Mims – yes, Mims, the instigator of the whole fiasco about how noted ecology Eric Piana wants to kill everybody and the Texas Academy of Science agrees – is now sending around vague threats to those in the Texas Academy of Sciences that dare speak up for the non-insanity of their own organization and their recent Scientist of the Year awardee. Pharyngula has put up the email.
If anyone needed any more evidence that creationists are morbidly irony deficient, this is it.
I assume the word that Mims is thinking is actionable is “dishonestly”
That is always a tough word. Was Mims being dishonest, ignorant or prejudiced regarding the Pianka’s point, I don’t know. I hate to compromise on an issue, given the vitriole of Mims, but perhaps reissuing the petition without the “dishonestly”
I think the point would still get across. Mims could still be kicked out of the TAS and I see nothing else in Perez’s email that Mims could even consider close to actionable. (and saying the Mims was either dishonest, ignorant or prejudiced ain’t exactly a complement)
LOL.
What do I win?
Mims’s Citizen Scientist website has put up the delusional screed that Mims evidently sent to the Texas Academy of Science. This was probably the second petition, since it responds to various apparent objections to the first petition:
Well, I certainly hope the TAS’ lawyer includes that acknowledgment with Mims’ notice of dismissal from the TAS.
Mims shouldn’t be left empty-handed when all this is done. Perhaps someone could nominate him for an Ignobel prize.
So the whole audience of scientists at the Texas Academy of Sciences are evil diabolical scientists from every field of study gathered together to support the “Moses” of Doom eradicating races now (Modern) Pianka. It’s just Mim’s versus the masses. No wait, it’s Mims backed up by the Intelligent Design crowd, because this is an intelligent design issue, there have been ID essays written about how species interactions relates to design. The ecological role of design, designing ecosystems like biosphere II (oops there I’ve stepped in it haven’t I, I’ll here from DS on that). No this is just frat brothers covering for one another and it going to start to get embarrassing for the frat house.
Delta Pi Gamma (Scientia et Fermentum)
I wonder - can at least one creo be found having enough courage and decency to distance him/herself from that macabre dance around Pianka? Mims, Dembski and his acolytes live in their delusional world where being an informer is an honor and pouncing on a person who has not done anything wrong to them by libeling and slandering him is a source of enjoyment, but is among the creos indeed not a single decent person brave enough to show disgust for all that surrealistic show? Not a single one?
Um, so everyone in the room but Mims understood that Pianka was joking? This is really really sad.
OK. He flipped.
I am firmly convinced that this is just another example of right-wing sport. Make up some nonsense – the more outrageous, the better – then start tallying the column inches and blog posts that are generated by the drivel. Triple points for TV coverage.
I’ll bet they get together and compare scores and laugh about how far the story traveled and who picked it up. (Getting a congressman to talk about it is a sure point getter.) They probably even have scoring guidelines for how many posts/comments their story generates on PT.
As entertaining as it is, maybe all the chatter here is simply feeding the giant troll.
yeah, it’s all funny till someone gets hurt.
perhaps you should ask Pianka if he thinks it all a rather amusing little spiff?
Speaking of nutters:
Dear Sir-, I don’t think it is at all funny. Their antics are despicable. Add to that offensive and dangerous. Calling for hits on professors, judges, doctors who provide abortions, and foreign leaders seems to be THEIR idea of a good time. Not mine.
I am just checking. For what reason are you so certain that TAS will take Mims’ actions seriously enough to do something about them?
One of their professors was investigated by the FBI, numerous death threats have been given to Dr. Pianka and the Texas Academy has been made to look like a large bunch of morons.
What reason isn’t there to fire Mims?
Here’s the first (and only) retraction I’ve seen on this. In part:
I’m not sure “Mike Gene” recognizes, though, that it’s not so much Mims’s terrible misunderstanding and misjudgment that’s the problem here, it’s the terrible misjudgment of the hundreds of wing-nuts and blind DI groupies - like “Mike Gene” himself - for not questioning the Mims’s credibility in the first place.
I also note that even in doing the right thing, “Mike Gene” just can’t help himself:
and that’s the issue, isn’t it?
they mindsets are fixed such that they simply can’t help themselves.
It’s that witch-hunter mindset so common to those desperate not to have reality intrude on their little fantasy worlds.
We saw the same thing with Ed Minchau when he came here to defend what Mims’ accusations.
When asked the question why on earth he would think that 400 scientists and audience members would give a standing O for someone who in Mims’ words “promoted genocide”, his conclusion was that all of the audience members must also promote genocide.
He made the most radical conclusion possible, with the least amount of evidence.
That’s just how these folks think.
…and that’s the REALLY scary part of all this, in my mind, and the issue that should be publicized continually.
It’s these folks that have the twisted mindset, not Pianka.
Call me an optimist.
Meanwhile, over at Uncalm Indecent:
oops. I meant to supply this link with that UD quote.
I remember Mimms from his column in Scientific American and I have no clue as to what he thinks about Creation.
However, I have read what I could find about Pianka and I think he is, to put it mildly, eccentric.
If he truly wanted to warn us about impending ecological disasters that would have been fine, but the words he chose were chosen with bad judgement.
What seems to come across though in all these discussions is that you can only have two viewpoints:
Creation or I.D. etc.
Or
Science
As a practicing Roman Catholic, I would like to point out that the Roman Catholic Church believes that both Science & Religion can and do co-exist.
If God created the Universe doesn’t that mean he created everything including Science?
Those who choose to think otherwise, I believe, have their own agendas, whatever they are.
This from someone himself writing under a pseudonym.
I’ve managed to save up roughly $66048 in my bank account, but I’m not sure if I should buy a house or not. Do you think the market is stable or do you think that home prices will decrease by a lot?
Update