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James Watson: Scientist loses titles after claims over race
Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson has been stripped of his honorary titles after repeating comments about race and intelligence.
In a TV programme, the pioneer in DNA studies made a reference to a view that genes cause a difference on average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said the 90-year-old scientist's remarks were "unsubstantiated and reckless". Dr Watson had made similar claims in 2007 and subsequently apologised.
He shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for their 1953 discovery of the DNA's double helix structure.
Dr Watson sold his gold medal in 2014, saying he had been ostracised by the scientific community after his remarks about race. He is currently in a nursing home recovering from a car accident and is said to have "very minimal" awareness of his surroundings.
Previously: Disgraced Scientist is Selling his Nobel Prize
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 14 2019, @12:41AM (18 children)
He does have one point though: the ME in general and the hardline Islamic parts of it in particular are shit for womens' basic rights. I have watched slackjawed as people who deride me for not being feminist enough for one reason or another then go on to say that if someone wants to hijab it's her business and the choice empowers her.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:06AM (4 children)
I am not certain, and I trust your reasoning in this matter over my own. Would this be a case where we are looking at a culture where first wave feminism has yet to happen in a Hegelian qualitative sense (as opposed to quantitative)?
(Score: 0, Troll) by NPC-131072 on Monday January 14 2019, @01:38AM (3 children)
No, Islam is the most progressive religion. [quran.com] This is why we on the left welcome it in our war against the nazis. [dailycaller.com] Azuma doesn't appreciate Islam as the progressive force for change it is. [theguardian.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:49AM (1 child)
Ah! My NPC fren! I've been meaning to ask you something! What is your opinion of Caitlin Johnstone, and what is your take on Germaine Greer's body of work?
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Monday January 14 2019, @02:56AM
Hello fren,
I'm with Woody Guthrie on this one. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @05:32AM
Again, your trolling attempts lack subtlety. These posts are the equivalent of Gilbert Gottfried when the situation calls for, say, Eddie Izzard. I appreciate the personalized attention, but the delivery is amateur and the hand is rather overplayed.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Monday January 14 2019, @01:13AM (2 children)
I don't think the hijab should be banned. But we should also get rid of any remaining anti-mask laws [wikipedia.org] in this age of facial recognition (soon to be gait recognition).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:43AM (1 child)
Get your strut on! [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:13AM
I saw your link but didn't click on it cause I thought "I gotta add in that Monty Python walking skit!" and rushed to do that first.
Then I thought I should check to see what kind of video you linked. Good stuff.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday January 14 2019, @01:18AM (2 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:27AM
Only if it isn't cultural appropriation. ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:40PM
I like you Arik, as much as it's possible for one person to like another in a non sexual way only by reading posts written on a bulletin board style messaging system.
Don't die.
If you're going to do that, at least wear one of those jackets that have on the back
'Don't shoot!
Not a muslim!'
Mmmmkay?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:51PM
According to My-Ass-min "islam is the most feminist religion".
I suspect the lot of them are either brainwashed or subjugated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:46PM (5 children)
What if she actually wants to wear it? I know an Afghani family here in America. The women actually feel more comfortable covering their head out in public. Is that OK with you? Is there some sort of approval process that they need to go through in order to get an Azumi-approved exemption? Is there any other part of the dress code that needs your approval up front? Just asking (for my Afghani friends). I do, on the other hand, agree with you that much of the ME (and the Islamic world, in general) are shit for women's basic rights.
(Score: 2) by qzm on Monday January 14 2019, @07:49PM (3 children)
I'm pretty sure there were some Blacks who felt pretty damn uncomfortable sitting in the front of a bus not so long ago also....
However you are missing the point.
It could well be more comfortable for a motorcyclist to wear a full face helmet when they pop in to the bank.. But that doesn't mean the bank will allow it..
The bans are about clothing that hides ones identity.
Not all hijabs do.. and not all are banned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @11:16PM (2 children)
No, I think I get the point. Perhaps you should go back and read what Azumi Hazuki actually wrote. Azumi apparently takes issue with Muslim women wearing a hijab, regardless of whatever reasons they may have. I, on the other hand, think that people should be allowed to wear whatever they feel comfortable wearing, even if I don't agree with their reasons. We don't have a dress code in the West. I also think black people should be allowed to sit wherever they want on the bus, regardless of what I might think about it. Why the hell are you liberal types so damn controlling anyway? And I think you need to learn some Islamic terminology. A hijab covers the hair. A niqab covers the whole head, including the face. Just so you know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @02:21AM
We'll discuss it after they stop forcing prepubescent girls to wear a piece of cloth on their head to honor a god their parents claim to believe in
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @06:15AM
"Azuma," for the love of little green onions. It's like the most common surname after Tanaka and works as a given name too. It's like Johnson or Smith. Everyone in Japan knows or is an Azuma, including some pets, proportionally more so the closer to Tokyo your family is from IIRC. It's even written with the ideograph for "east."
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @05:38AM
My general feeling is "if they want to that's up to them," but there is some worry over *why* they want to. And it's a bit bizarre to call that feminism or empowerment given the roots of the hijab and its horrible cousin the niqab. The overarching theme is exactly the same as "if you would only dress more modestly you wouldn't have been raped," which is insulting as hell to women *and* men if you ask me; to women because it reduces us to, bluntly, a warm hole for the taking, and to men because it reduces them to the level of the beasts of the field.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...