Category Archives: Politically Incorrect

Guest Opinion By Mary Keyes Rogers | July 23, 2022

Regardless of your political persuasion, youve gotta hand it to the Democrats for how well theyve presented the Jan. 6 hearings. Every i has been dotted and each t has been crossed, emotions kept in check, timetables explained, and unbiased witnesses called upon to testify. Even if they did get a hand from Hollywood, thats fine by me. Great job, kudos to all involved!

Considering whats come to light in those hearings, it is a shock theyre likely going to lose the House, and maybe the Senate, too, in the midterms.

Let me predict how Republicans will snatch the votes of many moderate Democrats and Independents.

It shouldnt be easy, considering the average voters opinions on key issues compared to the Republican candidates. Most Americans identify as pro-choice. They support a ban on assault weapons and think the government should be doing more to limit the impact of climate change, all causes represented in Democratic-sponsored legislation in the House and subsequently killed by Republicans in the Senate. To be clear, the Republicans are unanimous in their positions on these issues: No, no, and no.

I believe we can all agree that abortion, guns, and climate are not fringe issues.

Democrats should be at a significant advantage in the midterm elections when Republicans are heavily favored to take back the U.S. House and perhaps even the Senate. Only in the most recent weeks, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Uvalde school shooting, have poll numbers begun to slip a bit for Republicans.

In statewide elections, Democrats, and even moderate Republicans, are poised to be trounced by Trump-whipped, NRA-directed, pro-life, polluting-for-profit Republicans. (By the way, I used to like Republicans when they were a party of free-thinking individuals.)

Considering all that the Republicans are doing in direct opposition to the desires of the American voter, you would naturally believe the Democrats must be doing some genuinely crazy bad stuff.

It may sound minor, but they allowed the tail to wag the dog. Yes, the Democratic party has cowered to its own far, far left, uber-progressive, woke slice of the party pie at the expense of most voters.

So, while closer to the target on these hot-button issues of abortion, guns, and climate, Team Blue went so far to the left on cultural issues that voters are uncomfortable calling themselves Democrats. Moderates and Independents are willing to overlook their differences with the Republican platform as long as their finances are more likely to improve with Team Red.

The message makers at Donkey HQ need a reminder that not everything is sexist, racist, elitist, or coming from a place of white privilege or hate. We are a country of evolving, imperfect humans with varying histories and sensitivities, but our right to free speech includes the right to be insensitive and in bad taste. Sometimes, we really are just making a joke. And some jokes are just plain offensive.

The Democratic Party must recognize that they dont have enough woke soldiers to win the culture war. Politically Incorrects liberal Bill Maher has been held up as the darling of Fox News and the Republican Party because hes openly pissed off and poking fun at the woke crowd. Even former President Obama has sternly warned young activists that shaming isnt activism.

Unfortunately, our funniest comedians will no longer tour or perform on college campuses for fear of either being canceled or facing a woke and humorless audience for 90 minutes. Much to my dismay, Hollywood doesnt seem to be making many comedies anymore because they are too politically expensive to produce in this woke era.

Personally, Im not okay with being shamed by a passing 20-year-old for using a plastic straw. And, honestly, I dont want to be called a birthing person or a person with a vagina.

The most progressive members, the trigger police within the Democratic party, have become its de facto standard bearers. In contrast, the average Democratic voter cannot relate to their gripes or their rage.

I hear young liberal progressives within the Democratic party ashamed of their country and citizenship. I understand that our countrys history has been sanitized, but warts and all, average Democrats still love their country.

Mainstream voters think about paychecks, not pronouns. Average Americans wring their hands over funding their retirement accounts, not defunding the police. The woke culture that threatens, You know you cant say that anymore? has exhausted us. Their 15-minutes can end now, please.

Ironically, woke culture may cancel Democratic candidates and, in the process, help to elect Republicans who will block any legislation offering support for reproductive rights, gun control, or reversing climate change.

Wake up to that.

Mary Keyes Rogers, a Traverse City resident of more than 20 years, hosted the daily talk radio show Mary in the Morning, launched Marigold Women in Business, and has held executive positions in many civic and business leaders local, regional, and national organizations.

Read the original:
Will Wokeness Kill the Party? | Opinion - northernexpress.com

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed below belong solely to the author.

As I was working on a Google Ads project for a long-time client, sifting through its automated recommendations for his ad account, something dawned on me:

The way things are today, Google (Alphabet) may not survive another 10 or 20 years.

And its not the only major company that may unexpectedly go down the drain, even if most people think it is too big to fall.

There are many cautionary tales from the past of businesses which seemed so huge and so successful that nothing would be able to dent them and then something, someone, came along and kicked them into the dustbin of history.

22 years ago, Nokia was the worlds largest mobile phone maker and hit a peak valuation of over US$300 billion. AOL peaked at over US$200 billion, Yahoo at over US$100 billion around the time Google was a garage project of two students.

In fact, those two students who are now multibillionaires Larry Page and Sergey Brin, offered to sell Google to Yahoo for a mere million bucks in 1998. They were turned down.

Today, Nokia while still in existence is worth less than 10 per cent of what it used to, has left the consumer phone space, and is getting by on its intellectual property and research in the field of enterprise telecommunications.

Its no longer a household name, even though at one time, most mobile users on the planet carried one of its phones in their pockets.

AOL, the giant that once opened the doors to the internet to millions of Americans, was swept up by Verizon for mere US$4.5 billion a few years ago, along with Yahoo once the front-page of the internet and its most popular search engine for about the same.

Last year, both were dumped again, at another 40 per cent discount.

All of them fell from grace because they have grown complacent and slow to respond to innovation brought out by others. They relied on sluggish, increasingly outdated, inflexible business models which once made them rich and seemingly untouchable.

Until it turned out they werent a realisation that happened very suddenly, unexpectedly wiping them out in just a few years.

And I feel the same is happening with at least three of the modern giants: Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook) and Adobe, collectively worth over US$2 trillion dollars.

Google is regularly ranked among the worlds most innovative companies but, for the love of me, I have no idea why.

Google Ads are no longer really genuinely helping businesses reach more customers the system is designed in a way that is, by my observation, designed to squeeze out the most money out of advertisers by often suggesting them actions that are not in their best interest.

Its either an example of poor engineering and appalling machine learning or worse, a deliberate policy.

I know this firsthand after observing results from which the supposedly smart algorithms refuse to learn, defaulting to spending more money than is otherwise necessary.

But if thats too niche-specific and not really relatable to you, lets focus on Googles (Alphabets) key, customer-facing product that drives most of its ads: its search engine.

After a quarter of a century, Googles delivery of search results hasnt fundamentally evolved. Its still the same page with links leading to supposedly most relevant results only they still contain a ton of spam or even outright misleading and deceptive sites that continue to outsmart Googles engineers and rank higher than reputable websites or businesses.

It seems that Google has stopped caring about improving its search engine because theres seemingly nobody who could challenge its de facto global monopoly. So, why bother?

At the same time, its advertising that still brings in the vast majority of money 80 per cent of Alphabets revenue, in fact.

In other words, the company is still dependent on 20-year old ideas that it is obviously not intent on meaningfully improving.

Even its venture into the mobile world, where Android is dominating in terms of market share, is ultimately supporting the very same ecosystem of free apps that Google uses to drive people to advertising that it cashes in on.

Advertising, lets remember, that is still largely based on displaying either clickable entries on a search results page, intrusive banners on third-party sites and apps, or interrupts your videos on YouTube and elsewhere (while youre just waiting to skip to what you really came to watch).

How long can a company survive if it depends on a search system that still struggles to provide accurate information and weed out spam or deception, and advertising that is largely an unwanted annoyance for the target audience?

Its quite clear that both are ripe for a shakeup by another innovative startup showing the big, slow elephant that it cant really think forward (in seven years of Alphabets other investments have, so far, failed to provide anything novel, after all).

Facebooks story is largely similar. It wasnt first to the social media market, but it was the first to provide something that glued people to their screens a timeline of activities from accounts and pages within a users network.

Fast forward 18 years and it still depends on just that, fending off challengers who applied a similar concept to other media like images (Instagram, which has since been acquired by Meta) or video (like TikTok).

At the same time, its leadership has obviously grown so self-assured that it believes itself capable of policing thought and speech of Facebooks three billion users, determining not only what they see, but what penalties are imposed on them for sharing politically incorrect opinions or memes, or even having online quarrels with other users.

Not exactly very social after all, is it?

And yet, the next big thing that Big Brother Zuckerberg believes will shape our future is the idea of putting on his VR helmets for hours on end, drifting into the virtual reality of the metaverse that he is so committed to that he has even rebranded his entire company around it.

But have users jumped on the hype? Not so much. While the VR market is growing, it is doing so on the back of improved experiences within existing uses like gaming, not new services that are much more comfortably accessed using legacy technologies which dont induce vertigo or make your eyes and head hurt after an hour or two.

I think its rather telling that these two huge companies have decided to rename themselves and yet failed to produce any innovation under either of the names.

Alphabet has been around for seven years and can anybody name anything that it has churned out outside of Googles brand that would gain global interest?

Meanwhile, Metas VR business is just another acquisition (of Oculups, the original innovators in the VR scene), not an internal development. And by Zuckerbergs creepy launch presentation, it seems that people running the show have, indeed, already lost touch with the real world.

Finally, my personal pet peeve, Adobe. Ive been working as a graphics designer since my early teens 25 years ago. Back then, Adobe was the pinnacle of software engineering in the field and nobody could come close. Even large, complex works were doable on hardware running a tiny fraction of the computing power modern PCs have.

And yet, after a quarter of the century, vast majority of functions (particularly in apps like Photoshop or Illustrator) are exactly the same, yet have a habit of crashing or slowing down even on advanced hardware. I just had Adobe Acrobat protesting removal of a few pages of a PDF file that simply contained a fair bit of outlined text on a Ryzen machine equipped with an RTX3080 and 64GB of RAM.

Adobes customer support forums are filled with mountains of complaints or feature requests dating years into the past that nobody in the company has ever taken care to read, let alone fix or implement.

Even worse, some basic features that are present in one program may be completely absent in another, even though they would be most welcome (and applicable). Heck, even mere copying of content between them is often difficult, buggy or downright impossible.

Why is that? Not because Adobe cant do it, but because it doesnt want to and doesnt have to, as theres nobody to threaten its position.

Its not a company that is any longer driven by engineering milestones, but by financial ones.

Like Boeing, where accountants running the business decided to cut corners so much that two new 737 MAX planes crashed killing a few hundred people on board. All because Boeing wanted to save a bit of money and time on proper licensing procedures that would require retraining existing pilots.

Two years ago, Adobe made a blunder of a similarly catastrophic scale (in proportion, of course) in its own market after a buggy update to Lightroom irreversibly deleted photos and crucial software presets of millions of users of the software on iOS devices.

The dominance it enjoys has culled progress almost entirely, so much so that there are no benefits that it can (or wants to) derive from modern hardware in virtually all of its programs except for video editing perhaps, but it is largely because in the video space it still has some competition to deal with.

Other than that, its simply cheaper to not improve much. Where are the people going to go anyway if Adobe products are not only a global standard, but pretty much a requirement in visual arts and design?

And yet, this is precisely what makes it and other big names so vulnerable. They think they are beyond competition and have strangled innovation in the process, because they just cant be bothered.

Why improve if youre so good that you pretty much own the market? And then, one day, someone comes along and shows the old guard that they are no longer good enough. But that lesson typically comes too late.

Excerpt from:
Why tech giants Meta, Google and Adobe are likely to collapse within 10 to 20 years - Vulcan Post

With record-breaking temperatures hitting the country this week, here in Coventry we've seen schools closing, restaurants shutting and even roads melting amid alerts over safety. Yet for some residents, actions to tackle the unprecedented heat are a sign of today's namby pamby snowflake culture.

You just need to wheel back a few years to get a different perspective - even if it is rose-tinted. For many older Coventrians, the tarmac in their day was made of tougher stuff, and schools closed for nothing, not even the safety of youngsters and the current heatwave is a doddle in comparison to the long hot summer of 1976.

Granted, the heatwave of that summer wasn't a couple of days, but almost a solid two months of blistering sunshine. But how did the city stay cool in the face of such heat back then?

READ MORE: Hour by hour forecast on hottest day of the year in Coventry

We've had a look back at the archives to see photos from that summer that show ways residents tried staying cool. This included teens frolicking in well-known fountains, including the popular one outside the Belgrade Theatre.

There was also an attempt to summon some much need rain over in Rugby with what would now be considered a slightly politically incorrect Indian Rain Dance, which included a man dressed in Native American gear. Other images show children splashing in paddling pools.

July of that year saw the Coventry Evening Telegraph reporting on hosepipe bans due to "the demand for water soaring to unprecedented levels". But those naysayers who say schools carried on as normal back in their day are actually wrong.

According to our archives, some city schools switched to 'continental class-hours in an attempt to beat the heatwave'. Sam Bentley, head of Burton Green Primary in the city, said the move "worked marvellously".

Do you remember the summer of 1976? How did you stay cool at the time? Let us know in the comments.

READ NEXT:

More here:
Images of how Coventry tried staying cool in the 1976 heatwave - Coventry Live

When Kshama Bindu, a 24-year-old woman from Gujarat, announced early last month that she was getting married to herself, I didnt pay much attention. But when she told the world that she was going for her honeymoon to Goa, I could no longer ignore her. I will spend time at Arambol beach where I can wear a bikini without anyone ogling at me, she said, promising to capture all my special moments on my mobile phone. She added that she was well equipped to handle questions about her spouse.

Well, I have no questions about her spouse, but had a few questions for her spouse. So, I sat down for an imaginary interview with Kshama Bindu, spouse of Kshama Bindu. Uninterrupted by calls from her spouse, she spoke. Excerpts:

Do I call you Kshama or Bindu? And what do I call your spouse?

Call me Kshama. As I am my spouse, you can call her, who is me, also Kshama.

Thats helpful, Kshama. So, how was it being your own bride and how does it feel being newly married?

Ah, the bride part was tough. A local BJP leader made a fuss over my sologamy being against Hindu practices and threatened to stop me from getting married at a temple, so it had to be a private affair. Yet it went off well. Its a wonderful feeling to be married, you know, especially to yourself since you are married to someone you know and someone who understands you.

Are you planning to have children?

Children are cute, and I err we definitely want to have them. With advances in ART its possible, but its too early to think of that. For now, I want to enjoy my married life. The best part of marrying oneself is that I can do everything travel, movies, eating out for half the price of a couple. Isnt that cuter than changing diapers without help from an extra hand?

I may be politically incorrect, but I have to ask this: Have you considered the possibility of a separation or divorce?

Not a problem. Ive thought it through. Though I am married to myself, I can have disagreements with my spouse who is myself. And I am not being philosophical here. But one thing I am certain, I will not fight with my spouse in front of our children. I think the chances of a divorce after sologamy are less, but it can happen. In the unlikely event of incompatibility and divorce, I swear I will not make it ugly. I will just divorce myself. And there would be no custodial battle for children. If my spouse, that is me, has to visit my children, I will make sure I make myself a seven-course dinner to be shared with the kids as the Madras high court has suggested. Anyway, I dont have a better half; the married me just feels full. Now that I am planning my honeymoon, I am all excited, and so is my spouse who is me.

That sounds a bit like Nithyananda

I get your attempted sarcasm, but here it is: I am not the first one to do this; sologamy has been around in the west for many years. The Netflix show Anne with an E might have inspired me to marry myself, but I wasnt being a copycat. I was being myself. What else explains I marrying me and I being happy with me? Well, if that sounds like Nithyananda, he had a point which you guys never understood.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

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The woman who married herself: An interview with Kshama Bindus spouse - Times of India

Hong Kong reported over 4,100 new Covid infections yesterday amid warnings that daily counts could eventually surpass 10,000 cases.

Contrary to the panic gripping the city at the start of the fifth wave, people seem to have largely got used to living with the numbers without being in a state of fear.

Apparently, the city has reached a new milestone in its pandemic fight.

Yesterday, The Standard's sister paper Sing Tao Daily carried a report saying the government was expected to shorten hotel quarantine for international travelers from seven days to either five days at a quarantine hotel plus two days of restriction outside hotel or four days in a hotel plus three days of restriction.

According to the report, a decision is expected within one or two weeks.

No matter which plan is adopted, people finishing their hotel quarantine will be given a yellow health code to restrict their movements for the rest of the specified period.

It is not yet absolutely clear if people who have completed the shortened hotel quarantine would have to self isolate at home or whether they would be free to go out but not allowed to visit certain premises, including restaurants, where customers are allowed to remove their masks.

But any small step in the direction of enabling the public to resume normal living is to be welcomed.

Of the two options - "five-plus-two" or "four-plus-three" - the second would be preferred since it would at least be one day closer to relatively normal living.

Hopefully, the shortening is only another step down the road, with more easing steps to follow until all quarantine and social distancing restrictions are lifted.

Signs have been promising even though development has been regrettably slow.

Just the day before, four local medical experts, including Yuen Kwok-yung and David Hui-cheong, took the lead to advocate a need to shift our current pandemic policy to one of mixed immunity that is currently the most common strategy practiced in the world. Mixed immunity is not a new concept. Whether it's called mixed immunity, herd immunity or even living with the virus, it means the same thing.

Were all these sensitive phrases in use during the preceding months? Back then, it would still have been impossible and politically incorrect for anyone in or near the establishment to publicly advocate such a policy shift.

That several of the city's best-known experts - as well as former Hospital Authority chief Leung Pak-yin - have spoken up to stress the need to face the reality that Covid won't disappear from the world could be a sign.

It is hoped that Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau will heed their calls and bring the policy up to date with a view to creating an exit roadmap.

Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee mentioned the other day that Hong Kong may have no choice but to open its international borders to normal travel before its borders with the mainland.

Despite her pledge to uphold Exco confidentiality, could Ip be hinting that normal international travel will resume sooner rather than later?

Read more here:
Time to step ahead without fear | The Standard - Hong Kong Standard

These once popular songs are now considered offensive

If these classic songs were released today, it would almost certainly ignite a scandal.

USA TODAY

There's nothing like hearinga song come on the radio or flicker across a Spotify playlistthat you haven't encountered in a while, and realizing, "Was this song always this offensive?"

The answer: Yes, it probably was. Standards have changed quite a bit in terms of what references the culture at large deems offensive in its hit songs, from casual homophobia in pop songs from Katy Perry and Taylor Swift to the jaw-dropping lyrical content of some Rolling Stones classics.

Below, find a list of songs that, if released today, would almost certainly ignite a scandal.

Song: Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas, 1974

Choice lyric: There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung / He said Here comes the big boss, lets get it on.'

Why it wouldn't fly today: Perhaps the song was just trying to celebrate the ancient art of kung fu. But its lyrics about funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown with stereotypically Asian-sounding last names isnt exactly a nuanced appreciation of the culture.

Song: Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones, 1971

Choice lyric: Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields / Sold in the market down in New Orleans / Scarred old slaver knows he's doing alright / Hear him whip the women just around midnight.

Why it wouldn't fly today: Even Mick Jagger knows these lyrics aged incredibly poorly; in recent years, hes changed the words when he performs the song live. Beyond the songs opening stanzas, the racism, misogyny and outright references to raping slaves make this a low point in the Stones discography.

Song: Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones, 1966

Choice lyric: Under my thumb, the squirmin' dog who's just had her day / Under my thumb, a girl who has just changed her ways."

Why it wouldn't fly today: Another disgusting entry in the Stones songbook, the song about a woman whos been molded to talk when she's spoken to is an embarrassment for even existing.

Song: Ur So Gay by Katy Perry, 2007

Choice lyric: I can't believe I fell in love with someone that wears more makeup and / You're so gay and you don't even like boys

Why it wouldn't fly today: If Perrys I Kissed A Girl was borderline gross for its exploitative take on same-sex experimentation, Ur So Gay crosses the line with its deeply immature rattling-off of gay stereotypes, driven home by the use of the word as a slur.

Song: Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift, 2008

Choice lyric: So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy / That's fine, I'll tell mine that you're gay.

Why it wouldn't fly today: Perrys frenemy Taylor Swift wasnt immune to the same kind of sophomoric homophobia, with Picture To Burn subscribing to the same backward view that the worst thing you could call a teenage boy is gay.

Song: Do They Know Its Christmas? by the Band Aid choir, 1984

Choice lyric: And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time / The greatest gift they'll get this year is life / Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow / Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Why it wouldn't fly today: Possibly the most culturally insensitive Christmas song of all time, the Band Aid supergroup may have raised money to alleviate an Ethiopian famine with the proceeds from Do They Know Its Christmas.But they did it with a song that declares the entire continent of Africa is bereft of water, trees or joy.

Song: Turning Japanese by The Vapors, 1980

Choice lyric: "I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese"

Why it wouldn't fly today: No, Turning Japanese isn't literally about turning Japanese. Still, it wouldn't be acceptable today to hear a group of white guys assuming the identity of Asian people.

Song: I'm an Indian Outlaw by Tim McGraw, 1994

Choice lyric: You can find me in my wigwam / I'll be beating on my tom-tom / Pull out the pipe and smoke you some / Hey and pass it around.

Why it wouldn't fly today: McGraw is certainly not an Indian outlaw, half Cherokee and Choctaw as he claims in the song. And even if he were, that wouldnt excuse the hilariously lazy Native American tropes he employs.

Song: Island Girl by Elton John, 1975

Choice lyric: Island girl, what you wanting with the white man's world / Island girl, black boy want you in his island world

Why it wouldn't fly today: The borderline fetishization in Johns chart-topping ode to a New York City prostitute whos black as coal but she burn like a fire is cringeworthy.

Song: Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, 1982

Choice lyric: Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony / Side by side on my piano keyboard / Oh lord, why don't we?

Why it wouldn't fly today: McCartney and Wonder meant well with their hyper-literal interpretation of race relations. But their message of people are the same, theres good and bad in everyone, so lets just get along would be interpreted as hilariously nave by the more woke factions of today's cultural discourse.

Song: Rape Me by Nirvana, 1993

Choice lyric: Rape me / Rape me, my friend

Why it wouldn't fly today: We get it. Kurt Cobain was a deeplytortured soul. He probably, in retrospect, couldve expressed this one better.

Song:Tonights the Night (Gonna Be Alright) by Rod Stewart, 1976

Choice lyric: Dont say a word, my virgin child, just let your inhibitions run wild"

Why it wouldn't fly today: In case the lyrics to this No. 1 hit werent cringe-inducing enough, try not feeling icky watching its video. In it, Stewart woos a faceless young woman and leads her up to his bedroom before she says in French, Im a little scared. What is my mother going to say?

Song:One in a Million by Guns N' Roses, 1988

Choice lyric: Immigrants and f****ts, they make no sense to me / They come to our country and think theyll do as they please"

Why it wouldnt fly today: Axl Rose attempts to win our sympathy with his story of a small-town white boy feeling lost when he moves to Los Angeles. But using derogatory language for gay and black men certainly doesnt help his case, nor do his wildly xenophobic lyrics about immigrants. (They talk so many (expletive) ways / its all Greek to me.)

Song: Kissin' Cousins by Elvis Presley, 1964

Choice lyric: "Well I've got a gal, she's as cute as she can be / She's a distant cousin but she's not too distant with me"

Why it wouldn't fly today: Nothing like a little casual incest to get the crowd up and dancing.This seemingly innocent but actually creepy doo-wop tune is taken from the King's 1964 movie musical, in which he plays an Air Force pilot whose two beautiful cousins compete for his affections.Different times?

Song: Age Ain't Nothing But a Number by Aaliyah, 1994

Choice lyric: "Age ain't nothing but a number / throwing down ain't nothing but a thang / This lovin' I have for you, it'll never change"

Why it wouldn't fly today: No disrespect to the late Princess of R&B, whose hypnotic vocals and idiosyncratic style remain timeless. But it's hard not to feel at least mildly uncomfortable listening to this song in retrospect: At the time she recorded it, a then-14-year-old Aaliyah was dating and would soon illegally marry her mentor/producer R. Kelly, who was 27.

Song: Illegal Alien by Genesis, 1983

Choice lyric:"It's no fun being an illegal alien"

Why it wouldn't fly today: Its message and story are seemingly well-intentioned, detailing a Mexican immigrant's struggle to cross the border in search of a better life. But the racist video puts the song in a whole different light, with stereotypical imagery of mariachi horns, ponchos, sombreros and oversize mustaches.

Song: Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed, 1972

Choice lyric:"Holly came from Miami, F-L-A/ Hitchhiked her way across the USA / Plucked her eyebrows on the way / Shaved her legs and then he was a she"

Why it wouldn't fly today: In a song filled with racy anecdotes, thisreference to Holly Woodlawn, a transgender actress who was bullied as a teenager and ran away from home, is alarmingly tone-deaf.

Song:Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, 1985

Choice lyric:"See the little f****twith the earring and the makeup? / Yeah buddy, that's his own hair / That littlef****t got his own jet airplane / That little f****t, he's a millionaire"

Why it wouldn't fly today: A slight at effeminate rock stars, once again using "gay" as an insult. It's no wonder this homophobic slur was omitted from the band's greatest-hits album,Sultans of Swing.

Song:Dude (Looks Like a Lady) by Aerosmith, 1987

Choice lyric:"She had the body of a Venus / Lord, imagine my surprise / Dude looks like a lady"

Why it wouldn't fly today:Guy walks into a bar and realizes the stripper he's been ogling is actually a man. Although the rock classic was co-written by openly gay songwriter Desmond Child, its questionable use in the media by Fox News when reporting on Chelsea Manning, for instance makes us think that it's not the homage to the LGBTQ community that he intended.

Song:He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)by The Crystals, 1962

Choice lyric:"He hit me and it felt like a kiss / he hit me and I knew he loved me"

Why it wouldn't fly today:Gerry Goffin and Carole King were inspired to write the doo-wop ballad by the tragic true-life story of singer Little Eva, who told them that her boyfriend's beatings were motivated by love. But without context, lyrics such as "he hit me and I was glad" are an off-putting endorsement of domestic abuse.

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20 politically incorrect songs that'd be wildly controversial today

Personalitydisorders are as common as clinical depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia, andcan be as devastating to their holders as are these mor recognized mentalillnessesalthough personality disorders are more overlooked, as theirsufferers seem more normal than those afflicted with depression, bipolar, orschizophrenia. The Mayo Clinics websitegives a good, concise overview of personality disorders, which are classifiedas mental disorders rather than, like depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia,mental illnesses. The Mayo Clinicslink, Personality Disorders, can be accessed here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20354463. 2014s state-of-the-art handbook on what iscurrently known about personality disorders, Handbook of PersonalityDisorders: Second Edition (Livesley and Larstone, eds., Guilford Press;available both in hardback and paperback), notes that personality disorders areabout 55% genetic and 45% environmental, and, in line with what the Mayo Clinicstates above, can result both from parents with personality disorders, as wellas abusive or chaotic childhood social environments. There are many varieties of personalitydisorders, as both the Mayo Clinic and the Handbook of Personality Disordersattest, and sufferers from personality disorders can have problems withrelationships, with employment and employability, and with schooling andgraduation. As a sufferer frompersonality disorder myself, I can attest to having struggled over my lifetimewith all of these. As persons withpersonality disorders get older, however, many of their symptoms are attenuatedand they become more normal, though usually with ongoing relationshipproblems (for example, while I now have an intimate network of friends, theyare paltry in number), problems with unemployment and underemployment (again,in my case, although a college graduate, I work a steady blue-collar laborjob), and problems in schooling and graduation (it took me 11 years to finallycomplete the requirements for graduating with a Bachelors degree). Sufferers from personality disorders are alsotroubled by extreme, over-the-top, emotional overreactions (I suffered thesetoo, especially with anger, which triggered angry outbursts).

Whilepersonality disorders were described in the psychiatric literature as early as1938, for a long time they were considered incurable; however, that haschanged, and a variety of long-term psychotherapies have successfully been usedfor treatment (medication is not regarded as effective, except for symptomaticrelief). The Handbook of PersonalityDisorders list several psychotherapies that have proven effective; amongthem are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy,mentalization, and an eclectic approach that combines techniques from severalof the successful therapies (while the various schools of psychotherapy thatare useful have differing theoretical perspectives, in practice, theirtechniques are overlapping and similar).Personality disorders are also comorbid with other mental illnesses,particularly with depression and bipolar, according to the above-cited Handbook. The point of psychotherapy in treatingpersonality disorders is to enable the patient to see underlying defects inhis/her thinking, and to replace wrong thinking with more realistic thinking. This is a process that involves regularpsychotherapy for a year or two, although in my case, successful psychotherapyhas taken considerably longer, probably becausefor 47 years (1965-2012) the psychiatrictherapy I was subject to at CMHCs was considerably wrongheaded and malfeasant, leavingme chagrined as a desperate, dependent outpatientsomething that did not changeuntil I started in 2014 with a private psychotherapist who used his particularversion of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Asfor childhood social environment as a cause of personality disorders, the ACEstudy (Adverse Childhood Environment), based on a sample base of 17,000 clientsof Californias Kaiser Permanente health insurance program, provides importantclues to the kind of parents who are more likely to have children with mentalhealth issues. Specifically, there arefour kinds of parents who are high-risk for creating such children: parents who abuse, belittle, curse, or beratetheir children; parents who are mentally ill or have personality disordersthemselves; parents who are alcoholics or drug abusers; and parents who havebeen imprisoned, or who engage in illegal activities. In my particular case, both my parents definitelyfell into the first category, and may also have fallen into the second, as theywere both given to over-the-top outbursts of rage that would go on in tiradesfor 10-15 minutes at a time.

However,based on my experience as the holder of a personality disorder, with properpsychiatric treatment, with a stable job and a solid friendship network, evenif small, the prognosis for recovery is solid and strong, even at a laterage. Given the prevalence of personalitydisorders, it is a shame that NAMI and other mental health advocates dontrecognize and educate on them nearly as much as they need to.

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Politically Incorrect Leftist

The Washington Post suspended political reporter Dave Weigel on Monday without pay for a month over a politically incorrect joke he retweeted last week that triggered a fellow Post employee, Felicia Sonmex. CNN was first to report on Weigels suspension. Weigel responded to Sonmez by deleting and apologizing yet she made a public spectacle and argued with another Post reporter, Jose Del Real who was trying to broker a peace but ended up getting attacked by Sonmez and deleted his Twitter account. Del Real reactivated his account after a cooling off period.

The Weigel controversy comes at the same time as another Post reporter, Taylor Lorenz, is embroiled in a scandal about false reporting and chaotic editing of her false reporting. Weigel has been suspended by the Post over a joke while Lorenzs false reporting and embarrassment for the Post has not drawn any apparent disciplinary action.

Dave Weigel, Washington Post promo photo.

The joke Weigel retweeted was, Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if its polar or sexual.

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Excerpt from CNN report by Oliver Darcy:

The Washington Post has suspended reporter David Weigel for one month without pay for retweeting a sexist joke, two people familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday.

Weigel did not respond to a request for comment, but an out-of-office reply from his Post email address said that he would return to work on July 5. Weigel apologized publicly last week for the retweet, saying he did not mean to cause any harm.

A spokesperson for The Post declined to comment, citing a need for privacy regarding personnel matters.

Darcy later added the suspension is for a month.

To be clear, the suspension is for one month, per sources.

Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 6, 2022

Earlier Monday Darcy tweeted about more dissension at the Post, Tension at WaPo remains high today. Video technician Breanna Muir, who was misidentified in a tweet from a colleague as Breanna Taylor, sent the following note to the entire newsroom this morning, replying all to Sally Buzbees Sunday memo. (Buzbee is the Executive Editor of the Post.)

Tension at WaPo remains high today. Video technician Breanna Muir, who was misidentified in a tweet from a colleague as "Breanna Taylor," sent the following note to the entire newsroom this morning, replying all to Sally Buzbee's Sunday memo. pic.twitter.com/HVMrsQJAf0

Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 6, 2022

Buzbees weekend memo:

We expect the staff to treat each other with respect and kindness both in the newsroom and online, she wrote in the all-newsroom email obtained by The Daily Beast. We are a collegial and creative newsroom doing an astonishing amount of important and groundbreaking journalism..

One of the great strengths of our newsroom is our collaborative spirit. The Washington Post is committed to an inclusive and respectful environment free of harassment, discrimination or bias of any sort. When issues arise, please raise them with leadership or human resources and we will address them promptly and firmly.

My best, Sally

In the wake of the recent social media dustups involving WaPo journalists, Executive Editor Sally Buzbee sends a memo to journalists admonishing them to treat each other with respect and kindness: pic.twitter.com/nRd5h0kLLD

Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) June 5, 2022

Del Real reactivated his Twitter account Sunday and posted a lengthy comment in which he played his social justice credential, saying he is the only Mexican-American on the national desk at the Post.

Last night I came under an unrelenting series of attacks intended to tarnish my professional and personal reputation. The cause? Some tweets I sent calling for compassion within our workplace. Those attacks continued this morning. 1/6 In hopes of de-escalating, I temporarily deactivated my account, amid a barrage of online abuse directed by one person but carried out by an eager mob. The one-sided attacks continued even after I stopped engaging. I know the old adage: Hurt people hurt people. But what then? 2/6 In such a situation, it is difficult to find the line between sympathizing and challenging with compassion. My instinct is to defend myself. But I talk a big game about kindness, and Im going to try to practice some of that now by simply moving on and not engaging. 3/6

I *will* just say that I am proud to be part of a workplace where, contrary to the impression created on this forum, many people are actively engaged in the work of dismantling systems of sexism, racism, and homophobia. Sometimes that work is loud, and sometimes it is quiet. 4/6 As the only Mexican American reporter on the national desk, I know the sting of discriminatory systems firsthand. Anyone who wants you to believe they alone are trying to fix it is doing a disservice to the amazing team effort unfolding, of which I am proud to a part. 5/6 Ill end where I began: Lets be kinder to each other. I really believe empathy is a necessary tool in this effort to improve our workplaces and our culture. We can all be better. I certainly will continue trying to be. 6/6

In hopes of de-escalating, I temporarily deactivated my account, amid a barrage of online abuse directed by one person but carried out by an eager mob. The one-sided attacks continued even after I stopped engaging. I know the old adage: Hurt people hurt people. But what then? 2/6

Jose A. Del Real (@jdelreal) June 5, 2022

I *will* just say that I am proud to be part of a workplace where, contrary to the impression created on this forum, many people are actively engaged in the work of dismantling systems of sexism, racism, and homophobia. Sometimes that work is loud, and sometimes it is quiet. 4/6

Jose A. Del Real (@jdelreal) June 5, 2022

Ill end where I began: Lets be kinder to each other. I really believe empathy is a necessary tool in this effort to improve our workplaces and our culture. We can all be better. I certainly will continue trying to be. 6/6

Jose A. Del Real (@jdelreal) June 5, 2022

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Washington Post Reporter Dave Weigel Suspended for Retweet of ...

>>385931931but you are wrong, in each of all counts.

fire is the warmth begat from the heavens, the warmth that kept tribes alive in the coldness of winter, the warmth that cooks food and nourishes life. it is this fire that brought forth cooperation, thus community.blood is the life that beats within all man, for each man contains within them the essence of life, and from their wound bleeds out their life. it is this blood that teaches us each man is equal, that death claims us at the end.steel is the hardness begat from our hands, the hardness that gave us tools to fight off the beasts, and put them under our command. it is this steel that grants us power, the ability to shape and alter the world to our desire.

fire begat religion and truth and faithblood begat empathy and equality and virtuesteel begat philosophy and science and literature

a sword can kill a man, but it is man who wields the sword. without man, a sword is useless. a sword is a tool, just like any other. a sword is created by the hands of man, using materials extracted and refined by the hands of man. to live by the sword is to die by the swords, and outside of hobbyists, the sword itself has been rendered obsolete by the weapons created by human industry and human science.

fools such as yourself only see the world with such childish eyes, a limited and simplistic view that knows not of the mechanisms that brought it to fruition. this 'primordial truth' that you claim is but an extension of another, and is built upon truths that you have decried as 'irrelevant'. a single warrior cannot defeat an army, a single gunman cannot kill an entire nation, and they are both nothing if not for civilization.

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/pol/ - Politically Incorrect - Page 4 - 4chan

As noted by MSN, Kung Pao chicken is said to have been named after a "19th-century Qin Dynasty official and governor of Sichuan Province" named Ding Baozhen. The name hails from "gong bao," which means Palace Guardian. Supposedly, the progenitor of kung pao chicken was one of his favorite meals. The origins of the dish, though and of Ding's reverence for it are often up for debate.

NPR states that it's unclear whether Baozhen ate the dish as a child before bringing it to Sichuan, or if he enjoyed it at a local restaurant. TheLos Angeles Times notes that he had a "penchant for stir-fried chicken ... [and] loved to eat it and often served it to guests." It is said that later in Ding's life, his chefs added "handfuls of dried chile and Sichuan pepper and a pleasing chord of sugar and vinegar," which is an approximation of the kung pao chicken of today.

Wu Maozhao a chef and cookbook author spoke with the LA Times, stating, "I think we can assume that the dish was originally based on Guizhou chicken with chiles, and acquired its name later because of Dig's fame." Guizhou chicken is in reference to a "Guizhou folk dish," which is a stew made of chicken, ciba chiles, and a sweet flour sauce.

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The Real Person Who Inspired Kung Pao Chicken - Mashed