[BITList] Phil's stirred the pot again.

[HUGH]

Robbo,

Relax, it's the world.  Phil the Greek is know for his hilarious quips, so people queue up to analyse them for calorific value, etc.  They have built in "offendometers" that tell them when something is "offensive".  Most people are born with the ability to see offence in such as man-eating tigers, crocodiles and snakes, but some have additional gifts.  The latter feel obliged to keep the rest of us informed about what's current in the offence line, lest we err.  Not only that, they get paid for doing it.  Just this morning I read an account of a lady (67) in Norwich who felt the urge to write to her local authority protesting about some "gay pride" march that was to take place through the streets.  The deputy chief executive wrote back to the lady warning that she could face criminal charges.  "As a local authority we have a duty to eliminate discrimination of all kinds. A hate incident is any incident that is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hatred."  The lady was visited by two coppers and lectured about "hate crime".  Norfolk Constabulary has defended its action against the lady as "proportionate".  So, now we have to beware of something called "a hate incident", defined as more or less any damned thing anyone wishes to define it as. Both sides in this matter irritate me, but I know the difference between irritation and offence.  You're not alone, Robbo.

Hugh.
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