HALLMARK FACES COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT AND CHARGES OF HOMOPHOBIA OVER “DECK THE HALLS”

November 1, 2013 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Kansas City, MO – Most everyone who believes in Christmas grew up singing the carol, “Deck The Halls.” It is of Welsh origin, dating back to the sixteenth century. The Welsh lyrics were penned by John Jones Talhaiarn with English words by Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant.

Now, the Kansas-based Hallmark, makers of the famous Hallmark greeting cards, has changed the lyrics of the Christmas carol on its new design of a Christmas-themed sweater ornament it is marketing. Instead of the words, “Don we now our gay apparel,” Hallmark changed it to “Don we now our fun apparel.” This prompted the estates of Talhaiarn and Oliphant to sue Hallmark for copyright infringement.

But the troubles of the card company doesn’t end there. Today, the LGBT organization, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), accused Hallmark of being biased and homophobic. “It’s clearly an effort on the part of the company to banish “gay” not only from the Christmas carol, but from the face of this earth,” an HRC spokesperson said.

Hallmark defended the change saying, “When the lyrics to ‘Deck the Halls’ were translated from Gaelic and published in English back in the 1800s, the word ‘gay’ meant festive or merry. Today it has multiple meanings, which we thought could leave our intent open to misinterpretation.”

Few people were buying Hallmark’s argument, but it remains to be seen as to how many people will actually buy the ornament.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus just announced that it will continue to use the traditional lyrics when it sings “Deck the Halls” during the sing-along portion of its annual “Home for the Holidays” Christmas concert at the historical Castro Theater. No kidding.

International

MISS UNIVERSE 2013: WILL THE REAL MISS PHILIPPINES PLEASE WAVE HER HAND?

October 31, 2013 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

L-R: Misses Philippines, Canada, Guam, Gabon

Moscow, Russia – With just nine days before the next Miss Universe is to be chosen in Moscow, Miss Philippines is attracting all the attention. And she is among the top favorites to win the prestigious beauty pageant. Will it be a grand slam this year for the Philippines after earlier bagging the Miss World and Miss Supranational crowns ?

But wait, which Miss Philippines? Miss Philippines, Ariella Arida? Miss Canada, Riza Santos? Miss Gabon, Jennifer Ondo? Miss Guam, Alixes Scott? Filipinas all!

Should any of these ladies win the crown, will the Philippines lay claim over her, just like the U.S. laid claim on Miss World Megan Young who was born in the U.S. with an American father and Filipina mother?

Stay tuned.

Politics, Religion

GROUPS REVOLT AGAINST HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

October 31, 2013 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

San Francisco, California – The San Francisco-based, upscale retail store Pottery Barn has apologized for selling a Halloween costume of a sushi chef and a kimono that an Asian American Civil Rights group had complained were culturally offensive. The retailer confirmed that it had removed the items from its website, saying it did not mean to offend anyone with the Halloween attire.

Asian American civil rights activists spoke out after the store began selling the products, a kimono and a sushi chef outfit featuring the Rising Sun of the Japanese flag. The activists demanded the immediate removal of the clothing and requested an apology, saying that the problem is not with the attire itself; it is with the fact that Pottery Barn is marketing these outfits as costumes.

Following the announcement by Pottery Barn, other groups also began demanding that retailers like Walmart, Walgreens, Target, K-Mart, Amazon.com and HalloweenCostumes.com remove clothing items from their Halloween inventory:

Texas Governor Rick Perry and governors of other Southwest states asked the retail outlets to remove cowboy hats from their shelves; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops demanded that businesses stop selling nuns’ and priests’ habits; and a group representing the Irish community in New York City asked that the sale of kilts be banned during Halloween season. A South Asian activist group in Berkeley went a step further by petitioning the city to shut down stores selling the Indian sari during the entire Halloween week. In San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lee appealed to drag queens to wear only race-neutral dresses on Halloween night.

The protesting groups joined in the chorus by saying that their traditional attires are not costumes; rather, they represent cultures and religions. To market the clothing items as Halloween costumes is offensive and can trigger racial or religious violence, they claimed.

Meanwhile The Adobo Chronicles learned from reliable sources that there is a growing movement in many U.S. liberal states that aims to abolish the Halloween holiday altogether. “This way, no one will ever be offended again by costumes that mock countries, peoples and religions,” the movement’s spokesperson said.