Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Oboogie wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:35 pm

Oblomov wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 12:43 pm James O'Brien has invited opponents of woke to call in and explain what it is and it's going exactly as you'd expect

This one was excruciating

One day we may run out of inadequates.
And then J O'B will have to find a new job.

Ginger Twat spekes his branes.

Tory party chairman says ‘painful woke psychodrama’ weakening the west

Dowden said “woke” ideology was a “dangerous form of decadence” at a time when “our attention should be focused on external foes”.

He said a west “confident in its values” would not be “obsessing over pronouns or indeed seeking to decolonise mathematics”, in comments that appear to mock the concerns of campaigners for trans rights and those pushing to confront the legacy of colonialism.

He reposted the "woke psychodrama" quote on Twitter as an image macro. He's been getting quite a kicking for it.

Samanfur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:23 pm He reposted the "woke psychodrama" quote on Twitter as an image macro. He's been getting quite a kicking for it.

Forgive me, but what's an image macro?

From Wiki:

An image macro is a piece of digital media featuring a picture, or artwork, with some form of text superimposed. The text frequently appears at the top and bottom of the image. Image macros are one of the most common forms of internet memes, and often feature a witty message or catchphrase, although not all image macros are necessarily humorous. LOLcats, which are images of expressive cats coupled with texts, are considered to be the first notable occurrence of image macros.[1] Advice animal image macros, also referred to as stock-character macros, are also highly associated with the image macro template.

Samanfur wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:28 pm From Wiki:

An image macro is a piece of digital media featuring a picture, or artwork, with some form of text superimposed. The text frequently appears at the top and bottom of the image. Image macros are one of the most common forms of internet memes, and often feature a witty message or catchphrase, although not all image macros are necessarily humorous. LOLcats, which are images of expressive cats coupled with texts, are considered to be the first notable occurrence of image macros.[1] Advice animal image macros, also referred to as stock-character macros, are also highly associated with the image macro template.

"Image macros are one of the most common forms of internet memes", so much so that they're popularly known as memes.

Who are the external foes?

Those people who fund the Conservative and who one source close to the American Government said that it had concern over

'Decolonise mathematics'? What's that when it's at home?

Dalem Lake wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:55 am 'Decolonise mathematics'? What's that when it's at home?

This, apparently.

AFAICT, it means a few things.

First, there's the case of what is maths? At lower levels it's a set of procedures to perform calculations to work out amounts of things. At higher levels, it's about using an objective metric (numbers) to solve problems and to give structure to abstract concepts, and is as much about imagination and intuition as it is about following the order of operations.

Second, it's a field in which women and BAME people in general tend to be scarce in at higher levels. This might be due to the idea that rather than other sciences where application and study are the key to advancement, in maths there is an element of personal flair, which requires someone to spot and encourage. And if the academic establishment tends to favour people who resemble them, it becomes a self-perpetuating problem.

Third, a lot of concepts in maths come from all over the world - algebra from Arabia, the concept of zero from India, and so on. But a lot of the language used - "Napier's bones" for a simple calculating machine for instance - invariably comes from dead white men, despite similar devices coming from all over the world.

So, by "decolonising" it means a) encouraging a more even spread of participation in the subject, and b) acknowledging advances made in it from all cultures, not just the home variety.

As opposed to the Govarian model of rows of pupils endlessly chanting the times tables for hours on end?

With a bit of "Yay, Victorians (and ancient Greeks, but face it, we've got all their stuff so we're basically their heirs)!" thrown in.

Dalem Lake wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:55 am 'Decolonise mathematics'? What's that when it's at home?

He’s clearly seen the sort of maths homework question that now starts “Meena and Sayid have 5 sweets each…” rather than “Jack and Susan have 5 sweets each…”. Because god forbid children should learn in an environment where people in the texts have names like them and look like them. What next? Demanding the vote?

They similarly complain about how seeing a drawing of a veiled schoolgirl on the BBC Bitesize website signals the death of the Christian west.

Crabcakes wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:39 pm

Dalem Lake wrote: ↑Tue Feb 15, 2022 2:55 am 'Decolonise mathematics'? What's that when it's at home?

He’s clearly seen the sort of maths homework question that now starts “Meena and Sayid have 5 sweets each…” rather than “Jack and Susan have 5 sweets each…”. Because god forbid children should learn in an environment where people in the texts have names like them and look like them. What next? Demanding the vote?

Wasn’t there tabloid hoo-ha in the 80s about GLC lefty maths? Kids doing sums about how many extra hospitals could be built if nuclear weapons were abolished. Or it might just have been on Yes Minister.

In this week’s war on woke; HR managers. Sounds like a Littlejohn target but I can’t even recall him having a moan.

Next week Traffic Wardens.

Isn't it odd that these lazy slurs on unpopular jobs never open the Pandora's box that is journalism and lobbying.

Preying on the overt Littlejohnian optics of "You can't make jokes in the workplace anymore otherwise HR will sack you!" whereas the actual reality, as many in corporate America will confirm, is that HR are there to protect the company and not you.

I always felt that the minute you went from having personnel officers to having a Human Resource department, you became no more valuable than a photocopier.