NOTE: HAVING INTERNET PROBLEMS. HERE’S TOMORROW’S BLOG. IF YOU DON’T HEAR FROM ME FOR A DAY OR SO, I’M WORKING ON MY ACCESS….
This post from DailyKos mirrors two others I’ve seen, reporting the response of several Texans (!) to the use of a term derived from Arabic to describe a dust storm.
- Hateful hubbub arises over haboob. The word, from the Arabic for “strong wind,” and, in particular, a dust storm in North Africa or the Arabian peninsula, has been used by meteorologists to describe such storms in the United States since the 1950s. But after KCBD News Channel 11 in Lubbock, Texas, posted a photo on its Facebook page with the caption “Haboob headed toward Lubbock,” some Texans went crazy:
“Since when do we need to apply a Muslim vocabulary to a good ole AMERICAN dirt storm?? …I take great offense to such terminology! GO BACK TO CALLING THEM DIRT STORMS!!”
“It’s called a dust storm..Texas is not a rag head country.”
“Never had a haboob until we got that Muslim boob for POTUS.” […]
America is doomed.
If this were an isolated instance, or even limited to Texas, it would be embarrassing, but this sort of assholery is everywhere. Including Congress.
It’s bad enough that people are this ignorant and bigoted; that they feel compelled to publicly express that ignorance and bigotry is really more than I can take.
Ms Kennedy, I’m 68 years old, and if a few Texas rednecks are venting their spleens about an Arabic word for ‘dust storm’ being used in their local weather reports, I’m not gonna have a stroke or risk a heart attack. I’m far more concerned about Ukraine being on an armed alert as war fears grow for their citizens.
My consolation about the rampant ignorance and hate fullness found in our newspapers and blogosphere is that hopefully the brighter folks are busy trying to make the world a better place and don’t have time to comment on trivial and mundane matters. Let’s hope anyway. I like that word ” haboob”, I will try and use it in a sentence this week.
Imagine the uproar if any of these idiots found out that our numerical system is Arabic.