This terrible blight, lowest of all forms of human depravity, continues to afflict humanity.
An aide to tycoon Donald Trump has accused Scottish councillor Sam Coull of making a racist remark after he was sent a letter mocking his New Jersey accent …
The councillor wrote [to the Trump flunky]: “Only a few weeks ago, your Mr Sorial was reported in The Scotsman newspaper as describing myself and three colleagues as scoundrels. ‘Scoundrel’ may be a term of endearment in Noo Joysee and scoundrels very probably abound the streets and tower blocks there. But I have never met your Mr Sorial …”
“I wouldn’t wish to share the same street with him for any length of time,” Mr Sorial complained about the “nasty comments,” saying: “He made fun of my New Jersey accent. “I can respect that he disagrees with what we are doing but when you start making comments which I believe to be racist, I think you have stepped over the line.
A former art director for Martha Stewart’s magazine “Martha Stewart Living” was fired for complaining about an Asian stereotype set to appear in print, according to a $3 million suit.
Pei Hsieh, a Chinese-American, says she flagged the phrase in an e-mail to a supervisor after seeing it in a description of a lampshade that resembled “the Southeast Asian conical-shaped hats traditionally worn by laborers for sun protection.”
“It is fraught with derogatory connotations, and its usage perpetuates negative stereotypes of Asians,” Hsieh wrote in the August 2007 e-mail to a boss, according to her Manhattan federal suit.
[See also here — JD]
Plan to legalise parakeet shoots branded “racist” by wildlife experts
A move to shoot ring-necked parakeets to cut their numbers has been branded “racist” by wildlife experts …
But London Wildlife Trust said there is “little evidence” that a cull of parakeets — with their bright green plumage, red beaks and ear-piercing screech — is justified. It added that parakeets, which originate from the Himalayas, are ‘as British as curry’ and represent the London’s cultural and historical diversity. … With up to 40,000 of the wild parrots thought to be in London and the South-East … it feared that they could soon outnumber native species …
[But on the other hand:]
[Pro-cull conservationist honcho] Helen Phillips said there was a “vital” need to control exotic and non-native species. “Non-native species are a major threat to global biodiversity and it is important that licences can operate as an effective tool in helping to tackle the problem,” she said.
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