Hey Amy, believe me, I don't want to take away from your income, but your site is one of the few I do not adblock, and maybe it's been awhile, but tonight there are just a few too many animated ads.

One for Best Buy, one for LastPass, well, I really dislike animated ads.

I just woke up from this horrifying dream that disco was actually making a comeback.

At first, I was afraid. I was petrified.

Obama used the Espionage Act to put a record number of reporters' sources in jail

https://freedom.press/news/obama-used-espionage-act-put-record-number-reporters-sources-jail-and-trump-could-be-even-worse/

Mom charged after putting recording device in daughter’s backpack

http://wavy.com/2017/11/21/mom-charged-after-putting-recording-device-in-daughters-backpack/

Never forget.

Hat trick.

From Snoopys link

The Espionage Act criminalizes the mere retention and communication of classified information, regardless of intent. The law, as currently interpreted, makes no distinction between a person who disclosed information to help foreign enemies undermine U.S. national security and a person who disclosed information to help the press expose illegal government programs.

Unless you are a Clinton, then they dont care what you do with classified intel

From Snoopys link

The Espionage Act criminalizes the mere retention and communication of classified information, regardless of intent. The law, as currently interpreted, makes no distinction between a person who disclosed information to help foreign enemies undermine U.S. national security and a person who disclosed information to help the press expose illegal government programs.

Unless you are a Clinton, then they dont care what you do with classified intel

Sorry Charlie, the now-standard non-apology won't cut it. This is not on "all of us" and it's not on your victims, it's on you.

Apu as racist icon? Interesting read.

"[Apu] sees the world askance, like a critic softly lampooning the casual bigotry of those around him."

"American culture is littered with examples of characters—Uncle Tom, Charlie Chan—who were invented to thwart stereotypes only to end up advancing different, softer, no less racist stereotypes in their stead. Good intentions sometimes lay bare a kind of chummy condescension."

@Conan,

It's the same with the Barbie dolls.

http://www.barbiemedia.com/about-barbie/careers.html

She's been.. What? Astronaut, doctor, fashion icon, there's even a POTUS Barbie.

And yet the feminists overlook all this because she's skinny and pretty.

Brilliant.

Reform

From Conan's link:

American culture is littered with examples of characters—Uncle Tom, Charlie Chan—who were invented to thwart stereotypes only to end up advancing different, softer, no less racist stereotypes in their stead. Good intentions sometimes lay bare a kind of chummy condescension.

Wondering how a stereotype can be racist. It's been my observation that there's always more than enough people to justify those stereotypes. So, how is it racist to accurately portray what exists?

If you have a series in which a gay man is portrayed effeminately, or has a huge drag wardrobe complete with outrageous Vegas outfits, wigs, heels, the whole nine yards and lives to enter drag pageants, is that homophobic? Or say we have a gay character who is a total slut and frequents the bathhouses. Is that also homophobic?

How can it be? These people exist. I know them. There's plenty of them. So, what should we do? Create a universe where no gay man is ever effete or does drag? Where no bathhouses exist because no gay person ever uses one?

The only exception I've ever seen was Jimmie Walker's character, J.J. Evans, on "Good Times." Never saw any black people who acted like that.

But is he really a stereotype, or just a buffoonish character?

The problem with being hypervigilant about avoiding stereotypes is that any non-minority character must be a perfect human being in every way, otherwise we're accused of racism and stereotyping.

Let's say, for instance, that Suzanne Somers' character on "Three's Company" is black. Can you imagine the subsequent hue and cry that would go up? "You're saying all black women are stupid and have obnoxious laughter!"

Even when the one odd character is offset by relatively normal people of the same ethnic group, you can't escape the accusation of reception. Returning to J. J. Evans again, the fact that his parents were responsible adults, and his brother and sister and the rest of the cast were relative straight men, that wasn't sufficient to escape the racist accusation.

The problem I see is that by eschewing stereotypes completely, we're no longer truthful. Stereotypical people exist. That's why we have stereotypes.

After reading who Apu was and what he meant to people, there was this niggling little resentment that people were being too sensitive about this stuff.

Then I remembered that I had watched 16 minutes of one Simpsons episode in 199x, the year it started, and never more than ten seconds of it since. (The family was scrounging for lost winning tickets in the parking lot at the horse races.) I have zero investment, because it's a bullshit tv show.

Have at it, boys. Tear it to shreds.

Can I have those 16 minutes back?

Nominations for Best of November are closing: I bellieve we have a champion.

Cute.

The power of a Professional victim and her army of white knights.

https://twitter.com/Stmpy_Mch/status/934810090917412869

Keep hitting PgUp until you see a tweet that starts with "1 like =", and keep going down until you're certain it's over.

This stack is hundreds of tweets long and
absolutely riveting.

If Apu is racist because he is a stereotype then isn't Homer just as racist? Oh, wait, I forgot that insulting white (or yellow in this case) and men doesn't count.

If you have a series in which a gay man is portrayed effeminately.... Or say we have a gay character who is a total slut and frequents the bathhouses. ~ Patrick at November 26, 2017 2:33 PM

Didn't Will and Grace have that? I think I watched one or two episodes and the friend character was pretty flaming. And I think gay people were just happy to have gay characters as prominent and sympathetic characters in a show, such that his antics did not upset them.

I've seen a few Simpsons episodes over the years and I don't remember Apu as being a racist stereotype, anymore than In Living Color's Hedley family was.

I've worked with Indian people and they often have thick accents. The convenience store down the street from me in California was staffed (and owned) by a pair of Indian men. Perhaps my ear is not adept enough to distinguish between Bengali and Chennai, so Apu sounds Indian to me.

And the article was an interesting take on characters I would have never considered racist.

And, as the article says, Apu is the only hardworking character on the show and frequently points out the other characters' casual racism - e.g., the reverend dismissing Hinduism as one of the "miscellaneous" religions and Apu pointing out "There are 700 million of us, you know."

I'd agree that this is mostly a case of being hypersensitive, but I'm not Indian or Chinese, so I can't really say Apu or Chan are not insulting to an entire race. They certainly were never intended as racist, and that should count for something.

Ironically, the character of Charlie Chan was inspired by an actual detective with the Honolulu Police Department, Chang Apana, who reportedly enjoyed watching his fictional counterpart on screen.

Well, now

https://tophatter.com/?lot_details=true&lot_id=20098331&ad_hash=6097827579657

Illicit advertising?

Is Stinky the chemtrails guy?