Social Engineering

[wayneL]

If theists quote ancient texts as reason to support their argument or persecute homosexuals for example, then using the same logic atheists are reasonable in "cherry picking" less flattering verses.

I find both scenarios disingenuous. As pointed out above, the new testament supercedes the old.

In fact, I think a case could be made, Via the NT, that any form of religious legalism is a crock of shyte and not supportable in the Christian context (as much as organized churches may try).

 

[luutzu]

New Testament revises the old testament.

Wait, it's not the 2nd part of a trilogy.

 

[cynic]

Wait, it's not the 2nd part of a trilogy.

Aren't you forgetting about the recently discovered Gospel according to Noirua which, God willing, may serve as the Newer Testament.

And failing that, the zealous efforts of antitheistic crusaders, are sure to provide us their revisionary instalment!

That is, of course, presuming they don't simply burn and delete every copy, replacing it with a manifesto of "tried before and failed, but let's pretend all that never really happened, so this can be declared as progressive" ideology.

 

[Tisme]

Wait, it's not the 2nd part of a trilogy.

Of course it is, but policy at the moment is the second act

 

[Tisme]

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/soci...om-wins-support-china-after-internet-backlash

Chinese dress at US prom wins support in China after internet backlash

After criticism of student Keziah Daum’s Twitter post showing her wearing the traditional qipao, Chinese commenters call it cultural appreciation, not appropriation


PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 01 May, 2018, 6:32pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 02 May, 2018, 1:20pm

Louise Moon

2 May 2018
An American teenager has received support from internet users in China after being criticised for wearing a traditional Chinese dress to her school prom.

Keziah Daum, an 18-year-old from Utah in the United States, who has no Chinese roots, was accused of “cultural appropriation” after posting photographs on Twitter that featured her in a traditional Chinese qipao, or cheongsam.

The dress symbolised a silent protest to promote gender equality after the fall of the dynasties and the beginning of the republican period in the early 1900s, and was worn during the 1919 reformist May Fourth Movement.

When does cultural inspiration become appropriation in fashion?

Daum has stood by her decision to wear the dress, which was red and embroidered with gold and black, and told the South China Morning Post it projected a “wonderful message”. She has not deleted her original April 22 post.

PROM pic.twitter.com/gsJ0LtsCmP

— Keziah (@daumkeziah) April 22, 2018

She was not aware of the dress’ history before buying it at a vintage shop in Salt Lake City, she said in an email, but “simply found a beautiful, modest gown and chose to wear it”.

“One person commented it represented female empowerment,” she wrote. “If that is the case, then it is a wonderful message for any young woman my age to learn, regardless of culture and background.

“I posted photos for my friends to see. I never imagined it would go so far.

“I am sorry if anyone was offended. That was never my intention. I am grateful I was able to wear such a beautiful dress.”

My culture is NOT your goddamn prom dress. https://t.co/vhkNOPevKD

— Jeremy Lam (@jere_bare) April 27, 2018

One Twitter user, Jeremy Lam, had written: “My culture is not your ... prom dress.” The tweet generated more than 40,000 retweets, nearly 180,000 likes and thousands of comments on the social media platform.

Why Jeremy Lin’s dreadlocks should not be viewed as cultural appropriation

“This isn’t OK. I wouldn’t wear traditional Korean, Japanese or any other traditional dress and I’m Asian,” another user wrote. “There’s a lot of history behind these clothes. Sad.”

This isn’t ok. I wouldn’t wear traditional Korean, Japanese or any other traditional dress and I’m Asian. I wouldn’t wear traditional Irish or Swedish or Greek dress either. There’s a lot of history behind these clothes. Sad.

— Jeannie (@JeannieBeanie99) April 28, 2018

But those commenting in mainland China were less opposed to Daum’s dress.

“Very elegant and beautiful! Really don’t understand the people who are against her, they are wrong!” one person commented on an article by Wenxue City News. “I suggest the Chinese government, state television or fashion company invite her to China to display her cheongsam!”

“It is not cultural theft,” another wrote. “It is cultural appreciation and cultural respect.”
Weibo users added that Daum looked beautiful and criticised those who have accused her.

“Culture has no borders,” one wrote. “There is no problem, as long as there is no malice or deliberate maligning. Chinese cultural treasures are worth spreading all over the world.”

The qipao is believed to have been adapted from the style of Manchu women in the Qing dynasty of 1644 to 1912. The tightly fitting modern version was created in Shanghai in the 1920s and made fashionable by socialites and the upper class.

It fell out of fashion between the 1950s and 1970s, as those who wore it were judged as being bourgeois in a time of anti-tradition movements, but has since regained popularity.

 

[bellenuit]

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/soci...om-wins-support-china-after-internet-backlash

This claim of cultural appropriation was nicely dismissed by Machael Shermer (I think) when he said: Culture IS appropriation.

And I would add, the more appropriation the richer the culture.

 

[cynic]

...

And I would add, the more appropriation the richer the culture.

Wouldn't that depend upon what it is that is actually being appropriated, and whether or not it can readily assimilate with, (rather than assault) extant cultural values?

 

[bellenuit]

Wouldn't that depend upon what it is that is actually being appropriated, and whether or not it can readily assimilate with, (rather than assault) extant cultural values?

It would be if that was how it happened. But it is not something that is controlled by a committee where someone decides what is good or bad about another culture and thus determines what should be appropriated or rejected.

The reality is that for various historical and geographic reasons such as migration, war, travel, trade, refuge etc. different cultures have come in contact with each other and traits from each get absorbed into a new culture. What gets absorbed will likely be those traits that seem most beneficial to the new emerging culture or in some cases those traits that are most dominant.

The fact that this commingling has been positive in general is demonstrated by the fact that those cultures that have undergone considerable intermixing usually are regarded as more advanced in areas like science, music, medicine, literature etc.

 

[Tisme]

Frank Chung@franks_chung

news.com.auMAY 1, 20182:23PM

“Blackie Blackie Brown is a wild, twisted, hilarious origin story by provocative social commentator Nakkiah Lui,” the play’s synopsis reads. “Add a mystical quest, bloodcurdling vengeance and a dose of potent political venom, and a new superhero is born.”

The story follows “mild-mannered archaeologist Dr Jacqueline Black”, played by Megan Wilding, who uncovers a mass grave “somewhere in the Australian bush”.

“She picks up a skull and is overpowered by the spirit of her great-great-grandmother ... BAM! Blackie Blackie Brown has arrived and she is a cold-blooded vigilante,” the website says.

“Her mission: kill all the descendants of the men who massacred her ancestors. White people, watch out. This isn’t about forgiveness. And it’s not about reconciliation.”

The play blends “high-octane stage action” with “heart-pumping visuals”. Actor Ash Flanders plays “every single white person she needs to kill”. “You’ll be laughing out loud one second, squirming in your seat the next,” it says. “Your white meat is DONE, motherf**ker.”

Ms Wilding last month told TimeOut she “couldn’t have asked for anything better” than to have her debut in this show. “It’s right up my alley and it’s so shocking,” she said.

Ms Lui, who also created the award-winning play Black is the New White and is the co-writer and star of the ABC’s Black Comedy, tweeted earlier this month, “#BlackGirlMagic is taking over Australian entertainment and decolonising the f**k outta it!”

Writer and actress Nakkiah Lui.Source:News Corp Australia

In 2014, she told Fairfax the play grew out of a short story, based on her own great-great-grandmother, who was suspected to have been the only survivor of a massacre by English settlers. “We can’t confirm it yet but it’s a story I grew up hearing,” Ms Lui said.

“You have films like Django Unchained, which played in every Hoyts. A hugely popular movie about the way African-American people were treated in the USA through slavery. It is fascinating that they could sell their story in that way.”

Ms Lui received a $40,000 Australia Council grant for the show, produced by Redfern-based theatre company Performing Lines — which has received nearly $9 million in Australia Council grants since 2008.

The NSW government’s Create NSW chipped in nearly $27,000 in 2015, while the Victorian government’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image provided in-kind support through access to its green-screen studio.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said under its legislation, the Australia Council’s funding decisions were made at “arm’s length” from the government.

“The Australia Council advises the development of the work received some funding in 2014,” he said. “It is for the Australia Council to explain its processes, decisions and judgments. I haven’t seen the work, but the description of it isn’t to my taste.”

A spokesman for Create NSW said applications for annual program funding were assessed by “independent panels of peers who then make recommendations to the minister, however neither the minister [nor] Create NSW are involved in the programming decisions of recipient organisations”.

“Blackie Blackie Brown received funding of $26,509 in 2015 through the then Arts NSW Arts & Cultural Projects fund for a two-week creative development of the project, having also been recommended through an independent assessment panel,” he said.

Ms Lui has been contacted for comment. Blackie Blackie Brown premieres on May 12.

 

[Tisme]

 

[Tisme]

Full video

 

[wayneL]

I couldn't figure out what her point was.... Apart from invoking free speech for herself but making an ipso facto case for silencing others.

 

[Tisme]

I couldn't figure out what her point was.... Apart from invoking free speech for herself but making an ipso facto case for silencing others.

Girls go through that argumentative phase, some earlier, some, later ... it must be a rotten feeling later on in life when it surfaces in the memory banks.

 

[Wysiwyg]

Girls go through that argumentative phase, some earlier, some, later ... it must be a rotten feeling later on in life when it surfaces in the memory banks.

The misandrous are stirring, cashed up and ready for a fight.

 

[moXJO]

Full video

God help America.

 

[Tisme]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-...neutral-toys-lara-croft-rey-star-wars/9836160

Amid a downturn in global toy sales, Australia's Toys 'R' Us stores going into voluntary administration and closure of the firm's American and UK arms, a quiet revolution is underway in the toy world.

The gendered distinctions of the infamous pink and blue toy aisles are starting to break down.

Toymakers such as Mattel and Hasbro are no longer explicitly marketing some of their lines (including dolls) to girls or boys. And retailers such as Target, Toys 'R' Us and Kmart are responding by replacing pink and blue toy aisles with gender-neutral "kids toy" aisles.

This blurring of gender lines around toys is emblematic of a broader societal shift driven by ideas of inclusiveness, metrosexuality, genderless athletic wear, and the rise of celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner who challenge fixed gender identities......

cont.

 

[Tisme]

Secrets revealed:

 

[Tisme]

The experts can't figure out why residents are fleeing in record numbers.

Maybe it because of the meddling in personal freedoms, social suffocation and burial of she'll be right.

 

[basilio]

The story of Three Identical Strangers is going to be one of the big documentaries on this year. I understand it will have quite compelling observations on the nature vs nurture debate. Well worth a look when it comes out. (See it cold.. don't look for the story before the film..)

 

[moXJO]

The story of Three Identical Strangers is going to be one of the big documentaries on this year. I understand it will have quite compelling observations on the nature vs nurture debate. Well worth a look when it comes out. (See it cold.. don't look for the story before the film..)

Amazing story. I remember hearing it years ago.