L.A. County Bans Use Of "Master/Slave" Term 2143
SlashChick writes "In an interesting twist on political correctness, L.A. County has banned the use of the terms 'Master/Slave' (commonly used to denote hard drive arrangements.) According to Snopes.com, 'someone within the County bureaucracy... had taken offense at "master/slave" references and complained to the board.' L.A. County now requires that vendors working with the county remove all 'master/slave' references. Incredible. Read the full story."
For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
Hasn't this obsession with sanitizing speech become a total farce? What's next? Will we not be able to have male and female ends on our 1/4" audio cable for fear of offending the transgendered? How the hell am I supposed to shop for wires now?
eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
graspee
Political Correctness is pure egotistical B.S. (Score:5, Insightful)
Politicians, I think it is YOU who are offended, not the minority which you claim to represent!
mixed priorities (Score:3, Insightful)
How pathetic have we become? Something like this can only be laughed at, and never really measured.
Pathetic.
Damon,
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:2, Insightful)
First things first (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this the same LA County that has rampant police corruption and brutality problems?
The one in the state, California, that is facing a massive deficit?
Glad to know they have their priorities right.
It's just a request (Score:5, Insightful)
Uh oh, this post is probably officially data non grata in Los Angeles COunty now.
hrmm so (Score:3, Insightful)
Request or require? (Score:5, Insightful)
LA County now requires that vendors working with the county remove all 'master/slave' references."
Contrast this to the snopes article, which says: The County of Los Angeles has requested that equipment vendors avoid using the industry term "Master/Slave" in product descriptions and labelling.
There's a big difference between request and require. And banned? Hardly. I doubt anyone's going to get fined or sued over this.
ENOUGH OF THIS! (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not total
When will it be okay to use the word 'slave'? It has a fairly distinct meaning. Should the possible offence, in this case, almost non-existent, cause the word to be abolished altogether because of what people connote the word with?
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:5, Insightful)
Primary Master
Primary Slave
Seconndary Master
Secondary Slave
Tertiary Master
So we should be calling them the Primary Primary drive?
My tax dollars at work (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Alternative? (Score:2, Insightful)
Using "Parent/Child" would indicate that a "parent" is exercising direct control over the "child". This will definitely not do. Children are unique, individual little people and must be free to choose their own path and discover their own inner potential!
If we are going to be PC we have to go all the way :-)
I say, refuse to sell them drives until the "whiner" is identified and held up to public ridicule. That goes for the bleeding-heart bureaucrat who took this whiner seriously instead of telling them to "grow-the-hell-up!"
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:2, Insightful)
Nowhere does it say you have the right not to be offended. But it does say I have the right to free speech. Free speech comes before everything else. So there's no way in hell I'm limiting my speech because you get offended. You and everyone like you who gets offended or tries to avoid offending people are part of the problem of society. Just get over it and deal, stop being a pussy.
And yes, if you noticed my language in this post is purposeful, if you were too slow to catch on you dumbass.
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:3, Insightful)
No you haven't. Master/Slave is the industry standard, and it wasn't even an issue until JUST NOW! JUST NOW! JUST NOW!
Furthermore, you can't be offended unless you WANT to be. Language is symbolic: all meaning is decoded by the receiver. There is no intrinsic meaning to any word, only the extrinsic ones we apply ourselves. Thus, if you are offended, it's YOUR fault: not mine.
I reference the following article [hellskitchen.org] (Happiness is a Warm Brick: page 7)
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's a test for you. Try using the word "niggardly" [reference.com] in a sentence and see how many thin-skinned feebs decide to tar and feather you for being a racist.
People need to get over their accute desire to be offended at every stupid little thing and just get on with life. And governements, of all sizes, need to stop wasting time and taxpayer money on useless, pointless bullshit and work on real problems.
Charge for it... (Score:3, Insightful)
-Foxxz
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:2, Insightful)
I fail to see what's "offensive" about it (Score:3, Insightful)
We also have "dead man switches", "sacrificial electrode", "vampire taps", and "kill switches", and a lot of other terms in technology that refer to things that, when they happen between humans, are unacceptable. It seems to me that the use of such terms to describe the relationship between inanimate objects or even non-human animals does not mean endorsing those behaviors for humans.
I don't get it. (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:My response to the county (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:I don't get it. (Score:1, Insightful)
scuzzy (skz')
adj. Slang., -zier, -ziest.
Dirty; grimy: scuzzy floors.
Disreputable; sleazy: "ran a scuzzy operation" (Myra MacPherson).
[Possibly from blend of SCUM and FUZZ1.]
slavery and racism are not synonymous (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
This is NOT a concept that is 'owned' by any one group of people.
Incidently, I appreciate the work you are doing. It's pretty scummy the way some folks are still treated.
Re:My response to the county (Score:2, Insightful)
This is exactly the problem that is happening in LA County. There is no reason that just because somebody decided to call something master and slave, to define the relationship between the drives, means that that person was in anyway refering directly to American Slavery. Those terms have been around for thousands of years, well predating our own country. Those two things are WORDS that have several MEANINGS. They chose those words to decribe a situation which seemed to follow that relationship. Every useage of these words does not in anyway refer to the enslavement of millions of Africans.
"Imagine if the "Trashcan" on your desktop were named "Auschwitz" by some clever computer scientist"
That is quite a stretch to go to that from Master/Slave. Auschwitz can only really bring up one meaning, the slaugtering of the Jews (who by, were oppressed horribly for thousands of years, compared to the relatively short time in which Slavery existed in the US, and no I'm not Jewish, I just know a little about history)
. "and you are not at all bothered by the Cleveland Indians mascot".
Although I am not bothered by those teams, I understand that somebody who is a Native American Indian could take offense. Again however, those teams mascots are direct references to a certain set of people, where the terms Master and Slave are about as general as White and Black.
Re:My response to the county (Score:1, Insightful)
the term "master-slave" still directly derives from the American slavery experience
Believe it or not, the term "master-slave" does NOT derive from the American slavery experience. In fact, slavery was invented thousands of years earlier in the middle east and northern Africa where human beings are from (remember Moses and the Egyptians? There are plenty of even older examples). By the way, for future reference, slavery existed far earlier in the entire African continent (between all the peoples living there) than it did in the United States. And, it still exists there in the full sense of the term.
While ANSI may have coined the term "master-slave" to refer to computer parts, the Middle East and Africa invented the concept (and practiced it repletely) before any other culture in the world. Where do you think other cultures learned it from (considering that humanity's roots are all in the same Mesopotamian region)?
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:3, Insightful)
I personally think that anyone who wants to be politically correct can go right ahead but the moment someone comes upto me and starts telling me what I can and can't believe or say is the moment I tell them to fuck off. I'v ascertained this level of english, and a large vocabulary and I'm gonna use it.
Now, as for shopping for wires, we can easily change the terminology to "penis, vagina" and if they don't like that, "innie and outie". If they still think that's bad, we'll name the wire ends "this end was fucked by political correctness" and "this end was fucked more by political correctness". I like the current terminology, it works and everyone can get it from the get go.
A good measure of a leader is their ability to solve conflict. If something they do with their power causes more conflict than it solves, then they are not a good leader. By that logic, the moron who wanted this passed needs to get booted out of their nice cosy seat.
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:1, Insightful)
have master and slave cylinders?
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
More importantly, when we stop using the word, will people forget what slavery is and just make all the same mistakes?
Of other interest, I believe The Guvinator should now see his first target for cutting the budget...
Story Completely Wrong! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Fuck political correctness! (Score:5, Insightful)
And yeah, I know it was probably for effect.
Missing the Obvious (Score:2, Insightful)
And in the case of documentation, perhaps we should just come up with a XML filter that switches terminology from normal readable text into PC-babble. It'd make a great ongoing document versioning contract... and if LA County complains then we can heap loads of negative press upon them claiming that they really don't have any interest in being a beacon of sensitivity...
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually not, the Master does not tell the slave what to do.
However the S&M community has faced this same problem long ago and come up with the terms 'top' and 'bottom'.
Levity aside, there is a serious issue here. There is a lot of Political Correctness talk that is trivial, some that is serious and some that is downright evil.
The trivial stuff is mostly harmless. Sometimes what appears trivial on the surface is actually a major cause of resentment. The word 'redskin' was used in pretty much the same way that 'nigger' was. If you know that you can see how a football team called the Washington Redskins might be unpopular with native americans the way a team called the Atlanta Niggers would be unpopular with african americans.
I recently had someone make me rewrite a paper on spam control to call 'blacklists' 'blocklists'. I objected because changing the terminology obscures the connection between blacklist type activities and McCarthy type activities which is actually central to the debate as I see it.
The downright evil use of PC is when it is used as a partisan gottcha. The 'niggardly' episode is a case in point, the use of the phrase was not the reason the person got sacked, it was merely the excuse. The extreeme example of this was in the UK where the campaign agains Rushdie and the Satanic Verses began as a PC type protest, a small bunch saw the opportunity for self-promotion.
There is also the downright evil use of PC card in the reverse direction. Take the recent advert from the Republican National Committee that equates disagreement with the President on any grounds with 'support for terrorists'. Forgive me, but I would be astonished if any of the Democratic Nominees is running on a platform of support for Bin Laden. It is not clear exactly which policy consistutes 'support for terrorists', it could be beleiving in the constitution rather than John Ashcroft, it could be beleiving that the Iraq war was and is a mistake, for that matter it might even be believing that war profiteers like Halliburton should be investigtated. We don't know because the President's party isn't making it clear. What is clear however is that they seem to be bringing us a sort of fusion McCarthyism, part Lenin (originator of the line 'whoever is not for us is against us'), part political correctness, part opportunism, part desperation.
[the rant light is on] (Score:3, Insightful)
PC fascism extends to pets, races, bums, unwed mothers and sexual deviants (not to lump anyone together...trying to be PC here as you can see...) who must be correctly refered to (respectively) as fur friends, people of color, the economically disadvantaged, single mothers and GLBTG (for the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered crowd, though we used to call them all by the PC term "Gay" rather than homosexual but recently they each wanted in on the game so now we have this horrid acronym which I guess is itself more PC than PC. Barf).
Our everyday lexicon is scattered with taboo words and topics. Unless they are white the authorities cannot refer to a suspect criminal on the run by their race not even to facilitate apprehending them. And a vicious dog is never a dangerous animal that needs to be destroyed (as opposed to being a family member needing therapy) and you cannot discuss GLBTG "gay rights" issues in any manner other than as a political movement for justice even if that means they can demand the opportunity to explain their lifestyle choice at whatever level of detail suits them in front of a classroom of 13 year old children (to the horror of many who can do nothing to stop it...which is why increasingly we homeschool or private school and leave the public schools to the activists).
A middle class white person has to keep their head down. The best approach is to join a splinter group and start claiming your rights as a minority as loudly as you can. Some claim to be suppressed Native American. Others claim to belong to suppressed religions like Paganism (I happen to claim both, but that is because I happen to be both
Though it seems democratic and diverse, ours is a culture of identity politics and is rife with narrow interests. Nobody pulls together except within their narrowly defined identity group (though I can't imagine how the GLBTG manage it.) You cannot believe how much it sucks. It's a wonder there can be any progress at all on anything important, and it appears that more often than not there is no progresss at all. Where it is all headed I cannot imagine.
Re:My response to the county (Score:5, Insightful)
Then those Americans are ignorant.
Slavery -- human slavery, I mean, not the machine kind -- is a curse that has afflicted humanity throughout its existence, and continues to do so today. To limit one's viewpoint of the word to a specific period in the history of a young nation is to pretend that the suffering of the (at a guess) tens of millions of slaves throughout history who were not black Americans has no meaning
Two-thirds of my father's family died in the Holocaust, but you don't see me acting as though genocide is something that only happens to Jews.
This is a good thing (Score:1, Insightful)
The US has still to this day not come fully to grips with the absolutly horrific cultural of racism and slavery in it's not so distant past. Racism is still prevalent in the US even today. A look at inner city projects and the penal system is just the most visible testament to the level of racism that persists.
It seems almost grotesk that a nation that engaged so fully in the slave trade and still has the very people who have decended from that enslavement living within it's national boundries would except and use langauge that could so clearly salt wounds that, frankly, have never been properly dressed.
So maybe an IDE subsystem is not the best place to make a stand against racism. But if I am working with a black technition who was perhaps decended from a slave that was raped by one of the USA's founding fathers and states that they would prefer that I not use the term "master/slave", F it, I'll use another term.
How 'bout "primary/secondary".
Kind Regards
Tee hee! (Score:5, Insightful)
The team on this project was about half black and half white. I was having an animated discussion with another of the (white) programmers when a couple of the (black) programmers came in. They watched the discussion for a little while. I looked up at them, and one said, "Don't say slave."
"No?" I asked.
"Nuh uh," he replied, with just slightly too straight a face.
So I bet my career: I turned to the other (white) programmer and said, "Fine. So the Massah machine needs to hold record counts in the array so it can..." and everybody cracked up. We discussed terminology a bit, and decided to call the controlling box the "controller" and the indexing boxes the "indexers." About 70% of the folks actually using our application were black, we figured, and not too savvy on computer terminology, so fuck it: we caved, just to be on the polite side.
Moral: we all had a good laugh. Here in Atlanta proper, there are more white than blacks. In state government, there is plenty of minority representation. And we all get along pretty damned well---I was voted the second whitest white boy in the office by the (mostly black) administrative staff (and damn was the whitest white boy pissed).
I'm increasingly convinced that the people we're trying desperately not to piss off are not minorities, but liberal white jackasses who think they're under some sort of obligation to rescue all those poor defenseless minorities from oppressive words. Most actual black people can look after themselves, and, having better things to worry about, tend not to give a damn.
How Asinine. (Score:5, Insightful)
As is web weaver for god's sake. A good change? Ha. A master does not imply evil doings. A martial arts master or a master carpenter generally don't have slaves. Master implies that they the best at what they do. Yes, it also implies authority, but not cruel domination. Gah. People drive me insane. Some of these offended groups are probably the same ones that burn 'inappropriate books.' Pooh on them.
I'd rather have lived a hundred years ago. Except of course, for all my grumbling about rampant political correctness and other hogwash, I'd be much more pissed about the lack of women's suffrage, real racial inequality, and the other issues of the day. The moral? There isn't one really.
Singular They (Score:5, Insightful)
BIOS screens (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This is a good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
Easy : keep on using your existing vocabulary and just don't hire niggers or bitches. Voila! nobody at the office gets offended, guaranteed!
An alternative, of course, is to expect that all employees work in the existing environment and accept that words may be used that if they really, really wanted to they could twist into totally unintended meanings and be offended by them (ie, Master/Slave hard drive settings, cylinders in automobile settings) - by accepting the existing work environment as it stands ensuring that they (and others like them) are welcome to the workplace now and in the future.
This Politically Correct crap has done nothing towards making work environments better for the 'oppressed' (ie, blacks, latins, women) and has done quite a bit towards making hiring managers very, very biased against hiring any of those and being very, very subtle about working towards that effect. I will give you a 100% written guarantee that none of the above are ever getting past zillions of employment screenings in corporate America, and the hiring managers know better than to admit my true motives in which candidate gets chosen.
They are all totally upset with the direction employment is going in corporate America, and yet they are bringing it on themselves. They scream about not being able to get a job, and yet the ones that did get hired pull this PC shit. Well there we go - can't say they weren't asking for it. Big time.
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:4, Insightful)
If we allows fools like this to erase our history, then we will surely repeat it.
Taking action (Score:5, Insightful)
I think several things need to happen here:
First, I encourage anyone and everyone to write to all the hard disk manufacturers you can think of, and strongly discourage them from changing this naming convention. Politely explain that the entire world should not change because of one person's lack of familiarity with the master/slave relationship of hard drives. (This terminology is actually used in other fields besides hard drives, to denote any mechanism or device in which this relationship of control is found.)
Second, if you've gone as far as doing that, you should consider writing to the county of Los Angeles to let them know how ridiculous and silly their request is.
I do not usually interfere in things like this, or ask anybody to do so, but I strongly believe that this is a frightening trend that is growing in too many areas. For example, a book called "The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn" by Diane Ravitch gives example after example of things that school textbooks cannot say because they are politically incorrect. If you read this book, you'll eventually ask yourself, "Well, what exactly can you talk about?" That's the problem. If the entire world needs to change each time one person (or a small group of people) is offended by some terminology, then we will eventually live in George Orwell's nightmare.
As other Slashcrackers have noted, soon you won't be able to call a connector male or female, because somebody with an as-yet unknown gender (like an alleged child molester named MICHAEL JACKSON, though it's unlikely you've heard of him) will be offended at that.
Re:My response to the county (Score:3, Insightful)
For millions of Americans, the "master-slave" relationship means one thing and one thing only: over 200 years of institutionalized, legal American slavery.
Yeah, nevermind the Egyptians had slaves, or many African tribes that made slaves of the captured members of other tribes, or the Aztecs, or the Incas. It was only the Americans that ever had slaves.
Re:Truth is stranger than fiction (Score:5, Insightful)
You see? You can pick any extremist point of view, whether you actually believe it or not, and justify it just as these people have, whether it's liberal or conservative. The pendulum swings both ways, babycakes.
Re:Singular They - Insightful my ass (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Singular They - Insightful my ass (Score:5, Insightful)
True in formal writing or speech... for now. Check back in a century and I'd bet you'll see the singular "they" accepted. It's easier than formulating a new, concise, elegant approach to "he/she". And rant all you want, but the world is never going back to the default "he".
Nor, IMHO, should it. Language evolves and no language does it better than English. The language expresses the needs of the culture -- if the culture as a whole (or even in large part) decides the old way is inadequate, the language will change accordingly.
Or, to put it succintly, the only languages spoken "perfectly" are dead ones.
Re:This is a good thing (Score:2, Insightful)
It seems almost grotesk that a nation that engaged so fully in the slave trade and still has the very people who have decended from that enslavement living within it's national boundries would except and use langauge that could so clearly salt wounds that, frankly, have never been properly dressed.
Okay, I'm probably going to come off as racist here I'm sure, but what the hell.
Isn't it a bit egotistical to assume that "slave" must refer to a black person? The term "slave" existed long before the United States did and many of them were white. A half step back would be indentured servitude, also a situation in which many white people found themselves in.
The bottom line is that "master" refers to something in charge and "slave" refers to one who has no say in the matter, but most obey it. Or if you don't prefer my paraphrasing, master is "one that has control over another or others" and slave is "one who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence." (Note that under "slave" there actually was a definition that referred specifically to "machine[s] or machine components" but I refrained from using it.)
The bottom line is that the terms are apt and I simply don't see the great need to change them. Are they offensive to some people? Obviously so. Almost everything is offensive to somebody. The word "God" is offensive to athiests; shall we mandate that anybody doing business with the United States must be irreligious? If "master/slave" is offensive because the word slave somehow offends some black people, we have to strike it from the dictionary too, right? No talking about slavery or slaves in the classroom because a listener might be offended.
There's an old one-liner floating around that goes, "I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged." Humans are emotional creatures and WILL be offended by something in their lives even if the intent is not to do so. The line has to be drawn someplace. I see nothing in the term "master/slave" that says it was created to be prejudiced or anything else that tells me it needs to be removed. Slavery was a nasty situation that should never have occurred, least of all in the United States, but that doesn't mean the words used to describe it need to be abandoned.
I don't think "primary/secondary" properly describes the relationship, at least not for all situations in which the term is used. For instance, it might be okay to describe hard drive configuration (arguments can be made on both side), but how about master/slave processing? One processor isn't simply "secondary," it is downright subservient to the demands of the master. Can we come up with another term that DOES work in all situations? Probably. But my view is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:5, Insightful)
Damn, you sure showed bigotry and intolerance in your description and assumptions about this girl. Maybe she misheard and embarrassed herself, but it turns out you are, in fact, an asshole.
Wow. Well, you know, the shoe would have been on the other foot if I'd overheard her talking about the coloring books their mid-terms are based on and jumped to conclusions about those.
*SHE* assumed that my friends and I were racists.
*SHE* demonstrated her naivete and hypersensitivity.
*SHE* is the one who started screaming at me.
*SHE* learned that I am, in fact, an asshole. And proud of it.
Re:My response to the county (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This is a good thing (Score:2, Insightful)
And you have hit very succinctly on the problem with institutional racism. They would rather hire some white asshole because he looks like he's part of the clan than "take a chance" on some "minority".
Yes, they would. It's not to say they are right in doing this, but it's also not to say that they are racist, necessarily. They simply read the news, hear time and again of racial minorities making life difficult for their employers, and become wary of hiring them. The victims of racism cause more racist decisions through publicity.
The victims of racism can also encourage racism by giving racists grounds for their claims. While I have no reason to think blacks in general are less intelligent than whites, my university has made sure, through its admission practices, that the average black student here is less intelligent than the average white one. Now, knowing this, I can't help but wonder when I meet a black student whether they would have been admitted if they were white--and harbor some resentment if I get the impression they wouldn't have. More dangerous yet, if I didn't know, I might come away from my university career believing all black people to be less intelligent than whites. Call it racism if you want, but I could understand someone in that situation believing that. (Of course, if you go here and don't hear about the admission policies, you're living in a hole.)
This is not meant as a troll or flamebait, by the way. If you think it is, I suggest you re-read it carefully, trying to follow the logic of each argument and forget your bias.
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wow, I think that is about the third time in this topic you make the assertion that arts subjects is about coloring books and crayons. Lots of easy karma points from dittohead Slashdot moderators when you pick on strawmen. You must be a very smart man in comparison, studying these incredibly difficult engineering subjects.
I'm with Dawkins on this one (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think they treated the woman who was obviously the victim of a misunderstanding quite poorly, but I wasn't there. Maybe her initial remark was quite aggressive, in which case she probably deserved to be wound up. It might stop her from leaping in with both feet on the basis of incomplete information in future.
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:2, Insightful)
Tolerance & Diversity (Score:5, Insightful)
We (here in Holland) live in a very diverse culture, with lots of different people crammed into a tiny country. Anything you do or say is bound to offend someone else. Politicians here preach tolerance until we're sick of it... they think being tolerant of other cultures means to adapt yourself so that you will not offend members of those other cultures. Not only is that impossible, but one cannot help but notice that this requirement to adapt is somehow never applied to the minority groups. Ie. I cannot say anything offensive about Muslems, Jews or other minorites (just an example!), but if they do or say something that offends me, I'm called racist or intolerant if I comment on it, and I will be sternly reminded that I 'should respect their culture'.
Tolerance is a two-way street, people. On the one hand, you should be aware of the fact that some things you find normal are going to piss other people off, and you try (within reason) to minimise that. But on the other hand, you (and especially the minorities and politicians) should accept that other groups will do things that'll offend you. Rather than expecting everyone to change to suit your world view, accept that you'll be offended from time to time and do not make a big deal out of it.
Priorities (Score:2, Insightful)
When people of the same sex can marry each other, transsexuals can marry anyone (at the moment they can't marry anyone at all) and intersexed babies don't have their genitals mutilated at birth (or their parents told to lie to them about their condition), then we can talk about wording.
Re:No Master/Slave? (Score:2, Insightful)
In British english both faggot and niggardly are slightly old-fashioned, but they definitely aren't archaic. Anyone with a reasonably broad vocabulary would know what was meant and wouldn't take it as being homophobic or racist (they'd almost certainly know the US slang meaning for faggot as well, but would discount it unless the speaker was American or the context meant that there was a clear intention to use it to mean a gay man).
Regards
Luke
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:1, Insightful)
Redefining Tolerance (Score:3, Insightful)
If I merely tolerate your differences, I recognize that you are different and take no action to change you. In "classic" tolerance, I don't have to agree with you, encourage you.... in fact, I don't even have to like you.
In the "new" tolerance, I am not only required socially to tolerate you, but now I must celebrate the things that you value. If I refuse to *celebrate* your viewpoint, I am labeled as "intolerant" - one of the greatest condemnations within modern culture.
This new definition is no longer tolerance, it is the borg of social interaction. "I am {minority view} of BORG. You will be assimilated."
Talk about thought police! We are no longer permitted to think or discuss that which might be upsetting to someone somewhere.
This cuts both ways, and while it may seem to further minority viewpoints in the short term, in the long term we all pay because we are not afforded the protection and richness that is freedom of expression. Over time it becomes unacceptable to express ANY views.
This is, in my opinion, far worse than the "old world order" where tolerance meant that I allowed you to have whatever kooky issue or belief or practice you want, and you allow me the same. (Within societal boundaries of course. Other than Sparta, I'm not aware of cultures where Mr. Jackson's alleged behavior is celebrated.)
Respectfully,
Anomaly
PS - God loves you and longs for relationship with you. If you want to know more, please email me.
indeed, though (Score:1, Insightful)
You try to make it seem 'worse' by saying it goes into 'every detail', but that's ridiculous...and by saying it's to 13y olds...so?
The problem I have with this is, if it were heterosexuals explaining the 'core family-unit' way of life to 13y olds, you would hardly make all these comments about it. It reeks of hypocrisy.
I really don't see any validtion for not talking about other sexual attractions, ESPECIALLY to 12 to 13y olds entering puberty. Unless you think gay feelings only pop up at the magical age of 18?
No, sory, I can follow you on the stupid PC-policy, but it does not follow that other ppl should get less rights or respect. It's not in the name, but in the action...
Re:BigBlockMopar in University...Similar event (Score:4, Insightful)
Your supposition doesn't necessarily lead to your conclusion. Many organisms do not have central nervous systems but do respond to stimuli that are harmful to them.
YOU are starving your fellow man.
Are you accusing me of eating someone else's steak?
A quick look at the human physiology (eye placement for binocular vision, types of teeth in the jaw - canines and incisors as well as molars and bicuspids, etc.) all indicate that humans are omnivorous by design. That means that humans were designed to eat both "meat" and "veggies". The choice of whether or not to eat from either classification of food is just that - a choice - because you *are* designed to take from both categories of foods, regardless if you like that fact or not.
I wonder what the vegetarian community thinks of the Atkins Diet
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:3, Insightful)
I do agree with you that no one should be considered an idiot because of their education. Unfortunatly the spread of PC, especially in the humanities, has caused many students in the US to leave University acting like complete asses. And no they do not show any respect for anyone who disagrees with them in the least.
Which brings us back to the idiotic LA story about master/slave IDE drive designations being objectionable and now illegal in LA county.
Re:BigBlockMopar in University...Similar event (Score:2, Insightful)
She went in there looking for a fight and the store failed to give her one. Then you gave the cashier a victory they weren't expecting. Good one!!
Seriously - some people need to grow thicker skin or something. I go into almost any place, find the one or two things I can eat, and go with it - no picking fights with the staff and no attempts to convert the people I'm with.
Re:For the love of all that's good and holy (Score:3, Insightful)
A) Truly pick a moderate judge who will examine the letter *and* intent of the law, and make a decision accordingly, or do I
B) Pick a judge who has a history of interpreting the law in a direction that favors my personal agenda (BTW, a SCOTUS appointment is quite the plum, and is a favor that will not be soon forgotten).
While they do not officially have any party affiliation, they *do* have definite political leanings. Because they're human.
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:BigBlockMopar in University... (Score:3, Insightful)
No, That is a very bad thing. If she's so sensitive, she didn't seem to worry about the sensitivity of BigBlockMopar (although I'm sure he can handle an insult or two if necessary).
> What bugs me is the assumption that she is worthy of ridicule for not knowing calculus terms
It's not about Calculus. What is worthy of ridicule is her jumping into a conversation she has no part in, and assuming the context is of bad intent. That is pretty arrogant, unlike retaliating in kind, which was BBM's response. So he was perfectly justified for pointing out that she's a stupid bitch.
> it's perfectly okay for YOU not to know much about HER major.
Yes, it is. It's perfectly OK for her to not know anything about his major. If he would have misheard or misunderstood something in HER conversation and jumped on her about it, then yes, he'd be a major asshole (not that he isn't now; I can't say, since I've never met him - not my problem anyway). BUT he didn't.