In a career that has spanned seven decades—and included such classic shows and movies as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Life of Brian, and A Fish Called Wanda—the comedian John Cleese has relentlessly satirized politics and religion while stretching the boundaries of decorum and good taste.
In our race-obsessed times, even innocent festive flicks are deemed ‘problematic’.
Less than 20 years after its release, Love Actually is already ‘out of date’, according to director Richard Curtis. The cheery 2003 romcom weaves together multiple love stories, all culminating in a festive denouement on Christmas Eve, which proves, as Hugh Grant narrates, that ‘Love actually is all around’. But looking back, it isn’t the corny lines or cheesy plot points that Curtis is cringing at. No, it is Love Actually’s ‘lack of diversity’ that apparently makes him ‘feel uncomfortable and a bit stupid’.
New York Times theater critic is accused of ‘casual racism’ and ‘white cultural supremacy’ after scathing review of mostly-asian cast in new Broadway play KPOP
Producers of the Broadway musical KPOP, based on the Korean music genre, have accused The New York Times of publishing a ‘racist’ review that implied ‘white supremacy’.
New York Times theater critic Jesse Green was accused in an open letter of racism in his negative review of the production and asked to issue an apology.
The letter, written by KPOP producers Tim Forbes and Joey Parnes, claimed ‘astonishment’ at The Times’s casual racism and cultural insensitivity.
The BBC’s censorship of the Pogues’ Christmas classic is an act of cultural vandalism.
It’s that time of year again – there are wreaths on doors, stars on top of Christmas trees and renewed attempts to censor the Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’. Last week, BBC Radio 2 announced that it would join the growing number of radio stations and music channels to censor the Christmas classic.
Censorship is driving dissident researchers underground
In a quiet group chat in an obscure part of the internet, a small number of anonymous accounts are swapping references from academic publications and feverishly poring over complex graphs of DNA analysis. These are not your average trolls, but scholars, researchers and students who have come together online to discuss the latest findings in archaeology. Why would established academics not be having these conversations in a conference hall or a lecture theatre? The answer might surprise you.
People often talk about “cancel culture.” The way in which people are “canceled” from public life for the tiniest error of judgement or the most minute misstep.
So it is interesting to discover what you can do and still not get canceled. Having studied the matter I have come to the conclusion that the best way to not get canceled is to steal billions of dollars and run off with it. That’ll do the trick.
That is what Sam Bankman-Fried has done. The slovenly crypto-fraudster was exposed weeks ago. His business was not simply badly handled or the victim of unfortunate circumstances. FTX crypto exchange and the hedge fund Alameda Research went out of their way to defraud investors and users. But despite this fact, Bankman-Fraud still seems to have support. No cancellation for him!
After spending five decades defending Canada’s security, democratic values, and its citizens’ right to free speech, I am astonished at how my remarks upon accepting the Vimy Award three weeks ago have been misrepresented and distorted. Some organizations I worked with have decided to cut ties with me as a result; so as my attempted cancellation continues, I take this opportunity to comment on the aftermath of an anti-woke speech.
This is a politically motivated group that has no qualms about accusing mainstream conservatives of being racist and using the legal system to try to silence them
A recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has given Canadians yet another reason to question the federal government’s relationship with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN).
On Nov. 10, the court dismissed a defamation lawsuit launched by lawyer Richard Warman, also a board member of CAHN. Warman sued journalists Jonathan and Barbara Kay for tweets that criticized CAHN’s links to the Antifa movement in the United States, which has been covered by C2C Journal and The Federalist (the Kays did not name Warman himself in their tweets). In the end, the judge ruled that the tweets weren’t defamatory, which meant the Kays wouldn’t be liable.
Ottawa-based company Shopify is resisting calls to cut ties with the controversial site accused of being anti-LGBTQ2 and known as “Libs of TikTok,” which sells merchandise on the e-commerce platform plastered with allegations of “grooming” of children.
The products use the words “Stop grooming our kids,” an allegation that the Anti-Defamation League says has increasingly been deployed over the past year by some on the far right without evidence against members of the LGBTQ2 community; in particular, those who do drag.
The ADL beclowns itself.
… The committee made its preliminary recommendation public today, saying the city should distance itself from the policies of assimilation and genocide against Indigenous Peoples that were championed by Sir John A. Macdonald.
… Retired Lt.-Gen. Michel Maisonneuve, accepting a top defence award Nov. 9 in Ottawa, also took a swipe at leaders who he claimed divide rather than unite. While not specifically naming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Hillary Clinton, Maisonneuve said “can you imagine a military leader labelling half of his command as deplorables, fringe radicals and less-thans and then expect them to fight as one?”
Good for them.
Washburn University professor accused of cultural appropriation over Michael Jackson costume
It is a mistake to view cultures and their products as exclusive to those of a certain skin color.
With Halloween came a new batch of articles, news segments, and podcasts lambasting and warning of unintended cultural appropriation. In an Oct. 14 PBS article, author Beatrice Alvarez admonished families that many costumes are “actually hurtful to many people because they are a form of cultural appropriation.” She offered readers an example of such appropriation: little girls choosing to dress up in the traditional Native American attire worn by the titular character in the PBS children’s show Molly of Denali.
Don Cherry’s phone was ringing off the hook with people asking what he thought of former Hometown Hockey co-host Tara Slone calling him a bigot.
“The first thing I said was, ‘Who is she?’” the legendary coach told the Toronto Sun. “I didn’t recognize her but someone said she was the one always with Ron (MacLean). I didn’t even know who she was.”
How an identity-politics-obsessed mob destroyed a young filmmaker’s documentary
At the beginning of director Meg Smaker’s documentary Jihad Rehab, we hear a former Guantanamo detainee saying, “Meg, can I tell you something?” Sure, a woman’s voice says. “In every story there is good and bad,” the man goes on in a gentle Saudi accent. “But . . . it’s a thin line. The American government did bad, bad, bad things against us. But at least I am honest with what I did.”
