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Category Archives: Politically Incorrect

Next Worst Films And Shows Of 2020 – Man’s World India

Posted: January 29, 2021 at 11:11 am

Every year, we take up the sordid task of skimming through the bottom-of-the-barrel of the years entertainment. Although this year was slim pickings, that didnt stop bad content from being, well, bad. Heres to the bad, worse, and downright unwatchable, and hoping that you didnt have to endure them.

What The Love! With Karan Johar (Netflix)

Unwatchability meter: Quite unwatchable, but could be a great watch when drunk or high.

Firstly, the title of the show is definitely not as intelligent as the team must have thought it to be. This is a show about finding love so lets take what the fuck and then change it to love hahaha, so funny. Secondly, the show was terribly sanitised and scripted, really boring, and had no goal. Six couples will find love at a random bar, and go on fake dates with celebrities who only did the show because they are KJos friends. Wow. So this is woke Splitsvilla on a budget? Thirdly, when KJo doesnt realise a young chap is gay (while he is evidently flamboyant so that the college kid sitting in Bilaspur does not need any hand-holding to spot the stereotypes while watching this aspirational show about rich kids and stylists finding love at a singles party, on his mobile subscription) and is pleasantly surprised and employs his laziest acting skills you know that this show is going to be forgettable AF.

Betaal (Netflix)

Unwatchability meter: Very unwatchable, might make you think of cancelling your subscription.

The Red Chillies-Netflix marriage didnt take off with Bard of Blood. So, when the South Korean zombie-themed series did so well, I am guessing it was time to try out an Indian iteration too? Because if it works in one market, why shouldnt it work in another? Id like to make both the teams write this a 100 times on a chalkboard VFX does not maketh a show.

Mrs. Serial Killer (Netflix)

Unwatchability meter: Unwatchable max, can induce beheading tendencies, starting with the films team.

The height of bad decisions made in 2020 is for Mrs. Serial Killer to get a release. It is the Arjun Kapoor of films so bad that it is really, really bad. Also, can we just keep Jackie F limited to dancing in Badshahs music videos?

A Suitable Boy (Netflix)

Unwatchability meter: Watchable, if you are hyper-privileged, educationally challenged, uninformed about culture and history, write clicking selfies under Occupation in your Tinder bio, and think Rajasthans contribution to India is being the countrys Instagram capital. Basically, if you are a moron. Politically incorrect, insensitive, callous adaptation, and boring with a capital B (Mira Nair, peddling Indian rivers-and temples-and-ghazal-soiree nostalgia is so last decade. Most of your white audience have already done the Agra-Rajasthan-Bombay-Goa backpack trip and know that theres more to India than that) are some of the accusations against this show. But what overtakes is an aged tawaif speaking in English, the colonial masters language, right after Independence. Is it a joke? Is it an insult? Cant decide.

Durgamati (Amazon Prime Video)

Unwatchability meter: If you have endured Sadak 2 and Laxmii, very watchable. Otherwise, unwatchable AF.

The trailer was enough for us to know that this was going to be a bad film. But how bad, we couldnt predict. At one point in the film, a psychiatrist informs us that the protagonist suffers from Kakorrhaphiophobia, the fear of failure. Evidently, the film-maker doesnt suffer from the same infliction.

Sadak 2 (Disney + Hotstar)

Unwatchability meter: Shamefully unwatchable, ensuring that Kalank is not the low point of Alia Bhatts filmography.

Whose idea was it to make a sequel to a film from two decades back, which isnt top-of-mind pop culture recall right now? Was Mahesh Bhatt just becoming too much of a nuisance at home that family, and dear friend Sanju Baba, came together to just keep him occupied and out of the house? How else can anyone explain this colossal waste of money and acting talent? How does Makarand Deshpande sleep at night after delivering the worst acting performance of the decade? Film-makers are still using death by trishul insertion as a method of killing the villain in the climax, and no one objected to it? Questions, so many questions.

Virgin Bhanupriya (Zee5)

Unwatchability meter: Watch it only if you need a sure shot entry for your Worst Films and Shows of 2020 piece.

I love it when item girls and Instagram influencers start believing that they are actors. It is such a positive vibe. Look at Urvashi Rautela ditching her sexy avatar to play a bespectacled, fully clad, sexually inert toddler. Now, thats what we call Art Cinema. Tomorrow, Nora Fatehi might star as the lead in an Indira Gandhi biopic. Mr Faizu will do an adaptation of Macbeth. I am stunned that Virgin Bhanupriya wasnt Indias entry for the Oscars. What a sad snub.

Laxmii (Disney + Hotstar)

Unwatchability meter: It is, irrefutably, the worst thing you will ever see unless Akshay Kumar takes it up as a challenge to beat that (which I hope he doesnt, for the countrys mental health).

And, the worst film or show or extended cut of a TikTok video goes to *drum roll please* Akshay Kumars Laxmii. If you watched the film, you must have sobbed for days, or gone on a killing spree, or both. Laxmii is such an abomination of a film, hitting a low point in every department of film-making, that it is in competition with Gunda and assorted Ramsay Brothers films and it might even beat them. Id like to start crowdfunding to pay for the Laxmii teams therapy, and also for a care package for Twinkle Khanna. And Kiara Advani, darling, even if you are getting the Burj Khalifa, can you please pick films that will add to your filmography, and not turn you into another Katrina Kaif? Unlike her, you actually can act.

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5 virtual games to play with family and friends over Zoom – Dereham Times

Posted: at 11:11 am

Are you tired of the now-boring weekly Zoom quiz or wanting to add some extra fun to your family catch-ups?

For many of us, I think it's right to say that we want to leave Zoom quizzes back in the first national lockdown and move on to something a little different.

Estate agents across Norfolk are using technology such as video calls to keep in touch with clients, conduct virtual house tours and even make initial valuations. Picture: Getty Images- Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

There are many virtual games made for multiplayers so that friends and families cankeep in contact and combat boredom during the coronavirus pandemic.

Through video conferencing appslike Zoom and Microsoft Teams, participants can share their screenand invite multiple online users into their calls.

Here are some suggestions for socially-distant fun games to play with your friends and family while staying at home.

The Jackbox Party Pack series consists of various party game collections that are easy to play and absolutely brilliant.- Credit: Jackbox Games

The Jackbox Party Pack series consists of various party game collections that are easy to play and absolutely brilliant.

Highlights include Quiplash, which challenges players to come up with the most hilarious answers to various prompts, and Fibbage,a fib-til-you-win trivia party game.

Each Jackbox Party Pack is available on PC, mobile, Xbox, and Play Station, and only requires one person to own the game, with up to eight players participating from their phones.

The host can easily share their screen over Zoom or Skype.

Cards Against Humanity say it's a party game for horrible people.- Credit: All Bad Cards

Cards Against Humanity say it's a party game for horrible people.

In the game,which is strictly for adults, players complete fill-in-the-blank statements using words or phrases typically deemed as offensive, risqu orpolitically incorrect.

There is now a way to enjoy the card game with up to 50 friends virtually, with All Bad Cards.

In order to start the game, head to the website and clickNew Game. The site will then ask you to type in your nickname. Youll get a shareable link to invite other people

Then all that's left to do is video call your friends and watch each other reacting to the hilarious answers.

Monopoly is now available on the app store- Credit: App Store

Many board game classicssuch as Cludeo and Uno have private multiplayer features online, meaning you can set up a game and choose who can enter.

The same goes for the much-loved Monopoly board game, which has been added to the app store for families to play remotely.

If you've ever played Balderdash, you'll get the gist of Psych!- Credit: Psych!

If you've ever played Balderdash, you'll get the gist.

Join the game remotely from your phone with your friends, choose from a number of categories, and start making up fake answers.

All you have to do is simply voice or video call each other to discuss your hilarious answers.

Tabletopia has more than 1,500 board games- Credit: Tabletopia

Tabletopia has more than1,500 board games, ranging from classics like chess and digital card packs, all the way through to modern games likebirdwatching card game wingspan.

Some of the games do require a subscription but the majority are free to play with your friends.

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It’s not just cricket: Australia Day isn’t the commercial winner it used to be – The Conversation AU

Posted: at 11:11 am

Australia Day used to be an obvious and uncontroversial occasion for brands to endear themselves to Australian consumers. No longer.

There has been a decided shift over the past decade in commercial attitudes to January 26, acknowledging the problematic nature of the dates choice as our day of national celebration to our First Nations.

Nothing demonstrates this more conclusively than Cricket Australia dropping references to Australia Day in its promotions of Big Bash League fixtures.

Its a significant step. The BBL doesnt need to appease inner-urban lefties. Its customer base is as middle-Australia as you can get. Nor can this be dismissed as corporate timidity, running for cover lest woke activists on social media make a fuss. Indeed the decision has likely excited more controversy than would have business as usual.

Well, its not cricket, declared Prime Minister Scott Morrison when asked about the move. I think Australian cricket fans would like to see Cricket Australia focus a lot more on cricket and a lot less on politics.

News Corps outrage machine has been running even hotter. The greatest betrayal of this country by a sporting body, fumed Sky News host Chris Smith.

Both Morrison and News Corp know something about appealing to core audiences. In this case, Cricket Australias attunement to its stakeholders is probably a better barometer of national feeling.

Brands have never been shy about using national holidays for commercial gain.

Take Anzac Day a date (on April 25) far less controversial than Australia Day, but one still fraught with sensitivities.

The Australian Football League has leveraged the Anzac spirit since 1995 through its Anzac Day match betweeen Collingwood and Essendon. Though not without its critics, the league has mostly managed to avoid running afoul of community sentiments in balancing commodification with commemoration.

Other brands have not been so artful. Woolworths, for example. In 2015 the Fresh Food People ran an Anzac Day campaign involving an image generator by which people could upload a photo of a relative who served in World War I or a more recent war to create a social media profile picture overlaid with the phrase Fresh in our Memories and a Woolworths logo.

Woolworths executives were shocked to discover many people thought this distasteful, and quickly dropped the promotion.

But it generally takes a lot for brands to back away from commercialisation opportunities. Carlton & United Breweries also copped criticism in 2015 over its Victoria Bitter beer brands Raise a Glass campaign (running since 2009) but was unapologetic.

It defended its association with Anzac Day citing a photo of Australian soldiers serving in Egypt during World War II who made a VB made out of Victoria Bitter beer bottles, and the money it contributed to the Returned & Services League and Legacy.

It did, however, drop the campaign in 2016. And now, of course, CUB is owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi, which makes such promotions somewhat awkward.

Read more: Should we be consuming more than just patriotism on national days?

This may explain why VB has clung to its Australia Day promotions.

It used January 25 in 2018 to launch Knock Off Times campaign. Last year it marketed VB-branded thongs the ultimate fashion accessory for the Australia Day long weekend.

The reason is simple: its a sales opportunity.

The national public holiday is a day to have a party with family and friends. Barbecues are popular. Its a useful date for alcohol brands and others to time promotional campaigns that position themselves as dinky-di.

Coopers, now the largest Australian-owned brewery, has also used the day to promote its true-blue credentials. In 2017 it ran a national billboard campaign with the slogan: Australia Day. Australian-owned. Perfect.

Even brands with tenuous connections to barbecues (or Australia) have gotten in on the act. A Mercedes-Benz promotion in 2018 featured sausages on a grill in the style of the German luxury car brands three-pointed badge

But for brands attuned to middle Australia, waving the flag around Australia Day is losing its explicit appeal as community attitudes change.

Lets not forget the date has never been universally embraced. Marking the date of arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson in 1788, January 26 was only nationally adopted as Australia Day in the mid-1930s. Given the dates association with colonisation and dispossession, Indigenous Australians have lamented the choice ever since. In 1938 the first Aboriginal Day of Mourning and Protest was held in Sydney. Counter-commemorations of the day as Survival Day and Invasion Day are hardly new.

To appreciate how attitudes have shifted, think about lamb.

No advertiser has leveraged Australia Day more adroitly than Meat and Livestock Australia. It has pegged its advertising campaign promoting lamb as the national meat to the holiday for two decades, with former AFL player and lambassador Sam Kekovich fronting the campaign from 2005 to 2014.

The longevity of the campaigns timing with January 26 indicates the strategys success.

The campaigns have been consistently irreverent, appealing to the larrikan sense of humour. But in recent years theyve also become far less politically incorrect. Gone are explicit appeals to nationalism and skewering of easy targets such as vegans. Instead their messages are about sharing and togetherness.

This years campaign, Make lamb, not walls, is a comical take on border closures. Notably it makes no mention of Australia Day.

Last week pollster Essential Research, which has been surveying Australians annually since 2015 about their feelings of Australia Day and celebrating it on January 26 published data showing 53% of Australians regard it as just another public holiday (compared with 40% in January 2015).

Opposition to moving Australia Day to another day is still quite significant (35%) but, tellingly, just 17% of those aged 18-35 are opposed, compared with 55% of those 55 or older. Even among Coalition voters, more support a separate day than oppose it (49% to 45%).

The waning attachment of market-sensitive mainstream brands such as MLA to the day may be just as telling, in the same way betting markets are a useful adjunct to polls to accurately measure the popular mood.

Read more: New research reveals our complex attitudes to Australia Day

Cricket Australias detachment may be the most significant of all barometers. Its hard to think of a brand more acutely aligned with Australian identity.

True, not all the BBLs franchise teams are on board. The commercial and marketing manager of the two Melbourne teams, Nick Cummins, is batting on with promoting this years January 26 fixtures at the MCG as Australia Day matches. It was, he said a complex issue that needs time and extensive engagement.

But the writing is on the wall. As Indigenous cricketer Dan Christian put it, there comes a time to to read the room.

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The most UnAustralian Australians of the Year – Sydney Morning Herald

Posted: at 11:11 am

The Private Sydney Australia Day Dishonours list is dedicated to the shameless, the unintentionally hilarious, the idiotic, the buffoonish and the self-absorbed of our great land.

And theres no shortage of contenders, as a quick scroll down the Daily Mails right-hand column of shame would testify on any given day and at any given hour.

This year's honour for Services to Indolence goes to Kyle Sandilands. The radio star, who is almost as famous for the amount of days he has off work than he is for his tawdry love life, became headline news again after he slept in and turned up to work an hour late last week.

Sierra uploaded a video to social media outlining the couples experience and said they had been kept in the dark after multiple training sessions were cancelled at the last minute.Credit:YouTube/Vanessa Sierra

PS's nominees for Services To Shameless Attention Seeking have to be Aussie tennis star Bernard Tomic and his latest squeeze, an OnlyFans adult entertainer named Vanessa Sierra.

Rebel Wilson with her beer baron boyfriend Jacob Busch in Monte Carlo last year.Credit:Instagram

They've been "locked up" in hotel quarantine ahead of the Australian Open and according to them, the conditions have been unbearable. (Sierra now says she was joking when she started posting on social media about the hardship of having to wash her own hair, which the next day she claimed had generated 500 death threats.)

Sierra scaled the dizzying heights of Aussie celebrity as an also-ran on the torturous dating show Love Island, but last week she became headline news all by herself on Channel Seven. The network played her heavily edited video, apparently skipping Sierra's "punchline", though to be honest she's no Joan Rivers.

Comic Rebel Wilson is being inducted today into the Order of the Ultimate Bogan Betrayers.

Wilson has been applauded for shedding kilos during her year-long health kick, but judging by her highly-orchestrated Instagram feed it would appear she now has little in common with the woman her fans originally fell in love with.

Wilson got her big break in Fat Pizza 20 years ago, in which she unapologetically played overweight Greek-Australian Toula. Last year she admitted she would be "crucified" if the politically incorrect show went to air today.

Wilson also wrote and starred in the series Bogan Pride, playing the character Jennie Cragg as she embarks on a quest to win $10,000 in a local dance battle to pay for her morbidly obese mother's stomach stapling operation.

No more fat-shaming, culturally insensitive cheap laughs for Wilson these days though.

Wilson now flies around the world's most exclusive resorts on a seemingly endless fleet of private jets, parties on superyachts with billionaires, and hangs out with European royalty and Hollywood A-listers. She is dating a hot beer baron with a penchant for Gucci mules and regularly poses in sexy photo shoots showing off her new, svelte figure.

For Services to Injectibles, Lip Fillers and Fabulousness, PS can't look past former child star Jack Vidgen, who has recreated himself into an androgynous Lolitaesque character. He appears to have kissed his squeaky-clean, boy next door persona goodbye, along with his legion of 80-year-old grandmother fans.

During his time on I'm A Celebrity. . . Get Me Out Of Here! Vidgen opened up about the many cosmetic procedures he had undergone, saying: "If someone's happy... and they look like a circus clown... if they're happy, they're happy."

Jack Vidgen, then 14, blew everyone away with his audition on Australia's Got Talent in 2011.Credit: Nine

Clearly not as happy are this years inductees into the Order Of Repressed Angry White Men who have valiantly been waging their battles on the gender, race and sexuality fronts since Moses was a boy: NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham and unintentional humorist, Christian lobbyist Lyle Shelton.

Latham has given up trolling former Australian of the Year, domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty, and focused his hyperventilation on ensuring school kids remain in their scientifically-proven gender camps (sorry Jack, you and your false eyelashes and luscious lips are not welcome).

Meanwhile like-minded Shelton has been waging war against story book reading drag queens in Brisbane when he's not posing in selfies with local Proud Boys. He insists he was joking after he managed to absorb valuable Queensland police time when he tweeted he had a "sneaky run across the border and back" and "avoided the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] virus police" in the process.

However you intend to commemorate, commiserate or simply ignore Australia Day, and regardless of your views on Shelton, Latham, Sandilands, Tomic, Sierra, Wilson et al, we should never forget how lucky we are to live in a place where deliberately mischievous columns such as this can be written.

That's reason enough to let all us Australians rejoice every day of the year.

Andrew Hornery is a senior journalist and Private Sydney columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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The defense production act can be used as a incentive rather than a weapon: NAM CEO – Yahoo Money

Posted: at 11:11 am

The Telegraph

Anger is mounting in Somalia over allegations young men are being secretly recruited and sent to Eritrea to fight in Ethiopia's civil war. Three families told Reuters their young sons had officially been recruited by Somalia's government to work in Qatar, only to later find out they had been sent to Eritrea and forced to serve as soldiers. Ali Jamac Dhoodi, 48, told the news agency he thought his son was working as a security guard in Qatar to help prepare for next year's football World Cup. But he said he was later told by Somalia's National Intelligence Agency that his son had died in Eritrea. "They showed me a picture from their WhatsApp and asked me, 'do you know this picture and his full name?' I said, 'yes he is my son,'" Dhoodi, 48, said. "They said to me 'your son died'. I cried." Others said their sons, who had originally been sent to Eritrea for military training, were sent to fight in the Ethiopian civil war. Mothers have led rare protests in the capital Mogadishu demanding to know where their children had been sent, and some lawmakers have written to Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo asking for information. I heard that our children who were sent to Eritrea for military training have been taken and their responsibility was turned over to [Ethiopian Prime Minister] Abiy Ahmed to fight for him, Fatuma Moallim Abdulle, the mother of 20-year-old soldier Ahmed Ibrahim Jumaleh, told The Associated Press. "According to the information I gathered, our children were taken straight to Mekele city," the capital of the Tigray region, she said. You may understand how I feel, I am a mother who carried her child for nine months in my belly, thats my blood and flesh. Eritrea is accused of involvement in the conflict pitting its neighbour Ethiopia's federal government against the rebellious leaders of the northern Tigray region. Witnesses have accused Eritrean forces of massacring civilians and pillaging villages in the embattled region. The United States on Thursday said it had pressed Eritrea's government to immediately withdraw its troops from Ethiopia. Somalian and Ethiopian authorities have denied Somali troops are being deployed in Tigray. Ethiopia and Eritrea have consistently denied reports of Eritrean troops fighting in the conflict, despite extensive Telegraph reporting and the video of an Ethiopian general pointing to the contrary.

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One more day of the Trump administration – Red Bluff Daily News

Posted: January 19, 2021 at 8:59 am

One more day of having a raging personality disorder in the White House. This stable genius who isnt. This desperately small man who staged a failed coup on the 6th of January. This weak man who doesnt have the ego strength to admit defeat, nor the grace to congratulate the winner. This frightened man who slinks away to his Florida estate without attending the inauguration of his successor.

Trump is undoubtedly the worst president we have ever had in modern times or are likely to ever see again.

Some folks around here disagree enamored with the Trump Cult and badly in need of deprogramming. My comrade on the right side of this page called him the best president ever. Excuse me?

Of course, Republicans only have a couple moves left in their playbook. If it doesnt involve tax cuts for the wealthy, spending cuts for single moms or obscene increases in military spending, the Republicans just dont know what to do. They have become one dimensional. Do these things, or say these words, and you will continue to get votes around here until time in memorial.

Which is probably why Trump messed up on COVID. They have taken Reagans pejoratively famous nine worst words Im from the government and Im here to help and have turned that into an item of faith; a chiseled commandment in the rock of right-wing ideology.

The fact is some problems are best solved by government. By working together. We are about to see a new philosophy of good government emerge when Biden takes the reins on Wednesday. And he inherits a real mess. Luckily, he has a Democratically controlled Senate and House poised to save the day.

It is deja vu all over again. Remember 2009, when Obama took over and the economy was in a free fall? We have a similar situation this time, possibly even worse. In 2009, the Democrats had the House and the Senate and they led the way out of the Great Recession. They will lead the way out of this challenge too.

Republicans break things; Democrats know how to fix things. It is as simple as that. The people of Georgia knew that when they had the wit to vote in two Democratic senators in our time of need. We all need to eat a peach in gratitude for the wisdom Georgia has shown the country.

Last week, the normally conservative Chico Enterprise Record called on Rep. Doug LaMalfa to resign. LaMalfas antics on national TV where he embarrassed northern California by bringing up skepticism of the moon landing on Chris Cuomos show was just the start of a very bad post-election season for LaMalfa.

Doug has been in lockstep with Trump for the past few years. Congressman LaMalfa joined in with those who tried to undue the 2020 election by challenging the electoral votes of two states. This after the failed coup of Trump zealots storming the Capitol and briefly holding the building while Confederate flags were paraded around Statuary Hall.

But in a move that might cost severe illness or even death for a peer, he refused to wear a mask while in cramped quarters with other Congressmen and women during the occupation of the Capitol building. They spent hours hiding in a meeting room where a colleague, Lisa Blunt, offered him a mask. LaMalfa refused, while a fellow Republican said he didnt want to make the situation political. LaMalfa succumbed to Republican politically incorrect peer pressure just like any high school student. Shame.

Three Democratic lawmakers have since tested positive for COVID, including a stage 4 cancer survivor, and they blame the time spent with Doug and his COVID Mary colleagues as their probable exposure.

How sad is that? What kind of leadership is that? No wonder Tehama County has a nation leading 44% COVID test positivity rate. The rest of California has a 12.6% rate.

Doug LaMalfa has become a zealot for the anti-science, anti-common-sense, extremist right-wing of the Republican Party. He not only has become toxic for our democracy, he now has become toxic for the best way, besides the vaccine, that we have for combating a virus that sickens and kills his constituents.

The Chico ER is correct: LaMalfa should resign and return to the government subsidized rice ranch he inherited.

Audrey Denney would have been a much better congressional representative for us. Maybe someday we will learn to vote for the best candidate rather than just voting for the candidate with the R behind his or her name.

Allan Stellar is an RN and a freelance writer who moved to Red Bluff after the Camp Fire. He can be reached at Allan361@aol.com.

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How anti-vax memes replicate through satire and irony – The Conversation UK

Posted: at 8:59 am

For most of us, memes are the harmless fodder of an extremely online internet culture, floating benignly between different social media platforms and, on the whole, making us laugh. But in the shadier corners of the internet, like on the forum 4chan, memes can quickly mutate from jokes into more ambiguous, shocking and potentially harmful viral content.

Thats especially true of memes that call into question the efficacy and safety of vaccines often termed anti-vax content. Anti-vaccination sentiment is not a new phenomenon, but is increasingly fuelled by online misinformation. Unfounded claims proliferate online, linking vaccines to disease development, or presenting COVID-19 as a hoax.

When they go viral, such conspiracy theories present a major obstacle to the success of any immunisation campaign, as they may contribute to vaccine hesitancy. In the UK, more than a quarter of the population signals reluctance or suspicion about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Globally, willingness to be vaccinated varies widely.

To combat the spread of anti-vaccination rumours, platforms are currently using a dual strategy of censorship and fact checking. Both practices have their pitfalls. Censorship may actually stimulate curiosity, while people who distrust mainstream media are not likely to trust fact checkers.

And much online content like viral memes is not primarily meant to inform, and is therefore hard to evaluate in terms of whether its information, misinformation, or simply a joke.

Internet memes are a defining feature of online communication. The term can refer to any widely shared and replicated piece of online content in a variety of styles and formats. While mostly humorous or relatable, some memes have come to be associated with hateful beliefs through their occurrence on influential websites such as the imageboard 4chan.

Read more: Coronavirus and conspiracies: how the far right is exploiting the pandemic

4chan boasts over 20 million unique visitors a month, and is highly influential in meme culture. On 4chans Politically Incorrect board (/pol/), people anonymously discuss world news and political events from perspectives that run counter to the public consensus. Views expressed on /pol/ can be shocking and unpleasant.

Conspiracy theories such as QAnon flourished on /pol/, and the forum has been linked to the recent Capitol riots.

Presumed malicious intent behind vaccination programmes is a commonly voiced concern on the board. In a recent study, I showed that anti-vaccination posts encountered on /pol/ (and found across social media) display a number of recurring elements, such as revulsion to vaccine ingredients and selective appeals to authority. With vaccine hesitancy becoming an increasingly pressing concern, the role of such memetic patterns in the spread of misinformation deserves careful attention.

Anti-vaccination posts regularly contain a visual component. For instance, a reference to authority can be expressed through a vaccine-critical quote next to the face of the person who supposedly uttered it. Surprisingly often, quotes included in anti-vaccination discussions are attributed incorrectly.

Online, incorrect attribution does not just happen by accident. Fake quotes are a very popular meme format, often intended to satirise and amuse. Todays internet users are likely to encounter the face of historic figures such as Lincoln, Einstein or Gandhi, paired with an absurdly out-of-place statement.

Such memes creatively critique the popular practice of sharing inspirational messages. They also ridicule received sources of wisdom and authority. But as a result, it is often unclear whether anti-vaccination statements voiced through the face-and-quote format are shared and received in earnest, or through an ironic lens.

Accustomed to online irony, a proportion of internet users on 4chan and beyond may not intend their multi-layered jokes to contribute to vaccine hesitancy. The influence of ironic meme culture may also mitigate the impact of misinformation by priming the browsing crowd for absurdity rather than accuracy. However, diverse audiences make for diverse reactions. While quotes supposedly exposing the evil intentions of figures such as Bill Gates a common target of conspiratorial beliefs can easily be read in jest, they can also influence internet users to distrust vaccines.

A second common feature of anti-vaccination discourse is revulsion to vaccine ingredients. This sentiment tends to be communicated by means of lists combining chemical and bestial elements. When taken out of context, a compilation of vaccine components mentioning mercury, formaldehyde, and cows blood can indeed inspire fear and disgust. When presented to shock, the ingredients of any complex product may come to look like an alchemists concoction or a sinister witchs brew.

Feelings of aversion may be exacerbated by the image of a syringe, which in anti-vax posts is often presented together with ingredients deemed harmful. Most children fear needles, and a large proportion of adults do, too. In many contexts, sharp objects are associated with harm, not health.

It is surprising, then, that ironic replications of the syringe-plus-ingredients template circulate online, mocking the anti-vaxxers fears and supposed scientific illiteracy. Such memetic efforts may aim to comically combat misinformation, but nonetheless spread visual prompts that reinforce suspicion. From this perspective, you may even wonder whether popular newspapers contribute to vaccine hesitancy by repeatedly using pictures of a needle breaching the skin.

Attitudes to vaccination are communicated not just through what is written, but also through particular representational patterns. Meme formats and visual outlines can spread misinformation, even when created and shared with humorous intent.

After all, Poes Law dictates that theres a wafer-thin line between satirical and fanatical content. In the context of COVID-19, that line is all too easily crossed.

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How anti-vax memes replicate through satire and irony - The Conversation UK

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On January 17 in NYR history: The last tieever – Blue Line Station

Posted: at 8:59 am

What happened on January 17 in the history of the New York Rangers

The 2003-04 season was the last season that the NHL had games end in a tie. On this date in 2004, the New York Rangers played the last tie game in their history. The game was in Montreal and the final score was 2-2. It was the 5,320th game in the team history and the 808th game to end in a tie. Alex Kovalev scored with just over five minutes left in the third period to tie the game.

From its inception until the 1942 -43 season, NHL teams played a 10 minute overtime period (not sudden death), but an overtime loss did not count for any points. Eliminated due to wartime restrictions, the league then just played a 60 minute regulation game until the 1983-84 season when the NHL introduced the five minute sudden death overtime. Games could end in a tie in this format. A team that lost in overtime or tied, got one point in the standings.

Ties went away completely when the league introduced the shootout in the 2005-06 season. The last tie registered in the NHL was on April 4, 2004 when the Carolina Hurricanes came back to tie the Florida Panthers in their last game of the season.

Ties were never a satisfactory way to end a game. Politically incorrect in these times, the common phrase to describe a tie was like kissing your sister. Its hard to imagine, but the Rangers actually played 21 ties in the 1950-51 season. Thats 30% of the games in what was then a70 game campaign.

Coincidentally, that 1950-51 team broke the franchise record of 13 ties in a season on this exact date when they tied the Bruins 2-2 at Madison Square Garden. The old mark had been set by the 1948 Rangers.

Five of the 21 NHL players born on this date were members of the New York Rangers, including one Hall of Famer.

On this date in 1929, Jacques Plante was born in Shawanigan Falls, Quebec. Plante is considered one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history and he was the first to use a mask in an NHL game. He played only two seasons in New York, traded from Montreal in a swap of legendary goalies. Gump Worsley went to Montreal in exchange for Plante after the 1962-63 season.

It was not a good deal for New York as Plante retired after being sent down to the AHL while Worsley won two Vezina Trophies with the Canadiens. In 1967 he attempted a comeback with Oakland, but the Rangers disputed his contract. He did come back in 1968 in 1968 with the St. Louis Blues, winning the Vezina Trophy for the seventh time.

Plante won six Stanley Cups with Montreal and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.

Leo Bourgeault was a defenseman bornon this date in 1903 in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. He was a member of the first New York Rangers team after being bought from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played five years in New York and was on the 1928 Stanley Cup championship team.

Fred Hunt was born on this date in 1918 in Brantford, Ontario. He was one of the players who made the NHL during the war years, playing 44 games in 1944-45. The right winger scored 13 goals in his one season in New York, one of two years he was in the NHL.

Aaron Ward was born on this date in 1973 in Windsor, Ontario. The defenseman was a high profile free agent signedto a two year deal worth $5.5 million in 2006, right after he had won a cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. His time in New York was short as he feuded with Jaromir Jagr and he found himself traded to the Boston Bruins for Paul Mara after only 60 games.

Viktor Stalberg was a Swedish winger signed as a free agent by the Rangers in the summer of 2015. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden on this date in 1986. He had previously played two season in Nashville after winning a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawsk in 2013. He played only one season in New York, scoring nine goals. He departed via free agency and is now playing in the KHL.

The Rangers have not enjoyed playing on January 17 with only 11 wins in 34 games.

Games: 34Regulation wins: 11Regulation losses: 17Ties: 6Points percentage: .411

A year ago the Rangers were off, recovering from a dramatic win over the Islanders.

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Opinion | When grief goes online – WION

Posted: at 8:59 am

Earlier this week, my family found itself in a rather strange predicament. A distant relative had died. My mother-in-law wanted to pay her condolences to the family. Visiting the grieving family was ruled out given the COVID-19 concerns we're all harbouring despite vaccines rolling out and official numbers coming down.

And then we received a strange invitation on Microsoft Teams from the son of the deceased. A virtual prayer meeting was to be held and we were all to offer our condolences -online.

To my surprise, my mother-in-law, who is very quickly adapting to the new normal, didn't bat an eyelid and decided that she would embrace this too and perform her duties.

What followed was the strangest exercise in coordinating a Microsoft Teams call. A few politically-incorrect giggles followed which didn't fit the occasion. And of course, some tech goof-ups are the trademark of every online class, virtual conference, or meeting, and in this case, a virtual prayer meeting.

We asked ourselves the all-important questions. Would it be appropriate to switch off our video while we offer condolences to the grieving family? What if my son wakes up and starts singing Peppa Pig anthems, or worse yet, what if he screams for a run to the washroom?

We sat down solemnly, patted our hair in place, and muted our microphones. After all, we didn't want someone asking "what's for dinner?" in the middle of this grave exercise!

Family members from across the country and even other parts of the world logged in. Multiple windows were opened, each struggling to keep a sombre face in an unnatural setting. Some forgot to mute their microphones and were heard juggling household chores while the family of the deceased tried to keep their Wi-Fi connection strong enough to handle the virtual grief.

And I thought to myself -- this perhaps is a new way of life. A new way of connecting or disconnecting. We've suffered through the pains of working-from-home and juggling household chores. We have borne the pain of separation from loved ones during lockdowns. And now, we must say goodbye to our loved ones in the most disconnected way too. And yet, we show up, we maintain a sombre face, we persevere.

At some point during the virtual prayer meeting, someone's son had to use the washroom, while another's house help asked what to cook for dinner. Some laughed at the faux-pas while others ignored them. We struggled to keep a straight face, momentarily forgetting why we were in this strange predicament in the first place.

And then it dawned upon me that the pandemic has changed us in more ways than one.

It's one thing when education moves online, weddings are held on video conferences and baby shower gifts are exchanged on Google Pay. But it is truly strange when grief goes virtual. When the end of life is marked with multiple chat windows and curious faces peering at one another. Some observe the other's clothes, some notice the weight gain, others feel obligated to connect with those with whom they have lost contact over time.

And for the elderly, it is an unfair battle. When I see my mother-in-law embrace technology, it gives me pride. When I see her preparing herself to monitor my son's online classes, I feel grateful. But when I see her sitting down on a Microsoft Teams call, grieving and yet worried if the Wi-Fi connection will betray her, I feel frustrated.

But then again, we fight on, we persevere, we realize that this is the New Normal. Who knows if people will ever congregate to offer condolences again?

I shudder to think of what else will move online. Any guesses?

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

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Among Marginalized Voices at Upcoming Theater Festival: Conservatives – Heritage.org

Posted: at 8:58 am

Succeeding in the world of theater is tough no matter who you are. But if youre a conservative Orthodox Jew, its even tougher. Just ask Joshua Danese.

Danese is hardly new to the profession. Some three decades ago, he found success as a young, progressive, secular Jewish writer. He wrote and produced plays and occasionally acted as well. Then one day, he was inspired to write a play about Orthodox Jews.

I started doing research about them, one thing led to another, and in that journey I ended up being religious, he told me in an interview.

Josh changed his name to Yehoshua Danese, and became a rabbi in a yeshiva. He got married, and he and his wife have 11 children. Now, 30 years later, he has gotten back to writing, but as a very different man. And his current identity has made his reception in the theater world very different from what it had been when he was young and liberal.

I understand that things are stacked against me, he says, and that no one will put on a play that is politically incorrect.

But he perseveres, and now his play, When Ms. Thompson and Cynthia Met at the Beach, will be performed for the first time at thefifth annual Conservative Theatre Festival, which will take place at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, Ohio, on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30. This may be the nations only conservative theater festival.

Playwright Linda Howard Cooke harbored similar concerns about her play Unplanned. She was sure it would never see the light of a theater because of its pro-life theme.

Cooke started writing plays 10 years ago, when she was working in a small rural high school in Nebraska as a drama coach. I had a hard time finding many plays that I liked, she told me, so it was the old adage: if you want it done properly, do it yourself.

She has since had four plays published, and Unplanned will be performed for the first time at the Conservative Theatre Festival at the end of this month.

Robert Cooperman, the founder of Stage Right Theatrics, explains that he started the annual Conservative Theatre Festival because he was tired of seeing conservatives presented as bumpkins and people who needed to be educated. Now in its fifth year, the festival describes its content as original plays from marginalized voices.

The irony is hard to miss. The arts have long been a place for marginal voices. But today, theater, film, television, and literature are almost entirely in lockstep with the woke leftand marginal voices have been marginalized into silence. Moreover, the arts are increasingly used as a cudgel to beat up those who do not adhere to the prevailing worldview of the left.

The pressure for theaters to host woke contentor else feel the backlash of cancel cultureis extreme. Last year, theater producer Marie Ciscopublisheda list of Theaters Not Speaking Out She asked people to list theaters that had not made a statement against injustices toward black people.

The fact thattheaters across the countrywere struggling merely to stay alive amid canceled seasons was of no concern.

It is all the more admirable, therefore, that Cooperman is not afraid to stand as a lone voice in organizing the fifth annual Conservative Theatre Festival. And in spite of the fact that the coronavirus will restrict the audience size, the good news is that for the first time, the performances will be livestreamed, making them accessible to audiences across the country.

The plays that will be performed in this years festival are: For a Daddy by Anne Nygren Doherty; Friday Night Dead Teiresias by Mark Dinsmore; Grandmas Easter Parade by Jason Ford; If the Shoe Fits by Hope Bolinger; Unplanned by Linda Howard Cooke; and When Mrs. Thompson and Cynthia Met at the Beach, by Joshua Danese.

As we enter this next, difficult phase of the battle for the soul of the country, conservatives must re-engage in the culture. We cannot allow it to be the exclusive domain of the left.

As Andrew Klavan pointed out in his article The Crisis in the Arts: Why the Left Owns the Culture and How Conservatives Can Begin to Take It Back: The arts are one of humanitys most noble enterprises. They have been hijacked by adherents of a low and oppressive ideology. We should take them back.

Supporting conservative playwrights and conservative theater is one step in the right direction.

>>> Performances will be Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For more information, visitconservativefestivaloh.com.

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