December 4, 2007

The Manchurian Ex-Billionaire

In the Slate Fray, "Podesta" comments:

"I suspect that Saletan is another Steve Sailer brain-washee. For those not aware, Sailer, a failed journalist, is the main purveyor of racist pseudoscience on the Internet. He charms his targets to the extent they lose the common sense required to check up on him and his sources before adopting his beliefs."

Why, yes, I do possess brain-washing powers. (And, as Podesta notes, oodles of charm.)

But why would I waste them on a moderately-compensated scribe like William Saletan when there are riper targets like, say, Saletan's old boss or my new best friend, Carlos Slim? I don't want to spill any beans, but let's just say that when Forbes brings out its next ranking of the world's richest men, there's going be a little surprise at the top ...


My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Sailer, a failed journalist..". At the risk of sounding American, I'd say that you are about the most interesting journalist that I read these days. Ooh, he's a cheeky boy.

Garland said...

"the main purveyor of racist pseudoscience on the Internet."

On the entire internet!!! That's no slight feat!

Anonymous said...

"...Sailer, a failed journalist, is the main purveyor of racist pseudoscience on the Internet. He charms his targets to the extent they lose the common sense required to check up on him and his sources before adopting his beliefs."

I can't cope with this statement. Sailer is anything but a failed journalist. I'd describe him as hard-nosed, accurate even ethical. As for charming his targets, charm is not a word I would ever use when discussing Sailer. No offense but I think of Steve as the kind of guy who leaves the house wearing mismatched socks and often forgets to bathe. Really what kind of drugs does this Podesta take?

Steve Sailer said...

Fifi: "I think of Steve as the kind of guy who leaves the house wearing mismatched socks ...."

Leave the house?

Anonymous said...

Next thing you know Podesta will be saying you freed Willie Horton, nailed Donna Rice, and probably helped plan Pearl Harbor or the Kennedy Assassination.

Steve Sailer said...

Shhhhhhh...

Anonymous said...

I for one think it's wonderful to see John Podesta joining the conversation; can't wait to hear Joe Lockhart's take

Anonymous said...

I haven't noticed anything in 'racist' in any of his writings, and I've read most of them.

Because Steve isn't afraid to write about taboo topics, he gets a lot of attention, as he should. It also helps that he comes from a point of logic, keen insight, and overall rationality. I like that fact that he pushes the envelope; we need more people like that.

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve, how do you pay the bills these days? Your writing should make you way too radioactive to employ...

Anonymous said...

I'll leave aside the ad-hominem as unworthy.

I would point out the following article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2173028/
'Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails
There's finally proof that boys do ruin schools for girls.', by "Tim Hartford, a columnist for the Financial Times".

The thesis of his article is "Boys pollute the educational system, it seems, for a number of unmysterious reasons: They wear down teachers, disrupt classes, and ruin the atmosphere for everyone."

When this article was originally posted, there was a comment suggesting that if you replaced the work 'boy' with 'black' you might find the article, (ahem) racist. The response to that from one commentor was, (I approximate), "Playing the black card is a great way to end a valid discussion". Apparently some groups are ok to generalize, critique, critisize etc.

Very true! I don't know what Saletan was thinking. I do know, that if he had made suggestions about boys vs girls, older vs. younger siblings, he would have been better off.

For example, regarding the siblings issue, would the researchers who had done that work, cited by the NY Times not too long ago, have done a similar test with different races? I can't imagine a sensible, tenure-seeking reseacher doing this in my neck of the woods (which I will keep anonymous for obvious reasons).

I have to say though, I have been seeing much discussion of people as groups recently. It's ok and trendy if you say something like Americans are lazy. Say that about any other group, and you will be rebuked.

One can only speculate on why this might be.

Anonymous said...

Steve, my buddy, congratulations on your Slim windfall. I am so happy and proud for you. Especially since you're one of my second cousins. Will you loan me $100,000?