Category Archives: Politically Incorrect

Freelance journalist Lauren Southern, formerly of Canadian media organization The Rebel, has made a reputation for herself online and offline by openly expressing politically incorrect views on social media, as well as in her reporting.

This week, the crowdfunding site Patreon banned Southerns account over claims her work would get people killed.

Southern is no stranger to controversy, and has been physically attacked in public for making statements like there are only two genders and stalked during her coverage of the G20 2017 riots in Hamburg.

Since departing The Rebel in March 2017, the right-wing journalist took to Patreon to crowdfund her work, which has revolved around the rise of anarchist movements in North America and the refugee crisis in Europe.

In the middle of all this, she lost one of her primary avenues for continuing her work.

Patreon just deleted my account, Southern announced on Twitter Thursday. The Daily Caller reached out to Southern to discover why the platform terminated her source of income.

They claimed Im raising money that will get people killed, says Southern, who showed TheDC the email Patreon sent her. She added that the company is refusing to even consider an appeal.

Patreon Letter (Lauren Southern)

According to Patreons Trust+Safety team, the platform says that they took a closer look at her account and found that it appears she was raising funds in order to take part in activities that are likely to cause loss of life.

We have therefore decided to remove your page from Patreon, and paid out your final balance of $95.00 to you, the letter continued. We understand that this will come as a disappointment. Please know that we have come to this decision after a long review process and will not consider an appeal.

Patreon currently hosts a crowdfunding page for the Antifa website Its Going Down, which earns over $1,100 a month despite openly promoting violence towards police officers and capitalists.

When the issue was previously brought to public attention, one of the sites employees, Aaron Riggenberg, stated that he saw no problem with a site because it looks like a great group with a good mission statement. He further stated the necessity in active anti-fascist groups in the age of Trump.

Southern rejects Patreons reasoning, and explained that her work on the Defend Europe ship is unrelated to any of her earnings from the site. The ship was chartered by anti-immigration activists to aid the Libyan coast guard in pushing back refugee boats to its shores, where they set off to Europe and sometimes capsize along the way.

If the review process was so long and so thorough Im wondering how they missed the small fact that 1. I am not partaking in the mission and had stated that on both my Patreon and YouTube. 2. Not a single dime I made from Patreon or any other platform was going towards the Defend Europe mission and 3. there is absolutely no intent to put lives at risk on this mission even if I were fundraising or taking part in it, says Southern.

The only reason Patreon is doing this is because a radical leftist organization that have been spreading fake news about the mission in order to put the crew in harms way lobbied them for ages, she continued. They are appealing to liars rather than defending their alleged dedication to freedom of speech.

Senior members of Hope Not Hate, one of the organizations involved in facilitating the influx of refugees into Europe, openly bragged about causing Lauren Southerns Patreon suspension.

Posting on Twitter, Hope Not Hate founder Nick Lowles and senior researcher Joe Mulhall stated that the organization lobbied the platform to ban her account.

I think its shocking that anyone would accuse me of wanting to kill people, says Southern. Its even more shocking that I have to defend claims like that from a supposedly neutral organization Patreon.

Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter.

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Patreon Bans Journalist Lauren Southern, Claims She Will Get People Killed - The Daily Caller

(CBS NEWS) Young Niana Guerrero drops everything to dance wherever she is to the worlds No. 1 song, Despacito. Her video has been viewed more than 69 million times.

This week, it became the most streamed song in history. Universal Music says the official version and a remix have been streamed 4.6 billion times since the original release six months ago.

CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reportsthe song went to No. 1 in the U.S. this spring. It became just the third predominantly, or entirely, Spanish language song to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, following in the footsteps of Los Lobos La Bamba and Macarena.

Now, 10 weeks later, the song that means slowly isnt showing any signs of slowing down. The song of the summer comes down to just four syllables: des pa ci to.

Once you hear a song on every radio station, no matter the format, on everyones playlist, in every nightclub, in every bar, thats how you know the song is the song of the summer, DJ Cipha Sounds said.

It is dominant in all of the metrics that measure a chart hit from sales to streaming to airplay, chart analyst and music critic Chris Molanphy added.

The song of the summer has actually been warming up fans since February, when it reached the No. 1 spot on Billboards Hot Latin songs chart. The king of reggaeton, Daddy Yankee, first made it big in the U.S. in 2004 with Gasolina.

Luis Fonsi is a Latin balladeer with pop hits over the past two decades. Two Latin music veterans, both Puerto Rican, fused their hard and soft sounds to create a hybrid record.

Songwriter Erika Ender co-wrote the song with Fonsi.

For some reason, theres songs that have special magic, Ender said. And this one has it. It has spark, it has magic. It is contagious. And this is not only big for the ones involved, this is big for the Latin music industry, period.

Cipha Sounds says this crossover success is different from the Latin boom in the late 1990s with artists like Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias.

They were kind of taking the American pop formula and adding Spanish language to it or like Spanglish, he said. But Despacito has taken reggaeton music, which is like real Puerto Rican street music, and bringing it to the masses.

If you listen closely, youll hear that repetitive reggaeton drum beat and a so-called tropical style in some unlikely places.

Sometimes, people change it, Cipha Sounds said. They spice it up. They add different instruments on top of it, but the core is that one beat. Its like over and over and over. But its so infectious that it just pops off, you know?

It was already a familiar sound to Justin Bieber. Then, one fateful spring night, Bieber heard Despacito light up a club in Colombia.

I am so happy he got involved, Ender said. I was in the studio working on my new CD and then Fonsi calls me and he goes, Erika, I just received a phone call and apparently Justin Bieber wants to record this song, like right away, what do you think? And I go, Are you kidding me? Go ahead. Yeah, of course.'

The remix, with just a single additional verse in English, quickly went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-May, where its been ever since.

Justin Bieber has provided magical hit record pixie dust, Molanphy said. It is surprising that its such a huge record on Anglo radio stations, despite the fact that its nearly 80 percent in Spanish.

I mean, this confirms that it doesnt matter the language, Ender added. It doesnt matter the time. When youve got a good song in your hands, it flies as high as it wants.

Bieber did catch some heat when he was caught on video not knowing the Spanish words to the song, instead inserting some politically incorrect words. Most of the people CBS News talked to were willing to give him a pass since Bieber was the one who wanted to sing the song mostly in Spanish, which they applauded. However, Ender did say shed love it if he could learn the lyrics.

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Here's why Despacito has become the song of the summer - wivb.com

Young Niana Guerrero drops everything to dance wherever she is to the world's No. 1 song, "Despacito." Her video has been viewed more than 69 million times.

This week, it became the most streamed song in history. Universal Music says the official version and a remix have been streamed 4.6 billion times since the original release six months ago.

CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports the song went to No. 1 in the U.S. this spring. It became just the third predominantly, or entirely, Spanish language song to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, following in the footsteps of Los Lobos' "La Bamba" and "Macarena."

Now, 10 weeks later, the song that means slowly isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The song of the summer comes down to just four syllables: des - pa - ci - to.

"Once you hear a song on every radio station, no matter the format, on everyone's playlist, in every nightclub, in every bar, that's how you know the song is the song of the summer," DJ Cipha Sounds said.

"It is dominant in all of the metrics that measure a chart hit from sales to streaming to airplay," chart analyst and music critic Chris Molanphy added.

The song of the summer has actually been warming up fans since February, when it reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot Latin songs chart. The king of reggaeton, Daddy Yankee, first made it big in the U.S. in 2004 with "Gasolina."

Luis Fonsi is a Latin balladeer with pop hits over the past two decades. Two Latin music veterans, both Puerto Rican, fused their hard and soft sounds to create a hybrid record.

Songwriter Erika Ender co-wrote the song with Fonsi.

"For some reason, there's songs that have special magic," Ender said. "And this one has it. It has spark, it has magic. It is contagious. And this is not only big for the ones involved, this is big for the Latin music industry, period."

Cipha Sounds says this crossover success is different from the Latin boom in the late 1990s with artists like Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias.

"They were kind of taking the American pop formula and adding Spanish language to it or like Spanglish," he said. "But 'Despacito' has taken reggaeton music, which is like real Puerto Rican street music, and bringing it to the masses."

If you listen closely, you'll hear that repetitive reggaeton drum beat and a so-called tropical style in some unlikely places.

"Sometimes, people change it," Cipha Sounds said. "They spice it up. They add different instruments on top of it, but the core is that one beat. It's like over and over and over. But it's so infectious that it just pops off, you know?"

It was already a familiar sound to Justin Bieber. Then, one fateful spring night, Bieber heard "Despacito" light up a club in Colombia.

"I am so happy he got involved," Ender said. "I was in the studio working on my new CD and then Fonsi calls me and he goes, 'Erika, I just received a phone call and apparently Justin Bieber wants to record this song, like right away, what do you think?' And I go, 'Are you kidding me? Go ahead. Yeah, of course.'"

The remix, with just a single additional verse in English, quickly went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-May, where it's been ever since.

"Justin Bieber has provided magical hit record pixie dust," Molanphy said. "It is surprising that it's such a huge record on Anglo radio stations, despite the fact that it's nearly 80 percent in Spanish."

"I mean, this confirms that it doesn't matter the language," Ender added. "It doesn't matter the time. When you've got a good song in your hands, it flies as high as it wants."

Bieber did catch some heat when he was caught on video not knowing the Spanish words to the song, instead inserting some politically incorrect words. Most of the people CBS News talked to were willing to give him a pass since Bieber was the one who wanted to sing the song mostly in Spanish, which they applauded. However, Ender did say she'd love it if he could learn the lyrics.

Continue reading here:
Here's why "Despacito" has become the song of the summer - CBS News

Most Americans met Wednesday nights news that Arizona SenatorJohn McCain was facing a dire diagnosis of brain cancer with shows of respect for the elder statesman and former prisoner of war. But to some on the extreme right, the longtime Republican is a traitorworthy of scorn, presumably because ofhis willingness to work with Democrats, as well as his criticism of President Donald Trump.

The attack on McCain--a war hero who spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prisonis faintly reminiscent of the early days of Trumps presidential campaign. During a family values summit in Iowa in the summer of 2015, just a month after hed announced his seemingly quixotic bid for the White House, Trump lashed out at McCain: Hes not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured.

At the time, Trump was angry because McCain had complained that Trump "fired up the crazies" during an anti-immigration rally in Phoenix.

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Trump has in no way endorsed or encouraged the alt-rights attacks on McCain, which have thus far been limited to the fringes of digital discourse. Trump sent a statement of support for McCain on Wednesday. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon," that statement said.

The attacks came regardless.

The last president for McCain will be Trump. Theres some godly justice right there, wrote one user on the Politically Incorrect message board of social media network 4chan, a hothouse of right-wing memes.

Im pretty sure that God is punishing him, wrote another 4chan user. God made it pretty clear that he supports New Right now.

"John McCain = a war mongering, never Trumper whom I dislike," wrote a user on Gab, another social media network popular with the alt-right.

The attacks, for the most part, focused on McCains willingness to work with Democrats during his three decades in the Senate. Those attacks, some of which are too tasteless to mention here, speak to the utter debasement of civic discourse, particularly on the internet.

On Twitter, some called McCain a cuck.

Cuck is short for cuckservative, a portmanteau that combines cuckold and conservative. As the Southern Poverty Law Center explained, the imprecation aims to depict conservatives who dont kowtow to ultra-right political views as inept traitors to the conservative base that elected them.

Any death of a genuine eternal cuck should be celebrated. John McCain's passing, assuming he passes, will do our race a lot of good and that's what matters, wrote a user on Reddit.

The vitriol against McCain seems especially striking given his record of military service, as well as his leadership of the Republican Party. The attackers, it would seem, have more fealty to alt-right mascot Pepe the Frog than to the GOPs iconic elephant.

Mike Cernovich, among the most vociferous members of the alt-right, implicitly defended such attacks on McCain with a tweet:

Hes a traitor and a psychopath, one responder said. His interests are of the globalists. They all need to die, faster the better. Then we straighten things out.

See the original post here:
John McCain Cancer Is 'Godly Justice' for Challenging Trump, Alt-Right Claims - Newsweek

The Preston Brewery Tap has got most things any good pub should have beer, atmosphere, three blokes on stools putting the world to rights, helpful, friendly staff and a ghost.

Not that I was immediately spooked when I walked in.

Coming in from bright sunshine, my first thought was who turned off all the lights?. It was just very dark at the bar.

However, the light was restored by a lovely, cheery welcome from the barmaid.

Listening to her dulcet tones I immediately realised she was from Down Under, but couldnt be sure whether she was Aussie or Kiwi. I decided not to mention it, Ive fallen foul of that one before.

I also played it safe with a pint of Harveys Sussex Best, clocking in at 4.0 per cent. It set me back 3.90, so I invested a further pound in a packet of crisps.

Settling in at the bar I couldnt help overhearing the conversation between the barmaid and a lovely customer dressed in a stripy dress and a tartan cropped top.

In fact, given the discussion about food I assume she must be Aussie to cut a long story short, crocodile, frogs, antelope all taste like chicken. Kangaroo, on the other hand, tastes like kangaroo.

All this talk of unusual food must have tickled my taste buds as I was, bizarrely, inspired to try a pint of the craft beer on tap, Picklejuice.

Its a bit stronger at 4.8 per cent and 60p more expensive than the Harveys. It was slightly more hoppy and zesty, but personally I wouldnt cross the street for it.

Things had quietened down and one fellow on the skew-whiff pool table had won all the money from his playing partner so even the click, click of the balls stopped.

Then, the conversation turned to the old radio kept under the bar.

Apparently the staff are convinced it is haunted and switches itself on without being touched sometimes even when its not connected to the power.

All I can say is, whichever ghost is responsible its not got great musical taste.

And talking of responsibility the barmaid had now moved on to blaming the ghost for ringing up a pint of Pride beer in the till for 3,000 spooky or human error, you decide.

All this talk of ghouls saw me head out to the garden to grab some fresh air.

Its less garden and more concrete back yard but theres a nice stable door which affords a good view of the neighbouring Shell garage.

There a few hanging baskets with nice-enough flowers and some colourful tables.

There are plenty more chairs piled up and, for some reason, a whole stack of corner flags.

They need to empty the ashtrays more often but the hardened nicotine fans seemed to like it well enough.

Back inside barmaid number one was finishing her shift and announcing she was off home to watch Harry Potter on the telly.

So, what else can I tell you? Theres a fruit machine, a jukebox, five screens showing sport, tapas are 4.50 each or three for 12 and when barmaid one hurt her foot on a heavy table she cooled it in the bar sink filled up with ice.

By now barmaid number two, with the most amazing blue hair, had taken over and was asking me if Id like another drink.

I really would have loved to stay but had to make a move so sadly bid her farewell until we meet again.

PRESTON BREWERY TAP, 197 PRESTON ROAD, BRIGHTON

Decor:

Trying to be trendy, thankfully doesnt achieve it

Drink:

The Harveys was fine, I should have stuck with it

Price:

Seems reasonable enough to me

Atmosphere: HHH Not at all bad for an early evening

Staff:

Barmaid 1 was friendly, barmaid 2 seemed livelier still

And finally, I must warn everyone next weeks edition of the column is not for the faint-hearted. I have never witnessed more politically incorrect behaviour in all my years doing this job and it is only right I report events as they happened.

However, if you are easily offended or thought this city had moved on from the 1970s, then you might be best advised to give next weeks report a miss.

I promise I wont be put out and will welcome you back the following week. If you do decide to read it then please dont shoot the messenger.

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The Pub Spy reviews: Preston Brewery Tap, 197 Preston Road, Brighton - The Argus

Its all a matter of taste.

I have many friends and acquaintances, and among them, for every person who thinks of me as this nice, amiable person who tries to be a ray of sunshine wherever he goes, theres another who knows that at times I can make Clint Eastwoods Get off my lawn character in Gran Torino seem like Mary Poppins on Valium.

I dont like to offend people, but what I have to say might, on occasion. Here go a couple of thoughts I hope will be food for discussion, not food for dissent.

As I related inour Tweet of the Day on the front of The Times Sports section this week, in all my time playing, watching and covering baseball in my 50-some years on this planet, I dont remember anyone in a dugout chanting hes a SLUG-ger, hes a SLUG-ger when it was Anthony Rizzos turn to bat, or hit a HOME run, hit a HOME run whenever Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton got in the box, and they CERTAINLY never did anything like num-BER SEV-en, num-BER SEV-en when Mickey Mantle stepped to the plate. Wow, that last one sent a cold shiver down my spine.

Saw Bull Durham the other day and Im more in line with Robert Wuhls character, Larry Hockett, when he spit out rapid-fire through a mouthful of seeds, Cmon, baby, you got this, you got this, its you, baby, its you, cmon, baby to Bulls on the field or at the plate.

I know Little Leaguers are not supposed to yell Swing! at the batter anymore, but what happened to the old standard hes no batter, hes no batter, aaAAaaAA and other encouragement to a pitcher? Please just something not near as mind-numbingly annoying as the rhythmic nonsense being spewed the last few years. I might expect that from softball, but in baseball? No thanks.

It deserves a place in the baseball dumpster along with The Wave, the White Soxs uniform shorts and Chris Bermans calls of the Home Run Derby.

Try this: No MORE CHAN-ting, no MORE CHAN-ting.

Roberto Clementes number

Im going to tread lightly here because my opinion might offend some who are sensitive to matters of race. Believe me, it has nothing to do with race, gender or religious beliefs. It has to do only with my view of the game.

I do not believe Roberto Clemente should have his number 21 retired through all of MLB the way Jackie Robinsons 42 is.

I know what a tremendous player Clemente was, having seen him many times in action against my Cubs on WGN back in the day and in the national broadcasts of the World Series the Pirates played in. Hes an all-time great, in addition to being a generous, caring individual who died while delivering humanitarian aidto storm victims in Nicaragua.

No doubt, no question, he deserves to be the icon to the Hispanic community that he is.

But I personally don't feel the challenges he overcame on his way to the majors are at the same level of those traversed by Robinson when he broke the MLB color barrier in 1947.

Looking at it another way, if Clemente deserves that honor, why not Hank Greenberg or Sandy Koufax for being the greatest Jewish players of all time? Why not Honus Wagner as the hero of Americas extensive, generations-deep German population? Why not Joe DiMaggio for all those fans of Italian descent?

This is opening a can of worms with so many arguments, some of them so politically incorrect that I wont go there.

I didnt agree with Robinsons 42 being retired across the leagues when it happened. Like Clemente, Robinson is an incredibly talented figure in the game and a man of immense character, patience and tolerance. His impact on the game is undeniable. I just dont see Clementes impact being as significant in the history of baseball.

OK, all that now said, I add the immortal words of comedian Dennis Miller: Of course, thats just my opinion. I could be wrong.

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INSIDE THE GAME: No chanting, no more retired numbers, please - MyWebTimes.com

Chris Hemsworth is best known for his role as the Norse god Thor in the Avengers movies. But outside of cinema, Hemsworth has had a hard time fitting in with the progressive left, who have slammed him for violating every progressive tenet, ranging from cultural appropriation to transphobia.

Unable to stop making politically incorrect gaffes, Hemsworth has now taken it upon himself to call for a woman to play the role of the next James Bond.

In an interview with W Magazine about the new film Atomic Blonde, the actor revealed that he would like to see Charlize Theron take on the role.

She embodies every ounce of strength and nobility and dignity and integrity that that character should have, he said, perhaps forgetting that as a character, James Bond embodies every bit of the toxic masculinity feminists complain about. Hes a womanizer, and a drunk, who has on multiple occasions expressed misogynistic views toward women or treated them as little more than sexual conquests who usually end up dead.

Several actors had been suggested to fill in the void left by Daniel Craig, who has said hed rather break this glass and slash [his] wrists than perform as James Bond for a fifth time, despite being contracted to do so. Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba have been listed as potential candidates to play the character, though Craig is now expected to be back for the next film. The X-Files and The Fall star Gillian Anderson expressed interest in the role of Jane Bond, if it was available.

Shes smart as hell. Shes physically able. You know watching her in those fight scenes, doing it in high heels by the way and 8-foot long gown [in Snow White and the Huntsman], was even more impressive, said Hemsworth of Theron. And I just think why not? Its time.

Theron told E! News said she was flattered by his remarks. Wow, thats just so insanely generous and nice. I dont even know what to do with that, Theron said. Thats really sweet.

There is little doubt that Theron has the acting chops to effortlessly deliver any character she portrays, but perhaps Hemsworth should take a step back and realize she might be better off playing a new character instead of slipping into the role of a character thats been rode hard and put away wet.

Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter.

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Chris Hemsworth Says 'It's Time' For A Woman To Play James Bond - The Daily Caller

The First Amendment is in a state of emergency on the college campus. Destructive protests in opposition to free speech have broken out nationwide in the last few years, threatening a right and principle that students once championed.

In fact, the First Amendment emergency is so severe that the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing June 10 to receive input from experts on the issue.

A Pew poll released July 10 shows the majority of Republicans think colleges have a negative impact on America. I value my college experience, but I understand how people can feel left out and betrayed by academia.

I have witnessed it firsthand. I helped host Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through the College Republicans in the spring of 2016. While sitting on the front row of his public lecture, I videotaped a protest against free speech that is all too typical on college campuses today.

About a third of the 400-person auditorium was composed of left wing students dressed in black. These students staged a walk-out about a minute into Shapiros opening remarks, refusing to heed his calls to learn a new yet controversial perspective.

Shapiro made the argument that parenting, not race, is the dominant factor in setting up young people for success in life. He claimed the political left uses race as a wedge issue, while the right attempts to judge people by the content of their character. I tend to agree.

The protesters went outside the lecture hall to hold a rally against perceived racism and bigotry while dozens of tolerant conservative and liberal students poured into their empty seats to hear Shapiro.

I sent the video into Campus Reform, a website dedicated to covering left wing intolerance in higher education. Later that year, I interned as a correspondent for the outlet and covered similar stories.

Through the Shapiro walkout and Campus Reform internship, the scope of the college free speech crisis became clear to me. Many of the countrys brightest young minds cannot bear to hear opinions different from their own, and they will go to extreme lengths to shut out diverse thought.

This should alarm citizens concerned about the state of free speech in society, as positive societal advancements are driven by constructive dialogue and criticism. Opposition to free speech in the nations top academic enclaves threatens to stall the progress of American prosperity.

Speech codes, safe spaces, protests against minority opinionsoften those held by conservativesand attempts at keeping politically incorrect speakers off campus have made colleges some of the most intolerant places in America.

In the fall of 2015, students at Yale University hysterically confronted Nicholas and Erika Christakis, two married professors serving as residential directors. The students were upset after Mrs. Christakis called into question the illiberal condemnation of culturally appropriate Halloween costumes.

The professor eventually resigned because her students could not live and learn with someone who refused to cloak them in an intellectual and emotional bubbleleftist intolerance has claimed victims.

A protest at the University of California, Berkeley approached the definition of a riot this spring. There, a black-clad mob effectively shut down a speech scheduled by Milo Yiannopoulos, an outlandish free speech provocateur of the alt-right.

The protest against Yiannopoulos drew national media attention, and subsequent speaking attempts made by other right wing figures were met with threats of violence and dissuading letters from university administrators.

In the 1960s, Berkeley students protested when administrators prevented communist speakers from addressing the campus. Now they shut out speakers whom they deem deplorable. The original home of the college free speech movement of the 1960s became the epicenter of the anti-free speech movement of today.

College students should test their beliefs through exposure to new ideas and debate. Learning from diverse perspectives can strengthen their intellectual growth. You can find another opinion repulsive, but still accept its right to be spoken.

By welcoming all forms of free speech on the college campus, students and administrators may grow in empathy and knowledge. This will add value to the college degree and help prepare Americas future leaders for a diverse world.

I wish that the protesters at the Shapiro lecture had stayed to hear what an intelligent stranger had to say and engaged in debate. Leaders from student government, ethnic groups, and social justice coalitions were among the crowd that refused.

We need voices for tolerance and free speech at all levels of the education and public policy communities. Opinion leaders should stand up and speak out for the rights of everyone to be heard.

Will Rierson is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is chairman of the College Republicans. He has participated in the Koch Internship and Fellow programs.

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College Students Can't Learn If They Won't Listen - The Daily Caller

NEW DELHI: There were murmurs in Congress circles in Parliament over party vice-president Rahul Gandhis absence in the Lok Sabha during Wednesdays hardearned debate on farmers distress. Though his absence was justified by citing a scheduled rally in Rajasthan on Wednesday afternoon over the same issue, the fact that he chose to miss the debate that the Congress-led united Opposition had wangled after staging a series of protests and forcing three adjournments of the House in Gandhis presence left many wondering whether Gandhi has his priorities right.

It looks like a case of Rahulji preferring a district stage over a national platform to address a burning national issue, said a party MP. Many wondered why he let his Rajasthan trip clash with the debate since it was a forgone conclusion that the Opposition would seek a debate on farmers issue. They said he could have held the rally before the session or during the weekend. With the leader missing, Congress fielded Jyotiraditya Scindia to open the debate, with a strong denouncement of Centres handling of farmers issues.

There is no clarity on whether the debate will conclude on Monday or spill over to next working days so that Gandhi can catch up. As per government-Opposition pact, Parliament will adjourn on Thursday after Question Hour as counting of votes in presidential poll will be held then. Gandhi is expected to skip Parliament on Friday too, to address a Dalit conference in Bangalore.

Congress leaders want Gandhi to make best use of the session for two reasons: As opposition parties unite over several issues, they want Gandhi to emerge as the leading voice. Secondly, given this could be the last session before his planned takeover as party chief, they hope he will make an effort to repair his sloppy parliamentary track-record to set the right atmospherics.

However, his absence during Wednesdays debate made them mindful of his penchant for vanishing acts at politically incorrect times. He had gone abroad last year for two months at the height of the Congress agitation against the land acquisition bill and on a 20+ day trip to Europe during Oppositions unity show over farmer suicides, cow vigilantism and during pre-presidential poll deliberations.

Read the rest here:
Congress scion has opposition within, as he skips debate on farmers' plight - Economic Times

Trolls are taking over the Internet. John Lucas / Edmonton Journal

Its an exercise in restraint these days when it comes to comments on articles, tweets or other social media posts regarding news stories.

The restraint needed is on the part of the reader, to not want to gouge ones eyes out after digesting the intense vitriol some posters have for their fellow citizens.

It almost doesnt matter what or whom the story is about; everyone has an opinion that, too often, many mistakefor fact.

Whether its about the NDP, the Liberal prime minister, the Republican president, terrorists, city hall or even anthem singers at ball games, trolls are waging war on respectful dialogue, one keyboard stroke at a time.

Some recent examples include telling a local singer that her rendition of the Canadian anthem is a national embarrassment and she owes the country an apology; that Justin Trudeau is a super sad excuse for (expletive) prime minister and a joke across the planet; that a former prime minister is a racist among other unprintables, and another politician is an ignoramus and a clown.

Ever since the advent of social media, there have been those who relish stirring the pot with a few chosen online slurs.But those drips of literary poison have turned into a torrent of verbal abuse.

Trump certainly didnt cause this to occur but it could be argued that his presidency has lent a certain credibility to this behaviour. Because the leader of the United States feels empowered to speak his mind so freely, regardless of consequence, others are following suit. Those who have been chastened in the past for politically incorrect, socially unacceptable opinions, now broadcast them proudly, almost daring the other side to respond.

This is not to say that people should not hold diverse opinions. Public debate is essential in a free and democratic society. Its how we keep our political parties in check. Its how we keep society as a whole in line.

But theres a not-so-fine line between polite disagreement over the facts and hate-filled personal attacks on the person.

If opposing sides were to debate their points in person, one would hope theyd never unleash the diatribe they do anonymously online.

Faceless rants do not solve issues or sway anyones opinion. They just harden the heart and add to the breakdown of society.

We need a return to civility. If you wouldnt say it out loud in a crowd, dont type it. Think deeply, do the research and then intellectually express your views while respecting those who hold other views. Its not about winning; its about sharing.

See the original post here:
Editorial: The social demise of civility - Calgary Herald