WELCOME TO LETTERS FROM THE CRANK, CRANKY COMMENTARY ON CURRENT EVENTS – Warning to snowflakes and the politically correct crowd, this website likely will offend you, but is entertaining

Reference:          DOL Issues Long-Awaited COVID-19 Safety Rule – Law360

A hot bulletin from Law360 issued this afternoon:

BREAKING: DOL Issues Long-Awaited COVID-19 Safety Rule

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] on Thursday issued a highly-anticipated emergency rule that sets workplace safety parameters for employers in the health care sector for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.  . . .

President Joe Biden, in one of his first executive orders upon taking office in January, ordered the Labor Department to consider issuing an emergency temporary standard for businesses to follow during the pandemic and, if the department deemed it necessary, to issue an ETS by March 15. But numerous delays ensued, with the DOL ultimately submitting the proposed ETS to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for final approval in late April.

                We’re sure all of our health care friends are glad that now this pandemic is on the ropes, there is finally an emergency rule from OSHA in place to provide guidance for workplace safety.  There’s nothing like timely government action for an emergency.

Reference:          Research Journal Publishes Article Calling ‘Whiteness’ a ‘Parasitic-Like Condition’ (msn.com)

                Some of this nonsense just makes you want to cry and off yourself.  Just skim the excerpts from this article and ponder the future of civilization if coddled “academics” who have drunk the “diversity and inclusion” koolaid like this succeed in their effort to be influential:

The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association is raising eyebrows among readers for publishing an article that claimed “whiteness” is a “parasitic-like condition.”

“Whiteness is a condition one first acquires and then one has — a malignant, parasitic-like condition to which ‘white’ people have a particular susceptibility,” said the article, was authored by Dr. Donald Moss. “The condition is foundational, generating characteristic ways of being in one’s body, in one’s mind, and in one’s world.”

The author, an instructor at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, added, “Parasitic Whiteness renders its hosts’ appetites voracious, insatiable, and perverse. These deformed appetites particularly target nonwhite peoples.”

Reference: Many North American birds bear names with racist roots. That’s beginning to change (msn.com)

Check out the excerpts below:

Bird Names for Birds is a grassroots initiative aiming to change eponymous common names of birds, specifically in North America, arguing that many have been named after problematic people. . . .

Last year, supporters of bird name changes saw one victory when the American Ornithological Society renamed McCown’s longspur — after Confederate Gen. John Porter McCown — as the thick-billed longspur.

On Tuesday, there was another step forward. The AOS announced a new ad hoc committee that would make recommendations for guidelines on how to identify and change “harmful English bird names,” according to a statement by the organization. The committee is set to have specific recommendations by early 2022.

“We are excited to put this important task into the hands of our ad hoc committee, and look forward to receiving their recommendations on the process for reviewing and changing English bird names to ensure ornithology and birding are as inclusive as possible,” the AOS said in the statement.

Ultimately, Bird Names for Birds wants to make the system across the board more inclusive. While changing the name of McCown’s longspur to thick-billed longspur was great, it only represented the tip of the iceberg, Rutter said, noting that the AOS previously rejected the same proposal in 2018.

“Nothing about the process changed,” she said, adding that more can be done to amplify non-White birders’ perspectives. . . .

Reference:          Biden Justice Department seeks to defend Trump in suit over rape denial – The Boston Globe

                Perhaps you recall some kerfluffle when then-President Trump asked the federal Department of Justice to defend him in a defamation suit filed against him by some professional-victim and over-the-hill writer seeking some press who claimed that Trump had raped her decades before.  Then-candidate Joe Biden, on the campaign trail, took a dim view of that:  “At one of their debates, Biden accused Trump of treating the Justice Department like his ‘own law firm’ in the suit, filed against him by the writer E. Jean Carroll.  ‘What’s that all about?’ he sarcastically asked.”

                Fast forward to the present.  “. . . [last] Monday night, nearly eight months after Biden’s attack, his own Justice Department essentially adopted Trump’s position, arguing that he could not be sued for defamation because he had made the supposedly offending statements as part of his official duties as president.”

               Presumably Biden wants to make sure that he’s got his own law firm – the DOJ, that is – lined up to defend him the next time he says something stupid, or, more likely, gets sued for hugging some poor girl inappropriately, as he has been accused of on numerous occasions.  NY Times deletes sentence about Joe Biden’s “hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable” (legalinsurrection.com).

                Funny how things change when the shoe is on the other foot. And not-so-funny how both Trump and Biden apparently get a charge out of feeling up women.

Reference:          New York Times Made Staff Nix Pro-Union Images, Guild Says (msn.com)

                In 2007, the New York Times ran an editorial (Opinion | The Right to Organize – The New York Times (nytimes.com)) endorsing legislation that would have required employers to recognize a union for its employees purely on the basis of a so-called majority “card check,” rather than insist on a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).  The editorial claimed that “in a disturbingly high number of cases, the employer uses the time before the vote to pressure employees to rethink their decision to unionize.”  This position certainly is and was in keeping with the NYT’s notorious lefty politics and is what we have come to expect from the rag.

                However, when its own employees want a union and claim to have enough signed authorization cards for a majority of the employees in that group, the NYT’s own liberalism evaporates and its response could have been written by the Trumpians.  Sorry, no card check, no voluntary recognition of the union, you have to go through the lengthy NLRB process in which we get to harangue and harass and pressure employees about how evil unions are.

                That is, the NYT now decides it wants to “use[] the time before the vote to pressure employees to rethink their decision to unionize.”  Must be nice to be able to have your cake and eat it too; the flexibility of the ordinarily inflexible liberal mind when its own self-interest it at stake is remarkable, isn’t it?  If the National Review or the Wall Street Journal took that position they would be excoriated on leftist social media and by the NYT editorial staff, but when it’s the NYT, not a peep.

Reference:          Were the Celtics on court not bad enough, one fan makes it even worse – The Boston Globe

                Kyrie Irving, the physically-talented but brain-dead former Celtics player now playing for the Nets, after having a great game against the Celts took the time and trouble to make a point of stomping on the Celtics mid-court logo before he left the court.  Apparently in response, a fan tossed a water bottle at him as he exited the court. 

                Irving’s response – oh, that was racist.  This is what he said about it:

“It’s unfortunate that sports has come to this crossroads, where you are seeing a lot of old ways come up,” said Irving. “It’s been that way in history, in terms of entertainment, performers in sports, for a long period of time. Underlying racism and just treating people like they’re in a human zoo. Throwing stuff at people, saying things. There’s a certain point where it just gets to be too much. I called it out. I wanted to keep it strictly basketball. But people just feel very entitled out here . . . we’re not at the theatre. We’re not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing. It’s too much.”

                Talk about trying to play the race card.  Couldn’t have been because he’s just a jerk, could it?  Naaah, that doesn’t fit the racist narrative, so you won’t hear anything about this guy’s selfish and jerky antics over the years.  But blacks can’t be jerks, it’s racist to even think so, never mind say so.  And even if the bottle wasn’t thrown in response to his stomping on the logo, it’s still more likely than not that it was because he’s a jerk, not because he’s black. There were lots of other black Nets players too and they didn’t get targeted. Only the former Celtic jerk did.

In any event, he stomped on the logo and disrespected the city, the Celtics and their fans. Too bad the bottle didn’t hit him, he had it coming. Of course, since he’s black he doesn’t think there should be any consequences for his own actions, so he has to make it a race thing when it plainly isn’t.

Reference:       Demi Lovato says they are nonbinary and changing their pronouns – CNN

            We’re not sure who this Demi Lovato is, but we are fascinated by her recent announcement that she is confused about her gender.  So she claims she now is “nonbinary” and going forward will use “they/them” as her pronouns.  And – get this – the media swallows this bilge hook, line and sinker, and now refers to her as “they.”  OMG!  If it has to change, we vote for “it.”

            But this gender confusion seems to be all the rage these days.  What day has passed recently in which some (usually) washed-up “celebrity” like Ellen Page decides that she’s got to get some press and get back in the news by confessing his or her gender confusion to all the world (though it’s usually females)?  And we’re all supposed to just go along with that like it’s “normal?”  Well, we’re all just heteronormativists anyway – that is, dinosaurs on their way to extinction.  See our post of even date about “heteronormativity” if you want a laugh (because otherwise you’ll cry).

Reference:          Is Biden getting the border wrong? Experts cast doubt on plans to address ‘root causes’ of migration (msn.com)

                Boy, Biden must really have it in for his poor VP.  Her going to Central American shitholes being drained of their populations because they can’t manage their own affairs decently hoping she’s going to cure the drainage and the “root causes” of US immigration is a fool’s errand.  Or intentional sabotage.  So Biden’s either evil or stupid (we vote for mostly stupid).  Sure, they’ll get some woke and/or toadie American corporations to pony up some cash and some promises for investment that will peter out once the eyes of the world have some fresh new disaster somewhere to focus on.  And no doubt the corrupt crooks running these places will be very grateful for every American dollar they can get their hands on so they can redo their country villas.  In any event, the VP is getting set up here.

                This “strategy” is just like the British thinking they could subdue Afghanistan in the 19th century.  And just like the Russians thinking they could subdue Afghanistan in the 20th century.  And just like the Americans thinking they could subdue Afghanistan in the 21st Century.  Now we think we can subdue immigration from Central America.  Right. How many trillions did we just spend on Afghanistan in the last 20 years for absolutely nothing. And the moment we leave the Taliban will take over since these Islamic terrorists and their associates are like cockroaches, they’ll just go underground and wait it out until we leave, and lo and behold, here we go! Perhaps the Bidenistas think we’ll make Central America so nice it will induce emigres to return! HA!

                Actually, what makes way more sense and would cost a whole lot less would be to persuade these countries not to bother trying to make anything better – instead, just lock their population inside each country.  Yes, it’s the WALL again, just in a few different places.  Biden should dismantle Trump’s WALL and send it down to Guatemala or some like place, and they can put it up on their northern border and keep their people in.  That kills two Biden birds with one stone.  Of course a flood of Mexicans will be the result, but that’s been ongoing for decades anyway, so not much change there.  Anyway, it’s a thought.

Reference:          Heteronormativity: What It Means and Why It’s Harmful, According to Experts (msn.com)

                Yes, we had to look it up.  According to Wikipedia, “heteronormativity” is “the belief that heterosexuality is the default, preferred, or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.  A heteronormative view therefore involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity and gender roles. Heteronormativity is often linked to heterosexism and homophobia. The effects of societal heteronormativity on lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals can be examined as heterosexual or ‘straight’ privilege.”  Heteronormativity – Wikipedia

                It certainly is interesting to most of us that there happening to be just two biological genders is defined as a “belief” rather than a “fact.”  The psychologists and psychiatrists coming up with this nonsense now have a century under their belts defining normal behaviors as abnormal, and abnormal behaviors as normal, so as to justify their existence and expand their disciplines’ imprint on the “intellectual” and academic worlds.  Remember when the DSM was only about 1/2 inch thick?  But they aren’t going to get tenure if they don’t keep coming up with new stuff.  If only wishing really did make things come true.

                Victimology is, of course, behind most of this nonsense.  Everyone is a victim these days – every black person, every queer person, every sad but confused “gender dysphoria” addict.  And each victim has a “disorder” of one sort or another, so they can’t be blamed for their situation – society and its systemic “racism”, “homophobia”, “transphobia”, etc. are to blame.  The media and these gender activists, in cohort with their out-in-left-field Democratic buddies, are hard at work trying to convince the American public that all these supposed maladies are “normal” and that all the rest of us, and government, have to accept and accommodate them.

                Next, we’re going to figure out just what the hell “intersectionality” means, if it actually means anything at all. 

Reference:          Naomi Osaka’s media blackout at the French Open to protect her mental health could cost her $140,000 (msn.com)

                In case you haven’t heard, women’s tennis superstar Naomi Osaka has already said she won’t deal with the media at the French Open because her “mental health” is adversely affected by questions from the press.  (Not that we haven’t some sympathy if you’ve ever heard some of the inane and asinine questions asked by the press, who aren’t any smarter than Osaka is). Yeah, that’s right, she’s bigger than the French Open and the sport of tennis at the ripe age of 23.  Bad enough that she renounced her American citizenship yet still pretends to be American and live here and instruct the rest of us on our social justice obligations. But she has a heart, she wants the fines she will have to pay to go to mental health charities. Seriously. Talk about lunatics running the asylum…

                But why then, is she even allowed to participate?  Even if the French Open wants to wait at least to see if she actually follows through, why should she not be kicked out the first time she fails to comply?  In case she hasn’t heard, participation in all these sporting events brings with it a requirement to deal with the press .  If you don’t intent to comply with the rules going in, then why do you get to even go in?  And why should she be allowed, effectively, to simply buy her way out of it? What about the poor tennis players who aren’t superstars and need the money, which is most of them, and can’t afford to protect their “mental health?”

                Poor, poor, little girl.  At least she gets to exert her “wealth privilege” and simply buy her way out of something she doesn’t want to do. But we hope her mental health – which would be composed of at least narcissism, with egomania, arrogance and selfishness mixed in – improves. Maybe by Wimbledon she’ll feel better able to deal with the world.

Bon chance, ma cherie.