First the needle, now the noodle.
The Needler in the Haystack has taken up The Wet Noodle against other bloggers whom he deems deserving of a lashing.
David R. came in for one on Saturday and my turn came up Sunday. My transgression had to do with the casual use of the term "hajj." I had a gut reaction that it was insensitive to call an errand to City Hall the equivalent of a holy pilgrimage.After checking several sources, I did not see any proof that the word had become generalized for such usage. Dan reached back to 200 B.C. to support his argument for my chastisement.
I would rather err on the side of caution than offend another person's religion. So bring on the noodle.
As for Dan's over-the-top reaction to perceived lapses by fellow bloggers, such officiousness bodes ill for those who may have to deal with Dan as a representative of the new administration.
--Bernice
It may bode ill for those that have to deal with him, but it will bode worse for a mayor who has to deal with everyone, and in whom many have voiced great expectations. As the saying goes, you have one chance to make a first impression.
ReplyDeleteDan's name should be Hector Projector ... not the needler or the noodler .. His innuendo without cause and faux political correctness at times reeks of his childish pettiness with regard to Mayor Sharon and at one LONG LONG LONG LONG time ago, Jerry Green ( who somehow has been anointed on the Saint roll for the New Dems ..there it is.. in the distance Kumbaya rolling the Democrat households in Plainfield, although they are still SMARTING from that smackdown the RDO's gave Ruler-Elect Mapp at the meeting ). Whether it's Dan Damon or McGreevey.. Alan put it best.. you have one chance to make a first impression.. Adrian Mapp has shown us his... but when your goal is simply to be one step up from SRB... you don't have to set the bar high, and they haven't.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me - as one who supports the New Dems, Jerry is not viewed as a saint. Actually, he is the cause of Plainfield's ills. He appointed the Three Amigos, and then, as I understand it, put pressure on someone to give Bridget a job with Union County, making them the Fab four.
DeleteJerry seems to want to keep Plainfield under his thumb, and does so by appointing people he knows will bend under his pressure.
I would be interested in knowing how many voters would vote for him if i he had not given them jobs and threatened that they would lose them if they did not vote for him.
They openly state their support for him ... What they think and say behind closed doors is akin to "all the French being in the resistance" .. it has little practical effect on the day to day of the city. I can state behind closed doors how much I despise Walmart and then pull a New Dem hypocrisy out of my hat while I'm shopping there.. I'm sure Walmart would appreciate my dissent as much as Jerry appreciate's the New Dem's dissent. He mostly appreciates it around election time when they are telling everyone to vote him back in.. He's got to laugh at that one.
DeleteBetween Dan and Rebecca as the new chair of the New Dems I think we're in for four years of self-righteous windbaggery.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dan was the "public information officer" for Mayor Al McWilliams, his primary job was concealing information from the public. That doesn't bode well for us if he gets that position again.
ReplyDeleteI think that the word "Hajj" is much more specific to the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. I have used the word in a "lay" sense as well, but usually in a sarcastic way, to highlight the ironies of those who worship secular things, or "idols," as Norman X has noted elsewhere. For example, I have used the word to make a point about those who make a pilgrimage to Kohl's or Walmart or Toys R US on Thanksgiving Day to buy overpriced consumer crap, rather than being with their families.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
P.S. Of course, "Thanksgiving" as well is fraught with the irony of celebrating communal sharing and genocide--hence, the National Day of Mourning. Most of the folks I know actually use the day to acknowledge the truth of the bloody genocidal past and to share in community and family time.
"MOST of the folks I know actually use the day to acknowledge the truth of the bloody genocidal past ..."
DeleteReally?
To anonymous at 11:31 am: The International Action Center is arranging a bus trip to Plymouth, MA on Thursday, November 28th to observe the 44th National Day of Mourning. The 44th official observance--yes, to acknowledge the truth of the bloody genocidal past. Perhaps I should have said "many." Those going will meet at The Solidarity Center (147 West 24th Street - 2nd floor) NYC at 6:00 am, and will leave Plymouth to return to NYC at approximately 4:30pm. For more info call: 212 633-6646.
DeleteRebecca
Bernice, I took NO offense to your use of the word "hajj" in your post.
ReplyDeleteI would put my 2cents into the argument about the inappropriateness of describing a trip to city hall as a “hajj” which I believe specifically means a sacred pilgramage to Mecca.
ReplyDeleteDan’s ridiculousness in justifying his usage by remarking that the ceremonial term “Baptism” can be considered nonreligious because it was descriptive and the act derived from the Greek word baptize which means washing. I suppose that every time I go to the bathroom I end up ny "baptizing my hands.
Apples are apples; and oranges?
Come on - stop with this ridiculous political correctness. One of the comments above referred to Jerry Green being on the Saint roll. As a Catholic should I be insulted? No lets bend over backwards to not offend a religious group who did not stand up in any unified way to decry the 9-11 murders.
ReplyDeleteSo Rebecca, will you be foregoing turkey an stuffing and boarding the bus for the National Day of Mourning? Take pictures. We'll be thinking of you and your folks and wishing you all safe (and mournful) journey as we gather round and tuck in to our tasty victuals.
ReplyDeleteAs with all history, there are perspectives on Thanksgiving. WBAI used to call it "Misgiving Day" and offered programming to back up that viewpoint. Some will be feasting and some fasting and donating to year-round soup kitchens or otherwise protesting the holiday and Black Friday..
DeleteI don't like to comment on an older post, but both WNYC radio and the NY TImes today used the term "graffiti mecca". Should I be upset on behalf of our Muslim sisters and brothers?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/nyregion/5pointz-a-graffiti-mecca-in-queens-is-wiped-clean-overnight.html?_r=0
The difference is that "mecca" has come into common usage as a place that many people visit and "hajj" is specifically defined by most dictionaries as the pilgrimage to Mecca prescribed as a religious duty for Muslims.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the word "hajj," I thought of Plainfielders I know who went to great expense and personal sacrifice to make the pilgrimage and I felt it demeaned their devotion to use it casually.
When I saw the word mecca, I thought of Plainfielders I know who went to great expense and personal sacrifice to make a ... nevermind.
ReplyDeleteThe two are linked, despite the more common usage of one. Language is fluid and evolving, and perhaps Dan is doing his part to move things forward. I see nothing offensive about the use of either mecca or hajj in a secular context.