Insult

Let's assume that state Labor Secretary Alexander Sanchez is telling the truth and Gov. Martin O'Malley's campaign had nothing to do with the recent removal from the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation website of a report citing last month's weak Maryland job growth figures as evidence that the state's economy had "faltered in July," or with its replacement a few hours later with a report that put a more positive spin on the numbers. Let's assume that, as Mr. Sanchez explained, the initial report was "completely internal," posted by mistake and not intended for public consumption.

With its insult-slinging servers, Dick's Last Resort is the consummate concept bar. In fact, the success of Dick's Last Resort makes you wonder: What are some other great ideas for themed bars? Over the years, some readers and I have hashed out a few tantalizing ideas on my blog, Midnight Sun (baltimoresun.com/midnightsun). If Dick's can pull it off, why can't these? Here are three of our ideas that might just be the next nightlife franchise in the making. Fumbles Every sports bar promotes winning, but none of them celebrate losing.

A judge has ordered the Calvert Marine Museum to pay a homeowners association $10,001 for improperly removing a 10 million-year-old fossil whale skeleton from communally owned cliffs. After more than eight hours of testimony over two days, Calvert Circuit Judge Warren Krug ordered the museum in Solomons to pay the community $1 for trespassing, and $10,000 for the value of the fossil. But while it was a win for the Chesapeake Ranch Estates property owners' association, its president, John Eney, called the award "an insult," and the victory "hollow."

- The Florida State fan stood in the first row behind the baseline at the Donald L. Tucker Center, cupped his hands and shouted in the direction of Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez, who was warming up. "Vasquez, where is your green card?" the fan yelled. It was hardly the first time that Vasquez - who is from Caracas, Venezuela - has encountered taunts that strayed far from basketball and into his background or ethnicity. The senior says he has grown more equipped to deal with such heckling as his career has progressed.

Two women who work for a State Farm insurance agent in Randallstown sued him and his corporate employer Tuesday, saying he repeatedly subjected them to sexual harassment, vile insults and a hostile work environment. Kristi Mitchell and Veronica Cobb are seeking at least $4 million in punitive damages from the agent, Obie Sorrell, and State Farm Annuity and Life Insurance Co., a Fortune 500 company based in Bloomington, Ill., that has 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees. Mitchell has been an office manager for State Farm since February 2002, and Cobb was hired in May as a customer-service manager.

In 1997, Brian Booy of Bristol in the United Kingdom was diagnosed with angina, a chest pain caused by coronary heart disease, and was told he needed triple bypass surgery. Unfortunately, he made the grave mistake of getting ill in Great Britain, where government management of the health industry contributes to massive shortages of everything from doctors to hospital beds and vaccines. Mr. Booy waited a year and a half for his life-saving surgery, which he never received; he died of a massive heart attack in January of 1999.

They will not play the Boston Red Sox again in a game with any sort of meaning until late April of next season, giving the Orioles more than seven months to lick their wounds. The Orioles' final game against their tormentors in 2009 played out like so many before it. The Red Sox pounded an Orioles starting pitcher, secured a seven-run lead and were never threatened in a 9-3 victory Sunday at half-empty Camden Yards, where the only disappointment for the legions of Boston fans at the stadium came when the final score of the New York Jets-New England Patriots game appeared on the scoreboard.

Not so long ago, Rep. Joe Wilson's verbal assault on the president - "You lie!" - might have produced a much different outcome. Instead of debating whether Mr. Wilson should apologize to the U.S. House or face censure, we might be entertaining the prospect of a duel. In early America, calling someone a liar wasn't a childish insult but a direct challenge to one's honor, an appropriate response to which varied by region. Where dueling was common - as in Mr. Wilson's home state of South Carolina - so were insults.

Just when you thought the most offensive thing that the folks at Delaware's Department of Transportation had ever created was that $4 turnpike toll - B oth ways? Come on! - they publish a "Diversity Spotlight" newsletter and insult just about everybody. As reported by The News Journal last week, the agency, in an attempt to root out workplace discrimination, distributed a publication filled with slurs toward black, white, Hispanic, Asian, elderly and gay employees. The two-page document was distributed to most of the 2,600 workers the department employs and was posted on an internal Web site advising them how to interact by telling them exactly what not to do. Such as, don't use the "N-word" (only they didn't say "N-word")

WASHINGTON - Soon after the November election, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet. "A house Negro," Ayman al-Zawahiri said. That was just a warm-up. In the weeks since, the terrorist group has unleashed a stream of verbal tirades against Barack Obama, each more venomous than the last. Obama has been called a "hypocrite," a "killer" of innocents, an "enemy of Muslims." He was even blamed for the Israeli military assault on Gaza, which began and ended before he took office.