We read:
"Nintendo has been forced to withdraw a computer game from sale in the UK because it contains the word 'spastic' in its script. Mario Party 8, a multi-player game for the Wii console, went on sale in the UK on Friday but was taken off the shelves after the mistake was discovered.
In the game, designed to be played by groups at parties, a blue wizard called Kamek appears on screen and intones: "Magikoopa Magic! Turn the train, spastic! Make this ticket tragic!"
It is the second time in as many weeks that a Nintendo game has been withdrawn for including the word 'spastic'. Earlier this month, MindQuiz, a 'brain-training' game made for the Nintendo DS by the French company Ubisoft, was pulled because it branded players who achieved low scores 'spastics' and 'super-spastics'.
Source
But you can call Christians "Taliban" and George Bush "Hitler" and that is just free speech, of course.
"Spastic" seems to be more decried in Britain than in the USA but even Tiger Woods got into strife a while back for using the word "Spaz". It seems that Americans are less aware that the term originates from an old term for cerebral palsy.
I must say that when I went to school many years ago, "spastic" was a common term of abuse. I was myself called that (and worse) often enough but it was like water off a duck's back to me, of course.
