Star Trek inspired licence plate deemed offensive in Manitoba - Sensationalist Headlines

[url]http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/star-trek-inspired-licence-plate-deemed-offensive-in-manitoba-1.3388592[/url] [img]http://i.imgur.com/IjQGVys.jpg[/img] [quote] Manitoba’s public insurance company has revoked a Star Trek inspired custom licence plate after receiving complaints that it’s offensive. Nick Troller’s two-year-old plate reads “ASIMIL8.” Troller keeps it inside a licence plate holder that says: “WE ARE THE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.” He says Trekkies will recognize that it’s a reference to the cyborg villains who bellowed “you will be assimilated” on various Star Trek series and movies. He says strangers have complimented him on the plate and taken photos. “I thought it was funny,” he said. [/quote] [quote] But Troller got a phone call Wednesday from someone at Manitoba Public Insurance, who he says told him two people had complained that the word “assimilate” is offensive to indigenous people. The [URL="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assimilate"]dictionary definitions[/URL] of assimilate include “to absorb into the cultural tradition of a population or group” and “to take into the mind and thoroughly understand.” Troller disagrees that it’s offensive. “We’ve become way too sensitive. You can’t say anything anymore to anybody.” [/quote] [quote] Ry Moran, from the [URL="http://nctr.ca/map.php"]National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation,[/URL] is among those who agree with MPI that the word “assimilate” is too offensive to be on a licence plate. “For basically the entirety of this country’s history, indigenous peoples have been forcibly assimilated through really extremely destructive means and ways,” he said. Moran added that “words like that, meant or not, have an actual impact on many people.” [/quote] [quote] Troller’s situation is reminiscent of a controversy in Nova Scotia, where a man named Lorne Grabher’s personalized GRABHER plate was revoked after a complaint that it was offensive to women. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms [URL="http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/lawyers-confirm-plans-to-sue-n-s-government-over-grabher-licence-plate-1.3358695"]said earlier this month[/URL] that it plans to sue the Nova Scotia government over the revocation, which it sees as an infringement on freedom of expression. The JCCF’s John Carpay said the GRABHER licence plate revocation is part of a wider trend in Canadian society. "Canadians are becoming increasingly less tolerant of free expression," he said. "You have more and more people who believe that they have a legal right to go through life without seeing or without hearing things they find to be offensive." [/quote]

The fact that the guy's last name is Troller is probably the best thing about this whole story. [quote]who he says told him two people had complained that the word “assimilate” is offensive to indigenous people.[/quote] Oh, do go and fuck yourself.

I can't wait till the borg get made into a "symbol of the alt-right" [editline]fugg[/editline] oh wait its canada oops

[QUOTE]"Canadians are becoming increasingly less tolerant of free expression," he said. "You have more and more people who believe that they have a legal right to go through life without seeing or without hearing things they find to be offensive." [/QUOTE] Yeah. I'm losing my mind dealing with a few types of people like this on a regular basis. They make a shit ton of noise because they feel offended and it's just ridiculous. What happened to people minding their own business

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52169768]Yeah. [B]I'm losing my mind[/B] dealing with a few types of people like this on a regular basis. They make a shit ton of noise because they feel offended and it's just ridiculous. What happened to people minding their own business[/QUOTE] You have been fined One loonie for violating the verbal morality code. Reason: This could be offensive to people with mental health issues.

I don't see how its an insurance companies business

I'm scared about how, for lack of a better term, "politically correct" everything has become. Is this the way racist old people felt when they were my age?

[quote]where a man named Lorne Grabher’s personalized GRABHER plate[/quote] This is both witty and pertinent to the owner and I fail to see a problem with it

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52169768]Yeah. I'm losing my mind dealing with a few types of people like this on a regular basis. They make a shit ton of noise because they feel offended and it's just ridiculous.[/QUOTE] They need to see that this consistent stifling of expression will be the death of us all. How we do that, however, is up in the air. Especially since most people are legally protected from being clouted for their idiocy and obnoxious assertions. If we try to force sense upon them, we would likely be violently fucked by the legal system.

I could understand how some Canadians could be touchy about the wording here specifically. First Nations got it pretty raw here in our history. Sucks that the plate is being intrepreted that way, seeing how it's genuinely a show reference.

[QUOTE=Ardosos;52169780]I'm scared about how, for lack of a better term, "politically correct" everything has become. Is this the way racist old people felt when they were my age?[/QUOTE] To be fair, the headline is "weirdos are upset about innocuous thing", not "out-of-touch asshole thought racist thing was okay" - the noteworthy, weird thing is that people were offended by this. It's not really a sign of changing times as much as it could be.

The borg aren't that bad. [video=youtube;vPzJSBHG4pI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPzJSBHG4pI[/video] Fun fact, Because this exists before the current current star trek canon it's canon and thus can interact with it's alternate self. (Time Travel Part)

Reminds me of the episode of futurama where there's a ban on all things related to Star Trek

we live in an age where context means nothing and anything that can be taken offensively will reminds me of those scummy people who try to win an argument by quoting something that could have a negative connotation out of context

Honestly this is a fucking disgusting license plate and I completely understand why people are outraged. This joke just spits in the face of all the El-Aurians who were massacred by the Borg.

I don't see how this is any different from walking around wearing a Star Trek shirt that says the same thing. There is context of what it means around the plate itself.

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;52169882]Fun fact, Because this exists before the current current star trek canon it's canon and thus can interact with it's alternate self. (Time Travel Part)[/QUOTE] Not true. Both canons coexist, but in separate, parallel universes.

meanwhile I have to follow behind coal rolling asswipes with NRA stickers, right wing slogans and the plate L0khrup

[QUOTE=Saxon;52169777]I don't see how its an insurance companies business[/QUOTE] They issued the custom license plate and submit into the national registry. Being able to void it however on those grounds is open for interpretation.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;52169749]The fact that the guy's last name is Troller is probably the best thing about this whole story. Oh, do go and fuck yourself.[/QUOTE] Thank god it was 2 people. The insurance company probably thought only 1 person complaining was petty. /s

[QUOTE=Saxon;52169777]I don't see how its an insurance companies business[/QUOTE] The insurance company in this case, is the government.

So a custom license plate was revoked because it was taken out of context, and suddenly it's "political correctness gone mad". Hah, OK. Do you think that the authority that revoked the plate was fully informed as to the context (e.g. Star Trek plate border), when they revoked it? I'd guess not. Completely free of context, what connotation would you think that a plate saying "ASSIMILATE" has? This was just a bureaucratic fuck up, plain and simple.

[QUOTE=joshjet;52170448]So a custom license plate was revoked because it was taken out of context, and suddenly it's "political correctness gone mad". Hah, OK. Do you think that the authority that revoked the plate was fully informed as to the context (e.g. Star Trek plate border), when they revoked it? I'd guess not. Completely free of context, what connotation would you think that a plate saying "ASSIMILATE" has? This was just a bureaucratic fuck up, plain and simple.[/QUOTE] It's really not. This is more complicated than you as an american might realize. Canadian aboriginals were subjected to literal Assimilation techniques and practices across Canada for much of the 20th century. We were pretty abominable to them. The Government of Manitoba is the one who issues the plate, and the customization of the plate. They revoked the plate for the fairly obvious and surface level link to Canadian history, they likely didn't care, and don't intend to care about the Star Trek reference, they're more concerend with being a provincial government and not seemingly discriminating. With that being said, as much as I understand the revoking of the plate, I don't agree with the situation that can allow literally 2 people to complain and effect how someone elses life goes on.

[QUOTE]“For basically the entirety of this country’s history, indigenous peoples have been forcibly assimilated through really extremely destructive means and ways,” he said. Moran added that “words like that, meant or not, have an actual impact on many people.”[/QUOTE] They are not wrong, context may be important but the average person who reads this license plate wouldn't be a Star Trek fan and can and will see this as a genocidal message. Here's a question: If that man's license plate actually was targeted towards natives and refugees, would you still defend it as freedom of speech?

[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;52170491]Here's a question: If that man's license plate actually was targeted towards natives and refugees, would you still defend it as freedom of speech?[/QUOTE] Yeah I would, it would just be some random nobodies license plate, who fucking cares, it's not like it's going to completely ruin someones day if they see one word that pisses them off and if it does, they should grow a thicker fucking skin.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52170473]This is more complicated than you as an american might realize. [/QUOTE]What, you think that here in the states we don't understand how bad the natives have been treated? I mean, our treatment of them was a big inspiration to Hitler for the holocaust. However bad you think you were, we were much worse in our history. That's disregarding all the assimilation we did as well, with forcing them to abandon their own names and take christian ones and to attend christian churches and forcing native families to send their children away at young ages to schools for years where they were forced to live as white americans did and then cutting them loose later where they became outcasts from their own families.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;52170534]What, you think that here in the states we don't understand how bad the natives have been treated? I mean, our treatment of them was a big inspiration to Hitler for the holocaust. However bad you think you were, we were much worse in our history. That's disregarding all the assimilation we did as well, with forcing them to abandon their own names and take christian ones and to attend christian churches and forcing native families to send their children away at young ages to schools for years where they were forced to live as white americans did and then cutting them loose later where they became outcasts from their own families.[/QUOTE] All the same stuff happened in Canada at one point in history. Both our countries are in the same boat.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;52170534]What, you think that here in the states we don't understand how bad the natives have been treated? I mean, our treatment of them was a big inspiration to Hitler for the holocaust. However bad you think you were, we were much worse in our history. That's disregarding all the assimilation we did as well, with forcing them to abandon their own names and take christian ones and to attend christian churches and forcing native families to send their children away at young ages to schools for years where they were forced to live as white americans did and then cutting them loose later where they became outcasts from their own families.[/QUOTE] We literally did all the same and worse. Our treatement of the native population was, and still is, one of the biggest tragedies in Canadian history. There's been 30 odd native women to die in one portion of BC. They've yet to investigate that to any real degree in 30 years of that happening. That's modern day Canada. We were worse to them before. [url]http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools/[/url] Yeah, you guys are monsters too, but all human beings anywhere, for all of history are monsters.

[QUOTE=The_J_Hat;52170058]Not true. Both canons coexist, but in separate, parallel universes.[/QUOTE] Not true, Their would interact very much with the original star trek timeline and the current. Back to the future 2 explains this best.

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;52170676]Not true, Their would interact very much with the original star trek timeline and the current. Back to the future 2 explains this best.[/QUOTE] Star Trek has much more complex rules for time and inter-universal travel than BTTF. I'm not sure what you'r really referring to though.