OFF: Freeedom of Speech

[Paul Mather]

On Mon, 2006-02-20 at 04:22 -0500, Alastair Sumner wrote:
> > I guess if they really wanted to toady out of fear, they'd append "(peace
> be upon him)" after every mention of the term "The Prophet Mohammed..." ;-)
>
> According to one source, they once did. I don't have time to verify that so
> take it as you like.

I was reading one comment article in the Guardian and came upon that
appended phrase.  I thought it was odd, so I scrolled back up and saw
that the author was the head of some Muslim council or similar, so
figured it was force of habit/required and made sense.

It would be odd to hear the main newscasters or reporters say the
phrase, but not someone being interviewed or taking part in a roundtable
discussion.

> > What next, though, gripes that they're calling Burma Myanmar and Peking
> > Beijing these days?  Some people are just too sensitive...
>
> Do I sense sensitivity to criticism of a hallowed British institution?

No, it just reminded me of the contradictions I see in people whingeing
about Political Correctness.

But, I will go on record and say I appreciate the BBC infinitely more
since being in the USA than when I lived in Blighty.  To be honest, I'd
swap any channel I get here for the BBC in a heartbeat.  You never miss
the water until the well runs dry.

Cheers,

Paul.
--
e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa