The Politically Correct Thread!

[Cydon]

Where everything is politically correct!


Anyone read Politically Correct Bedtime Stories?

Quote from Snow White:

"Please, please don't kill me. I meant no harm by sleeping on your bed. I thought no one would ever notice."

"Ah you see?" Says one of the dwarfs. "Female preoccupations are already surfacing. Shes complaning that we don't make our own beds!!"

"KILL HER! KILL HER!" Yell the dwarfs.

"Please no! I am running from my mother-of-step, the queen!"

"See that? Internecine female vindictiveness!"

(no offense to women out there, I didn't write it)

[James]

Good idea for a thread!!

How about something current - over here in NZ there's been a fair bit of media coverage about the way Christmas has become censored by the PC brigade. It should now be "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", you should be playing "Jingle Bells" instead of "Silent Night". How dumb is that?

In brief, and I've discussed this in other threads before, the politically correct people are just a bunch of interfering, nosey do-gooders who want to have control over what people say.

[Jedi Master Harrison]

Good idea for a thread!!

How about something current - over here in NZ there's been a fair bit of media coverage about the way Christmas has become censored by the PC brigade. It should now be "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", you should be playing "Jingle Bells" instead of "Silent Night". How dumb is that?

In brief, and I've discussed this in other threads before, the politically correct people are just a bunch of interfering, nosey do-gooders who want to have control over what people say.

Couldn't agree more pal. PC is all a load of rubbish.

Re: Snow White, shouldn't that be 'a lady with pale skin like snow' under PC?! :lol:

[Cydon]

LOL!

Are Senator in Washington, Patty Murray, went to the White House and made a speech. Referring to the Christmas Tree as "Holiday Tree" even after being asked to refer to it as the Christmas Tree.

[James]

LOL!

Are Senator in Washington, Patty Murray, went to the White House and made a speech. Referring to the Christmas Tree as "Holiday Tree" even after being asked to refer to it as the Christmas Tree.

What a dork, lmao!!!

[Cydon]

Indeed!!!!!!

[JediKeri]

And here I said Merry Christmas to all out customers at work...and only got a dirty look once....

So :P

[James]

Same here, JK. I always say Merry Christmas, whatever ethnicity, whatever skin colour. One group of people shouldn't get special treatment.

[Cydon]

Too true. Just hope the Muslims don't blow you up.

[James]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=420729&in_page_id=1770

[Emalin]

^ I read the article. What people do these days is just plain ridiculous.

[James]

I know! I stumbled across that a while ago actually and bookmarked it to come back to, it's just so stupid!!!

[Jedi Master Harrison]

That's a brilliant article, just goes to show how mad the world has gone. When PC all kicked off maybe 10 years ago or whatever the first I'd heard of it was when my Mum told me that she could no longer sing Baa baa black sheep with the kids at school as it could be deemed to be racist. Gees, its a flaming nursery rhyme! Children are never racist until they learn about racism from parents/tv/reading books whatever. Which just proves PC is rubish!

[JediKeri]

Too true. Just hope the Muslims don't blow you up.

They're the ones that gave me the look!

[Tovor]

Couldn't agree more pal. PC is all a load of rubbish.

Re: Snow White, shouldn't that be 'a lady with pale skin like snow' under PC?! :lol:
Shouldn't it be Caucasian Chick and the Seven Little People?

[Emalin]

^ No-no-no, that might cause offense to immature fowl. :lol: You have to consider every angle when it comes to PC!

[James]

Chick is degrading, remember? It should be the ethnic European young woman and the Seven People who are Able Bodied in Different Ways.

Calling her a fairy is un-PC, that's become a slang for homosexuality. Saying she had adventures with the seven dwarfs in un-PC, that could imply sexual relationships. Saying that she kept house and made the beds for the dwarfs is un-PC, it casts a woman in her traditional role of domesticity.

When I was little, Snow White was one of my favourite movies. I always put it on when my 5 and 7 year old cousins come to visit, they love to watch it.

Hell, what words aren't PC nowadays?

[Cydon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=420729&in_page_id=1770)

Wow.

[James]

^I know.

[kopernikuz]

The Christian Union at Hull University was told by Student Union officials that it must allow atheists to help run it, otherwise they would be breaking equal opportunities rules.
WTF? How does that make a lick of sense?

[Jedi Master Harrison]

:rofl: is that for real? Athiests helping run the Christian Union? Priceless! Hahahahahahaha!

[Emalin]

That's something I find really, really, REALLY disturbing. :uhhuh:

[James]

Really shocking.

[Justin]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=420729&in_page_id=1770)

Wow.
That's really crappy, because those people are only doing it to be A-holes.

[Cydon]

Say that again. And yes JMH, thats just plain pathetic!!

[James]

I wonder what the Muslims would say if a Christian group decided that they should take a part in organising the next Ramadan.

After all according to the PC brigade, it's only fair, isn't it?

[Emalin]

^ You have a good point, James. Do you ever wonder why it's primarily the Christians who get banged up? You hear all the PC surrounding Christmas all the time, yet I've yet to learn of an incident where an Islamic holiday is so treated.

[James]

Yeah that's one reason why the PC movement is so stupid - they have double standards for everything. And I mean EVERYthing, including men and women, straight and gay people, Christians and non-Christians. Anything and everything, has to be translated into PC language, which colours its true meaning and tries to cushion it with a lot of useless, padded words which have no true meaning.

[Jedi Master Harrison]

Yeah that's one reason why the PC movement is so stupid - they have double standards for everything. And I mean EVERYthing, including men and women, straight and gay people, Christians and non-Christians. Anything and everything, has to be translated into PC language, which colours its true meaning and tries to cushion it with a lot of useless, padded words which have no true meaning.

Agree with the whole double standards thing. Maybe, as an athiest, I should try and help a local Muslim group prepare for Ramadan, I'm sure they'd be pleased to let me get involved! I'm just kidding, in case anyone takes it seriously and gets offended!

[Cydon]

Don't JMH. They may have bombs. :lol:

[Cydon]

Wikipedia on PC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness)

[James]

^Hmm..... so viewing Wikipedia on PC is different to viewing it on any other type of computer, is it? :P

[Cydon]

Ha-ha.

[Cydon]

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20061203-100623-8731r.htm :rofl:

http://webpages.marshall.edu/~hartwel1/humor/misc/politically_correct_handbook.html (http://webpages.marshall.edu/%7Ehartwel1/humor/misc/politically_correct_handbook.html) :rofl:


Reasons Computers Are Not Politically Correct
If you install a second hard drive, it becomes a Slave and your first one gets to be the Master.
Computers use cache (cash), but they no longer use VESA.
Computers defame people. For example, a famous author was made to mean Technology Without An Interesting Name (TWAIN).
Much of your computer is controlled by its own BIOS, it is not unBIOSed.
When using a computer, you may need a syntax even if you haven't sinned.
Computers cause a lot of things within themselves to go corrupt and yet they accuse you of performing an illegal operation.
Computers are often judged by their bus size. New computers have a bigger bus size than the older computers.
Your Floppy disk uses FAT to manage files so it is both FAT and Floppy.

[James]

Hahahaha!!!!!! :lol:
That's pretty good Cydon! good find.

[Cydon]

I know!

[Cydon]

Happy PC Day everyone! :yoda:

[JediKeri]

Happy PC Day everyone! :yoda:


*Gives Cydon the Blizzie Bop* :bop:

[Cydon]

:banghead: Always the side of the head! WTF! Would you people knock me on the front or back instead of the side! :wink:

[Darth Massacrus]

Cyde: I once got yelled at by some PC fascist because I said the word 'human'. Turns out that that word is sexist.

[Cydon]

:rofl: Thats classic! :lol:

[Darth Massacrus]

"classic"?? dont you mean : backwards leaning entity?

[JediKeri]

:banghead: Always the side of the head! WTF! Would you people knock me on the front or back instead of the side! :wink:


You do that pretty good with the wall though. Why would I want to change that?

[Cydon]

What about the back?

[Darth Massacrus]

lets just agree that it is fun to smack Cydon on the head:nahnah: :bye:

[Jedi Master Harrison]

Now that's not very PC, is it? :)

[Darth Massacrus]

who gives a (insert non PC word here)'s a$$??

[Cydon]

Darth, you must learn the ways of the Correctness. I sense much anger in you...

http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/9R37.html

[Cydon]

A history on Political Correctness:

http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/pc.htm

[silverbolt]

I wonder what the Muslims would say if a Christian group decided that they should take a part in organising the next Ramadan.

After all according to the PC brigade, it's only fair, isn't it?

no no no no no you made a classic PC mistake, you see to be white, male, straight and christian means that you cannot be discriminated against, nothing is ever said to you in a negative way, you cannot be a victim of racism or sexism, if you succeed in life its because someone helped you you by keeping someone else down you couldnt possibley have done it by yourself through hard work.

If any of the above does happen your lying or mistaken. All in the interest of PC of course :happydance:

[Cydon]

:rofl: That was good!

[JediKeri]

ROFL! Nice silverbelt! :rofl:

[Sarah-Leia]

Too true. Just hope the Muslims don't blow you up.

I find that SO OFFENSIVE. :mad: How can you make jokes about such things? I have already blown my top once on a subject like this, let's hope it doesn't happen again, but because of the jokes people are making nowadays about Muslims blowing things up because they take offence to what some people say, I believe that Muslims might be more tolerant towards other races and religions than vice versa. After being around devout Muslims for three weeks, and that is a LOT of them as my mother, (yes, she is a Muslim, she's going to blow you up) has a large family, it is simple to see that they are such peaceful people. :giveup: I don't see why some people think that the three major religions of the world are so different. In fact, they are almost identical to each other save the names of various events and people.

Ok, does anyone know who Prophets Musa (a.s.), Nuh (a.s.) and Ibrahim (a.s.) are also known as?

If you guessed Moses, Noah and Abraham, you are correct!

Why can't people just give this matter a rest? This is political correctness, equality for all religions.

Cydon, I'm sure you were joking but I took it hard and I'm sure others might.


I wonder what the Muslims would say if a Christian group decided that they should take a part in organising the next Ramadan.

After all according to the PC brigade, it's only fair, isn't it?

James, Ramadan is not organised. Unlike Christmas, there aren't sales, performances and decorations as with the commercial holiday Christmas has become. Here is a little bit about Ramadan for those who may not know what it is.
The fourth pillar of Islam which is fasting is also called Ramadan (in Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): رمضان, Ramaḍān) – or Ramzan in several countries – and it is the ninth month of the Islamic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar) (Hijri) calendar, established in the year 638 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/638). It is considered the most venerated, blessed and spiritually-beneficial month of the Islamic year. Prayers, fasting, charity, and self-accountability are especially stressed at this time; religious observances associated with Ramadan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan_%28calendar_month%29) are kept throughout the month. God prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the whole month of Ramadan, beginning with the sighting of the new moon.

[James]

Sarah, they must need some organisation to ensure that Ramadan happens, especially in the hardline fundamentalist countries such as Iran, where you're a Muslim whether you want to or not.

I find that SO OFFENSIVE. :mad: How can you make jokes about such things? I have already blown my top once on a subject like this, let's hope it doesn't happen again, but because of the jokes people are making nowadays about Muslims blowing things up because they take offence to what some people say, I believe that Muslims might be more tolerant towards other races and religions than vice versa. After being around devout Muslims for three weeks, and that is a LOT of them as my mother, (yes, she is a Muslim, she's going to blow you up) has a large family, it is simple to see that they are such peaceful people. :giveup: I don't see why some people think that the three major religions of the world are so different. In fact, they are almost identical to each other save the names of various events and people.

Sarah, don't get me wrong, but I think you've spoken rather naively. You're only 13, don't worry, I was naive at that age too. Before we stop making Muslim jokes, remember that Muslims make jokes about Christians too, but that seems to be ignored. I've heard several bad jokes about the sexual relationship Jesus had with his mother Mary. Why is it that Christianity must be forced to play "second fiddle" to Islam? - again it's PC, all about double standards.

[Sarah-Leia]

Sarah, they must need some organisation to ensure that Ramadan happens, especially in the hardline fundamentalist countries such as Iran, where you're a Muslim whether you want to or not.



Sarah, don't get me wrong, but I think you've spoken rather naively. You're only 13, don't worry, I was naive at that age too. Before we stop making Muslim jokes, remember that Muslims make jokes about Christians too, but that seems to be ignored. I've heard several bad jokes about the sexual relationship Jesus had with his mother Mary. Why is it that Christianity must be forced to play "second fiddle" to Islam? - again it's PC, all about double standards.

Okay. . .me = naive = don't kill me!

[Darth Massacrus]

SL: I am surprised at you, both pleasantly and not so much. I do feel the need to commend you for posting with such a knowledgeable fact basis. BTW: isnt Jesus one of the Prophets as well? I'm not certain...
On another note, it is easy to get worked up on a topic that clearly means a lot to you, and you were rather appropriate, so kudos for that. However, keep in mind that this IS a thread made to show the stupidity of political correctness only so try to stay a little more on topic. Other than that, well handled. And yeah, maybe Cyde was a tad innappropriate...

[Cydon]

Me out of US now. Sorry if you found my comment offensive, seeing buses blown up before your own eyes gets to you after a while...

[Darth Massacrus]

Bus? Cyde, that sounds like buses are being forced into servitude and targeted. Shouldnt they be referred to as " multi-person mobility enhancing vehicles"?

[silverbolt]

sarah-liea have you heard some of the racist terms asians and muslims have for white people? Islam is NOT a tolerant religion and niether is christianity the problem with this is that becasue of people screaming about racisim and what not that everyone in this country has to pussy foot around them to the detriment of others. Unfortunately you cannot seem to criticise anything without having racist shoved down your throat

[Cydon]

Read the Koran for what it says. If you like, I can give you a friend of mine 20 minute speech. He is an expert on the Koran.


http://www.raptureready.com/featured/IslamIsNotAPeacefulReligion.html

Anyway, back on topic.

[Darth Massacrus]

this one happenned to me recently: me and some other folks were talking about circus acts (dont ask why) and I heard one try to remember the term for this short persons circus show he was at, and I asked if the word he was looking for was 'midget'. As the guy confirms this, some grossly obese cow of a woman who was apparently listening in on our talk comes up and says to us "excuse me, that is not policically correct. The proper term is 'little people' ". So I respond " well, yeah, compared to YOU, maam, you're right!" and as she leaves in a huff, someone else says "hey Kool-Ade!" (she was wearing a red shirt). We all had a good laugh over this Political Correctness fascist.

[Kommandant Felix]

I really don't care about being politically correct. I live in a free country, where I am free to grossly exaggerate people's traits and call them a :censored: if I want to. Hey, If you don't like it, move to Communist Russia. I personally believe that being politically correct is only for people who are the target of political incorrectness. for example,

this one happenned to me recently: me and some other folks were talking about circus acts (dont ask why) and I heard one try to remember the term for this short persons circus show he was at, and I asked if the word he was looking for was 'midget'. As the guy confirms this, some grossly obese cow of a woman who was apparently listening in on our talk comes up and says to us "excuse me, that is not policically correct. The proper term is 'little people' ". So I respond " well, yeah, compared to YOU, maam, you're right!" and as she leaves in a huff, someone else says "hey Kool-Ade!" (she was wearing a red shirt). We all had a good laugh over this Political Correctness fascist.

I believe that the woman was concerned with political correctness because she was probably the target of many fat jokes and prefers being called, "slightly overweight" to being called "fat". Let's face it, political correctness is just a way for people to dilute the truth. If you are a midget, being called "little people" doesn't change the fact that you are abnormally short, but it does make it okay for you to manage.

This is only my opinion, however.

[Oscar the Grouch]

political correctness is for the "truth challenged". Call a spade a spade.

[Darth Massacrus]

I really don't care about being politically correct. I live in a free country, where I am free to grossly exaggerate people's traits and call them a :censored: if I want to. Hey, If you don't like it, move to Communist Russia. I personally believe that being politically correct is only for people who are the target of political incorrectness. for example,



I believe that the woman was concerned with political correctness because she was probably the target of many fat jokes and prefers being called, "slightly overweight" to being called "fat". Let's face it, political correctness is just a way for people to dilute the truth. If you are a midget, being called "little people" doesn't change the fact that you are abnormally short, but it does make it okay for you to manage.

This is only my opinion, however.


thats a pretty healthy attitude to have, KF! personally, I feel that folks should be tactful, but not overly so, and certainly not very Politically Correct like and mince words. And if someone who thinks otherwhise goes to you about it and is rude or nitpicky, be as tactful as you feel they were, but dont apologize for being yourself and being human. and as a final touch, throw a line or so back at them.

[Justin]

this one happenned to me recently: me and some other folks were talking about circus acts (dont ask why) and I heard one try to remember the term for this short persons circus show he was at, and I asked if the word he was looking for was 'midget'. As the guy confirms this, some grossly obese cow of a woman who was apparently listening in on our talk comes up and says to us "excuse me, that is not policically correct. The proper term is 'little people' ". So I respond " well, yeah, compared to YOU, maam, you're right!" and as she leaves in a huff, someone else says "hey Kool-Ade!" (she was wearing a red shirt). We all had a good laugh over this Political Correctness fascist.
No offense dude, but that was a pretty crappy thing to say to someone.

[Rabid Whiphid]

No offense dude, but that was a pretty crappy thing to say to someone.

Just curious... How would you rate the crappiness of some nosy, self-righteous individual butting into another person's business to correct their word usage in a conversation which had nothing to do with her? And for that matter, in which no members of the would-be offended group she was so worried about protecting were even present?

[James]

Oh no this thread has been revived :D

I hate political correctness with a passion. For all it purports to avoid hurting people's feelings it comes with a covert left-wing agenda.

[Sarah-Leia]

SL: I am surprised at you, both pleasantly and not so much. I do feel the need to commend you for posting with such a knowledgeable fact basis.

Me? Knowledgeable fact basis regarding Islam? Ha! You should meet my family!


There is the small matter of their being Muslim and my being, um, Sith, yes.

Lol...

Once my whole family was sitting around my grandfather's bed and they were all reading prayers out of the Q'uran. Except me, I was just sitting there, looking like and feeling like an idiot. Seriously, even my 4-year-old cousin was reciting a text which to me looks like squiggly lines!!!

Whoops, that's not very PC.

Well, I'll just say that Arabic to me looks unintelligible. :(

Ahh, okay, stay on topic: political correctness. There's a plant called a blackboy that heaps of people say must be renamed.

[Master Cephus]

Just curious... How would you rate the crappiness of some nosy, self-righteous individual butting into another person's business to correct their word usage in a conversation which had nothing to do with her? And for that matter, in which no members of the would-be offended group she was so worried about protecting were even present?

Well, since I don't know Darth Massacrus personally, but I imagine he's a good person (I am assuming you are a he :) ). But to be honest, he had an oppertunity to disagree with the woman and even address her "butting into" the conversation in a very civil way, yet he chose to make fun of her. Now, to be honest, we have all done this before, so I am not judging DM at all. I fall short daily.

There is a difference of being against PC and not being polite and nice to people. You can "call a spade a spade" and not have to take it to the level of being hurtful to someone.

[Krogenar]

Well, since I don't know Darth Massacrus personally, but I imagine he's a good person (I am assuming you are a he :) ). But to be honest, he had an oppertunity to disagree with the woman and even address her "butting into" the conversation in a very civil way, yet he chose to make fun of her. Now, to be honest, we have all done this before, so I am not judging DM at all. I fall short daily.

There is a difference of being against PC and not being polite and nice to people. You can "call a spade a spade" and not have to take it to the level of being hurtful to someone.

I think it's fine to be respectful of others -- to a point. When people start hitting me over the head with their oversensitivity, I have a tendency to overcompensate and simply refer to them as 'crippled dwarf retards'. It might surprise some people, but when I'm not posting here at the GS I am a studiously polite person. But don't use my politeness as some passive aggressive lever you can press.

Also, the whole PC craze aggravates me because it plays havoc with the language, and I love words, I don't like seeing them fall out of favor politically and then being excised from the world.

Here's a story about how political correctness trumps all, even civil-rights:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newcharter19mar19,0,3137816.story?coll=la-home-headlines

March 19, 2007

Administrators at a Los Angeles charter school forbade students from reciting a poem about civil rights icon Emmett Till during a Black History Month program recently, saying his story was unsuitable for an assembly of young children.

Teachers and students said the administration suggested that the Till case — in which the teenager was beaten to death in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman — was not fitting for a program intended to be celebratory, and that Till's actions could be viewed as sexual harassment.


Excuse me for not being politically correct, but that's retarded.

[Darth Massacrus]

Me? Knowledgeable fact basis regarding Islam? Ha! You should meet my family!


There is the small matter of their being Muslim and my being, um, Sith, yes.

Lol...

Once my whole family was sitting around my grandfather's bed and they were all reading prayers out of the Q'uran. Except me, I was just sitting there, looking like and feeling like an idiot. Seriously, even my 4-year-old cousin was reciting a text which to me looks like squiggly lines!!!

Whoops, that's not very PC.

Well, I'll just say that Arabic to me looks unintelligible. :(

Ahh, okay, stay on topic: political correctness. There's a plant called a blackboy that heaps of people say must be renamed.

being ale to read only English and parts of Spanish, I'd have to agree. Dont worry, though, I can read and speak fluently in Sith like any good Darth can! Neat fact on the plant though!

[Darth Massacrus]

Oh no this thread has been revived :D

I hate political correctness with a passion. For all it purports to avoid hurting people's feelings it comes with a covert left-wing agenda.


yep, I done gone revived this here thread!

[Darth Massacrus]

Well, since I don't know Darth Massacrus personally, but I imagine he's a good person (I am assuming you are a he :) ). But to be honest, he had an oppertunity to disagree with the woman and even address her "butting into" the conversation in a very civil way, yet he chose to make fun of her. Now, to be honest, we have all done this before, so I am not judging DM at all. I fall short daily.

There is a difference of being against PC and not being polite and nice to people. You can "call a spade a spade" and not have to take it to the level of being hurtful to someone.


ah, you really ought to meet Darth Massacrus, then! He's fine company! and yeah, call a spade a spade (only literally when talking about tools, though) and actually, I had earlier that day seen a Married w/ Children rerun where Al Bundy had the same thing happen, so chance gave me an opportunity to do the same. Plus, this pudding lump of a person (she had like three chins, seriously) was rather rude to me and my group, and I wasnt the one who said the Kool ade joke.

[Darth Massacrus]

I think it's fine to be respectful of others -- to a point. When people start hitting me over the head with their oversensitivity, I have a tendency to overcompensate and simply refer to them as 'crippled dwarf retards'. It might surprise some people, but when I'm not posting here at the GS I am a studiously polite person. But don't use my politeness as some passive aggressive lever you can press.

Also, the whole PC craze aggravates me because it plays havoc with the language, and I love words, I don't like seeing them fall out of favor politically and then being excised from the world.

Here's a story about how political correctness trumps all, even civil-rights:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-newcharter19mar19,0,3137816.story?coll=la-home-headlines



Excuse me for not being politically correct, but that's retarded.

agree with you, I do. To me, it just seems like more PC garbage from, surprise surprise, California!

[Kommandant Felix]

Well, since I don't know Darth Massacrus personally, but I imagine he's a good person (I am assuming you are a he :) ). But to be honest, he had an oppertunity to disagree with the woman and even address her "butting into" the conversation in a very civil way, yet he chose to make fun of her. Now, to be honest, we have all done this before, so I am not judging DM at all. I fall short daily.

There is a difference of being against PC and not being polite and nice to people. You can "call a spade a spade" and not have to take it to the level of being hurtful to someone.
Yes, you can argue that we should always be nice and polite. But the real question is: Don't we have the right to be rude to others? Last time I checked, free speech is something that most democratic governments grant their constituents. I think we should have the opportunity to tell people what you really think of them. It's not always that I don't like being polite, it's mostly because I don't like telling those little white lies. Oftentimes, many of us put on that fake plastic smile and pretend to be interested when we're really not. I don't believe in leading people on, and I prefer to tell them how it is, even if the truth hurts.

[James]

There's a difference between freedom of speech and outright, blatant insults, Kommandant Felix. Feel free to disagree if you want, but that's my take on it. Here's a good example: I've always been a tad sensitive about my rather chubby cheeks and when I was 12-14 years old I was called "baby-face" at school. How do you think this made me feel? OK, people have the right to think I'm a baby face if they want to, but being called that really got to me after a while.

[Darth Massacrus]

frankly, I just try to be tactful unless the situation warrants otherwhise.



James: I can recall a similar experience, but mine was the opposite, as for a few years my slightly sunken cheeks made me look like Grand Moff Tarkin Junior. Most people couldnt have cared less, but because some folks will always have a certain jerk factor in them, they will be less than polite about things. For those folks, I simply retort with a similar comment, and switch the subject.

[Tovor]

I find political correctness offensive. I have reported this thread to the proper authorities.

[Darth Massacrus]

^heh

A.C.L.U: Annoying, Crazy, Liberal, and Unnecessary


oooops, thaaats not PC......:wink:

[Master Cephus]

Yes, you can argue that we should always be nice and polite. But the real question is: Don't we have the right to be rude to others? Last time I checked, free speech is something that most democratic governments grant their constituents. I think we should have the opportunity to tell people what you really think of them. It's not always that I don't like being polite, it's mostly because I don't like telling those little white lies. Oftentimes, many of us put on that fake plastic smile and pretend to be interested when we're really not. I don't believe in leading people on, and I prefer to tell them how it is, even if the truth hurts.

I am not arguing anything. My point was that there is being PC which I don't agree with, and then there is outright being mean to someone.

Free speech is not the question is. No one is forcing you to be PC or be nice. I really don't care if someone is PC or not. I really don't think I am PC. But the fact is, if I see someone who is a little over weight, even if she was rude to me, I don't go out of my way and yell "Kool Aid!" because I know that I have a million imperfections.

And as far as the truth hurting...it can sometimes. But you can tell someone the truth ("Yes you are a little overweight") and you can be rude ("My gosh, Shamu just called and wants her job back!") and frankly I don't want to talk to anyone who is rude to people.

[Cydon]

Oh no this thread has been revived :D

I hate political correctness with a passion. For all it purports to avoid hurting people's feelings it comes with a covert left-wing agenda.


:happydance::happydance:

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~armiller/sayingp.htm

[James]

Haha they're funny! Good find mate.

[DblDwn]

Don't know if this is the right thread but it applies here so..........I was wanting to talk a bit about the recent Don Imus scandal. Now while I'll admit that what he said was far from PC but, to be fair, was there really anything wrong with it? Of course there was something wrong with it but I mean should he really be punished for saying it? I'm a Howard Stern fan so, by default, I'm anti-Imus but it seems to me that this entire fuss is just another example of the stripping of the First Ammendment. He said nothing profane or inappropriate in the sense of the rules of an open airwave. So why the stink? Because he insulted an ethnic group. Big deal. People get insulted everyday in much worse ways than that. Who cares what some crusty, old, wannabe cowboy, redneck said on the radio/and simulcast on MSNBC? Oh yeah, that waste of a human being who can't stand not being in the limelight Al Sharpton. That's who.

To clarify I'm not a fan of Imus so I'm not defending him as much as I'm defending the First Ammendment and the rights we have as Americans.

[kopernikuz]

I didn't hear about this... what did he say? Can you link the article? I'm not a big fan of Stern OR Imus... but I too stand up for their right to be their own respective versions of asses, lol.

[DblDwn]

I doubt any link would include the quote, typed links at least, but basically they were apparently showing clips of the Rutger's women's team in the NCAA Tournament and Imus called them a bunch of "nappy-headed hos."

I'm not saying that he should get an award but there certainly is nothing wrong with it from a free speech standpoint.

[James]

I remember that argument we had with Sam in the Indecision 2006 thread. I think Sam refused to come back because he ran out of things to say. lol.

[Master Cephus]

s just another example of the stripping of the First AmmendmentI would argue that it's just the opposite. He had the right to say what he said, and the other side has just the right to make a huge fuss. Now if government came to him and arrested him then it would be something to talk about the 1st Amendment. Remember 1st Amendment guarantees that government won't shut you up, not that anyone can complain about what you say. There is always consequences in what you say.

I think he said something stupid, and Al Sharpton was looking for something to do. Totally out of proportion. Isn't Imus a shock jock? Why isn't Sharpton going out of his way to get rappers to quit defaming black people? Is it just because the rappers are black themselves? Was Imus called out because he is white?

Just stupid useless banter.

[DblDwn]

That's a fair point.

[Tovor]

Don't we have more important issues to deal with in this world than this stuff? Boo hoo...he said some dreadful things and hurt some feelings...waaaaaa...

Like I said, there are more important matters going on in the world. Britney Spears shaved her head! Anna Nicole Smith banged so many different men that hordes of them claim to be her baby's daddy! What are we going to do? I'm scared. :giveup:



Imus should have been fired years ago for being monotonous and boring. And funny looking. How's that for being politically correct?

[Tovor]

I dont even know what nappy headed means. I would have thought it meant they were sleepy heads who needed a nap. :sleeping:

[DblDwn]

It's funny because my girl was telling me that this morning on The View they played a clip from an old song by The Commodores (sp?), a highly respected African-American band, where they sang a lyric about "nappy-headed hos." I'm no Imus fan but it speaks volumes when someone like Al Sharpton, a blow hole of a human being, wants to call out a white man for saying the same thing that a black band sang about 30-40 years ago.

I think Al Sharpton needs to be taken off the airwaves and have a muzzle shoved in his mouth so that we can all be spared his anti-White jibber jabber. He wants to call white people racist, he's the biggest bigot out there.

[DblDwn]

Are there any black people that belong to this site? I would love to hear how normal, average, everyday black people feel about this story. Are they offended? Do they even care?

[Sargoth]

Why isn't Sharpton going out of his way to get rappers to quit defaming black people?


Both he and his partner-in-looking-for-something-to-be-offended-by, Jesse Jackson put out a call for black people to stop using the "N" word. There was a bit of noise on this after the "Michael Richards Incident".

Of course, had it been Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock making a joke about "nappy-headed-ho's", there would be no issue.

I think Al Sharpton needs to be taken off the airwaves and have a muzzle shoved in his mouth so that we can all be spared his anti-White jibber jabber.

That will be one of the pleasant side-effects of a Barack Obama presedency. Sharpton will no longer be able to scream "RACIST" around every street corner. ;)

[DblDwn]

To clarify, in case someone gets confused, when I said muzzle I wasn't talking about the end of a pistol. Just a means to shut him up.

The entire racial stigma in America has just gotten way out of hand. Michael Richards screams "N**ger" and the black community freaks out. Mel Gibson screams "K!ke" and the Jewish community, who more or less control Hollywood and are in a large part the very people that Mel's career has made rich, and they scream Anti-Semite. Imus, a hick of a crusty old man in his own right, says "Nappy-Headed Hos" and the Black community, mainly Sharpton and Jackson, freak out and call him a racist. Does anyone ever notice whites freaking out when we are called "white bread" or "honkeys" or "gringos" or whatever? I admit that I am a white male about to turn 30 in a few weeks, and because of that I really haven't encountered a lot of predjudice in my life, but am I just ignorant of this whole thing or are minorities the only ones taking themselves so seriously? It just seems to me that a black man can call a white man a "honkey fothermucker" and it's ok, the white guy doesn't care, but a white guy calls a black person a "nappy-headed ho" and it's breaking news on all the news outlets. I'm not saying that it's like this in all places, I know from stories I've heard that the deep South still has many ties to Klan like prejudice, but why does it seem that the minorities are the only ones making a big deal out of racial intolerance? I'm not saying that it is all the fault of minorities but if they could just take that chip off of their shoulders, and let some things slide without making a federal case out of every little thing, I think that race relations the world over, not just in America, would vastly improve.

That's my 2 pennies anyway.

[Master Cephus]

Most of it is probably a means for people like Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, etc to stay in the media and to them, it keeps them important in their community.

I heard a radio show host talk about this yesterday and he had some great points. He was talking about the evil that was done in this country in the 50's and 60's and the evil people who did these things and the evil people that supported them, such as having segregated bathrooms, making black people stay in the back of the bus, pelting them with high pressure water hoses and attacking them with dogs, all the way to even hanging some of them. How can Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton even try to equate someone being called nappy headed, or even the N-word to what has happened in our dark past?

To me it's shameful.

[Tovor]

This guy makes some good points on this. And he is black, too.

http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html

[Sargoth]

Ok, so Imus gets fired from both his jobs for making disparaging and sexist comments towards African American women. He could always get a job writing lyrics for the next 50-Cent album....

[DblDwn]

Great link Tov. That gentleman hit it spot on from start to finish.

As for Imus getting fired I think it is preposterous that his, what, 30 or 40 year radio career be ended by something this ridiculous and mediocore. I heard on the radio earlier that some people are anticipating him being sued over this. For what? Slander? We should all monitor this situation very closely because if he is sued over this then this could very well be the precedent that throws Freedom of Speech right out the window and opens all of us to litigation should we say anything to anyone.

What a sad state of affairs this is.

[Javen]

His firing really makes no kind of sense. Other than to make an example out of him.

But it is also false allegations. For one there is no way that was hate speech. I mean I guess what he said was a bit overboard, but it certainly wasn't aimed at a whole nation of blacks.

There are people who have said worse and not been fired. Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh. Savage once called Barbara Walters an empty minded **** on radio. But...she was white, so...

[P-Ray]

I don't get this! This is selective media scrutiny, IMO!

First off, not all of the team was African Americans. two were European Americans.

Also, I don't understand how Howard Stern and Rosie ODonnell get away with some of their comments.

I also like the point someone made above that why isn't Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson going after some of these Rappers,etc. using the N word?

[P-Ray]

^And BTW, don't get me wrong. I don't agree with Imus' comment but for one, I don't see how it's Racist. Sexist maybe.

And I just don't see why he is being singled out when comments on that level are being used in other places.

[Javen]

http://twww.tmz.com/2007/04/12/vieira-raps-rev-for-racial-double-standard/

Vieira Raps Rev. for Racial "Double Standard"

Meredith Vieira turned the tables (http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=757622827) on Rev. Al Sharpton this morning, blasting him for not doing enough to stop black rappers from using words like "ho" and "b**ch" in their lyrics while excoriating Don Imus for doing so. Snap!

[Tovor]

I just heard Al Sharpton say, that his friend James Brown had told him once, "How did we go from 'Black and Proud' (title of one of his songs)...to calling ourselves 'ni**ers, ho's, and beyoches'?"

Good question. So Al, why haven't you started there, and done something about your friend's comment, rather than Imus' comment?



Bill Cosby has been addressing this topic for years, btw, as an opponent to what black rappers and comedians have done for years. I'm eager to hear his views on the Imus issue now.

[Master Cephus]

Bill Cosby has been addressing this topic for years, btw, as an opponent to what black rappers and comedians have done for years. I'm eager to hear his views on the Imus issue now.

He probably thought the comment was stupid and continued to eat his pudding pop...

[Darth Massacrus]

frankly, why the hell is Al Sharpton even involved in this issue anyways? To quote Rudy Guiliani, who does he represent????

[Sargoth]

frankly, why the hell is Al Sharpton even involved in this issue anyways?


Umm, because he is Al Sharpton? :nahnah:

[Javen]

I guess we can say that Imus got the heave ho?

I guess Santa can't say 'Ho, Ho, Ho?' Or maybe he shouldn't say 'nappy head ho, ho, ho.'

I'm now confused

[P-Ray]

I guess we can say that Imus got the heave ho?

I guess Santa can't say 'Ho, Ho, Ho?' Or maybe he shouldn't say 'nappy head ho, ho, ho.'

I'm now confused
:rofl: :w00t:

[P-Ray]

http://twww.tmz.com/2007/04/12/vieira-raps-rev-for-racial-double-standard/

Vieira Raps Rev. for Racial "Double Standard"

Meredith Vieira turned the tables (http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=757622827) on Rev. Al Sharpton this morning, blasting him for not doing enough to stop black rappers from using words like "ho" and "b**ch" in their lyrics while excoriating Don Imus for doing so. Snap!
About time! That's actualy good to hear.

[Master Magnus]

http://twww.tmz.com/2007/04/12/vieira-raps-rev-for-racial-double-standard/

Vieira Raps Rev. for Racial "Double Standard"

Meredith Vieira turned the tables (http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=757622827) on Rev. Al Sharpton this morning, blasting him for not doing enough to stop black rappers from using words like "ho" and "b**ch" in their lyrics while excoriating Don Imus for doing so. Snap!
Without commenting on the issue myself (since I'm not an American), I must say that I find lyrics with such vulgar words quite despicable. I'm not into rap music and I realize that most songs doesn't contain words like that, but how did they become accepted in the first place?

[Javen]

Without commenting on the issue myself (since I'm not an American), I must say that I find lyrics with such vulgar words quite despicable. I'm not into rap music and I realize that most songs doesn't contain words like that, but how did they become accepted in the first place?
It all pretty much began with rap groups like Public Enemy and Easy-E. When confronted they cried "Freedom of speech!"

But to me freedom of speech has become something totally taken advantage of. There are good things yo could do with it and people want to do bad things with it.

[Master Magnus]

It all pretty much began with rap groups like Public Enemy and Easy-E. When confronted they cried "Freedom of speech!"

But to me freedom of speech has become something totally taken advantage of. There are good things yo could do with it and people want to do bad things with it.
That it falls under freedom of speech is understandable, I was thinking more in terms of how it's appealing to an audience. Sure, preferences are different, but this kind of vulgarities...

[P-Ray]

Imus isn't the real bad guy

Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.

By JASON WHITLOCK

Columnist - Kansas City Star



Thank you, Don Imus. You've given us (black people) an excuse to avoid our real problem.
You've given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality.
You've given Vivian Stringer and Rutgers the chance to hold a nationally televised recruiting celebration expertly disguised as a news conference to respond to your poor attempt at humor.
Thank you, Don Imus. You extended Black History Month to April, and we can once again wallow in victimhood, protest like it's 1965 and delude ourselves into believing that fixing your hatred is more necessary than eradicating our self-hatred.
The bigots win again.
While we're fixated on a bad joke cracked by an irrelevant, bad shock jock, I'm sure at least one of the marvelous young women on the Rutgers basketball team is somewhere snapping her fingers to the beat of 50 Cent's or Snoop Dogg's or Young Jeezy's latest ode glorifying nappy-headed pimps and hos.
I ain't saying Jesse, Al and Vivian are gold-diggas, but they don't have the heart to mount a legitimate campaign against the real black-folk killas.
It is us. At this time, we are our own worst enemies. We have allowed our youths to buy into a culture (hip hop) that has been perverted, corrupted and overtaken by prison culture. The music, attitude and behavior expressed in this culture is anti-black, anti-education, demeaning, self-destructive, pro-drug dealing and violent.
Rather than confront this heinous enemy from within, we sit back and wait for someone like Imus to have a slip of the tongue and make the mistake of repeating the things we say about ourselves.
It's embarrassing. Dave Chappelle was offered $50 million to make racially insensitive jokes about black and white people on TV. He was hailed as a genius. Black comedians routinely crack jokes about white and black people, and we all laugh out loud.
I'm no Don Imus apologist. He and his tiny companion Mike Lupica blasted me after I fell out with ESPN. Imus is a hack.
But, in my view, he didn't do anything outside the norm for shock jocks and comedians. He also offered an apology. That should've been the end of this whole affair. Instead, it's only the beginning. It's an opportunity for Stringer, Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda$.
I watched the Rutgers news conference and was ashamed.
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for eight minutes in 1963 at the March on Washington. At the time, black people could be lynched and denied fundamental rights with little thought. With the comments of a talk-show host most of her players had never heard of before last week serving as her excuse, Vivian Stringer rambled on for 30 minutes about the amazing season her team had.
Somehow, we're supposed to believe that the comments of a man with virtually no connection to the sports world ruined Rutgers' wonderful season. Had a broadcaster with credibility and a platform in the sports world uttered the words Imus did, I could understand a level of outrage.
But an hourlong press conference over a man who has already apologized, already been suspended and is already insignificant is just plain intellectually dishonest. This is opportunism. This is a distraction.
In the grand scheme, Don Imus is no threat to us in general and no threat to black women in particular. If his words are so powerful and so destructive and must be rebuked so forcefully, then what should we do about the idiot rappers on BET, MTV and every black-owned radio station in the country who use words much more powerful and much more destructive?
I don't listen or watch Imus' show regularly. Has he at any point glorified selling crack cocaine to black women? Has he celebrated black men shooting each other randomly? Has he suggested in any way that it's cool to be a baby-daddy rather than a husband and a parent? Does he tell his listeners that they're suckers for pursuing education and that they're selling out their race if they do?
When Imus does any of that, call me and I'll get upset. Until then, he is what he is — a washed-up shock jock who is very easy to ignore when you're not looking to be made a victim.
No. We all know where the real battleground is. We know that the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show. There's no money and lots of danger in that battle, so Jesse and Al are going to sit it out.

[stormtrooper9]

Let's see aside form the Imus thing which Al and Jesse are getting more attention from... the Duke players were found innocent, about the same time as this Imus thing, it seems a bit of "good timing" for Al and Jesse other wise they may of been forced by the public to play there own game with the Duke players.

[Javen]

That it falls under freedom of speech is understandable, I was thinking more in terms of how it's appealing to an audience. Sure, preferences are different, but this kind of vulgarities...
I don't have an answer. I wish I did. Cause it sure doesn't appeal to me and I don't get why it is accepted or appeals to anyone at all.

[Sargoth]

I'm not into rap music and I realize that most songs doesn't contain words like that, but how did they become accepted in the first place?

It probably started here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Live_Crew#As_Nasty_As_They_Wanna_Be).

[Tovor]

Man, people buggin' out because the poor girls got their feelings hurt due to stereotypes. Don't people know, black people are bulletproof?

Kid takes a bullet in the back, and don't even know it.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/338226,CST-NWS-delasalle12.article

[DblDwn]

I'm trying to figure out why Sharpton never unleashed the full power of his blow hole on the media because a white boy is the most successful rapper of all time.

[Master Cephus]

Imus isn't the real bad guy

Instead of wasting time on irrelevant shock jock, black leaders need to be fighting a growing gangster culture.

By JASON WHITLOCK

Columnist - Kansas City Star

This guy has some really good points. I did a search for rap stations around where I live and the last song played was 50 Cent's song "In Da Hood" here are some lyrics:

N****a heard I **** with Dre, now they wanna show me love
When you sell like Eminem, and the hoes they wanna ****

But homie ain't nothing change ho's down, G's up
I see Xzibit in the Cutt that n****a roll that weed up

I don't know what is beeped out on the air, but that's not the point. The point is that they even play the song. It's degrading to everyone because it glorifies a culture of just evil to children.

Then you have the likes of Snoop Dogg, who say what they say and Imus are different:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1556803/20070410/id_0.jhtml

"It's a completely different scenario," said Snoop, barking over the phone from a hotel room in L.A. "[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC [which announced Wednesday it would drop its simulcast of Imus' radio show] going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them mutha----as say we in the same league as him."

In the end, nothing will happen. It's sad. There is a huge battle that is brewing, but I wonder who is willing to fight? Honestly the likes of Bill Cosby, even at his age seem to be ready to take up the battle, but it's going to take a mainstream person who is not in it for money or publicity to stand up and say enough.

[DblDwn]

I'm the wrong person to discuss this aspect of the conversation because, while I don't feel that Imus did anything wrong, I also grew up listening to rap music. Being a basketball player was probably the main reason. But I grew up loving 2Pac, Snoop, Dre, Cube, Eazy, Wu-Tang, Biggie, Cyrpus Hill, etc and still listen to the old stuff from time to time. And I am a big fan of Eminem's today. That said it should also be noted that I, even when a teen, was more than capable of disassociating fantasy (the music) from reality (real life) and didn't let one influence the other. Just because I listened to Eazy rap about killing people and beating up women doesn't mean that I ever had an inclination to do so myself. Just because I listened to Snoop say the N word over and over doesn't mean that I felt the need to make it a part of my everyday vocabulary.

When we cut through all the media hype and all the red tape all we are left with are words. Plain and simple. Do words really, really hurt anyone that much? If so then I think my get rich quick idea of the day is to patent thicker skin for human beings.

[Krogenar]

Imus, Imus, Imus.

Why would this guy (who I never really thought was all that great a radio host) invite Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to be his on-air judges? Al Sharpton, the hero of the Tawana Brawley Case, in which several white men were falsely accused of gang-raping Ms. Brawley, looks like a makeup-less clown and shouldn't be considered a 'black leader' by anyone.

And yet Democratic presidential candidates make the long trek to Harlem to kiss Sharpton's ring. He's a race-baiting clown.

Jesse Jackson, on the other hand, admitted to spitting in white people's food while employed as a waiter. He's still considered a 'black leader'. Oh, and he referred to NYC as 'hymietown' -- even a dash of anti-semitism isn't enough to end his status as a 'black leader'.

Imus was a fool to involve those two in the situation. What Imus said was insulting and rotten, and he should pay for it (I think he has) -- but it's all too sad. When someone who's white crosses the 'racist line' he (or she) must be crucified. And yet these same 'black leaders' have done nothing about the cultural content of gangsta rap.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6368690&nav=menu36_3



ORANGEBURG, SC (WIS) - If people found radio host Don Imus' comments about the Rutger's women's basketball team offensive, why are people at South Carolina State University lining up to hear similar words from rap artists?
In one song from a performer at Friday's concert, the n-word is used more than 100 times.
It's images and sounds like those that have Reverend Deforest B. Soaries on a mission to stamp it out. "We have been aware of the recurring theme that can best be described as a double standard. We have been frustrated for years that the culture has produced language that has degraded women and there are certain segments of the culture that seem to do it more than others."
The Reverend Al Sharpton, talking about Imus and other entertainers, says it's time to show the media and the public that it is not necessary to be misogynist and racist to be creative or to be commercial in this country.
WIS asked students at on campus about the concert and the lyrics. One student, Kendra Johnson, says, "The radio host was out of line when he said it. Some rap artists may be out of line, but they don't mean no harm."



What Imus did was not systemic or endemic. It was a mistake. What black people like Fifty Cent and do amounts to a deliberate cultural poisoning. If black people can refer to themselves as 'n---ers and 'hos' and 'b!tches' then why can't other people? And don't give me any crap about 'owning' the word. That's nonsense.

And I was disgusted by the reactions of the Rutgers women. Grow a pair (metaphorically, at least) why don't they? They were quoted as saying things like, "My life is ruined." and "The entire season doesn't matter anymore." Wow. One guy insults you and your whole world is shattered? That's pretty sad. Who knew black women were that delicate? I had this impression that they were tough, that they could maybe laugh off a lame insult from a wrinkled cowboy hippie? My mistake!

[Jedi Master Harrison]

I'm the wrong person to discuss this aspect of the conversation because, while I don't feel that Imus did anything wrong, I also grew up listening to rap music. Being a basketball player was probably the main reason. But I grew up loving 2Pac, Snoop, Dre, Cube, Eazy, Wu-Tang, Biggie, Cyrpus Hill, etc and still listen to the old stuff from time to time. And I am a big fan of Eminem's today. That said it should also be noted that I, even when a teen, was more than capable of disassociating fantasy (the music) from reality (real life) and didn't let one influence the other. Just because I listened to Eazy rap about killing people and beating up women doesn't mean that I ever had an inclination to do so myself. Just because I listened to Snoop say the N word over and over doesn't mean that I felt the need to make it a part of my everyday vocabulary.

When we cut through all the media hype and all the red tape all we are left with are words. Plain and simple. Do words really, really hurt anyone that much? If so then I think my get rich quick idea of the day is to patent thicker skin for human beings.

I also used to listen to a lot of rap and still do from time to time. The reason being that simply I find some of the tracks pleasing on the ears, I find the lyrics either amusing or to mean something. Having said that, there is, of course, a lot of crap out there as well.

To take up on DblDwns point, there is no word that offends me and I also can't believe that people cannot separate this kind of music with reality, I certainly never had a problem.

Having said that, I think now that rap has become more mainstream that songs need to be re-vamped without swearing, if they are to go on general sale. Either that or simply sold to over-16s say, as young people should not be encouraged to use this language. As adults we know it's not cool, as teenagers things are different.

[Cydon]

He invited Sharpton and Jackson? :rofl:

[Darth Massacrus]

people, in general, are not comfortable with admitting when they are wrong, or having others say things they disagree with. It is why such things as Political Correctness exist in the first place. And it is also why the average American will readily 'sympathize' with folks like those Imus 'insulted', because they stand to look good from being Politically Correct, rather than being accurate, reasonable, and honest with themselves and saying "hey, a shock jock said something offensive to someone???? Wow, its like that never ever happenned before, and that the career of whoever said these evil evil things needs to be ruined, and then be held accountable to faultless, good, upstanding folks like Al Sharpton". To me, it is sickening that something like this even ever became news, and it shows just how small-minded and petty some folks can be.















Please excuse the above rant if you find it 'Politically Incorrect'. It was honest, and needed to be said. However, if you liked it, please let me know!

[Sargoth]

When we cut through all the media hype and all the red tape all we are left with are words. Plain and simple. Do words really, really hurt anyone that much? If so then I think my get rich quick idea of the day is to patent thicker skin for human beings.


Being a white kid from the 'burbs. It probably isn't a problem at all. But keep in mind that in "gansta'" rap's heyday, there was a nationwide epidemic of black-on-black violence - mostly gang related - in the inner cities. On one hand, the music "told the story" of the problems that urban youth had growing up in the 'hood. But on the other hand, it helped to glorify and legitimize the 'thug lifestyle. In the early 90's, you could blame it on the greedy white record producers who capitalized on this. More recently, it is black producers (many of whom grew up in this type of environment) that continue the trend.

And I find Snoop's comments entirely without merit. He may claim to be bringing to light the troubles of oppressed young black men, but he dresses it up with visuals of rolls of 'benjamins', tons of 'bling' and no shortage of 'hos' shaking their barely covered badonkadonks. I guess it's true: "Pimpin' ain't easy".

[P-Ray]

Sunday, April 15, 2007 4:54 p.m. EDT

Imus: I Can Make Comeback


For the first time in three decades, radio host Don Imus is without a show. He is optimistic -- perhaps overly so, given the commercial pressures that brought him down -- about the future. In an e-mail to Newsweek, Imus said, "I could go to work tomorrow. Bigger deal. More money. TV simulcast ... I've got a summer of kids to cowboy with and then we'll see."
He knows what he said was wrong, and that there is much to do. Asked whether his recovery from addiction had given him the strength to cope with the current crisis, he sounded like, well, Imus: "I'm a good and decent person who made a mistake in the context of comedy," he wrote in the e-mail. "My strength comes from not being full of sh-- and a coward."

Imus's comments are part of the April 23 Newsweek cover package, "Power, Race and Media" (on newsstands Monday, April 16) that examines the Imus episode of his use of a racist slur during his broadcast, the fallout and his firing. The package includes a report on the Rutgers women's basketball team and the meeting they held with Imus, and an essay by Contributing Editor Ellis Cose on what lessons the country has learned from the episode.
Imus's wife, Deirdre, tells Newsweek that her husband will be back. "When he's in front of a microphone again, it will be about how to heal the issue of divisiveness and race. That is what's in his heart. No one else will conduct this conversation. No one else would talk about autism and Walter Reed."
Young black journalists were among the first to demand that Imus be ousted. Thursday evening, one day after Imus's comments, Jemele Hill, an ESPN reporter, posted the Media Matters link on the National Association of Black Journalists' e-mail list. Greg Lee, a Boston Globe reporter, spotted it right away. "I couldn't believe Imus would pick on people he had no right to pick on," he tells Newsweek. Lee forwarded the story to other online forums. In a matter of hours, black journalists in newsrooms across the country were clicking on it, and getting angry. The next day, the NABJ demanded an apology from Imus, then called for him to be fired.
Newsweek reports that after the networks suspended Imus, inside NBC, rank and file employees and reporters were growing impatient with what they considered foot-dragging. NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker heard from a subordinate about the growing uproar in NBC News, especially among black journalists, and knew immediately it was "obviously a huge problem and completely unacceptable," according to two people familiar with his thinking who did not want to be named discussing their boss. But the higher-ups still didn't understand just how big a problem they had, until complaints started rolling in from employees all over the company, USA Network and Telemundo, the film group in Hollywood, and NBC-owned-and-operated local stations around the country.
NBC News president Steve Capus called for an extraordinary meeting of African-American employees on Tuesday, April 10. According to people who attended the meeting, but didn't want to be named discussing internal matters, weatherman Al Roker told Capus, "That could have been my daughter Imus was joking about." Others piled on. "I'm telling you, Capus got lobbied hard, really hard, and he really took it to heart," says an NBC News senior producer. "We went out and created diversity in our newsrooms and we empowered employees to say what they think. And they're telling us. It's good for us and it's good for the country."
Also in the cover package, Assistant Editor Raina Kelley, National Sports Correspondent Mark Starr and Washington Correspondent Eve Conant report on Imus's meeting with the Rutgers University women's basketball team. Coach C. Vivian Stringer told Imus last Thursday that he had robbed her players of their triumphant moment. "I told Mr. Imus, 'I can't believe I even have to say the word 'ho'," Stringer tells Newsweek.
During the meeting at the New Jersey governor's mansion, Imus seemed genuinely apologetic, asking for forgiveness and telling the players and their relatives -- about two dozen participants in all -- that making fun of people was just what he did. He insisted that he didn't mean to hurt anyone, according to someone who attended the meeting (but did not want to speak on the record because she was not authorized to disclose details).
"We want to know the truth here, we want to know everything you are feeling," Imus said to the team, Deirdre Imus tells Newsweek.
The Knights never called for the radio host's dismissal. They wanted both the world and Don Imus to know that they did not consider themselves helpless victims.
For team captain Essence Carson, Imus's remark was more sexist than racist. "It was an attack on women first," Carson tells Newsweek. "He just made it race specific." Initially, the Knights wanted to ignore Imus and absorb their pain as a team, says Carson, but after a little discussion, the women decided they "had to take a stand." Stringer's example was key, she says; "Coach has been through everything you can think of, [so] we know we have the strength to bear anything."

[Tovor]

I'm Jewish. I've had my share of being called, and hearing other Jews called, kike, hustler, cheap, and all sorts of vulger phrases. I've been accused right to my face by rude customers of trying to "Jew them" when I worked retail, because they didn't like the corporate (non-Jew, btw) established prices. It never bothered me. When Mel Gibson went on his drunken anti-Jew tirade, it didn't bother me. I'll still see his films. As a teen growing up being totally Motley Crue obsessed, absolutely loving their music and lyrics, it bothered me when I found out Nikki Sixx was a Nazi, when photos were published of him giving Nazi salutes, and quotes of him making anti-Jew comments, of him describing his WWII Nazi collections, and of quotes regarding Hitler...it bothered me a bit, but I still listened to their music and saw their concerts. Nikki Sixx was my freaking hero, I loved his lyrics, I loved his music, and he spewed anti-Jew remarks. On a personal level I thought he was an a$$hole, but I still loved and devoured his music, because that's what was important to me, not his personal bias.

Point being...if my point even makes sense the random way I've stated it...the basketgirls have forgiven Imus; their coach forgave him, and he should not have been fired for his words regardless. No, that wasn't my point. Sorry, it's been a long day. My point is, his words were not hateful and IMO not harmful. If I can watch Gibson's (and as I'm sure, several other Jews as well) films, and listen to Nazi Nikki's music (as can countless other Jewish Crue fans), than America can get over Imus' comments.

[DblDwn]

Great post Tov.

[Tovor]

Thanks DD. Though I should not have stated my message the way I did, because I already got an email from Big Brother Sharpton about a racist, stereotypical remark I made in my post, with threats to boycott my future posts. Apparently, it was insensitive and disrespectful, as well as chauvenistic, to refer to female basketball players as "basketgirls". :giveup:


Why me? I'm just a simple guy trying to make his way in the universe. If you're going to harrass anyone for hateful comments, go after Green Giant for their insensitve and demeaning manner in which they've advertised to black women for the last several decades.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc2vUkbQgnw&NR=1

[P-Ray]

the basketgirls have forgiven Imus; their coach forgave him, and he should not have been fired for his words regardless. No, that wasn't my point. Sorry, it's been a long day. My point is, his words were not hateful and IMO not harmful. If I can watch Gibson's (and as I'm sure, several other Jews as well) films, and listen to Nazi Nikki's music (as can countless other Jewish Crue fans), than America can get over Imus' comments.
Good point and I still don't see Imus comments as racist. They weren't all directed at African American females. However, they were all females so I feel the comment was more sexist.

And BTW, I didn't know Nikki Sixx was a Nazi.

[Momin327]

I realize what I'm going to say about the Don Imus incident is at least a week too late, but I have to get it off my chest. Please keep in mind that what I'm about to say will be very disjointed.

Don Imus's comment about Rutgers's Women's basketball being "nappy-headed hos". Was it insulting? Most definitely. Was it racist? NO. There was NO connotation of race whatsoever. Don Imus didn't call them "nappy-headed n-words". I'm not saying that makes it any better. I am saying it's not what you think.

I think this whole thing with Don Imus was a lot like the Muhammad cartoon controversy from over a year ago. We had a guy making a "humorous" statement about a group of people which he knew, or should have known, was very insulting, and it gets blown out of proportion with death threats, riots, etc. What the hurt groups should have done was say something like "what you said and did was both insulting and hurtful, and we'd like for you to apologize", and that would have been the end of it.

But no. It's never that simple. In come some idiot religious leaders who get the hurt parties all riled up. If Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton went after hip-hop artists with the same diligence they went after Imus, I might take them more seriously. But they won't. You don't wanna bite the hand that feeds you, do you?

Yes, what Imus said was really insulting, but what part of the term "shock jock" do you not get? Shock jocks make their living saying things that will get at least one person p*ssed off. It's not something out of the blue with the likes of Mr. Don Imus. I think Imus's punishment was too harsh.

[Master Cephus]

I found this article:

http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/11370

Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, of The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, also issued statements. Their focus, however was on the connection Imus has made between his own controversial remarks and the language used in hip-hop music.
"Hip-Hop is a worldwide cultural phenomena that transcends race and doesn't engage in racial slurs. Don Imus' racially-motivated diatribe toward the Rutgers' women's basketball team was in no way connected to hip-hop culture. As Chairman and President of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), respectively, we are concerned by the false comparisons some in the media are making between Don Imus and hip-hop. We want to clarify what we feel very strongly is an obvious difference between the two.


:giveup: Please explain that to me.

[Sargoth]

^ Keep in mind, this is the same Russell Simmons who created and produced HBO's Def Comedy Jam; whose comics made consitent and gratuitous use of the "N" word.

[Krogenar]

There's a 'Hip-Hop Summit Action Network'?

I can see it now: Flavor-Flav, Puff Daddy, 50 Cent and Ludacris at a round table, talking about how to save Darfur.

Tsk, cracka please!


If Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton went after hip-hop artists with the same diligence they went after Imus, I might take them more seriously. But they won't. You don't wanna bite the hand that feeds you, do you?


Maybe they just don't want to get shot?

[Sargoth]

And BTW, I didn't know Nikki Sixx was a Nazi.


He's not. He collected (and sometimes wore) nazi memorobilia, and probably said many stupid things earlier on in his career (put a microphone in any cocaine-and-heroine-and-alcohol-addled rock star's face for long enough, and I'm sure you'll hear just about everything imaginable). But he has since admitted that it was a dumb and insensitive thing to do.

[nefertiti]

Initially, I was surprised. Imus has been cautioned in the past about his oft time corrosive remarks…that more often than not go over the line of Politically Correct and float in that grey area where you may feel uncomfortable, but are not really going to give his remarks credence.

He’s generally a biting, astute commentator (I maybe giving him a promotion, but….) who takes difficult subject matter and just talks about it. Then rants about it. Then raves. Most of the time his views are very popular…but whether that is because of the fussy he’s made about the issue or the point…well, I can’t tell.

I would call him reckless on that Wednesday night. Why? What was he thinking? Or was he? I don’t know. Whether or not you compare his remarks to “popular” culture is not a good enough reason for his miss-deed, but an excuse. If we protest popular music styles because of the language it contains, then like Imus…they need to be shown that we – as a society – won’t pay for it. It’s always about money.

He was wrong to make those remarks, but they went way overboard with their punishment. Will Imus be back…yep, I think so.

[RollaFett]

They didn't go overboard with the punishment. Tey did what the marketplace demanded they do. Once the corporate sponsers started dropping out, his dismissal was inevitable.
As for Imus's remarks and their relation to hip hop lyrics, well, I can't possibly state it any better than Jason Whitlock.
http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html

[Oscar the Grouch]

That is the best thing I've read all week. Amen, Jason Whitlock.

[nefertiti]

And thats cool...it's just my opinion.

[Tovor]

He's not. He collected (and sometimes wore) nazi memorobilia, and probably said many stupid things earlier on in his career (put a microphone in any cocaine-and-heroine-and-alcohol-addled rock star's face for long enough, and I'm sure you'll hear just about everything imaginable). But he has since admitted that it was a dumb and insensitive thing to do.
He said once, and I have to paraphrase because I don't recall it verbatum, "It was cool what Hitler tried to do...too bad he had to turn into an a$$hole."

I had to wonder when I read that quote, did he mean that Hitler was cool trying to conquer Europe, but he became an AH when he killed all those Jews...or did he mean that Hitler was cool killing all those Jews, but he became an AH when he tried to conquer Europe?

When Motley Crue released Decade of Decadence in 1991, they released it in two different album cover versions for fans to choose from. One one version, there was a photo of Sixx standing at attention and giving the Nazi salute, similar to a pic I'd seen of him years before doing the same thing. The president or CEO of Elektra, which had the Crue's record deal, was upset over it and if I remember right, that version of the album cover was recalled over it. Sixx trashed the guy in magazine interviews, indicating that it figures the guy made noise, because he's a Jew. Now, that comment alone does not a Nazi make (I hardly think Mel Gibson is a Nazi and he said worse), but along with everything else, made me feel the way I did about his feelings towards certain others. Ironically, Sixx had penned for "Fight For Your Rights" on the Theater of Pain album, the lyrics:
"Martin Luther
Brought the truth
The color of our blood's the same

"So break the chains
And solve the pains
And we all become one race..."

I asked a question I could not answer without his input, "Does that include or preclude Jews?"

[kopernikuz]

Imus didn't say anything all that offensive really... offensive to those players yes... against African Americans in general? Of course not... He did not offend a race, he offended some basketball players. Yes, the comments were related to their race, but he was not insulting the race. Racially hateful... no. Insensitive and boorish... absolutely. Apologetic... plenty. Should have been over at that point... no doubt.

But... just as I'll fight for Imus's right to say what he wants about whoever in however he wants to... like Mencia, Chappelle, or whoever else wants to say what they want about whoever, however, whatever... I will also back a company's decision to no longer do business with someone who does so. That too is their right.

Do I think they should've fired Imus? Hell no. Ridiculous. Do I think they should have had the right to? Of course... because ultimately they are businesses... and when something (even something as lame as this) affects the bottom-line... you do what you need to. It's just a shame they had to cow-tow to the OH-ffended instead of just saying what should be said:

"Yeah, Imus was a jerk. But he apologized. Move on."

[Master Cephus]

I think it's a little more though.

Let me ask this question: Did market give way to his firing, or was the market abused to see ends of a political agenda?

The way it looks to me is that the market initially was ready to just get over it, but because of a select few pushing their agenda on the market, it was pressured.

To me, it's more manipulation of the market rather than "the market allowed Imus to get fired."

[nefertiti]

Know what? I’m a simple person...no not simple in the head, but simple meaning I pull away all the crap surrounding an event and look at the facts. All the media hype and false bravado don’t do diddly for me. Give me the facts and I’ll work the case for you.

By Thursday morning, Imus was the dirtiest dog in town…hell, in the States. He screwed up. Yes. Big time. Sure. For a public figure, you betcha. He got comfortable in his position as radio jock who puts down everyone. He’s been cautioned several times. His act has been good for quite awhile. But…metaphorically, he fell off the wagon and in an “Aw Sh*t” kinda way he muddied his own kitty litter box. Rightfully so, apologies were given, a tentative sanction was laid out and me? Well, I would have given him a fine. A big one.

People are faulty. Everyday we do and say things that are inappropriate. The recipients of those “zingers” are the ones to determine whether or not the “punishments” are acceptable. It is their decision to forgive and forget…or just to forgive but not forget.

The girls of the basketball team did the right thing by showing Imus and the public just how much of a “Lady” they were. They accept his apology. Gave him a little what for and moved on. Unfortunately, their tolerance was not catching. Suddenly, due to prodding behind the scenes and (let’s be honest) sponsors who saw a chance to get more media time – jumped on the meal train all in the cause of “righteous indignation.” Always sounds good, but no one ever wins on that ticket.

Imus lost his job, sponsors got good press, the fighters of free speech have another banner going and the company Imus worked for realized that no matter what they stand for, they are also not impervious to “talk.”

What he said was inappropriate. What happened was blown out of proportion.

[Darth Massacrus]

I am more in favor of common courtesy and tact than use of Political Correctness. Which is why I post this in good humor:



We all know how literally impossible it is to not offend SOMEONE these days, everyone is just SO TOUCHY... So this guide will help you on how to speak about the opposite sex in a POLITICALLY CORRECT way...
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT

She is not a BABE or a CHICK; she is a BREASTED AMERICAN.

She is not a SCREAMER or MOANER; she is VOCALLY APPRECIATIVE.

She is not EASY; she is HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE.

She is not DUMB; she is a DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY.

She has not BEEN AROUND; she is a PREVIOUSLY ENJOYED COMPANION.

She is not an AIR HEAD; she is REALITY IMPAIRED.

She does not get DRUNK or TIPSY; she gets CHEMICALLY INCONVENIENCED.

She is not HORNY; she is SEXUALLY FOCUSED.

She does not have BREAST IMPLANTS; she is MEDICALLY ENHANCED.

She does not NAG YOU; she becomes ORALLY REPETITIVE.

She is not a ****; she is SEXUALLY EXTROVERTED.

She is not a TWO BIT *****; she is a LOW COST PROVIDER.


HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT

He does not have a BEER GUT; he has developed a LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE
FACILITY.

He is not a BAD DANCER; he is OVERLY CAUCASIAN.

He does not GET LOST ALL THE TIME; he INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE
DESTINATIONS.

He is not BALDING; he is in FOLLICLE REGRESSION.

He is not a CRADLE ROBBER; he prefers GENERATIONAL DIFFERENTIAL
RELATIONSHIPS.

He does not get FALLING-DOWN DRUNK; he becomes ACCIDENTALLY HORIZONTAL.

He does not act like a TOTAL ASS; he develops a case of RECTAL-CRANIAL
INVERSION.

He is not a MALE CHAUVINIST PIG; he has SWINE EMPATHY.

He is not afraid of COMMITMENT; he is MONOGAMOUSLY CHALLENGED.
He is not QUIET; he is a CONVERSATIONAL MINIMALIST.
He is not STUPID; he suffers from MINIMAL CRANIAL DEVELOPMENT.
He is not SHORT; he is ANATOMICALLY COMPACT.
He does not CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT CARS; he has a VEHICULAR ADDICTION.
He is not UNSOPHISTICATED; he is SOCIALLY MALFORMED.
He does not EAT LIKE A PIG; he suffers from REVERSE BULIMIA.
He does not HOG THE BLANKETS; he is THERMALLY UNAPPRECIATIVE.
He doesn't have a DIRTY MIND; he has INTROSPECTIVE PORNOGRAPHIC MOMENTS.

[Tovor]

Would it be politically incorrect to call Moslem women drying their hair after coming out of the shower, towel heads?



BTW, great list, Darth Mass.

[nefertiti]

Would it be politically incorrect to call Moslem women drying their hair after coming out of the shower, towel heads?



BTW, great list, Darth Mass.

Yes... Exhibit those wonderful qualities you have by playing nice...:wink:

[Darth Massacrus]

ah, good to see y'all liked the list!

Getting back to Political Correctness though, I think its unnecessary.

[nefertiti]

DM...sure it is. It's all really just good manners, isn't it? Being cautious of others feelings. *Nef off in LaLa Land* Maybe if we gave that way of thinking one day...things will work out.

[Darth Massacrus]

^I couldnt aggree more Nef! But in the meantime, I must aalways remind myself that adherents of the politically correct thought train will give my views less credence than those of a gay,feminist,athiest,leftist,liberal,dwarven,mixed-race,trannsexual over the views of a strait,white, male, christian,conservative such as myself. Or so it seems.:innocent:

reminds me of the time a mixed race,liberal,athiest lesbian told me when I was wearing an 'I voted' badge after the 2006 elections that by merely voting, I was not being politically correct, as my vote cancelled out that of someone who was more politically correct than I. That angered me, as this person had just come right up to me and said that. Oh well.

[Darth Massacrus]

Regulation-mad Britain

Even Mussolini was more permissive than this

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/_images/db/49/86/pig.498676.full.jpg

A baker has been forced to rename her novelty pig tarts - because they don't contain any pork. Val Temple, who runs Sgt Bun Bakery, Weymouth, says officers from Dorset's trading standards department also told her she must swap the name of robin tarts as they are not made from robins. And she claims she was instructed to rename her paradise slice because ... it's not from paradise.

Mrs Temple has made the novelty cakes in the shape of pigs and robins as a treat for her customers for years. She said: "It's a joke. "The officers came in and said they had had a complaint [From a Muslim?] and I must change the names because they didn't contain pork, robin or paradise. "It's an insult to the public. Of course they don't contain pig, robin or paradise.

"The trading standards officers have been coming into this shop for 26 years and now the name has been picked up. "It's absolutely ridiculous. Are they going to start banning Christmas cake because it doesn't have Jesus in it? "You could apply it to everything. It's so silly. "And as for the paradise slice, that recipe is 120 years old and it's always been known as Paradise Slice. "They said they were going to come back in and check, so I've changed the names now. "But people are still coming in and calling them by their proper names." Mrs Temple said she had swapped the name of her animal-inspired tarts to novelty tarts with jam and fondant and the paradise slice to almond, fruit and nut slice.

Ivan Hancock, the county's trading standards manager, said: "The fact is that piece of food needs to be properly described so that the consumer can tell what it is. "There's nothing wrong with using other names but it must be accompanied by the true name of the food. "Consumers have the right to know what is in food."

But Mrs Temple, who runs the bakers with her husband Ian, denied she was told this. She said: "The way they came in and said the names had to be changed didn't give me the impression you could keep the names. "I'm sure other places haven't been told they should list all the ingredients. It's ridiculous having a long list of ingredients - of course customers are not going to think I put robin and pork in a cake."

Source (http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/local/display.var.1362517.0.pig_sick.php)

[Jedi Master Harrison]

^ And that, my friends, is why anyone who claims that we should be politically correct, IMO, can go shove a cake in their.......cakehole. :wink:

[Cydon]

:lol:

[Darth Massacrus]

exactly, JMH. Exactly.

[Darth Massacrus]

more:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=396069&in_page_id=1770 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=396069&in_page_id=1770)

[Jedi Master Harrison]

^ Makes me embarrassed to be English. Who the hell thinks of these things? Whoever it is needs a :bop: to knock some sense into them.

[Tovor]

I agree with changing the names of the foods. The names should be confused, it's too confusing. I also think they should change the names of Devils Food Cakes, horseradish, angel hair pasta, spongecake, Rueben and Rachel sandwiches, Mars bars, Payday bars, Circus Peanuts, Moon pies, Little Debby snack cakes (because you and I know that they are not really manufactured out of little girls named Debbie), coffee cakes...and the list could go on and on.

[Tovor]

Oh, on a serious level, I posted a free advert in the Pennysaver online and print newspaper for a roommate (yeah, I still haven't gotten one, it's pitiful) last night, and this morning I got a call from a lady in the advert department. She apologized and told me that they had to change certain words and phrases that were not poilitically correct as per HUD rules (Housing and Urban Developement), and she needed my permission to change them to her suggestions. I was a little rushed because I had so much to do before going to work, but I played along and found myself amused by her reasoning.

First of all, some roommate and classified ad sites have a rule that you cannot specify that you want only a roommate of a certain color or religion, or sexual orientation. I understand that these sites are looking to avoid the hassles of racial accusations, but I still think it goes too far when a person cannot specify what sort of person they prefer to have as a roommate. I remember the days when it was common for classified ads to state: "SWF looking for SWF for roommate." (single white female), and you might still see ads stated like that. It would be wrong for a housing complex to state what sort of people they preferred living there...in fact it would be downright-back to the 60's-wrong. But I think that to some degree individual people should be able to say what sort of roommate they are looking for.

This is my original ad from another room-site, which I cut and pasted to the Pennysaver:
I’m looking for person to rent room and share my townhouse on a peaceful, relaxing lake. Private bathroom; beautiful kitchen, washer & dryer, screened patio. I want a decent roommate who is responsible, reliable, and easy to get along with, just as I am.

$600 a month; 1st month and security deposit to move in. Serious renters only, please, with a stable job and references.

Cats okay...dogs under 20 pounds okay.


"I want a decent roommate who is responcible, reliable, and easy to get along with, just as I am..."
You can't say that. You can't distinguish the quality of a person and insist on one nature of a person over another type of person. You also can't make such a statement about yourself under our printing guidelines.
WTF? So I said to her, that I wanted to say that I wanted a roommate who was irresponcible, unpleasant, and confrontational. She advised me that HUD rules would not allow that either. I had to tell her that I was being sarcastic, to which she said, Oh.

"Private bathroom..."
You can't say that. You have to say "seperate".
Really? Doesn't that imply segregation?

"Serious renters only, please, with a stable job and referances..."
You can't say "...with a stable job..." because it denotes class of workers and makes judgement on those in certain occupations.
Huh?

"Cats okay...dogs under 20 pounds okay."
Can't say that. That implies differencial treatment and harsh judgement of animals based on type and weight.
Yeah, I made that part up. But I still couldn't use that line, because of the length of the ad, I think.

So this is how it ended up being published. I am surprised they left in "serious" renters.
I’m looking for person to rent room and share townhouse on relaxing lake. Seperate bathroom; beautiful kitchen, washer & dryer, screened patio.$600 a month; 1st month & security deposit to move in. Serious renters only.References required.

[kopernikuz]

Tov, I'm surprised you didn't have to rephrase:

"relaxing lake" because to those with hydrophobia, there is no such thing. Why be so insensitive to their feelings?

"beautiful kitchen" as it is implying that all kitchens are not created equally. What if my kitchen is homely? You've insulted me bragging about yours.

"person" you only want a person who is a roommate? How thoughtless.

"screened patio" implies that there were other patios up for the job at your townhome, but you used some prejudicial qualifications to decide on the one you have.

"$600 a month" puts limitations on how much money the person must be able to make in order to live there, just as the stable job part. I mean come on... they dont' have to have a job... so how can they be required to come up with $600 a month?

"References required" is fine... as long as you don't pass negative judgement on those who apply because of the references. You can ask for references... but you cannot use them.

[Tovor]

That is true, Kope, all of it. :lol:


I'm also surprised they let me keep in "serious" renters only, since that precludes comics.

[Darth Massacrus]

tov: how could you be so insensitive to the needs of thousands of squatters?:wink:

[kopernikuz]

That is true, Kope, all of it. :lol:


I'm also surprised they let me keep in "serious" renters only, since that precludes comics.
Well, if a homeless confrontational Jerry Seinfeld impersonator with a 200lb rottweiler shows up... you'd better let him rent, or face legal repercussions.

[Sargoth]

Well, if a homeless confrontational Jerry Seinfeld impersonator with a 200lb rottweiler shows up... you'd better let him rent, or face legal repercussions.

Use it to your advantage!! Have him rent under section 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_(housing)). Not only will you be rooming with someone whom I'm sure is an excellent conversationalist, but you'll also get a check from the gub'mint every month!

[Zedekk]

I am un-fond of this topic. I can't use the word "hate" because someone might accuse me of a "hate-crime" and try to throw me in jail. Please lord let people realize the importance and power of the first amendment.

[Darth Massacrus]

ore damn Political Correctness garbage. And to nobodies great surprise, it comes from a school setting! Political correctness+schools+parents=f@cked-up thinking.

Anyways, this travesty is basically a 9 year old is being accused of a hate crime for using the term "brown people".

get ready to get angry: http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/racism112707-CR.html

[Jedi Master Harrison]

WTF?! Racism isn't born, it is taught! A 9 year old is not necessarily going to know the difference between right and wrong in such a situation - kids usually just call it as they see it.

[Darth Massacrus]

Exactly. He probably did not even know about racism or have any such feelings until someone decided to charge him with a hate crime. I am just to angry at reading this stuff to think clearly about it.

[kopernikuz]

My kids when they were younger occasionally described their friend our pastor's son as "brown"... or referred to a character on a show they were trying to tell us about as "brown"... but it wasn't racist... they were just indicating the person's skin was brown... and you know what? It WAS brown. They weren't discriminating or being racist and certainly don't have negative feelings because of the color of someone's skin... they just noticed the difference. What's wrong with that? Of course, we felt kind of awkward like we needed to ask them to not describe them that way, to avoid offense to someone, but why should someone be offended when someone refers to their skin as brown... when it IS brown? In these cases it was simply a descriptive context... not a grouping accompanied by a negative comment or stereotype.

To a kid, the skin color IS different... it's that simple. However kids do not distinguish that "difference" to be anything but which crayon to use when drawing their friends... until an adult makes a negative connotation.

This story is confusing... I cannot tell if the kid made the negative connotation or simply the melanin association without the influence of the adult involved in the questioning. Without the connotation, words are just words... they can be benign or malicious, but only when the context is benign or malicious.

[RollaFett]

Yes, that story is VERY confusing. What stood out to me, though, is that the pri