My last couple of years as a professor included mandated screening of syllabi, required reading, lecture notes, etc. for "trigger words" (or phrases) that might "offend," "alarm," disquiet," or "remind" a student of "past or present trauma." And, of course, it was the potentially offended party that had sole right to state what was or was not triggering.
"Dog whistles" that many claim are routinely used in political rhetoric are, to me, similar. I know nothing about Pink nor Macklemore, and don't want to, but from what I see in this forum, the whole thing is just an instance of "triggering / dog whistling" with intrinsic meaning. davew On Mon, Sep 14, 2026, at 10:25 AM, glen wrote: > https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/macklemore-dropped-ed-sheeran-tour-pro-palestine-statements-1235625967/ > >> Pink later explained that she did not object to Macklemore’s calls for a >> “Free Palestine,” but said, “I have never asked for another artist to be >> silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need >> a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared >> me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just >> propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I >> noticed?” > > I'm not the most empathetic person. But I try. And I simply cannot > understand how someone like Mackelmore saying "Free Palestine" could > *scare* someone like Pink. Is it that when she hears "Free Palestine", > she thinks it means "free Hamas from its restraints so it can murder > Israelis". Is that it? > > If so, I can imagine myself hearing someone like ... oh, IDK, Toby > Keith shouting "Free the Proud Boys". Would that scare me? Would it > scare local trans people because it would mean "Free the Proud Boys so > they can freely execute trans people in the streets?" Is that why "Free > Palestine" scares Pink? > > If so, I have to go back to one of my favorite quotes: "Stupidity > should be painful." I mean, yes, I do have an irrational reaction to > things like lotus seed pods. But OMG, it's *because* of that reaction > that I look at them so frequently. What kind of "fear" does Pink > experience? It's just baffling, ridiculous even. > > -- > 8647 ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ > ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα σώσω. > > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. > / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
