News Weakly - 12/5/20

A Faithful Farewell
The president has said that he will abide by the Electoral College vote and leave office. But before he does, he opted to strip out federal protections of endangered birds in favor of industry. The man and his priorities.

The Cure is Worse
In Japan, more people died from suicide last month than from Covid in all of 2020. Mostly women. Mostly from the stress of Covid. In other words, our concerns about the impact of the Covid response isn't just the economy. Do nothing? No! Can't we consider responses that don't kill more people than what we're responding to?

Guilty By Association
Katy Perry (Left) thought her dad's idea (Right) was a good one. Her "Christian preacher" father was working on a clothing line to bring the two sides of the aisle together as Americans. So she promoted the idea. "Can't we all just get along?" "NO!" social media declares. Apparently if you want to be tolerant of opposing people without embracing their views, you're wrong. And if you have those opposing views, perhaps you're evil, too. Don't be surprised if there is reprisal for "wrong thinking" (read "voting for Trump").

Turning the Page
Yesterday she was Ellen Page. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Juno. She won the Best Breakthrough Performance award from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. In 2014 she came out as gay. Today she is Elliot Page and her pronouns are "he" and "they." We're all going to ignore the fact that 1) she is a biological female, and 2) everything I mentioned above is a lie (since all of them were predicated on "female" which she says she is not). Of course, they're not going to change the gender of the person she is currently playing, although I don't know why they can't get a female to play a female. And it was astounding how quickly every source appeared to change "Ellen" to "Elliot" at lightspeed. The speed at which history is rewritten here is mind boggling. So, while the world applauds her bravery, I'm wondering, "So, if she is attracted to women and identifies as male, is she a heterosexual now?" We live in an insane world.

The Ultimate Good
Nasdaq is proposing new listing rules. The new rules would be centered on diversity. One rule would require "at least two diverse directors, including one who self-identifies as female and one who self-identifies as either an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+." Because it's not business if it's not "diverse" ("diverse" in quotes because it is narrowly defined). No one has yet explained how "diversity" (with that particular definition) makes a business more profitable.

Secondhand Smoke
San Francisco, ever the progressive town, is banning smoking inside your own apartment due to concerns about secondhand smoke. Oh, but you can still smoke pot in your own apartment because, hey, everyone knows secondhand smoke from pot is a good thing. "Hey, dude, pass it on."

False
In a move intended to protect people, Facebook (like You Tube before it) banned "false claims" about Covid-19 vaccines. The difficulty, as always it seems, is in the definition of "false claims." Things that are "debunked by public health experts" (because 1) they all agree and 2) they can't be wrong, right?) and "conspiracy theories" (because if you claim conspiracy you must be lying) are "false claims" and if they prove to be actually correct, it won't matter because truth is currently in flux anyway. So, Facebook will save you from false claims by eliminating questions and only allowing you to see the "truth" they approve.

A Joke Too Far? Perhaps the Babylon Bee has gone a little too far. A recent headline reads, "Biden All-Female Communications Team Won't Tell Nation What's Wrong, Nation Should Already Know." "If the reporters fail to understand their highly advanced non-verbal communication," the story says, "they will smile sweetly and walk out of the room before slamming the door as hard as they can." "'This is a huge step for this country,' said Communication Director Kate Bedingfield to reporters. 'We need to move beyond archaic and male-centric methods of communication that use things like clear language and written words.'" The press, they say, is "frantically buying flowers, chocolates, and jewelry" hoping to receive some clue as to what's going on.

Too stereotypical?