.

Author and publicist Rafa Ziemkiewicz also commented on the affair on his video blog. He compared it to the recent situation with J.K. Rowling, who was absent from the 20th anniversary of her Harry Potter film series due to her feminist opinions and her refusal to kowtow to the LGBT community.

This is a lurking invasion of Bolsheviks who are constantly reemerging. This is like a plague. This is the same plague, but the germs are coming in new variants, Ziemkiewicz said, adding that this phenomenon had to be stopped as soon as possible because it would only be more difficult as time passed.

Andrzej Pilipiuk is considered to be one of the most popular and prominent writers of Polish fantasy. His most famous works include the book series about the adventures of Jakub Wdrowicz. He was awarded one of Polands most prestigious awards for fantasy authors for his work in 2022.

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Polish author canceled from fantasy convention organizers for having 'right-wing views' - Remix News