gWb humor

[Judy G. Russell]

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing on Iraq.

He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."

"OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

[RayB (France)]

**Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"**

The number of lawyers in NJ?

[Judy G. Russell]

Old joke:

Question: Why does California have more lawyers and New Jersey more toxic waste sites?

Answer: New Jersey got first choice.

(There are very few lawyer jokes I haven't already heard. But Bush provides us with new humor -- all of it black -- every day.)

[RayB (France)]

**(There are very few lawyer jokes I haven't already heard. But Bush provides us with new humor -- all of it black -- every day.)**

Sounds racist to me!

[Judy G. Russell]

**(There are very few lawyer jokes I haven't already heard. But Bush provides us with new humor -- all of it black -- every day.)**

Sounds racist to me!Ordinarily I'd think that was tongue-in-cheek, but I recently came across someone who truly had never heard the term "black humor" (http://www.bartleby.com/65/bl/blackhum.html)...

[Dan in Saint Louis]

Ordinarily I'd think that was tongue-in-cheek, but I recently came across someone who truly had never heard the term "black humor" (http://www.bartleby.com/65/bl/blackhum.html)...But certainly someone in France would understand that "film noir" would not be a slur, and make the connection........

[Judy G. Russell]

I'm beginning to learn not to take anything for granted any more...

[RayB (France)]

**But certainly someone in France would understand that "film noir" would not be a slur, and make the connection........**

Golly gee, Dan. You certainly would, wouldn't you?

[Mike]

I'm beginning to learn not to take anything for granted any more...
The movie Sordid Lives, which I highly recommend, is billed as "a black comedy about white trash."

There's not one mention of race anywhere in the movie. Yet I know a couple of people who thought that tagline is offensive.

I wish ignorant people didn't try to be so PC.

[RayB (France)]

**I wish ignorant people didn't try to be so PC.**

Mike,'The League of the Easily Offended' knows no bounds!

[Judy G. Russell]

I wish ignorant people didn't try to be so PC.I wish people generally didn't try to be so PC. It's one thing to be careful not to use language that is patently hurtful and offensive. (I'm thinking about words like what became infamous in the OJ case as "the N word".) It's another thing to be ridiculous as, for example, when my realtor years ago replaced my sign about not letting my deaf cats out of the house with one that identified them as "hearing challenged".

[MollyM/CA]

I wish ignorant people didn't try to be so PC.

If not ignorant people then who? Aware people are hardly going to bother.

[Mike]

I wish people generally didn't try to be so PC.
Good point.

[Bill Hirst]

I wish people generally didn't try to be so PC. It's one thing to be careful not to use language that is patently hurtful and offensive. (I'm thinking about words like what became infamous in the OJ case as "the N word".) It's another thing to be ridiculous as, for example, when my realtor years ago replaced my sign about not letting my deaf cats out of the house with one that identified them as "hearing challenged".
That's not PC anymore. It should be "differently sensory-abled." Isn't "cats" a bit pejorative? It implies they are somehow inferior to other members of the family who don't bear the label.

[Dan in Saint Louis]

Curious how the public creates a perception of what might be offensive. With all the labels created to soft-pedal the condition of slow learners, or the developmentally disabled, or the academically challenged; do you what we parents of these children call them in meetings and around each other? "Retarded."

[Judy G. Russell]

Isn't "cats" a bit pejorative? It implies they are somehow inferior to other members of the family who don't bear the label.Oh good heavens no. Cats are creatures who were once worshipped by the Egyptians... and have never forgotten it. The pejorative is the use of the term "my cats". Everyone knows you do not own cats; you are owned by them.

[Judy G. Russell]

That's a bit of "say as I say, not as I do" however. If someone else -- particularly a "normal" kid -- started calling your kid "a retard", I daresay you might have something to say about it.

[Dan in Saint Louis]

If someone else -- particularly a "normal" kid -- started calling your kid "a retard", I daresay you might have something to say about it.
Quite so. The context and phrasing are demeaning.

[Judy G. Russell]

The context and phrasing are demeaning.And that's what I wish the PC crowd would pay attention to. Not every word that might possibly be taken, under some extreme circumstance, as demeaning should be considered such regardless of context or phrasing.

[rlohmann]

You, of course, have always known this, but for the information of the less knowledgeable, dogs have owners; cats have staff.

[Judy G. Russell]

...dogs have owners; cats have staff.Absolutely. Now if you want to see the results of a few people willing to risk their lives at the paws of the cats who own them, go out immediately if not sooner and pick up a copy of the book Bad Cat (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761136193/002-1869632-0226430?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance). I can't remember when I've laughed so hard...

[Peter Creasey]

The movie

Mike etal, In line with the discussion about movies, IF YOU ARE RECEPTIVE TO A BOB HOPE ANALYSIS, visit

Greatest Movie Line Ever (http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2005/08/greatest_movie_.html)

and click on "_one of the greatest_" under the heading "Greatest Movie Line Ever".