Watson tried to defend or clarify what he said last weekend, but I think he made things worse:
But he restates his position that studying genes may help to understand variations in intelligence. In his interview with a Sunday newspaper, Dr Watson said 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 was quoted as saying his hope is that everyone is equal but that "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".
Dr Watson says in his article today that he has never been one to shy away from stating what he believes to be true, however unpalatable that may be.
"This has, at times, got me in hot water," he says. "Rarely more so than right now, where I find myself at the centre of a storm of criticism.
"I can understand much of this reaction. For if I said what I was quoted as saying, then I can only admit that I am bewildered by it. To those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologise unreservedly. This is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief."
However, Dr Watson goes on to suggest that genes may account for many behavioural traits, including intelligence and even criminality. "The thought that some people are innately wicked disturbs me," he says. "But science is not here to make us feel good."
Watson needs to shut up. So do those posting comments over here. It seems the Aryan Nations mob has been active on that site.
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Rush Limbaugh decided to exploit a controversy in order to benefit a charity.
The winner of the letter was a rich philanthropist, Betty Casey. Limbaugh pitched in an equal amount to charity.
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Jason Torres went through an experience he happened to forget--he was struck by lightning.
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I am coming to the conclusion the best place to embezzle money is from a church.
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It appears there's another Terri Schiavo out there who might wind up getting knocked off by rotten relatives.
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This critique of an offensive editorial (called "perspective") in the Hastings Center Report is accurate.
Too bad the Hastings article is available only if you have campus online access, which I have, and therefore is unlinkable. The article is in pdf format. The publishers probably did it so the article wouldn't get widespread notice.
Shit, old James Watson could have written that piece of crap.
