This one's for the g***s

But first, I will take the time to wish a happy 110th birthday to Peg Griffin, the Kapiti Coast woman believed to be New Zealand's oldest living resident. Griffin, born Eleanor Wilson and nicknamed Peg, grew up in Feilding and has three children, five grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. A bit hard of hearing but still sharp as, she gets around on a walker and still plays bowls, skittles, and bobs. One of New Zealand's first Karitane nurses, she smoked until her late 80s and worked hard bringing up and fending for three children on her own. But now back to the main topic for today: the BBC was embroiled in an extraordinary censorship row last night after cutting the word 'girl' from a documentary about the Commonwealth Games, fearing it might cause offence. Broadcaster Mark Beaumont joked after being hurled to the floor by a judo champion: "I am not sure I can live that down - being beaten by a 19-year-old girl." His remark was broadcast in full when the 30-minute episode of The Queen's Baton Relay was first shown on the BBC News Channel in April. But evidently sensitive to charges of sexism, BBC executives decided to edit out the word 'girl' when the programme was repeated last week, leaving an awkward pause in place of the offending word. Asked by a viewer what had happened, Mr Beaumont tweeted: "Maybe the editor thought it was sexist - it wasn't. I'm not worried about it." Even the judo champion involved, Cynthia Rahming, was left bemused. "I wasn't offended - I didn't find it sexist," she told The Mail on Sunday. Elsewhere, it divided opinion, with some TV presenters, including Mariella Frostrup, backing the BBC's stance. She said: "'Girls' to me is a fantastic word because I think, "Girls... full of potential." But it has been used as a dismissive term as well. So I can imagine why it would be controversial. The athlete may not have been offended but the BBC has to think of the sensibilities of everybody watching." Feminist novelist Kathy Lette, however, said: "If the athlete didn't find it upsetting why should the BBC mount their politically correct high horse and gallop off into the sanctimonious sunset?" The row comes two weeks after the Corporation was accused of double standards after it forced veteran broadcaster David Lowe to quit for mistakenly playing an old version of The Sun Has Got His Hat On, which featured the N-word. Jeremy Clarkson, however, kept his job, when he appeared to use the same racist term during the filming of Top Gear.