Tongue Tied 3

Australian Football Referees not to be Called "White Maggot"



"White Maggot" is undoubtedly meant as an insult but it is not racial. It is used by whites to whites. It is the term traditionally used in Australian football to insult the referee if you disagree with him. It is part of our marvellously vivid Australian slanguage.

But as the world gets more and more neurotic about all negative speech, our betters have decided that the term must be banned and that spectators using it will be evicted from the match. Even the Salvation Army disagrees with the ban, however. Details here

Ban on 'mom' and 'dad' considered - again

California agenda would require K-12 'gay' indoctrination:

"A plan that has been launched in the California state Assembly - again - could be used to ban references to "mom" and "dad" in public schools statewide by prohibiting anything that would "reflect adversely" on the homosexual lifestyle choice.

It's similar to a plan WND reported was approved by lawmakers last year, but fell by the wayside when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.

"SB 777 forcibly thrusts young school children into dealing with sexual issues, requiring that homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality be taught in a favorable light," according to an alert issued by the Capitol Resource Institute. "Not only does SB 777 require that classroom instruction and materials promote and embrace controversial sexual practices, it also bans school-sponsored activities from 'reflecting adversely' on homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals," the group said.

Source

Must not call terrorists "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century"

The Leftist Media Matters is trying to drum up outrage because John Gibson of Fox News referred to Iraqis who are kiling one-another over there as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century". I wonder what century Media Matters think the killers best fit? I guess the Politburo of the Soviet Union in the early 20th century would not be a bad fit: The Soviets that the New York Times regularly defended and which American "liberals" used to refer to as "just liberals in a hurry". They were right about that, of course -- though the corollary -- that liberals are just slowed-down Communists -- is rarely mentioned.

Riehl World has the details.

Racist death threat from blacks -- but no mention of "hate speech" or "hate crime"

We read:

"Boston police say they are keeping close tabs on the head coach of Brighton High School's baseball team after two teens allegedly threatened to execute him to stop his testimony against one of them, the Herald has learned.

The two Brighton High students, Brandon Smith, 18, of Dorchester and a 16-year-old Hyde Park juvenile, were arraigned Wednesday on charges of witness intimidation and threats to commit murder.

Coach William Mahoney, 65, awoke to an obscenity-laced cell phone message on April 18, warning him, "(Expletive) (expletive), come to the (expletive) basketball team (sic), you (expletive.) (Expletive) baseball team. You (expletive) white (expletive). Hope you die, white trash. I am going to shoot you in the head at the next basketball (sic) game . . . baseball game," according to police and court records....

Source

But blacks cannot be racist, of course. Silly me! Even when that hotbed of the KKK -- the California judiciary -- does oppressively prosecute blacks for racially motivated assault, the blacks are of course given much lighter sentences than whites who commit hate crimes. See here, for example.

Another censorship attempt by the global warmers

We read:

"A group of British climate scientists is demanding changes to a skeptical documentary about global warming, saying there are grave errors in the program billed as a response to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." "The Great Global Warming Swindle" aired on British television in March and is coming out soon on DVD. It argues that man-made emissions have a marginal impact on the world's climate and warming can better be explained by changing patterns of solar activity.

An open letter sent Tuesday by 38 scientists, including the former heads of Britain's academy of sciences and Britain's weather office, called on producer Wag TV to remove what it called "major misrepresentations" from the film before the DVD release -- a demand its director said was tantamount to censorship.

Source

Maybe you should view the film now in case they do get it censored. Al Gore's film would be a much better candidate for censorship if you are talking about misrepresentation. What would YOU say about a film that shows only retreating glaciers and none of the advancing ones? Science it aint.

Writing an essay is an arrestable offence?

Only under some very stretched law:

"High school senior Allen Lee sat down with his creative writing class on Monday and penned an essay that so disturbed his teacher, school administrators and police that he was charged with disorderly conduct.

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said the teen's father, Albert Lee, referring to last week's massacre of 32 students by gunman Seung-Hui Cho. "I understand the situation." But he added: "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."

Allen Lee, an 18-year-old straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with disorderly conduct for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location. The youth's father said his son was not suspended or expelled but was forced to attend classes elsewhere for now.

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing. Disorderly conduct, which carries a penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is filed for pranks such as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911. But it can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual, Delelio said.

Source

As Taranto comments: "What in the hell are police doing arresting someone for a piece of writing merely because someone was "disturbed" by it? This is the most obvious violation of the right to free speech we've heard of in a long time".

The "Tree of Liberty" is Racist??



The sign above was used to criticize an opponent of gun rights but black politicians are calling it "racist". Go figure. Riehl World has the story.

Black Incitement to Racial Violence gets a Pass

We read:

"The chancellor at N.C. Central University has taken the unusual step of publicly criticizing an opinion column in the student newspaper that advocates violence. The column in the April 18 issue of the Campus Echo bears the headline "Death to all rapists" and rips into the resolution of the Duke lacrosse case, in which three white athletes accused of sexually assaulting a black dancer were recently declared innocent.

Solomon Burnette, a Durham native, wrote that blacks cannot get a fair shake under the current American justice system and should thus stand up and fight, "whether intellectually, artistically or physically." ....

Burnette, 27, is a senior history major and the son of former City Council member Brenda Burnette. In 2000 and 2001, he served a 13-month prison sentence after pleading no contest to charges of robbing two Duke students at gunpoint and then violating the terms of his probation.

Source

A white student has just got to say something that suggests a recognition of racial differences to be in big trouble. If a white student had said anything like the thug above he would be out of the university on his ear by now. Instead all the university authorities did was to tut, tut and cluck, cluck.

One can only hope that the thug above does NOT graduate and get into a position of responsibility. If he did he would make the disgusting Nifong look like a paragon of objectivity.

Popular Conservative Site Blocked as "Hate Speech"



We read:

"American Airlines' Admirals Club has installed software that blocks access to WorldNetDaily.com, the Internet's leading independent news site, for reasons of "hate" and "violence."

It's the second situation regarding a computer block WND has encountered in recent weeks. Earlier, the military provider that makes Internet services available to U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine bases worldwide admitted that WND had been blocked. A WND reader reported that he had tried to access the news site at the airline's facility for priority customers at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

Jarrod Reswebber, a spokesman for the airline, said the "people there" told him the issue involved filters on the system. He said airline officials now have begun working with the vendor who runs the filtering system, a third-party company, to submit the WND address for "consideration."

Source

How "considerate" of Mr. Reswebber! How many other conservative sites are being blocked by the same software?

ACLU Wants God off Cars

We read:

"The "In God We Trust" license plates that have quickly become a fixture on Indiana roads came under a legal attack Monday claiming the law authorizing them is unconstitutional for favoring that message over those on other plates.

The lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court claims the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles gives preferential treatment to motorists wanting the plates, which also feature the American flag, because they don't have to pay the $15 administrative fee that the agency collects on sales of most other Indiana specialty plates.

The BMV charges the administrative fees in addition to other costs of up to $25 whose proceeds support the causes of the groups or universities promoted by other specialty plates.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of plaintiff Mark E. Studler by the Indiana branch of the American Civil Liberties Union names the BMV and its commissioner, Ron Stiver, as defendants.

Source

STACLU has an extended comment on this one.

Hip-hop exec in bid to stamp out offensive lyrics

Wouldn't it be simpler if everybody reverted to the old wisdom: "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me"? The Left are making America into a nation of wimps and crybabies.

"Prominent US hip-hop executive Russell Simmons today recommended eliminating the words "bitch", "ho" and "nigger" from the recording industry, considering them "extreme curse words".

The call comes less than two weeks after radio personality Don Imus's nationally syndicated and televised radio show was cancelled amid public outcry over Imus calling a women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos".

Simmons, co-founder of the Def Jam label and a driving force behind hip-hop's huge commercial success, called for voluntary restrictions on the words and setting up an industry watchdog to recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards.

"We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words 'bitch' and 'ho' and the racially offensive word 'nigger'," Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, co-chairmen of the advocacy group, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, said in a statement. "These three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as 'extreme curse words'," it said.

Source

Australian Police use Ethnic Labels: Horrors!

Must not mention Muslims, even indirectly:

"NSW police use the description "Middle Eastern" too frequently in media releases, skewing the perception of crime rates and contributing to racial tensions, a report says. The service constantly ignores its policy on the use of ethnic descriptions and has even issued releases referring to suspects wearing balaclavas as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, the report by the Australia Middle East Christian Council found.

The report said up to two-thirds of the police media releases that mentioned ethnicity referred to suspects of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance. This was a disproportionate use, said Peter El Khouri, a member of the council and former Liberal Party candidate. "There is a perception that the Middle Eastern community, Australians of Middle Eastern background, are significantly responsible for crime in the state," said Mr El Khouri, who is of Lebanese descent.

Source

How awful it would be if people got enough info to actually identify a wanted felon! Fortunately, the police concerned are apparently going to continue with their policy.

It's so much easier in the USA. If no racial description is given, you assume the perp is black -- unless he has an Hispanic name, of course.

British bank fires worker who posted picture of Jesus on cubicle wall

We read:

"A call center employee says he has been dismissed from his job for posting an artist's rendition of the crucifixion during Easter week, even though other employees were allowed to post pictures and art as they chose in their cubicles. Chris Romansky, a former employee of Barclays, told WND he was told there had been a complaint about the picture he put up to remind himself of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, a foundational belief in Christianity.

A company spokeswoman, Donna Sokolsky, told WND that the job termination "had nothing to do with anything religious whatsoever." But she said she was not permitted by human resources to know "more beyond that."

During the Easter season, he said, "I hung a picture of the crucifixion, actually it was before Easter. It was of the crucifixion of Jesus and it showed the Resurrection and it said 'Happy Easter.'" "I came in on the following Tuesday, and it was face down on my desk, so I put it back up," he said. Then a team manager came and told him there had been a complaint that it was "offensive" and he had to take it back down.

The manager called him into her office. "She told me people were offended, and she told me anything with Jesus and God can't be up," Romansky told WND. The manager told him to leave the building....

Source

Wren cross follow-up



We read:

"A campaign has been started at the College of William and Mary in Virginia to shake up the school's governing Board of Visitors after a debacle involving the display of a donated Christian cross in the historic Wren Chapel.

Lance Kyle, AB '89, contacted WND after it reported that a local independent newspaper had called for the Board, which runs the school, not to renew the contract of college President Gene Nichol, who triggered the fiasco.

His decision to arbitrarily remove the cross from its historic display setting launched a petition with more than 18,000 signatures of school alums, students and supporters who wanted it return. It also triggered the cancellation of a planned donation of $12 million.

Now Kyle says perhaps the Board of Visitors, whose members are appointed by state officials, also have some answering to do.

Source

I previously commented on this matter on March 2nd.. There is a website here about the whole controversy. Another previous comment on this blog was on Feb. 12th.. There was an extended comment on the matter at STACLU in February.

Toddlers Must not Swear

From Australia:

"Will Ferrell has landed in hot water after making an online video clip featuring a two-year-old girl swearing and demanding alcohol. The Anchorman star made the short comedy sketch - posted on FunnyorDie.com - with director and co-writer friend Adam McKay's daughter Pearl.

Ferrell plays a lay-about in the film while the sweet, innocent toddler plays a drunk, cursing landlady demanding her rent. Pearl says "b***h", "c**p" and "a**-h**e" and claims to be "buzzed" while clutching a bottle of beer.

The clip has infuriated some viewers, but McKay has leapt to the defence of the comic star. McKay told People magazine: "Fortunately she is in this great stage now where she repeats anything you say to her and then forgets it right away, which is key. "She has not said the 'B-word' since we shot the thing. We invited a friend with a camera over and shot it in about 45 minutes.

Source

New EU Law Restricting Speech

It seems that the EU has passed a law saying that member states must make a crime out of genocide denial. But Muslim genocides (e.g. by Turkey against the Christian Armenians) are not counted as genocides, of course. So Muslims can deny their genocides all they like!

"Condoning or "grossly trivialising" genocide will become a crime punishable by up to three years in prison across Europe, although justice ministers failed to agree a specific ban on denying the Holocaust yesterday.

Germany used its presidency of the EU to push through the first Europe-wide race-hate laws, regarded by Berlin as an historic obligation in the 50th anniversary year of the union created to preserve peace and prosperity after the Second World War....

All 27 EU nations will be obliged to criminalise "publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes" but the test for prosecution was set deliberately high to secure agreement in Luxembourg. Cases will succeed only where "the conduct is carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred".

The definition of genocide will be that set at the Nuremberg trials and by the International Criminal Court, meaning that it will include Nazi crimes and those in Rwanda and Yugoslavia but not the Armenian genocide - a definition disputed by Turkey.

Poland, Slovenia and the Baltic states lobbied hard for - but failed to win - the inclusion of a crime of denying, condoning or trivialising atrocities committed in the name of Joseph Stalin in the new law....

Source

Michigan student suspended for wearing 'I'm straight' sticker

We read:

"A Christian student has been punished by his Michigan high school for demonstrating opposition to a school event celebrating the homosexual lifestyle. The boy's father, a pastor, says he's frustrated the rights of Christian students are being constantly trampled on campus.

Oakridge High School in Muskegon, Michigan, is one of many schools across the U.S. that took part in Wednesday's "National Day of Silence" -- an event promoted heavily by homosexual activist groups, which view it as a day to protest alleged discrimination faced by students who identify as "gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT)." At Oakridge High, duct tape was passed out for students to wear over their lips as a way to show solidarity with homosexual students who are purportedly suffering in silence.

John Gardner is pastor of Holton Family Life Worship Center in Holton, a community of approximately 2,500 about 17 miles northeast of Muskegon. Pastor Gardner says his 15-year-old son David, a student at Oakridge High, was suspended for a day by the school because he wrote with a black marker "I'm straight" on a piece of duct tape and attached it to his shirt. He explains that David donned the message to voice his objection to the school's participation in the Day of Silence.

"They asked him, at that point, to take it off," Gardner says, "and David [asked] why do the rest of the kids in the class get to wear theirs and I can't wear something about what I believe?" According to the pastor, the teacher then instructed David to remove the message or he would be "kicked out" of class. "And he said, 'Well then, you'll have to kick me out' -- and that's what they did," says David's father.

Source

Still Possible to Criticize Homosexuality in Australia

ANZAC day is the day Australia remembers its war dead:

"An advertisement for a gay Anzac Day party that shows a near-naked man wearing a slouch hat has been branded a "desecration" of the Anzac spirit by the Victorian RSL.

Martin Stevens, who has worked as a Shrine of Remembrance guard for eight years, said yesterday he was horrified to discover he had become the unwitting star of an ad for an Anzac Day eve bash at the Peel Hotel in Collingwood. The ad was published in gay magazines and on the venue's website.

"I saw my face and next to it there's a near-naked bloke in an army hat," Mr Stevens said. "I was just horrified. It's insulting to the diggers [troops] and it's just plain wrong."

Victorian RSL president David McLachlan said the ad, which includes an image of the Rising Sun army badge, was an abuse of liberty. "This is a desecration of the Anzac Day memory and the Shrine of Remembrance, which represents the sacrifice of so many Victorians," he said.

A spokesman for the hotel, Tom McFeely, said management now realised the ad was in poor taste and had removed it from the venue's website. "I also delivered a hand-written apology to the RSL yesterday and we have made a donation to the Shrine fund," Mr McFeely said.

Source

"Urban" is the New Word for "Black"

We read:

"Some schools are taking pre-emptive action against Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations and private citizen lawsuits by removing blatantly illegal, racially exclusive language from scholarships and replacing it with the new descriptor, "urban." Urban, of course, is code for "black." Northeastern University has opened its Ujima Scholars program to all students, but with a catch. The program will target students from an "urban background."

(From La Shawn Barber's blog -- which see for links)

The "Sensitivity" of NPR

Jay Nordlinger writes:

"Finally, a story about NPR. I haven't listened to it for years - since the 1980s? - but I happened to hear it a couple of weeks ago. I was with someone who had it on. And I listened with wondering ears.

They were doing a segment on a man who had been a Christian missionary deep in the Amazon jungle. It seemed a warm, positive story. "Huh - this is interesting," I thought. "Maybe I should rethink NPR."

The narrator recounted that the man had learned the language of the tribesmen, a remarkable feat. But his "proselytizing" - NPR's word - wasn't going so well. The ex-missionary said (and I paraphrase), "I told them there had been this man, Jesus, who was killed, and then came back to life. They said to me, `Did you see this?' I said no. They said, `Do you know anyone who saw this?' I again had to say no."

Long story short: The missionary discarded his religious beliefs; the natives, as NPR said, wound up "converting him." So, a happy ending! A perfect, happy, NPR ending! It was just beautiful.

But here's the kicker: This segment was broadcast Easter morning. It was the perfect Easter gift to the American people from their public radio.

Source

Let's look forward to an NPR story ridiculing Islam on a Muslim holy day! (Don't hold your breath).

"Horny" Allowable (In Australia, Anyway)



We read:

"A billboard featuring a lingerie-clad Jennifer Hawkins may have provoked ire among some Camberwell residents, but not among the members of the Advertising Standards Bureau.

The bureau found that "there was nothing featured in (the) advertisement which discriminated against or vilified women". The billboard in question showed the former Miss Universe biting a toy rhinoceros, and was captioned, "Horny?"

"That the term 'Horny?' should be used on a billboard in such a public place as Burke Road, Camberwell, is of great concern," said one of the complainants. Another said the billboard "looks like an ad promoting a brothel . . . It can't possibly be targeting women."

In its response, clothing manufacturer Gazal, which is the owner of the Loveable brand promoted by Hawkins, said the advertisement showed Hawkins "as being in complete control. She is not submissive in her stance."

Source

Judge Upholds Illinois School's Ban on 'Be Happy, Not Gay' Shirt

We read:

"Two Neuqua Valley High School students won't be able to wear T-shirts saying "Be Happy, Not Gay," to school on Thursday following a judge's ruling. U.S. District Judge William T. Hart ruled in favor of the high school Tuesday in a preliminary injunction that would have allowed the students to wear the shirts the day after Wednesday's National Day of Silence. On the Day of Silence, students can refrain from speaking as an effort to protest discrimination against homosexuals.

The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund is representing Heidi Zamecnik of Naperville and Alexander Nuxoll of Bolingbrook in a lawsuit that claims Zamecnik's rights were violated last year when she wasn't allowed to wear the shirt in school. The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian litigation group, will appeal the judge's decision on the preliminary injunction to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Jonathan Scruggs said.....

Source

Another Leftist "hate speech" invention

Real hate speech is so rare in America these days (except from Leftists abusing Christians) that Leftists keep having to make it up:

"A Case Western Reserve University professor who said she received threatening hate letters after claiming discrimination actually wrote the letters to herself, prosecutors said Monday.

Ramani Sri Pilla, 41, was charged in U.S. District Court with one count of making false statements.

Pilla "perpetuated a hoax on CWRU and the FBI" when she claimed that she was a victim of hate crimes because of her Indian heritage and her gender, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Rowland said in court documents.

Source

"N*gger brown" gets another outing

David Irving famously described the color of his car as "n*gger brown" but he was doing it to provoke his critics. Some hapless Chinese manufacturers were not so aware, however:

"While all of America may be talking about the slurs of radio shock jock Don Imus, Canada is dealing with its own outrageous race scandal. But unlike Imus, no one's taken responsibility for the Canadian fiasco, which introduced a young girl to the "N" word that she had been lucky enough never to have heard before.

ABC News spoke to Doris and Douglas Moore of Toronto about what happened when they purchased a set of dark brown couches for $1300 and were told the couches were high-quality imports from Italy. But when they arrived, her 7-year-old daughter made a startling discovery. On the shipping label, next to "color," it read: Ni**er-Brown.

Moore immediately called the furniture store, Vanaik, from where she and her husband purchased the couches, but received no response. So she contacted a local television station, Toronto's City News, who tracked down the store manager. He told a reporter from the station he was sorry for the label but blamed the supplier, Paul Kumar of Toronto-based Cosmos Furniture, who also ships furniture to the United States. In media reports, Kumar said that the label was placed by the manufacturer, located in China, not Italy.

Kumar told ABC News that he spoke to the manufacturer and that the mistake was made "out of innocence." The slur was a translation problem.

Source

There is another unfortunate example of Chinglish here. I think my recently purchased brown futon is made in China too. See here. I must look for a label on it sometime.

Canadians wimp out on anti-abortion prosecution

Free speech for anti-abortionists upheld by default

"A pro-life mother of seven in New Brunswick, will not face criminal charges for displaying photos of aborted children outside the local abortion facility.

Suzie Ryan, the wife of pro-life leader Peter Ryan, was arrested last September while displaying an abortion image outside the facility owned by the notorious Dr. Henry Morgentaler. She was charged with violating the anti-obscenity provisions of the Criminal Code but since the Crown has not pursued the matter further it is likely that it will now simply be dropped.

Mrs. Ryan spent several hours in jail and had her name publicly identified as a criminal, even though similar demonstrations are held frequently across the country, including in New Brunswick, without attracting police attention.

A six month statute of limitations is held on minor offences, called summary convictions, and the Fredericton police have admitted that Canadian case law does not support the more serious charge of an indictable offence. It seems unlikely that the Crown could now prove that the law had been broken by the display.

Source

Fury as crooner sings praises of Third Reich



From Britain:

"Ageing crooner Bryan Ferry has outraged Jewish groups after an astounding interview during which he spoke of his admiration for the Nazis.

In the interview with German journalists, Ferry described Nazi rallies as "just amazing" and admitted calling his recording studio the "Fuhrerbunker", a title associated with Adolf Hitler's headquarters.

"My dear gentlemen, the Nazis knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves," Ferry, who is about to embark on a UK tour, told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

"Leni Riefenstahl's movies and Albert Speer's buildings and the mass parades and the flags - just amazing. Really beautiful." ...

Ferry's manager Steven Howard defended the outburst, saying: "To suggest a certain appreciation of art and architecture that happens to be associated with the Nazi regime means condoning the action of that regime is illogical."

Overnight, Ferry apologised for his remarks. In a statement, the singer said he was "deeply upset" about the negative publicity the interview triggered, and added: "I apologise unreservedly for any offence caused by my comments on Nazi iconography, which were solely made from an art history perspective.

Source

There is an old Latin proverb: "De gustibus non disputandum est" -- "concerning taste there must be no dispute". But Hitler was an artist and there is no doubt that Nazi aesthetics appealed (and still appeal) to many. It seems to me "insensitive" for anybody not to realize that. Denying the appeal of Nazism runs the risk of facilitating its return, it seems to me.

Rosie O'Donnell Challenged on 'Anti-Christian Hate Speech'



A long overdue challenge to REAL hate-speech:

"The "Dr. Phil of Prayer" has issued a challenge to outspoken American television star Rosie O'Donnell to defend her "anti-Christian hate speech," surprisingly by the invitation of US radio talk show host Howard Stern.

This would be the third time Bill Keller, host of Live Prayer with Bill Keller, has spoken on the popular "shock jock's" daily program, and he is willing to appear again to debate with O'Donnell, who he felt has had no direct challenge from Christians against her anti-religion remarks.

"This could either be because Christian leaders are afraid of Rosie, or because Rosie is afraid to be confronted by Christian leaders," Keller explained. "Well, I am standing here today calling Rosie out to defend and debate her positions, and let the people decide for themselves if she has any merit or if she is lacking substance."...

Last year, days after the observance of Sept. 11, O'Donnell had shocked co-hosts and audiences when she said on The View, "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam..."

Source

Mum's the word in much of the world

We read:

"A report by the World Press Freedom Committee indicates that in spite of strides toward democracy and freedom worldwide, "insult laws" are still widespread. These laws make it a crime to insult public officials, or in some cases, to insult any individual, group or religion -- a chilling influence on discourse worldwide, says USA Today.

In Egypt, blogger Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman is serving a four-year jail term for insulting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and for "contempt of religion."

The Philippines' Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has sued more than 40 Philippine journalists under insult laws; he even sued one columnist for describing him as "the fat spouse," which Arroyo said was "obviously meant to denigrate me for my rotundity."

In Russia, when Kursiv, an Internet publication, joked that President Vladimir Putin was "Russia's phallic symbol" because of his campaign to boost the birth rate, investigators raided its offices and shut it down, fining the editor under Russia's insult law.

French media critic Philippe Karsenty was fined last year for defaming the honor of a state-owned TV station.

Journalist Hrant Dink was murdered in Istanbul in January after being prosecuted repeatedly under a Turkish law that makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness."

Source

Popular British TV Show under Attack

We read:

"Insulting references to "poofs", "Pakis" and "spastics" on the hit television show Life on Mars risk fuelling prejudice and bullying in schools, a teachers' leader has given warning.

The Bafta-nominated BBC police drama, set in 1970s Manchester, has won critical acclaim and a huge following for its authentic portrayal of hard-drinking, kipper tie-wearing cops and their unreconstructed views.

But Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), expressed concern that children may not understand that many of the attitudes expressed in the series were no longer considered acceptable.

Source

Hate Crimes Bill Just Introduced

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 has recently been put before the House by Ted Kennedy and a RINO from Oregon. The ACLU welcomes it here. It is designed to create "hate crimes" throughout the USA.

Christian groups have opposed it vociferously but I am not sure why. Read the bill here and you will see that it concerns "bodily injury" only. I cannot imagine Christians going out and bashing queers. Romans chapter 1 tells us that judgment belongs to God in the matter. Stoning "men who lie with men" went out with Leviticus.

I take the usual libertarian view that actual acts harmful to others are all that should be punished so whether the crime is motivated by greed, hate, lust or whatever seems irrelevant to me but I can see no free speech issues in the bill.

The ACLU says that the bill contains "clear protections for free speech and free association" but that is a lie. The bill does not mention speech at all. But if the First Amendment does not protect free speech, putting it in a bill would be irrelevant anyway.

Contest "degrades" immigration issue

From Louisiana State U:

"The campus College Republican event "Are you legal?" - a campuswide game with students labeled as undocumented immigrants - is offensive and shows an ignorance of issues surrounding immigration.

A similar contest led by the College Republicans at New York University in February caught the eye of national media and was the subject of widespread protest in the area. The College Republicans must have had knowledge of the trouble the event caused elsewhere but held the event anyway.

Source

So exactly WHO was it that caused the "trouble"? Would it be Republicans having fun or violent Leftist thugs? In which case exactly whom should we be criticizing? Or are Leftists retarded children who cannot help their violent impulses?

Texas city surrenders to student protesters

The Round Rock school district had arrested those students who walked out of class in order to protest in favour of illegal immigrants. The students sued, claiming they had a first amendment right to do what they did -- even though past SCOTUS decisions have held that behaviour "disruptive" to teaching is NOT protected by the First. The city decided not to fight on, allegedly on cost grounds:

"The Round Rock City Council votes to accept a settlement with the 70 students who filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the city and who are still awaiting trial for participation in an immigration demonstration over a year ago.

Settlement Terms
1. Round Rock will dismiss all pending municipal trials against students
a. City attorney will recommend that Williamson County drop the appeal of the one student case that was lost
2. Expungement of student arrest records
a. RR/RRISD will not oppose expungement of the students' arrest records, but will cooperate with the process
b. Round Rock will set up $33,000 expungement fund, administered by TCRP, from which person can draw up to $400, if s/he wants to expunge record....

Source.

See also here. The protesters were aided by the Texas Civil Liberties Project.

The Ever-Spreading Definition of "Racist"

If you speak ill of anything ASSOCIATED with blacks you are are a racist, apparently. It's no defence if you actually don't mention race at all.

A school board member was speaking of reclaiming money from the parents of problem kids. He said:

"I don't care if we have to sue and all we get is that Cadillac or their SUV that they bought out of their SSI money, the crazy money," Katsanis said. "If that's all we get, that's enough."

Source

SSI refers to the federal Supplemental Security Income program, which provides parents with money to take care of their children with disabilities. There is a perception that it is often ripped off by people who have other sources of income.

"On Thursday, however, School Board member Alvin Boudreaux released a written statement criticizing the comments. "His remarks were insensitive and border on the line of prejudice," said Boudreaux, the board's lone black member.

So talk of ripping off a welfare program is automatically about blacks, apparently. What does that tell you? It sounds to me like a black stereotyping blacks.

Pa. DJ fired for repeating Imus comments

We read:

"ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A radio station fired its longtime morning DJ Wednesday after he encouraged listeners to repeat talk-show host Don Imus` racially charged comments in an on-air contest.

Musselman said three of the listeners who called were awarded tickets to a NASCAR promotion at a local club.

Musselman said that Smith was fired and not suspended because he uttered the slur in a premeditated manner, "with full knowledge of the reaction to Don Imus` use of the exact same phrase."

"What I said was stupid, and I`m sorry," Smith told the newspaper.

Source

I wouldn't argue with the "stupid".

ACLU To Defend Nazis Again

We read:

"The ACLU lost a number of members in 1977 when they defended the American Nazi Party when they wanted to stage a demonstration in the town of Skokie, Illinois -- a city where a number of Holocaust victims and their families had settled. Over 30,000 ACLU members staged a demonstration of their own when they marched out of the organization, even after the ACLU won the case, and even though the Nazis never did march in Skokie.

Thirty years later, the ACLU proves that they have not learned their lesson. The Ohio chapter has agreed to represent the American Nazi Party again in a conflict over a demonstration permit, this time in a predominantly black neighborhood in Cincinnati.

On April 20, 2007, the American National Socialist Workers Party of Roanoke, VA-a neo-Nazi group-plans to march through the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati. The city initially issued a permit to the group for its march, but the permit was soon revoked and prohibitions were added by city officials limiting the group's demonstration to a three-block area. Believing their constitutional rights to free speech and free assembly have been violated, the ACLU of Ohio will be defending the demonstrators.

Source

No doubt many readers and bloggers will disagree with me about this but I think the ACLU have got this one right. Free speech is not free speech if you can pick and choose to whom it applies.

I imagine however that the ACLU are just doing it to show how "unbiased" they are. It's easy to defend groups that are no real threat to you.

That Immovable Double Standard

ANYTHING Leftist is OK:

"Now that Imus has lost his MSNBC show while black broadcasters use similar and worse terminology on the public airwaves, we have an explicit double standard forming. White people can't use certain words and black people can. That's bad, but at least we are on the verge of acknowledging it.

If so, what about white cartoonist Ted Rall? This cartoon depicts the Secretary of State calling herself "Bush's beard! His house nigga" and suggests she be sent to an "inner city racial re-education camp" and be forced to "hand over your hair straightener", presumably so her nappy hair can return to its natural state. This is both more offensive and more studied than Imus' toss-off line.

Source

Buchanan on the Sacking of Imus

A small excerpt:

"What was the term the I-Man used? It was "hos," slang for whores, a term employed ad infinitum et ad nauseam by rap and hip-hop "artists." It is a term out of the African-American community. Yet, if any of a hundred rap singers has lost his contract or been driven from the airwaves for using it, maybe someone can tell me about it.

If the word "hos" is a filthy insult to decent black women, and it is, why are hip-hop artists and rap singers who use it incessantly not pariahs in the black community? Why would black politicians hobnob with them? Why are there no boycotts of the advertisers of the radio stations that play their degrading music?

Source

The Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a Racist!

Or he would be if he were a conservative. Conservatives are not allowed to notice any differences between blacks and whites:

"Tony Blair yesterday claimed the spate of knife and gun murders in London was not being caused by poverty, but a distinctive black culture. His remarks angered community leaders, who accused him of ignorance and failing to provide support for black-led efforts to tackle the problem. One accused him of misunderstanding the advice he had been given on the issue at a Downing Street summit.

Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it". It needed to be addressed by a tailored counter-attack in the same way as football hooliganism was reined in by producing measures aimed at the specific problem, rather than general lawlessness.

Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture.....

Source

Vermont: An Orgy of Righteousness in Response to Some Stupid Graffiti

Do they really think the offenders in the matter are going to attend all these self-congratulatory meetings?

"In response to homophobic graffiti found in the hallways of Ross Commons over Spring Break, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz sent a campus-wide e-mail over the break condemning the acts. Students and administrators met last Tuesday to discuss the incidents, and a student town hall meeting has been called for tonight....

In a letter sent out to Ross residents on March 22, Ross Commons Heads Steve and Katy Abbott described the impact of the graffiti found in the stairwells of Hadley Hall, and the importance of addressing the issue....

In response, the Commons heads proposed an open gathering on April 3 in the Ross Fireplace Lounge to discuss the issue. As students, faculty and staff became more involved with planning the meeting, the initially Ross-based gathering grew into a much larger forum. A Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) campaign distributed posters in the dining halls days prior to Tuesday's meeting.

Source

There are offensive graffiti all over the place -- which are almost always either ignored or just scrubbed off -- but graffiti directed at certain especially important people must be made a big deal of. It just makes you warm inside to be so "caring".

I am sure all this homophilia will do nothing to cure "homophobia". More likely the reverse. It will just make homosexuals resented for all the special attention that is given to them. But that will be fine with Leftists, of course. They really don't give a damn about helping homosexuals. It is bothering ordinary people about it that is their real aim.

Fatwa Against Conservative Bloggers?

Some Muslim blogger in England seems to be trying to get a fatwa issued against various conservative bloggers. Insofar as a fatwa is a death threat, it would of course be illegal under British hate speech laws so I hope the Muslim blogger concerned watches his step. The British police care more about hate-crimes than they do about things like rape and murder. Jawa Report has the details.

Censorship at PBS

A film on radical Islam has been quashed by PBS:

"The producer of a tax-financed documentary on Islamic extremism claims his film has been dropped for political reasons from a television series that airs next week on more than 300 PBS stations nationwide.

Key portions of the documentary focus on Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser of Phoenix and his American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a non-profit organization of Muslim Americans who advocate patriotism, constitutional democracy and a separation of church and state.....

Burke wrote that his documentary depicts the plight of moderate Muslims who are silenced by Islamic extremists, adding, "Now it appears to be PBS and CPB who are silencing them."

Source

"Ghetto" Incorrect

We read:

"Somebody should have warned Newt Gingrich to stay away from the "ghetto." The word, I mean. If so, the former speaker of the House, who is weighing a presidential bid, could have avoided the embarrassment for which he is apologizing in Spanish in a video posted on YouTube with English subtitles.

In a video statement read in Spanish and subtitled in English, the Georgia Republican says his "word choice was poor" in a recent speech when he equated bilingual education with "the language of living in a ghetto."

What he meant to say, he says, is that, "In the United States it is important to speak the English language well in order to advance and have success."

Source

Amazing: A Jewish Newspaper Denigrates Mormons

The NYT has just put up an amazing attack on Mormons that is almost word-for-word a copy of all the old accusations against Jews. Leftist bigotry? You judge:

"Among the reasons Americans distrust the Mormon church is Mormon clannishness..... Mormons like to hire other Mormons, and those who lose their jobs can count on the church networks to find them openings elsewhere. Mr. Romney put those same networks to effective use in raising part of his $23 million in campaign contributions. Moreover, Mormons are perceived to be unusually secretive..."

But only conservatives can be bigoted, of course. See a transcript of Hugh Hewitt probing the matter and another comment here

Coke Rejects a Free Plug

In these times when there is "incorrectness" under every bed, I am sure Coke made the correct decision below but it is vivid evidence of the curbs on free expression these days:

"An Italian film showing Jesus Christ drinking Coca-Cola sparked such strong protest from the soft-drinks giant that it blocked the film's Easter weekend premiere.

The film, 7km from Jerusalem, is about an Italian advertising executive who is soul searching after losing his job and marriage. He flies to Jerusalem, where he runs into Jesus.

According to local press reports, he offers the returned Christ a can of Coca-Cola and, seeing Jesus drinking the beverage, thinks: "What a testimonial!"

Apparently Coca-Cola disagreed. "The multinational's Italian unit sent a legal letter forcing the elimination of the scene in which Jesus drinks the well-known beverage," the producers said on the film's website, http://blog.7kmdagerusalemme.it/dblog/.

Italian media reported that the company felt that the use of its brand was unacceptable and could get the company a bad image.

Source

Cornell students protest parties as racially insensitive

Must not mention borders!

"Cornell University students held a rally Monday to speak out against student parties they called racist and oppressive.

The rally was in reaction to two parties in March by Greek letter organizations.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon threw a party with the theme "International Borders" where partygoers were issued visas that allowed them to travel across borders depicted by yellow caution tape.

Lambda Chi Alpha threw a party with the theme "South of the Border," where invitees were encouraged to wear "sombreros, ponchos and Mexican mustaches."

The local chapters for both organizations could not be reached by phone on Monday.

Student organizers behind the rally called the parties racially insensitive.

Source

If Mexicans had been depicted as smooth urban sophisticates that would have been fine of course. Fiction trumps reality!

Whites must not use Black Talk

We read:

"Syndicated talk-radio personality Don Imus apologized Friday for calling members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" during a segment yesterday in his "Imus in the Morning" show.

Imus and his producer and on-air sidekick, Bernard McGuirk, went on to further attack the black members of the team, calling them "jigaboos and wannabees."

In his apology, Imus called his comments "insensitive and ill-conceived."

Source

Some black males of course commonly refer to almost all women as "hos" (whores) and "nappy" is the way blacks commonly describe their hair (tightly curled hair). So if Imus had been black, he would have simply have been expressing black "culture".

The term "jigaboo" presumably originates as a reference to black talent at dancing but does appear to be derogatory -- though it was not Imus who used it. But calling Christians derogatory names ("Theocrats", "Ayatollahs", "Taliban" etc.) is OK of course. No apology would have been needed for that. You can only speak ill of SOME people. If some, why not all?

I think the interesting thing about the episode is that if Imus had said "Curly-headed women" instead of "nappy-headed hos", no offence would have been taken. Yet "Curly-headed women" is a literal translation into standard English of "nappy-headed hos" in black English. So it is the aggressiveness implicit in black speech that was upsetting, not the literal meaning of what was said. So should EVERYBODY (blacks included) be stopped from calling women "hos"? I think that is where politically correct logic leads. But who expects the politically correct brigade to be logical?

More Naughty Sports Commentary

CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer recently used the word "fag" in the following context:

"Do you need a runner this Final Four?" Rose asked, "because I could jump on a plane and I could be there."

"You always fag out on that one for me, you know," Packer responded, laughing. "You always say, oh yeah, I'm gonna be the runner, then you never show up.

Source

In Britain, the word "fag" is an old-fashioned word that simply means to tire out, to become tired, and Packer was obviously using it in that way -- but that usage is less familiar in America so Packer promptly became "homophobic". Leftists used to accuse conservatives of seeing "Reds under every bed". These days Leftists see "racism" and "homphobia" under every bed.

Amazing! Muslims can be Guilty of Hate-speech

In Italy anyway:

"Prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Turin were scheduled to start investigating on Tuesday footage of an imam at the local Cottolengo mosque, Mohammed Kohalia, calling on Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and praying for their death. "The Prophet has said that the extremists [Jews and Christians] will be destroyed," the cleric is heard as saying in footage secretly filmed by a journalist. "Allah should kill the polytheists." ....

In the video, Kohaila says that "no compromise can be reached with atheists, they must be killed, full stop."

Source

All Religions Welcome -- but not Christianity

We read:

"After a single complaint by a single secular humanist, the Bible will be purged from thousands of hotel rooms in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands and Norway. The Bible will no longer be available at more than 130 Scandic hotels in ten countries. Scandic has already begun removing the Bible from its rooms.

The whole sad process began with a complaint by a guest who had found a Bible in a drawer in his hotel room. He wrote to Mona Andersson, the head marketing executive at Scandic hotels. She wrote back [my translation]: "Thank you for your e-mail and your views. Yes, we have traditionally had the Bible/New testament available at our hotel rooms. But all religions are welcome at Scandic so as of today we encourage all our hotels to remove the Bible from their rooms"

Source

The local Gideons are of course devastated.

Elsewhere

I have just put up on DISSECTING LEFTISM a post that could just as well have appeared here on TT3. Also I have just put up on PC WATCH an old post from TT that I particularly liked.

Texas Senate Prayer Excludes Christians

We read:

"A controversial Texas imam who at one point participated in a "tribute to the great Islamic visionary" Ayatollah Khomeini, has offered a prayer to open the state Senate that excluded both Christians and Jews.

"Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way," prayed Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque.

Islam, of course, teaches that Jews and Christians both have earned the wrath of Allah by failing to follow Islam, and also have lost the way by following the teachings of the Torah for the Jews or the Bible for Christians.

"I do believe we should respond to this event to make sure that our governing officials and the citizens of the State of Texas understand the Christian position. Appreciation of diversity in people is not tantamount to acceptance of their gods," said Pastor Ross Cullins...

Source

A group prayer is supposed to be ON BEHALF of those present. So the Texas Senators are all believers in Allah? The Imam is entitled to his beliefs and to practice them in his mosque but to impose them on Christians is another matter. One hopes that the Texas Senate will think more deeply about any future such invitations.

Must not Pick on Polacks

We read:

"Religious, gay and ethnic leaders joined together yesterday to condemn New Jersey 101.5 FM radio shock jocks Craig Carton and Ray Rossi -- "The Jersey Guys" -- for what they believe are ethnic slurs, anti-gay comments and religious hate speech.

The "Coalition Against Bigotry and Hate" plans to send the station's advertisers and investors transcripts containing comments made by Carton and Rossi in February in which they referred to Polish people as "Polacks" who supported Nazi efforts to kill Jews....

Responding for himself and his partner, Carton said, "We are surprised and disappointed that at a time when we should be uniting communities, Senator Lesniak and his Coalition Against Free Speech have decided to pick the eve of the holiest of holidays to further divide us as a people."

Lesniak was moved to form the Coalition Against Bigotry and Hate after Carton and Rossi questioned his sexual orientation based on viewing a photo of him standing next to a rock star from Poland, who was wearing a flamboyant outfit.

And during an on-air conversation with a caller to their weekday afternoon show Feb. 9, Carton said: "Half the Polacks joined the Nazi party to kill what? Jews."

Source

It sounds like there was really just one Polish politician objecting here. Poles are normally like the Irish: They take jokes and aspersions about themselves in their stride.

I personally tend to like and get on well with Poles but there is no doubt that many Poles did give enthusiastic support to the Nazis in rounding up Jews. Even though there are hardly any Jews left in Poland today, most Poles still seem to be furiously antisemitic. It seems like a national mental ailment that they suffer from. Perhaps it just shows that old traditions die hard at times.

More Verbal Magic

We read:

"The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.

The "global war on terror," a phrase first used by President Bush shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., should not be used, according to the memo. Also banned is the phrase the "long war," which military officials began using last year as a way of acknowledging that military operations against terrorist states and organizations would not be wrapped up in a few years.

Committee staff members are told in the memo to use specific references to specific operations instead of the Bush administration's catch phrases. The memo, written by Staff Director Erin Conaton, provides examples of acceptable phrases, such as "the war in Iraq," the "war in Afghanistan, "operations in the Horn of Africa" or "ongoing military operations throughout the world."

Source

More projection

Those who condemn followers of the God of Love as being haters are just accusing others of their own dark motives. Homosexual entertainer Elton John is just one more example of these sad "projectors":

"CNN Headline News ran a repeat of Glenn Beck's March 27 show, which showed footage of some of the images that ran behind Elton John during his elaborate 60th birthday bash at Madison Square Garden that included a burning church. This is the same man who said that religion promotes hatred and "it's not very compassionate." Beck discussed the very tolerant and "compassionate" concert:

On Sunday, he performed -- it`s the lord`s day -- at Madison Square Garden with this image running behind him. Yes, that would be a burning church. Now, I know you`re at home thinking, "Gee, Glenn, isn`t Elton John the guy who said he`d ban all religion because it turns people into hateful lemmings?" Yes, same guy.

Source

Fourth Grader's Rights Were Violated When School Banned Religious Message

We read:

"A school district violated a fourth-grader's constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection by refusing to allow her to distribute "personal statement" fliers carrying a religious message, a federal judge has ruled.

The Liverpool Central School District in upstate New York based its restrictions on "fear or apprehension of disturbance, which is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression," Chief U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue wrote in a 46-page decision Friday.

Source

Hostage drill at NJ school features mock 'Christian terrorists'

We read:

"The head of a national, Texas-based pro-family group says a recent hostage drill at a New Jersey high school, which portrayed conservative Christians as terrorists, is reflective of a dangerous philosophy that has become prevalent in many parts of America, where it is having negative effects on education.

A local paper reports that a drill at Burlington Township High School in New Jersey involved police portraying mock gunmen, described as "members of a right-wing fundamentalist group called the 'New Crusaders' who don't believe in the separation of church and state." The fake gunmen were said to have been "seeking justice because the daughter of one [member] had been expelled for praying before class."

Source

Must not mention the real terrorists, of course. And defaming Christians is a great bonus!

Are homosexuals gay or queer?

Once upon a time, in the slightly more rational past, the word "queer" was objected to by homosexuals as being highly derogatory. For a while homosexuals were "camp" instead but the word "gay" eventually became almost universally embraced as the "correct" term. Lots of Australians and Brits continued to call them "poofters" or "poofs" but that was wicked.

Now, however, we seem to have reversed gears. "Queer" seems to be OK now (as in the TV show "Queer eye for the straight guy"). But "gay" is so bad that even children will be pursued by the British police for using it:

"A father launched a furious attack against the police yesterday for investigating claims that his 10-year-old son had called a schoolfriend "gay" in an email. Company director Alan Rawlinson said he was astounded after two police officers arrived at his home in Bold Heath, Cheshire, to speak to his son George. The officers were called after a complaint from the parent of another boy at his son's school in Widnes.

Source

Confusing, isn't it? What it DOES go to show is that the old Leftist obsession with changing the language is pointless. If something is disliked, ANY word used to describe it will become derogatory.

There was an interesting older instance of that in Australia. Just after the war, Australia got a lot of immigrants from war-torn Europe and Anglo-Australians were not at that time very impressed by them -- largely because the poor English of the immigrants created unaccustomed communication difficulties. Words like "dago", "wop", "wog" and "reffo" were commonly used to refer to the immigrants.

But the government decided that Australia needed the immigrants concerned and insisted that they be referred to as "New Australians". Very rapidly, however, the term "New Australians" came to be used disdainfully too.

And what I always think is the most amusing example of mealy-mouthed language is the way economically backward countries were once described. They started out "savage", then "backward", then "poor", then "underdeveloped" and then "developing".

At that point, people realized that "developing" was precisely what most of the countries concerned were NOT doing so we seem now to have settled on the term: "less developed". "Savage" would be a more informative description of many of them.

"Go back to where you came from" is racist?

It is in Britain:

"A man who shouted racist insults at Muslim worshippers outside a Cumbria mosque has been jailed for six months.

Bryan Cork shouted slurs including "proud to be British" and "go back to where you came from" outside Carlisle's Brook Street mosque.

He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment on 30 November at the city's Crown Court on Tuesday. Judge Paul Batty, QC, told Cork, of Thompson Street, Carlisle, that racism in any form would not be tolerated.

Source

Australians who encounter "whingeing Poms" (complaining Englishmen) among the people they meet are quite likely to tell the Pom concerned to "Go back to where you came from". While that remark is undoubtedly critical, it is hardly racist as the Australian concerned will himself most likely be of British descent.

But Muslims must not be criticized, of course.

Passover Seder

My best wishes to my Jewish readers at this holy time. I hope they have had or will be having (timezones are pesky) a good and fortifying Seder that helps them to deal wisely with the many follies and false gods of this world.

I like the idea of the four cups of wine at the seder. In my Presbyterian days, all we got at Communion was a tiny glass of unfermented grape juice! Quite pathetic.

There is a fascinating article here by Charles Murray which looks at the reasons behind the exceptionally high average IQ among Jews. Unlike Cochran et al., he argues that high IQ is not recent among Jews. He goes far back into history in his explanations and certainly ends on an amusing note for the serious scientist that he is.

British schools drop Holocaust lessons to avoid "offence"

A sad day when the truth has become offensive:

"Teachers are dropping controversial subjects such as the Holocaust and the Crusades from history lessons because they do not want to cause offence to children from certain races or religions, a report claims. A lack of factual knowledge among some teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to "shallow" lessons on emotive and difficult subjects, according to the study by the Historical Association.

The report, produced with funding from the Department for Education, said that where teachers and staff avoided emotive and controversial history, their motives were generally well intentioned. "Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes. In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship," it concluded. However, it was concerned that this could lead to divisions within school, and that it might also put pupils off history.

Source

An Interesting Idea

We read:

"Islamic countries pushed through a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council Friday urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of religion - a response largely to the furor last year over caricatures published in a Danish newspaper of the Prophet Muhammad.

Source

If that became law, how would the Leftists be able to mention Christianity? Around 95% of their mention of Christians is vitriolic.

Motherhood is "Nazi Talk" in Germany

We read:

"A former top German television newsreader has been accused of evoking the Nazi era with a campaign to encourage women to choose motherhood instead of emancipation and highflying careers. Eva Herman, 47, is urging women to leave the workplace and embrace a pre-feminist ideal of home-making, cake-baking and child-rearing to save a country with one of Europe's lowest birth rates: 1.3 children per woman....

Feminists [Lesbians?] have been incensed. One of the fiercest critics has been Alice Schwarzer, a feminist campaigner and magazine editor, who described Herman's theories as "gibberish between a Stone Age bat and a Mother's Cross" - the Nazi medal of honour awarded to mothers of more than three children.

Source

As ever, the real Nazis are in government in Germany. They seize homeschooled children off their families.

'Immigrant' is a Racist Word in Britain

We read:

"Use of the word immigrant as an insult can amount to proof of racial hostility, the court of appeal ruled yesterday. The court held that a charge of racially aggravated assault against a woman who attacked a GP after referring to him as "an immigrant doctor" had been wrongly thrown out by Judge Breen at Luton crown court in January.

He decided that "immigrant" did not denote membership of a specific racial group under the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act. But three appeal judges said he should have left the matter to the jury.

Source

OK to Offend Christians -- again

Homosexuals, blacks and Muslims must not even be made "uncomfortable" by anything that someone else does or says but no such rules apply to Christians, apparently. The Roger Smith Hotel in NYC planned a display during Holy Week which featured a sculpture of a naked Jesus with genitals displayed. It was intended to provoke and it did. A prominent Catholic organization called for a boycott of the hotel as a result. So the hotel backed off.

Did Leftists applaud the banning of such an "insensitive" display and rejoice that Catholics can now feel "comfortable" to enter the hotel? No way! They frothed at the mouth about it and called the boycott letter "hate speech"!

Gateway Pundit has the details.

There's a picture of the "sculpture" here

Chief Wahoo under Fire again



Much heartburn over the logo of the Cleveland Indians:

"Major League Baseball is paying tribute to the civil rights movement on March 31st with its inaugural Civil Rights Game in Memphis, Tennessee - home of the National Civil Rights Museum and the city where Martin Luther King was assassinated April 4, 1968.

The inaugural event, featuring the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Cleveland Indians, will invoke the memory of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the major league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the spring of 1947.

The problem arises with the official logo and mascot of the Indians: Chief Wahoo. Regardless of color, race, ethnic identity or political philosophy, any objective view of Wahoo must concede: It is a demeaning stereotype - the smiling, drunken fool so eager to please his racially insensitive white fans....

Chief Wahoo, however, is beyond the pale. It is so deliberately and flagrantly racist that it cannot hide behind the typical excuse that some Native Americans are not offended.

Source

So now a big smile is racist, apparently. To Leftists all minorities are "victims" so I guess that they should all have sourpuss faces at all times.

I last noted this controversy on May 10, 2006.

Movie History Incorrect

Looks like Britain is not the only place where it is forbidden to show blacks as having different speech patterns:

"Come Tuesday, Walt Disney Video will release a Platinum Edition DVD of the ever-popular "Peter Pan." Five weeks ago, the company retired three other classic cartoons, including "Bambi."

Disney's long used a cycle of absence and plenty to keep its films fresh to new viewers. In decades past, it re-released its films in theaters every few years; today, it rotates its videos like bakery stock. All but one.

Alone among the great Disney features, "Song of the South" has never been released on videotape or DVD in the United States and hasn't been screened in a stateside theater since 1986.

Despite Academy Awards, groundbreaking technology, a black leading man and a script that often turns racial stereotypes on their head, the 1946 movie has been damned as an embarrassing throwback, a whitewash, the racist skeleton in Disney's film vault.

Its critics home in on the dialects that leave the lips of its black stars and cartoon characters - dialects that even the movie's fans allow are over the top - and its aw-shucks, all-smiles depiction of Reconstruction on a Georgia plantation.

Source

And the film actually depicts blacks and whites coexisting HARMONIOUSLY! Can't have that! Southern whites must be evil oppressors and blacks must be suffering victims!