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In my role as the Word Man for Sky News I have been asked repeatedly to explain the word “woke”. And I have done my best—on ‘Credlin’ and elsewhere. But the same question keeps coming up. I have explained the history of the word (and I’ll summarise that history below) and talked about how the word is used. But still people remained puzzled, and keep asking me the question—so clearly more explanation is needed. Now, after much thought, I think I’ve nailed it. The word “woke” now means “snob”. “Wokeness” is the new snobbery. Anyone who is comfortable with the label “woke” feels superior, and looks down on the rest of as intellectually (and morally) inferior. Next to them we are mental and moral midgets. The “woke” believe they can see far more than us mere peasants, and that while we are driven by dumb, narrow-minded prejudice, they (and they alone) are morally enlightened. They are superior—we are inferior. Hence, the “woke” are the new snobs. How do I reach that conclusion? Well, it starts with the history of the word. This word (originally the past participle of the verb “to wake”) means ‘fully alert; awake to the world around us; aware.’ Used in this way “woke” comes from Black American English. It’s first recorded in this way in 1891. The earliest citation is from Joel Chandler Harris (the man who gave us Uncle Remus, Br’er Rabbit and the tar baby). Writing in 1891 in a story called ‘Balaam’s Ass’ he spoke of an unaware person by saying “he ain’t woke good yet”. For the next 60 or 70 years it remained exclusively part of Black English in America. Then it was taken up by trendy left-wing white people— “politically correct” people— around the world. They now use the term “woke” to describe themselves to claim they see more than others, they are aware of more than others, and know more than others. The rest of us peasants are not “a wake up” to what’s really going on, and that makes the “woke” the smartest people in the room. To give you an example: when “woke” people defend the right of biological males to compete in women’s sport—they believe they have a better grasp than their opponents of the intellectual truth about the concept of ‘gender’ and they are disgusted by what they see as the immorality of a trans-gender person (born male, now identifying as female) being denied the right to anything less than total acceptance in the world of women (including women’s sports, change rooms, toilets and so on). Anyone who disagrees with them is dismissed as being blind to the moral rights (to the basic human rights) of trans people. Such opponents, the “woke” believe, are morally and intellectually inferior. In other words “woke” now equals ‘snob’! That’s my new definition. The dominant form of snobbery, the most fashionable form of snobbery, is being “woke”. And the “woke” know how good they are, and feel smug, and superior and quite comfortable with their snobbery. When Tanya Plibersek cancels a $1 billion dollar gold mine, costing thousands of jobs and costing the New South Wales economy enormous benefits, she does so feeling smug and superior. The reason she gives is an Aboriginal mythological belief, but she knows better than the rest of us peasants and knows that she is right, and we are wrong. That’s the new snobbery. If an Aboriginal mythology says that a certain place is the home of the ‘sprit of the blue banded bee’ then all economic and industrial development in that place must come to halt. If you can’t understand that then you have the intellectual and moral reasoning capacity of a lizard—and a fairly dumb lizard at that. She is superior, you are inferior. You must accept your place in society and submit to wiser and smarter judgement. That is the new snobbery. And that is the meaning of the word “woke”. In much the same way, Chris Bowen is a snob when it comes to renewable power. He speaks as if he is vastly superior to anyone who is dumb enough to disagree with him. If you can’t understand that millions of solar panels, tens of thousands of wind turbines, and a re-build of most of the energy grid is cheap—if you can’t understand that then then there is something wrong with you. You are inferior. You must leave such decisions to your moral and intellectual superior—Chris Bowen. That is the new snobbery. There are two classes in our society—the woke and the rest. And the “rest” have second-rate status, no brains and no moral compass. That’s us. We are “the rest”. The “rest” are the inferior class — the woke are superior. They are the new snobs. Listen carefully next time someone from this smart, smug, arrogant, superior class is speaking—you will hear a voice dripping with superiority, with snobbery, expressing (in their tone) complete contempt for anyone who fails to see the world exactly as they do. So, whenever you encounter this mysterious word “woke” just think to yourself: “Ah, yes, that just means the snobs among us” — and you’ll be on exactly the right track. Kel Richards is a veteran Australian broadcaster and author whose distinguished media career includes hosting the ABC current affairs show AM and his own talkback commercial radio shows. He is also a frequent on-air contributor for Sky News Australia.DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks have been down this road before. Luka Doncic has yet another injury that will sideline him for at least a week. A recent MRI revealed the Mavericks superstar suffered a right wrist sprain in Monday’s dominant NBA Cup victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s Doncic’s fourth injury since the start of training camp, although this one is directly associated with his shooting hand, unlike the previous three leg injuries. Doncic will miss the team’s upcoming three-leg road trip in Denver, Miami and Atlanta, along with next Wednesday’s home game against former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks. “Injuries are a part of sport and unfortunately he’s a had a couple of here early,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Hopefully that means he won’t have any going forward. After this last one, hopefully he’s clean for the rest of the way.” Doncic finished with 26 points, five rebounds and five assists in Monday’s win, but his right wrist was wrapped during the fourth quarter and his postgame news conference. He was uncertain about the origin of the injury but didn’t express concern. “I started feeling it in the first quarter,” Doncic said. “From there, it got worse, but nothing serious.” Doncic missed training camp and the preseason with a left calf contusion. He also suffered a left groin strain and a right knee contusion in a five-day span, but he played through those injuries until missing his first game of the season Sunday in Oklahoma City. Doncic has had several injuries — primarily to his lower body — throughout his seven NBA seasons, but this is the first to affect his wrist. A left thumb sprain in March 2020 caused him to miss one game. The Mavericks have a combined 34-43 record in the regular season and postseason without Doncic, and they’re off to a 1-0 mark this season. Daniel Gafford said Dallas needs to be “near perfect” on the offensive end to compensate without Doncic, but the strategy remains intact. “Pretty much just the same mindset: Next man up,” Gafford said. “Just be ready to guard the best man or just have the best man guard you. It’s going to be a lot on Kai [Kyrie Irving]. It’s going to be a lot on Klay [Thompson], but I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job whenever Luka has been off the floor.” Irving is expected to be the Mavericks’ main source of offense while Doncic is out, but it might not have to be the case because of the expanded depth of the roster. P.J. Washington had a career night and was one of seven players who scored in double figures in the 121-119 win over the Thunder. Irving scored 23 points and dished six assists. Gafford had a double-double off the bench with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Gafford said Irving’s ability to play away from the ball for long periods instead of initiating the offense on nearly every possession is vital. “It’s really important because you got a guy that understands the game,” he said. “We just have to be confident and be willing to figure out the trust that he’s given us to pretty much make plays without him being in the play the majority of the time, knowing down the stretch he’s going to have the ball in his hands sooner or later.” Gafford is averaging a career-high 12.5 points per game with 6.5 rebounds. Kidd attributed his career best in attempts (7.5) to the Mavericks’ intention to play through him on offense compared to the back half of last season. He’s expected to receive more touches in Doncic’s absence. Dallas will also ask Jaden Hardy and Quentin Grimes to pick up some of the scoring load. The Mavericks (8-7, 1-1) enter Friday’s game with an opportunity to leapfrog Denver (8-5, 1-1) in the NBA Cup’s West Group C standings. A fourth consecutive win would be ideal, but it’ll be a tall task without Doncic. Still, Dallas appears to embrace the challenge. “We’ll be fine, in the sense that this won’t be new,” Kidd said. “A lot of minutes for a lot of guys.” ©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
NoneArticle content While so many Oilers forwards not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl have struggled for to find some offence in the first quarter of the NHL season, one of the pleasant surprises has been role-playing winger Mattias Janmark. Janmark, who is playing 12:55 a night, has 10 points in 22 games, eight coming even-strength, one short-handed — a dandy feed to Darnell Nurse against New York Rangers last Saturday. He has just one goal, but, again, he has 10 points. The only Oilers forwards in double digits (points) are 97, 29 and Janmark. “Janne has played extremely well for four weeks,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, who currently has the Swedish forward on right wing on the third line with Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner. “He rarely has a bad shift and we obviously rely on him on the penalty kill (with partner Connor Brown) with our forward group. A really nice play to Darnell short-handed. He carried the puck up, had an opportunity to shoot, then a wraparound try but he held it and found Darnell coming in late.” “We talk about players who do all the little things right and that’s Janne.” Janmark is never measured on his offence but after signing a three-year free-agent deal in July for a $1.45 million AAV he is very much underrated. While the Oilers lost lots of speed over the summer — Warren Foegele, Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod up front — Janmark is sneaky fast, turning 32 in two weeks. “I don’t really think about points much. I know when I’m playing good or not (points aside),” said Janmark, whose career high in points for a single season is 34 when playing for Dallas. NHL forwards coming into the league are always looked upon to put up points but that’s never been Janmark’s deal. When did points cease to be important to him? “When you’re younger you rely on them a bit more. You get hard on yourself if they (points) aren’t coming and then you go through stretches in your career when you’re simply not scoring. To stay in this league you have to find other things” apart from points, he said. Janmark was excellent in the Oilers playoff run last spring, especially in a penalty-kill role, but he also beat Sergei Bobvrovsky on a breakaway early in the first period of Game 7 in Florida to tie it 1-1 after Carter Verhaeghe’s Panthers’ goal. “I had a tough regular season, not many points (12 in 72 games), but you go through a good playoffs, yeah, it gives you confidence that you can do it at the highest level,” he said. SHOTS TO GOALS Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ career shooting percentage is 11.9, with his out-of-nowhere 18.4 in 2022-23 when he scored 37, but it’s 4.5 this season. He has 40 shots on net (80 attempted) and only two goals. “A forward’s average shooting percentage in the NHL is between nine and 15 percent. There’s a few players above that, exceptional shooters. Like Leon,” said Knoblauch. Draisaitl’s at 26.7 right now, with 16 goals on 60 shots and a career average of 18.5. Draisaitl was 14.3, 16.9, 12.3 shots-to-goals his first three seasons, but hasn’t had one under 18.5 over the past six years. “Leon can obviously shoot the puck well. That one-timer from a bad angle is difficult for a goalie to save if you hit the net. Also if you miss, well, that doesn’t count against the shooting percentage,” said Knoblauch. “Sometimes you have an outlier season where you’re shooting really well. Last year, Zach Hyman’s was 18.6 per cent but he is typically about 13 or 14. There’s a lot of luck, circumstances dictating scoring goals,” said Knoblauch. Nugent-Hopkins’s 4.5 per cent mirrors the scoring difficulties of most of the Oilers forwards. He was 9.8 per cent last season, with18 goals on 183 shots, so it’s going down. “Maybe you could say Nuge isn’t taking the same quality of shots as he should. The last two or three games, though, Nuge ripped one shot off the crossbar and hit the butt-end of the goalie’s stick in the Ranger game. That’s two goals, and his shooting percentage is 10 per cent,” said Knoblauch. This ‘n that : Newcomer Kasperi Kapanen and Derek Ryan were absent from Tuesday’s practice along with the injured Viktor Arvidsson and Hyman. “Kapanen had an immigration appointment,” said Knoblauch, in the wake of the Finnish winger’s waiver claim from St. Louis to Edmonton. “Ryan was sick.” ... Phil Esposito, who scored 717 goals, many from the high slot, said recently he used to employ a paddle like Draisaitl’s. Good company ... Evander Kane, who had surgery two months ago to repair two sports hernias and tears to two adductor and abdominal muscles, was seen walking around the Oilers dressing room Tuesday, with no visible movement issues. The time frame for a return is unclear but doctors said five to six months. He seems ahead of schedule. Would anybody be surprised if he’s back in January sometime? ... Unless the Oilers wanted to give up winger Matt Savoie, 20, to try and get Columbus right-shot defenceman David Jiricek, who turns 20 on Thursday and is unhappy there, is there any conceivable way the Oilers and Jackets are a fit? Savoie was the ninth-overall pick in 2022, Jiricek was sixth ... Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who got Marc-Andre Fleury’s stick autographed last week, wants to get more. “I’d like to get Vasy (Andrei Vasilevskiy) and (Sergei) Bobrovsky. I would have loved Carey Price’s. But I guess that won’t happen now. I did see him once in a hallway (during practice when Montreal was in town several years back). He said, ‘How are you doing?’ I, said, ‘Uh, good.’ I didn’t know what to say,” said the awestruck Skinner ... The Oilers will likely be adding a forward for their upcoming three-day trip to Utah, Colorado and Vegas. They’ll probably bring back fourth-line winger Drake Caggiula, who has been recalled twice for four games and who was sent back to Bakersfield for salary-cap reasons ... Seth Griffith was just named Bakersfield captain. Brad Malone was the former captain before retiring and taking a job as an assistant coach in junior in Oshawa ... Nashville got a fourth-round draft pick from Pittsburgh for forward Phil Tomasino on Monday. Must be the going rate now for former first-round draft forwards, with Oilers the giving Vancouver a fourth-rounder for Vasily Podkolzin in August ... Savoie and Noah Philp are percolating on the farm. The organization wants to leave them in the AHL to learn more. Barring a run of injuries here, you likely won’t see either player until the New Year ... James Hamblin remains out with a lower-body injury in Bakersfield ... Winger Roby Jarventie, acquired in the Ottawa Xavier Bourgault summer trade, remains out on the farm. He did play two games there after missing all of camp with a knee issue and had two points, but GM Keith Gretzky says they were maybe pushing things a little fast. The knee, different from the one operated on while playing in the Senators’ organization, isn’t strong enough for games just yet.
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Face tattoos have been slowly gaining popularity what with artists like 6ix9ine, XXXTenacion, and other famous names that defy literacy wearing them. Even in Japan where all tattoos still have somewhat of a lingering stigma to them, you might spot the rare face tattoo here and there. That being said, face tattoos like the one on Masashi Echizenya are quite rare. So much so that his perp walk on the TV news showing him staring right at the cameras with a tattoo of a snake wrapped around most of his face and what appears to be a grill is easily the most striking one we’ve seen in Japan all year. ▼ A news report on the arrest: It’s worth sticking around for the CGI re-enactment. The 49-year-old Echizenya was arrested after an incident on 15 November in which he is suspected of shoplifting and assault. The store clerk suspected him of stealing items, causing him to run out of the store. The clerk went in pursuit and Echizenya allegedly headbutted him in the face multiple times. The serpentine suspect then fled again, dropping a bottle of coffee and two baked goods in the process. Most people reading this will probably not be shocked that such a man could be capable of this crime. However, when reporters interviewed his neighbors in Tokyo, they generally thought of him as a mild-mannered guy. “I would bump into him in the laundry room,” said one neighbor, “and at first I was really surprised, but when he talked he was always soft-spoken and quite polite.” Another neighbor admitted that he looked like a tough guy but always greeted people in a cheery voice, saying, “He didn’t seem like a bad person. He just looked like one.” The testimonies that Echizenya comes across as a big old softy are supported by the fact the store clerk actually bothered to chase him. As a general rule, if a guy with a snake tattooed on his face did that on my watch, my minimum-wage-earning butt would stay firmly behind the counter and call the police. After all, the guy’s pretty easy to give a description of. So, it would seem that this clerk was under the assumption he could have apprehended the suspect but instead ended up with injuries that are expected to take two weeks to recover from. Meanwhile, Echizenya is exercising his right to remain silent in police custody for the time being, leaving readers of the news unclear about what his deal is. Nevertheless, there’s a general agreement that the facts of the case speak for themselves. “It really shows you the power of a polite greeting.” “I know it’s wrong to have a bad impression of people with tattoos but I’d be scared if that guy greeted me.” “That face is a good life hack to keep you on welfare the rest of your life because no one’s going to hire you.” “Maybe he could be a TV personality. Guys with faces like that usually have some interesting stories.” “He might really be a good guy, but how can you not judge him by that appearance?” “His greeting would have to be inhumanly cheery for me not to be terrified of him.” “Maybe he’s like that guy in Ushijima the Loan Shark who had to get the tattoo as a punishment.” “He’s going to have to do a little better than just saying hello to win me over.” “It’s really hard to fit into Japanese society looking like that. He was probably just broke and hungry.” “Being nice like that is just a standard beggar’s technique. That’s all.” Following his arrest and these comments, subsequent investigations by both the police and media found that Echizenya was indeed a notorious mooch among the larger community. He was reportedly often seen standing by vending machines and calling out to passersby for 100 yen to buy a drink, bumming cigarettes off anyone he could, and just making people uncomfortable all around. A look into his social media presence also revealed that in addition to the snake tattoo and grill, he had his tongue surgically forked. Source: FNN Prime Online, Shueisha Online, Hachima Kiko Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Criminals of Japan’s Edo Period Were Often Punished by Getting Face Tattoos -- Big win for tattoo artists: Japan’s Supreme Court rules medical licenses aren’t necessary -- Japanese lawyer comments on legality of tattoo ban at hot springs, netizens share thoughts tooWally Brewster refutes Albania visit rumors, denies Dominican negotiations
Jayden Daniels and the offense stalling have the Commanders on a three-game losing streakFirst Horizon EVP Jeff Fleming sells $165,716 in stockYolo County law enforcement officers conducted compliance checks and address verifications on more than 300 registered sex offenders last week, finding most in compliance with the terms of their release. Called “Operation Vigilance,” the program began 15 years ago with the goal of protecting Yolo County citizens by ensuring that county residents who must register as sex offenders are complying with all laws and applicable parole or probation directives. More than 60 law-enforcement personnel from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Yolo County Probation Department, Woodland Parole Unit, California Department of Justice, U.S. Courts Federal Probation, Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Davis, Woodland, Winters and West Sacramento police departments participated in the joint operation, with support from the Yolo County IT GIS Division. Law-enforcement personnel went to the residence on file of every registered sex offender with a physical address in Yolo County. Many of the individuals required to register had prior convictions for rape, child molestation or possession of child pornography. About five percent of the county’s registered sex offenders were found to be out of compliance with their registration requirements, which will result in additional investigation by law enforcement. Four offenders on parole were arrested for various violations. A unique aspect of Operation Vigilance is that during the home visits, forensic examiners search the registrants’ computers, smartphones and other digital storage devices for potential violations. Computer forensic investigators from the Yolo County DA’s High Technology Unit and examiners from other participating agencies worked together to conduct these specialized searches. Additionally, the CDCR provided eight K-9 officers with canines trained specifically to detect electronics to enhance these searches. During the operation, 92 electronic devices were searched, with another 16 electronic items were seized for further forensic examination. “Operation Vigilance is an example of Yolo County law enforcement’s commitment to collaboration,” Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez said. “I am proud of the dedicated group of professionals who carried out this mission in an effort to keep our communities safe.” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig praised the efforts of Yolo County law enforcement agencies who continuously monitor these individuals. “We conducted a compliance check of 100 percent of the sex offenders that have a permanent address, and the good news is that 95 percent were in compliance,” Reisig said. “Operation Vigilance continues to serve as an additional deterrent to those who must register as sex offenders who may be prone to re-offend.”