Category Archives: Commentary

What To Do With Racist Origins

Posted on by

I recently read an article about expressions with racist origins, which said:

  • Peanut Gallery was a segregation-era term for the seating area for blacks in a theater. Wikipedia says “A peanut gallery was, in the days of vaudeville, a nickname for the cheapest (and ostensibly rowdiest) seats in the theater, the occupants of which were often known to heckle” and throw the cheap snack – peanuts – at actors. It says the popular comic strip Peanuts was named for this phrase. While Wikipedia doesn’t specifically mention a racial origin, todayifoundout says experts disagree on whether the phrase referred to race or economic class. I suspect the two overlap a great deal.
  • Sold Me Down the River referred to selling disruptive slaves deeper into the South where conditions were harder. NPR agrees, citing one writer who called such a sale a death sentience. Phrase Finder adds a literal use in print is in The Ohio Repository, May 1837; and the figurative meaning of betrayal by P. G. Wodehouse’s Small Bachelor, 1927.
  • Gypped, meaning cheated, referred to the supposed dishonesty of Romani (a ethnicity originating in India), called gypsies in Europe. NPR quotes the1899 Century Dictionary as tying the word to gypsies. Worldwidewords acknowledges the possibility but notes the word seems to have originated in America, where gypsies were few. “It may equally well come from the obsolete gippo, a menial kitchen servant; this once meant a man’s short tunic, from the obsolete French jupeau.”

I wonder if origins matter
If I want to communicate with people around me, I need to use words they understand. If I use the word “gyp,” launching into a monologue on why taking offense is ignorant sounds, well, offensive.

This isn’t “political correctness” to me. Words and symbols mean what the people you’re talking to think they mean. It may be a chore to stay current with the latest usage, but I don’t want to be a jerk.

Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge Update

Posted on by

The Denver Post had a Sunday front page article titled “Rocky Flats Ten Years After the Cleanup: A Safe Refuge?,” by John Aguilar. I commend the author and the Denver Post for an article that is balanced. There was a time when the media dominantly published the opinions of the anti-Rocky Flats activists. This article presents both sides.

I have always contended that a positive legacy of the Rocky Flats Plant is that it resulted in saving a segment of the high mountain prairie. “Just 16 miles from downtown Denver, it’s a tableau of wild beauty and one that few get to witness so close to a major metropolitan area.” The 5,000 acre Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is scheduled to formally open to the public at the end of 2017. There has already been what was officials called a “soft opening” with one guided hike that occurred on September 25 and another that is scheduled for October 16. You can call 303-289-0936 if you want to go on that hike. The announcement was made on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge web page and said, “Join us to explore the wildlife, birds, and plants…Please be comfortable hiking up to 3 miles.” A Daily Camera article predictably adds that hikers can go, “…if they are not concerned about radioactive plutonium-239, which officials say is not a danger.”

The usual critics are cited in the Camera and Post articles with their usual warnings about why the public should not go onto the site. One said he wouldn’t let his children go there. I recommend reading the full Post article and note the assurances given by the various public officers. I’m guessing they would be proud  to show their families the beautiful place.

Death Sentence in Colorado

Posted on by

I was baffled when the man who murdered twelve innocent people and wounded another seventy while they were viewing a movie in Colorado was not sentenced to death. I must say I commend the Denver Post and Jordan Steffen for publishing an article that attempts to explain the reasoning by at least one juror about the eventual life sentence. My reaction to the verdict had been that someone, or several, must have lied during jury selection that they could find for the death sentence when they secretly were not willing to do that. The Denver Post article provides some insight into the eventual outcome. My opinion is that the shooter clearly should have been sentenced to death, but reading the article made me more sympathetic to those who did not agree.

The article clearly describes the emotional impact of the trial on the jurors, or at least the impact on one who decided she could not vote for the death penalty. “She still cries when she thinks of the 12 people she never met. At night she imagines the horrors she only heard about…The gunman did not deserve a life sentence, but he also didn’t deserve to die.” I was confused when I read that last sentence, but eventually came to understand that the juror believed a life sentence was not enough punishment, but that the death sentence was too much punishment. I admit I don’t know what would be a “middle ground punishment,” but the juror needed whatever that might have been. The juror decided to speak to the press because reports indicated that a single juror spared the shooter’s life when there were three who could not agree with the death sentence. Continue reading →

The Arab Spring Has Become the European Flood

Posted on by

The Arab Spring was the hopeful term for a new beginning when there were anti-government protests and uprisings in the Middle East. I recall universal media support to the decision to provide air support to the rebels fighting Gaddafi’s forces in Libya until he was captured and summarily executed. The Obama Middle East foreign policy, which included the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and killing Gaddafi, has contributed to in a virtual flood of refugees out of the Middle East to Europe. One reporting site records that there are “…nine civil wars now going on in Islamic countries between Pakistan and Nigeria. This is why there are so many refugees fleeing for their lives. Half of the 23 million population of Syria have been forced from their homes, with four million becoming refugees in other countries…Some 2.6 million Iraqis have been displaced by the Islamic State—Isis…”

From a USA Today article, “A record 522,124 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea this year, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday. The number is more than double the previous high set only last year. Of the estimated number of migrants who made the hazardous journey by sea, 388,000 arrived in Greece and 130,891 in Italy. They hail from countries that include Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Bangladesh, the IOM said. Last year, 219,000 migrants and refugees escaping war and poverty sailed to Europe.”

Many of the images of the flood of refugees are of women carrying or leading children to a safer place. However, many of the images are of young men who are of “military age.” My question is how many of them are Isis who are taking advantage of the situation to infiltrate receiving countries to create mischief or terrorism?

I would be curious whether President Obama thinks his Middle East policy has been a success. .

College Scorecard

Posted on by

We have commented previously about the problem of student loan debt. One web site says that 69% of graduates from public and nonprofit colleges in 2013 had an average student loan debt of $28,400 per student, which was two percent higher than 2012.

I read recently about a government-managed web site that allows comparing the costs of colleges and decided to check it out. I struggled a bit at first with getting to a comparison of Colorado State University with Colorado University, but I persisted and saw that CSU costs $15,303/year and CU $21,249. CU wins with a 69% graduation rate versus 63% for CSU. CU also wins with a $48,000 annual salary versus $44,300 annual salary (I’m assuming for graduates). I was disappointed that the same information came up when I entered a four-year Bachelor degree in Computer sciences instead of searching for any field of study.

The “Institute for College Access and Success” site is easier to use and has more information. The home page has a map that allows you to scroll to see average debt per state. For example, there are 56% of Colorado students who have debt averaging $24,520. Click on the state and it takes you to a listing of all of the universities. It reveals that the Colorado averages are skewed by the fact that there are slightly more than 4,000 cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy who have no debt because there is no tuition.

Attack on Coal Mines

Posted on by

The mining of coal in Colorado came under attack when WildEarth Guardians sued advocating that the environmental review for operating the Colowyo mine near Craig, Colorado did not consider the impact on global warming. “The Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation Enforcement issued its decision…five days before court-imposed deadline…” The review “…found that the burning of coal at the nearby Craig Generating Station would have ‘insignificant impacts’ on national greenhouse gas emissions and moderate impacts on emissions in Colorado. It also noted that only 20 acres of the 809 acres to be mined under the original permit still remain untouched.”

The ruling was good news to the 220 people who are employed at the mine, but the issue is a stark reminder of how far the environmental movement will go to shut down any generation of energy by any means other than solar and wind. Similar law suits have been filed against other coal mines, including the Trapper Mine near Craig and other mines in New Mexico and near the Montana-Wyoming border.

I find it frightening that some who are advocates of the dangers of global warming are willing to accept economic devastation of people who make their living providing the fuel that generates the energy that supports our lives. A smart friend has calculated that there would be an insignificant impact on global temperatures if the United States stops the use of all energy-producing methods that produce carbon dioxide emissions. (He allows for each of us to continue generating carbon dioxide in the breath we exhale.)

The friend posted a previous thoughtful and informative commentary on global warming. Part of what he wrote was that, “One of the major problems with the concept of global warming is, if it is caused by Man, the potential remedies could be catastrophic to society.  If we were to stop using fossil fuels, our society must change drastically.  It is only a dream that solar and wind power can replace fossil fuels.  There are some political facts that are “inconvenient truths.”  The three major CO2 producers are China, the U.S., and Europe, in that order.  China has recently agreed to consider curbing their fossil fuel use in the next few decades.  America has cut back significantly on the generation of CO2, but will have a real problem going much farther.”

Perhaps the environmental groups, such as the one who has been filing the lawsuits against coal mines, have discovered ways to heat their homes, drive their cars, power their computers, and recharge their cell phones without completion from the masses who aren’t as smart. There is no doubt that there will be severe energy restrictions if the only “allowed energy” is from solar and wind. Perhaps some antinuclear activists will be willing to consider nuclear if energy isn’t available to recharge their cell phone batteries?