Microsoft Purges Swastika

Neo-Nazis who want to fill their posters and screeds with swastikas won’t be able to use Microsoft Office to do it. According to a Reuters report at MSNBC, a flap over a swastika symbol that was briefly part of Microsoft’s “Bookshelf Symbol 7” font–which comes bundled with new versions of Office–has ended with Microsoft’s removal of the symbol. The American Jewish Committee today commended Microsoft for taking quick action, but said it “remains concerned…about how such a hateful symbol was able to slip past quality control.” A Microsoft product manager told Reuters that the symbol was part of a Japanese font set. A form of the swastika, representing the heart and mind of the Buddha, has been common in Chinese and Japanese art and architecture since the spread of Buddhism nearly two millennia ago.