Physical Education
Ubiquitous
County commissioners were discussing problems with the
central collections office that is used to process traffic
ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done
by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed
that central collections "has become a black hole" because
paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted
him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague,
saying the office has become a "white hole."
We had never heard of a "white hole," so we wondered if Price knew
something we didn't. And it turns out, according to this Web page at
Cornell [1], there is such a thing as a white hole, but only in theory:
A white hole is something which probably cannot exist in
the real universe. A white hole will turn up in your
mathematics if you explore the space-time around a black
hole without including the star which made the black hole
(ie. there is absolutely no matter in the solution). Once
you add any matter to the space-time, the part which
included a white hole disappears. . . .
A white hole is pretty much like an "anti-black hole." A
black hole is a place where matter can be lost from the
universe. A white hole is a place where (if it could exist
with any matter in it--which it can't) matter would pop
out into the universe.
In other words, black holes suck. This of course was Mayfield's point:
The central collections office is a "black hole" because paperwork goes
in and disappears. It would be a "white hole" if instead it spewed
papers out.
So how could Price have gotten this so wrong? Maybe it's not his fault.
Maybe the Texas Legislature is just niggardly when it comes to funding
science education.
[1]: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=108
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It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.