London's Daily Telegraph reports that officials with the European Union will be advised to stop using phrases like "Islamic terrorism" in all official documents in order to avoid unfairly maligning an entire faith.
Phrases such as "terrorists who abusively invoke Islam" are preferable, the EU will insist in a new "non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalisation" to be discussed next month. The Brussels officials want the language to be adopted by government and institutions throughout the union. Proper use of such terms as Islamist, jihad and fundamentalist will also be addressed.
"The basic idea behind it is to avoid the use of improper words that would cause frustration among Muslims and increase the risk of radicalisation," said one EU official.
Trouble for Tiger
Golfer Tiger Woods is under fire from mental health advocates in the UK for improper use of the word "spaz" during a television interview at the Masters tournament in Augusta, reports Reuters.
Commenting on his poor performance one day, Woods told an interviewer: "I putted atrociously today. Once I got on the greens, I was a spaz."
Woods' agent quickly issued an apology, saying, "Tiger meant nothing derogatory to any person or persons and apologizes for any offense caused."
College Life 101
A sorority in Ohio has been put on probation and will be subjected to sensitivity indoctrination after it named one of its white members the "blackest Chi Omega" during a formal dance, according to Channel 5 in Cleveland.
The award, given out by the Kent State University sorority, was meant as a joke and suggested by the recipient's African-American date, according to the sorority.
But a student catering the event, Candace Poole, overheard the presentation and complained to the administration. In addition to probation and sensitivity training, the chapter was ordered to issue an apology saying the group embraces diversity and did not mean to cause offense.
Marketplace of Ideas
A student columnist at Southern Methodist University is being denounced as a hate mongering homophobe for suggesting in an op-ed piece in the student paper, The Daily Campus, that gays are taking the victim hood thing a little too far and might be better off if they just shut up about their sexuality and get on with their lives.
"The local gay community should be mindful that the community in which it lives is comprised of mostly laid back, Republican, Christian, tolerant people, and we do not appreciate you always purposefully ruffling our feathers," wrote Joel Sartain. "We like you, gay community. You have a place here in Dallas, and it our hearts. We appreciate what you contribute to our community. But, please, tone it down a little bit."
The article prompted a two-hour protest march by students on the SMU campus. Some 60 students, their mouths gagged with rope, denounced Sartain's words as hate speech and said such messages of intolerance have no place on campus.
$250 Offense
A new, $250 sneaker being marketed by Adidas is being criticized in Asian American rights circles because an image on it is said to evoke "damaging and long-standing stereotypes," according to the Seattle Times.
The shoe, part of the "Yellow Series," features a character with buckteeth, a bowl haircut and slanted eyes. The character, a creation of San Francisco graffiti artist Barry McGee, who is half Chinese, is said to be a self-portrait of the artist when he was 8 years old. McGee used the image as a graffiti tag in the late 1990s and calls it art.
Dorothy Wong of the Organization of Chinese Americans wants the shoe removed from the market. She says such images define Asians as foreigners and fuel "an anti-immigrant sentiment that has been coming to the fore lately."
Another One Bites the Dust
A writer to the editor of the McAllen Monitor in South Texas says the new name of an Edinburg baseball team, The Coyotes, is offensive to Mexican-Americans and needs to be changed.
Velma H. Schmidt says the name is insulting because it "represents a derogatory term for persons engaged in human trafficking for their own financial gain -- often at the expense of the poor, especially women and children."
The new owners of the team, she says, "should have shown some cultural and geographic sensitivity in choosing a name for a team in this region."
For more doses of politically correct nuttiness, head on over to the TongueTied daily edition.
Mailbag:
Alex H. in Louisiana writes:
Congratulations to Borders Groups for destroying the free press to help soothe the demented feelings of terrorists. And they still say evangelical Christians are the more dangerous group.
Tim W. in Michigan writes:
Perhaps Chad Person should've designed his balloons to resemble the Japanese balloons used to fire bomb the U.S.'s west coast during WW2. Then he could claim that he was simply celebrating the ingenuity of the Japanese, as well as their historical fight against colonialism during the 20th Century.
Jeff P. in New York writes:
Actually, it's no longer the Syracuse "Orangemen"... it was changed, at least in part, because of fear that it would be considered offensive to... I'm not sure to whom, actually. But now they are the Syracuse Orange (which Orange fans like myself are mostly fine with. They were often referred to as "The Orange" anyway). Thus, the signs making fun of the fruit connection. Although of course it's really the color, not the fruit.
Phil B. writes:
I am offended by the term African-American, because it only refers to blacks. This excludes all other races from Africa who have become Americans.
Kathi B. in Arizona writes:
[]he []raditional Values Club flag con[]roversy makes me laugh and also makes me wonder wha[]’s nex[] in line for []he school []o ban because i[] migh[] resemble a cross.
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