Tag: language

Survey: 91 Percent of College Students Think ‘Words Can Be Violence.’ That Could Feed Real Violence.

Of all the stupid ideas that have emerged in recent years, there may be none worse than the insistence that unwelcome words are the same as violence. This false perception equates physical acts that can injure or kill people with disagreements and insults that might cause hurt feelings and potentially justifies responding to the latter with the former. After all, if words are violence, why not rebut a verbal sparring partner with an actual punch? Unfortunately, the idea is embedded on college campuses where a majority of undergraduate students agree that words and violence can be the same thing.

“Ninety one percent of undergraduate students believe that words can be violence, according to a new poll by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression [FIRE] and College Pulse,” FIRE announced last week. “The survey’s findings are especially startling coming in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination—an extreme and tragic example of the sharp difference between words and violence.”

The survey posed questions about speech and political violence to undergraduate students at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was murdered, and at colleges elsewhere—2,028 students overall. FIRE and College Pulse compared the student responses to those of members of the general public who were separately polled.

Specifically, one question asked how much “words can be violence” described respondents’ thoughts. Twenty-two percent of college undergraduates answered that the sentiment “describes my thoughts completely,” 25 percent said it “mostly” described their thoughts, 28 percent put it at “somewhat,” and 15 percent answered “slightly.” Only 9 percent answered that the “words can be violence” sentiment “does not describe my thoughts at all.”

It’s difficult to get too worked up about those who “slightly” believe words can be violence, but that still leaves us at 75 percent of the student population. And almost half of students “completely” or “mostly” see words and violence as essentially the same thing. That’s a lot of young people who struggle to distinguish between an unwelcome expression and a punch to the nose.

Depressingly, 34 percent of the general public “completely” or “mostly” agree. Fifty-nine percent at least “somewhat” believe words can be violence.

In 2017, when the conflation of words and violence was relatively new, Jonathan Haidt, a New York University psychology professor, worried that the false equivalence fed into the simmering mental health crisis among young people. He and FIRE President Greg Lukianoff wrote in The Atlantic that “growing numbers of college students have become less able to cope with the challenges of campus life, including offensive ideas, insensitive professors, and rude or even racist and sexist peers” and that the rise in mental health issues “is better understood as a crisis of resilience.”

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9 In 10 College Students Think ‘Words Can Be Violence’; Survey

Nine out of ten undergraduate students think that “words can be violence” at least “somewhat,” according to a new Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression survey. 

The poll also showed that ideological gaps between left-leaning and right-leaning students are widening.

When respondents were asked how much the statement “words can be violence” describes their thoughts, 47 percent answered with “completely” or “mostly.” Twenty-eight percent said it describes their thoughts “somewhat,” and 15 percent said “slightly.”

Additionally, around 59 percent of students said “silence is violence” describes their views at least “somewhat,” though only 28 percent said it describes their thoughts “completely” or “mostly.” 

“When people start thinking that words can be violence, violence becomes an acceptable response to words,” FIRE Chief Research Advisor Sean Stevens said in a news release following the poll. 

“Even after the murder of Charlie Kirk at a speaking event, college students think that someone’s words can be a threat. This is antithetical to a free and open society, where words are the best alternative to political violence,” Stevens said. 

The poll also showed that moderate and conservative students have grown less supportive of disruptive or violent tactics to stop campus speakers, while liberal students’ support for those tactics has stayed the same or risen slightly compared to the spring. 

At the same time, moderate and conservative students have become more open to allowing controversial speakers, while liberal students have maintained or increased their opposition to those speakers.

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Nearly 550 truck drivers cited for not understanding English in Illinois YTD

The number of English language proficiency violations for commercial drivers in Illinois year-to-date has nearly eclipsed last year’s totals with nearly 1 in 5 having CDL’s coming from the state of Illinois.

Since guidance was incorporated into the North American Standard Out-of-Service criteria in June, Illinois State Police tell The Center Square that 221 citations were issued for violating English Language Proficiency assessments. 

A spokesperson said “every ISP officer conducting a commercial motor vehicle inspection initiates the inspection in English. If there is an indication the driver may not understand the inspector’s instructions, the inspector then conducts an English Language Proficiency (ELP) assessment.”

Year to date, about 550 drivers were cited for not understanding English. That’s just shy of totals for all of 2024. In 2023, there were 385. So far this year, 18% of those citations are given to in-state CDL holders. 

“The vast majority of citations are given to out-of-state CDL holders,” the ISP spokesperson said. 

State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, reacted to nearly 1 in 5 citations going to Illinois CDL holders.  

“So we need to solve the problem in the state of Illinois, the federal government, other states need to solve the problem within their states,” Niemerg told The Center Square. “But it really does scare me.”

ISP said it could not accommodate The Center Square’s request to ride along with an enforcement officer to observe the frequency of such citations.

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Vienna Teachers Warn Of Rising Radical Attitudes Among New Immigrant Students

Viennese teachers are reporting growing challenges with students from immigrant backgrounds who are increasingly unwilling to learn German or adapt to local values, according to teachers’ union representative Thomas Krebs of the Christian Trade Unionists Group (FCG).

Speaking to Heute, Krebs said many of those arriving from conflict or crisis regions now bring radical beliefs that pose problems in Austrian classrooms.

“In the past, people fled from extremism. Now, many people come to us radicalized by extremism and spread these ideas here as well,” said Krebs.

He cited incidents of female teachers being disrespected or assaulted by male students and parents, saying such behavior reflects imported attitudes that reject gender equality.

“This disrespect ranges from refusing to shake hands to insults and physical assaults,” he added.

Krebs said the problem also affects staff relations, with reports of some male teachers refusing to shake hands with female colleagues for similar reasons. He warned that children from Western or secular families are sometimes treated as inferior by classmates, while those from conservative backgrounds who wish to integrate face pressure to conform.

“Students from Western cultural backgrounds are not seen as equals,” Krebs said, adding that liberal democratic values are often dismissed in favor of religious rules.

According to the union, teachers frequently encounter resistance to Austria’s educational standards.

“Our educational principles are often rejected. For example, religious content is prioritized over the content of the curriculum prescribed by Austrian law,” Krebs stated.

The FCG union is calling for new measures to address what it describes as a widening integration gap. It wants not only mandatory German-language instruction but also compulsory integration programs held outside of school, with attendance monitored by authorities.

“Effective teaching is only possible if there is also a willingness to integrate,” Krebs said. “The values of our democratic society must be conveyed in such a way that fundamental rights and culture are understood as an enrichment and not opposed.”

Recent data and testimony have reinforced concerns about language barriers and integration in Vienna’s schools. Of the roughly 16,700 first-graders enrolled in the city, more than 44 percent — about 7,400 children — do not have sufficient German skills to follow lessons. In the 2018/2019 school year, the proportion was 30 percent. Officials note that around 60 percent of these students were actually born in Austria, suggesting that many are growing up in what commentator Andreas Mölzer described as “closed parallel societies that simply refuse integration.”

“This means they grow up in families and closed parallel societies that simply refuse integration. Integration into our social system and our cultural fabric depends primarily on language acquisition,” Mölzer wrote in the Austrian daily Krone, warning that many such children risk “entering life without a qualification and with limited career prospects.”

Statistics from Austria’s middle schools show the same pattern. According to STATcube last October, only about 8,500 of Vienna’s 26,800 middle school students use German as their primary language, while 76 percent speak another language at home. In some districts, including Margareten, Hernals, and Alsergrund, that figure exceeds 90 percent.

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Trump Admin Withholds $41 Million From California Over English-Language Trucking Rules

The Trump administration is withholding $40.6 million in transportation funding from California after an investigation found the state failed to comply with the federal English language proficiency requirement for truck drivers, officials announced on Oct. 15.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will keep $40.7 million in federal grant funding for California from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). The funding is awarded to states to conduct roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education campaigns.

“The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore [the U.S. Department of Transportation’s] English language requirements for truckers,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X. “You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of American lives.”

Duffy announced this summer that he would enforce the Trump administration’s new English language requirements for truck drivers, threatening to withhold the grant funds for states that did not meet the standards.

California, Washington, and New Mexico were given until Sept. 26 to comply with new federal rules requiring truck drivers to be proficient in the English language. States that failed to comply were told they risked losing up to 100 percent of their MCSAP grants.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo denied the federal government’s accusations.

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The Strange Disappearance of the Word “Retarded” in the Vaccine Era

For decades, vaccines were recognized to cause brain injury and mental retardation.

So “retarded” was banned, the injuries were relabeled as autism, and autism’s ambiguity was used to hide it all.

Lived experiences were turned into word games. But the paper trail shows it was never an accident.

In this report, 

A Midwestern Doctor exposes the games that have been played to hide vaccine injuries for generations.

This information comes from the work of medical researcher A Midwestern Doctor. For all the sources and details, read the full report below.

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WOW: Evil Pelosi Defends Democrats’ Violent Rhetoric After Assassin Murders Charlie Kirk

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended Democrats’ violent rhetoric after a left-wing assassin murdered TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University campus this week.

Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was gunned down by a leftist who hated him this week.

Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody on Friday morning after his father turned him in to authorities. Friends and family said Robinson had become more political in recent years. The 22-year-old became radicalized by the left, and instead of debating Charlie Kirk on the open mic, he killed him from a rooftop 200 yards away.

Charlie Kirk was assassinated after Democrats and their media stenographers had glorified violence against Trump supporters for years.

After calling Trump supporters a threat to democracy for years, it finally happened.

Just one year after President Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Charlie Kirk, one of the most influential conservative voices, was murdered in broad daylight.

Rather than condemn the violent rhetoric coming from vile Democrats, Pelosi defended it and took zero accountability.

“People don’t have any intention of saying something that leads to something dangerous. We cannot take responsibility for the minds,” evil Democrat Pelosi said.

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The Standard for ‘Vicious’ Speech Trump Laid Out After Kirk’s Murder Would Implicate Trump Himself

In a video released on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said “radical left” rhetoric “is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today,” including this week’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college in Utah, and “it must stop right now.” Trump vowed that “my administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country.”

Trump also expressed devotion to “the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died,” including “free speech.” Yet that value seems inconsistent with Trump’s claim that hateful rhetoric “directly” causes violence and his promise to “find” anyone who “contribute[s]” to that problem, apparently including “radical left” people who make inflammatory statements about their political opponents. As Trump put it on Fox News this morning, “The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re politically savvy.”

The solution that Trump is contemplating seems to go beyond urging self-restraint. The Trump administration is developing a “comprehensive plan on violence in America,” including “ways that you can address” what “can only be called hate groups,” which “may breed this kind of behavior,” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said on Thursday. “It will not be easy. There’s layer upon layer upon layer, and some of this hate-filled rhetoric is multigenerational, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”

Like Trump, Wiles noted “the importance of free speech.” But it is impossible to reconcile that principle with any government plan that entails targeting “hate groups” because they are “vicious” and “horrible” or because they engage in “hate-filled rhetoric.”

What sort of rhetoric does Trump have in mind? “It’s long past time for all Americans and the media to confront the fact that violence and murder are the tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree,” he said in the video. “Day after day, year after year, in the most hateful and despicable way possible for years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals.”

Such rhetoric is indeed “hateful” and “despicable,” but it is also constitutionally protected. It is hard to imagine how the government, consistent with the First Amendment, could try to suppress the speech that Wiles says “may breed” political violence.

This is not to say there is no connection between the sort of demonization that Trump describes and appalling crimes such as Kirk’s murder. Spencer Cox, Utah’s Republican governor, says Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man police have identified as Kirk’s killer, inscribed his rifle cartridges with messages such as “Hey fascists! Catch!” But while demonization may be a necessary condition for such violence, it is obviously not sufficient. If it were, we would see a lot more political murders.

First Amendment law recognizes that distinction between words and actions. Hyperbolic analogies like the ones that Trump cited clearly fall into the former category. And under the test established by the Supreme Court’s 1969 ruling in Brandenburg v. Ohio, even advocacy of illegal conduct is protected by the First Amendment unless it is both “directed” at inciting “imminent lawless action” and “likely” to have that effect. Comparing your political opponents to Nazis, however “hateful” and “despicable” that may be, plainly does not meet that test.

Trump himself has relied on the Brandenburg test in arguing that he should not be held civilly liable for his role in provoking the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He insisted that he did not intend to cause a riot, noting that he never explicitly advocated anything more extreme than peaceful protest. Yet his pre-riot speech, which was full of invective against the “radical-left Democrats” who supposedly had rigged an election and dark warnings about what would happen if an alleged usurper were allowed to take office, easily meets the standard that Trump applies when he says anti-conservative rhetoric is “directly responsible” for “terrorism.”

So does the demonizing rhetoric that Trump routinely deploys against people who irk him. As he tells it, his political opponents are not merely wrong. They are “sick, sinister, and evil people” who are “trying to destroy our country” because they “hate our country.” They are “communists,” “Marxists,” “fascists,” “radical left lunatics,” “sick people,” and “vermin.” They are “the enemy from within.”

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Leftist Media Dehumanize Us as Fascists Knowing it Will Lead to Violence and Assassination

If you watch CNN or MSNBC or the Sunday current affairs shows on all the regime media outlets… If you read the New York Times, Atlantic, Axios, Washington Post, the Nation, HuffPo, Jezebel, or all the rest… Here’s what you know…

These outlets are devoted to the 24/7 — and in the case of MSNBC and CNN, it’s literally around-the-clock — dehumanization of people like you and me and Charlie Kirk, everyday people, Normal People who dare to disagree with them. But it’s more than that, it’s worse than that… Much worse.

In a single sentence, my friend and former colleague Kurt Schlichter perfectly crystallized just how the media deliberately call for our literal assassination: “They call us Nazis – what do you think they want to happen to us?”

Exactly.

What moral choice do you have but to gun down a Nazi? You have no other choice. You must kill the Nazi. What could be more heroic than to gun down a Nazi? Nothing. If you want to be a hero, gun down the Nazi. That’s what heroes do.

Remove “Nazi,” and replace it with the countless dehumanizing words and phrases the media relentlessly firehose against us:

  • They call us fascists – what do you think they want to happen to us?
  • They call us rapists – what do you think they want to happen to us?
  • They call us racists – what do you think they want to happen to us?
  • They call us threats to democracy – what do you think they want to happen to us?
  • They call us white nationalists – what do you think they want to happen to us?

They want us dead, and we all know who “they” are — corporate media that has lost two of three major elections and knows it’s losing the argument, not to mention losing their influence over public opinion.

Charlie Kirk had to die, you see. They wanted him dead. Just hours before his assassination, Van Jones was on CNN smearing Kirk for trafficking in “pure race mongering, hate mongering.”

To paraphrase Kurt Schlichter, What do you think he wanted to happen to Charlie Kirk?

What was Charlie Kirk’s sin? What did he do to be accused of “pure race mongering, hate mongering” on a national cable news outlet during primetime? He spoke the truth:

A white Ukrainian refugee was murdered just because she was white. Everybody knows that, obviously. If a random white person simply walked up to and stabbed a nice law-abiding black person for no reason, it would be an apocalyptically huge national story used to impose national, sweeping political changes on the whole country. Instead, Meghan Basham, no one seems to care when a white woman gets stabbed to death.

Where’s the lie? There is no lie. And that was Kirk’s sin. He didn’t lie. He didn’t sugarcoat. He was not a house-trained Republican. So…

A racial hate monger must be taken out, no? Assassinating a racial hate monger is heroic, no?

That language, when it has no basis in fact, is how the media target us for literal destruction by the left’s Antifa types that do the Party’s wet work.

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Ireland’s Prime Minister Declares ‘Ireland For The Irish’ an Incitement to Violence

Ireland’s Taoiseach has claimed the phrase “Ireland for the Irish” amounts to an incitement of violence.

According to the Irish Examiner, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said that his country was at a “very serious crossroads.”

“There is a narrative growing in this country which is trying to other people because of their colour, their race, their creed,” Martin said.

“I think the vast, vast majority of Irish people recoil at this, but we have to be better, more strategic in dealing with this and engaging with this because this is undermining the dignity of every child born in this country.”

Martin added that phrases like “Ireland for the Irish” promote violence against minorities and undermine societal cohesion.

“This is, to me now, an emerging societal issue for us all,” he continued. “Where do we want Ireland to go? What kind of society do we want?”

“We’ve developed, we’ve progressed. We can’t regress and that means conversations and engaging with people.”

“It’s tantamount to an incitement and it needs to stop. Irish society needs to take stock.”

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