Must not imitate black people

Why does black behavior become obnoxious when whites do it?  Does that say something about black behavior in general?

As most citizens across the country were celebrating the life and stellar accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. over the federal King Holiday Weekend in a respectful way – some by attending special programs and others by volunteering for community service – a band of students at Arizona State University had less honorable things in mind.

Pictures of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity members holding a so-called “MLK Black Party” reflected almost every demeaning stereotype of African Americans imaginable, including White students drinking from watermelon cups, guests dressed in basketball jerseys and some flashing gang signs.

The off-campus party on Jan. 19 wasn’t sanctioned by Arizona State University administrators – or anyone else who believes in common decency. Once the offensive photos surfaced on social media, they were met with disbelief and outrage by the Black community.

At January 22 press conference in front of Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism on campus, several African-American community leaders demanded action against the offending students and fraternity.

”We regard the behavior exhibited as completely outrageous, extraordinarily offensive and wholly unacceptable,” said James Rund, ASU’s senior vice president for Educational Outreach and Student Services. “This kind of behavior is not tolerated by the university, and we intend to take swift and immediate action. We just don’t have room at the university to tolerate that kind of conduct.”.

Alex Baker, a spokesman for the national fraternity, said the group does not condone racist or discriminatory behavior.

Jocelyn Henderson also a junior, agrees with the revocation of the fraternity and those that participated in the party. “All the students that took part in it should be expelled.”

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The ACLU is siding with the fraternity  -- free speech

Indoor teepees: now offensive in Canada



Heather Abbey did a double-take when she first came across photos on Pinterest of miniature teepees decorating children’s bedrooms.

“To be honest, I was surprised the first time I saw them,” said Abbey, a Plains Cree entrepreneur. “Then I realized they’re all over Etsy, they’re huge in New York, they’re huge in Toronto.”

Teepees are officially trending in the world of interior design. They’re “where the stylish 7-year-old has play dates and story time,” the Wall Street Journal wrote, noting that celebrities such as Nicole Richie and Miley Cyrus had them. High-end décor chains such as Elte, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware sell them for hundreds of dollars. HomeSense makes a miniature version for dogs. Walmart’s website has multiple offerings, including an indoor/outdoor one that’s “large enough for the entire tribe.”

But critics say turning teepees into furniture is just one more example of cultural appropriation, taking a famous symbol of aboriginal culture and stripping it of all context before selling it. A new Toronto business, the Parkdale Teepee Company, has been the target of social media ire this week. “Couldn’t be Parkdale forts/something less racist?” wrote one Twitter user with the name Erin Styles.

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Facebook shuts Australian  Aboriginal memes page

FACEBOOK has shut down a racist Facebook page which vilified Indigenous Australians with revolting jokes and illustrations, despite earlier telling a complainant the page was acceptable under its 'community standards' policy.

The Aboriginal Memes 2014 page was today shut down after a query from News Corp about why it failed to be classified as 'hate speech' under the social networking site's community standards policy.

It featured so-called jokes referencing the Stolen Generation and poverty among other issues too inflammatory to reference.

Facebook supplied a statement yesterday that said: "We remove content that is reported to us that violates our policies. Our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that everyone agrees to when they create an account and which are linked to throughout the site explains what is and is not permitted on the site and explicitly prohibits hate speech."

But earlier the site had responded to a complainant with a statement that said: "We reviewed the page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found it doesn't violate our Community Standards."

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It's a bit difficult to find out what we are not allowed to see but the two images below appear to be part of it.  One alludes to Aboriginal drunkenness, welfare dependency and foul language usage while the other refers to Aboriginal begging, which can be very intrusive.  "Centrelink" is Australia's major welfare agency and the female wants to get money from them for grog.

Incitement to violence in righteous Canada

But because Muslims are doing it that's OK then

A pro-Israel group says it has complained to Calgary police over Facebook comments made by a former university student group president who urged Palestinians to ‘‘spill blood.’’

“My body and soul are ready to fight and die,” wrote Ala’a Hamdan, former president of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, a University of Calgary student group. “This land will be proud that Palestinian babies are born men and women ready to spill their blood.”

In a battle hymn written to a son, Ms. Hamdan wrote: “I will soak a koffiah with your blood and save it to show to your siblings … I will be named the mother of the martyr.“

Members of the Calgarians United With Israel (CUWI) advocacy group copied the comments and posted them to their website.

The University of Calgary Students’ Union supports the Palestinian group, acknowledging it even won an award for best advocacy club last year.

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'Freedom to Twerk' posters depicting Martin Luther King Jr throwing gang sign provoke outrage

A party celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr day called 'Freedom 2 Twerk' has been cancelled after a poster promoting the event caused outrage.

A Michigan party promotor called Mid-Michigan Teen Parties photoshopped Dr Martin Luther King Jr's head onto the body of a man wearing a heavy gold medallion and throwing a gang sign.

The freedom to twerk was decidedly not one of King's civil rights dreams and the use of his image offended many in the community, especially his descendants.

Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights icon, called the poster 'appalling' and 'almost embarrassing' in an interview with Fox 5.

'I lost a father who sacrificed everything for them to live a much more dignified and respectful life,' she said. 'And for it to come to this just makes me sad.'

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MLK was a frequent philanderer so I doubt that twerking would have offended him, inspired him, more likely 

Is it really that bad to say someone is sexy?

By Melissa Hoyer

DON'T know about you, but why has it become such a no-no to simply say how good or even sexy someone happens to look?

I'm talking you and me here, not models and celebs and actors whose job often requires having some kind of pleasing aesthetic.

There just seem to be so many faux feminists out there attempting to garner collective outrage, as soon as anyone dares to comment on how 'nice' or dare I say 'sexy' someone looks.

I reckon some of these FFs are purely expressing an opinion in order to garner the troops in a show of united indignation. Oh, and to draw attention to themselves perhaps?

My god, you better not wolf-whistle or smile at anyone, or you may be caught out by the Personality Police.

And before The Collective start clutching their pearls and bashing on their Twitter handles, a lighthearted comment about how good, hell, even sexy someone may happen to look is NOT always a case of sexually objectifying a woman or a men.

Can't it just be taken for what it usually is? A pure acknowledgment that "hey, you look great today". End of story.

Why can't we just say "hey, what a sexy dress" or "your hair is looking hot" (or whatever GEN X, Y or Z lingo you choose to speak) without thinking it is some kind of sexist affront?

It's just a bloody nice compliment for god's sake.

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Naked Buddhas too cheeky for China



Two massive sculptures of the Buddhist sage clambering over a hot pot restaurant in the Jinan city shopping district were taken down by local authorities who deemed them a public offense.

One of the voluptuous statues was snapped climbing the wall, with its bottom facing the street, while another was shown waiting on top of the wall, its hands clasped like in a prayer.

It's not known who designed the sculptures, or why.

South China Morning Post reports a Sina Weibo user posted a photo of the Buddhas on Sunday, which went viral on social media. They were taken down the next day.

The revealing statues left some Zen Buddhist practitioners deeply offended.

"I burst into tears when I saw naked Buddhas climbing over the wall! How come a nation with a thousand-year history has so little respect for its own culture?" a practitioner named Miaoming from the Beihai Zen Monastery in Qinghai province wrote on his microblog.

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South American actor disses homosexuals

Not allowed in the land of the free, of course



GAYS and bisexuals shouldn't have a place on the hit show The Bachelor because it would be "too hard to watch," according to the latest star of the ABC series.

According to the New York Post , Juan Pablo Galavis, 32, claims he respects homo­sexuals - but said putting them on the romantic show would set a bad example for kids.

"They're more pervert [sic] in a sense. To me, the show would be too strong, too hard to watch on TV," he said in an interview.

The show's producers slammed the comments as "careless, thoughtless and insensitive." The former Venezuelan soccer star later apologised on Facebook - claiming he didn't mean to use the word "pervert."

"Everyone knows English is my second language," he wrote. "What I meant to say was that gay people are more affectionate and intense ... this would be too racy" on TV.

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Restaurant under fire for complaining about public holiday rates



Most of the attacks would have come from Left-leaning unionists who are so fixated on more pay that they fail to realize that mandates for high pay often lead to no pay  -- as we see here, where many restaurants and cafes simply close during the high-pay period.  The holiday pay rates in Adelaide do seem egregiously high.  Some loading would probably be not too disruptive but a multiple of 2.75 is simply destructive to both workers and would-be customers.  A 50% loading is more common Australia-wide

A SMALL cafe in Adelaide has come under fire on Facebook after making public its dislike at having to pay workers 2.75 times the ordinary hourly rate of pay on public holidays.

The Bombay Bicycle Club in Ovingham set up a sign at the front of its restaurant outlining just how much it would cost them to open on a public holiday. They multiplied everything on the menu 2.75 times in an attempt to highlight the "stupidity" of the new rate.

The bread would be $19.25 under the cafe's calculations, while lamb korma was $65, salt and pepper squid $55, chicken schnitzel $48.50 and it would be more than $60 for a seafood pizza.

After receiving negative feedback in person, the cafe took to Facebook to explain the reasons behind the sign - but the instantaneous backlash forced them to pull the picture, and the sign, after just four hours.

"Here's a quick maths formula. Multiply zero (which equals the amount I will now spend at your establishment) by 2.75 and see what it equals," wrote one person on Facebook.

"Interesting to see that wages make up 100 per cent of your costs. While it must suck to have to compensate people fairly for working when everyone else gets a holiday, it must be nice not to have to pay for rent, insurance, or food," wrote another.

"Pay penalty rates you bourgeois swine!" commented someone after giving the establishment a rating of one star out of five.

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British Expat sorry for 'poor' transport call in Singapore

In my recollection of them, Singapore buses can be a bit basic and not well adapted to long Western legs but remarks that might  go down well among friends might upset other audiences.  The offender below did nothing more than speak the truth as he saw it but he greatly offended Singaporean pride and he did lose his job over it.  He has now relocated to Australia.  I hope he realizes that Australians don't much like disparaging remarks about their country either.  If your job depends on goodwill, anything likely to damage goodwill is highly likely to damage yourself.  Free speech is not necessarily wise speech

A PORSCHE-DRIVING British wealth manager in Singapore who referred to public transport commuters as "poor people" has apologised.

Anton Casey, a 39-year-old who is married to a former Miss Singapore Universe Bernice Wong, had also referred to washing "the stench of public transport off me" in one of his posts on the social network.

Furious internet users lashed out at Mr Casey, a Singapore permanent resident, with many subjecting him and his family to verbal abuse.

Singapore has one of the world's highest per capita incomes, with official data showing it stood at $Sg65,048 ($74,000) in 2012. The city-state also boasts one of Asia's most modern public transport systems, with its 150-kilometre metro network carrying about two million people daily.

"I would like to extend a sincere apology to the people of Singapore ... for my poor judgement," Mr Casey said in a statement late on Tuesday.

"I have the highest respect and regard for Singapore and the good people of Singapore; this is my home," he said.

One of Mr Casey's posts showed a picture of a boy, apparently his five-year-old son, sitting inside a metro train with a caption above the photo saying: "Daddy, where is your car & who are all these poor people?"

Another showed a waving boy sitting inside a silver convertible Porsche, with a caption saying: "Ahhhhhhhh reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me."

"This guy is rich materially but poor spiritually," one furious Internet user wrote about Mr Casey. 

"Why oh why do you think you are so much better than others just because you happen to have cash ... Shame on you mate, shame!" said another user.

Mr Casey's employer, Crossinvest (Asia) Pte Ltd, said it does not condone his comments which"`were made in poor taste".  "We are currently investigating the comments made by our employee and will take appropriate action once we are in possession of all the facts," it said in a statement.

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It takes the "compassionate" Left to mock the disabled

Project Veritas is out with a new undercover video showing staffers from Battleground Texas, an organization full of Obama for America alumni with a goal of turning Texas blue, openly mocking Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for being in a wheelchair.

Abbott is running against Democratic State Senator Wendy Davis for the governorship. Battleground Texas supports Davis and is working very hard on her behalf in the Lone Star State. The video shows Davis visiting the Battleground Texas offices where she thanked staffers for their help and refers to the group as "the secret weapon" to winning.

"I really wonder how this is going to work out since he's in a wheelchair since and most of the slogans are 'Stand with Wendy," one staffer is seen saying in the video.

"First of all he's not good looking, he doesn't speak very well, he doesn't have a good personality and he's in a wheelchair," another woman is heard saying as someone laughs loudly in the background.

According to Project Veritas, the comments were caught while investigators were looking into Obamacare navigator fraud.

This isn't the first time Battleground Texas has openly mocked Abbott's disability. In October 2013, the group sent out an email with the "joke," "Greg Abbott walks into a house in El Paso."

Earlier this week, Davis came under criticism for saying Abbott hasn't "walked a day in her shoes."

Attorney General Abbott has been in a wheel chair since he was 26-years-old after a tree fell on him while running and paralyzed him from the waist down.

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British Twitter trolls jailed for abusing feminist campaigner

Two Twitter trolls were jailed on Friday for sending threatening messages to a feminist who campaigned for a woman to appear on a banknote.

Isabella Sorley, 23, and John Nimmo, 25, targeted Caroline Criado-Perez with rape threats and abuse after the Bank of England announced that Jane Austen would be featured on the £10 note.

Sorley, a university graduate who has 25 previous convictions, the majority of them for being drunk and disorderly, sent tweets to the campaigner which described her as a “worthless piece of crap”, told her to “go kill yourself”, and warned "rape is the last of your worries".

Nimmo, who is unemployed, told Miss Criado-Perez to "shut up bitch" and wrote "ya not that gd [good] looking to rape u be fine", followed by "I will find you (smiley face)", Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

He also directed threats at Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, calling her a "dumb blonde bitch" and writing in sinister terms, "The things I cud do to u (smiley face)",.

Sentencing Sorley to 12 weeks in prison and Nimmo to eight weeks, Judge Howard Riddle said it was "hard to imagine more extreme threats”.

The judge noted that the abuse had had a “life-changing” effect on Miss Criado-Perez and that Miss Creasy had installed a panic button in her home.

He said of the tweets: "The fact that they were anonymous heightened the fear. The victims had no way of knowing how dangerous the people making the threats were, whether they had just come out of prison, or how to recognise and avoid them if they came across them in public."

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Threats of violence are beyond legitimate free speech

Which Liberal Says Secret Service Should Arrest Those Who Speak Badly of Obama?

Does the First Amendment even exist under the Obama administration?

According to prominent liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, it doesn’t, unless of course your speech (or film) involves a heavy liberal bias.

Moore made comments this week that anyone who speaks badly of, or “threatens” Obama, should be paid a visit by the Secret Service.

Moore was referring to comments made by political analyst and scholar, Dinesh D’Souza, who called Obama a “grown-up Travyon” for bullying Congress and the White House into getting everything he wants.

In November 2013, D’Souza tweeted, “I’m thankful this week when I remember that America is big enough & great enough 2 survive Grown-Up Trayvon in the White House.”

D’Souza’s comment was obviously a harsh criticism about how Obama runs the federal government, but to Moore, it was a death threat. He later responded to Dinesh’s tweet with a “threat” of his own—“Yeah, he said that. Dinesh D’Souza called Pres. Obama “Trayvon” — knowing, of course, what happened to Trayvon. Secret Service, your move.”

But how does a comparison warrant a visit from the Secret Service? Simple, it doesn’t

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All Nippon Airways apologises for TV ad which is accused of racially stereotyping Westerners



JAPANESE carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) is modifying a TV commercial after apologising to customers who complained it used racist stereotyping, but insisted they had meant no offence.

ANA started airing the new 30-second television advertisement on Saturday, aimed at promoting its beefed up schedule of international flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport in March.

In the commercial, two Japanese men in ANA uniform discuss in English how they might boost the image of the airline as an international carrier.

One of them says: "Let's change the image of Japanese people." "Sure," replies the other, who is now wearing a blonde wig and an improbably long rubber nose.

White westerners are often believed in Japan to have big noses, blue eyes and blonde hair, characteristics generally thought desirable among Japanese.

The ad caused a stir among English-language users of social media in Japan.

"I've just seen the new ANA advert...Really? ANA think this is OK?!" Angela Fukutome said in a message posted on ANA's Facebook page.

"If you are a foreigner and have planned to come to #Japan do not choose an openly racist airline like #ANA! Watch their Japanese commercial," tweeted @sibylleito on Twitter.

ANA spokesman Ryosei Nomura said the carrier wanted to express the importance of the planned expansion of international services from Haneda and to call on Japanese to go out to see the world.

"But we have received opinions different from the message that we wished to convey. We will modify part of the advertisement and will release the second version soon," he said.

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It seems that from a Japanese viewpoint they were actually complimenting foreigners.  But to some people no ethnic differences may be mentioned.

'Property of an Aussie Boy' singlet pulled from women's fashion  stores



FASHION label Ice Design have pulled a singlet they designed for Australia Day due to public backlash.

The singlet, which reads 'Property of an Aussie Boy' with a picture of the Australian flag, was a special edition created for January 26, but left many claiming it was sexist and offensive.

One of the most vocal opposers of the singlet were Destroy The Joint, a group who provide "a call to arms for Australians seeking gender equality and civil discourse."

Their tweets - which claimed that "women are not property" with the hashtag #notbuyingit - caught the attention of Trade Secret, one of the stockists of the singlet.

Trade Secret pulled it from their stores immediately:  Soon after, Ice Design followed suit:

News.com.au spoke to Ice Design's CEO Gary Leonard, who said that while he is unsure how many, "there were enough complaints" to warrant pulling the singlet from their ICE stores, stockists and online.

"We realise it did cause offence with some people and we do unequivocally apologise," he said. "It wasn't meant to offend anyone. It wasn't premeditated. Only when it hit the market place did we get a reaction.

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Absurdity and fahion go together so it is no surprise if the absurdity offends some people sometimes

Photos of white editor Dasha Zhukova sitting on 'black woman chair' sparks outrage



A [Russian] magazine has caused outrage after publishing a photo of a white editor perched on a ‘black woman’ chair as the US remembered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

New magazine Buro 247 has been accused of racism after it published a photo of Garage magazine editor-in-chief and Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova sitting on the chair, made of an almost-naked black female mannequin.

In the controversial photos, Zhukova, the partner of Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, is dressed in a crisp white shirt and jeans.

She is sitting in a dominant pose on top of the black model, who wears only gloves, stockings and a garter belt, with her breasts pushed up against her legs.

The image of the fully-dressed, in-charge white editor perched on a near-naked black woman, has sparked outrage and a slew of critical comments after it was posted online.

The image was even more shocking given that it was published on Martin Luther King Jr Day, a US public holiday in honour of the American civil rights leader.

Buro 247 is run by editor and style guru Miroslava Duma. The magazine has since cropped the chair out of the photograph.

Critics say the image highlights casual racism in the fashion industry.

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It was not an actual black woman  -- just a chair made in the shape of one.  It is pretty sick.  But respect for minorities is not big in Russia.

Jesus and Mo cartoon



Is this cartoon offensive?

The BBC thinks so. On their Sunday morning programme The Big Questions on 12th January, the producers opted not to display it to viewers even though the Jesus and Mo satirical comic strip was the very topic of debate. By doing so, they chose to manifest and perpetuate a certain hyper-sensitivity to an imagined sharia compliance with which very few British Muslims actually accord, let alone the vast majority of non-Muslims. By censoring this innocuous image, the BBC is inculcating the whole nation with the belief that depictions of Mohammed are haram - forbidden - and that everyone - people of all faiths and none - must respect and obey this precept.

Setting aside the irrefutable historic fact that Shia Muslims have a centuries-old tradition of depicting Mohammed, and this sort of strict censorship being principally a Sunni assertion of belief (including the malignant Wahhabi-Salafi strain), it is surely not for the state broadcaster to take a dogmatic view of the deeply-held sensitivities of one religious denomination, or to impose a moral view of religious blasphemy when Parliament has abolished the concept.

The fact that the BBC chose to censor a T-shirt depicting this cartoon rather upset Muslim Maajid Nawaz, who was a guest on the show. He proceeded to tweet out the image to his followers with the message: “This is not offensive & I'm sure God is greater than to feel threatened by it.” Mr Nawaz is a former member of the Islamist revolutionary group Hizb ut-Tahrir, and became director of the anti-extremist think-tank the Quilliam Foundation. He is now the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn. Mohammed is his prophet, and Islam is his faith. But he understands perfectly that some people view Islam is a vile ideology and, for many, Mohammed is no kind of prophet at all. And depicting Mohammed saying "Hey" to Jesus does not offend him in the slightest.

No reasonable person goes out of their way to cause offence. In this instance, Maajid Nawaz was simply challenging the BBC's (myopic) interpretation of a particular (narrow) view of sharia, and demonstrating that British Muslims are moderate and do not reach for the nearest meat-cleaver to dismember the apostate or behead the blaspheming kuffar.

Sadly, a few Muslims have now threatened Mr Nawaz with certain 'surprises', and others have been more explicit in what they would like to do to him

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Court: Bloggers have First Amendment protections

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by an Oregon bankruptcy trustee against a Montana blogger who wrote online that the court-appointed trustee criminally mishandled a bankruptcy case.

The appeals court ruled that the trustee was not a public figure, which could have invoked an even higher standard of showing the writer acted with malice, but the issue was of public concern, so the negligence standard applied.

Gregg Leslie of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press said the ruling affirms what many have long argued: Standards set by a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc., apply to everyone, not just journalists.

"It's not a special right to the news media," he said. "So it's a good thing for bloggers and citizen journalists and others."

Crystal L. Cox, a blogger from Eureka, Mont., now living in Port Townshend, Wash., was sued for defamation by Bend attorney Kevin Padrick and his company, Obsidian Finance Group LLC, after she made posts on several websites she created accusing them of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and other illegal activities. The appeals court noted Padrick and Obsidian were hired by Summit Accommodators to advise them before filing for bankruptcy, and that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court later appointed Padrick trustee in the Chapter 11 case. The court added that Summit had defrauded investors in its real estate operations through a Ponzi scheme.

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Must not portray East Asians as different

"How I Met Your Mother" co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have apologised on Twitter after the latest episode of the hit sitcom was accused of racism.

The show which aired on CBS in the US on Monday night, faced a social media backlash after it depicted several of its title characters in what viewers are dubbing "yellowface".

"I want to say a few words about #HowIMetYourRacism.we set out to make a silly and unabashedly immature homage to Kung Fu movies, a genre we've always loved," series co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas wrote in a joint tweet, apologising for any upset that they may have caused.

"But along the way we offended people. We're deeply sorry, and we're grateful to everyone who spoke up to make us aware of it."

The episode titled Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra focuses on one of the show's longest running gags - the slap bet.

In the episode, Marshall (Jason Segel) recalls how he learnt the Slap of a Million Exploding Suns on his "slapquest" from three grand masters; who as it turns out are played by Marshall friend's Robin, Lily and Ted.

The scenes were shot using generic, Asian-looking backdrops and Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, and Josh Radnor had their faces made-up to appear Asian, complete with black hair, black-rimmed eyes, and wearing Asian silk robes; Radnor even dons a Fu Manchu moustache.

Viewers of the show were quick to voice their disgust over the racial-based joke and created the hashtag #HowIMetYourRacism, which began trending shortly after the episode aired.

One viewer tweeted: "Yeah, seriously, that episode of #HIMYM was so bad I turned it off. I couldn't stomach it.

"Besides the gross orientalizing of the women, Ted wore a f---ing Fu Manchu 'stach! Who thought this was ok?

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British health service sent black woman letter saying her password was set as CHARCOAL SHADE for hospital website

A black woman is demanding an apology from NHS chiefs after she was sent a letter saying her password was set as 'charcoal shade' for a hospital website.

Leanda Probert, 31, from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, was horrified when she discovered the 'highly offensive' password in a letter asking her to book an online appointment with a pain management clinic.

The mother-of-one, who suffers from crippling condition fibromyalgia, said she thought NHS North Somerset was 'having a laugh' and 'taking the mick' when she opened the letter.

She said: 'I was very taken aback and highly offended.  'I understand these passwords are computer generated, but I just think certain words should not be included because they could be offensive to some people.

A spokesman for NHS North Somerset apologised for the blunder.

He said: 'North Somerset CCG would like to apologise for any offence that the password contained within the letter may have caused.

'The password was generated automatically by the central choose and book system with the words themselves randomly selected by an electronic database.'

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I suppose it was a bit unfortunate but being offended seems to be a major industry in Britain.

If someone called me "PAPER WHITE" I don't think I would object -- though I am more pink than white these days.