Ta-Nehisi Coates is going to be joining the blogging team at The Atlantic. I've made no secret of my belief that he's one of the most brilliant new bloggers out there, as well as a great person in realspace, so I'm pretty thrilled to welcome him aboard.
Telling Atlantic readers that the key to surviving a dangerous, crime-ridden area is to "put their ice-grill on" and go about "mean mugging" really is brilliant, in a Guinness-commercial sort of way.
Juan is gone: "Steve Sailer does more original work -- and has more (even if mostly unacknolwedged) real influence than the whole gaggle of Atlantic bloggers."
Sailer does the same work over and over, but it is true that he is very influential among neo-colonialists, neo-cons, and Krazy Khristian Klowns.
This is good news for Ta-Nehisi. I just hope the media empire doesn't change him. Speaking of change? How long is your contract with Tivo for the Gadget of the "Week". I realize gadgets are more the province of Wired (I've got a hook up--I could get you in maybe) but it seems a bit silly to have the same gadget ruling the roost for so long.
Dr Weeble is a wit: "The pitiful epitaph on so many once-promising careers: "MoeLarryAndJesus was not impressed"."
Since Weeble is impressed by the always-wrong Victor Davis Hanson and cretinous bigots like Mark Steyn and Ace, I consider his lack of respect for my opinion a true compliment.
Better a wit than a half-wit, Moe. I've read dozens of comments you've made on this site, and 'cretinous bigot' is a precise description of the persona displayed. It's been pleasant not having you around for the last couple of months, and it would "improve the place immensely in and of itself" if you would go away again and not come back until you have something intelligent or amusing to contribute.
People who hold political beliefs in disagreement with my own are stupid and/or evil, and should not be allowed to write where other people might see their words.
Also, commenters who disagree with me are big doodie-heads.
Glad to see that yet another man has been added to the 'voices' at the Atlantic. Maybe you all would have covered the primary differently if Megan weren't the only woman around here.
I'm hoping the Affirmative Action comment was a joke. It's such usage that demeans affirmative action's intent. It's intended to give people a chance in work places/industries where they are often overlooked. I don't know the gender/race/ethnic makeup of The Atlantic Companies, but I'm guessing the publishers do. In fact, I was at the Unity conference (journalists of color) in Chicago last week and noted that The Atlantic had a recruiting table.
It wasn't a joke, Black Political Analysis. Ta-Nahesi doesn't have the usual background The Atlantic looks for in bloggers (e.g., a Harvard or other Ivy League degree). Nevertheless, Ta-Nahesi is a fairly talented writer and this will give him a nice sinecure in addition to his other journalism work.
Whatever the intent of affirmative action, its effects are something else. It tends to help the handful of African Americans who don't really need the help, such as Ta-Nahesi, or, as Steve Sailer pointed out in a recent post, the fund manager John W. Rogers, whose mother held high posts in the Nixon Administration and came from an upper crust family.
Weeble replies: "I've read dozens of comments you've made on this site, and 'cretinous bigot' is a precise description of the persona displayed. It's been pleasant not having you around for the last couple of months, and it would "improve the place immensely in and of itself" if you would go away again and not come back until you have something intelligent or amusing to contribute."
I would think you'd be getting your fill of intelligent and amusing crapola from your pals Ace, Steve Sailer, and Mark Steyn, chuckles. I'd add Victor Davis Handjob too, but even for humor's sake I can't pretend that the genocidal wackaloon with the serial killer stare is either intelligent or amusing.
As for wit, I apologize - you're a true master, as evidenced by this world-class stunner from your blog:
"But if I were in the lox business I would call myself the Sturgeon General."
The deepest mystery of our time is why your comic talent hasn't been rewarded with a job writing for Dane Cook or Carrot Top. Or are you just being modest and keeping that part of your life a secret?
Whatever the intent of affirmative action, its effects are something else. It tends to help the handful of African Americans who don't really need the help
If you acknowledge that there are such African Americans, what's the problem with assuming that they might have gotten whatever position they have on their merits? You can't point to every black person with a job and say "See, they stole that from a white person," while maintaining that affirmative action hires are all people who could have gotten the job anyway.
Anyway, it's a little sick that Megan's congratulation of her new colleague could have turned into another mindnumbingly stupid racist racist thread so quickly. Welcome aboard, Ta-Nehisi! Never read Megan's comments.
"If you acknowledge that there are such African Americans, what's the problem with assuming that they might have gotten whatever position they have on their merits?"
1) Numerous examples of dealing with blacks in various careers who were clearly inferior in ability to their non-black colleagues.
2) Numerous examples of blacks in public life who have been accepted to schools and given opportunities beyond their abilities (e.g., Michelle Obama).
2) The reality that, given the lower average IQs of blacks (e.g., that only 1 in 6 blacks has an IQ as high as the average white), it's statistically impossible for blacks to be proportionately represented in high-IQ fields.
I'm supposed to take lessons in wit from someone who thinks "Victor Davis Handjob" is funny? Please go away, Moe. You're only embarrassing yourself. (You're also damaging an otherwise excellent webpage, but I assume that's intentional.)
Juan, the problem is that certain people make assumptions about individual blacks based upon statistics or a clear lack of information. You are one of them. You can assume things about people that you have no direct knowledge about.
Which is why I happen to be against affirmative action policies (which actually benefit, among others, hispanics, white women, Native Americans, etc); it gives an out to the unaccomplished, even the bigoted, to feel falsely superior and gripe.
(And while speaking of Michelle Obama, why not stop asserting, and offer some statistical clarifications, and data to back the assertion?)
And while a John Rogers, no idiot, can benefit from affirmative action policies, one ought to also look at the results. Let's hear more about the people who screwed Bear up, or the many white run mortgage/bank/hedge funds that have collapsed nearly bringing the financial system to a halt(both now and in the past.. LTCM).
Nor is it impossible to trace a fine line of this one knowing that one helping the other to get business. People only gripe when blacks do it, it would seem.
So for example, you go to Harvard, and can tap the father of a friend who works on some board and he will steer business to you. Or, if black, you have a Jesse Jackson prodding a business, who then steer the business to you. In some respects, it's all the same. And part of the reason for prodding is because there are cases where it is in fact impossible to break into the business due to social ties among the established.
In other words, affirmative action should not exist, but it's here, and utilizing it to get business while it is here is probably smart, and getting access (via affirmative action) has no bearing on whether a person is either good or bad at the task at hand.
It shows a special kind of bias to then leap and make quality judgements on a whole class of people just because you have personal issues unresolved by your own achievements.
It's almost like assuming a whole lot off the name Juan, and picturing you doing the dishes (and such would be stupid).
Juan, the problem is that certain people make assumptions about individual blacks based upon statistics or a clear lack of information. You are one of them. You can assume things about people that you have no direct knowledge about.
Which is why I happen to be against affirmative action policies (which actually benefit, among others, hispanics, white women, Native Americans, etc); it gives an out to the unaccomplished, even the bigoted, to feel falsely superior and gripe.
(And while speaking of Michelle Obama, why not stop asserting, and offer some statistical clarifications, and data to back the assertion?)
And while a John Rogers, no idiot, can benefit from affirmative action policies, one ought to also look at the results. Let's hear more about the people who screwed Bear up, or the many white run mortgage/bank/hedge funds that have collapsed nearly bringing the financial system to a halt(both now and in the past.. LTCM).
Nor is it impossible to trace a fine line of this one knowing that one helping the other to get business. People only gripe when blacks do it, it would seem.
So for example, you go to Harvard, and can tap the father of a friend who works on some board and he will steer business to you. Or, if black, you have a Jesse Jackson prodding a business, who then steer the business to you. In some respects, it's all the same. And part of the reason for prodding is because there are cases where it is in fact impossible to break into the business due to social ties among the established.
In other words, affirmative action should not exist, but it's here, and utilizing it to get business while it is here is probably smart, and getting access (via affirmative action) has no bearing on whether a person is either good or bad at the task at hand.
It shows a special kind of bias to then leap and make quality judgements on a whole class of people just because you have personal issues unresolved by your own achievements.
It's almost like assuming a whole lot off the name Juan, and picturing you doing the dishes (and such would be stupid).
With Yglesias gone, I guess they needed another guy who is at war with the English language.
So a small piece of advice for Mr Coates: read your own post before clicking "Send". And I guess it goes without saying that the profanity should be toned down.
Nit-picking aside, a great addition to the roster.
Your first sentence is false. I have made no such assumptions. I judge individuals on their own merits; as you'll note above, I didn't assume that Ta-Nahesi is an untalented writer because he is black. I've read his work, so I know he has some talent. I acknowledged as much. Regarding my evidence that Michelle Obama has been accepted into schools and given opportunities beyond her abilities, look up what she herself has said about not having the necessary test scores, etc. As Steve Sailer has cogently written, this is probably the cause of that chip on her shoulder: she resents being put in situations where she, although she may be of above average intelligence, is clearly the intellectual inferior of those who got there on merit.
You can assume whatever you like about my name, and, in the U.S. at least, you'd have some justification for that initial assumption: most folks here named Juan are probably mestizo manual laborers. I happen to be the son of immigrants from Spain, where Juan is the name of the king, and plenty of other individuals in all walks of life. While it might make sense to assume that someone named Juan in the U.S. is probably a landscaper or a dishwasher or something similar, it makes no sense to assume the same about a Spaniard named Juan.
2) Numerous examples of blacks in public life who have been accepted to schools and given opportunities beyond their abilities (e.g., Michelle Obama).
Apparently, every white person in public life is perfectly qualified for their position and didn't unfairly get ahead because of who their ancestors were.
Juan: I have made no such assumptions. I judge individuals on their own merits; as you'll note above, I didn't assume that Ta-Nahesi is an untalented writer because he is black.
No; you merely assumed he was an "affirmative action hire." If he's a talented writer, as you say in another post, then a) your point about "clearly inferior blacks" is irrelevant here and b) it's hard to see how you square "judging him on his merits" with that assumption. (It's funny you bring up Michelle Obama, because while she was undoubtedly a recipient of affirmative action, it was affirmative action of the type that is accorded overwhelmingly to whites: she was a legacy whose brother's athletic achievements got her to Princeton.)
At any rate, it's sort of sad that you missed the irony in Finn's comment about your name. You seem to think you're an "exception" to the mass of Juans in America because of your Spanish background; the fact is, there are also plenty of "exceptions" among Mexicans, or Guatemalans, or whatever. There are plenty among blacks, for that matter. Racists aren't interested in the particulars. If you insist on assessing individuals through the lens of some grossly flattened racial caricature, or fetishizing IQ as some absolute quantification of intellect, then you just add to the evidence that Europeans have no cognitive leg up on New World mestizos. Only I never thought so in the first place.
Professordarkheart, are you and Finn the same person? You both seem to share the same difficulty with reading comprehension. I gave a specific and valid reason for claiming that Ta-Nahesi was an affirmative action hire: he doesn't have the Ivy League background of Atlantic bloggers such as Megan, Yglesias, Ross, etc.
I also haven't claimed that some whites don't receive preferential treatment. That doesn't make it right, but since the average white person has a higher IQ than the average black person, the gap between the white candidate's abilities and his opportunity is usually much smaller than that of the typical black affirmative action candidate.
Great. Now you won't be the only affirmative action hire on the team.
Any chance that, with a real job, he'll get married?
Now, now, Juan. Randy Andy is an affirmative action hire too. (He's English.)
I am a bit horrified that The Atlantic will hire someone who, by his own admission, is only qualified to assault straight men.
As in:
Taken directly from the link Megan provided.
I'm guessing he won't be a tool for Steve Sailer. That will improve the place immensely in and of itself.
Steve Sailer does more original work -- and has more (even if mostly unacknolwedged) real influence than the whole gaggle of Atlantic bloggers.
Telling Atlantic readers that the key to surviving a dangerous, crime-ridden area is to "put their ice-grill on" and go about "mean mugging" really is brilliant, in a Guinness-commercial sort of way.
PFFFF... he ain't gots nuffin on my skillz SON!!! I can blog his brains out any day I want!
Juan is gone: "Steve Sailer does more original work -- and has more (even if mostly unacknolwedged) real influence than the whole gaggle of Atlantic bloggers."
Sailer does the same work over and over, but it is true that he is very influential among neo-colonialists, neo-cons, and Krazy Khristian Klowns.
I'm not impressed.
The pitiful epitaph on so many once-promising careers: "MoeLarryAndJesus was not impressed".
This is good news for Ta-Nehisi. I just hope the media empire doesn't change him. Speaking of change? How long is your contract with Tivo for the Gadget of the "Week". I realize gadgets are more the province of Wired (I've got a hook up--I could get you in maybe) but it seems a bit silly to have the same gadget ruling the roost for so long.
Dr Weeble is a wit: "The pitiful epitaph on so many once-promising careers: "MoeLarryAndJesus was not impressed"."
Since Weeble is impressed by the always-wrong Victor Davis Hanson and cretinous bigots like Mark Steyn and Ace, I consider his lack of respect for my opinion a true compliment.
Better a wit than a half-wit, Moe. I've read dozens of comments you've made on this site, and 'cretinous bigot' is a precise description of the persona displayed. It's been pleasant not having you around for the last couple of months, and it would "improve the place immensely in and of itself" if you would go away again and not come back until you have something intelligent or amusing to contribute.
Fantastic pickup for The Atlantic. Thought you were a great bloggingheads team- smart, fair, reasonable, funny.
People who hold political beliefs in disagreement with my own are stupid and/or evil, and should not be allowed to write where other people might see their words.
Also, commenters who disagree with me are big doodie-heads.
Glad to see that yet another man has been added to the 'voices' at the Atlantic. Maybe you all would have covered the primary differently if Megan weren't the only woman around here.
I'm hoping the Affirmative Action comment was a joke. It's such usage that demeans affirmative action's intent. It's intended to give people a chance in work places/industries where they are often overlooked. I don't know the gender/race/ethnic makeup of The Atlantic Companies, but I'm guessing the publishers do. In fact, I was at the Unity conference (journalists of color) in Chicago last week and noted that The Atlantic had a recruiting table.
It wasn't a joke, Black Political Analysis. Ta-Nahesi doesn't have the usual background The Atlantic looks for in bloggers (e.g., a Harvard or other Ivy League degree). Nevertheless, Ta-Nahesi is a fairly talented writer and this will give him a nice sinecure in addition to his other journalism work.
Whatever the intent of affirmative action, its effects are something else. It tends to help the handful of African Americans who don't really need the help, such as Ta-Nahesi, or, as Steve Sailer pointed out in a recent post, the fund manager John W. Rogers, whose mother held high posts in the Nixon Administration and came from an upper crust family.
Weeble replies: "I've read dozens of comments you've made on this site, and 'cretinous bigot' is a precise description of the persona displayed. It's been pleasant not having you around for the last couple of months, and it would "improve the place immensely in and of itself" if you would go away again and not come back until you have something intelligent or amusing to contribute."
I would think you'd be getting your fill of intelligent and amusing crapola from your pals Ace, Steve Sailer, and Mark Steyn, chuckles. I'd add Victor Davis Handjob too, but even for humor's sake I can't pretend that the genocidal wackaloon with the serial killer stare is either intelligent or amusing.
As for wit, I apologize - you're a true master, as evidenced by this world-class stunner from your blog:
"But if I were in the lox business I would call myself the Sturgeon General."
The deepest mystery of our time is why your comic talent hasn't been rewarded with a job writing for Dane Cook or Carrot Top. Or are you just being modest and keeping that part of your life a secret?
Whatever the intent of affirmative action, its effects are something else. It tends to help the handful of African Americans who don't really need the help
If you acknowledge that there are such African Americans, what's the problem with assuming that they might have gotten whatever position they have on their merits? You can't point to every black person with a job and say "See, they stole that from a white person," while maintaining that affirmative action hires are all people who could have gotten the job anyway.
Anyway, it's a little sick that Megan's congratulation of her new colleague could have turned into another mindnumbingly stupid racist racist thread so quickly. Welcome aboard, Ta-Nehisi! Never read Megan's comments.
"If you acknowledge that there are such African Americans, what's the problem with assuming that they might have gotten whatever position they have on their merits?"
1) Numerous examples of dealing with blacks in various careers who were clearly inferior in ability to their non-black colleagues.
2) Numerous examples of blacks in public life who have been accepted to schools and given opportunities beyond their abilities (e.g., Michelle Obama).
2) The reality that, given the lower average IQs of blacks (e.g., that only 1 in 6 blacks has an IQ as high as the average white), it's statistically impossible for blacks to be proportionately represented in high-IQ fields.
I'm supposed to take lessons in wit from someone who thinks "Victor Davis Handjob" is funny? Please go away, Moe. You're only embarrassing yourself. (You're also damaging an otherwise excellent webpage, but I assume that's intentional.)
Juan, the problem is that certain people make assumptions about individual blacks based upon statistics or a clear lack of information. You are one of them. You can assume things about people that you have no direct knowledge about.
Which is why I happen to be against affirmative action policies (which actually benefit, among others, hispanics, white women, Native Americans, etc); it gives an out to the unaccomplished, even the bigoted, to feel falsely superior and gripe.
(And while speaking of Michelle Obama, why not stop asserting, and offer some statistical clarifications, and data to back the assertion?)
And while a John Rogers, no idiot, can benefit from affirmative action policies, one ought to also look at the results. Let's hear more about the people who screwed Bear up, or the many white run mortgage/bank/hedge funds that have collapsed nearly bringing the financial system to a halt(both now and in the past.. LTCM).
Nor is it impossible to trace a fine line of this one knowing that one helping the other to get business. People only gripe when blacks do it, it would seem.
So for example, you go to Harvard, and can tap the father of a friend who works on some board and he will steer business to you. Or, if black, you have a Jesse Jackson prodding a business, who then steer the business to you. In some respects, it's all the same. And part of the reason for prodding is because there are cases where it is in fact impossible to break into the business due to social ties among the established.
In other words, affirmative action should not exist, but it's here, and utilizing it to get business while it is here is probably smart, and getting access (via affirmative action) has no bearing on whether a person is either good or bad at the task at hand.
It shows a special kind of bias to then leap and make quality judgements on a whole class of people just because you have personal issues unresolved by your own achievements.
It's almost like assuming a whole lot off the name Juan, and picturing you doing the dishes (and such would be stupid).
Weeble replies: "I'm supposed to take lessons in wit from someone who thinks "Victor Davis Handjob" is funny?"
I'm not available to give you lessons, chuckles. I only accept students with promise.
But "Victor Davis Handjob" is definitely funny. Just ask your mom.
Juan, the problem is that certain people make assumptions about individual blacks based upon statistics or a clear lack of information. You are one of them. You can assume things about people that you have no direct knowledge about.
Which is why I happen to be against affirmative action policies (which actually benefit, among others, hispanics, white women, Native Americans, etc); it gives an out to the unaccomplished, even the bigoted, to feel falsely superior and gripe.
(And while speaking of Michelle Obama, why not stop asserting, and offer some statistical clarifications, and data to back the assertion?)
And while a John Rogers, no idiot, can benefit from affirmative action policies, one ought to also look at the results. Let's hear more about the people who screwed Bear up, or the many white run mortgage/bank/hedge funds that have collapsed nearly bringing the financial system to a halt(both now and in the past.. LTCM).
Nor is it impossible to trace a fine line of this one knowing that one helping the other to get business. People only gripe when blacks do it, it would seem.
So for example, you go to Harvard, and can tap the father of a friend who works on some board and he will steer business to you. Or, if black, you have a Jesse Jackson prodding a business, who then steer the business to you. In some respects, it's all the same. And part of the reason for prodding is because there are cases where it is in fact impossible to break into the business due to social ties among the established.
In other words, affirmative action should not exist, but it's here, and utilizing it to get business while it is here is probably smart, and getting access (via affirmative action) has no bearing on whether a person is either good or bad at the task at hand.
It shows a special kind of bias to then leap and make quality judgements on a whole class of people just because you have personal issues unresolved by your own achievements.
It's almost like assuming a whole lot off the name Juan, and picturing you doing the dishes (and such would be stupid).
With Yglesias gone, I guess they needed another guy who is at war with the English language.
So a small piece of advice for Mr Coates: read your own post before clicking "Send". And I guess it goes without saying that the profanity should be toned down.
Nit-picking aside, a great addition to the roster.
At the risk of changing the tone of the discussion: How about some solid information here, Megan. WHEN?
Juan,
Aren't you due back under your bridge about now?
Finn,
Your first sentence is false. I have made no such assumptions. I judge individuals on their own merits; as you'll note above, I didn't assume that Ta-Nahesi is an untalented writer because he is black. I've read his work, so I know he has some talent. I acknowledged as much. Regarding my evidence that Michelle Obama has been accepted into schools and given opportunities beyond her abilities, look up what she herself has said about not having the necessary test scores, etc. As Steve Sailer has cogently written, this is probably the cause of that chip on her shoulder: she resents being put in situations where she, although she may be of above average intelligence, is clearly the intellectual inferior of those who got there on merit.
You can assume whatever you like about my name, and, in the U.S. at least, you'd have some justification for that initial assumption: most folks here named Juan are probably mestizo manual laborers. I happen to be the son of immigrants from Spain, where Juan is the name of the king, and plenty of other individuals in all walks of life. While it might make sense to assume that someone named Juan in the U.S. is probably a landscaper or a dishwasher or something similar, it makes no sense to assume the same about a Spaniard named Juan.
2) Numerous examples of blacks in public life who have been accepted to schools and given opportunities beyond their abilities (e.g., Michelle Obama).
Apparently, every white person in public life is perfectly qualified for their position and didn't unfairly get ahead because of who their ancestors were.
Juan: I have made no such assumptions. I judge individuals on their own merits; as you'll note above, I didn't assume that Ta-Nahesi is an untalented writer because he is black.
No; you merely assumed he was an "affirmative action hire." If he's a talented writer, as you say in another post, then a) your point about "clearly inferior blacks" is irrelevant here and b) it's hard to see how you square "judging him on his merits" with that assumption. (It's funny you bring up Michelle Obama, because while she was undoubtedly a recipient of affirmative action, it was affirmative action of the type that is accorded overwhelmingly to whites: she was a legacy whose brother's athletic achievements got her to Princeton.)
At any rate, it's sort of sad that you missed the irony in Finn's comment about your name. You seem to think you're an "exception" to the mass of Juans in America because of your Spanish background; the fact is, there are also plenty of "exceptions" among Mexicans, or Guatemalans, or whatever. There are plenty among blacks, for that matter. Racists aren't interested in the particulars. If you insist on assessing individuals through the lens of some grossly flattened racial caricature, or fetishizing IQ as some absolute quantification of intellect, then you just add to the evidence that Europeans have no cognitive leg up on New World mestizos. Only I never thought so in the first place.
Professordarkheart, are you and Finn the same person? You both seem to share the same difficulty with reading comprehension. I gave a specific and valid reason for claiming that Ta-Nahesi was an affirmative action hire: he doesn't have the Ivy League background of Atlantic bloggers such as Megan, Yglesias, Ross, etc.
I also haven't claimed that some whites don't receive preferential treatment. That doesn't make it right, but since the average white person has a higher IQ than the average black person, the gap between the white candidate's abilities and his opportunity is usually much smaller than that of the typical black affirmative action candidate.