Category Archives: Transhuman News

10 Politically Incorrect Kids Books
Countdown titles ------------------------------ Little House on the Prairie 1935, Laura Ingalls Wilder Huckleberry Finn 1884, Mark Twain Kim 1900, Rudyard Ki...

By: Top Shad

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10 Politically Incorrect Kids Books - Video

Life is too short to be serious all the time
Karan Talwar can be slightly grotesque and even politically incorrect at times but he does not hate anyone, except those who takes things too seriously! He spent a decade in the US where he...

By: NDTV

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Life is too short to be serious all the time - Video

Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-conservative rabble-rouser and potential 2016 presidential candidate,made headlinesover the holiday weekend after he declared, as any good authoritarian would, that there should be no rules governing Americas wartime conduct.

[O]ur military needs to know that theyre not going to be prosecuted when they come back because somebody has said you did something that was politically incorrect, Carson said Monday on Fox News. (Where else?) Theres no such thing as a politically correct war. We need to grow up. We need to mature. If youre going to have rules for war, you should just have a rule that says no war. Other than that, we have to win. Our life depends on it, he added.

Of course, as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. is bound by international standards during war, although its not as if that has always stopped us. Beyond the brazen disregard for international law, however, whats most notable about Carsons remarks is his fixation on political correctness. This hardly separates Carson from his fellow conservatives, many of whom are committed to the narrative that we live in an age of censorship and fear, enforced by the agents of a politically correct reign of terror.

Turn on your television, read a newspaper, or read the comments at Breitbart.com, however, and youll find that politically incorrect (i.e., Islamophobic, homophobic, sexist, racist, etc.) speech remains as prevalent as ever. As Oliver Burkeman argues, conservatives really take issue not with constraints on such speech, but with a changing society in which one is liable to encounter objections to bigoted utterances.

Still, Carsons nascent 2016 bid seems to be as much a campaign against political correctness as it is an effort in opposition to Hillary Clinton or his prospective Republican rivals let alone an affirmative campaign about his vision for the country. Appearing on The OReilly Factor after the Southern Poverty Law Center briefly included him on a list of right-wing extremists, Carson proclaimed that political correctness is destroying our nation, imperiling the constitutional framework laid by Americas founders.

Carson sees himself as a fearless champion of that framework, a lonely prophet of moral truth and reason amid a culture of obfuscation and politically correct hysteria hence his apparent conviction, despite never having sought nor held political office, that his is a necessary voice in the 2016 presidential contest.

Since bursting onto the political scene with a fiercely anti-Obamacare speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast during which he proclaimed that political correctness was muzzl[ing] free speech Carson has carved out a role for himself as the most relentless critic of political correctness, which he blames for a plethora of woes beyond the radical notion that America shouldnt commit war crimes.

Michael Browns death? Blame political correctness, not the overzealousness of a racist law enforcement system.Last year, Carson asserted that political correctness masked real problems like teen pregnancy and fatherless homes, which result in children who dont know how to respond to authority and end up being killed like Michael Brown.

The collapse of the Roman empire? Chalk that up to political correctness, too.Warning that the U.S. was headed down the same path, Carson last year linked Romes fall to a politically correct cultural climate. They were extremely powerful. There was no way anybody could overcome them. But these philosophers, with the long flowing white robes and the long white beards, they could wax eloquently on every subject, but nothing was right and nothing was wrong. They soon completely lost sight of who they were, he told Bloomberg News.

For Carson, standing against political correctness means never having to apologize for bigoted or intemperate remarks.No fan of gay rights Carson has compared homosexuality with pedophilia, bestiality, and murder he has refused to back down from those comparisons, saying that doing so would represent capitulation to the PC police. Similarly, he stands by his incendiary comparison of the U.S. with Nazi Germany, explaining that while hes come under withering criticism for it, I dont care about political correctness.

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Ben Carsons bizarre obsession with political correctness: What his crusade is really about

Former neurosurgeon and noted conservative activist Ben Carson suggested Monday that President Obama take stronger reins in the war against terrorism, particularly in the battle against the Islamic State.

Instead, Mr. Carson said during an appearance on Fox News, Mr. Obamas only playing politics.

The definition of a good leader is someone who can take people who have different agendas and move them in the same direction to accomplish a goal, Mr. Carson said. We have exactly the opposite going on right now.

Mr. Carson the said it wasnt too late for Mr. Obama to take more decisive action and establish his legacy as one rooted in good governance.

If the president wants to have a good legacy, this would be a good time to start it, he said, on the broadcast. We have people trying to manage the military who know nothing about the military, who know nothing about military strategy. Our military needs to know that theyre not going to be prosecuted when they come back because somebody says, you did something that was politically incorrect. There is no such thing as a politically correct war.

He said that if there are going to be any established rules for war, the main one ought to be no war, he said.

Other than that, we have to win, Mr. Carson said. Our life depends on it.

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Ben Carson: 'No such thing as a politically correct war'

When Sean Penn announced Birdman as Best Picture at the 2015 Oscars, he joked of the film's Mexican director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu, "Who gave this son of a bitch a green card?"

Not everyone was laughing at this politically incorrect quip, butGonzlez Irritu, who directed Penn in 21 Grams, told Variety he personally "found it hilarious."

"Sean and I had that kind of brutal relationship where only true friendship can survive," he explained. "When I was directing him in 21 Grams, he was always making jokes...I made a lot of very tough jokes (to him) that I will not tell you."

PHOTOS: 2015 Oscars party pics!

"I didn't find it offensive," Irritu clarified. "I thought it was very funny."

At the end of his acceptance speech,Gonzlez Irritu said, "I want to take one second...I just want to take the opportunity...II want to dedicate this award for my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico. I pray that we can find and build government that we deserve. And the ones that live in this country who are part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of the ones who came before and build this incredible immigrant nation. Thank you very much."

During the 51-year-old director's Best Director acceptance speech, he claimed he was wearing Birdman star Michael Keaton's underwear for good luck, saying, "They are tight, smell like balls, but it worked. I'm here. Thank you, Michael!"

He later confirmed to Variety he really, truly was wearing the best actor nominee's tighty-whities, saying, "I wish I was in a more intimate setting to prove it."

Clearly, Mr.Gonzlez Irritu has quite the sense of humor!

PHOTOS: All the big winners at the 2015 Oscars

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Birdman's Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu Thought Sean Penn's Green Card Joke Was "Hilarious"

As the TV show "Jackass"taught us,when adults do stupid things they're usually only hurting themselves. But what about when their ignorance threatens to harm their own children?

Say hello to the state Legislature of Oklahoma, where the House education committee voted Monday tobar advanced placement U.S. history courses from state high schools. The 11-4 votewas on strict party lines, Republicans in the majority. Thisactionrepresents the sort of ideological interference in education that can only end in making the state's students less informed and less prepared to function in the 21st century marketplace.

Education mavens will recognize thevote as an outgrowth of a campaign against the AP U.S. history course launched last summer by the Republican National Committee, which decided that the College Board's newly-issued outline, or "framework," for the AP coursewas infused with a radical progressive bias and insufficiently laudatory about American "exceptionalism."

Right-wing ideologuespromptly picked up the RNC's ball and ran with it. When you learn that the Oklahoma measure was introduced by Rep. Dan Fisher, an ordained minister and member of a group called the Black Robe Regiment, you'll get the picture. The organization's mission is to advance"our biblical responsibility to stand up for our Lord and Savior and to protect the freedoms and liberties granted to a moral people in the divinely inspired US Constitution," according to its website.

As Thinkprogress.org reports, legislatures in such red states as South Carolina and Georgia have considered taking action against the AP course, which is aimed at students heading for college. An effort in Colorado to require teachersto depict American history "in a positive light" provoked a walk-out by students. Now that Oklahoma's effort has emerged from committee, it appears to have reachedfurther than the others, so far.

This is an entirely manufactured controversy.We reported last August that it was startedby one Larry Krieger, a retired history teacher from New Jersey whose classroom approach underscored what he calls America's "mission to spread democracy."

Krieger linked up with the Christian conservative group Concerned Women for America, and a campaign was born. Krieger addressed the Oklahoma committee by conference call before its vote, reported the Tulsa World.

The authors of the AP outline struck back against what they accurately labeled "uninformed criticisms" of their work. "Many of the comments we have heard about the framework," they wrote last summer,"reflect either a misunderstanding of U.S. history or a very limited faith in history teachers' command of their subject matter."

It's worse than that. For the right wing,historical truth matters for naught; what's important isthe ideological narrative, and if it fails to match their vision of an America shining the light of freedom and plenty on the world, it must be "biased." Politicians who insist on inculcating such narrow-mindedness into their educational system are damaging their own students, but doing a real favor for the rest of us: our kids won't have to worry so much about competing in the real world with their kids.

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Education watch: Oklahoma Legislature votes to dumb down its kids

When you retire, you want to live like this guy.

Worried you wont have enough for a comfortable retirement? If youre willing to spend down your assets, as well as take a few other steps, you could boost your annual income by perhaps 30%.

Imagine a couple, both 62 years old. Well keep things simple and assume theres just one breadwinnerand well be politically incorrect and assume its the husband. They claim Social Security right away, even though they cant receive full benefits for another four years. He qualifies for $15,000 a year and his wife is eligible for spousal benefits worth $7,000.

Meanwhile, they own a $300,000 home with no mortgage and have $500,000 in savings. If they use the 4% portfolio withdrawal rate thats often recommended by financial planners, that $500,000 would generate $20,000 in first-year retirement income, with withdrawals rising in subsequent years along with inflation.

Add that to their Social Security and our hypothetical couple would have $42,000 a year. Heres how they could do better.

Paying to delay

Instead of claiming benefits at age 62, the husband files for Social Security at 66which is his full Social Security retirement agebut immediately suspends his benefit. This maneuver allows his wife to claim spousal benefits, which would be worth $10,000 a year, thanks to the four-year delay. Theres no point in postponing spousal benefits beyond full retirement age, because you dont get any further credit for delaying.

Meanwhile, the husband claims Social Security at age 70, the latest possible age. Because of the delay, he receives $26,400 a year, while also guaranteeing a larger survivor benefit for his wife, assuming he predeceases her.

The best annuity you can buy is Social Security, argues Baylor University investments professor William Reichenstein. The higher-income earner should delay benefits unless theyre both in poor health, because his benefit will be paid until the second spouse dies.

At age 70, our couple would have $36,400 in combined Social Security income. This figure is in todays dollars and ignores any intervening inflation-driven increases in Social Security benefits. To keep things simple, well also assume that their portfolios return rivals the inflation rate.

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How to pump up retirement income by as much as 30%