[Bruce H]

THE MEAN SEASON
'Black' hurricane names
brewing swirl of dissent
Rush Limbaugh rips congresswoman's call for African-American storm monikers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: August 3, 2003
4:45 p.m. Eastern


By Joe Kovacs
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com



Was Hurricane Andrew too 'lily white'?

Do devastating hurricanes need help from affirmative action?

A member of Congress apparently thinks so, and is demanding the storms be given names that sound "black."

The congressional newspaper the Hill reported this week that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, feels that the current names are too "lily white," and is seeking to have better representation for names reflecting African-Americans and other ethnic groups.


Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas

"All racial groups should be represented," Lee said, according to the Hill. She hoped federal weather officials "would try to be inclusive of African-American names."

A sampling of popular names that could be used include Keisha, Jamal and Deshawn, according to the paper.

Jackson Lee's call is brewing its own storm of response across America.

A WorldNetDaily reader wrote:

"You can be sure if there were too many 'black' names assigned to hurricanes, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee would instead be complaining that this practice unfairly stereotypes blacks as violent. Let's hope this silly storm blows over!"

Another, Greg Cook, says, "This is ridiculous. How about naming the storms after gang members, or infamous criminals? How about not having any name at all associated with hurricanes?"

Regina Roberston writes: "We should only name hurricanes for foreign officials who are in hiding or considered to be terrorists, or assisting terrorists. We could name the hurricanes after known illegal immigrants, since they are both unwanted and unwelcome anyway. Or how about we only choose French names, so the fear of hurricanes will be put to rest?"

Radio talk-show giant Rush Limbaugh says he was having dinner with his wife when he first learned of the proposal.

"I just threw up my hands. I said, 'Has it come to this now?'" Limbaugh recounted on his show.

"There's discrimination and actually elected officials wandering around worried about the discrimination in the name of hurricanes. And hurricanes are destructive. You know nobody's very excited when a hurricane's heading their way, and yet here she is demanding that hurricanes be named after black people.

"You know it used to be that hurricanes were named only after women because they were destructive and unpredictable. And that's the reason. The feminists grew upset about that, demanded that hurricanes be named after men, and so now, the civil rights leaders are demanding black names for hurricanes.

Limbaugh continued his analysis, saying it was not the mainstream populace responsible for what he called the "Balkanization" of race relations in America.

"It is these elected black leaders, the civil-rights coalitions – they're the ones that keep causing all this racial divide, they're the ones that keep calling attention to all this," said Limbaugh. "They're the ones that keep stirring this pot. They're the ones who don't want there to be any colorblind society. They're the ones who keep being agitated and trying to agitate others over all this, and now it's descended into the meaningless element of the names of hurricanes."

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hurricanes were for centuries named after the Catholic saints' days on which the storms fell.

In 1953, the United States abandoned as confusing a two-year-old plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie) when a new, international phonetic alphabet was introduced. That year, weather services began using female names for storms.

The practice of naming hurricanes solely after women came to an end in 1978 when men's and women's names were included in the Eastern North Pacific storm lists. In 1979, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

[Preacherman]

Next they'll be demanding that the names given to guns and cartridges be changed to reflect racial sensitivity... instead of the .577 Tyrannosaur, we'll have the .578 Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee!

(Actually, that would be a reference to her IQ rather than her caliber...)

:what: :rolleyes: :barf:

[gun-fucious]

Did you see how those trees were shaking?
That last Hurricane was Kweisi

pha-dum bump!

thank you, thank you
i'll be here all week

;)

[El Tejon]

Must . . . suppress . . . urge . . . to . . . list . . . suggested . . . hurricane . . . names.

AHHHH, twice in one day! First, Larry, now this.

The High Road is a tough road. See, Mr. Wolf, I'm doing it!:D

[Futo Inu]

They should name the next one after my girlfriend - her ethnic name is pronounced "Shuh-Thade".























It's spelled S-h-i-t-h-e-a-d.

[Duncan Idaho]

:banghead:

[Bruce H]

What is really sad is I could live for four or six years on what we are paying this idiot yearly.

[Mute]

"All racial groups should be represented," Lee said, according to the Hill. She hoped federal weather officials "would try to be inclusive of African-American names."

Oh yeah. I'd feel much better if my life was destroyed by Hurricane Shawonda instead Hurricane Andrew. :rolleyes: Why are people like her wasting all our oxygen?

[TallPine]

I have a better idea ...

Let's name ALL hurricances after Arab males. :D

Trouble is, I think we would run out of names after about three hurricanes.

[Cliff]

The congressional newspaper the Hill reported this week that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, feels that the current names are too "lily white," and is seeking to have better representation for names reflecting African-Americans and other ethnic groups.

Obviously a graduate of the NAACP/Je$$ie Jackson/Al "I never met a hairdryer I didn't like" Sharpton school of asinine,bloviating,just plain stupid school of race baiters.:evil:

[greyhound]

How did this woman get elected in TEXAS of all places? Does she represent the Austin disctrict or something?:confused:

[Intune]

Okay, name the next three after a Black person. 1. Sheila 2. Jackson 3. Lee :rolleyes:

[SelfProclaimedExpert]

Anyone ever considered that it might not be so terrible if the list included "Carlos"? The current list does sound a bit like roll call at a Catholic High School in Milwaukee.

But is this an "issue" that an elected official should be wasting time with? Not so much.

[jimpeel]

Perhaps some of the Black names could be Sheila ... or Jackson ... or Lee ...

[HankB]

SelfProclaimedExpert wrote:Anyone ever considered that it might not be so terrible if the list included "Carlos"? If you take a look at


http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml

you'll see Carlos is listed for storms during 2003. It's about halfway down the page in the section listing "Eastern North Pacific" names. :rolleyes:

Black names? Here are some suggestons:

Al or Alan (Al Sharpton is black, as is Alan Keyes.)
Andrew (Andrew Young is black)
Arthur (Arthur Ashe was black)
Bill (Bill Cosby is black.)
Colin (Colin Powell is black)
Condoleeza (Condoleeza Rice is black)
Diana (Diana Ross is black)

Skipping down a few letters . . .

Jesse (Jesse Jackson is black)
Lou (Lou Gosset is black)
Michael (Michael Jackson is black. Or used to be.)
Nelson (Nelson Mandela is black)
Robert (Robert Mugabe is black)

Exactly what constitutes a "black" name in Sheila Jackson Lee's twisted little mind?

Maybe she's just run out of semi-plausible reasons to scream "RACISM!" and has found nobody pays any attention to her "same-old, same-old" nonsense any more. Now by descending into silliness, she's found a new way to draw attention to herself.

Poor woman - she expects to be taken seriously.

Poor country - some people will take her seriously.

[CZ 75 BD]

she's from Houston. She's the same one that asked if the Mars rover could run over and take pictures of the American flag that the astronauts left...:what:

[seeker_two]

Glad to see Representative Lee taking on the major problems facing our nation... :rolleyes:

(BTW, she was elected by the city-folk. Us hicks know better...:D )

I've always thought that they should name hurricanes after politicians...

...but that would give hurricanes a bad rap.

[Boats]

You know what?

The weather band frequency on my radio is too lily white as well. I think I'd like Ms. Jackson-Lee to propose that at least 12% of the updates be in Ebonics so I could have an uncontrolled laugh at least once a day.

[greyhound]

what about the voice when you call "time"? ("At the tone, the time will be...) . You just KNOW he's eating baloney on Wonder Bread.

[Steelharp]

To paraphrase Dan Akroyd... "Sheila, you ignorant slut..."

Mikey D...

[HBK]

I have a friend who is black who is named Andrew. Also a guy I coached with was black and named Hugo. What's all the fuss about?

[Sean Smith]

Is it just me or is this a classic example of no-win racial politics?

Don't give storms "black" names: racist by way of exclusion.
Give storms "black" names: racist by implication (black people are destructive?!?) or racist by stereotype (all black people don't have African sounding names!)

:rolleyes:

[grampster]

Greyhound: My grandson told me the other day your get the correct time at the "dome"; as in "At the dome, the time will be......"
heh

grampster

[cslinger]

......and how much time, money and effort is being wasted on this.

I don't care what you call a Hurricane. Bob, Tanya, LaSheryl, Omar, Barbarella, The Obliterator 9000, or Mr. Happy. Whatever, sign the bill and move on. What a waste.

Geeeeez, people torque me off. Thanks for the glowing example of government being too big. Pack your bags Sheila because you apparently have nothing constructive to offer.

I would make a better politician then this.

Excuse me while I go weep for our nation. Heck I might as well drop this idiot a line as long as I am sending out all these AWB letters.

"Dear Sheila, thanks for.....welll nothing."


Chris

[seeker_two]

I don't care what you call a Hurricane. Bob, Tanya, LaSheryl, Omar, Barbarella, The Obliterator 9000, or Mr. Happy.

I want a hurricane named MR. HAPPY.... :D

[Leatherneck]

SHUTUP Sheila! Just SHUTUP! SHUTUP!SHUTUP!SHUTUP!SHUTUP!:banghead:

TC
TFL Survivor

[HBK]

Yeah, Sheila needs to have a nice tall glass of shut the hell up.

[jimpeel]

It is only appropriate that the names of hurricanes that will hit predominantly Caucasian and Latin countries should have predominantly Caucasian and Latin names. Please note from the list below that there are names that are predominantly Black as well.

Now, if she were to complain that the names of Typhoons likely to hit the African Coast were not named appropriately, I would agree with her.

How about Hurricane Carter? Now there's a Black hurricane!

From http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml and http://www.californiaalbums.com/tv_blk.htm and http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/

Atlantic Names
2003
Ana
Bill (Cosby)
Claudette
Danny (Glover)
Erika
Fabian
Grace
Henri
Isabel (Sanford)
Juan
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette (Now, there's a Black name)
Peter
Rose (y Greer)
Sam (uel Jackson)
Teresa (Graves)
Victor
Wanda

2004
Alex (Haley)
Bonnie
Charley
Danielle
Earl
Frances ("Fran" Jeffries)
Gaston
Hermine
Ivan
Jeanne
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard (Pryor)
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter

2005
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Dennis
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene (Cara)
Jose
Katrina
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia (Ever read Othello?)
Philippe
Rita
Stan
Tammy
Vince
Wilma

2006
Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby (Allen)
Ernesto
Florence (Joyner)
Gordon
Helene
Isaac (The Bartender)
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie (Uggams)
Michael (Jackson)
Nadine
Oscar
Patty (LaBelle)
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William ("Willie" Stargell)

2007
Andrea
Barry
Chantal (Chantal??? No Black names, Ms. Lee?)
Dean
Erin
Felix
Gabrielle
Humberto
Ingrid
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Noel
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastien
Tanya
Van
Wendy

2008
Arthur (Ashe)
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike (Turner)
Josephine (Baker)
Kyle
Lili*
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

[cslinger]

Isaac.......The Bartender


God I am in tears here. Bwhahahahaha

I can just here the dead pan delivery of that.

Thanks
Chris

[Partisan Ranger]

Ahhhh, nothing like concentrating the black sheeple's attention on a meaningless issue that suggests racism. Meanwhile, black fathers continue to abandon their children, and black men continue to kill each other in record numbers.

That way, pols never ever have to actually tackle real problems in the black community. But Jackson-Lee will get reelected, which is what it's all about.

[Desertdog]

Let's just name them;
2003-1
2003-2
2003-3
2003-4
And on and on and on.

No discriminmation, never run out of names.

[DontShootMe]

This lady's name is Sheila? I think before calling the kettle 'black' she should change her name to something more ethnic.

AND

Since when are mexicans bunched in with 'lily white' America? (thinking of El Nino)

[Shalako]

Now if I recall, in all seriousness here, that this fascination with Ebonic sounding names is rather recent. I'm thinking like, kindof the early 80's, right? I remember Eddie Murphy doing a bit about black folks taking names off prescription bottles or something to try to develop their own brand of 'Culture'. Its recent. I think it is great that they can have their own thing and feel exclusive about it, but how can Rep. Lee demand that we all recognize whatever current whim or style that they are currently calling Black-Culture? Now if you take it back to the Harlem Renaisance or some other pivitol era in Black culture, I can see paying attention. But if you just slap 'la', 'de', 'kee' in front of your name or 'keesha', 'ante', or 'eeka' after your name that doesn't strike me as significantly inherent to an established and time proven cultural characteristic. Its a style.

Rep. Lee is just being an activist and not a leader.

My .02

[gun-fucious]

but all those "black" names are slave names

they need to be proud real African names like Charles or Nelson or Robert

oops, no wait they need to be Zulu or Mandingo names

yeah, cause all American black people are decended from stolen princes

except for the ones who are decended from Kalahari Bushman

therefore we should also have Hurricane NatOoOk Clik Clik Clik NootAAAA

[Moparmike]

The current retardation of our congress-critters is reaching a mind-bogglingly high boiling point. I cannot believe some of the agendas and things that are of "high concern" to some of them. However, I cant see how my own elected officials in my local city council were elected either.

[Duncan Idaho]

therefore we should also have Hurricane NatOoOk Clik Clik Clik NootAAAALMAO

[jimpeel]

Make that two votes for Mr. Happy!

[ed dixon]

How about a resolution to stop tin-eared, uncreative parents from burdening their children with many of these clunkers? Some are genuinely resonant and lilting. Many sound like bad parody. Hey, that generation of white Tiffanys will be 80 some day too. Do it for the childen.

[BrokenPaw]

It's silly to be naming the things after people, anyway. Why not name them after something that's harmful to people, like....::thinks::....diseases! We could have hurricanes named:

Anthrax
Botulism
Clinton
Dysentery
Ebola
Flu
Gangrene
Hives

and so on....

-BP

[Futo Inu]

Isaac the Bartender...tee hee. Actually, I'm am P.O'ed that the lame names chosen do not reflect (at least in part) our true dorky, lily-white society - after all, where's Gopher on the list?

[Skunkabilly]

Hurricane Carter? LOL

African-American hurricanes? What's next, name mutant sea creatures after Irish people?

[Purgatory]

Anyone concerned about this Hurricane Hermine? If it does anything near a Katrina on us, u reckon they'll come for the guns? :eek:

OH, and by the way, How concerned should we be about the toxic sludge and fumes from the Gulf getting vacuumed up and dispersed nicely across the mainland? :uhoh:

[TexasRifleman]

Bit of zombie here, and no new legal content at that.