Jottings
“ dismissed ” by the top civil servant Leslie Evans .
The government north of the border says the move would be “ advancing LGBTI equality ” and would encourage people to feel “ respected .” But the feminist campaigning group For Women Scotland said the it would mean that the government of Nicola Sturgeon would , “ potentially , be discriminating against a protected belief and also inviting sex discrimination .” The group described the proposal as , “ deeply stupid and undemocratic .” No final decision on the issue has yet been made and a second poll of staff is to be held this month to find out if there has been any change .
Last year , the BBC said all its staff would be encouraged to update their email signatures to include a pronoun . The guidance , as reported by The Times , reads , “ It lets colleagues know your pronouns and shows that you respect other people ’ s too . It ’ s really simple .” The Corporation even tweeted a threat that anyone who challenged gender ideology would be “ reported to the cops .”
But it ’ s not just Auntie Beeb going all woke . A classic hit song by the Weather Girls has recently been recorded with revised lyrics to mark World Pride month with the aim of making everyone feel included ,
“ It ’ s raining men ,” has become “ It ’ s raining them ,” with the blessing of the song ’ s writer Paul Schaffer . “ So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy ,” has become “ So that each and every person could find their perfect type ,” while the reference to Mother Nature ” being a “ single woman ” is now “ They ’ re a single person .” Despite the changes , it ’ s apparently still OK to get “ absolutely soaking wet .”
Not currying favour
The word “ curry ” should no longer be used to describe south-Asian dishes , according to Chaheti Bansal , an American who accused the British of cultural appropriation last month . “ There ’ s a saying that the food in India changes every 100 kilometres ,” she said on August 9 , “ and yet we ’ re still using this umbrella term popularised by white people who couldn ' t be bothered to learn the actual names of our dishes .”
The 27-year-old , who has nearly a million social media followers on the online cooking show Rooted In Spice , wants to people to “ unlearn ” the word curry as it has long been used by foreigners to describe any dish made on the Asian subcontinent .
Her comments have , unsurprisingly , caused a huge debate with some claiming she had triggered a “ woke ” colonialism row . Most voluble in the outcry was Simon McCoy on the GB News television channel who described Bansal ’ s arguments as “ ridiculous ” and “ utter madness .” He continued , “ We ’ ve all grown up with curries , Indians go to curry houses , they open curry houses . There ’ s nothing wrong with that word curry .” Pat Chapman of the UK ’ s Good Curry Guide fumed , “ Oh my God ! What ’ s next ? It ’ s a crazy idea that something ought now to be cancelled because of its supposed links to the past . The word curry has served us very well for many , many years .”
Headline News
The best cheesy headline of the summer appeared above a touching animal story about Sam , a nine-year-old black cat , who went out for a wander in October 2014 from his home but never returned . His owners in the Merseyside town of Bootle spent days searching for him and after they moved house , gave up any hope of ever seeing him again .
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