If you’re in corporate America, take note: Americans don’t appreciate being preached to about politics and wokeness.

Disney executives have really ticked off a vast majority of fans with their woke bent that characters need to start being all LGBQ+ or whatever the heck it is in the next week because they keep reinventing the genders. Walt is likely rolling around in his grave.

Now Home Depot has ticked off a lot of folks with the news that a company flyer leaked to the media posted in a break room at a Calgary, Alberta, Home Depot showed the home improvement giant’s logo and was titled, “Leading Practices: Unpacking Privilege.” It asks employees to literally “check” their “privilege,” whether it be “white privilege,” “class privilege,” “Christian privilege,” “cisgender privilege,” “able-bodied privilege,” or “heterosexual privilege.” The two-page flyer goes on to encourage workers to discuss white privilege and race with their colleagues, and offers tips on how to do so.

Home Depot corporate folks did a quick back-peddle, issuing a statement that reads: “While we fully support diversity across our company, this material was not created or approved by our corporate diversity, equity and inclusion department. This was a resource in our Canadian division and not part of any required programming.”

And Disney folks: You are really angering a lot of Americans. We like to be entertained, not preached to. We get that you’d love to promote anything but normal but it’s really disheartening to see a family-friend enterprise hijacked by a woke mob that rejects the values we all grew up knowing was normal. So screw you for altering all your rides and your movies to appease the politically correct.  You changed the Splash Mountain ride to cleanse it of any references to Brer Rabbit and Song of the South because the enlightened generation considers the film racist. Never mind that the kindly Uncle Remus modeled an endearing relationship between an old man and the two kids in the film.

You also changed Pirates of the Caribbean because some feminists objected to a “wench” being auctioned off to a bunch of depraved pirates. Walt may have envisioned it as a reality, but you modern Disney folks even found it offensive for drunken men to be chasing women around courtyards so you altered that scene.

I’ve noticed in recent years that white men have been vilified in Disney films. 

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Ever notice how people today are unwilling to listen to facts?

You see that a lot in social media.

A reader whose name will not be revealed posted a comment about the council’s spending of ARPA funds. She didn’t have anything to say about where the money will be going, only to “stop building roundabouts randomly throughout the city,” despite that no ARPA money is going to roundabouts.

It’s funny she says that because many roundabouts have been funded by air quality funds.

We pointed out to her that the city builds roundabouts where it can – and when it has the money – because they save fuel and reduce the seriousness of crashes.

Instead of replying, "Oh, I see," she said something to the effect of “absolutely not because people don’t know how to use them.”

I’ve found that most people do know how to navigate roundabouts with no problem.

Research in the U.S. has found that roundabouts lead to 37 percent fewer collisions and 90 percent fewer fatalities than traffic lights. Conversion to roundabouts also led to quicker traffic flow, with a reduction in delays of anywhere between 20 and 89 percent. They are also cheaper to build.

In Switzerland, two roundabouts built in 1977 and 1980 were studied for four to eight years after they were converted as roundabouts from the conventional intersections. The findings? Reductions of 75 percent in total accidents and 90 percent in the number of injuries.

You may hate roundabouts but they have benefits so get used to them.

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I like Jim Carrey. Since he found religion he has had a new outlook on fame and Hollywood. To quote his character in The Grinch, he loathes the Hollywood crowd.

When Will Smith – who just might be the most overrated actor of our time – slapped a comedian and yelled obscenities at him on national TV, Carrey was aghast at his action and the crowd. He said: “I was sickened by the standing ovation. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse. It really felt like this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.”

Hollywood is debased.

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com