Active Users:1216 Time:22/11/2024 08:36:40 PM
Yep, I know. Legolas Send a noteboard - 12/12/2023 06:18:49 PM

View original postLike for example, bringing up why those so concerned about civilian deaths in Gaza have little or nothing to say about the over 200,000 civilian deaths in Syria at the hands of Assad, or the civilian deaths that could be in the millions in Darfur.

True - though the sheer number of children's deaths in such a short period in Gaza, and the staggering percentage of all deaths that they make up, do stand out, as does the factor of the Gaza Strip's residents being unable to flee towards safer places as the Syrians and Sudanese have done in huge numbers.
View original postBut that becomes exhausting after a while. Likewise dismissing the message when the messenger is as odious as Stefanik and it is obviously political grandstanding. Isn't it always? Plus blind squirrel theory.

If Stefanik hadn't been talking such bullshit anyway, what with her equating 'intifada' to 'genocide', I would have focused less on the identity of the messenger as it would have felt like an excuse to not deal with the message. As it is, not so much.
View original postBut my point was about the lack of free speech in our elite institutions of learning, where the speaker is more free depending on how many boxes they check on the intersectionality chart.

Yeah, I know that was your intended point. Obviously I've also seen some of those absurdities that have resulted from them taking valid ideas way too far. I've never seen them as all that big a problem though, for several reasons, including Roland's point about how minuscule a percentage of Americans actually attends these high-profile schools - it always seems like the people who complain the loudest about such incidents are really only too pleased that they happened, so they can use them as an excuse to dismiss all the ideas behind them. Like the concept of intersectionality itself - it's a perfectly valid and sensible notion that a black woman shares certain experiences or problems with white women, others with black men, but still has a position that is different from merely adding up the two. But for you and many others, clearly it has become some kind of dirty word that automatically stops you from taking people seriously when they use it.

Now if you like seeing the leadership of Harvard etc. taken down a few notches, I might agree with that, but not for the same reasons - more because they have acquired this towering reputation (and hence their degrees have acquired a corresponding impact on graduates' future earnings) that is out of all proportion to the real added value of their education, compared to less famous schools.

On a related sidenote, SNL did a parody of the hearing - I haven't seen it, as they apparently only put clips on Youtube some time after the broadcast, but based on the NYT summary, I love how they added the famously non-elite and entirely online University of Phoenix to the hearing:


"Breaking from reality, the “S.N.L.” sketch added Kenan Thompson, who was playing the president of the online University of Phoenix.

Asked if he would condemn antisemitism, Thompson said, “Well, my campus is the internet, so antisemitism is kind of our most popular major. And our mascot is porn.”

But he told Troast that his school would consider offering a course on the subject. “Lady, we’ll offer a course on anything,” he said. “The only mandatory courses we have are how to login to the University of Phoenix online and how to set up autopay.” "

View original postThese chickens are coming home to roost, and deservedly so, despite what we think of the motives of Congress. (always bad)

I don't think the motives of Congress, as a whole, are always bad. Stefanik being hot garbage doesn't mean they all are.

Reply to message
The false narrative of the double standard - 09/12/2023 02:33:25 PM 438 Views
ok *NM* - 09/12/2023 07:27:01 PM 67 Views
Is this a good summary, NYT? - 10/12/2023 01:20:47 AM 162 Views
It's as good as any. - 10/12/2023 04:38:59 PM 133 Views
I noticed the OP was mostly opinion - 10/12/2023 05:02:11 PM 136 Views
They dug their own graves - 11/12/2023 12:24:16 AM 141 Views
Re: They dug their own graves - 11/12/2023 03:15:59 AM 133 Views
rhetorical question Mookie (it does not matter the answer) - 11/12/2023 03:45:11 AM 136 Views
I have not - 11/12/2023 02:49:55 PM 149 Views
Yeah that is why I asked - 11/12/2023 04:24:40 PM 126 Views
There's a lot of double standards involved, aren't there? - 11/12/2023 07:02:06 PM 138 Views
We could go on and on with this - 11/12/2023 08:58:28 PM 142 Views
that has NOT been my experience - 11/12/2023 09:18:43 PM 131 Views
Yep, I know. - 12/12/2023 06:18:49 PM 141 Views
Re: Yep, I know. - 12/12/2023 08:04:57 PM 127 Views
Re: Yep, I know. - 14/12/2023 01:33:53 PM 106 Views
Where do you get your stats ? - 14/12/2023 07:09:02 AM 128 Views
the Hamas Ministry of Stats is likely an under-count - 14/12/2023 12:57:46 PM 121 Views
Given the nature of Hamas, the numbers are likely an overcount - 14/12/2023 01:16:00 PM 121 Views
whatever - 14/12/2023 02:50:53 PM 115 Views
Given the choice between believing a Democracy and an Autocratic Terrorist Gov - 14/12/2023 04:01:54 PM 115 Views
Chora I believe both are capable of lying - 14/12/2023 04:16:14 PM 129 Views
To quote you, gurlfriend, "whatever". - 14/12/2023 04:19:10 PM 114 Views
Obviously, anyone is capable of lying. - 14/12/2023 04:30:29 PM 118 Views
the names that Hamas was releasing in October - 14/12/2023 04:49:06 PM 122 Views
What stats are you contesting, exactly? - 14/12/2023 02:12:18 PM 122 Views
Re: What stats are you contesting, exactly? - 17/12/2023 02:34:34 PM 123 Views
Yeah, I'm still confused what you're trying to claim about the numbers - 17/12/2023 10:51:00 PM 115 Views
Out of curiosity, what do you think the best way forward is? - 18/12/2023 03:52:34 AM 145 Views
I'm not sure your view of me on this is that accurate. - 20/12/2023 08:06:23 PM 117 Views
Because no one in the Arab world wants the "Palestinians" - 14/12/2023 01:18:31 PM 125 Views
GDP per capita in Palestine is almost exactly equal to Egypt - 14/12/2023 05:36:55 PM 126 Views
There's always Antarctica - 16/12/2023 03:22:01 AM 110 Views
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free - 13/12/2023 03:01:21 PM 128 Views
The idea is free from foreign oppression - internal freedom is, indeed, another story. - 14/12/2023 02:33:21 PM 114 Views
It means free of Jews - 17/12/2023 02:41:09 PM 113 Views
Re: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free - 14/12/2023 03:32:17 PM 119 Views
Is the point to imply that 'pre-1948' meant no Israeli state at all? - 14/12/2023 03:56:59 PM 118 Views
Exactly - 14/12/2023 04:28:01 PM 133 Views
Those 3 Presidents are Bureaucratic Scum. - 14/12/2023 01:21:56 PM 129 Views
So Claudine Gay, Harvard Pres resigns - 02/01/2024 05:55:09 PM 110 Views
Re: So Claudine Gay, Harvard Pres resigns - 03/01/2024 04:38:14 PM 111 Views
Hey that’s not fair! - 03/01/2024 10:51:43 PM 107 Views

Reply to Message