Daily Archives: March 17, 2017

The PC-ers strike again. Appalachian State University in North Carolina is asking students to use gender-neutral pronouns in their papers, so that all readers feel included in what theyve written.

The universitys writing center recently released a guide on Inclusive Language & Gender Neutral Pronoun Use, offering students two options: change all their sentences so that the subject is plural (for example, switch out a student for students), or simply replace the singular pronoun he or she with they (proper grammar be damned).

To avoid confusion, the guide recommends students who choose tousethey as a singular third-person pronoun place a disclaimer at the top of their papers.

Surprisingly, xe or ze, or any of the other gender-neutral pronouns which have caught on at other universities, weren't suggested in the guide.

Director of University Communications Megan Hayes told Campus Reform that the use of gender-neutral pronouns isnt mandatory but a mere suggestion, adding that there is no university-wide practice or policy related to penalizing students for grammar use.

It sounds like professors at App State are going to have a much harder time grading papers this semester.

Follow this link:

This North Carolina University is Taking Political Correctness to a ... - Townhall

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In the format of the election debate, which saw a number of short rounds of discussion between the leaders of the many political parties contesting Wednesdays election, Mr. Wilders was allowed to introduce a motion which would then be debated. Revealing he had selected to discuss Islam, Wilders said hed picked the topic not out of a lack of respect for his opponent, or that he was trying to trip him up, but given it was the last televised debate before the polls opened he thought it should be on the most important topic facing the Netherlands today.

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Opening the discussion, Wilders, who was again seen to be wearing a special bullet and stab-proof vest modelled to resemble a waistcoat under his suit, said: A country can be in an economic crisis, thats an important topic, but with good national and international policy you can solve that problem. But this is an existential problem. This is the survival of the NetherlandsThe future of our country and western civilisation is at stake, so I therefore chose to put this statement on the agenda.

Remarking that political correctness and a willingness to give Islam space to operate in the Netherlands will end up helping to destroy our constitutional state, Wilders told the studio audience and millions watching at home:

Islam and democracy cannot coexist. And you can see that in, literally, every country in which Islam is dominant. We can see a total lack of freedom, you can see widespread violence and oppression, whether you are a Christian or Jew or whether you are an apostate or a critical journalist.

So I think that if we will defend ourselves and deal with Islam that we will not make our constitutional state and our democracy weaker, but stronger. And we need courage to do that, we will have to break the mould.

I dont mean all people who support Islam, but Islam itself plays by different rules than we do. It doesnt play by our rules, so if we play by our rules and Islam doesnt do that then this means that at the end of the day, we will lose everything that we stand for.

AP Images

Mr. Wilders said the only policy point he had a major disagreement with the Christian party leader Gert-Jan Segers was over Islam, and accused him of letting Dutch Christians down.

Maybe this is the only political issue I have against your party, I do not understand why your party doesnt fight more against Islamisation. Because Christians, just like in the Middle East, and the Jews, will be the first victims of Islamisation.

In every country where Islam is active and dominant, just like your [experience in] Egypt, the Coptic churches are bombed, the same thingshappen in Syria and elsewhere as well. We have to resist this! We shouldnt accept that.

Your party always plays along with the left you are a party that cooperated with the Socialist party and the Greens for more amnesty, for more asylum seekers among whom there are terrorists you only import more Islam and I dont understand that.

I would really like to see you becoming an ally to protect the Christians in the Netherlands, but you dont do that because you support open borders.

Segers rejected Mr. Wilders call to defend the Netherlands from Islam, accusing him of destroying the Dutch constitutional state in an effort to save it, obliquely comparing the Freedom Party leader to Islamist Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoan because of his nationalist stance.

Rejecting the idea that he was letting down Christians, Mr. Segers said his party reflected the core Christian values of neighbourly love and mercifulness in welcoming Muslims to the Netherlands. Responding to the point, Wilders hit back saying: You know better than I that Jesus doesnt exist in Islam. They have Muhammad, a warlord, a paedophile, a man who beheaded Jews by the dozens.

Millions of Dutch citizens are voting on Wednesday to select a new government. The late stages of thecampaign have been somewhat overshadowed by disputes between the Dutch government and Turkey over the activities of Turkish ambassadors in the country. The disagreements have soured relations between the nations sufficiently so that Turkish President Erdoan was motivated to call Dutch people Nazi remnants.

Mr. Wilders has performed strongly in polls, coming first in the majority of research over the past 12 months. This position has been weakened in recent weeks as the establishment Rutte-led conservative party regained some ground, while still standing well behind their position in the 2012 vote.

Listen: Oliver Lane discusses the Dutch elections with host Alexander Marlow on the Breitbart Daily Show

Read more from the original source:

Wilders on Eve-of-Vote Debate: 'Political Correctness and Islam Will Destroy Our Nation' - Breitbart News

On Political Correctness as the New Campus "Religion" Inside Higher Ed (blog) Deresiewicz characterizes the religion as a particular strain of political correctness, drawing a distinction between acceptable PC, adhering to the norms of basic decency, like refraining from derogatory epithets, and the bad PC, the persistent ...

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On Political Correctness as the New Campus "Religion" - Inside Higher Ed (blog)

In the words of the play of the '60s stop the world, I want to get off.

I can no longer go on my world has shattered into little gray blobs which settle onto the gray pavement where people trudge along in their gray suits and gray shoes and gray lives. All the color has gone, and Im frankly not going to play anymore. Im done. Roger. Over and out.

Yes, dear reader, I have lately discovered that my beloved mother country, indeed the city in which I was born Melbourne has fallen into the P.C.P. the Political Correctness Pit with such verve and enthusiasm that I doubt anywhere in America can rival it.

Apparently, some rabid thing got her knickers in a twist, and insisted that the icon used in the light at the crosswalk was politically incorrect as it resembled note the word resembled, not indeed was at this point I want all snowflakes to turn your faces to the walls my darlings so I do not shock you into blithering blancmangedness a man.

So, Melbourne spent enough to house and feed its homeless for a very long time and changed the icons to also include a resemblance of a female i.e. one wearing a dress.

Now I dont know about you, but I think the last time I wore a dress was back in the '70s where hippy-dippy flowing skirts and peasant blouses were all the rage. Oh no, Ive just stepped into the PC limbo by possibly oh hell, probably offending every current and former hippie and the worlds peasants all in one psychedelic outfit.

I really dont set out to offend, gentle reader, I just dont have an off button, and so off I will go leaving offended petals in my path. I should actually be pitied in this current sensitive enriched hysterical world in which we live, but am I? Heavens no! I am quickly, and I might add joyfully, becoming a social pariah and loving it.

Where does the crosswalk icon crisis end, I ask you? Will we end up with one for transgender crossers a nice boa and size 12 strappy sandals? How about wheelchair users will we have one with both a manual and a motorized chair as God knows we dont want to offend those without an engine? Illegal aliens, how about you? Black, white, yellow, brindle, polka-dotted, acne/clear skin, blonde, brunette, redhead?

Its a pedestrian crossing people! You cross when the light turns green. Oh dear, Ive now offended all non-Irish people. And you dont cross when the light turns red. Uh, oh Native Americans Im so sorry.

We should now all grow a pair, put on our big girl panties, or our tidy whities, and look the whining, complaining Gladys Kravitzes of this world in their eyes and well, to paraphrase my native tongue go forth and multiply.

Get over yourselves. You are not that important, nor are you that interesting. Merge into the crowd that is indeed the human race, get on with life and hey heres a concept. Go have some fun for a change.

-- Annie Dear lives in Lees Summit. Email her at anniedearkc@hotmail.com.

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Annie Dear: Political correctness at the crosswalks - News - The ... - Waynesville Daily Guide

For those still unsure whether the nations public school system could use a reset, consider the recent news from New York.

Four years ago, the state introduced a literacy exam for prospective teachers and for good reason. Studies show that an effective, quality teacher is one of the most important factors when it comes to student achievement. They also reveal that too many education colleges accept students with subpar academic records. A 2016 report by the National Council on Teacher Quality found that 44 percent of the teacher preparation programs it surveyed accepted students from the bottom half of their high school classes, the Associated Press reported this week.

New Yorks Academic Literacy Skills Test was designed to ensure that those charged with educating the states children had acquired basic reading and writing skills.

The test results have been astounding. The AP notes that just 46 percent of Hispanics, 41 percent of African-Americans and 64 percent of white candidates passed the exam on the first try. The fact that virtually half of those seeking to become educators couldnt successfully navigate a test that the New York Post described as a something a high school senior should be able to pass is another stunning indictment of teacher prep programs.

All of this, however, is apparently of no concern to New York education officials. Instead of applauding the examinations for identifying teachers who were likely to struggle in the classroom, the state Board of Regents on Monday voted to abolish the test requirement altogether thanks to the racial disparity reflected in the scores.

Theres not a test in the country that doesnt have disproportionate performance on the part of blacks or Hispanics, said Katie Walsh, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality.

This is political correctness run amok. Certainly the state should strive to implement ways to improve the performance of minority candidates or to lure better minority students to the profession. But turning a blind eye to reality in an effort to promote diversity is to condemn thousands of New York kids to classrooms led by teachers ill-prepared for the rigors of the job.

Obviously, its not really about the children. Who knew?

Go here to read the rest:

OUR VIEW: Political correctness run amok in New York - The News Herald