Blackie Suing Bullie Over His “Orange Privilege”

                Well, he’s gone and done it.  Our kitten Blackie has got himself a lawyer and is suing his brother Bullie.  As noted in a prior post, Blackie resents the discrimination he has suffered because of his orange-striped brother’s Orange Privilege.  We all know that for 400 years or so the systemic kittenism practiced by those kittens with Orange Privilege has left black (and brown) kittens at significant economic and social disadvantages, even in our enlightened 2020.  For example, when we take both to the vets, the vet typically greets and treats Bullie first and leaves Blackie for last.  Bullie often pushes Blackie away from his food bowl, despite the fact that each has his own bowl.  Bullie is always the first one in to a fresh litterbox even if it means shouldering Blackie out of the way.  Bullie demands attention first and for longer than Blackie.  Bullie takes the more comfortable napping spots, especially on the window sills on sunny days. 

                Blackie tries to protest but Bullie also has the local law enforcement authorities, namely Mopsie the Wonder Dog, in his back pocket.  Mopsie, though suffering from her own Dog Privilege, has been completely corrupted by Bullie’s payoffs of treats and so plays amicably with him, but is rougher with Blackie and just generally is not as nice to Blackie as to Bullie.  Mopsie won’t let Blackie on the couch with her, but will let Bullie snuggle sometimes.  We also have noticed that Bullie’s fur is softer and easier to stroke than Blackie’s so we’re apt to do it more often, so there is “fur discrimination” at work too it seems. 

                Anyway, Blackie apparantly has had enough and has resorted to the legal system and seeks a trial by a jury of his peers.  Of course, jury selection is stacked against Blackie since numerous studies over the years have proven that Orange Privilege is a factor in kitten juries too.  So his lawyer is advocating for a change in the law to make kitten defendants exercising a peremptory challenge to state sensible reasons therefor to the judge. 

                Blackie is also claiming a great deal of emotional distress.  He claims he has suffered numerous incidences of hate speech, rhetoric and actions, and has had to “endure the emotional exhaustion of carrying on in a household that disregards cultural diversity and sensitivities.”  Putting up with this kind of stuff he claims has “impacted his ability to focus adequately on his kitten responsibilities, such as tearing up toilet paper and paper towel rolls, peeing in the corner, staring out the window, lazing in the sun, getting up onto the closet shelf by climbing up the hanging clothes, and being curled up on daddy’s lap.” 

                There’s no telling how all this will shake out, it is still early in the process.  The next step is for Bullie to file an answer to Blackie’s Complaint.  We’ll see what that looks like.  But it is a sad state of affairs around here for sure.

Student Ignorance Or Stupidity? Tough To Tell Since Apparently Learning Fails To Penetrate Into “Safe Spaces”

                At Syracuse University, Apparently The Snowflakes Are In Charge

                First, a Syracuse University professor is on the ropes because on a class syllabus he reportedly wrote “Wuhan Flu” and Chinese Communist Party Flu.”  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/syracuse-students-speak-out-over-professor-s-chinese-communist-party-flu-notes/ar-BB18z4C1?ocid=msedgdhp

                “The derogatory language used by a professor on his course syllabus is damaging to the learning environment for our students and offensive to Chinese, international and Asian-Americans everywhere who have experienced hate speech, rhetoric and actions since the pandemic began,” said a joint statement from Karin Ruhlandt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,               and John Liu, the university’s interim vice chancellor and provost.

                “A lot of students are uncomfortable with the decision to place Zubieta on administrative leave. We expected him to be fired,” said a sophomore who is an organizer for #NotAgainSU and (unsurprisingly) asked not to be identified.

                Graduate student Taylor Krzeminski, who is not even in this fellow’s class, saw a screenshot of the syllabus on The Tab Syracuse, “which documents student and campus life through memes, and decided to call him out.  ‘It’s not safe for students to be in a classroom with a professor who thinks their ethnicity should be blamed for a pandemic,’ she said. ‘I agree he should be on leave but the investigation better be quick because to me it’s incredibly straight-forward. He used political and racist language in a chemistry class.” 

                One student, again not in the class, said “‘There is no need for an investigation if there is proof. It went viral, so the evidence is there,’ she said. ‘These stereotypes and biases that are incorporated in the class by faculty will allow for unsafe spaces for students.'”

                Well, last we checked this corona virus started in Wuhan, China, so calling it the Wuhan Flu would appear to be fair game.  Chinese Communist Party Flu, well, even if that is a little iffier, which we don’t think it is, so what?  There certainly is plenty of evidence that the CCP authorities concealed the seriousness of the virus to the detriment of the rest of the world.  Nevertheless, to suggest that just using the words has somehow created an unsafe environment for students is classic snowflake ideology in which any hurt feeling, no matter how ludicrous and idiosyncratic, has to be validated and supported, even if it costs the reputation and livelihood of someone who otherwise has led an exemplary life.  This foolishness has got to stop.

                Not To Be Outdone, “Blackflakes” Rule At The University Of Southern California

                Second, this time at USC, a Communications Professor has been placed on leave after using a Chinese word that apparently sounds something like the word “nigger.”  https://www.nationalreview.com/news/usc-communications-professor-placed-on-leave-after-using-chinese-word-that-sounds-like-racial-slur/   (Yes, we’re going to use the actual word, not this “n-word” crap.)
                According to the National Review article, “Greg Patton, a professor at the university’s Marshall School of Business, was giving a lecture about the use of ‘filler words’ in speech during a recent online class when he used the word in question, saying, ““’If you have a lot of ‘ums and errs,’ this is culturally specific, so based on your native language.  Like in China, the common word is ‘that, that, that.’ So in China it might be ‘nèi ge, nèi ge, nèi ge.’”

                This, of course, sent the campus into an uproar – this is in the People’s Republic of California after all.  “A group of black MBA candidates threatened to drop his class rather than ‘endure the emotional exhaustion of carrying on with an instructor that disregards cultural diversity and sensitivities’ following the instructor’s use, while teaching, of a Chinese word that sounds like a racial slur.”  https://www.nationalreview.com/news/usc-professor-placed-on-leave-after-black-students-complained-his-pronunciation-of-a-chinese-word-affected-their-mental-health/

                According to this article:

                “Our mental health has been affected,” the group continued. “It is an uneasy feeling allowing him to have the power over our grades. We would rather not take his course than to endure the emotional exhaustion of carrying on with an instructor that disregards cultural diversity and sensitivities and by extension creates an unwelcome environment for us Black students.” 

                The students added that the incident “has impacted our ability to focus adequately on our studies.”

                “’No matter what way you look at this, the word was said multiple times today in three different instances and has deeply affected us. In light of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the recent and continued collective protests and social awakening across the nation, we cannot let this stand,’ the group concluded, before calling for an immediate remedy to the    situation.” Presumably that “remedy” is to cancel Professor Patton.

                Of course, USC has now stepped in and rather than support a professor doing his or her job, it has apologized and is falling all over itself “offering supportive measures to any student, faculty, or staff member who requests assistance,’ the statement added, saying the school is ‘committed to building a culture of respect and dignity where all members of our community can feel safe, supported, and can thrive.'”

                “According to a brief bio on the school’s website, Patton is ‘an expert in communication, interpersonal and leadership effectiveness’ who has received ‘numerous teaching awards, been ranked as one of the top teaching faculty at USC and helped USC Marshall achieve numerous #1 worldwide rankings for Communication and Leadership skill development.’”

                This group of snowflakes (or “blackflakes” in this case) certainly don’t sound ready for the real world when they graduate.  The “emotional exhaustion of carrying on with” this teacher’s class so bad that they can’t “focus adequately on our studies” and which creates an “unwelcome environment” for a bunch of black MBA wannabes?   That MBA program is what ought to be cancelled, not Professor Patton.

Looting As Reparations Update – In New York It Is Much Simpler, Just Cut A Check

                Hank Newsome chairs Black Lives Matter (BLM) of Greater New York.  In a recent interview he was offered multiple opportunities to disavow comments, discussed by us a couple of weeks ago, made by a Chicago BLM organizer Ariel Atkins condoning looting as “reparations.”  https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/18/martha-maccallum-hawk-newsome-reparations-looting/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=mixi&utm_campaign=dailycaller

“’I don’t care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike because that makes sure that that person eats,’” Atkins said. . . “’That makes sure that that person has clothes. That’s reparations. That is reparations.’”

                When asked if he agreed with those sentiments, Newsome continually ducked the question and tried to redirect the discussion.  The interviewer, having none of that, persisted.  Newsome’s ultimate response was “‘if you want to talk to me about reparations, nothing falls short of a solution other than people cutting a check. If you want to do something about reparations, cut the check. And we’re not talking about going in every day Americans’ pockets, we are talking about banks … who benefited from slavery. Other insurance companies that sold insurance policies on …’” Yeah, like any of that money doesn’t ultimately come from you or us. At any rate, we apparently can forget about all that nonsense about reparations meaning making investments in black and disadvantaged communities and businesses, eliminating zoning barriers to black migration to the suburbs, etc., etc.

                The check’s in the mail, pal.

Why We Should Not Care A Whit What Naomi Osaka Thinks Or Does

                Naomi Osaka is the number ten ranked female tennis player in the world and the highest paid female athlete for 2019.   Last week, she “announced on her Twitter feed that she was boycotting her semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open against the Belgian player Elise Mertens to protest the shooting for Jacob Blake. Ms. Osaka wrote: ‘Watching the continued genocide of black people at the hands of police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.’ She argued that her move would hopefully ‘start a conversation in a majority white sport.’”  https://news.yahoo.com/tennis-pauses-protest-103050856.html.

                Putting aside the fact that she clearly has no idea what a “genocide” actually is (just ask the Jews, Gypsies and Armenians), she’s certainly a spoiled brat who didn’t refuse to play at some cost to herself.  She was well aware as one of the stars of the sport that in the current climate the match would just get postponed for a day or two since she didn’t withdraw from the tournament. So it sure wasn’t any cost to her.  Had she actually withdrawn from the tournament and forgone a payday maybe one could give her a little credit.  In fact, she got a lot of lefty publicity from her stunt, so she benefitted immensely.  She is a fine tennis player and hopefully will be for years to come, but she certainly overstepped her brief here.

                Then this week, she appeared at the opening rounds of the U.S. Open with seven face masks bearing the names of blacks allegedly murdered by racist police scum, one to wear for each round of the tournament.   https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis/osaka-keen-to-spread-awareness-about-racial-injustice/ar-BB18zKWA?ocid=msedgdhp; https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-s-blm-masks-aren-t-just-a-protest-they-re-the-future/ar-BB18B62j?ocid=msedgdhp.  She supposedly wants to “spread awareness about racial injustice.”  “When asked about the masks Osaka said during a post-match interview, ‘It’s quite sad that seven masks isn’t enough for the number of names.’”

                Our objection is not that athletes should be seen and not heard, that’s not the point here.  It is this.  Until a year or so ago, she had both Japanese and American citizenship.  Her mother is Japanese, her mother Haitian, and she apparently “identifies” as black.  She was born in Japan, but moved to Florida when she was three.  Last year she decided to renounce her American citizenship so she could represent Japan in the Olympics.  She could have kept it and represented the US, but for her own reasons she chose not to.  Well, that choice has some consequences, one of which is that she has, in our view, forfeited any right to criticize the US like she’s actually a citizen of it and suffers because of it.

                Our view is that someone who has affirmatively renounced her US citizenship (or any non-citizen, for that matter), doesn’t have any business complaining about the alleged racist history of the country nor current events in the country.  She isn’t complaining about racial injustice in Japan, is she? If she wants to be Japanese, then let her, but there certainly do not appear to be many actual Japanese people railing or protesting about the racial situation in the US like it’s a burden to them personally.  We’ll listen, whether we like it or not, to a lot of guff from a lot of people if they have the standing to complain.  But not from entitled rich people who not only are not citizens, but who once were but renounced their citizenship.  If this country isn’t good enough for her anymore, then she can just shut her yap about its perceived shortcomings.  So sayonara Naomi!