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Mischievous 'Filipino Monkey' could have triggered latest US-Iran row
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by AlanEvans | January 14, 2008 at 03:07 am
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A heckling radio ham, known as the Filipino Monkey, who has spent years pestering ships in the Persian Gulf, is being blamed today for sparking a major diplomatic row after American warships almost attacked Iranian patrol boats.The US navy came within seconds of firing at the Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz on January 6 after hearing threats that the boats were attacking and were about to explode.
Senior navy officials have admitted that the source of the threats, picked up in international waters, were a mystery.
And now the US navy's journal, Navy Times, claimed that the threats, which were broadcast last week by the Pentagon, are thought to have come from an infamous radio prankster.
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at 04:39 on January 14th, 2008
I did a story on this for our Maritime News Blog gCaptain. One reader comment was especially informative:
"The term ‘monkey’ is considered exceedingly derogatory by Filipinos. The line from an old American song: “The monkeys have no tails in Zamboanga is often trotted out as an example of a racial slur (Wrongly as it happens). I know of a bookstore clerk who nearly got punched after, quite innocently, referring to a mischievous Filipino child as ‘a little Monkey’.
I have no doubt this tale will be picked up by the press here and blown out of proportions.
Yes, Filipinos are oversensitive, I’ll admit that, but this sort of bilge goes beyond the pale."
You can read the entire post wrtten by a ship's Captain here: The Filipino Monkey Strikes Again
at 04:44 on January 14th, 2008
Fascinating stuff, unofficialsquaw! Original Navy Times article is here.