I'm feeling excluded.

"Inclusion," in a single screenshot:

This is from an organization that was in the news recently for vandalizing the works of Roald Dahl (removing such offensive words as black, white, fat, and attractive), so I went to their website to send them some hate mail -- er, I mean some diverse mail expressing my own differing viewpoint as informed by my lived experience as person of diverseness.*

I guess I'm not the only one. The "contact us" page on the site is now blank, although the Wayback Machine shows that it didn't use to be. Oddly enough, their donation buttons are still operational.

Also scrubbed from the current site, but still viewable on the Wayback, is the list of individuals involved: directors Jessi Parrott, A. M. Dassu, and Heather Lacey; and founders Beth Cox and Alexandra Strick. (Hmm, one "diverse" group is rather surprisingly conspicuous by its absence. Almost every single time.)

As the unexpurgated Dahl himself put it, "I do not wish to speak badly about women. Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women."

*I can't be diverse because I'm white, you say? Fool, I'm Ukrainian. Beat that!**

**I hope the inclusionnaires appreciate how I self-censored and went with "fool."

The Church Formerly Known As Mormon says it's not okay to be white

This is not news -- it's a press release from 2017, in response to whatever "racist" thing the media was outraged about at the time -- but it was recently brought to my attention in connection with my post "Racism is a fake sin." Strident condemnation of this fake sin is of course only to be expected from modern churches, but note how much further the Formerly Mormon Church has gone:

It has been called to our attention that there are some among the various pro-white and white supremacy communities who assert that the Church is neutral toward or in support of their views. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the New Testament, Jesus said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:37–39). The Book of Mormon teaches "all are alike unto God" (2 Nephi 26:33).

White supremacist attitudes are morally wrong and sinful, and we condemn them. Church members who promote or pursue a "white culture" or white supremacy agenda are not in harmony with the teachings of the Church.

White supremacy is defined by Cambridge Dictionary as the quasi-mythical "belief that people with pale skin are better than people with darker skin," and it is pretty universally agreed that that would be a foolish and perhaps (depending on what exactly is meant by "better") morally objectionable thing to believe.

Note the phrases I have bolded, though. The Church is not only condemning "white supremacy" but also anyone who is pro-white -- which simply means "supporting or approving of white people." The Church makes no secret of its "shared vision" with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but they strongly denounce the idea that they could even be so much as neutral when it comes to anything pro-white. They are pretty unambiguously staking out the position that it is morally wrong to support or approve of white people. And -- weirdly, given that the vast majority of Church leaders are themselves white and live in white communities -- they cite "love thy neighbor" in support of this stance!

They go on to say that those "who promote or pursue a 'white culture'" -- that would be any and all cultures with European roots -- "are not in harmony with the teachings of the Church." No other culture is similarly condemned, so we take it that the cultures of the various white peoples (historically roughly coterminous with Christendom) are uniquely wicked.

Etymologically, the opposite of suprême is infime, so I think we could call the Church's stated position here white infimacy -- as Cambridge might define it, "the belief that people with pale skin are worse than people with darker skin." Since Mormonism is itself a product of white people living in a white culture, I think this leads to something very like the Cretan Liar Paradox.

Actually, it’s a zero-emissions fan

We have this sign to remind students not to leave the fan running.

“Save Our Earth!” Because, although you can’t see any pollution coming out of the fan itself, it’s understood that the fan uses electricity, which comes from power plants, which mostly burn coal. You’re “saving our earth” by indirectly causing less coal smoke to be pumped into the atmosphere.

Isn’t it interesting how the same people who understand that effortlessly — who know that of course running an electric fan all the time is bad for the environment — also tend to think that electric cars are the best thing since low-flow showerheads?

I guess if I really want to get serious about Saving Our Earth, I should consider investing in a fan that runs off a 1,000-pound rechargeable lithium-ion battery instead of plugging directly into the wall. I hear those are great for the environment.

Well, that didn't take long!

November 3:

Taiwan will not mandate birdemic pecks: CECC

CECC says Taiwanese have right to reject peck

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to a recent incident in which an elementary student athlete was rejected from joining a school team for not having been fully pecked, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) reaffirmed on Wednesday (Nov. 3) that Taiwan will not mandate birdemic pecks.

[. . .]

The CECC encourages people to get pecked but will not mandate pecks, Chen said, adding that the center does not want to see people lose rights inherent to them because they chose not to get the pecks, according to the report.

December 5:

Essential workers urged to get second peck before Dec. 17

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Essential workers in certain government-regulated industries will need proof of a second birdemic peck administered before Dec. 17 beginning Jan. 1, the CECC (Central Epidemic Command Center) announced Sunday.

At a press briefing, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that the tightened rules would include requiring workers attached to certain ministries to be fully pecked by Jan. 1, with at least 14 days between receiving their second peck and their first day of work.

Those employed by or working in institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), and the Ministry of Labor (MOL) will be covered by the CECC's new regulations.

What happened between Nov. 3 and Dec. 5 to make the Tooth Fairy change his mind? Well, there have been 130 birdemic-related deaths in Taiwan in that period: 1 from the birdemic itself and 129 from peck side effects. Obviously, the solution is to force more people to get pecked! Look how well that's working for every other country in the world.

As a teacher and school owner, I am subject to the Ministry of Education. I am weighing my options, of which I need scarcely say that getting pecked myself is not one. Your prayers are much appreciated.

Suddenly, no one really cares about masks anymore

Things are different from the way they were just a week ago, at least in my part of Taiwan. I'm not sure what has triggered the change, or whether anything similar has happened anywhere else.

Masks are still required by law -- or by whatever it is we have instead of law these days -- in most places, whether indoors or out, though the list of exceptions is slowly growing, with a few more added every couple of weeks. At the moment, I am allowed to take my mask off at the lectern but not at my desk, in my car but not on my motorcycle, at the restaurant table but not at the counter, while exercising but not while resting -- and all of that is liable to change at any moment at the whim of the Tooth Fairy (as I call the overpromoted dentist who somehow gets to call all the shots).

Where masks are still, required, though -- which is most places -- compliance is still very, very close to 100%. When I say people no longer care about masks, I don't mean they have gotten in any way lax about wearing them. I can go for days without seeing a single unmasked face in public. No sloppy below-the-nose stuff, either; always full face-diaper.

I never wear a mask anywhere unless asked -- and "asked" is a nice way of saying that behind the impeccably polite exterior I've got a whole bag of tricks and excuses and psychological tactics and what have you, and you've got to try pretty damn hard. I do not go gentle. People always used to try, though. I generally won, but they tried.

About a week ago, everyone stopped trying.

I suppose some of it might just be personal notoriety -- bureaucrats and shopkeepers be like here come dat boi -- but even people I've never interacted with before have stopped trying. I walk into a grocery store, a post office, a bank, even the fire department, and everyone acts like it's totally normal. Not so much as a "Sir, your mask" out of anyone. Not even a look of surprise or alarm.

I always carry a mask just in case -- I don't want to pay an actual fine if it comes to that -- and when motorcycling I always used to wear one pushed down around my neck. With a helmet and all, it's not easy to quickly put on a mask if you see a cop, so I had to be prepared. First I would pull it up if I saw a cop and pull it back down when the coast was clear. Then I started pulling it up only if the cop didn't look busy. Then I never pulled it up at all but knew that I could if necessary. About a week ago, I stopped wearing the thing altogether. I just spontaneously felt that the cops wouldn't care anymore, that nothing would happen, and so far that has proven to be the case.

Is this happening anywhere else?

⁂

Update: I guess I knew posting this would jinx me. The very next day, I had to deal with a remarkably persistent maskie at the post office who really put me through my paces. Even she didn't really seem to care, though. Certainly there was no sense of fear or anger or anything, just a touch of rules-are-rules-ism. In the end, though I really had to get creative, I did manage to get through the whole thing with no mask, no fine, and no hard feelings. It's getting easier and easier to do.

You hypocrites are worse than the Aztecs themselves

Yes, they may occasionally have sacrificed a person or two as part of their mostly peaceful religion (though I hasten to add that the overwhelming majority of towers in Mexico City are not made of skulls). You, though --

You have the unmitigated gall to pontificate on "gender equality" -- while in the same breath you unthinkingly classify people into two supposed "biological genders" on the basis of the racist pseudoscience of craniometry!

#Trigglypuffwasright

“Being healthy” — be it by personal standards or medical ones — is not a moral obligation.

That someone is “being unhealthy” is not an excuse for bullying and oppressive systems and/or actions.

Your health is your business.

— Trigglypuff

Or the battle will be hotter, and you won't get no supper

Ages ago in Ohio, a kid in my neighborhood got a pet rabbit that was slinky and black -- so he named it Slink-ack. Now that kid's all grown up and, apparently, working as a branding consultant for Pfizer.

Anyway, I'm sure you've heard that the first peck has been officially approved, and has been given a name that makes Humpty Dumpty with his portmanteau look like an amateur -- an unpronounceable, impossible-to-remember string of letters that was apparently intended to evoke corvid, mRNA, immunity, community, comorbidity, Comintern, and covfefe.

And you know what that means? It means we get to rebrand "vaccine hesitancy" as

Of course even a prophetic musician like Bob can't be expected to have predicted some made-up nonsense name almost 50 years in advance with any precision -- but I think Congo-Bongo-Natty comes impressively close!

So roll up your sleeve and take your Safe-n-Effective medicine, kids, or else you know what comes next: That's right, more dread-locks in Babylon!

In the meantime, enjoy a little music from a more human time.