Insult

IT IS NOT for political correctness but for accuracy that the publishers of Merriam-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary should change its definition of ''nigger.'' No threatened boycott by the NAACP should be necessary to alter the way that particular entry is phrased. It should be very clear in all rTC dictionaries and reference books that the word does not simply mean ''a black person.''The derogatory nature of the word must not be an aside in its definitions. Derision was its original and remains its most frequent intent -- even among African Americans.

Although a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Ben Carson must have realized he would also be judged by his views on gay marriage ("Hopkins chides Carson for gay-marriage remarks," April 6). If he had kept them to himself, his thoughts would have remained his personal opinion, which everyone has a right to. But when someone famous for his medical skills publicly shares an opinion as vicious as his, he has crossed a line. As someone who works with physicians and nurses whom Dr. Carson puts into the same category as criminals, I find his attitude cruel and unbecoming.

The temporary income tax reduction for 2012 enacted by the Anne Arundel County Council is silly and a slap in the face for the average worker ("Arundel council reduces income tax rate," June 22). Any temporary cut can always come back to haunt the working family that makes a responsible monthly budget. Then throw in that the cut is just 35 bucks a year? You have to be kidding. For a person earning $50,000, any little amount helps. But to be insulted with just $35 for 2012, then in 2013 have it taken away again is more painful than a pencil in the ear. The county council needs to come off the cruise ship with folks earning $100,000 plus a year and realize Anne Arundel County is as much a blue-collar county as a white-collar one. Steve Reigle, Severn

The TV remarks about gay marriage that Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson made this week on Fox News were denounced Thursday by a faculty colleague who directs a university program on sexuality and gender. "We have been trying to have an open discussion about this issue, and obviously we support his right to free speech," Todd Shepard, co-director of the school's Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, told The Sun Thursday night. "But what he said is not about opening up discussion, it's about shutting it down by scaring people.

The Sun owes an apology to its readers for publishing Garry Trudeau's idiotic attempt at being funny in his "Doonesbury" comic strip on state abortion laws. It was a jab at all those who have some morals and religious convictions, no matter what their political views. It would have been better for you to have published the comments of Howard Stern. You are getting pretty hard to take with your biased, one-sided view of current events. Check out your own What Maryland Thinks polls, where 90 percent of the time readers disagree with you. John Rutkowski, Rock Hall

I wanted to scream after reading the editorial about Ron Smith on Friday ("The voice of reason," Nov. 25). To say The Sun's editorial board is not often in agreement with Ron in matters of politics and government is a given. Ron's ideas are reasonable and formed by basic common sense. The Sun's ideas are usually absurd, partisan and predictably wrong. To link Ron with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is absurd - more predictable Sun style. You were correct that he is not captive of the dogma or talking points of the right, as The Sun carries the water of the far left daily.

As quarterback

AS 50TH ANNIVERSARY celebrations go, this one is a bit of a bust. This week -- Tuesday to be exact -- marks year number 50 since Jackie Robinson broke the color line in major league baseball.That April day in 1947 has long been revered by African-Americans as a great leap forward in the integration of American sports and society, an advance for the race. It's time we start calling April 15, 1947 what it actually was: an execrable and egregious insult.This is meant as no disrespect for Robinson, who was a superb athlete, a dignified, intelligent man who handled everything that was thrown at him with grace and courage.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- There is little likelihood that the Geneva talks will avoid war because President Bush badly misunderstands Saddam Hussein, a former head of Israeli intelligence said yesterday.Mr. Bush's rhetoric has been "an insult . . . a slap in the face" to Mr. Hussein, who now will be loath to compromise, said Aharon Yariv, a reserve army general."Saddam Hussein takes it as an insult," he said. "Once you do it in public, Arab leaders are very sensitive. Arab prestige counts a lot."

The NAACP took issue with CBS News yesterday after the network cut away from a presidential speech paying tribute to black American military heroes to show footage from the Persian Gulf war.The Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks, executive director of the Baltimore-based civil rights organization, issued a statement calling the switch an "insult."Our switchboard has been literally jammed with telephone calls from across the country, from parents and relatives, many of them close to tears, who felt CBS erred," he said.

While Angelenos are mourning the loss of their favorite basketball team's patriarch, basketball fans in the other corner of the country are scratching their heads over a comment by rapper. Welcome to your online trends for Tuesday, February 19. Jerry Buss, the man credited by many with bringing glamour back to basketball as the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, died yesterday at the age of 80. Meanwhile, two of the world's greatest soccer -- ahem, football -- teams are scheduled to play today, bringing them one step closer to European dominance.

Twenty-seven Tufts men's lacrosse players will be suspended for two games this season after "unacceptable behavior," including racist and sexist insults, at a women's volleyball game against Smith College last semester, the Tufts Daily student newspaper has reported. An external investigation was launched by the school's Office of Equal Opportunity after a student accused the players of "calling out sexist and racist insults that disparagingly referenced the Smith players by name and threatened them during the game" Sept.

Editor: In your article "Walmart protests resume in Bel Air" (Jan.16) Walmart spokesman Bill Wertz stated: "Certainly our charge, from the county is to ensure that we are not aggravating the traffic situation. In fact, we believe we will be able to improve it. " The statement that the traffic situation will be improved after a 186,000 square foot Super Center store, bringing an additional 10,000 to 12,000 cars per day to the intersection of a two-lane Route 924 and Plumtree Road, is beyond ludicrous.

In Susan Reimer 's column ("At home with the Jesuses?" Sept. 25), she compares herself with Salman Rushdie. Mr. Rushdie published his works expressing his sincere beliefs with the knowledge that his life could be at risk. Ms. Reimer seems to have written her column with the aim of insulting all who believe in Jesus and respect his mother. Ms. Reimer seems to feel that she can do so with impunity. Her attempt at being cute fails miserably. Has The Sun sunk to this level? Annunziata Kurek, Elkridge

The present controversy over the proposed Eisenhower National Memorial centers on the relationship between the meaning and significance of Dwight David Eisenhower's service to the nation and architect Frank Gehry's scheme to commemorate that service. Does the design fulfill the requirements and standards of monumental civic art? Does it, in a seemly manner, recognize and honor the achievements of General Eisenhower as supreme commander of the Allied Forces in Europe in World War II and as president of the United States from 1953 to 1961?

My heart goes out to the family of Jenny Olenick, who by all accounts was a talented and wonderful teen. The May 5 article detailing events surrounding the filing of a malpractice suit, "Lawyers question teen's health before death," got my attention for several reasons. To imply that pre-exiting conditions, such as stress, anxiety and heart disease would have contributed to or caused her death seem far-fetched. As reported in the article the autopsy report found "no evidence of a physical process, like cardiomyopathy having occurred," according to the state's chief medical examiner.

A Howard Circuit Court judge gave a man the state's maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for a February carjacking in Columbia, calling the crime "an insult to the community."Judge Dennis Sweeney imposed the sentence yesterday after the defendant, 23-year-old Anthony Joyner of Laurel, argued that he did not get a fair trial.Joyner was convicted of robbery, theft and assault charges in September for forcing a woman from her 1985 BMW sedan outside her home in the Village of Kings Contrivance on Feb. 15.Carjacking has received national attention since Pam Basu of Savage was dragged to her death in a carjacking incident on Sept.

BADALONA, Spain -- As national insults go, the one the United States recently endured at the hands of Brazil falls short of the British burning of Washington.On the other hand, it was the best insult the Dream Team could come up with, so it made do.Challenged by Brazil's irrepressible Marcel Souza to quit playing golf and get serious, the U.S. players plotted the Brazilians' downfall for a month. The schedule finally delivered up their lambs last night, and the Americans barbecued them, 127-83.

The all-out battle for women's votes has begun in earnest, with the respective presidential campaigns each seeking to take advantage of real (and perceived) mistakes by the opposition and its acolytes. The verbal volleyball match has been interesting to watch, as each camp seeks to prove how its candidate is the only true protector of women's rights. A brief review: The Obama administration commences a frontal assault on the conscience clause, that heretofore universally accepted exemption for religious institutions that prevented them from being forced to perform procedures and therapies contrary to their religious tenets.

For me, the image of Mike Wallace as an iconoclastic journalist who challenged the status quo was always contradicted by his status as a hugely successful mainstream media personality. It's as if the few times he butted heads and dug into an interviewee were replayed over and over to obscure what he really was - the product and purveyor of predictable media pablum, that gray blob that dominates the news empire. The contrived and formulaic 60 Minutes set-up with guests, which was his signature, always seemed to mock real expose journalism and insult viewers.