"Great empires and tiny minds go ill together."

Great empires and tiny minds go ill together.....so writes Pat Buchanan on Bush's ill conceived foreign policy towards Russia- encouraged and probably planned by the Neocons many of whom have a cultural/folk hatred of Russians that transcends reason - but that can be said about most Neocon ideas.

In other news, or rather non news, I ran this google search on James Watson, DNA pioneer and recieved this result:

Which is rather funny because he's the latest scientist to be sacraficed on the alter of political correctness:

Africans are less intelligent than Westerners, says DNA pioneer

Fury at James Watson's theory: "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really"

By Cahal Milmo

One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that "equal powers of reason" were shared across racial groups was a delusion.

James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London.

The 79-year-old geneticist reopened the explosive debate about race and science in a newspaper interview in which he said Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when "testing" suggested the contrary. He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade.

The newly formed Equality and Human Rights Commission, successor to the Commission for Racial Equality, said it was studying Dr Watson's remarks "in full". Dr Watson told The Sunday Times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really". He said there was a natural desire that all human beings should be equal but "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".

His views are also reflected in a book published next week, in which he writes: "There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so." ...

Dr Watson arrives in Britain today for a speaking tour to publicise his latest book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science. Among his first engagements is a speech to an audience at the Science Museum organised by the Dana Centre, which held a discussion last night on the history of scientific racism.

Critics of Dr Watson said there should be a robust response to his views across the spheres of politics and science. Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "It is sad to see a scientist of such achievement making such baseless, unscientific and extremely offensive comments. I am sure the scientific community will roundly reject what appear to be Dr Watson's personal prejudices.

"These comments serve as a reminder of the attitudes which can still exists at the highest professional levels." ...

Anti-racism campaigners called for Dr Watson's remarks to be looked at in the context of racial hatred laws. A spokesman for the 1990 Trust, a black human rights group, said: "It is astonishing that a man of such distinction should make comments that seem to perpetuate racism in this way. It amounts to fuelling bigotry and we would like it to be looked at for grounds of legal complaint."

There we have it, plain as day. Still think the West is free? It isn't and these laws are slowly coming into effect in the US as well.

I am not a scientist, nor is it an area of primary interest - but an area of interest nonetheless. I have seen how political correctness has distorted art and history, and became interested in how it distorted science. We are more or less, at the moment, have policies which run counter to not only common sense, but human nature. The only question I really have now is how long can a society and civilization continue to exist which not only avoids reality but denies its existence.

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update...Google news seems to work again so toss that conspiracy theory :) ..(.well it was just a hypothesis.). We know what MSM thinks when someone speaks the truth to power:

« View all web results for James watson

Monsters and Critics.com

US research institute suspends James Watson over race row Times Online, UK - 2 hours ago A prestigious New York scientific laboratory has suspended James Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist who caused a storm of controversy after claiming ... Lab suspends DNA pioneer Watson BBC News Watson apologises; suspended from Cold Spring Harbor Nature.com (subscription) Nobel winner suspended James Watson over comments Newsday Scientific American - Newsday all 664 news articles »

Scientist Watson returns to US over race row Reuters - 41 minutes ago By Michael Kahn LONDON (Reuters) - Nobel Prize-winning DNA authority Dr. James Watson cut short a book tour in Britain on Friday and returned to the United ...

Telegraph.co.uk

Watson book tour cancelled after racism claims Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 49 minutes ago DNA pioneer Dr James Watson, 79, who was in the UK to promote his book, made the controversial claims in an interview in The Sunday Times ahead of his ...

Daily Mail

James Watson has Nobel Syndrome Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 13 hours ago In headlines elsewhere this week, you can witness the plight of one well-known sufferer: the American James Watson, who has just flown to Britain to promote ... Race row scientist apologises for saying Africans are 'genetically ... Daily Mail Labour book burners and socialist science British National Party all 4 news articles »

James Watson's not boring... just wrong USA Today - 19 hours ago James Watson's book tour certainly has met one goal set forth in Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science: I don't think anyone's bored right now ... The Dog Ate Our Book Reviews: Watson's Book Given Free Pass by Press Wired News all 2 news articles »

The Science and Assumptions Behind Watson's Views on Blacks Wired News - 18 hours ago By Brandon Keim October 18, 2007 | 2:51:30 PMCategories: Brain, Genetics, People James Watson's assertion that black people are intrinsically less ... Won a Nobel? Go Nuts! Scientific American all 2 news articles »

James Watson, Black Intelligence, and New Research by Fryer and Levitt New York Times, NY - 55 minutes ago By Steven D. Levitt Nobel Laureate James Watson got into trouble recently for expressing the opinion that blacks are less intelligent than whites. ... The Blacks, the Whites, and James Watson Conde Nast Portfolio all 2 news articles »

Race and intelligence New Statesman, UK - 1 hour ago In an interview with the Sunday Times, scientist James Watson was quoted as saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa". ... Watson Rediscovers 1940s Attitudes Towards Race Wired News all 2 news articles »

Seattlest

Not So Elementary, Dear Watson Seattlest, Seattle - 13 hours ago A few weeks ago, Nobel Prize Laureate and co-discoverer of DNA Dr. James Watson blew through town, reflecting on how he's stayed away from stupid people, ...

Top scientist cancels British book tour after race row
Africasia, UK - 24 minutes ago
James Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962 for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, told the Sunday Times newspaper that he was ...

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Naturally I haven't had time to read through all this crap these stories, but there is one prevailing theme: Watson is a racist or senile because obviously those remarks are racist. As I said, I am not a scientist but when a scientist offers data and an argument and is met with this sort of reaction my usual gut feeling is the scientist is right. If he could be refute they would do so easily without name calling. Some try to offer pseudo scientific arguments but they shoot themselves in the foot by refusing to acknowledge difference in the first place with doozies such as (to paraphrase) "there is no significant IQ difference but the gap is closing".

I don't think there is a definitive answer yet about intelligence and inheritance, but 'other side' claiming race is a social construct is just plain nonsense. What I would like to see is a discussion - a rational, scientific discussion without witch hunts like this. I find it odd that the left is constantly pushing for more tolerance of pornography, public displays of sexuality, sexualizing children all under the guise of 'freedom' (it is not it is imperial decadence vs. republican virtue) and then tries to shut down discussion of issues like this. Why is it important? Because anything that challenges their radical egalitarian orthodoxy is 'wrong' by definition.

I will mention that the other end of the spectrum - high Ashkenazim intelligence is in public discussion. From Commentary (enjoy it while you can, Podohretz's nutty, stupid son, who shatters cliches of Jewish intelligence, is taking over) :

Jewish Genius

Charles Murray From issue: April 2007

Since its first issue in 1945, COMMENTARY has published hundreds of articles about Jews and Judaism. As one would expect, they cover just about every important aspect of the topic. But there is a lacuna, and not one involving some obscure bit of Judaica. COMMENTARY has never published a systematic discussion of one of the most obvious topics of all: the extravagant overrepresentation of Jews, relative to their numbers, in the top ranks of the arts, sciences, law, medicine, finance, entrepreneurship, and the media.

I have personal experience with the reluctance of Jews to talk about Jewish accomplishment—my co-author, the late Richard Herrnstein, gently resisted the paragraphs on Jewish IQ that I insisted on putting in The Bell Curve (1994). Both history and the contemporary revival of anti-Semitism in Europe make it easy to understand the reasons for that reluctance. But Jewish accomplishment constitutes a fascinating and important story. Recent scholarship is expanding our understanding of its origins.

And so this Scots-Irish Gentile from Iowa hereby undertakes to tell the story. I cover three topics: the timing and nature of Jewish accomplishment, focusing on the arts and sciences; elevated Jewish IQ as an explanation for that accomplishment; and current theories about how the Jews acquired their elevated IQ.

I would add, that this Scot-Irish gentile tends to agree, but the thinks the intelligence is verbal rather than spatial which accounts for their tendency to prefer abstract art (you can talk about it) over representational art (of course there are great representation Jewish artists - Silverman, Greene, and the relatively young Juliette Aristides who I am pretty sure is Jewish and has made spiritually themed paintings) as opposed to the 'hands on' abilities of other dynamic peoples, such as the Scot-Irish :) - who disproportionately produced many of the worlds great marksmen (it is downright scary how easily my cousins and I, aged 12, could put a bullet through a beer can at 200 yards.) , soldiers, field generals, practical inventors (steam engine, phone, bicycle to name a few) and thinkers like Smith and Hume.

The former talents are why the Scot-Irish peoples were always put on the frontiers of the British empire (thus their American name -Scots Irish - from their original 'mission' to quell Irish catholic uprisings) , and in America, the Mexican and Indian fighters and pioneers (Boone, Crocket, Bowie, to name a few) and to this day, make up the core ethnic group of the US army (nice to know if there is ever a coup) .

Unlike the Ashkenazim, we also had a tendency to slip unruly into and violent behavior, thus 'hell raising" Texas - and had/have higher tendencies toward alcoholism which accounts for the prevalence of Scottish temperance movements in the Presbyterian church and Baptist which many flocked to (and accounts for great Uncle S's flask hidden in the chandelier).

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Update:: Watson is apologizing but he bright enough to know that will mean nothing, the PC crowd has found another white male for ritual sacrifice - he is living proof 'Racism is not dead' and 'still exists in the highest levels of society'. He will have to do a penance and perhaps even publicly deny scientific reality. Such is the world we live in, as I have said repeatedly, the only question is, how long can it last?

This incident must send a shutter to scientists the world over: make one politically incorrect statement - even if it is scientifically based - and even if you are a noble prize winner, within hours you will be kicked off advisory boards, your lectures canceled and your legacy smeared. The more I think about it the more it disgusts me.