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Amid all of the current Coronavirus-induced hysteria, the time-honoured practice of shaking hands has come under intense scrutiny due to the possibility that it might aid the transmission of the disease. One of the more fascinating phenomena to arise from this is that a number of prominent people are now outing themselves as perennial handshake-phobes and asking whether we cant all just dispense with the custom once and for all, even after Coronavirus has run its course.

Famously-frenetic broadcaster, Jeremy Vine, tweeted, Can we all just stop shaking hands anyway? Its a practice that started centuries ago to ensure men didnt reach for their swords its a really shite custom regardless of #coronavirus and we should retire it permanently now weve got the excuse.

Agreed! chimed-in Matt Ridley, the brilliantly-erudite author, science journalist and Tory peer, whose forthcoming book, How Innovation Works, I await, feverishly (but not in a Covid-19 sort of way).

Can coronavirus finally end the disgusting practice of shaking hands? asked US arch-conservative, Ann Coulter.

Even that rhetorical savant and now-former MEP, Daniel Hannan, saw fit to pen a piece for the Telegraph in which he proposed the return of the bow and the curtsy as the silver lining of Coronavirus.

Its as if the Coronavirus epidemic has finally given them the validation theyve secretly always craved. But, with the greatest of respect to Jeremy, Matt, Ann and Daniel, they really need to get a grip. Preferably, a firm one.

There are compelling reasons why the handshake has endured and should continue to do so as the preferred form of greeting or signifying an agreement in much of the world ever since it originated 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece.

A handshake is a powerful ritual a symbol of trust, goodwill and peace. Extending an open hand to another person and grasping theirs in return, maintaining full and sincere eye-contact all-the-while, is a clear, outward reminder to all concerned of the mutual desire for fair, honest and friendly dealings. Its true that any dastardly cad is equally-capable of participating in a handshake, in full, cynical foreknowledge of their intention to deceive, defraud or harm. Nonetheless, for the worlds honest and decent majority, the ritual of the handshake plays an important role in reinforcing the bonds of our shared values.

Human civilisation has had ample opportunity over the past two-and-a-half millennia to R&D the best possible ritualistic technique for people to greet each other or solidify an agreement. There is a reason why the handshake has prevailed and achieved near-global ubiquity as the preferred option. The bow is too aloof and deferential. The fist bump or its prophylactic variant, the elbow bump is too jocular. The furnishing of Namaste-style praying-hands is insufficiently-secular to serve as a universal greeting. The spread-fingered Vulcan salute is too well Vulcan.

The handshake, on the other hand, strikes the perfect balance: personal and cordial, while neither too formal nor too relaxed. It has been the favourite PR tool of politicians for decades. Nothing less than a handshake could have conveyed to the world the reconciliatory aspirations of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un at their historic summit in 2019. A fist bump simply would not have sufficed.

There are few better litmus tests for the measure of a persons character than the way that they shake hands. Do they square up, face-to-face, with conviction and aplomb or do they linger, afar, with uncertain intent and their torsos askew? Worse still, do they demonstrate a profound absence of self-awareness and respect for social norms by intruding too closely upon their opposite numbers personal space? Is their grasp reassuringly-firm, poised and confident or is it as my father calls it a floppy and limp wet fish? Do they convey their engagement and openness by maintaining eye-contact or do they avert their glance, evasively? Like a crystal ball into a persons psyche, the handshake reveals all.

Nothing unites us all in the fabric of human connection like the handshake. In an increasingly atomised world, with our growing reliance on technology, with the furious, howling tribalism of social media, the simple act of clasping palms with another person brings us all that much closer together. It rekindles, daily, our sense of fellowship with the rest of humankind.

By all means, lets take whatever precautionary measures are reasonable and warranted while the spectre of Coronavirus looms over us. But, the handshake has survived the profoundly more-deadly Plague of Justinian, Black Death and Spanish Flu, and it should prevail after coronavirus. So, can we please agree to resume this most important and indispensable of customary social practices, once the current viral scourge has moved on? Lets shake on it.

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Will the handshake outlast coronavirus? - Spectator.co.uk

HONEY, WE MOLESTED THE KIDS!

I wonder if any liberals are re-thinking their insistence that the Boy Scouts allow gay men to take 13-year-old boys on overnight camping trips.

HEADLINE: Boy Scouts Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the Face of Thousands of Child Abuse Allegations

The Boy Scouts of America have long been on the lefts hate list. Any organization that has the temerity to train young men in the virtues of integrity, patriotism and self-reliance is putting itself on the fighting side of liberals!

At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, a little group of Boy Scouts took the stage as part of the opening ceremony and were promptly booed by the delegates.

For decades, the BSA has fended off lawsuits demanding that they embrace the holy trinity of Gs: girls, gays and godless atheists. (If only it had occurred to the plaintiffs to start their own organizations! They could have given them names like The Girl Scouts.)

Why would any liberal want to join an organization that was, according to them, sexist, Bible-thumping and bigoted? They didnt. The lawsuits were kill shots.

For the left, whats not to hate about the Boy Scouts? Their oath is: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Nearly 200 NASA astronauts were Boy Scouts. The great outdoorsman, Teddy Roosevelt, was such a BSA booster than he was made the one and only Chief Scout Citizen, a scout for life.

A Louis Harris & Associates study in 1996 found that men who had been scouts placed a higher value on honesty than those who had not.

But now the lawsuits have killed them. Congratulations, Democrats, The New York Times and corporate America. (I hope all their future employees steal from them, after being raised on Grand Theft Auto instead of the Boy Scout oath.)

From the beginning, BSA has had to deal with child molesters eagerly signing up to go camping with 13-year-old boys in isolated areas away from all observation.

Within a decade of its 1910 founding, the BSA began keeping internal files on ineligible scouting volunteers, known as the perversion files.

Scout leaders were not to be alone with boys and, starting in 1988, all adult applicants were subjected to aggressive background screening. The organization promptly removed any scout leaders based on mere suspicion and alerted law enforcement in about a third of the cases.

Nonetheless, between 1970 and 1991, up to .04% of Boy Scouts may have been molested. Thats about 2,000 out of several million boys.

Given all of this, what sort of escaped mental patient would demand that the Boy Scouts admit openly gay scout leaders?

Yes, we know most gays arent child molesters. How could we not? Its part of our secular catechism, along with the one about most Muslims not being terrorists and most immigrants not being criminals.

But men who molest boys are a small slice infinitesimal really! within a larger category known as gay. Its not two totally different things, like an architect and a dentist. Some men like blondes. Some like brunettes. But theyre all within the category of heterosexual.

No parent is going to send their young sons camping alone in the woods with an openly gay man for the same reason they wouldnt send their adolescent daughters to be alone in the woods with an openly heterosexual man.

And now the BSA has been whiplashed into bankruptcy by liberals demanding, on one hand, that the scouts allow gays to be troop leaders and, on the other hand, filing lawsuits accusing the scouts of not taking strong enough measures to prevent gay troop leaders from molesting boys.

Couldnt liberals get together and decide for themselves whether the Boy Scouts should have been more aggressive in preventing child molestation or less?

For their defense witnesses, the Boy Scouts should call New York Times editors, Democratic politicians and corporate CEOs.

Back in 1980, when a gay guy lost his lawsuit against BSA for dropping him as a scout leader, Wells Fargo, the United Way of San Francisco, Levi Strauss and the Bank of America cut off funding to the organization. San Francisco and Oakland schools prohibited the scouts from using their facilities on weekdays.

After the Supreme Courts disturbingly narrow 5-4 decision in 2000 holding that the Boy Scouts could not be forced to admit gay scout leaders, the Times denounced the decision in an editorial, calling the courts ruling one of its lowest moments of the term.

The following month, the Times ethicist, Randy Cohen, advised a reader to pull her son out of the Cub Scouts, saying it was the ethical thing to do. The ethicist explained: Just as one is honor bound to quit an organization that excludes African-Americans, so you should withdraw from scouting as long as it rejects homosexuals.

Also in response to the Supreme Courts decision, Chase Manhattan Bank, Textron Inc. and dozens more United Way chapters withdrew millions of dollars in contributions. More cities dropped their support of the Boy Scouts.

In his pre-Super Bowl TV interview in 2013, President Barack Obama was still harping on the Boy Scouts refusal to allow gay scoutmasters: Gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does.

On CNN, host Carol Costello haughtily informed a guest opposed to gay scoutmasters, Well, Ill just say that the American Psychological Association has studied the issue that you just mentioned. Homosexuals arent any more likely to molest kids than straight men.

Throughout the lefts 30-year assault on the Boy Scouts for discriminating against gays, the Catholic Church was embroiled in its own molestation crisis. More than 80% of the molester priests were accused of victimizing teenage boys.

Instead of saying, Oh I see what the Boy Scouts are doing, liberals responded to the gay sex-abuse crisis in the priesthood by blaming ... celibacy!

Isnt it a thought crime to question whether sexual preference is determined at birth? But liberals not only believed gayness was the result of an adult lifestyle choice celibacy but they knew how to cure it: Allow priests to marry!

Since the one thing we know is that men molesting boys has nothing to do with being gay, I guess this time its camping that causes sodomy.

Ann Coulter is the writer of 12 best-selling books,

including In Trump We Trust.

Read the original:
ANN COULTER:The Boy Scouts have long been on the left's hate list - MDJOnline.com

I wonder if any liberals are re-thinking their insistence that the Boy Scouts allow gay men to take 13-year-old boys on overnight camping trips.

HEADLINE:Boy Scouts Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the Face of Thousands of Child Abuse Allegations

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have long been on the lefts hate list. Any organization that has the temerity to train young men in the virtues of integrity, patriotism, and self-reliance is putting itself on the fighting side of liberals!

At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, a little group of Boy Scouts took the stage as part of the opening ceremony and were promptly booed by the delegates.

For decades, the BSA has fended off lawsuits demanding that they embrace the holy trinity of Gs: girls, gays, and godless atheists. (If only it had occurred to the plaintiffs to start their own organizations! They could have given them names like The Girl Scouts.)

Why would any liberal want to join an organization that was, according to them, sexist, Bible-thumping, and bigoted? They didnt. The lawsuits were kill shots.

For the left, whats not to hate about the Boy Scouts? Their oath is: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Nearly 200 NASA astronauts were Boy Scouts. The great outdoorsman, Teddy Roosevelt, was such a BSA booster than he was made the one and only Chief Scout Citizen, a scout for life.

A Louis Harris & Associates study in 1996 found that men who had been scouts placed a higher value on honesty than those who had not.

But now the lawsuits have killed them. Congratulations, Democrats, the New York Times, and corporate America. (I hope all their future employees steal from them, after being raised on Grand Theft Auto instead of the Boy Scout oath.)

From the beginning, BSA has had to deal with child molesters eagerly signing up to go camping with 13-year-old boys in isolated areas away from all observation.

Within a decade of its 1910 founding, the BSA began keeping internal files on ineligible scouting volunteers, known as the perversion files.

Scout leaders were not to be alone with boys and, starting in 1988, all adult applicants were subjected to aggressive background screening. The organization promptly removed any scout leaders based on mere suspicion and alerted law enforcement in about a third of the cases.

Nonetheless, between 1970 and 1991, up to .04 percent of Boy Scouts may have been molested. Thats about 2,000 out of several million boys.

Given all of this, what sort of escaped mental patient would demand that the Boy Scouts admit openly gay scout leaders?

Yes, we know most gays arent child molesters. How could we not? Its part of our secular catechism, along with the one about most Muslims not being terrorists and most immigrants not being criminals.

But men who molest boys are a small slice infinitesimal really! within a larger category known as gay. Its not two totally different things, like an architect and a dentist. Some men like blondes. Some like brunettes. But theyre all within the category of heterosexual.

No parent is going to send their young sons camping alone in the woods with an openly gay man for the same reason they wouldnt send their adolescent daughters to be alone in the woods with an openly heterosexual man.

And now the BSA has been whiplashed into bankruptcy by liberals demanding, on one hand, that the scouts allow gays to be troop leaders and, on the other hand, filing lawsuits accusing the scouts of not taking strong enough measures to prevent gay troop leaders from molesting boys.

Couldnt liberals get together and decide for themselves whether the Boy Scouts should have been more aggressive in preventing child molestation or less?

For their defense witnesses, the Boy Scouts should call New York Times editors, Democratic politicians, and corporate CEOs.

Back in 1980, when a gay guy lost his lawsuit against BSA for dropping him as a scout leader, Wells Fargo, the United Way of San Francisco, Levi Strauss, and the Bank of America cut off funding to the organization. San Francisco and Oakland schools prohibited the scouts from using their facilities on weekdays.

After the Supreme Courts disturbingly narrow 5-4 decision in 2000 holding that the Boy Scouts could not be forced to admit gay scout leaders, the Times denounced the decision in an editorial, calling the courts ruling one of its lowest moments of the term.

The following month, the Times ethicist, Randy Cohen, advised a reader to pull her son out of the Cub Scouts, saying it was the ethical thing to do. The ethicist explained: Just as one is honor bound to quit an organization that excludes African-Americans, so you should withdraw from scouting as long as it rejects homosexuals.

Also in response to the Supreme Courts decision, Chase Manhattan Bank, Textron Inc., and dozens more United Way chapters withdrew millions of dollars in contributions. More cities dropped their support of the Boy Scouts.

In his pre-Super Bowl TV interview in 2013, President Barack Obama was still harping on the Boy Scouts refusal to allow gay scoutmasters: Gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does.

On CNN, host Carol Costello haughtily informed a guest opposed to gay scoutmasters, Well, Ill just say that the American Psychological Association has studied the issue that you just mentioned. Homosexuals arent any more likely to molest kids than straight men.

The defense rests.

Throughout the lefts 30-year assault on the Boy Scouts for discriminating against gays, the Catholic Church was embroiled in its own molestation crisis. More than 80 percent of the molester priests were accused of victimizing teenage boys.

Instead of saying, Oh I see what the Boy Scouts are doing, liberals responded to the gay sex-abuse crisis in the priesthood by blaming celibacy!

Isnt it a thought crime to question whether sexual preference is determined at birth? But liberals not only believed gayness was the result of an adult lifestyle choice celibacy but they knew how to cure it: Allow priests to marry!

Since the one thing we know is that men molesting boys has nothing to do with being gay, I guess this time its camping that causes sodomy.

Excerpt from:
Ann Coulter: Honey, We Molested the Kids! - Breitbart

Childish bickering and name calling without debating or an end in sight. Only a few I recall. Friends Republicans and Candidates: Little Marco Rubio, Lyin Ted, The Three Stooges; Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh, Bill Weld, Sloppy Steve Bannon, Wacky nut job Ann Coulter, Mr. Magoo and Dumb Southerner Jeff Sessions. Foreign leaders: My favorite dictator President of Egypt, Little Rocket Man North Korean, Britain Trump Boris Johnson, Juan Trump Mexico President.

The enemy list goes on and on: Little Michael Bloomberg, Crazy Hillary, Crooked Hillary, Heartless Hillary, Lyin' Hillary, SleepyCreepy Joe, Very slow sleepy Joe, etc. and the long media list.

Way beyond sophomoric our President, our World Leader continues his tweets, antics, name calling and embarrassing behavior while fear keeps the adults that should call him out for it cringing in the corners. Im so tired of it, please give a ballot, Mickey Mouse is looking really good.

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.

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Letter: Anyone as tired of this as me? | Letters to the Editor - Arizona Daily Star

It is party time! Mardi Gras is here and this weekend you are invited no, expected to go to at least one carnival season shindig.

If you're feeling the need for beads, New Times has scoped out a few events sure to offer plenty of fantastical fun.

Of course, there are more and sometimes more fun things to do than party. February is Black History Month, with 29 days this year full of interesting events and activities.

Check out this weekend's top things-to-do picks.

If you've ever been to Mardi Gras, on Bourbon Street, you know what a crazy and pretty much adults-only good time it can be. This weekend, that side of New Orleans comes tothe Wharf Fort Lauderdalewith the events venue's first Mardi Gras Riverfront Festival. The three-day party, running Friday through Sunday, will have Mardi Gras-style entertainment and musical performances it wouldn't be Mardi Gras without brass bands along with specialty New Orleans-inspired cocktails, contests and prizes, and more beads than you need. RSVP online, and you will receive complimentary Mardi Gras swag at check-in. Noon to 3 a.m. on Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22; noon to midnight on Sunday, February 23, at the Wharf Fort Lauderdale, 20 W. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; whartftl.com. Admission is free.

Jimmie Walker and Michael Winslow bring their comedy stylings to Pompano Beach this weekend.

Courtesy of Pompano Beach Cultural Center

Pompano Stand-Up Liveon Friday night will feature comedians Jimmie JJ Walker and Michael Winslow. Walker, who gained fame on the 1970s hit show Good Times, and Winslow, who starred in the Police Academy franchise, team up to reprise their comedy special We Are Still Here."

Walker burst into America's living rooms playing JJ on Norman Lear's iconic black-focused sit-com that debuted in 1974, and is often remembered using his signature catchphrase "Dyn-o-mite!" Walker has been outspoken some would say out there in recent years, criticizing former President Barack Obama, dating right-wing blond bomb-thrower Ann Coulter, and for his vocal support of Donald Trump. Walker still tours nationwide. He became such a major celebrity in the 1970s that Time named him Comedian of the Decade. Winslow is an actor, beatboxer, and comedian known for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his role as Larvell Jones in all seven Police Academy films. If you haven't attended a Pompano Stand-Up Live show before, just know there's a two-drink minimum. 8 p.m. Friday, February 21, at Pompano Beach Culture Center, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd.; pompanobeacharts.org. Tickets are $40 via tickets.ccpompano.org.

As the comedians' appearance coincides with Black History Month, Walker will also hold a "Live on the Set" session from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Pompano Beach Cultural Center. Tickets are $10 via eventbrite.com.

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. One thing Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has is plenty of swing. Formed in 1989 in Southern California as a two-man lounge act, the now 12 or so member band brings its swing and jazz revival show to Parker Playhouse on Friday. Their catchy, often bluesy tunes include "Save My Soul" and fast-paced swing hits like Why Me? Mr. Pinstripe Suit will get you on your feet even if you don't know a thing about swing. One of my favs is Daddy's cover of Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher. They have played venues ranging from the Hollywood Bowl to Lincoln Center and have appeared with symphony orchestras, in a Super Bowl Halftime Show, and Dancing with the Stars. If you dig that crazy music, then this is the show for you. Heck, don't take my word, just go daddy, go. 8 p.m. Friday, February 21, Parker Playhouse, 707 NE Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale; parkerplayhouse.com. Tickets cost $26 to $56 via ticketmaster.com.

"Hued Songs" is among the featured events that are part of the Norton's celebration of Black History Month.

Courtesy Norton Museum

"Celebrating Black Florida" at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach showcases the art and cultural histories of black Floridians through the Nortons growing collection of works by artists of African descent.

The West Palm Beach showcase museum will have a range of interesting performances, talks, and activities on Saturday's Community Day so many that some are scheduled as pop-ups and stop-bys. Special tours are part of the plan, along with workshops, artist talks, performances, a documentary film screening, and a teen art studio. Mr. Trombone Wayne Perry will serve as opening Master of Ceremonies.

Among the highlights of the day-long event is a retrospective of the Sunset Lounge, often called the Cotton Club of the South. The historic jazz venue in northwest West Palm Beach counted among itshabitussome of America's greatest performers, including Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. The Norton will feature images and music from the era.

The fun and vibrant Sunshine Junkanoo Band will perform, and you can also join a conversation with R.L. Lewis, a Florida Highwayman and art teacher in Brevard County. He will create one of his signature paintings while discussing his art, life, and the story of the Florida Highwayman. There will be a "Hued Songs" performance that illuminates the works of black composers and works inspired by black history, culture, or text. This work highlights musical and theatrical work by African-American artists and explores black history through dance, song, and spoken word.The museum restaurant also gets in on the action by offering island favorites like jerk chicken over dirty rice, Caribbean slaw, Jamaican beef patties, and coconut jerk shrimp and grits. Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, February 22, Norton Museum, 1450 S. Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach; norton.org. Admission is free.

There is no place like home and nothing better than your own backyard. So come on over to America's Backyard where Damn Good Hospitality presents the fourth annual Fort Mardi Gras Festival on Saturday. There will be authentic New Orleans food, drinks, live music by Big Chief Band and the Rock N Jake Band. You can also look forward to seeing street performers, which include stilt walkers, jugglers and fire dancers. Then have your face painted, and check out the Indy crafts. Grown-ups, stick around and, at 10 p.m., join the Y100 After Party. 4 p.m. Saturday, February 22, America's Backyard, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; fortmardigras.com. Admission is free.

Original post:
The Five Best Things to Do in South Florida This Weekend - New Times Broward-Palm Beach