Also on today’s menu:
BRAC Announces Capital Campaign
School Funding Suit Questions Legitimacy of SWEPT
News Café Approaching Second Anniversary
Philip Caldwell (no relation) reported in the Washington Beacon that $550,436 in grants through the American Rescue Plan are going to researchers at the University of Washington over the next five years to develop technologies that could be used to protect online users from discriminatory language. The researchers have already received $132,000. The machine-learning models will be asked to analyze social media posts to detect implicit bias and microaggressions — slights that cause offense to some marginalized groups. A spokesman for the National Science Foundation said the project will create “automated ways of identifying biases in speech” and address the biases of human content moderators.
The problem with “microaggressions” is that they constitute a broad, undefined category of expressions that often are unconscious and unintentionally cause offense. That is the concern with the Newfound Area School District’s new harassment policy that replaces the district’s former sexual harassment policy. While it states, “This policy prohibits offensive, intimidating, threatening, or otherwise unwelcome comments or conduct based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, age, military or veteran status, physical or mental disability, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity,” it includes offenses that are difficult to define, such as “unwelcome jokes”, and specifically states, “It is important to note that the types of conduct explained in this policy are prohibited regardless of the intent of the person(s) engaging in the conduct (i.e. to be intentionally offensive, a misguided attempt at humor, attempts at establishing a romantic relationship, etc.). Prohibited conduct includes conduct that is direct as well as indirect (e.g. overheard conversations, e-mail messages sent or forwarded by accident, etc.).”
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton likened the Biden administration’s funding of the artificial intelligence research to the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to “censor speech unapproved by the state.” For the Biden administration, Fitton said, the research is a “project to make it easier for their leftist allies to censor speech.”
Until Elon Musk released the internal Twitter documents that exposed government meddling in what appears on social media, many Americans did not take seriously the claims of government censorship of the news. After all, Biden’s proposal for a Disinformation Governance Board was quickly shot down as un-American and too close to George Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth”. Government cannot become a Big Brother that dictates what constitutes the truth. Yet here we are. The government’s meddling included censoring information that was true but politically inconvenient, by discrediting doctors and other experts who deviated from official policy on COVID-19, and by suppressing ordinary users, including some sharing the Centers for Disease Control’s own data.
It is not just governmental entities that are attempting to control speech. Colleges and universities are becoming less willing to entertain different points of view and they, too, are cracking down on “microagressions”. Stanford University (which had been my second choice, if I had not been accepted at Dartmouth) has issued a list of “harmful language” that must be eliminated — such terms as “blind study” (Unintentionally perpetuates that disability is somehow abnormal or negative, furthering anableist culture), “committed suicide” (Ableist language that trivializes the experiences of people living with mental health conditions), and “confined to a wheelchair” (users of wheelchairs often find them to be an essential tool for their freedom instead of thinking of them as a prison). Other “wrong” terms include “stand-up meeting”, “tone deaf”, and “walk-in” (Ableist language that trivializes the experiences of people living with disabilities), “Philippine Islands” (The term is politically incorrect and denotes colonialism. Some people of Filipino heritage might use the term, though), and — as cultural misappropriation — the term “brave” (This term perpetuates the stereotype of the “noble courageous savage,” equating the Indigenous male as being less than a man.)
Not all secondary institutions are as stupid, however. (I know: That’s ableist language that trivializes the experiences of people living with disabilities.) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT Ad Hoc Working Group on Free Expression drafted a document that was adopted by the faculty on December 21, stating, “Free expression is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition of a diverse and inclusive community. We cannot have a truly free community of expression if some perspectives can be heard and others cannot. Learning from a diversity of viewpoints, and from the deliberation, debate, and dissent that accompany them, is an essential ingredient of academic excellence. … We cannot prohibit speech that some experience as offensive or injurious. At the same time, MIT deeply values civility, mutual respect, and uninhibited, wide-open debate. In fostering such debate, we have a responsibility to express ourselves in ways that consider the prospect of offense and injury and the risk of discouraging others from expressing their own views. This responsibility complements, and does not conflict with, the right to free expression. Even robust disagreements shall not be liable to official censure or disciplinary action. This applies broadly. For example, when MIT leaders speak on matters of public interest, whether in their own voice or in the name of MIT, this should always be understood as being open to debate by the broader MIT community.”
Hear, hear!
BRAC Announces Capital Campaign
The Bristol Recreation Advisory Council, which oversees the Tapply-Thompson Community Center, has voted to purchase property at 171 North Main Street, abutting Newfound Memorial Middle School and close to Kelley Park, as part of its efforts to meet future needs, which the council has identified as a full-size gymnasium, community kitchen, and program spaces.
In order to accomplish that, the council is kicking off a capital campaign that will begin to implement renovation plans for its current building, prepared by Frank Marinace Architects, to make operations more efficient and provide easy access to all three floors of the building, a former Methodist church.
Two local donors have contributed $25,000 each to kick off the campaign with the hope of finding three additional $25,000 contributors, which would trigger another $25,000 from the original donor. For more information, contact TTCC Director Les Dion at bccfun@metrocast.net or by phone at 603-744-2713.
School Funding Suit Questions Legitimacy of SWEPT
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the school funding litigation before the Rockingham County Superior Court have posed three basic questions: Is the state’s determination that $3,706 per student is sufficient to fulfill its constitutional duty to fund an adequate education? If not, are local property taxes required to fund the shortfall? Is the statewide education property tax (SWEPT) properly administered in conformity with the New Hampshire Constitution?
The plaintiffs want to resolve the issues before the beginning of the next property tax year, saying that all parties would benefit from an early ruling, and, since the New Hampshire Legislature would be in session, there would be an opportunity for a legislative remedy.
The Department of Revenue Administration sets municipal tax rates, and it has allowed municipalities to retain excess SWEPT revenue while also setting negative local school tax rates. Consequently, many taxpayers pay higher effective property tax rates than their counterparts in municipalities with excess SWEPT revenue or negative local tax rates.
News Café Approaching Second Anniversary
We launched the News Café on January 22, 2021, in the hope that it would provide information important to our readers — news from many sources, including those that tend to get overlooked, and those approaching the subjects from different points of view. Social media tend to feed news from a single perspective, defined by algorithms that determine what the reader wants to hear, rather than also providing news that may conflict with one’s political philosophy. We believe that all perspectives have merit, for, as the MIT model states, we learn from a diversity of viewpoints.
Sometimes, we throw out controversial perspectives just to get a reaction, because the News Café is designed as a virtual community meeting place where we hope readers will share their views about what is happening in the world. Originally conceived as a place for a quick read of news topics, we have found that it is the longer pieces that generate the most comments. This week, I’ve experimented with a longer main topic and three shorter segments, which has led to a better reader response … so I’ll continue to include such an approach when I can (although I expect that sometimes time constraints will prevent such an approach).
It does take more time to put together the longer pieces, which brings me to the challenge: The News Café needs more paid subscriptions. Most of our readers have free subscriptions, with only a few supporting our work. As we approach that two-year anniversary, I’d like to see more people convert to paid subscriptions that will help cover the cost — not only in my time writing, but also the subscriptions I carry to keep track of news around the state, nation, and world. I like to think this is something of value, as much as I also appreciate that not everyone can afford another payment. To be sure, free subscribers are also appreciated.
So, on this last post of 2022, I thank all of our readers and wish you all a happy new year.
Café Chatter:
On Pandemic Profiteering: What’s it all about? Supporting your decision…
— Edward Hatch
Thank you for the interesting vaccine research and background. Good grief!!!
— Susan Duncan
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