Archive for 2015

WHY PRETTY GIRLS HATE BEING ASKED OUT BY NERDS: “When someone asks you out on a date, they are basically saying that they think your standards are low enough to voluntarily go out with them. If the asker clearly has high dating market value himself, his advances don’t indicate that he thinks you have a low dating market value. But if you get asked out on a date by someone with a low social status, and other people find out, then others might reasonably downgrade their estimate of your dating market value, especially if the person doing the asking is a shy, cautious nerd. . . . What’s a girl to do if asked on a date by a smart, thoughtful, shy, low social status boy? Ideally, she would prevent others from learning about what happened, but if this proves impossible she needs to act as if what the nerd did was utterly unacceptable and so not an indication of her place in the social order. And as human brains excel at truly believing things that serve our self-interest, pretty girls politely asked out by nerds probably genuinely feel sexually harassed.”

BECAUSE HE TALKS TO THE BASE THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT GOP HATES AND IGNORES: Why Trump Is Resonating. If you don’t address the concerns of a large group, someone else will, and it won’t be someone you choose.

WELL, IT MAKES SECESSION EASIER: Texas Repatriates Its Gold. “Texas is the only state that owns an actual stockpile of gold, according to public sector and financial industry experts – not just gold futures or investment positions, but approximately 5,600 gold bars worth around $650 million. The holdings, stored at a New York bank, for some harken back to century-old fears about the security of currency not backed by shiny bullion.”

CORRUPT, FECKLESS LEADERSHIP PRODUCES PREDICTABLE RESULTS: Think Greece can’t happen here? You’re wrong.

Something that can’t go on forever, won’t. Debts that can’t be repaid, won’t be. Promises that can’t be kept, won’t be. Plan accordingly.

LIBERIA: 200 Reportedly Had Contact With Ebola Victim. “The World Health Organization reported Friday that nearly 200 people had been in contact with a 17-year-old in Liberia who was confirmed to have died of Ebola on June 28, the country’s first Ebola case since May 9, when it had been officially declared free of the highly contagious disease. In an assessment posted on its website, the W.H.O. said that all of the contacts of the teenager were being closely monitored and that two of them had already tested positive for the virus, confirming what the Liberian health authorities had reported this week.”

So if Liberia was Ebola-free, where did he get it?

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Teacher Charged For Victimizing Male Teen With Month-Long Sex Fling Has Worked At Dirty Dick’s. You can’t make this stuff up. Plus: “Umphlett’s name has been scrubbed from the Currituck County High website, though the Internet Archive shows she had been listed there previously. On Monday, a grand jury indicted the English teacher on a felonious sex offense charge. On Tuesday, she turned herself in. She was processed and quickly released on $5,000 bail.”

LOUISE MENSCH: The railroading of Tim Hunt.

First, The Sun published a photo of Sir Tim smiling at the time, contradicting the claims he “wasn’t joking” and “everybody in the room was stony-faced”.

Second, it appears that members of the Royal Society’s Diversity Committee, Britain’s leading organisation of scientists, had slammed Sir Tim before he’d even said a word to the media.

Professor David Colquhoun, also of UCL, said: “I collected some stuff about the misogynistic Nobel prize winner on my Facebook page.”

And what did he put in that thread about alleged “sexism”?

“Here you can see Tim Hunt tipping a bucket of ice water over his (very successful) wife.” That’s right, an Ice Bucket Challenge!

Then there’s the BBC, which seems to have put words in Sir Tim’s mouth. The Today show quoted him as referring to “women in the lab” and “the trouble with women”. But those words were not in any audio of him they broadcast.

Did he say that? They wouldn’t answer me.

“We treated Professor Hunt fairly,” a BBC spokesman told me. “His words were not selectively edited to change their meaning.”

Oh yeah? Then why did the show use Tim’s words “I was only being honest” in TWO different places referring to two different things?

Meanwhile, the President of the European Research Council, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, went on the record in an exclusive statement to me on Friday.

He confirmed he had “the testimonies of eyewitnesses” that Tim was being ironic and praising women.

He also said that Sir Tim Hunt “actively supported” and voted for ERC pro-women science initiatives.

Jean-Pierre said Sir Tim was “keen” to talk to “young researchers, male and female” and answer all kinds of questions, which was “precisely why I chose him to accompany two women ERC grantees to attend the very special conference in Seoul.” Oops!

I’ve asked the BBC to release the full audio of what Sir Tim said in his Today interview, and the questions he was asked.

So far they’ve refused to do that. If the Beeb has evidence that can clear him, they have a duty to provide it. Let’s hear that entire tape.

This whole thing stinks.

THE JOY OF just the right amount of sex. “The lesson is not simply to avoid participating in academic sex studies.” I dunno, the illustration and description suggest that maybe it is.