Political correctness & other nonsensical rubbish

[Liverpool]

Every day we come across rules or regulations that make you think..."What the..?"
This is the thread where you can all vent your spleen about the over the top rubbish we must endure on a daily basis.

The first one I will mention today is this one.....a Missy Higgins concert in Perth.
We've all heard of concerts not allowing you to bring your own drinks in, either sealed or unsealed...but this is going another step further.
It's bad enough that people got banned from entering because there was a "no blankets allowed" clause (didn't know there were 'killer blankets' out there... :-\) but to put something on the back of a ticket warning people not to bring spears or crocodiles to the gig is going to extreme lengths:


Blankets a 'security risk' at Belvoir Missy Higgins concert
December 03, 2007 10:00am
HUNDREDS of Missy Higgins fans were turned away from Belvoir Amphitheatre last night because of a bizarre ban on blankets.
Concert-goers who had queued for up to an hour in the Swan Valley paddock were told to return rugs to their cars - and join the end of the queue again - because picnic blankets were a "security risk".
Pregnant women were allowed to take in a cushion or a rug, but everyone else had to forfeit comforts, including fold-up chairs and picnic baskets with food and drinks.
A crowd controller told us our blue-and-white woolly blanket with tassels was a security risk.
The food ban meant those caught unaware - or who didn't smuggle rolls through security - were hungry as well as cold as they joined enormous queues inside for food and drinks.
When are venue owners and concert promoters going to treat Perth crowds with some respect and intelligence and offer us the freedom we deserve to enjoy ourselves?
Logic and warmth wouldn't go astray.
And - in an even more bizarre twist - the back of the tickets warned fans not to bring in "crocodiles or spears'' either.
Shiver me timbers.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22860627-2761,00.html

 

[Liverpool]

The second one for today is this....people trying to ban Santa from saying 'ho ho ho' because it could be derogatory to women:


Santa fury at 'ho, ho, ho' ban
November 15, 2007 12:00am
HE is an unlikely revolutionary but this Christmas, Santa is a rebel with a claus.
He is having the last laugh on political correctness - and it's a great big fat belly laugh.
Santas across Sydney are rebelling against attempts to ban their traditional greeting of "ho, ho, ho" in favour of "ha, ha, ha".
Recruitment firm Westaff - which supplies hundreds of Santas across the country - has told its trainees that the "ho ho ho" phrase could frighten children and could even be derogatory to women.
Two Santa hopefuls reportedly quit the course because of the hullabaloo of the ho, ho, ho.
One would-be Santa has told The Daily Telegraph he was taught not to use "ho, ho, ho" because it was too close to the American slang for prostitute. He also quit.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22759570-5001021,00.html

 

[Tiger74]

To be fair Liv, the Santa one was the recruitment company acting on their own, the retailers all slammed them and they eventually backed down.

On the concert, agree on the blankets but food is an old one. They want you to buy it there (yes I am looking to you Collo and your Nandos ban at the Dome )

 

[evo]

Being caught at a Missy Higgins concert should be grounds for arrest for crimes against good taste.

So the transgressor may as well bring a blanky and salad roll for the long stay overnight.

 

[Tigers of Old]

The one that always makes me laugh is the changing of the lyrics of Baa Baa Black Sheep on Playschool etc..

I think the latest version is Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep or some such nonsense.

Hilarious. :rofl

What's next?

Three visually impaired Mice? :spin

 

[Tigers of Old]

I googled it and found this *smile* take (credit to the original author).

Baa Baa (or any sound a wool byproduct animal and/or animal with a speech difference may say) rainbow creature with a byproduct of wool, their first product being that of life.
Have you any spare bodily features that might be organically and harmlessly taken from said creature with minimum stress?
Yes sir, madam or any other life form or race or being that is equal to all others, yes sir, madam, those of which are both equal in statutory rights and society, three (or any other non-offensive non-religious number) containers full.
One for the male who is equal in power to any other gender,
One for the female who is also as equal in power and not inclined to stay and do housework and produce offspring,
And another for the young male of no specific religion or origin, who, under the age of eight is not considered any lesser to a young male or female of more time since birth, and although lives in a narrow street, should not be stereotyped as poor, chemically-dependent or abusing, or in anyway lower in society to someone who may be older, younger, of other origin, religion, gender, or species.

:hihi

 

[Liverpool]

To be fair Liv, the Santa one was the recruitment company acting on their own, the retailers all slammed them and they eventually backed down.

No problem Tiger74...but the point being WHY did Westaff act on their own regarding this in the first place?
Why act at all?
Is Santa saying 'ho ho ho' that bad all of a sudden they they deemed it necessary to change to begin with?

The one that always makes me laugh is the changing of the lyrics of Baa Baa Black Sheep on Playschool etc..
I think the latest version is Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep or some such nonsense.
Hilarious. :rofl
What's next?
Three visually impaired Mice? :spin

No...but not far off:

School bans pigs stories
A West Yorkshire head teacher has banned books containing stories about pigs from the classroom in case they offend Muslim children.
The literature has been removed from classes for under-sevens at Park Road Junior Infant and Nursery School in Batley.
Head Barbara Harris said the books would remain in the school library for children to read.
Sixty per cent of the school's pupils are of Pakistani or Indian origin and 99% of these pupils are Muslims.
Mrs Harris said in a statement: "Recently I have been aware of an occasion where young Muslim children in class were read stories about pigs.
"We try to be sensitive to the fact that for Muslims talk of pigs is offensive."
The head teacher sent a memo to staff saying fiction books containing stories about pigs should be removed from early years and key stage one classrooms.
Mrs Harris added: "The books remain in the school library and there is nothing to stop our younger children having stories such as 'The Three Little Pigs' in small groups."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2818809.stm


What irks me with many of these 'political correctness gone mad stories' is that often, it is NOT the minority group that has complained.
In many instances, they are tolerant towards another culture...it is the social-engineering left who butt their noses in and try to change something that THEY think is offensive to a minority group, when the minority group themselves have no problem with it.
One such example a couple of years ago was when British banks decided to get rid of the 'piggy bank' because they thought it might be offensive to Muslims.
There was a lot of anger directed at the Muslims about this...when in fact, they had not complained about piggy-banks...it was the social-engineers who had deemed that it may be offensive to them.
So here is a minority group the social engineers were trying to 'protect' (when they didn't ask for protection to begin with) and in the end, all that happened was a lot of anger aimed at Muslims for piggy banks being removed by these lefty banks.

You can read about this here:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Piggy-banks-offend-UK-Muslims/2005/10/24/1130006056771.html

 

[TigerForce]

Oh no Liverpool why did you start this thread................it's gonna make me siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

Pedantics, Extremists, Goody-goodies, Ego-heads, "Listen to me coz I'm always right" pricks..............

 

[Liverpool]

Oh no Liverpool why did you start this thread................it's gonna make me siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick
Pedantics, Extremists, Goody-goodies, Ego-heads, "Listen to me coz I'm always right" pricks..............

:hihi...I had to...sorry.
Every day I come across something like what I have posted so far that makes me shake my head in disbelief.
Now we have a thread to post what a mad world we live in.

Did many of you know that the early episodes of 'Sesame Street' have been classified as 'AO' (for kids reading this, AO = "Adults Only", before all the modern "M" and "MA" ratings you have now).

The US censors have decided episodes of Sesame Street made between 1969 and 1974 warrant an AO rating on their DVD release. "These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child," the warning reads.
In their crosshairs were those reprehensible characters Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird (whose hallucinations about Mr Snuffleupagus were seen to be encouraging "delusional behaviour").
Apparently Cookie Monster's greedy munching of cookies, plates and other items including a pipe was sending the wrong message to kids, as were Oscar's bad manners, sarcasm, and use of an unhygienic garbage bin as a home.
Even Bert's morning grumpiness toward his flatmate and sunny best friend Ernie raised eyebrows and drew tut-tuts from those in charge of looking out for the best interests of our children. Fancy a child being exposed to a character with a range of emotions.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22857738-7583,00.html

 

[ronnit]

what about poor old Big Ears and Noddy..out they went....cos the naughty toys were golliwogs..and cos Big Ears and Noddy slept together..paleese...adn did mR plod hit people...think he went round hitting the skittle people....

oh...did i offend anyone.....

 

[taztiger4]

what about Captain Pugwash banned because of Seaman Staines and Master Bates !!!

 

[TigerForce]

:hihi...I had to...sorry.
Every day I come across something like what I have posted so far that makes me shake my head in disbelief.
Now we have a thread to post what a mad world we live in.

Did many of you know that the early episodes of 'Sesame Street' have been classified as 'AO' (for kids reading this, AO = "Adults Only", before all the modern "M" and "MA" ratings you have now).

The US censors have decided episodes of Sesame Street made between 1969 and 1974 warrant an AO rating on their DVD release. "These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today's preschool child," the warning reads.
In their crosshairs were those reprehensible characters Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird (whose hallucinations about Mr Snuffleupagus were seen to be encouraging "delusional behaviour").
Apparently Cookie Monster's greedy munching of cookies, plates and other items including a pipe was sending the wrong message to kids, as were Oscar's bad manners, sarcasm, and use of an unhygienic garbage bin as a home.
Even Bert's morning grumpiness toward his flatmate and sunny best friend Ernie raised eyebrows and drew tut-tuts from those in charge of looking out for the best interests of our children. Fancy a child being exposed to a character with a range of emotions.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22857738-7583,00.html

Let's not talk about the 'violence' noticed in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.............................................. :

 

[Six Pack]

Found this in the archives. Didn't know how to quote something from another thread, so I cut and pasted it.

Quote from: richards42 on January 26, 2007, 11:36:44 am
The softest thing of all time is political correctness.


"I believe that what is 's o f t' is people who fling this term around without thinking what it really means.

It has become a perjorative term for many people and it is used as some sort of throwaway term that is supposed to be an answer or rationale for just about any argument.

In fact, don't you think that really what it means is that individuals and groups need to think about what they say and do.

in other words, it's more about manners and courtesy than anything robotic or institutionalised 'correct behaviour'

If for example, you were eating a meal cooked by your elderly and frail grandmother, and it was really really bad, would you yell at her, 'this is crap, i have never eaten such rubbish!!!'

No, you probably wouldn't. Because this would be impolite, inappropriate and insensitive.

But it doesn't mean you are being politically correct if you don't abuse her about the quality of the meal.

It means you would be thinking about what you say and how you behave. What's wrong with that?"

 

[Tiger74]

No problem Tiger74...but the point being WHY did Westaff act on their own regarding this in the first place?
Why act at all?
Is Santa saying 'ho ho ho' that bad all of a sudden they they deemed it necessary to change to begin with?

No...but not far off:

How it happened is nothing to do with political correctness, but idiotic staff with too much time on their hands and too few braincells to use.

They are the types that come up with:

1) Performance incentives for staff based upon sales they personally generate, when the staff have no involvement in sales.

2) Performance reviews where the format changes every year, so that your KPI's from your current year keep baing made redundant for the next assessment.

3) Having only one manager approved to sign off on payments, which have 30 days terms and the manager is often out of the country for 2 months.

4) Having internal systems which require a customer to undergo a D&B credit check even though they paid cash in advance.

These were all real life cases I have been subjected too, and they all came from a similar dept I imagine to the git who did the santa thing.

 

[TigerForce]

Found this in the archives. Didn't know how to quote something from another thread, so I cut and pasted it.

Quote from: richards42 on January 26, 2007, 11:36:44 am
The softest thing of all time is political correctness.


"I believe that what is 's o f t' is people who fling this term around without thinking what it really means.

It has become a perjorative term for many people and it is used as some sort of throwaway term that is supposed to be an answer or rationale for just about any argument.

In fact, don't you think that really what it means is that individuals and groups need to think about what they say and do.

in other words, it's more about manners and courtesy than anything robotic or institutionalised 'correct behaviour'

If for example, you were eating a meal cooked by your elderly and frail grandmother, and it was really really bad, would you yell at her, 'this is crap, i have never eaten such rubbish!!!'

No, you probably wouldn't. Because this would be impolite, inappropriate and insensitive.

But it doesn't mean you are being politically correct if you don't abuse her about the quality of the meal.

It means you would be thinking about what you say and how you behave. What's wrong with that?"

That example is totally irrelevant.

Political correctness deals with bigger issues not family stuff. When a kid refers to his dad as 'my old man' it doesn't make his dad feel insulted does it?

There are various ethnics who are called other names and obese people who get stirred up by others, and these people with common sense take it as a fact rather than an insult (i.e. if you're black, you're black and if you're fat, you're fat). It's just the over-sensitive, temperamental idiots who expect a perfect world for themselves and always are the ones crying for their security and their rights rather than accepting what you have and what you live in.

 

[Six Pack]

Instead of being so critical and going off half-cocked we could all try being a bit more understanding and try and walk around in each other's shoes for a bit.

 

[Disco08]

That example is totally irrelevant.

Political correctness deals with bigger issues not family stuff. When a kid refers to his dad as 'my old man' it doesn't make his dad feel insulted does it?

There are various ethnics who are called other names and obese people who get stirred up by others, and these people with common sense take it as a fact rather than an insult (i.e. if you're black, you're black and if you're fat, you're fat). It's just the over-sensitive, temperamental idiots who expect a perfect world for themselves and always are the ones crying for their security and their rights rather than accepting what you have and what you live in.

One of the facts of life is that some people are more susceptible to emotional trauma than others. While some people may be able to face facts others can't and having the facts pointed out to them can be very detrimental to their state of mind.

This of course has nothing to do with the ridiculousness of baa baa rainbow sheep.

 

[Liverpool]

Instead of being so critical and going off half-cocked we could all try being a bit more understanding and try and walk around in each other's shoes for a bit.

This post is a perfect example of the title of the thread and why I started it...."political correctness and nonsensical rubbish".
Thanks for your contribution Sixpack! :clap

The thing is Sixpack...the "other's shoes" you talk about...many of these people (such as the Muslims and the piggy bank ban) are not offended to begin with.
Much of this nonsense is instigated by left wing social engineers who have nothing better to do than go around changing things THINKING they know what the people in the 'other shoes' are offended by.

Maybe you should aim your post at these do-gooders and not at the people who complain about the consequences these idiots have brought on to the rest of us.



Remember this classic one:

Udink - you don't!
Sep 25 2007
A family in Oregon have been ordered to scrap their personalised car number plates because they feature their Dutch last name which is similar to an offensive word.
The plates, UDINK1 UDINK2 and UDINK3 are on the vehicles of Mike and Shelly Udink and their son Kalei. Two of the plates are five and seven years old. One was issued last year.
A State official said: “DINK has several derogatory meanings,” adding that the word can be treated as a verb, which gives it a sexual reference, and also can be a racial slur targeted at the Vietnamese. He said the “U” in the front could be construed as “You.”
The panel's ruling surprised Mike Udink, whose name is Dutch. He says it is a common last name in The Netherlands.
"Since when can a panel dictate whether your name's offensive or not?" asked Udink, a lineman for Pacific Power.

 

[Six Pack]

You can denigrate me all you like Livers, but we all got to try and get on better. A bit more understanding and empathy is not political correctness, it's just common sense.

 

[Liverpool]

You can denigrate me all you like Livers, but we all got to try and get on better. A bit more understanding and empathy is not political correctness, it's just common sense.

I'll say it again:

The thing is Sixpack...the "other's shoes" you talk about...many of these people (such as the Muslims and the piggy bank ban) are not offended to begin with.
Much of this nonsense is instigated by left wing social engineers who have nothing better to do than go around changing things THINKING they know what the people in the 'other shoes' are offended by.
Maybe you should aim your post at these do-gooders and not at the people who complain about the consequences these idiots have brought on to the rest of us.