I Don't Even ...
What do we do with a story like this? Mattel has introduced a new Barbie doll to their line. It's an autistic Barbie, intended to "celebrate diversity." There are already Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, and dolls with vitiligo. But things like "blind" and "autism" aren't things we see, exactly, and these dolls don't do anything, so if it's not a visible trait, how does a doll help? I understand that everyone needs respect, but is a Barbie doll the best way to encourage it? To me, it feels more like trivializing it. (And it's ironic since Barbie historically excluded almost everyone "but the beautiful" as defined by ... Barbie.)
Iranian Freedom
Iranians have been protesting their government loudly for two weeks now. They're protesting economic decline and calling for a regime change and the return of Reza Pahlavi. So, as any civilized nation would do ... Iran is killing protesters by the hundreds. Pahlavi is the crown prince of the last shah, but he's not his father. He's not in favor of "Monarchy 2.0." He wants democracy for Iran. Clearly the current government is not in favor of Pahlavi ... or their own people.
The Double Standard
New York Attorney General Letitia James settled with a Jewish group she accused of trying to intimidate pro-Palestinian activists. Her "settlement" was to threaten them with a $50,000 penalty. "New York will not tolerate organizations that use fear, violence and intimidation to silence free expression or target people because of who they are," she said ... you know ... like the pro-Palestinian protesters do by definition. Talk about double standards.
Butt Heads
California Governor Newsom is butting heads with Louisiana who is trying to get a doctor extradited for mailing illegal abortion drugs to a patient in Louisiana. Newsom says, "No!" He's standing firm on being allowed to kill babies and will refuse to respect other states' laws. Because killing babies is considered "reproductive health care services." I can only imagine what the rest of their "health care" looks like when killing patients is classified as "health care services."
Your Best Source for Fake News
As Trump threatens to annex Greenland (actual story), NATO is asking the U.S. for emergency funding to defend Greenland from the U.S. It doesn't help that new recruitment ads say, "Visit lovely Greenland." And, with the Supreme Court hearing a case on transgender athletes (actual story), SCOTUS has asked a five-year-old to explain the difference between boys and girls. Helpful ... unless, of course, the five-year-old has already been inculcated by the latest gender insanity.
Must be true; I read it on the Internet.
I Don't Even...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to sell more dolls without any change to their manufacturing process. Make two Barbie dolls and just slap a different sticker on them and now they have to buy two "different" dolls.
Iranian Freedom
You know what I've noticed is severely lacking over the last two weeks? College protests about the killing of as many as 20000 (by some reports) of their own citizens. They were up in arms about the US dropping a few bombs, and Israel destroying Iran's combat ability. But the execution of your own citizens is a-okay.
The Double Standard
That headline makes no sense to me. In what way was this a settlement? Their punishment is to disband or pay $50000. What kind of punishment was on the table? For protesting protestors? I thought the First Amendment was the Left's most coveted. Oh, right, the Constitution is only good in their eyes when it benefits themselves, but not those they disagree with.
Butt Heads
I wonder if interstate bounty hunters could get him. I think that's a thing. Though I guess they might only be hunting bail jumpers, so maybe that won't work. Maybe bounty hunting should spread it's wings and include those simply with warrants.
Someone on Facebook suggested the next Barbie be a a Barbie during her period!
ReplyDeleteRe: The story about the newest Barbie diversity “fashion doll”--your “I Don’t Even …” is my response as well. How would a blind girl even know her doll was blind? How would one ascertain that a Barbie has diabetes? I mean, do dolls even have blood sugar … or functioning eyes, ears, pancreases, etc.? They said there was a deaf Barbie with hearing aids--how tiny would those need to be?
ReplyDeleteStan, I thought today’s News Weakly might include last week’s death of Scott Adams (creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip) and his promise to convert to Christianity before he passed away (mostly to please his Christian friends, evidently). The whole story touched a bit on Pascal’s Wager (which I know you’ve posted about in the past) and also the validity of deathbed conversions, decisional regeneration, etc. Perhaps a discussion for another time.
ReplyDeleteSince "News Weakly" is rarely an extended discussion on a topic, I probably wouldn't have included it for that ... but I've been traveling this week and you're the first I've heard about Adams's death, so I probably didn't include it because I never heard. (That's my guess. :))
DeleteYour explanation makes sense. (No, I wouldn’t expect an in-depth discussion here.) I am sure that you and I receive different “news feeds” (so to speak), but at mine, reports of Adam’s death and possible conversion were all the buzz this past week.
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