North Coast Online

Imus In The . . . Well, Never

OK, Don Imus has been fired and, despite what Rosie O'Donnell may think (if, indeed, she ever does,) it's not a free speech issue.  After all, the government won't come after him, his employer simply decided that it doesn't want to put up with the bad publicity anymore.  Would that "The View" felt the same.  So be it.

Mary Mitchell insists that the controversy isn't over the fact that he called the women "ho's," it was the preceding adjective that was the problem.

"That was really what offended them," Williams said. "Why is it that nappy-headed offends us so much, when being nappy-headed or having a tight curl pattern is natural to us?" he said. "Why do we still perceive nappy as being something negative?"

I can walk around all day with my hair in twists or an Afro, and no one gives a second look. But don't let me put on my No. 33 curly, honey-colored wig -- the compliments flow.

There wasn't a nappy-head among the Rutgers players even after they sweated through a championship loss.

"You look at the sisters, and they were all straight [hair] and permed," Williams pointed out. "These were highly educated, successful student athletes with perms. Still, after all of that, they are called a nappy-headed ho. At some point, we have to please ourselves and not other people," he said.

If we've really arrived at the point that insulting hairstyles causes a national controversy, then we've certainly made more racial progress than people are willing to admit.  If, though, we've also come to the point that people can lose their jobs over insulting hair styles, then we've perhaps lost more than we've gained.

Sticks, Stones, Etc.

The radio is announcing that the Rutgers basketball players will be speaking to the press later today after having been insulted by Don Imus.  Wouldn't it be refreshing if just one of them were to say that his remarks didn't affect her at all; she's got a life to get on with?  I'd really like to hear that.

Thank God Hillary's Safe

Some ruffians have been arrested for having the audacity to protest outside her offices.

Capitol Hill (AP) - U.S. Capitol Police have arrested six people outside the offices of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Sergeant Kimberly Schneider says the six people were demonstrating outside of the New York Democrat's suite of offices in the Russell Senate Office Building around 11 a.m.

Senate rules prohibit such demonstrations inside of buildings located in the U.S. Capitol complex.

Schneider says the people are being charged with disorderly conduct.

Which is more of a penalty, as far as I can determine, than these valiant Americans received.

Deaccession Watch

That ugly word shows up again today. 

Successful institutions find a way to grow. Deaccessioning 200 pieces of ancient art from over 6,500 art works in the Albright-Knox's permanent collection is a decision to grow

There's a sort of fascination with this newfound bit of English vocabulary around here lately.  However did we get along all those years with "sell?"  Wouldn't the paragraph read better like this?

  Successful institutions find a way to grow.  Selling 200 pieces of ancient art from . . .

Now, "sell" is a rather humdrum and common word of lowly English origin while the highfalutin "deaccession" has its roots in Latin and French.  English-speaking elites have always tended to favor the Latinate words, they just seem more , um, erudite, y'know.

But we are still English-speakers and "sell" is very well understood to be what it is.  I still suspect that any discussion of simply "selling" revered Buffalo artistic treasures is something to be avoided.  No, much better that we "deaccession" them.  Sounds so much more necessary and important, doesn't it?

In Defense Of Thanksgiving

Wow! Ross Runfola really hates Thanksgiving.

There is a hypocrisy re-enacting a mythical friendship that resulted in genocide as reprehensible as the Holocaust of World War II. There is general consensus among demographers that between 9 million and 12 million Native Americans were in North America when the Pilgrims came. By the beginning of the 20th century, mass extermination through starvation, forced marches out of their land, intentional exposure to smallpox, military battles, incarceration and attempted enslavement left only approximately 332,400 indigenous people alive

He goes on to label Christopher Columbus a terrorist, does a quick riff on degrading Indian mascots and still finds space to rue the "capital punishment" of 45 million turkeys which we shouldn't be eating anyway because we're not sensible and skinny vegetarians like, um, him.

Now, I don't know about your family but mine spent a truly enjoyable Thanksgiving and didn't even think of Indians for one second let alone re-enact scenes from Plymouth Colony.  But I suspect the good Mr. Runfola would consider our lack of concern that day for the plight of America's indigenous peoples as just one more sad symptom of the thoughtless hedonism that  has "become part of the American fabric while people in Third World nations like Darfur starve."

Well, we didn't cause the people of Darfur to starve any more than we caused the people of India and China to prosper.  In fact, we could send Darfur all 45 million of those murdered turkeys and next year this time its people would still be starving.  We needn't feel any more guilty about that than we should over the actions of our ancestors towards the Indians.

Ugly as those actions were by today's standards, they're done with and we had nothing to do with it.  And renouncing Thanksgiving won't change a thing -- even symbolically.

So let the five year olds dress up like Pilgrims and Indians and act out the mythical Thanksgiving.  There will be plenty of time for them to learn the ugly truth of history when they're older.  In the meantime let's think of the day as an allegory for how people should behave towards each other.  It's a worthwhile lesson.  And, yes, I'm perfectly content that they believe in Santa Claus for a while, too.

And next year, please, consider having a few slices of turkey yourself.  It tends to make you sleepy and it  sure sounds as if you could use a good, relaxing snooze.   

We're Here To Protect You

The school-mascot police are still at it.  Most recently they've targeted the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux.  Last week the school had to obtain a court injunction against the NCAA which wanted to forbid it from hosting playoff games.  All over a mascot which the local Sioux nation endorses.

Never mind that a well-known Indian artist designed the UND logo of a proud Sioux warrior. Never mind that this image resembles the stately Indian on U.S. "buffalo" nickels, and on North Dakota's highway patrol cars and highway signs. Never mind that sports teams choose names that symbolize what they honor -- courage on the battlefield -- not what they mock or despise. The forces of political correctness have embraced this latest victim-creating issue and won't let it go.

Today some folks insist, with tortured logic, that the Fighting Sioux name is racist and derogatory. More than 100 faculty members (who else?) have expressed their righteous indignation by signing a petition, and many won't even enter UND's Ralph Engelstad Arena, where the team logo is prominently displayed. Although North Dakota's Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe has approved UND's use of the name, Indian bodies such as the Standing Rock Tribal Council have passed resolutions asking UND to reject it.

But Archie Fool Bear, chair of the Standing Rock judicial committee, says his tribe's leadership doesn't represent the vast majority of tribal members.

Fool Bear himself voted for such a resolution in 2005. "They told us just negative things -- that UND was a racist place," he explains. Now, he says, he believes that he and others were fed a bill of goods.

"When I went around to my constituents on the reservation," says Fool Bear, "a majority of people said, 'Why can't we vote on it?' "Most tribal members would support the name if they got the chance," adds Joe White Mountain, another committee member.

That would be consistent with Indians' views nationally. In a 2002 Sports Illustrated poll, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no when asked whether high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames.

Sorry, not good enough.  When the politically-correct left determines that you've been offended then dammit you'd better act offended.  Silly crusades such as this one only serve to further expose the condescension that liberal white elites, themselves, feel toward minorities.

And when told that Indian sports mascots were chosen to honor their ancestors' courage on the battlefield, these people just ignore it and file another lawsuit.  Of course, honoring a warrior-culture does run counter to the cherished myth that American Indians were simply peace-loving, environmentalists  living at one with the beasts of the Earth until the pox-ridden Europeans showed up.

I have to wonder, though, if the left's overwrought sympathy for Indians might one day disappear.  I can envision a time when, from their casino operations and cheap cigarette sales alone, American Indians might rival Asians in their success.  And we know how silent the P.C. gang is when it comes to the Asians.

Let The Riots Begin

Paperback copy of Koran found in college toilet

A lower Manhattan university is investigating how a paperback copy of the Quran from the campus library ended up in a public toilet, school officials said Tuesday.

Gentle readers, do you begin to get a sense of how far our culture has sunk in its attempts to mollify the irrational amongst us?  This event, a Koran in a toilet, is now treated as the equivalent of swastikas scrawled on a synagogue or a burning cross placed on the lawn of a black family.  The intent of all three is rooted in the same pathology, of course.

But the last two are personal threats that attempt to intimidate people's practice of their religion or make them fear for their physical well-being in their home.  The other is merely an editorial statement -- a crass one to be sure -- but nothing more.  If we lose the ability to distinguish between threat and insult, we're headed for rough times.

Just Call Them The 'Football Team'

The fight against "demeaning" sports team mascots still rages (in the press at least.)

Anti-Chief Illiniwek activist Stephen Kaufman and several other University of Illinois professors have hit the recruiting trail again.

After waiting about a year for the university to end the 80-year tradition of Chief Illiniwek after the school was placed on a list of "hostile and abusive" schools by the NCAA for its use of Native American imagery, the group began mailing packets about the Chief to football and men's basketball recruits.

In an e-mail sent to Athletic Director Ron Guenther, the school's head coaches and the media, Kaufman said: "In spite of all the information presented, including (Guenther's) comments in the press, UI Board of Trustees still will not take the necessary action to retire Illiniwek. This leaves potential student-athletes in the predicament of deciding whether they want to play at a school that refuses to commit to equality for all races and that places more value on an outdated and divisive mascot than on a winning program."

Don Boudreaux provides the best rebuttal to this nonsense I've read yet.

Yes, a possible explanation for this team's name [he's talking about the Washington Redskins] is that it was adopted to insult Native Americans.  But how plausible is this explanation?  I find it ludicrous.  Sports teams, and their fans, want names that make them proud.  Can you imagine a sports team even (or especially!) in the early 20th century taking the nickname "Niggers" or "Kikes" or "Homos"?  These are awful slurs, thankfully less commonly used today than in the past, aimed at dismissing and demeaning a group of people simply because they are black, Jewish, or homosexual.

If you can't imagine (and I certainly can't) any team owner 80 years ago saying, "Hey, you know what?  Blacks are so looked down on, so much fun to spoof and make fun of and to demean with insulting names, that we'll name our team the 'Niggers.'  That'll really bring in the fans!" -- then why imagine that the name "Redskins" was adopted for a similar reason?

When the absurd accusations that sports team's names are insulting is finally over, then one of two things will have happened.

Either the country will have finally returned to its enlightenment-inspired rational roots or the economy will have become so bad that we can no longer create the wealth that allows ninnies like these sports-mascot-alarmists to make a living off their idiotic opinions.

Enough, Already

I do think that the UK is fast descending into politically-correct hell.

A DRIVER spent two nights in jail after being accused of "revving his car in a racist manner".

Mechanic Ronnie Hutton, 49, yesterday described his court ordeal which finally ended when prosecutors dropped the allegation of racism.

But he was still convicted of a breach of the peace for revving the engine of his £25,000 Lotus.

Witnesses claimed he had been trying to intimidate a Libyan couple on the pavement. Ronnie, of Stirling, claims he was only revving the powerful V8 engine to avoid another £15,000 repair bill.

But off-duty Chief Inspector Eoin Jenkins thought he was targeting Muslim Isam Maigel and his wife Hana Saad.

And when Jenkins, now retired, confronted Ronnie he was told to "f*** off".

On Thursday, at Stirling Sheriff court, the Crown ditched the racist part of the charge but Sheriff Andrew Cubie convicted Ronnie of breach of the peace and fined him £150.

Last night, he said: "To be convicted for revving my car in a busy street is hard to take. Does this mean anyone driving a noisy car in Scotland is now a criminal?"

Only if you're white, Ronnie, only if you're white.  The sad part is that the Brits still laugh about these incidents but don't seem able to stop them.

Handicapped Voting

While we have taken great strides in this country in providing for the needs of the disabled -- quite rightly so -- there is a point beyond which our efforts affect fewer and fewer.  And it isn't callous to point that out.  I bring it up because of an article in the Buffalo News today over providing handicapped-accessible voting machines.

Roughly one in five Erie County residents over age 21 lives with a disability, according to the U.S. Census.

But there is only one disabled-accessible voting machine in the county, and anyone who wants to use it must register in advance.

That's not enough, according to advocates for the disabled, who say the county doesn't comply with federal election law.

"It's a joke. It's an absolute joke," said Doug Usiak, who was blinded in an accident while serving on Okinawa island during the Vietnam War. His daughter or wife accompanies him into the voting booth and pulls the lever for Usiak's preferred candidates.

OK, I can understand his frustration.  Voting has always been held to be an intensely personal endeavor, and perhaps even one that shouldn't have to be shared  with a family member.  I wouldn't care to be that dependent on anyone, myself.  But if 21% of Erie County's residents were blind, this would be a no-brainer -- provide voting machines for the blind in every precinct.

But disability has become an all-encompassing concept, at least in the legal "community."  Here's one website that attempts to define it.  And if you were surprised by that 21% figure, be edified.

Regulations:

28 C.F.R. § 35.104; 28 C.F.R. § 36.104

(1) The phrase physical or mental impairment means--

(i) Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: Neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine;

(ii) Any mental or psychological disorder such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.

(iii) The phrase physical or mental impairment includes, but is not limited to, such contagious and noncontagious diseases and conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental retardation, emotional illness, specific learning disabilities, HIV disease (whether symptomatic or asymptomatic), tuberculosis, drug addiction, and alcoholism.

(iv) The phrase physical or mental impairment does not include homosexuality or bisexuality.

(2) The phrase major life activities means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

(3) The phrase has a record of such an impairment means has a history of, or has been misclassified as having, a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

(4) The phrase regarded as having an impairment means--

(i) Has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantially limit major life activities but that is treated by a public entity as constituting such a limitation;

(ii) Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities only as a result of the attitudes of others toward such impairment; or

(iii) Has none of the impairments defined in paragraph (1) of this definition but is treated by a public entity as having such an impairment.

(5) The term disability does not include--

(i) Transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders;

(ii) Compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or pyromania; or

(iii) Psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal use of drugs.

Now, I'm sure some of you breathed huge sighs of relief to read that transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism and gender identity disorders don't yet qualify as disabilities but you can see how the term "disabled" has now been so broadly defined as to make over 1/5 of the population disabled.

And the definition actually goes on further.  An impairment of major life activities can also include:

McAldin v. County of San Diego, 192 F.3d 1226 (9th Cir. 1999).

• Engaging in sexual relations is a major life activity.
• Sleeping is also a major life activity
• "Interacting with others" is a major life activity. "Recognizing interacting with others as a major life activity of course does not mean that any cantankerous person will be deemed substantially limited in a major life activity.  A plaintiff must show that his 'relations with others were characterized on a regular basis by severe problems, for example, consistently high levels of hostility, social withdrawal, or failure to communicate when necessary.'"

So, where you might have felt justified in thinking that we should provide special voting facilities for the blind, the deaf, and the crippled how do you feel about lumping in the horny, the tired, the lonely and the just plain angry? 

I know, I'm making light of a serious situation, but if advocates for the disabled are going to throw out a ridiculously high percentage of the population which is supposedly disabled -- figures which include people who really aren't -- and then illustrate that with a couple anecdotal examples of voters with a true need for aid then they deserve some ridicule.

Instead of spending potentially millions of dollars statewide to accommodate a very small part of the population, there are alternatives.  The article mentions absentee ballots and if those aren't already available in Braille, then make them so.  If a citizen is so severely disabled that he requires sip-puff capabilities then he probably has those at home and we could make provisions that allow him to vote from there.

I think it's fair to provide every mentally-able citizen, no matter his physical condition, with the opportunity to cast a private and independent vote.  But to go further and insist that he be able to do that whenever and wherever he chooses is an unneeded expense.  We vote to choose our elected representatives, not to hold a once-a-year community get-together.