Who knew when they read George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” that his vision would come to pass–just around 30 years after the time in which his novel was set?
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Elaine Chao Attack by Liberal Feminist Kathy Groob Will Not And Should Not Go Away
This is an update to an earlier post on Liberal Feminist Kathy Groob’s racist tweets against Elaine Chao, the first Asian American female to serve on a U.S. President’s cabinet in American history. Former Secretary Chao has also served as director of the Peace Corps and president and CEO of United Way. Had Former Secretary Chao not looked “foreign” [translated–“didn’t look like an American should look”], Ms. Groob, as a self- designated Feminist would be shouting from the rooftops Ms. Chao’s many noteworty accomplishments.
Make no mistake, I am a political moderate who believes ALL American citizens deserve the same rights regardless of their physical ethnic or racial characteristics. Increasingly, I find myself both disappointed in and more alienated from both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Also make no mistake, I think Kathy Groob’s IQ (intellectual, social or otherwise) has risen into the double figure range by not only deleting her racist tweets (one of which is included below), but acting on the advice (of someone of at least slightly-below normal intelligence) to cancel her Twitter account (because given the ignorant, most racist tweets I have ever read, she clearly is without the mental acuity to realize that armed with a social media account, she was essentially a super-sized Jim Crow incapable of spewing anything other than ethnic and racial hatred with each stroke of her keyboard.
I have seen firsthand the collateral damage, up close and in person, (as the father of an Asian American daughter and Kentucky citizen–like Elaine Chao), the dehumanizing effect Ms. Groob’s vitriol has on people (like my daughter) “who do not” look American (whatever an American is supposed to look like). This suject is of such great interest to me because:
- My Asian American daughter, like me, a Kentucky citizen, cannot exist, according to Kathy Groob’s link below.
- Being the recipient of ethnic and racial slurs and told she “doesn’t belong here”, my daughter’s self-confidence (critical to the survival of ANY teenage girl) has been severely impacted, making her feel like “she doesn’t belong and is unwanted in America”–which is the very essence of Ms. Groob’s message on the world’s social media stage. (My daughter, who is bright for her age, actually found the tweets before I did and suggested that she was beginning to understand why “the rest of the world hates America.”)
- There are so few succesful Asian Americans celebrated in the American media for their many accomplishments that is difficult for an Asian American student to see the need (other than that based onpersonal pride–which their peers so frequently try to rip from them) to strive for greatness in America: (1) Self-proclaimed “Feminist” Kathy Groob rather than touting the sucess of an unquestionably successful female, who served as Secretary of Labor, director of the Peace Corps and CEO of the United Way, essetially belittles Ms. Chao’s many accomplishments because of her physical features and intimating that no matter how many generations back her ancestors have been American citizens, Elaine Chao “will never really be considerd a ‘real’ American citizen”, and (2) I love Jeremy Lin. He spent 30 minutes video-chatting one-on-one with my daughter discussing their shared experiences of dealing with hatred on the basketball court and encouraging hr not to descend to the level of the haters. [Jeremy’s mother, who had read about my daugher’s experiences in the Asian American press, called Jeremy while he was still in China and asked Jeremy to call my daughter and give her some advice] Even though Jeremy was listed as the number one ranked California basketball player his senior year in high school, he did not receive a single scholarship offer and has been the subject of racism and discriminatin while playing in the NBA. While I am not a fan of former NBA Commisioner David Stern, even he stated that Jeremy Lin’s lack of recognition and playing time in the NBA was, without question, based on the ridiculous myth that Asians cannot play basketball. Please keep an eye out for my daughter’s progress if you have any interest in seeing the folly of this unfounded myth that Asians can’t pay basketball.
The following is a link to an aticle summarizing the Kathy Groob “incident” from beginnimg to end:
The last link is to a wonderful piece appearing in the Washington Times, describing the harm Kathy Groob has done with her racist tweets.
Quote from Deborah Simmons’ excellent article:
‘. . . because [Kathy Groob] is desperate to prove a point. Ms. Groob might have well said, “Don’t elect McConnell because his wife is not one of us.”
Sometimes folks are afraid, especially self-designated, dyed-in-the-wool political operatives who have branded themselves as specialists in bolstering women in politics.
What does she see down the road?
A post-racial candidate?”
Kathy Groob: Your tweet insinuates my Asia American daughter, with her Kentucky citizenship, does not exist!
According to Feminist Kathy Groob, Elaine Chao will never be considered a”real American” because she has Asian features. This “national” attitude does dot bode well for my daughter’s future in America–if she chooses to remain here.
At least former NBA Commissioner David Stern attributed Jeremy Lin’s mistreatment and lack of playing time resulted rom discrimination.
RIP Kathy Groob’s racist and jingoistic Twitter account
Being Critically Reflective – What does it mean?
The terms ‘critical’ and ‘reflection’ are sorely misunderstood in education. Being critical is often misinterpreted as being negative. ‘Reflection‘ is also frequently distorted to mean “reflect on what you are doing wrong”. Too often the students that we teach give negative feedback when asked to be critical. So to counter act this, educators initiate strategies such as ‘2 stars and a wish’ and SWNI (strengths, weaknesses, new ideas).
These strategies are designed to make reflective practices a more positive experience for students. It teaches them that being critically reflective is not just a negative activity, that it is important to be positive and give feedback to help improve or make something better.
Learn more:
Source: mrkempreflects.blogspot.sg
See on Scoop.it – Human Rights
Under Armour settles whether ballet is a sport in new breathtaking ad
I constantly hear how girls/women’s basketball is not “real basketball,” from those that do not know my 15 year old Kazakh daughter excels at basketball at the highest level –“playing up” on a Nike-sponsored (EYBL) elite travel team. I challenge the doubters to watch a game between two of the highest level girls basketball teams, compare that game with a boys basketball game with players of the same age and then give me their conclusion as to whether or not girls basketball is “real basketball” or not. At the higher levels, girls play more aggressively, play with more refined technical skills and have more team chemistry than boys of the same age group–most likely due to the girls’ work ethic (which Under Armor so beautifully depicts in its video) to compensate for their lower testosterone levels, preventing them from relying on pure athleticism (though there are certainly girls without a strong work ethic who do rely successfully on their athleticism alone, though, in my humble opinion those SUCCESSFUL girl basketball players are rare). Though I am very much grateful to Nike for its support of my daughter and her basketball program, Under Armor absolutely nailed their point with this video!
“We Tortured Some Folks”: Obama Admits United States Committed Acts Violating Federal and International Law
I do not practice and have never practiced International or Military Law, but Professor Turley was an excellent professor while I earned my LL.M. At George Washington University. He certainly is very clear on his position that the U.S. torture of prisoners post 9-11 was not and could not be justified under any American or International Rule of Law.
Following the admission that the CIA hacked Senate computers and lied to Congress, President Obama today affirmed that it did indeed torture people. This admission (while belated) is an important recognition by the United States of what is obvious from a legal standpoint. However, that also means that CIA officials violated both federal and international law. The question is why Obama began his first term by promising CIA employees that they would not be tried for what he now describes as “tortur[ing] some folks.”
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Jeremy Lin Gets Cheered Up by Friends in Sketch Comedy Bit
Jeremy Lin–genuine, “real” human being
Jeremy Lin is an amazing guy, who, obviously doesn’t take himself too seriously–though he does so much good work that he refuses to publicize (including providing my Asian American daughter a surprise, unsolicited pep talk via a 30 minute video chat). He is a man who truly lives his faith and does so with great joy.
Jeremy Lin–genuine, “real” human being
Jeremy Lin is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is wasting no time in going Hollywood.
via Jeremy Lin Gets Cheered Up by Friends in Sketch Comedy Bit | Bleacher Report.
Babel Fish? Skype Translator provides instantaneous translations for videoconferences
Story and images by Manish Singh / WinBeta Earlier this year,
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced “Skype Translator”, a ground breaking feature which would allow two people speaking in different languages to have audio conversations. At the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced a development to that project — Skype Translator now facilitates video conferencing as well.
Source: www.telepresenceoptions.com
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Although universal communication among people speaking different languages is certainly a worthy goal, I am reluctant to embrace the technology that allegedly allows instantaneous translation during audio/video conferences among speakers of different languages–for many reasons.
- My ethnic Kazakh daughter and I are bilingual (English & Russian), and I have found that the act, itself, of learning a new language necessarily draws one closer to the customs and practices of the people who use the language in their day-to-day lives (requiring an examination of nearly every aspect of the lives of those who speak the “different language”–allowing, at least the feeling of, adoption of a new and different culture).
- Language (particularly oral as opposed to written) is an imprecise method of communication, and even experienced translators will attest that different languages have idiosyncrasies that do not allow for an accurate or precise communication of a particular idea, description or opinion sought to be сonveyed. Подвиг (Podvig) is a Russian word used to describe a particular idea in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is an example of one such word–though others may disagree
- Because of the decline of formal language usage in favor of slang and the explosion of the use of acronyms (SMH, YOLO, WTF), and the multitudes of “figures of speech”, I am skeptical that current technology exists that would allow a computer program algorithm to translate accurately and instantaneously the communications between people speaking different languages.
- Upon reflection, I could not support the widespread use of the technology described in this article. Language, in its many different and beautiful forms, is a reflection of the culture, history and heritage of those who speak it.
See on Scoop.it – Human Rights
This Hilarious Ad Perfectly Captures the Awkwardness of Puberty
The Science of Storytelling
Many studies show us that our brains prefer storytelling to facts.When we read facts, only the language parts of our brains work to understand the meaning. When we read a story, the language parts of our brains and any other part of the brain that we would use if we were actually experiencing what we’re reading, light up.This means that it’s easier for us to remember stories than facts. Our brains can’t make major distinctions between a story we’re reading about and something we are actually doing….
Source: writerswrite.co.za
See on Scoop.it – Human Rights
4 Stages Of COPD
Please don’t make the mistake of looking down at people you see in public using portable oxygen devices, and smugly thinking “they got what they deserved” because their poor health is based on their poor lifestyle — choosing to smoke. This judgmental attitude is wrong for many reasons, one of which is that are those us, INCLUDING ME, with Stage 4 (also sometimes called “end stage”) COPD, WHO HAVE NEVER SMOKED AND HAVE LIVED A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE (and I will leave the lack-of-morality-and-compassion reasons out of my post in this instance).
terryclarke blog 