VIDEO: Dr Jordan Peterson faces Oppenheimer-style persecution

Earlier this morning we posted "'OPPENHEIMER', a cautionary tale", a review of the movie which revealed the travesty of justice which was the 1954 hearing of the US Atomic Energy Commission, which revoked the security clearance of Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer, "the father of the atomic bomb", because (the AEC found) he was, if not a Communist, then at least a fellow-traveller and comsymp.

After watching the movie, Mrs Walt likened the persecution of Dr Oppenheimer to the poresent-day string of indictments and politically motivated prosecutions launched against President Donald Trump, for the purpose of keeping him off the ballot in the 2024 presidential election. Canadians may smugly say that kind of thing could only happen in the Paranoid States of America. They would be wrong. The same thing is happening today, in the Great No-longer-white North, to Dr Jordan Peterson. 

Last wednesday, Ontario's Divisional Court upheld a ruling ordering the eminent but controversial psychologist to undergo "social media training" or risk losing his licence, following complaints about his controversial online posts and statements.

The court said it was undeterred by Dr Peterson's claims that his public statements were "off-the-clock" activities -- not part of his practice as a psychologist. Even if that were so, they declared, Dr. Peterson is a psychologist, and his activities were therefore "harmful to the public and damaging to the profession of psychology" and his statements "threatened to erode public trust."

The court dismissed Peterson's appeal against the College of Psychologists' order,  and directed him to pay C$25,000 (over $18,000 in real money), noting that the training "is not disciplinary and does not prevent Dr. Peterson from expressing himself on controversial topics." 

In the video below, Dr Peterson says that's ridiculous! If he hadn't expressed himeself in the so-called social media, why would he have been hailed before the College and the courts? He became famous in 2016 after criticizing Bill C-16, claiming that the bill would enforce speech codes and harm free speech. This earned him a reputation for being "transphobic"/

He came under court scrutiny again last year as a result of complaints filed against him for his online commentary on issues like climate change, gender transitioning, and Covid policy, and against key members of the Canadian government like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he called the worst prime minister Canada ever had. [Just stating the obvious. Walt]

It was statements like that, made and reposted on multiple Twitter accounts, that were submitted to the College and later the court, not by any of his patients, but by "progressive" wokesters who felt and said that saying (or even thinking!) such things is "unacceptable". What they really meant is that Dr Peterson must be silenced, cast into outer darkness. Just like President Trump.

Here, then, is Dr Peterson's analysis of and response to the court's decision. Note his promise to take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But there's more. He promises (or threatens, the lefties would say) to make the "retraining" (if it happens!) public, so the world can see the "retraining" for the woke brainwashing that it really is. "If you think that you have a right to free speech in Canada, you're delusional. I will make every aspect of this public and we will see what happens when utter transparency is the rule. Bring it on."

 

Further viewing: "Ontario College of Psychologists Have Asked Me to Re-Educate Jordan Peterson!". Psychologist Gad Saad reviews the 16 points which Dr Peterson is supposed to embrace in order to keep his licence. I had to listen very carefully to be sure Dr Saad wasn't serious about the "re-education lobotomy". Highly recommended!

Twitterverse reacts to Scientific American tweet about BBBWs

On December 28th, Scientific America tweeted a promo for "The Racist Roots of Fighting Obesity", an article published in 2020 which portrayed BBBWs (Big Beautiful Black Women) as victims of racism, fat-shaming, yada yada yada. Click here to read excerpts from the controversial article.

Predictably, there has been not a little blowback, along the lines of Bill Burr's rant about overweight people (not just blacks or women) having no-one but themselves to blame. "You put those cookies in your own mouths. How about trying an apple instead?!" (It was funnier than that but this is a family publication.)

Among those snickering about those addicted to Snickers [geddit? Ed.] was Gad Saad, quoted in WWW not long ago. His tweet is at left.

Breitbart News published some others.

Donald Trump Jr.: "You know what seems way more racist? Ignoring science and common sense information that is literally killing people under the guise of protecting them from ‘racism!"

Sara Gonzales, conservative host: "Telling people not to be fat is not racist."

Ron DeSantis campaign spokesthingy Christina Pushaw: "This is literally 'public health disinformation' that would have real-world potentially fatal consequences, if anyone took it seriously. Yet it is published by Scientific American and promoted on social media platforms while real science is censored."

Professor Peter Boghossian: "This is exactly what ideological capture looks like and why being more intelligent isn't a prophylactic against moral fashions. Once venerable legacy institutions have become irredeemably corrupted. I see no way out of this other than building parallel institutions.

Dr James Lindsay, conservative commentator and author: "[T]he racist roots of fighting obesity’ -SCIENTIFIC American"

John Hawkins, author: "Congrats on doing your part to destroy all respect for science."

Auron MacIntyre, political commentator: "Remember when New Atheists thought abandoning Christianity would free science from the shackles of religion?"

Meanwhile (writes BN's Joshua Klein) "obesity continues to be encouraged by many on the left and in the entertainment industry, despite it being a condition that puts adults of any age at an increased risk of severe illness.... In October, entertainment giant Disney unveiled its first 'plus-sized' heroine in a short film about an oversized ballet dancer dealing with 'body dysmorphia'."

Before our readers in Canada snicker smugly, they should stop and think about who bears the cost of medical and other care for the consequences of obesity. It's YOU, dear Canuck taxpayer -- all part of the ever-inflating [geddit? Ed.] cost of going woke.

Seen today on Blazing Cat Fur

Who (Walt hears you ask) is Gad Saad? Here's the bio from his website: Dr. Gad Saad is Professor of Marketing at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), and former holder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences and Darwinian Consumption (2008-2018). 

He has held Visiting Associate Professorships at Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and the University of California–Irvine. Dr. Saad received the Faculty of Commerce’s Distinguished Teaching Award in June 2000, and was listed as one of the ‘hot’ professors of Concordia University in both the 2001 and 2002 Maclean’s reports on Canadian universities. 

Dr. Saad was appointed Newsmaker of the Week of Concordia University in five consecutive years (2011-2015), and is the co-recipient of the 2015 President’s Media Outreach Award-Research Communicator of the Year (International), which goes to the professor at Concordia University whose research receives the greatest amount of global media coverage.