Funny Events of the "Woke" world

[Agema]

EVs running off coal electricity produce more carbon emissions than a normal car.

Most of the world doesn't use coal that heavily, and it is also being generally phased out anyway.

Also the carbon required to make an EV is more than a normal car.

All of which should be completely drowned out by fuel use during the lifespan of the vehicle. In most of the world, it's estimated currently about 30-70% less carbon for EV, and that should get even higher with more power generation by renewables.

The other advantage, of course, is they drastically reduce the amount of pollutants dumped straight into the lungs of your average urban dweller, thus reducing problems with asthma and other respiratory diseases, general sooty dirt, etc. There are studies that suggest that if you're living in a city, you're effectively smoking several cigarettes a day.

 

[Breakdown]

I find this bizarre, unless there's something missing.

A university should provide a respectful and inclusive learning environment for its students. It can academically challenge them, it can have standards of conduct and punish students that infringe, and lecturers can pose difficult and alternative views. But I absolutely do not see how "freedom of speech" reasonably extends to allowing lecturers to denigrate students.

If the university accepts students' declared genders, then it should be able to require its staff to respect students' gender as well.

I think the freedom of speech angle here is that forcing somebody to use another individual's preferred pronouns is a way of compelling somebody to say something they might not actually believe is true.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

I think you'll find that denying someone's identity, particularly where they have reason to be very sensitive about it, tends to make them very upset.

You should realise this for yourself, if you decided to employ some empathy and imagination towards your fellow humans, instead of knee-jerk ideological disagreement.

So it's offensive to deny some-one identity but according to others in this thread totally fine to give people an entirely different identity, demand they accept it and refuse to accept how they identify?

 

[Buyetyen]

So you agree that calling someone by their name is something a person could get reported for? Do you not see how ridiculous this stance is. How is a spanish speaking person to refer to a non-binary person in spanish when they have to use either a masculine or famine word?

More specifically, for a pattern of dickish behavior that also includes abusing names to hurt someone. Again, people can tell when you're bullshitting them. Your friend was not reported for using a name. That's just his excuse for his bigoted douchebaggery.

 

[Silvanus]

So it's offensive to deny some-one identity but according to others in this thread totally fine to give people an entirely different identity, demand they accept it and refuse to accept how they identify?

Who's arguing that?

I think the freedom of speech angle here is that forcing somebody to use another individual's preferred pronouns is a way of compelling somebody to say something they might not actually believe is true.

K, but if that's just because they're arrogantly assuming they know someone else's identity better than that person does, who gives a shit?

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I think the freedom of speech angle here is that forcing somebody to use another individual's preferred pronouns is a way of compelling somebody to say something they might not actually believe is true.

As somebody who has worked a decade in retail, I'm spectacularly uninterested in this argument. I'd've been fired many times over had I stuck to what I believed was true and nobody would've batted an eye

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Who's arguing that?

cerain people in this thread, at least by their actions so far.

 

[Trunkage]

cerain people in this thread, at least by their actions so far.

Dude, thats what you call a strawman

 

[Agema]

I think the freedom of speech angle here is that forcing somebody to use another individual's preferred pronouns is a way of compelling somebody to say something they might not actually believe is true.

If so, it's a terrible argument.

There are a lot of things we might believe but for various reasons should not say at work as it does not reasonably align with our job remit. A retail cashier should not insult a customer and then be defended from disciplinary action on the grounds of freedom speech. It is reasonable for an employer to set certain standards about what their employees say. Even in a university where academic freedom (notionally) exists: but academic freedom refers to what lecturers teach or study. How lecturers address their students is neither of those things.

I think an interesting point here is that the university has backed down apparently for financial reasons: it very explicitly says that it disagrees with the principle. The problem is that the professor has been backed by an anti-LGBTQ group with a large amount of funding, and the university is not prepared to take on the ongoing costs of the case. In other words, it's a form of financial bullying.

 

[Hawki]

Not watched Flux (I was done after the Christmas Special before Flux) but I will say Chibnall did basically nothing to set up Yaz's crush on Thirteen before Flux so I really do wonder if it was him or another writing just plucking randomly from the shipping community to try and pull in some kind of audience there

Potentially.

The marketing definitely pushed it

Where?

Glad some-one was able to state her job lol. But yeh it really isn't brought up much beyond maybe 1 episode briefly where we see her doing the job for about 10 seconds. I get others we didn't see doing jobs etc but with some we very much did or at least fleshed out more as characters living their lives.

Well, yeah, but have companions' real-world lives ever been delved into much? Rose worked as a shop assistant, that factored into only the debut episode for instance. On the other end of the spectrum you have characters like Martha and Clara (doctor, teacher, both of those were relevant), but never over the show itself.

TBH, I think Bill's creation was spurred as a reaction to Clara. So many people claimed Clara was a Mary-Sue, the writers went to the other extreme of making Bill as normal as possible. Still, she's easily better than the Chibnall companions, though in fairness, a problem I've had with Chibnall is that he gave us three companions all at once, where NuWho wisely kept the pool limited.

EVs running off coal electricity produce more carbon emissions than a normal car.

Wrong.

How climate-friendly is an electric car? It all comes down to where you live

Even if all passenger vehicles sold today were electric, it would take more than ten years for the Australian road fleet to be fully electric.

theconversation.com

Even if you're using a coal-fired grid, it's still better, on average, than a ICE vehicle.

Also the carbon required to make an EV is more than a normal car. I know EVs on average have less carbon imprint but it's not as massive as most people think.

Well, better overall to use public transport as much as possible, but EV's are still better for the environment overall on every front. There's also the fact that EV batteries can be recycled, while fossil fuels, by their nature, are one-time only.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Canada Plans To Ban Holocaust Denial While Supporting It

The government is funding projects that engage in what some scholars call a new and more insidious form of Holocaust denial.

readpassage.com

 

[Silvanus]

cerain people in this thread, at least by their actions so far.

Who here except the anti-trans lot have argued that its fine to "give people an entirely different identity, demand they accept it and refuse to accept how they identify"?

 

[Breakdown]

If so, it's a terrible argument.

There are a lot of things we might believe but for various reasons should not say at work as it does not reasonably align with our job remit. A retail cashier should not insult a customer and then be defended from disciplinary action on the grounds of freedom speech. It is reasonable for an employer to set certain standards about what their employees say. Even in a university where academic freedom (notionally) exists: but academic freedom refers to what lecturers teach or study. How lecturers address their students is neither of those things.

I can appreciate that by agreeing to work for an employer you agree to limits to what you can say in the work environment. That's obviously relevant in academia and the retail environment mentioned in Mysterious GX's post. But I still think there is a difference in simply not saying something that might offend customers, and being compelled to say something that contradicts your own beliefs.

 

[Breakdown]

K, but if that's just because they're arrogantly assuming they know someone else's identity better than that person does, who gives a shit?

Obviously some people must give a shit, since there's been a $400,000 payout.

 

[Silvanus]

Obviously some people must give a shit, since there's been a $400,000 payout.

Or they care about the money, and the freedom of speech angle is a method to get it.

 

[Agema]

But I still think there is a difference in simply not saying something that might offend customers, and being compelled to say something that contradicts your own beliefs.

I don't think your own beliefs count for that much when you're on an employment contract or otherwise have a professional duty.

As for instance any medical doctor will find out if they start asking their patients to turn to Jesus instead of prescribing the right medicine, or any biology teacher who ignores the learning outcomes for their evolution class and teaches intelligent design instead.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I don't think your own beliefs count for that much when you're on an employment contract or otherwise have a professional duty.

As for instance any medical doctor will find out if they start asking their patients to turn to Jesus instead of prescribing the right medicine, or any biology teacher who ignores the learning outcomes for their evolution class and teaches intelligent design instead.

Yeah, just being in customer service means you have to spout the company line even if you know it's a lie. Didn't mind being made redundant from my last job.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Where?

Most of the articles about I seemed to see and tweets etc about the show talking about how this would finally make Sci-Fi inclusive or some nonsense and how the show was so diverse (not how good it was how diverse it was)

Well, yeah, but have companions' real-world lives ever been delved into much? Rose worked as a shop assistant, that factored into only the debut episode for instance. On the other end of the spectrum you have characters like Martha and Clara (doctor, teacher, both of those were relevant), but never over the show itself.

Oddly they did more with Martha in Torchwood and after that seemingly.
With Clara her personal life came into it a lot because of the whole idea of meeting some-one who was part of her family from the future and the whole thing about "Well has time been changed now?" which never really got fully resolved.

TBH, I think Bill's creation was spurred as a reaction to Clara. So many people claimed Clara was a Mary-Sue, the writers went to the other extreme of making Bill as normal as possible. Still, she's easily better than the Chibnall companions, though in fairness, a problem I've had with Chibnall is that he gave us three companions all at once, where NuWho wisely kept the pool limited.

See I liked Clara's arc in that she was kinda a Mary Sue but that success came back to bite her in the butt in the end which I'm shocked didn't draw some outrage form other segments of the "Fanbase"

Chibnall's issue was he didn't have any real arcs planned out fully to flesh out the companions beyond "Diverse group" seemingly early on which really shows up far stronger with Yaz in the first two seasons where Season 1of Chibnall's run she's just there almost to be a possible love interest for Ryan and then Series 2 she's just there to be the one to walk off on her own or be left on her own and get into trouble. I think we learned more about Yaz's family than her in the first two seasons with Chibnall.

Who here except the anti-trans lot have argued that its fine to "give people an entirely different identity, demand they accept it and refuse to accept how they identify"?

Those arguing that I'm a De-Santis voter or similar.

I don't think your own beliefs count for that much when you're on an employment contract or otherwise have a professional duty.

As for instance any medical doctor will find out if they start asking their patients to turn to Jesus instead of prescribing the right medicine, or any biology teacher who ignores the learning outcomes for their evolution class and teaches intelligent design instead.

Pretty sure in some shops in the UK you can claim religious beliefs to avoid serving certain foods or pass the customer onto colleagues who are happy to serve them said products.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Dude, thats what you call a strawman

Is it when their actions are showing that thing?

 

[Silvanus]

Those arguing that I'm a De-Santis voter or similar.

None of them did that though.