George W. Bush: Bigotry and white supremacy are 'blasphemy' against the American creed

[Rion]

When you can't respond, you resort falsely claiming the author is racist and ignore the CDC data.

No, I was referring to Coates. Also, did you bother to read the article outside of the part with Coates?

 

[dgiharris]

It mystifies me that you think that this is an argument in support of blindly trusting the pronouncements of economists.

As a parallel comparison, there are billions of things that I don't know about the galaxy. But I do know a couple of things, like the fact that comets exist. Yet I'd hardly think if I told you that a comet was going to crash into the Earth tomorrow that you'd believe me.

If Neil Degrasse Tyson along with every other AstroPhysicist in the world told me a comet was going to crash into the Earth tomorrow then yes, I would believe them...

 

[MoonlessNight]

If Neil Degrasse Tyson along with every other AstroPhysicist in the world told me a comet was going to crash into the Earth tomorrow then yes, I would believe them...

I find it pretty interesting that you put Neil Degrasse Tyson as the only named scientist in your statement, when he is more of a science popularizer than a scientist. He has very little original research to his name.

Now that's not necessarily a problem, since the role of science spokesman can be a noble one. But ti does show that you seem to value the public status of "experts" over their actual credentials.

 

[dgiharris]

I find it pretty interesting that you put Neil Degrasse Tyson as the only named scientist in your statement, when he is more of a science popularizer than a scientist. He has very little original research to his name.

Now that's not necessarily a problem, since the role of science spokesman can be a noble one. But ti does show that you seem to value the public status of "experts" over their actual credentials.

If I'm engaging in an argument and I'm going to use a spokesman of course I'm going to use the most famous spokesman in my argument. I have a scientific background, I could actually name Astro Physicists you've never heard of, but why would I when its not germane to my argument and I also covered them with my blanket statement?

You will note I said, "Along with every other Astrophysicist..."

So, as you say, it is pretty interesting that you would focus on one aspect of what I said ignoring the other aspect so you can deflect without actually addressing the point I just made...

if "every" astrophysicist said a comet was going to hit the earth tomorrow, then i'd have no problem believing them.

In 2008, every economist felt that bailouts were the only way to avert catastrophic economic disaster. Thus, I believe that bailouts were necessary.

I find it pretty interesting that you put Neil Degrasse Tyson as the only named scientist in your statement, when he is more of a science popularizer than a scientist. He has very little original research to his name.

Now that's not necessarily a problem, since the role of science spokesman can be a noble one. But ti does show that you seem to value the public status of "experts" over their actual credentials.

I just had to come back to what you are trying to deflect and say...

Neil Degrasse Tyson has bachelor's degree from Harvard and PhD from Columbia and has been involved in Astrophysics his entire career. So he's not some rube. He would be able to confer with other Astrophysicists and then relate to the public what is happening. He'd also have the knowledge and expertise to determine if some report by fellow astrophysicists would be legit.

So your attempt to marginalize him as a "not real" astrophysicist is interesting... I guess for you, him being a "spokesman" somehow negates his PhD and career experience???

The real question is, "Does he have the knowledge and expertise to be trusted if he says, "Hey guys I comet is crashing into earth".

Or should we just say, "Meh, he's just a spokesman he doesn't know what he is talking about???"

Take a step back and think about what it means when a so-called "spokesman" for a scientific discipline makes a major announcement. By the time something has gotten to that point, that something has been vetted via vigorous peer review don't you think?

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

I find it pretty interesting that you put Neil Degrasse Tyson as the only named scientist in your statement, when he is more of a science popularizer than a scientist. He has very little original research to his name.

Now that's not necessarily a problem, since the role of science spokesman can be a noble one. But ti does show that you seem to value the public status of "experts" over their actual credentials.

There are plenty of economist who think those bank bailouts were a bad idea too. For those really interested in reading up on the matter, the Ludwig von Mises Institute would be as good a place to start as any...

 

[SummerMadness]

I find it pretty interesting that you put Neil Degrasse Tyson as the only named scientist in your statement, when he is more of a science popularizer than a scientist. He has very little original research to his name.

Now that's not necessarily a problem, since the role of science spokesman can be a noble one. But ti does show that you seem to value the public status of "experts" over their actual credentials.

Neil Degrasse Tyson as contributed a lot of research:

The Faint-End Slopes of Galaxy Luminosity Functions in the COSMOS Field
COSMOS: Hubble Space Telescope Observations
The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): Overview
Optical light curves of the Type IA supernovae SN 1990N and 1991T
BVRI Light Curves For 29 Type Ia Supernovae
The Type Ia Supernova 1989B in NGC3627 (M66)
The Expanding Photosphere Method Applied to SN1992am at cz = 14600 km/s
On the Possibility of a Major Impact on the Uranus in the Past Century
An Exposure Guide for Taking Twilight Flatfields with Large Format CCDs
Radial Velocity Distribution and Line Strengths of 33 Carbon Stars in the Galactic Bulge
On the possibility of Gas-Rich Dwarf Galaxies in the Lyman-alpha Forest
Bursting Dwarf Galaxies: Implications for Luminosity Function, Space Density, and Cosmological Mass Density
uvby Photometry of Blue Stragglers in NGC 7789

Just because he's on TV does not mean he has not made a contribution or that he does no know what he's talking about. Considering the number of books he's written, time spent in different professional societies, lecturing as a professor, and running things like the Hayden Planetarium, I think it's ridiculous to belittle him as a "science popularizer."

 

[Barney]

In 2008, every economist felt that bailouts were the only way to avert catastrophic economic disaster. Thus, I believe that bailouts were necessary.

I don't think every economist said bailouts were necessary in 2008. And, if the government is busy following these smart economists, why did we come to the point where the bailout was allegedly necessary? Interestingly, the unemployment rate surpassed what was predicted if the bailout hadn't passed, but it did pass (even if not at first).

Neil Degrasse Tyson has bachelor's degree from Harvard and PhD from Columbia and has been involved in Astrophysics his entire career. So he's not some rube.

What is Neil Degresse Tyson's SAT score? Honesty, in our climate of black preferences and low expectations of blacks (meaning we're more easily impressed), a black marginal scientist with Tyson's charisma would be where Tyson is today.

George W Bush's pile-on against fictitous "white supremacy" contributes to a culture of black preferences and low expectations. Bush aimed this remark at Trump, who isn't a white supremacist. Nor are most people accused of white supremacy guilty.

 

[SummerMadness]

I don't think every economist said bailouts were necessary in 2008. And, if the government is busy following these smart economists, why did we come to the point where the bailout was allegedly necessary? Interestingly, the unemployment rate surpassed what was predicted if the bailout hadn't passed, but it did pass (even if not at first).

What is Neil Degresse Tyson's SAT score? Honesty, in our climate of black preferences and low expectations of blacks (meaning we're more easily impressed), a black marginal scientist with Tyson's charisma would be where Tyson is today.

George W Bush's pile-on against fictitous "white supremacy" contributes to a culture of black preferences and low expectations. Bush aimed this remark at Trump, who isn't a white supremacist. Nor are most people accused of white supremacy guilty.

Welcome to CF!

Interesting that first post here is to attack Neil Degrasse Tyson as a mediocre black scientist. Can you articulate what is mediocre about his research? Or this simply an attack on black academics. If you're questioning the SAT scores of a pulblished astrophysicist, as in a PhD in astrophysics (you can actually read his papers, please tell us what's mediocre about them), you really are above your pay grade.

 

[Barney]

Can you articulate what is mediocre about his research? Or this simply an attack on black academics. If you're questioning the SAT scores of a pulblished astrophysicist, as in a PhD in astrophysics (you can actually read his papers, please tell us what's mediocre about them), you really are above your pay grade.

I know little about Tyson beyond he's a celebrity. And, I'm pointing out to you that today's climate can account to the prominence of Tyson without the need for exceptional scientific talent. I'm not going to read his papers, as I'm hardly qualified to judge papers in his field, unless the incompetence and bias is extreme.

The Left wants to have their cake and eat it too. They want blacks to have preferences while insisting that whatever blacks have didn't come by way of preferences.

I request his SAT score as an objective measure of his academic talent apart from preferences. I'd like to see Bill Nye's and Steven Hawking SAT scores to, but at least I know these two men didn't have the advantage of racial preferences. Silicon Valley spend billions of dollars each year trying to get blacks into their tech companies. None of them spend a dime to target whites or Asians.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Bill Nye has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering... Hardly what you would call a well credentialed scientist.

 

[Barney]

Bill Nye has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering... Hardly what you would call a well credentialed scientist.

I'm not impressed by Bill Nye. But, at least he didn't have the advantage of racial preferences. No one said to themselves, "We're looking for someone white to talk about science on TV." Nye does demonstrate that good science credentials aren't needed to be a celebrity "scientist."

 

[SummerMadness]

I know little about Tyson beyond he's a celebrity. And, I'm pointing out to you that today's climate can account to the prominence of Tyson without the need for exceptional scientific talent. I'm not going to read his papers, as I'm hardly qualified to judge papers in his field, unless the incompetence and bias is extreme.

The Left wants to have their cake and eat it too. They want blacks to have preferences while insisting that whatever blacks have didn't come by way of preferences.

I request his SAT score as an objective measure of his academic talent apart from preferences. I'd like to see Bill Nye's and Steven Hawking SAT scores to, but at least I know these two men didn't have the advantage of racial preferences. Silicon Valley spend billions of dollars each year trying to get blacks into their tech companies. None of them spend a dime to target whites or Asians.

You are grossly unqualified to say whether Neil DeGrasse Tyson is unqualified, but you wish to ignore his multiple publications, books, teaching positions, and activity within the field. If someone is not qualified, they wouldn't be writing papers. Period.

Stephen Hawking does not have an SAT score, but you did not question his intelligence or Bill Nye's, you only questioned the black person, while acknowledging your inability to assess the qualifications of an exceedingly intelligent person.

To quote Dr. Tyson:

In high school, nobody asked further about how I became captain of the wrestling team. But when I became Editor-in-Chief of my school's annual Physical Science Journal, my qualifications were constantly queried. And when I was accepted to the college of my choice, I was continually asked for my SAT scores and grade point average. Indeed, one fellow student threatened to break into the school records to read my scores if I didn't tell.

When I first entered graduate school, (in an institution far from Columbia), I was eager to pursue my dreams of research astrophysics. But the first comment directed to me in the first minute of the first day by a faculty member who I had just met was, You must join our department basketball team. As the months and years passed, faculty and fellow students would suggest alternative careers for me thinking that they were doing me a favor,

Why don't you become a computer salesman?

Why don't you teach at a community college?

Why don't you leave astrophysics and academia? You can make much money in industry.

At no time was I perceived as a future colleague, though this privilege was enjoyed by other graduate students. When combined with the dozens of times I have been stopped and questioned by the police for going to and from my office after hours, and the hundreds of times I am followed by security guards in department stores, and the countless times people cross the street upon seeing me approach them on the sidewalk, I can summarize my life's path by noting that in the perception of society

• my athletic talents are genetic,
• I am a likely mugger-rapist,
• my academic failures are expected, and
• my academic successes are attributed to others.

Ladies and Gentlemen, to spend most of my life fighting these attitudes levies an emotional tax that is a form of intellectual emasculation. It is a tax that I would not wish upon my enemies. As of this afternoon, my Ph.D. will bring the national total of Black Astrophysicists from 6 to 7 (out of 4,000 nationwide). Given what I experienced, I am surprised there are that many.

I eventually learned that you can only be ridden if your back is bent. And, of course, that which doesn't kill you can make you stronger. Three years ago I transferred my graduate program to Columbia University when I was welcomed by the Department of Astronomy.

In the past two and a half years I

• received a twice-renewed NASA research fellowship
• published 4 research papers
• attended 4 international conferences (one in Switzerland, two in Italy, and one in Chile)
• had two popular-level books published: one in contract, and one released in 1989 that now enjoys a distribution in Japan with a Japanese translation
• was quoted in the New York Times three times
• appeared twice on network television, and
• was appointed to a well-respected post-doctoral research position at Princeton University's Department of Astrophysical Sciences beginning this fall.

I share all this with you only to note that it is remarkable what can be accomplished when you are surrounded by people who believe in you; people whose expectations are not set by the short-sighted attitudes of society—people who help to open doors of opportunity, not close them.
-- Neil DeGrasse Tyson, May 14, 1991​