Nappy

I have to confess that prior the Don Imus bruhaha, I was familar with the term ho, as an epithet.  On the other hand, I was not familar with the term nappy, as an epithet.

A wee bit of googling gave me examples of nappy refering to, diappers, hair, and group indentity.   Rachel Marsden denies that nappy is not racial term at all.   The guest denies it, but provides no illuatration.   Aside from the Imus incident itself, I could no example of the term nappy being used an epithet, racial or otherwise.  Please, feel free to provide such an example.

Is the all a modern day Potemkin incident?   So it would seem.

Addendum I:  John Derbyshire, NRO – Corner, chimes in:

So Don Imus did what?  Used a couple of commonplace black-cultural terms.  If you don’t want people to use these words, guys, stop promoting them.

NEW YORK â€”  In books such as “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle,” and “Hocus Pocus,” Kurt Vonnegut mixed the bitter and funny with a touch of the profound.

Vonnegut, regarded by many critics as a key influence in shaping 20th-century American literature, died Wednesday at 84. He had suffered brain injuries after a recent fall at his Manhattan home, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.

I never really got into reading him. From a distance, a talented writer he may have been, and by that I mean talented at writing what he was envisioning.. but what he envisioned was at the high end of the weird scale, certainly.

The man was a prisoner in WWII, and as a result was in Dresden when they firebombed the place. He always claimed that that incident didn’t have anything to do with the weirdness factor that always followed him around.   If that’s true, then the event causing the behavior …if there was one…I would think, would have to be cataclysmic. Else, it took nothing at all to get him where he ended up, having STARTED at weird.

 (Shake of the head.)

?

If poverty causes crime, why isn’t West Virginia awash in crime?

Tony Blair is in hot water for suggesting that the black culture contrubes to the murder rate,  Guardian   Yet look at, West Virginia’s murder rates.

Inspiration:  Don Surber.?

Story breaking right now: MSNBC will stop simulcasting the show forthwith. Sharpton on Tucker Carlson’s show right now banging a gong in approval. It’s all about “the public airwaves”. Nevermind that MSNBC is a cable outlet.

You know, Billy, that’s an interesting point.  If the Federal government were to try to come along and sensor MSNBC, that would be the first response they would have.  It’s a cable channel, and therefore it’s not the “public airwaves”.  Know what?  They’d be right, too.

This is about hanging a scalp on the “progressive” wall.

No argument.

I’d never thought I’d see this or do this but BBIII goes to Sheppard Smith.   Allahpundit, Hot Air, has the video as Shep goes goes nuclear (second video). 

Watch the first video as well.

I repeat, Mike Nifong, Crystal Gail Mangun, and the Duke Gang of Eighty-Eight owe all the Duke Men’s Lacross players an apology. 

* The Music: Leo Kottke: My feet are smiling
This is arguably his best album. Recorded in 1972 at a show in Minneapolis, it’s probably the fastest played guitar I’ve ever heard in my life. Yes, it’s just him and the guitar, sounding like he’s playing for three. The playing… and singing, when he does… are all the more amazing given the guy lost most of the hearing in one ear, and all of it in the other.

The technique uses reminds me of what some of the more clever programmers used to do, while trying to compose music for the old, C=64; they tended to make use of harmonies and harmonics by striking to particular notes simultaneously to come up with a third. With that C=64, you only had four voices, though if you did it right, you could make it sound like much more. Kottke manages to do this with a 6 string… sounding like he’s playing two or three guitars at once. Amazing.
The CD, pictured here is longer than the original Wax copy (Capitol label) I have, containing a lot more in the way of banter with the crowd.

It still amazes me (And frankly, annoys me) that the man has never received the kind of notoriety that somebody of his talent should have. I suppose it the product of the times, where the rock and roll taste mongers were ruling the day, and Kottke was a little too folksy sounding.

The album is a favorite of mine, and I think you’ll find it worth having.

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* So now that they figured out who the father of this baby is, can we please stop with the 24*7 coverage of “Anna Nicole Simpson is still dead”? Please?

(Simpson? Yeah. I figure she’s the mental relation to Homer…. should have left the explanation in on the first draft. -Ed)

I don’t know which is driving me buggier…. That nonsense, or whether not Sanjaya whats-his-fur finally got his butt kicked off of “American idol”. I mean, don’t we have better things, more important things to occupy our time, particularly on a news channel? Like for example, the knife in the back of our troops, at the hands of congressional democrats?

This whole child custody case is a bloody circus, and nothing more. I mean, good lord… I’ve seen open bars that were less populated than the line under the “I’m the father” signs.

OK, granted, that she probably did sleep with every single one of them. And that’s telling, in itself. But how’d you like to be the child in that situation? Can you imagine the line of competing sperm donors being quite so long, if there wasn’t a few million dollars in the offing? After all; Drugged up bleached blondes that are fairly easy, are plentiful in any American city;. We call them “Street walkers”. The money, clearly, is the main attraction here.
The kid is going to spend its entire life trying to live down how it got started ; “Mom tended to sleep around, she died soon after I was born, because she was a druggie, too…and there was a big multibillion dollar court fight over who was my daddy”.

Yeah. Like the money the kid will eventually inherit, once daddy gets done spending it, is really gonna make up for that. Sure.

And we still haven’t dealt with the question about responsibility of the people around her, for her death. Are you really going to tell me that nobody understood the woman was drugging herself to death?

Between the two situations, I have to tell you, there’s some real love going on here. NOT. Believe me, as a rail fan, I know a train wreck when I see one. At the moment I’m looking at two. The mother, and the child. The former is beyond help, now, and the latter has a long hard life-long row ahead… and is likely beyond help given the people surrounding the situation. And frankly, I don’t much care about the rest of them. but, get them off my TV screen, would you please? When I turn on the news station, I would like news. This crap, doesn’t qualify.

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* Hume, least night:

The latest threat to planet Earth via climate change has been identified as — all those darn pine trees.A National Academy of Sciences report says the pine forests of Europe, Siberia and Canada may contribute to global warming because they trap sunlight reflected from snow — making the Earth warmer.Conventional wisdom is that trees help cool the Earth by absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off moisture that creates clouds. But the report says that is only true for tropical forests. It says some computer models suggest that cutting forests in higher altitudes may reduce global warming.

More proof that the global warming credit with us know what the world they’re talking about.

* Bill Theobald is reporting that Fred Thompson is making some serious waves:

WASHINGTON — Fred Thompson is by far the most popular potential presidential candidate among Tennessee Republican voters, with 45 percent of those surveyed making him their top choice, according to a poll released Monday.

That the former GOP senator would get top billing in his home state is not a surprise.

What’s surprising is his lead over possible opponents and the magnitude of support for a man who has only hinted at a run, said pollster Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage.

It’s really not that much of a surprise. Get somebody to stand up for conservative values (consistently, Mr McCain, Consistently) and you’ll do well.

Of course, now the speculation is that his recent announcement about having cancer in remission, is going to screw up his chances. I honestly don’t see why; everybody else in the field is dealing with it, too.
* Perhaps if they’d only not been so STUPID….

A decision last month to ban the Easter Bunny from a Tiverton Middle School craft fair – allowing children to visit with Peter Rabbit instead – elicited thousands of e-mails to the superintendent’s office, some of which were so threatening that they were taken to the Police Department and a police officer was posted Tuesday night at the School Committee meeting.

The issue has gotten so nasty during the past few weeks that Superintendent William Rearick has considered quitting his job, according to School Committee Chairwoman Denise deMedeiros.“Many of the e-mails, phone calls, and many of the ways Mr. Rearick was attacked personally and professionally were horrendous,” School Committee Vice Chairman Michael Burk said. Many e-mails obviously were from “organized campaigns,” he said, including a neo-Nazi group. “It disturbs me highly. I’m sorry you had to put up with that sort of attack,” Burk said to Rearick.

That’s from The Newport Daily News.

It appears to me the anger being shown is more than justified. What kind of moron suggests the Easter Bunny is a religious symbol? It must take a hogher education in government schools to come to such a conclusion.

This is also about a lack of tolerance… something I thought we were all about teaching, these days. Apparently, Christianity isn’t on the official list of things to be tolerated. Indeed, only an over-active imagination and a fear of being in the smallest of fashions connected with Christianity can account for such nonsense.

Can you imagine that occurring with Jewish holidays? Can you imagine that happening with Islamic tradition? I can’t, either. Christianity though, is a fair target, apparently .

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* Some interesting news from the Journal of the AMA:
Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

The translation: The doctors put together a small study, in which recently diagnosed type one diabetes was treated, and effectively reduced . In other words, this treatment supposedly, can prevent loss of insulin production following diagnosis and can reduce insulin needs in such patients.

Yes, this involves stem cell research. but note, that they are using not embryonic stem cells, but adult stem cells, harvested from the patient’s own blood. There’s going to be two angles in this discussion, I’m quite certain. But something that should not escape your attention is the idea that they’re not using embryonic stem cells here. Indeed, to my understanding embryonic stem cells have had no success in treating anything, thusfar…. it’s the adult stem cells that have been working so many wonders.

The results in this case?

During a 7- to 36-month follow-up (mean 18.8), 14 patients became insulin-free (1 for 35 months, 4 for at least 21 months, 7 for at least 6 months; and 2 with late response were insulin-free for 1 and 5 months, respectively). Among those, 1 patient resumed insulin use 1 year after AHST. At 6 months after AHST, mean total area under the C-peptide response curve was significantly greater than the pretreatment values, and at 12 and 24 months it did not change. Anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody levels decreased after 6 months and stabilized at 12 and 24 months. Serum levels of hemoglobin A_1c were maintained at less than 7% in 13 of 14 patients. The only acute severe adverse effect was culture-negative bilateral pneumonia in 1 patient and late endocrine dysfunction (hypothyroidism or hypogonadism) in 2 others. There was no mortality.

?

This all sounds very impressive, and raises the possibility of a workable treatment for type 1 diabetics. however, there were a number of complications. For example, the treatment has a tendency to screw with your auto immune system. As a direct result of this, the subjects were kept in essentially a clean room environment, were otherwise excellent health. Sterility was also an issue as you would expect from radiation treatments. The doctors are saying that they need further testing, of course. But, all this is quite interesting, because it is the first time , understanding that anyone’s had treatment that even looked like it might work.

As of the issue of stem cells, adult, versus embryonic, McQ raises this point in the post of his own, this afternoon;

The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells.

Now, of course, I emphasize the last portion of the 3rd paragraph for a reason. That is how, reading this report, I discovered they were adult stem cells. Nowhere in the story is that made clear.

…

But again, the reason I’m pointing out the type of stem cell used is because by not mentioning it, they were able to turn the news story of a great medical breakthrough into an opportunity to editorialize on a subject not even germane to the development:

But research using the most versatile kind of stem cells — those acquired from human embryos — is currently opposed by powerful critics, including President Bush.

Yet where was the actual breakthrough made? With adult stem cells.

Quite right.

The AP is reporting:

NEW YORK – A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal.

Wasn’t the producer the one who they blamed for Rather’s misdeeds?

Boing Boing has this breathless charge:

Professor Walter F. Murphy, a Korean war hero and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence (emeritus) at Princeton, was delayed while flying because he’s on a “terrorist watch list.” The check-in clerk told him that he was probably added because he gave a speech that was critical of the president (who dodged his military service).

First check-in clerks are not government employees.  They no knowledge of who is on the No-Fly List and if so why.

For a sober analysis,  read James Taranto, Best of the Web.

Lara Setrakian, ABC News, reports, “Duke Lacrosse Case Charges to Be Dropped:”

April 10, 2007 — The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case

Dropped but I hope not forgotten.  Over the couple of days, I have heard professional race huckers moan about how bad if feels for your daughter to called a ho.  True, Yet Cyrstal Gail Mangum and Mike Nifong collaborated to call Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty rapists, with utter disregard for the truth and the feelings of either the young gentlemen or their families.

Don Imus has indicated that he will personally apologize to Rutgers girls basketball team, as he should.  Now I call for Mangum and Nifong to personally apologize to Seligman, Evans, Finnerty and the entire Duke lacross team.  Nothing less will be acceptable.

Addendum:(Bit)

Call it venting, if you like, But I’m going to invoke editors’ privilege, in agreement with David’s post, and I’m even going to flesh it out some, because I think he’s hit on something important.
We all know about Don Imus, who opened his mouth and made a couple of comments, and in truth hurt nobody but himself with those comments, and yet he spends an awful lot of time of late on the “white man apology tour”.

At the same time, we have the Duke lacrosse team , three members of which have had their lives stolen from them by an overzealous prosecution, and by news agencies who apparently took the attitude of “there are a rich white boys who inflicted themselves on a poor black woman, they must be guilty, shut down the Lacrosse team, jail the suspects:, etc..” Do you understand what I'[m saying here? An entire year has been stolen from the lives of these boys, along with their reputations.

I understand that sometimes legalities being what they are, these things move slowly. But why is it the people responsible for what these boys went through are still on the street? Why did they still have jobs? Why are they not in jail? I’m not just talking about the criminal justice system which was abused by Mike Nifong in his efforts to appear the hero, and thereby get reelected; I’m not just talking about the fools who elected Nifong…. I”m also also talking about the local and national newspapers who treated these boys as guilty, I’m talking about the local and national talk shows which did precisely the same thing… all of whom did so despite what little evidence there was pointing away from the boys being guilty.

I am certain there are civil suits to follow in this, richly deserved. The woman making the accusation deserves jail time, as well, as do the responsible or, should I say irresponsible, elected officials. Jail time for these people, is certainly less than they deserve, but they probably won’t get it. I’m enough of a realist to understand that part of it.
But the obvious question is, where are the apologies to these boys ? I mean, would it be too much to also ask, for a public apology from each of these people, to the city, the state, the country… and those boys? Seems to me, that they were hurt worse by this affair, than anyone could be hurt by anything a shock jock is going to say.

Priorities.  What is of greater importance?

Afterthought: (Bit)

Or, strangely enough, do they both spring from the same ideals? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character, Sherlock Holmes, used to say that if all credible options have been exhausted, then the answer must lie in the incredible.  Well, let’s consider; What do these instances have in common?

In both cases, blacks were supposedly on the fuzzy end of the stick.  In both cases these wrongs were supposedly inflicted by “privileged, rich whites”.  In both cases the “black leaders” such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton , leaped into the fray, with mouths ablazing, claiming “racism”.  Although, at least in the Duke case, the trace hucksters had the good sense to shut up about it, because it looked like it was starting to go all wrong.  We never heard an apology from them, however.
I find myself in an awkward situation; I find myself forced by logic to present a limited defense for Imus, against a goodly amount of his accusers.  True, he’s an idiot, and I’ve called for him to be gone.  But not because he’s a racist, because I don’t think he is.  But because he’s an idiot. He mishandled the entire situation.  First thing out of his mouth should have been “Hey, look, I’m just echoing what I hear on black radio stations day in and day out.”  Instead, he gives his attackers credence.  Like I said; Stupid. REAL Stupid.  But in the end, Imus does not deserve the treatment he’s getting over this. He’s a convenient target for the leftist mantra of white guilt.The reason I think he’s an idiot, is he bent over and took it.  He should not have.

Well, funny thing, so were the Duke players…  Seligman, Evans, Finnerty and for that matter, the entire Duke lacross team. they, too, were the victim of the leftist mantra of white guilt.

Another description for it is reverse discrimination.

The really frightening thing about all of this is, that until that situation is brought under control these two situations are going to be merely the starting point.  These double standards, so long as they’re allowed to continue, will.  As Boortz said the other day, the price on this stuff keeps going up, too.

Next time, Don Imus should just use the “artistic expression” excuse

Sister Toldjah

The Sister makes quite a few good points, and I just couldn’t bear to use just one snip.  Alas:

I don’t have any particularly strong opinions about Don Imus one way or the other, other than thinking he’s always been overrated.

But now with the controversy swirling over the racially offensive comments he made about the women’s college basketball team at Rutgers, with lifetime racists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, of all a people not accepting the two week suspension levelled on Imus by CBS and MSNBC and instead calling for Imus to be fired, I just find it interesting that Imus’ comments can generate this much controversy and outrage and calls for his firing, yet such incendiary commentary coming from rappers black AND white in the form of ‘song lyrics’ fly to the top of music sales lists, garner Grammy nominations, and in some cases win Grammy awards?

 Amen!

*The Music: Joe Sample’s “Spellbound” (1990)

You’ve heard Joe Sample before, most likely when he was playing with the Crusaders.  But this album is a pivotal work in his recorded history.  With the help of Al Jerreau and Michael Franks, Sample is reaching for crossover territory… and hits it square on. Yet, at the same time he gets into tonal complexity that is found only in straight ahead jazz recordings. Smooth, sophisticated, and for the jazz lover, just downright fun.  A personal favorite.

Favorite Cut: “All God’s Children”
* Billy, the only reason he reacted that way was that the side of the isle that hold such things of great import, is the same group he’s been trying to snuggle up to for over a decade, now. I’m quite sure that in his mind he felt himself obligated to kiss the rings of Jackson and Sharpton… knowing that if he didn’t, he’d lose a chunk of this listenership.

Thing is, he made that bed several years ago.  He now is forced by momentum to lie in it. That may or may not mean that he’s done, as you suggest.  But as Neal said the other day, the price keeps going up on this type of stuff. I wonder if it’s a price he’s going to be able to pay.
And by the way, you would be more welcome than somebody wants to limit what I or my readers have to say.  Then again, you’ve known that for years. I’ve already said my piece on this business, both here, and over at OTB.  At least for awhile.  But I’m telling you, so there’s no mistake; this is an attempt by one side to control the conversation.  It’s that simple.  Your first clue, was when you started seeing the New York Times writing about it.
Oh, and don’t forget to swerve a lot.

* Several people have noted this poll from the university of Chicago, which suggests that American doctors believe God or some supernatural beings intervenes between them and their patients as regards health.  Hardly surprising, given the kind of work they do.  But interesting, nonetheless.  Here’s a link from Michelle Malkin.

* We’re not ignoring him, Jonah.  He’s insignificant. I’m quite serious.

OK…. It’s true, that McCain is making a noise is that are farther to the right, then Giuliani, as you say.  But the fact of the matter is, that he has been much too enamored with the concept of being a “maverick”. As you suggest, he seems to relish breaking ranks for its own sake.  That is a mark of a maturity, which is exactly what we do not need at this stage of the game.  It’s to the point where he’s merely the back end of the maverick. For a prime example of that view, let’s talk about McCain/Finegold, shall we?
If someone is going to lay claim to a particular political benchmark, then he’d darn well better hold that political benchmark, and not squander it at the first opportunity. If he is trying to get people of a particular political persuasion to vote for him, then those people are ill served if simply for the sake of breaking ranks, he goes off on his own, and doesn’t represent the people who voted for him. It is at that point that their usefulness comes to an end.
John McCain has had more than one opportunity , and has blown the vast majority of them in this race, as well as the previous one by doing exactly that. So it is that he’s made himself insignificant in this race.  He has nobody to blame but the man the mirror.

*Speaking of blowing it, there goes Mitt Romney’s conservative BonaFides as well… and for the same reasons…. idiot.

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* I see the Hildabeast is making noises in defense of Peolsi’s Syria butt kissing, saying she did the ‘right thing’.  I can think of a number of statements and sentiments that would disqualify one for the presidency, but none more clear than this; she’s willing to give up the power the presidency whose purview foreign policy is, after all, to the Senate… to say nothing of doing so with a sworn enemy, already documented to be directly responsible for killing our people.

* Speaking of HER/It… I see her people trying to get something started with this one.. but it’s not gaining any traction. The issue that they cannot reckon with, yet; Since when do ethics violations worry Democrats? You’d think she’d remember how it was that She and Bubba got away with so much….

* I’m still taking applications for a fourth writer for this site.  If you’re interested, drop me mail. 

It is Larry Birkhead.   Sorry, Bithead, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I my personal parlance, I’d say just as Bit has adopted Don Imus, that I that adopted Keith Olbermann.  I again exercise my self-anointed parential rights. 

Johnny Dollar, Olbermann Watch, has audio clips of what is in effect Keith Olbermann smacking himself with a dead fish.  What Olberman said about Bill O’Reilly on 16 November, 2006 totally applies to what Olbermann ssid yesterday. 

Aside and H/T:  Sister Toldjah.does a pretty good job herself smacking Al Sharpton with her dead fish.?

I remarked a few days ago, about what the opposition parties in some of the more oppressed countries of thw world must be feeling as they wacth the Democratic Party in action here in the states…. and outrside of it.

Some degree of confirmation came in the form of a note from the Reform party of Syria, this morning. Here’s a taste:

The result of the Pelosi trip on Middle Eastern reformists is having quite a chilling effect. Five years of investment by the US State Department and the Bush administration in organizations and people who have committed their lives to helping their oppressed countries is being flushed away by the Democrats in Congress who, with the visit of Pelosi to Syria, have shown that they favor the stability of dictatorships to freedom even if they had a direct hand in killing American troops in Iraq.

For Nancy Pelosi to cajole with Assad who has facilitated the killing of American soldiers is a travesty. RPS wants to remind all the Democrats in Congress what Assad has been up to in building terrorist bases in Syria. Many of the Democrats already know it because they get the same good intelligence as the National Security Council or the DIA. The US public has not been informed of these training terrorist bases because the media is disinterested in highlighting any reason that would prompt Bush to take action. Without public support, the US can never achieve success in the hard and long struggle to subdue extremism and to spread freedom.

There’s more… go and read.

Democrats are always saying they’re very much concerned with the kind of image the US is sending. Well, Democrats… what about this? Why all the silence, this time, eh?

And for that matter where’s the pres on this stuff? Silencio, past the first go-around.

I see Rusty Shackleford is getting death threats from the Islamo-facists.

Apparently, they want to kill him for saying they’re violent, or something. 

Hell, I’ve said that, too….How is it he rates a death threat or two, and I don’t?

I guess I have to work harder, huh?

Update: I see Misha’s asking, too.

Line forms on the right, boys.