Must pronounce "Iran" correctly

Just one viewer not liking your pronunciation can cause big trouble:

"Clippers longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler and color analyst Michael Smith were suspended one game by the Fox Sports Prime Ticket cable network for their comments about Memphis center Hamed Haddadi. Lawler and Smith made their off-the-cuff comments about the Iranian-born center during Wednesday night's telecast from Memphis. The on-air banter offended a viewer who e-mailed Fox to complain.

The transcript of the conversation between Lawler and Smith, which occurred late in the game, was printed on the Los Angeles Times' Web site:

Smith: "Look who's in."

Lawler: "Hamed Haddadi. Where's he from?"

Smith: "He's the first Iranian to play in the NBA." (Smith pronounced Iranian as "Eye-ranian," a pronunciation that offended the viewer who complained.)

Lawler: "There aren't any Iranian players in the NBA," repeating Smith's mispronunciation.

Smith: "He's the only one."

Lawler: "He's from Iran?"

Smith: "I guess so."

Lawler: "That Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "The real Iran?"

Smith: "Yes."

Lawler: "Wow. Haddadi that's H-A-D-D-A-D-I."

Smith: "You're sure it's not Borat's older brother?"

Smith: "If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

Lawler: "Here's Haddadi. Nice little back-door pass. I guess those Iranians can pass the ball."

Smith: "Especially the post players.

Lawler: "I don't know about their guards."

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ACLU gets one right

We read:

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a federal lawsuit today against a state school district, claiming administrators illegally infringed upon their students' right to free speech.

The suit alleges that Alachua County School District officials violated the constitution by suspending high school, middle school and elementary school students for wearing tee shirts which publicized their religious beliefs at school events this year, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The tee shirts which induced the suspensions said "Jesus answered I am the way and the truth and the life; no one goes to the Father except through me'" on the front and "Islam is of the Devil" on the back.

Before filing the lawsuit, the ACLU submitted 27 slogans the students wanted to wear to the school district and asked which would be acceptable to wear to school events. The district did not offer any guidance.

Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida executive director, told the news source, "The message on the t-shirts is an unfortunate expression of religious intolerance, but the School Board's policy of banning any messages that are offensive to others or inappropriate, unfortunately draws the line in a way that unconstitutionally prohibits freedom of speech."

The ACLU has said it does not support the message printed on the tee shirts.

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ACLU logic-chopping is too deep for me to follow. But the courts are probably to blame too.

3rd Circus Outlaws Christmas music in NJ schools

We read:

"Singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" might be okay in Maplewood-South Orange schools. But "Silent Night" and "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" are still out.

A board of education policy that prohibits celebratory religious music in district schools was upheld today by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The three-judge panel said there was "no constitutional violation" in the policy because other constitutional principles require public schools to remain strictly secular environments.

"Those of us who were educated in the public schools remember holiday celebrations replete with Christmas carols, and possibly even Chanukah songs, to which no objections had been raised. Since then, the governing principles have been examined and defined with more particularity," Judge Dolores Korman Sloviter wrote for the court.

The judges said public school administrations can discern which songs are most appropriate according to those constitutional guidelines because schools already are charged with the responsibility of creating a secular "inclusive environment" for students every day.

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Must not call a youth a youth in Britain

We read:

"It is not a word usually associated with causing offence, even when those referred to have broken the law. But 'youth' has been banned from guidelines on the treatment of criminals aged 16 and 17 - because ministers think it is too demeaning. Instead, offenders must be referred to as 'young persons' in the latest code for prosecutors. The newly fashionable phrase is used 101 times in the document.

The change of wording was mocked yesterday by the Tories, who described it as the 'bizarre' invention of a new taboo. Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve added: 'Yet again, ministers have shown that they are more bothered about pandering to political correctness than coming down hard on the crime and antisocial behaviour that blights communities.'

Disapproval of language considered to give the wrong impression has been a hallmark of Labour's years in power. Its Youth Justice Board has tried to prevent 'gang' in case it criminalises youngsters who gather together. It prefers crime committed by such gatherings to be described as 'group-related'.

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I guess that Brits too now mostly realize that "youth" mostly means "black" when used in crime descriptions. Changing the labels will not change the reality of pervasive black crime, however. And word will always get around about that. Despite widespead media coverups, how many Americans don't know that blacks are on average much more dangerous than whites? Even Jesse Jackson knows that.

I wonder when pictures of offenders will be banned? African features looking at you from so many crime reports do add up to a pretty clear story eventually.

Canada: Welcome to Caledonia, where flying the national flag is officially forbidden

But native flags are fine, of course:

"A Caledonia family - Dave Brown, Dana Chatwell and their teenage son Dax - are suing the Ontario government and the OPP for a total of $7-million for effectively abandoning them to the lawlessness surrounding a native occupation of a former development site called Douglas Creek Estates. The family's home is bordered on two sides by the site, part of a simmering Six Nations land claim.

The world of Mr. Brown and Ms. Chatwell, and to a lesser degree that of other Caledonia residents whose homes were also close to the site, was Kafkaesque, a bewildering place where black was white, right was wrong, up was down.

One night, when he asked that the OPP station a car near his house, he implored the dispatcher, "Just don't ignore my calls okay? It's unsafe here, if you ask me. They're shining spotlights all over, all around the perimeter." Police notes duly stated that "Occupiers are in multiple vehicles, shining lights everywhere."

As Christmas of 2006 approached, with Mohawk Warrior flags all over the DCE and on Mr. Brown's street, Caledonia residents had had enough, and decided they would carry or hang a Canadian flag. Mr. Brown decided to fly one in his front yard.

"The Canadian flag was not allowed to be flown," he said. "I'm a very, very proud Canadian. I'm proud of my country. This was my opportunity and my right to believe we still live in this country. "The OPP was not concerned with the Mohawk flags all around my property and on all the telephone poles. They were agitating me.

Mr. Brown's flag was stolen a few days later, and, he told the lawyer, he stood with his uncle, three police cruisers in his driveway, as the "OPP let them [the natives] stand there with my Canadian flag."

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Eskimos and red Indians are near-sacred in politically correct Canada. They have in practice FAR more rights than anyone else.

WA: "I’m completely supportive of freedom of expression" -- except when I'm not

A confused young lady writes to her college newspaper:

"I found myself very troubled after walking to the campus bookstore on Monday morning. Outside the doors to the most popular building on campus was a table with two men behind it, calling themselves “de LaRouche.” As I approached the table I saw a poster of Obama with a Hitler mustache on it, and as I walked by one of the men asked me how I liked the poster. I heard them talking about how Obama is going to hell, trying to recruit other students into their clan.

I stood there disgusted and confused as to how these people could actually believe Obama is comparable to Hitler, and how he has imposed a mass genocide on the country as they propose he has. I, along with countless other students, am enraged by this group and the images they are displaying as we make our way to class.

The open visitor policy on campus is not effective when a group presents hateful ideas in an intimidating way to young students. I’m completely supportive of freedom of expression, but the line needs to be drawn between free speech and hate speech. [The lady seems easily intimidated. For her sake, let's hope she never experiences REAL intimidation]

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Italian prosecutors seek jail for Google executives over bullying video

We read:

"GOOGLE executives could be jailed over a video showing a teen with Down's Syndrome being bullied. Italian prosecutors have accused four current and former Google executives of defamation and failure to exercise control over personal data.

Google strongly denounced the case, calling it "a direct attack on a free, open internet."

The case, being heard in a Milan court, stems from a complaint by an Italian advocacy group for people with Down's Syndrome, Vivi Down, and the boy's father. The video shows four male high school students in the Italian city of Turin humiliating the youth. It was filmed from a mobile phone and posted on the site in September 2006, where it remained for two months.

The prosecutors said the need to safeguard fundamental rights took priority over business and that it was not an issue about freedom but responsibility of companies, the sources said. They are seeking jail sentences ranging from six months to a year. The maximum sentence for such charges - complicity in defamation and harm to private life - is three years in prison.

A Google spokesman said the company would defend and support its employees and that Google did what was required under European and Italian law. "This prosecution is akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post," Google's spokesman said. "Seeking to hold neutral platforms liable for content posted on them is a direct attack on a free, open internet and could spell the end of Web 2.0 in Italy," he said.

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Italy does have some oppressive internet laws

Pathetic British Conservative Party leader

We read:

"Two years ago he derided politically-correct Christmas cards which do not mention the word Christmas as 'insulting tosh'. But last night David Cameron was facing a backlash from his own party after it emerged the Conservative official cards have the message 'Season's Greetings'.

The Christmas cards, which are available on the party's website, avoid all religious imagery - preferring generic winter scenes and pictures of robins to pictures of Jesus and the Three Kings. And the word Christmas does not appear on them at all.

Yesterday, Tory back-benchers were furious with indications that their party is becoming so politically correct. Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, said: 'If this decision has been made on a PC basis it would be totally unacceptable and I would be extremely saddened. 'This kind of pandering to extreme elements of the PC brigade is not something I would envisage from the Conservative Party. I have yet to meet anyone of any religion who is offended by people in this country celebrating Christmas.

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Google resists censorship pressure sometimes

We read:

"GOOGLE is running advertisements to explain the appearance of racist and anti-Semitic material in search results, including a picture which depicts US First Lady Michelle Obama as a monkey.

"Sometimes Google search results from the internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries," the US search giant said in an ad signed The Google Team. "We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google," the company said.

The Google ad appears on a page of image search results for Michelle Obama which includes the offensive depiction of the wife of President Barack Obama.

"Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the internet," Google said. "The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results."

Google said it will remove pages from search results if they violate the company's guidelines but it "views the integrity of our search results as an extremely important priority". "Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it," Google said.

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I'm glad they stick to principle sometimes, even if they feel the need to apologize for it. Will they also apologize for including abuse of Christians in their searches?

"Best Buy" wouldn't say "Merry Christmas", but have wished Muslims "Happy Eid Al-Adha"



We read:

"Best Buy stands by its decision to wish U.S. Muslims a Happy Eid Al-Adha, a rep for the company said, and though some Best Buy customers took offense, a Muslim advocacy group praised the move.

The retailer got some flak this week for including, along with its circular advertising Thanksgiving Day sales, a note saying "Happy Eid Al-Adha," which refers to a holiday of sacrifice for followers of Islam on Nov. 27 this year.

After TechCrunch ran an item about the circular, some claimed offense and said they'd take their business elsewhere. "I spent about $3,000 with . . . your store. I will be shopping somewhere else," one consumer wrote on Best Buy's Web forum. "BB has the Muslims covered with the 'Happy Eid,' but what about the rest of us Americans?" wrote another. "Do we get a 'Happy Thanksgiving'?"

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I guess they want only Muslim customers. Christians should take the hint and stay away. BB do seem to be worried about that. They now say they are going to recognize Christmas this year.

When you are the Prime Minister of Russia you have a LOT of freedom of speech



We read:

"Vladimir Putin has undiplomatically poked fun at the Georgian leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, saying that it may not be safe to wear a tie around him. Asked at a news conference in Yalta about Saakashvili's visit to Kiev last week, the Russian leader, who is known for his sharp tongue, said that the Georgian leader and Ukraine's fiercely pro-Western president, Vikor Yuschenko, should meet wearing open-necked shirts.

"The two presidents would be better off holding a dinner - if they are to hold it - without ties. Ties are pricey these days....Well, you understand what I mean," he said, eliciting laughter from officials and journalists. "Yuschenko's guest will scarf up his tie."

Putin was alluding to widely circulated video footage of Saakashvili with the tip of his tie ino his mouth, chewing on it as he waited to be interviewed last year. In 2008, Russia and Georgia went to war over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Putin, who was in Yalta for talks with the Ukranian prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, said that Yuschenko and Saakashvili would have much to talk about. "The fighters reminisced about past days and battles that they have lost together," he mused.

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There is something I rather like about Putin. Being plainspoken may be part of it and he has certainly got a very skeptical eye. He is a very traditional Russian in many ways and frequently attends church. And unlike Obama, he never hesitates to stand up for his country. Russia has got a LOT to apologize for but it is Obama who does the apologizing, not Putin.

The picture above is of Putin and the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. Even at age 49, Yulia is quite a dish. Do an image search on her and you will see what I mean. She's rich too.

GA: Lawmakers to review “so help me God” police oath

We read:

"City council members in Marietta, Ga., will consider changing the oath of office that the city’s police officers take so that recruits can swear to uphold the law without saying the phrase ’so help me God.’ But a police spokeswoman says that to her knowledge, nobody has ever objected to saying those words, and the city’s mayor promises he’ll veto any change to the oath that removes them.

Det. Gwen Lewis, a police spokeswoman, said no complaints have been received recently regarding the five-sentence oath the Marietta Police Department last adopted in August 2001. To her knowledge, she said, no would-be officer has ever objected to saying ’so help me God’ as part of the oath.” (11/23/09)

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Nubian fury at 'monkey' lyric of Arab pop star Haifa Wehbe



Once again we hear that Arabs don't think much of blacks:

"One of the Arab world's biggest pop stars has provoked a torrent of outrage after releasing a song which refers to black Egyptians as monkeys.

Haifa Wehbe, an award-winning Lebanese diva who has been voted one of the world's most beautiful people, is now facing a lawsuit from Egyptian Nubians claiming the song has fuelled discrimination against them and made some Nubian children too afraid to attend school.

The row has cast fresh light on the position within Egyptian society of Nubians, who are descended from one of Africa's most ancient black civilisations and yet often face marginalisation in modern Egypt.

The latest accusations of racism came after the release of her new song, Where is Daddy?, in which a child sings to Wehbe, "Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?".

Wehbe has since apologised profusely for the offending lyrics, insisting they were penned by an Egyptian songwriter who told her that "Nubian monkey" was an innocent term for a popular children's game. That hasn't stopped a group of Nubian lawyers submitting an official complaint to Egypt's public prosecutor and calling for the song to be banned.

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9th Circus does something useful

We read:

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Friday that a federal district court should have considered whether a Gilbert, Ariz., sign ordinance unconstitutionally discriminates against religious signs among all non-commercial signs. The court sent the case, filed by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund who represent Good News Community Church, back to district court for a decision.

“Churches shouldn’t be discriminated against by a city’s sign ordinances,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman, who argued the case before the 9th Circuit on April 15. “The government cannot require churches to abide by stricter rules than it places on other non-commercial signs. The Constitution prohibits government officials from singling out religious groups for that kind of discrimination.”

In its opinion in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, the 9th Circuit wrote that “Gilbert has adopted a sign ordinance that makes one’s head spin to figure out the bounds of its restrictions and exemptions.”

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Another British foot-shooter

We read:

"Ben Elton has been forced to apologise for his royal rant on Good News Week which enraged Brits this week. The comedian and writer's opinions on the monarchy, British sporting prowess and more have disgusted the British and led to several newspapers - including the Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Sun - running outraged stories about his comments on the comedy show.

Displaying his vitriolic wit and sarcasm on the comedy show, Elton made a series of comments regarding the UK, calling the Queen "a sad little old lady", Prince Philip a "mad old bigot", joking about sex with Margaret Thatcher and saying Prince Charles was just a "disillusioned ex-hippy".

He said London had scored the 2012 Olympics in order to give Britons some chance at sporting success and because the rest of the world felt sorry for the British when it came to athletic prowess, and launched a royal rant against the Queen calling her "a sad little old lady who lives in state sponsored accommodation". On sex with Thatcher he said: "She sort of annoyed me because she would always want to smoke afterwards and I hated that because that was so dirty".

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He obviously does not want most Brits to watch his shows or buy his books -- because many won't after this.

Post a vulgar comment while you’re at work, lose your job

We read:

"A single vulgar word cost a man his job on Friday. It all started with Friday’s edition of Talk of the Day, a regular blog on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s website, STLtoday.com. Talk of the Day is exactly that. A conversation around the water-cooler topic of the day. Friday’s edition is often a little lighter. Last week, it was about the strangest things you’ve ever eaten, loosely pegged on a story about deer meat.

By mid-morning, a number of folks had commented about their experiences with Bird’s Nest Soup, octopus, cow brains and rattlesnake. Then, while I was in our 10 a.m. news meeting, someone posted in reply a single word, a vulgar expression for a part of a woman’s anatomy. It was there only a minute before a colleague deleted it.

A few minutes later, the same guy posted the same single-word comment again. I deleted it, but noticed in the WordPress e-mail alert that his comment had come from an IP address at a local school. So I called the school. They were happy to have me forward the e-mail, though I wasn’t sure what they’d be able to do with the meager information it included.

About six hours later, I heard from the school’s headmaster. The school’s IT director took a shine to the challenge. Long story short: Using the time-frame of the comments, our website location and the IP addresses in the WordPress e-mail, he tracked it back to a specific computer. The headmaster confronted the employee, who resigned on the spot.

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Must not express a preference for Anglo names

Even in the British Conservative party

"A former Tory Parliamentary candidate was suspended by the party last night after complaining that people bidding to become an MP did not have ‘normal’ English names. Councillor Peter Hobbins is accused of sending racist emails to colleagues attacking the list of prospective Parliamentary candidates for the Orpington seat in Kent.

Mr Hobbins, who stood unsuccessfully for the Tories at the 2001 election and was shortlisted for the London mayoral race, suggested he should change his name to ‘Petrado’ to succeed in the party. One email said: ‘I have been contacted by a Mr Dilon Gumraj and a Zerha Zaidi and others who are all on the approved Conservative Parliamentary Candidates list. ‘Not one of them has a ‘normal’ English name.

‘Why are the Candidates Department so keen on these foreign names?!!!! Maybe I should change my name to something foreign – how does Petrado Indiano Hobbinso sound to you?!’

Mr Hobbins also said he was fed up with reading about ‘Africa’ on the CVs of would-be candidates.

A Tory spokesman said: ‘Councillor Hobbins has been immediately suspended from the Conservative Party and from the Conservative Group on Bromley council and he will play no part in the selection of the Parliamentary candidate. There is no room for racism in the Conservative Party.’

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The man was actually making a serious point. It is arguably true that Anglo voters are more likely to vote for candidates with Anglo names. Any political party in England that puts up a candidate with an obviously foreign name may well be doing a bit of foot-shooting.

Even Hispanics and Filipinos aren't supposed to use the word "negro"?

We read:

"A civil rights group has chided Dionisia Pacquiao, mother of famed Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, for using the word "Negro" in a public statement. The Color People Advancement Community (CPAC), a small Las Vegas-based ethnic rights group, was reacting to statements made by Mrs. Pacquiao after her son's match against Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Arena on November 14.

Pacquiao, along with his entourage, had proceeded to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino a few blocks away for a post-fight party and mini-concert. There, Mrs. Pacquiao gave interviews and described her alarm at watching her son fight it out with Cotto for 12 rounds.

Mrs. Pacquiao also thanked all her son's supporters. "Nagpapasalamat ako hindi lang sa mga Pilipino. At pati na rin sa mga Amerikano at mga Negro. (I thank not only the Filipinos, I also thank Americans and Negroes)," she said.

According to reports from the Bandera tabloid and boxing website Philboxing.com, the CPAC in Las Vegas issued a statement asking Mrs. Pacquiao to refrain from using politically incorrect words in public "so as not to inflame emotional outrage" from groups in the United States.

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"Negro" was once the proper scientific term for the race concerned but these days the more ponderous geographical term "Sub-Saharan African" is used in scientific writing. That's a bit stupid, though, as there are about 4 million "Sub-Saharan Africans" who are white, mostly in South Africa.

Tribe battles to keep logo for the Fighting Sioux

We read:

"The most prominent defenders of the University of North Dakota's right to call its teams the Fighting Sioux are neither alumni nor hockey fans. They're Sioux.

A group of Spirit Lake Sioux won a temporary restraining order last week to stop the North Dakota University System from retiring the nickname and logo, one of the last in the country associated with an American Indian tribe. A hearing for a preliminary injunction is slated for Dec. 9 in Ramsey County District Court in Devils Lake, N.D.

Most such university team names have been abandoned in the face of criticism that they were offensive or derogatory, but that view isn't the only one in Indian country. Some tribal members take pride in their association with the Fighting Sioux and worry that eliminating the moniker "will cause isolation and a diminishing of public interest, knowledge and respect for Sioux history," according to the complaint. "There are more members of the Sioux tribe that support this than oppose it," said Frank Blackcloud, a Spirit Lake Sioux and member of the tribe's Committee for Understanding and Respect, which brought the complaint.

The committee's decision to weigh in on the Fighting Sioux nickname is the latest - and most ironic - twist in a decades-old debate over the university's nickname and logo. While Spirit Lake Sioux members are fighting to save the name, they're meeting resistance from largely nonnative groups like the faculty Senate, the College Anti-Racism Team and even the state Board of Higher Education.

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This is one indication that the assault on Indian team names comes primarily from Leftists rather than Indians.

TN: ACLU attacks Christian practices in schools

"Prohibiting the free exercise" of religion?

"A lawsuit has been filed against the Cheatham County School Board alleging that school officials have promoted their own religious beliefs and allowed and encouraged public prayers at school events.

Civil rights attorney George Barrett and the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in federal court today on behalf of four students, listed under aliases. Two were students who graduated last year from Sycamore High School, one is a current student at Sycamore High School and another attends Cheatham Middle School.

The suit seeks an injunction against the schools to prevent them from continuing the activities mentioned in the suit, and nominal damages for the two students who have graduated.”

Among the allegations are that a planned prayer took place at graduation; that the Gideons International were allowed to speak to classes and distribute Bibles; that a cross hangs in a classroom; and that a history teacher taught that the United States is a “Christian nation” and decried the separation of church and state....

Attorney Allen Woods of Woods & Woods, which represents the school board, said they hadn’t yet examined all the allegations contained in the lawsuit but that there is no policy of religious behavior being tolerated or persecuted.

“We believe that all of Cheatham County’s policies are in accordance with the recommendations of the Tennessee School Board Association, and the court will find it legal and valid,” said. “The schools in question and all Cheatham County schools neither endorse any specific religion nor interfere with the religion of its students. That’s what the Constitution requires.”

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