Re: [Phys-l] scientists are wimps

[Ze'ev Wurman <zeev@ieee.org>]

Brian,

On 4/15/2012 10:37 AM, brian whatcott wrote:
> That was probably not to Ze-ev's taste - here's an equal-opportunity
> somewhat  racist joke - that may have more chuckle value?
>
> Mexican Jews ...
I have no issue with real jokes, including the above.
>      ***
> On a more serious political  note: ...
>    Israel is a nuclear state however, with a propensity for snatching
> similar toys from other war-like states like Iran.
On a more serious note and speaking of "propensities," is it OK if I 
describe Iraq (circa 1980s) and Syria (since 1970s), who had their 
nuclear ambitions "snatched," as regimes with a "propensity" for 
murdering tens of thousands of their own citizens when those disagree 
with the regime? Is it OK to point out that Iran shows "propensity" for 
imprisoning tens (hundreds?) of thousands of such, torturing them, and 
raping and beheading thousands of them?

My real issue was not that the original "satire" used an ignorant jab at 
Rumsfeld. One gets used to such political idiocies on science forums 
like this. My real problem was what I consider was the honest surprise 
by people like you to others' sensitivity to the political jab  -- after 
all, doesn't "everyone" among scientists know that "Rumsfeld is a war 
criminal?" In other words, it was initially not even perceived by most 
responders as political, but rather simply as a satire on the irrational.

Hint: Groupthink is not a particularly conservative trait, nor it is 
common only among non-scientists.

Ze'ev

"Take take the beam out of your eye ..."
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