Political Correctness gone mad

[Haversack]

No apology or defence is necessary. The professional study of food, settlement patterns, and culture is for me, A Path Not Taken. I still have a great deal of interest in the topic and can get a bit pedantic. The origin and spread of foodstuffs is for me fascinating. Equally so is how various peoples look on the foods they eat and those they don't eat. There is no "right" or "wrong" Is there any reason for a Thai to look down on Italians just because Italians have not traditionaly used coconut meat in their cuisine?

Haversack.

 

[Senator Jack]

fftopic:

On my first trip to London, in 1990, it seemed to me that pizza had just arrived, because as a woman squinted at the menu, she asked in a very Karloff-ian manner, 'What's or-e-gawn-o?'

My then-wife and I puzzled over that for a bit. Was it possible that in the latter days of the 20th century there were still some English-speaking people who had never heard of oregano?

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Viola]

I never understood how garlic-eater could be taken offensively - till I started traveling around a bit and realized that whitebread America thought garlic was some sort of exotic food. (like bagels and shish-ke-bob)

As an Italian-cooking Jew, (still looking for my opposite number, a Sicilian who knows a good kugel recipe...) that scares the hell out of me! If I move I'll have nothing to eat! lol

It still weirds me out when bacon comes standard on bagels. I mean, I guess they've hit the mainstream, but are we not missing something here, folks?

 

[Terry Lennox]

this is still a discussion on Political Correctness.. right? Or did I turn the channel and find the food network?

 

[Haversack]

Viola wrote:
"It still weirds me out when bacon comes standard on bagels. I mean, I guess they've hit the mainstream, but are we not missing something here, folks?"

Ah, this is exactly the sort of thing I find fascinating. Here you have a foodstuff with very clear cultural origins being adopted and adapted by another culture. There are even ownership issues. Look at chicken tikka masala in the UK or pizza in the US. Each have clear cultural origins but each has also gone native in ways unimaginable in the originating culture. Compare Lindt chocolate to the original Aztec cornmeal, chili pepper, and chocolate drink for another example. Foodstuffs, particularly luxury foodstuffs, have historically been adopted across cultures very rapidly*. The post- WWII increase in the circulation of peoples world-wide continues this trend.

Haversack.
*Two exceptions to this are the basic supporting food, (e.g. potatoes supplanting rye), and in cultures who's diet is enshrined to separate it from other cultures. (e.g. Jains).

P.S. Sorry about the side-tracking of this thread. My fault I'm afraid. It was the whole "garlic-eater, mackerel-snapper, bean-eater, rosbif way of explaining how food can be made un-PC)

 

[Haversack]

Since I helped to side-track this thread, here is an effort to help get it back on its course and build up a head of steam.

Oft times now, it seems that whenever there is an event in which language must be corrected in order to not give offense, it is laid at the door of the Faceless Board of Political Correctness. We should remember that the FBPC are only the latest neighbor living on the Good Think block. Old Mrs. Grundy is still alive and is still receiving mail. Of course people have learned that they can sometimes tell her where to get off.

An example of this would the case of Whorehouse Meadows in the Steens Mountain area of Central Oregon. It acquired its name back in the 19th C. when entrepenuers of the female persuassion would set up tent camps there in the Spring when the grazing was sweet and green and the population of shepherds and cowboys would be high. Well, the name stuck down throught the years until in 1971 someone on the Bureau of Land Management thought that this was rude and offensive and changed it on all the Federally issued maps to Naughty Girl Meadows. Now people out in that part of the country are few and far between and generally get on with what they are doing withour much mind to what some bureaucrat back in Washington thinks. Well, it took awhile before people noticed what had happened, but when they did they let out a ruckus that lasted for ten years until the BLM changed the name back to Whorehouse Meadows in 1981. As a fillip to Mrs. Grundy, they let the namechange of Bullshirt Creek stand because it hardly mattered in the spelling.

Now I hope I haven't given any offence here with this tale. I mainly intended it to illustrate that sometimes the FBPC is not the only ones to watch out for.

Haversack.

 

[Roger]

That's the flaw right there. With that kind of thinking, terror has totally won - because you're terrified of your own neighbours. Remember the very caucasian US army deserter who defected to fight for bin Laden? Or the "Monsters on Maple Street" Twilight Zone epsiode? Maybe the terrorists are going to start recruiting those radical types, and nutjobs like the easily led Aryan Nations flakes, or terminally ill old Irish ladies who'll get a nice bank deposit for their families if they end their own misery with some C-4 in a crowded market... all the while they have everyone paranoid and looking for the brown guys with facial hair. Terrorists are counting on people being fundamentally stupid.

Ask Rodney King whether racial profiling is fundamentally stupid. I'm sure he's got an opionion on it.

I'm done. On to the original PC topic again.

That type of political correctness logic you just laid out is useless. So far there have been no terminally ill 80 year old Irish women strapping bombs to themselves. Do not insult our intelligence. So far the majority of terrorists attacks have been by Middle Eastern or Mid-Eastern looking men between the age of 16-36. Terrorists are counting on [law enforcement] being so fundamentally stupid as to think that there is the slightest chance of 80 year old women committing suicide for profit.:eusa_doh:

 

[Senator Jack]

This whole thing has gone too far. I was at the airport last week and they had a little old lady that they had to pull off to the side. It seems she hadn't travelled by plane for some years, and had tried to take some yarn and knitting needles on board. Well, they harassed her for a half hour and held us all up, and she wanted to what they thought she was going to do with those knitting needles. So the agent tells her, 'Hey lady, for all we know, you could knit yourself an Afghan.'

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Phil]

Chief Illiniwek

I think the biggest piece of malarkey I've heard recently is that some native American want to get rid of Chief Illiniwek :rage: . If you're not familiar with the Chief, he's the mascot of the Unversity of Illinois in Champagne-Urbana. What I don't get is why there is such a big fuss over Chief Illiniwek. It's only a mascot. Why not have the Irish remove the Fighting Irishman logo? Why not rename University of Southern Carolina's mascot the Gameroosters instead of the Gamecocks? Because it's just a mascot! It's not harming anyone, I don't think less of native Americans because of Chief Illiniwek. And if they're going to get rid of him, why not the Cleveland Indians, that's a non-PC term. Why not make every mascot everywhere in our country PC friendly? The answer is simple, because nothing will ever be good enough, nothing is 100% PC.

 

[Briscoeteque]

Actually, people advocating racial profiling of middle-easter men would be mistaken. Guess what terrorist group hits the nation way more than Al Queda? I haven't the link, but believe it or not it's ALF/ELF, the Animal/Earth Liberation front. It's a shame that they're damaging the impact of legitmate enviromentalist groups, but they are way more active, if often more incompetant. But they are more often white than anything else. There's more kinds of terrorism besides Islamic Fundementalists.

And guess what? Terrorists know we've got a profile. So they have disguises too. It's not that hard to get age makeup if you really want to.

People get far more riled up about political correctness than nessesary. It's not as pervasive as people think it is. Maybe on a national scale, but I don't encounter too many personal situations when I've had to use a cumbersome term to avoid offending someone. And after all, that's all PC is. If Native Americans find a mascot offensive, well, that's their perogitive! You know, we did kind of invade their land, we don't need to have a huge cartoon stereotype too. If Irish people find the fighting Irish so offensive, then I'd want a new mascot too. I really don't blame them. Would it be *so* horrible to have mascots be animals or something? Instead of racial caricatures? Tradition's well and good, but if that tradition is based upon flat out patronizing cultures that have already have enough, the least you could do is just acknowledge that. PC does go too far, but you really don't have to deal with it if you don't want to. Say Good Boy or Good Girl, there's no PC police, and if there were, they'd be too whimpy to stop you. It's really a nonissue.

 

[Lincsong]

The whole purpose of a mascot is to instill pride and honor for a team. Having a chief, warrior, or Padre, is not to deride any group. These so called representatives of minorities are narcissitic who want attention. When I was at the University of Hawaii, they changed the mascot from a Hawaiian Warrior to a marshmallow. The poor guy who dress up as a marshmallow on the first football game got sacked. Imagine how terrified that person must have felt to be locked into a marshmallow and have a group of imbeciles attack you. But, did the PC crowd have any sympathy for the poor person who dressed up in that mascot? No they were concerned about the "feelings" of those who may be offended by a warrior as their mascot.:eusa_doh:

 

[Twitch]

Roger- exactly!
Senator Jack- this is not a singular episode. A good comedy routine would be Habib and his friends sneaking on board while all the securiuty guys are clustered around the dangerous old lady.lol

 

[Lincsong]

Airplane

Roger- exactly!
Senator Jack- this is not a singular episode. A good comedy routine would be Habib and his friends sneaking on board while all the securiuty guys are clustered around the dangerous old lady.lol

In the comedy Airplane! in the opening scenes there is a sequence where people are walking through security, Arab terrorists are walking through with bazooka's and guns, no alarm and no one says a word. Then some old lady walks through, the buzzer sounds and all the security guards jump on her and throw her against the wall.lol lol lol Talk about movies mirroring reality. Oh yes, old women are the biggest threats to us, but Arab men aren't.:eusa_doh: :eusa_doh: Heck, I remember one time in SFO waiting for a flight there was a rather large woman in her '60s whose bra was sounding off the alarm, she had to lift up her blouse as they passed the wand around her.:rage: :rage: Yes, we need elderly profiling. NOT!

 

[Raegan]

And how about this....a hand-washing policy, making children not only clean their hands every time they see dirt but leave the water running while they grab a paper handtowel to turn the tap off takes the notion of squeaky-clean, wasting water, paranoia and fear to whole new levels: worrying about sexism, germs, difference, prejudice and anti-discrimination classes - all before they're out of nappies. Some would say it's the perfect breeding ground for a Howard Hughes type of germophobe!

If I see dirt on my hands I wash them (not that they get that dirty,) so I don't see any issues with teaching kids to wash their hands if they see dirt on them. Children are constantly sticking their hands and fingers in their mouths. Washing hands is the best thing you can do to stop the transmission of things like the common cold, so why wouldn't we teach that to our children.

And as far as leaving the water running and shutting off the faucet with a dry paper towel...I'm a nursing student and that's what we've been taught. I don't do it at home, but in a clinical setting you bet. It seems a bit much for small kids, but that is the method that's taught, because why would you wash all those germs off your hands and then grab the faucets that your dirty hands just touched?

 

[jamespowers]

The whole purpose of a mascot is to instill pride and honor for a team. Having a chief, warrior, or Padre, is not to deride any group. These so called representatives of minorities are narcissitic who want attention. When I was at the University of Hawaii, they changed the mascot from a Hawaiian Warrior to a marshmallow. The poor guy who dress up as a marshmallow on the first football game got sacked. Imagine how terrified that person must have felt to be locked into a marshmallow and have a group of imbeciles attack you. But, did the PC crowd have any sympathy for the poor person who dressed up in that mascot? No they were concerned about the "feelings" of those who may be offended by a warrior as their mascot.:eusa_doh:

That brings to mind The University of Northern Colorado and their Brave (Native) as a mascot. The Indian ciommunity got mad and put up a fuss. They changed the mascot to the Fighting Whites to illustrate to the "whites" how bad it is. The result?

A great design that sold out the first week it was offered. They have tons of new merchandise witht he new mascot and it sells like hotcakes. I think I might like to have one. That mascot kind of reminds me of a vintage man. I guess that kills that "I'll show you" PC moment. lol

Regards,

J

 

[Terry Lennox]

Roger- exactly!
Senator Jack- this is not a singular episode. A good comedy routine would be Habib and his friends sneaking on board while all the securiuty guys are clustered around the dangerous old lady.lol

What would the security guys names be? I think it'd be funny to use another racial stereotype name for them too!

Oh let me add those annoying smiles too...lol lol lol lol lol

 

[John in Covina]

SOme people would say, you are only a victim if you allow yourself to be one.

 

[jamespowers]

SOme people would say, you are only a victim if you allow yourself to be one.

Exactly.

Fighting White dude.

Regards,

J

 

[scotrace]

The Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo comes under fire about every season.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Here's an answer to Chief Wahoo,...

Is this more PC?