The Onion has really been knocking it out of the park lately with their dings on both sides of the party lines.

Cindy McCain Claims She’s “Just Like Any Other Female Human”

That one was my favorite until this gem came along:

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Also, take the time to read this short post, it’s hilarious.

Meet Sackboy, the star of the upcomming game LittleBigplanet.  A game that revolves around user created content and a sense of community.  How can you not love this little guy?  Right now, Sony might not feel a lot of love for the adorable scamp.

On Thursday the 16th, a person (who had obtained the game before the initial release date) made a post on the Playstation forums saying that the background music of one level contained two verses of the Koran in it.  He further went on to say that “as a Muslim” he was deeply offended by this and asked Sony to release a patch that removed the music from the game.  Sony’s reaction?  They immediately recalled every disc of the game they had shipped and rushed to print new copies.  So now the game that was supposed to be in stores tomorrow will not see the shelves for another two weeks.

On the surface, this isn’t that big a deal.  Sure people will have to wait another couple weeks for one of the most highly anticipated games of the year.  Not that big a deal.  What I find troubling is the underlying issue:  Sony’s alarmist reaction to the complaint.

In 2007, the Church of England took offense to Sony using the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.  This was a huge issue for the church and it was even discussed in the British Parliament.  Sony’s ultimate response?  Basically they told the church to shove it.  So now, a year later 1 person complained “as a Muslim” and they are falling all over themselves to correct the “issue”.  So what’s the difference here?  Did Sony learn a lesson from the troubles they had last year?  Or is it another case of over reaction because someone said the “M word”?

I find it offensive as a rational, thinking human being that we’re so quick to be tolerant of intolerant acts.  Everyone is so afraid of offending anyone that everything is becoming watered down on the off chance we might hurt someone’s feelings.  When do we start passing out the soma?

Is Sony actually concerned about offending a religious group?  The Church of England issues would indicate that isn’t a concern.  Are they actually more worried about violent outbursts by “Muslim extremist”?

I think as a society we are slowly hanging ourselves with a rope of political correctness.

Update

M. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the non-profit American Islamic Forum for Democracy said, “Muslims cannot benefit from freedom of expression and religion and then turn around and ask that anytime their sensibilities are offended that the freedom of others be restricted.

“The free market allows for expression of disfavor by simply not purchasing a game that may be offensive.”

Good for him to make a public statement about the issue.  Of course, I really don’t think this will change any of the ridiculous behavior we have seen and will continue to see around over-accommodation for Muslims.  But it’s a start.

See this cute puppy?  This is rebel, a Scottish Police dog-in-training.

He is also the cause of a big stir over in Scotland where Rebel has outraged the Muslim community in Tayside.  The police there started passing out postcards to make people aware of a new non-emergency contact number.  They soon started receiving phone calls from Muslims complaining about the adds because they consider dogs to be “ritually unclean”.

The police department responded with, “We did not seek advice from the force’s diversity adviser prior to publishing and distributing the postcards. That was an oversight and we apologise for any offence caused.”  This is mindnumblingly ridiculous political correctness!

I guess we can take a little comfort in knowing that other countries have to deal with this kind of nonsense as well.

An interesting point to consider:  if Rebel is a police dog, isn’t he technically an officer of the law?  So basically they are saying that they find a member of the police to be offensive.  I’ve heard a lot of people in Santa Cruz say they find police to be offensive, but it didn’t get them anywhere.

Spiro Agnew was the man!