Posted on 07/13/2008 7:09:36 PM PDT by Graybeard58
A few years ago, we described Medicaid reimbursements to dentists as niggardly, prompting a reader to fire off a note accusing us of being "against a certain section of our Waterbury population. I thought the word was supposed to have been banned." The editorial in question never mentioned Waterbury or its demographics, and niggardly, of course, has not been banned because it means miserly, stingy, ungenerously small. That people too niggardly to buy a dictionary think it's a racial epithet doesn't make it one.
That exchange came to mind last week when we read about the commotion in Dallas over County Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield's use of "black hole" to describe the county collections office's knack of losing traffic-ticket paperwork. Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, immediately took umbrage and said the office actually was a "white hole," a wholly inaccurate description. A black judge at the meeting, Thomas Jones, demanded an apology from Mr. Mayfield for his "racially insensitive analogy," the Dallas Morning News reported.
Black hole has never had anything to do with race. In today's lexicon, it describes an invisible collapsed star so massive that neither light nor matter can escape its gravitational grip. A white hole, on the other hand, is a black hole's theoretical opposite, a celestial object that uncontrollably spews. (Incidentally, white holes are connected by worm holes, a helminthophobic phrase if there ever was one.)
Black hole actually dates to 1756 and the infamous Indian dungeon, The Black Hole of Calcutta, where 146 Europeans were imprisoned overnight and only 23 were alive in the morning. In modern times, thanks to its astronomical definition, black hole has come to replace "bottomless pit" to describe any great void, usually bureaucratic — "the black hole of education spending." Thus, Mr. Mayfield's usage of the term was correct and inoffensive, except to the white holes of racial divisiveness.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this list, let me know.
(I won’t “black ball”, “black list” you either)
“That people too niggardly to buy a dictionary think it’s a racial epithet doesn’t make it one.”
Atlanta has become the Black Hole that swallowed all of north Georgia. Don’t ever get trapped on I-75 in downtown
Where else would a black guy stow his ho handle?
WHat kind of black hole is Detroit.?.
Evidently, more and more a Muslim one.
Ahh...but will you put the Black Hand on us?
Of all the stupid, wasteful things, the problem is tickets are lost, not saying that is a bad thing, and instead of dealing with the problem, out comes the “Justice Brothers Brigade” to ignore the problem and play at being outraged.
I would suggest that an apology would be in order as long as the incompetents quite their non performing positions and more competent people hired in their outraged but bumbling selves...
sound fair?....
I’ve read that in Russia, black holes (the ones in the cosmos) were refered to as “frozen stars” because the term “black hole” meant ... pretty much what you might think it would refer to.
..............Memorandum................
Status of the City formerly known as “Detriot”
The name has been edited in keeping with changing times.
Henceforth, “Detriot” will be known as “Nuevo Fallujah”
If there is any confusion, feel free to write Mayor Kilpatrick at the following address:
Attn Jail Postmaster
1 Federal Plaza
Neuvo Fallujah, MI 456906
Inmate number #44502
Something to read while enjoying a Cracker, I suppose.
Beats me, Kilpatrick sold naming rights for .35 cents to a consortium of City Employees Unions and a couple of McDonald’s Franchise owners.....
I’m being sarcastic of course, with Detroit suffering from terrible school systems, a corrupt City Govt, and the decline of the Automakers, IMO they are ripe for satire.
As for a good halal taco, try Dearborn....;)
They might, the vast majority of persian businessmen that I’ve met are sharp as tacks, if they could make a buck, you’d be hearing “Halaaal..Taco..” at 6 in the morning...
I don’t think the muezzins would let them get away with it though...LOL!
Izzit kool to put some dinero on his books for some zuzu's and whamwham's?
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