Sneaky marriages punished
One Malaysian policeman has been fired and
another demoted, both for taking a second wife.
Apparently, neither of the men had sought prior
approval from their commanding officers before
they went overseas and got married.
According to the country’s police chief, officers
are not allowed to marry just anyone for security
reasons. In this case, the officers didn’t even inform
the force they were going abroad, let alone getting
married.
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim, a religion
that says a man can take up to four wives if he
can support them.
Language mourns death of hyphens
Around 16,000 words have buckled to the
pressures of the age of technology by losing their
hyphens. In the new edition of the Shorter Oxford
English Dictionary, many formerly hyphenated
words are now a single word or two words, thanks
to informal communications such as text messaging
and the Internet.
Designers’ distaste for the un-aesthetically
pleasing look of the horizontal interruptions has
also been blamed for the death of many hyphens.
The editor of the new dictionary said hyphens
are seen as messy and old-fashioned, and many
people are not sure what they are for or how to
use them correctly.
The decision to change was not just about what
looks better. The dictionary editor said changing the
spelling of words is done after extensive analysis of
language. Most of the words that lost their hyphen
are compound nouns.
Newly non-hyphened words include fig leaf,
hobby horse, ice cream, pot belly, test tube,
water bed, bumblebee, chickpea, crybaby, lowlife,
pigeonhole and waterborne.
Swastika handbag
Spanish retail shop Zara has pulled a handbag
from its shelves after a customer in Great Britain
complained the bag had swastikas embroidered on
it. Zara is a chain owned by the world’s second
largest fashion retailer, Inditex, which has 3,330
stores in 66 countries.
The retailer said swastikas were not in the original
bag design, but that they were manufactured
in India, where the swastika is a commonly used
Hindu symbol. A spokesperson for the retailer said
it will withdraw the entire bag range.
The $78 handbag has caused quite a stir in
England, where a British anti-fascism group released
a statement alleging the bags were an attempt
to legitimize fascism. “The Daily Star” tabloid
newspaper published a picture of Adolf Hitler next
to its story, “Fury over Nazi Fashion Bags.”
The swastika is an ancient religious symbol
for Hindus and Buddhists. It represents the sun,
strength and good luck. People in the West have
associated the swastika with Nazism since Hitler
chose it to represent the Nazi Party in 1920.
Seven-year itch law
Glamorous Bavarian politician Gabriele Pauli
shocked the Catholic state with her suggestion
that marriage should only last seven years. On
her Web site, the 50-year-old, twice-divorced
Pauli poses in motorcycle leathers. She is running
for leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union,
the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
conservative Christian Democrats. At the launch
of her campaign manifesto, she told reporters that
her party’s promotion of traditional values is the
wrong approach. If it were up to her, marriages
would expire after seven years, unless both persons
agree to extend it.