The EU is putting together its own official list of "incorrect" words and what they should be replaced by. Excerpt:
"European governments should shun the phrase "Islamic terrorism" in favour of "terrorists who abusively invoke Islam", say guidelines from EU officials. Backed by diplomats and civil servants from the 25 EU members, the officials are drafting a "non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalisation" to be submitted to Tony Blair and other leaders in June..... An EU official said: "The basic idea behind it is to avoid the use of improper words that would cause frustration among Muslims and increase the risk of radicalisation"."
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We also read:
"Omar Faruk, a Muslim British barrister who has advised the government on community issues, said there was a strong need for a "new sort of political dialogue and terminology". Asked about the phrase "Islamic terrorism", he said: "Those words cannot sit side by side. Islam is actually very much against any form of terrorism ... Islam in itself means peace."
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I guess all those Muslims dancing in the streets in Kuwait, the Palestinian teritories and elsewhere at the time of the 9/11 attacks must have been a figment of my imagination.
Flag Update
All the pro-illegal-immigration demonstrations organized by the far Left recently have brought the flag issue back into sharp focus. See a video here that shows how prominently the Mexican flag was displayed. Even the Left now however seems to have realized that all the Mexican flags were a bad move and -- no doubt with gritted teeth -- they have begun to wave the U.S. flag as well. As a result, even the Sacramento Bee had some resonable pictures of the U.S. flag. Excerpt below:
"The Stars and Stripes outnumbered Mexico's El Tricolor in Sacramento Monday as thousands of local demonstrators joined immigration protests nationwide. From tiny plastic flags no bigger than a postcard to giant cloth banners streaming in the breeze, more marchers carried the red, white and blue than Mexico's green, white and red. But many of the protesters proudly displayed both flags. In earlier demonstrations across the country, the widespread waving of the Mexican flag triggered barbed rebukes from commentators who questioned the allegiances of the marchers"
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Speaking of flags, The BBC has a fascinating article about the history of the British flag, the Union Jack. It was long customary to refer to the Union "jack" but purists point out that a "jack" is a naval flag (even the USA has a "jack" flag -- 50 white stars on a dark blue background) so the term "Union Flag" has come into some use in recent years -- but I am pleased to see that the BBC has adopted the traditional term. In my view, nothing could be more appropriate for a country so long dependant on its navy that it should use a naval flag for its national flag.
