RubySoho
Winston
It’s Official: The Human Race Has Finally Lost The Plot, PART TWO
July 1st 2008 02:49
I like to think the human race has come a long away. That we are breaking free of the shackles of old superstitions and irrationalities. That the work of our scientists and philosophers are leading us into a future of clear thinking and reason. But truth be told, sometimes I think I am just kidding myself. The fact is we still live in paranoid times. It's just a different sort of paranoia now. Don’t believe me? Think I'm being melodramatic? Check these stories out for size.
A Greater Manchester woman was told off by policemen after describing her hit and run attacker as “fat”.
A four year old Texas student was accused of sexual harassment by his teacher's aide after he gave a her a hug and somehow managed to touch her boobs in the process. The cad!
Australia’s Parliament recently announced it would approve a review into nappy ad commercials to determine if they encourage pedophilia.
UK’s Hull City Council has banned the terms “old lady/man”, “senior citizen”, “elderly”, “immigrant”, “ladies”, “disabled” and “poor”.
And now read this (courtesy of the BBC):
Birthday party snub sparks debate
An eight-year-old boy has sparked an unlikely outcry in Sweden after failing to invite two of his classmates to his birthday party.
The boy's school says he has violated the children's rights and has complained to the Swedish Parliament.
The school, in Lund, southern Sweden, argues that if invitations are handed out on school premises then it must ensure there is no discrimination.
The boy's father has lodged a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman.
He says the two children were left out because one did not invite his son to his own party and he had fallen out with the other one.
The boy handed out his birthday invitations during class-time and when the teacher spotted that two children had not received one the invitations were confiscated.
"My son has taken it pretty hard," the boy's father told the newspaper Sydsvenskan.
"No one has the right to confiscate someone's property in this way, it's like taking someone's post," he added.
A verdict on the matter is likely to be reached in September, in time for the next school year.
I am not a fan of “zero tolerance” type policies. My fear is that when we adopt such an unflinching stance, the innocent, or at the very least the ‘small fish’ bear the brunt of the attack. When zero tolerance is applied to the so-called War on Drugs, it means we have cases of people being arrested for such innocuous “crimes’ as possession of a couple of ecstasy tablets. A conviction which goes on their permanent record and affects their future job prospects and restricts their ability to live and work in certain countries around the world. But does it ‘clean up our streets' as it is intended to do?
When zero tolerance is applied to situations of racial and religious discrimination we get cases of
hair salon owners getting fined because they think that a hairdresser wearing a headscarf may not be projecting the right image for their fashion conscious, youth-oriented 'cutting edge'
salon.
When zero tolerance is applied to California's "three strikes and your out" law, where third time offenders get mandatory sentences, you have a case where a 27 year old man is sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pizza.
When zero tolerance is applied to statutory rape we have cases such as a 14 year old girl in Kansas facing trial for rape and criminal sodomy of a 13 year old boy after she confided in a school counselor that he had forced her to have sex with him. Since Kansas law dictates that it is illegal for anyone 14 years of age and over to have sex with anyone under 14, she was arrested because her claim of rape was seen as an admission to having had sex with the boy. Even though she claims it was forced on her. And what we subsequently have here, ladies, is yet another reason why many women and girls do not report sexual assault. Because somehow, it will all be twisted and turned and the victim may yet be blamed. Now I am not presuming the boy's guilt here. But leaving aside the ludicrousness of charging any 14 year old with "statutory rape" of one of their peers,could we maintain some sense of reason and decorum and actually investigate her rape claim before accusing her of the same? By scheduling her trial ahead of the boy's, the law may as well be branding a huge scarlet letter on her forehead. And the leaving the door open for the boy to make a plea bargain if he testifies against her.
And when zero tolerance is applied in public schools we have cases such as that above, where a little boy is made to feel like the worst kind of criminal because he had the audacity to not want a couple of other kids for whom he did not particularly care at his birthday party. What does a little boy know about human rights violations and anti-discrimination laws?
In the Times Online India Knight writes, “I really believe in political correctness: it is why we don’t say “spastic” or “poof” or “nigger” and why it is no longer considered acceptable to greet one’s female colleagues with a cheery slap on the backside. So it has its virtues. But examples such as the ones above (at Hull City Council), make a farce of it and debase it as a result, ensuring that in the public mind political correctness remains the premise of what I like to call, correctly in my view, utter loonies”.
I absolutely concur. Likewise I believe in anti-discrimination laws and laws that violate human rights, particularly the rights of children. And that is why the above story infuriates me. Because by applying discrimination to cases where there is none, we are making a mockery of it.
-Ruby
A Greater Manchester woman was told off by policemen after describing her hit and run attacker as “fat”.
A four year old Texas student was accused of sexual harassment by his teacher's aide after he gave a her a hug and somehow managed to touch her boobs in the process. The cad!
Australia’s Parliament recently announced it would approve a review into nappy ad commercials to determine if they encourage pedophilia.
UK’s Hull City Council has banned the terms “old lady/man”, “senior citizen”, “elderly”, “immigrant”, “ladies”, “disabled” and “poor”.
And now read this (courtesy of the BBC):
Birthday party snub sparks debate
An eight-year-old boy has sparked an unlikely outcry in Sweden after failing to invite two of his classmates to his birthday party.
The boy's school says he has violated the children's rights and has complained to the Swedish Parliament.
The school, in Lund, southern Sweden, argues that if invitations are handed out on school premises then it must ensure there is no discrimination.
The boy's father has lodged a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman.
He says the two children were left out because one did not invite his son to his own party and he had fallen out with the other one.
The boy handed out his birthday invitations during class-time and when the teacher spotted that two children had not received one the invitations were confiscated.
"My son has taken it pretty hard," the boy's father told the newspaper Sydsvenskan.
"No one has the right to confiscate someone's property in this way, it's like taking someone's post," he added.
A verdict on the matter is likely to be reached in September, in time for the next school year.
I am not a fan of “zero tolerance” type policies. My fear is that when we adopt such an unflinching stance, the innocent, or at the very least the ‘small fish’ bear the brunt of the attack. When zero tolerance is applied to the so-called War on Drugs, it means we have cases of people being arrested for such innocuous “crimes’ as possession of a couple of ecstasy tablets. A conviction which goes on their permanent record and affects their future job prospects and restricts their ability to live and work in certain countries around the world. But does it ‘clean up our streets' as it is intended to do?
When zero tolerance is applied to situations of racial and religious discrimination we get cases of
hair salon owners getting fined because they think that a hairdresser wearing a headscarf may not be projecting the right image for their fashion conscious, youth-oriented 'cutting edge'
salon.
When zero tolerance is applied to California's "three strikes and your out" law, where third time offenders get mandatory sentences, you have a case where a 27 year old man is sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pizza.
When zero tolerance is applied to statutory rape we have cases such as a 14 year old girl in Kansas facing trial for rape and criminal sodomy of a 13 year old boy after she confided in a school counselor that he had forced her to have sex with him. Since Kansas law dictates that it is illegal for anyone 14 years of age and over to have sex with anyone under 14, she was arrested because her claim of rape was seen as an admission to having had sex with the boy. Even though she claims it was forced on her. And what we subsequently have here, ladies, is yet another reason why many women and girls do not report sexual assault. Because somehow, it will all be twisted and turned and the victim may yet be blamed. Now I am not presuming the boy's guilt here. But leaving aside the ludicrousness of charging any 14 year old with "statutory rape" of one of their peers,could we maintain some sense of reason and decorum and actually investigate her rape claim before accusing her of the same? By scheduling her trial ahead of the boy's, the law may as well be branding a huge scarlet letter on her forehead. And the leaving the door open for the boy to make a plea bargain if he testifies against her.
And when zero tolerance is applied in public schools we have cases such as that above, where a little boy is made to feel like the worst kind of criminal because he had the audacity to not want a couple of other kids for whom he did not particularly care at his birthday party. What does a little boy know about human rights violations and anti-discrimination laws?
In the Times Online India Knight writes, “I really believe in political correctness: it is why we don’t say “spastic” or “poof” or “nigger” and why it is no longer considered acceptable to greet one’s female colleagues with a cheery slap on the backside. So it has its virtues. But examples such as the ones above (at Hull City Council), make a farce of it and debase it as a result, ensuring that in the public mind political correctness remains the premise of what I like to call, correctly in my view, utter loonies”.
I absolutely concur. Likewise I believe in anti-discrimination laws and laws that violate human rights, particularly the rights of children. And that is why the above story infuriates me. Because by applying discrimination to cases where there is none, we are making a mockery of it.
-Ruby
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
they were suggesting staff say "older people" rather than "the elderly and infirmed" and suggesting saying "people who experience mental or emotional distress" rather than "handicapped" etc
many workplaces request professional language it just seems Hull was a little out of touch with community attitudes when compiling the specific terms on the list
personally i think its a bit of a media beat-up by anti-PC idiots, even Fox news grabbed hold of it, like as if a quaint country Council in the UK trying to get the town planning staff to not call the residents "luvvie" really impacts on the likes of Bill OReilly haha
Yorkshire Post
Really Long Link
Daily Mail
Really Long Link
Fox News
Really Long Link
however i do agree in essence that there is nothing wrong with the word "lady" i suspect it may have more to do with informality than offensiveness
eg: rather than "hey lady" say "excuse me Mrs Jones" or when using statistics say "59% of ratepayers are women" rather than "ladies"
its all about the context! haha
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Oh yuck, i used the same story as Fox news. yuck . Suddenly I feel dirty. Thanks for rectifying. I just read about it on India Knights column in the Times Online. Didn't realise it was a beat up. Please don't accuse me of perpetuating a hoax.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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well it wasnt a hoax, it really did happen, i just feel it was making a mountain out of a molehill, all the things you said were correct i just think a little context puts it in perspective
and Ruby when i call you out on something you are supposed to fiercely deny it despite any evidence i provide, then you need to some how relate the issue to nazis or eugenics or satanism or something . . . geez what kind of a blogger are you just politely accepting a different point of view?
hahaha
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
What if i just denied it and related it to abortion?
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
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Padsoc
As for the woman who wrote that article, I never bother paying attention to anyone who refers to others as 'ninnies' or uses the phrase 'calling a spade a spade', which I abhor. It's more of that 'straight-talking, no-nonsense, REAL' attitude that utterly repels me.
About the boy and his birthday invitations, I don't think the teacher should have interfered, he doesn't have to affiliate himself with the school just because he is socialising on school grounds. I feel sad that he couldn't give out his invitations...
About the rape case, I'm shocked that 13 and 14 year olds are claiming they have been forced into sex... what is going on?
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Okay here goes, I don't see why anyone should get told off for calling anyone' fat'. I certainly don't advocate its use as an insult, but really it is also a descriptive term. Sometimes I look at photo's of myself when I put on about 10 kilo's after a doctor put me on the pill and all I think is "I was so fat". because I was.
I agree with most of the other stuff you said but I'm not so much concerned about young kids claiming they have been forced into sex, as i am that the claim may be true. But mostly i am concerned that 1 4 year old girl's life is about to be ruined. because let's face it, there is no way they can prove rape now and her trial is before the boy's. A 14 year old girl with a rape conviction. No matter how many times I sayi t, it just won't sink in. really, what the hell are the prosecutor';s thinking going ahead with this case?
Comment by postmoderncritic
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Padsoc
At the end of it's up to you, but I see it as mildly derogatory, and the fact that other people use it on themselves shows that people are willing to bag themselves out, which is usually a sign of low self-esteem in regards to body image.
Comment by postmoderncritic
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Padsoc
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I do agree with the writer that PC is being abused. had the woman said "I got hit by a nigger' I'd be like whoa, lady, steady on" but really I don't think she was raining hate on all obese people when she called him fat. had she said he was a fat fuck, then maybe she would have deserved the tell off.
Comment by postmoderncritic
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Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
You crack me up PoMo, of everything I discussed in my article, you fixate on that. Haha.
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
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Padsoc
You know me, always favouring the obscure and under-represented topics.