Free Republic

A conversation between The Root Editor-in-Chief Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nobel laureate and DNA pioneer James Watson about race and genetics, Jewish intelligence, blacks and basketball and Watson's African roots. --- HLG: Imagine if you were an African or an African-American intellectual. And it's 10 years from now. And you pick up The New York Times and some geneticist says, A) that intelligence is genetic, and B) the difference as measured on standardized tests between black people and white people, is traceable to a genetic basis. What would you, as a black intellectual, do, do you think? JW: I...

Seven thousand miles away, state Rep. Jim Watson is performing duties that exemplify his seven years in the Illinois House.And it's that legislative experience that the Jacksonville Republican draws upon in helping build the provincial government in the Anbar Province of Iraq."I can download Illinois state bylaws, show it to the (provincial council) and show them what minutes mean, show them what a (legislative) session is," Marine Corp Staff Sgt. Watson said Thursday by telephone from his camp near Ramadi.Americans need to remember, he said, that the Iraqi people are starting from scratch in building a democratic country. Jim Watson...

The captain and first officer of the anti-sealing ship the Farley Mowat were due to appear in court in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday, a day after their arrest off the west coast of Newfoundland. They have been charged with interfering with the seal hunt after a confrontation with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker two weeks ago. Their vessel was boarded and seized Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by RCMP officers, working with officials from the federal Fisheries Department and the coast guard... Paul Watson of the international group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which owns the vessel, said its...

Hillary backed lab of donorBy Jim McElhatton October 30, 2007 Lawmakers, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have taken thousands in campaign cash from an embattled Nobel-prize winning scientist while earmarking federal money for his New York lab. Mrs. Clinton and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, also a New York Democrat, requested a $900,000 earmark in June for the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where James D. Watson served as chancellor before resigning last week after apologizing for comments that suggested that people descending from Africa aren't as intelligent as those from Europe. Federal campaign filings show that Mr. Watson has donated more...

James Watson, the Nobel laureate who sparked an international furor last week with comments about intelligence levels among blacks, has retired from his post at a prestigious research institution. ADVERTISEMENT Watson, 79, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York announced his departure Thursday. Watson was chancellor of the institution, and his retirement was effective immediately.

James Watson said he will quit as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory... ...Mr. Watson, who won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for co-discovering the structure of DNA, told the U.K.'s Sunday times that 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." Mr. Watson later apologized for the remarks.

The successful efforts of the Human Genome Project rightfully stand amongst the greatest intellectual achievements of human history. The brilliance and diligence displayed in this research cannot be quantified or described in a way that does it all justice. However, the question now becomes what we actually do with the knowledge of the human genome? Given the previous history of human technology, the heroic industry and intelligence of the scientists who achieved this discovery will in no way guarantee that it won’t fall into the hands of evil despots or malicious haters. It becomes possible that human beings as we...

<p>No excerpting because of copyright. The essay is at http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article3075642.ece .</p>

Martin Luther King's “Dream” has fallen by the wayside. His dream of having blacks judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is no closer to being realized than it was more than 40 years ago when he first articulated his vision of a color-free future. This is not, as current black leaders assert, because racism is alive and well in America. It is because the current politically correct orthodoxy has condemned any type of judgment. Any judgment is now off limits. (Unless you're one of the lucky few who does the judging.) Judging...

Statement by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees and President Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. Regarding Dr. Watson’s Comments in The Sunday Times on October 14, 2007 Earlier this evening, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees decided to suspend the administrative responsibilities of Chancellor James D. Watson, Ph.D., pending further deliberation by the Board. This action follows the Board’s public statement yesterday disagreeing with the comments attributed to Dr. Watson in the October 14, 2007 edition of The Sunday Times U.K.

Nobel scientist condemned for 'racist' claims By Stephen Adams Last Updated: 2:48pm BST 17/10/2007 Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson has been heavily criticised for making “racist” comments after he said Africans were not as intelligent as Europeans. Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy Dr Watson, who helped unravel the structure of DNA with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, was roundly condemned for saying 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...

'Black people are less intelligent than whites', claims DNA pioneer One of the world's most eminent scientists is at the centre of a row after claiming black people are less intelligent than whites. James Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, has drawn condemnation for comments made ahead of his arrival in Britain tomorrow for a speaking tour. Dr Watson, who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, made the controversial remarks in an interview in The Sunday Times. The 79-year-old geneticist said he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect...

Activist a 'pirate,' not eco-terrorist By ROD MCGUIRK ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER MELBOURNE, Australia -- Paul Watson flies the Jolly Roger from his ship and boasts of ramming more boats than any living seafarer, part of an anti-whaling crusade that even Greenpeace calls too radical. Watson and his group came under withering criticism this season, summer in the Antarctic, for tactics that some say put the lives of whales above the lives of people. A Japanese whaling ship caught fire after being chased and harassed by Watson's fleet, the ships and volunteers of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which not only...

Scientist James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a Nobel Prize winner, says anti-Semitism is justified, in a recent magazine interview. The ADL called Dr. Watson's remarks about Jews "disturbing" and is asking Watson to clarify them. Watson, 78, who lives in Cold Harbor, N.Y., tells Esquire magazine in its January edition that anti-Semitism, in some circumstances, is justified. In an interview profile for the magazine Watson asks rhetorically, "Should you be allowed to make an anti-Semitic remark?" He answered: "Yes, because some anti-Semitism is justified. Just like some anti-Irish feeling is justified. If you can't be...

Canucks: Get Yank pervert out of here U.S. sex offender sparked uproar after judge gave him OK to serve his time in Ontario By NATALIE PONA AND KATHLEEN HARRIS TORONTO SUN, Friday, October 27, 2006 Canadian officials say they want to deport an American sex offender who caused an uproar when he was granted permission to serve his sentence in St. Catharines. On Wednesday, Canada Border Services Agency arrested former teacher and U.S. citizen Malcolm Watson. Watson, 35, had been sentenced Monday by a Buffalo court to serve three years of probation in St. Catharines for sex crimes. The...

U.S. sex offender serving sentence in Canada arrested at Canada-U.S. border cnews.canoe.ca October 26, 2006 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (CP) - An American schoolteacher sentenced to three years' probation in Canada for a sex offence involving a teen was reportedly arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the country from the United States. Hamilton's CH News reported that Malcolm Watson was arrested by Canadian officials while returning from a court appearance in Buffalo, N.Y. On Monday, the 35-year-old Watson pleaded guilty in Buffalo to endangering the welfare of a child, and sexual abuse in the third degree. He was sentenced...

No sure bet for con 'No guarantee one way or the other' U.S. sex offender can stay in Canada Ottawa Sun Tuesday, October 24, 2006 By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA TORONTO -- Border officers began investigating yesterday if a teacher exiled by a U.S. court to Canada for molesting a student at an all-girls' school should also be banished from Canada. U.S. citizen Malcolm Watson, 35, was sentenced by Cheektowaga town court to serve three years of probation in St. Catharines so he can be with his Canadian wife and their two children. Malcolm Watson, convicted of having sexual...

Man convicted of child abuse exiled to Canada CTV.ca News Staff Updated Sun. Oct. 22 2006 11:26 PM ET Given a choice between jail and exile to Canada, an American man chose Fort Erie, Ont. after being convicted for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. Starting Monday, Malcolm Watson will stay out of the U.S. for three years as punishment for having a sexual relationship with the Buffalo, N.Y. student. The sexual abuse sentence handed down by a New York State court only allows Watson to re-enter the U.S. to report to his probation officer. Watson, 35, lives in...

“We’re not a protest organization, we’re a policing organization,” Paul Watson...of his Sea Shepherd... A pirate organization is more like it. Sporting the skull and crossbones, his black or battleship-gray ships sail menacingly through the waves. They are painted with the names of the boats Watson has rammed and sunk. The ships are fitted with...a concrete-filled bow made for ramming, and an attachment dubbed the “can opener” that can tear open a boat’s hull. In his book Earth Warrior, David Morris writes that Watson wears a long bowie knife at his side and carries AK-47s on board. He blasts Richard...

SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST STANDARDS. Section 309 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: `(l) Implementation of Public Interest Standard- `(1) PURPOSE- The purposes of this subsection are-- `(A) to restore fairness in broadcasting; `(B) to ensure that broadcasters meet their public interest obligations; `(C) to promote diversity, localism, and competition in American media; and `(D) to ensure that all radio and television broadcasters-- `(i) are accountable to the local communities they are licensed to serve; `(ii) offer diverse views on issues of public importance,...

The Democratic Party's main environmental enforcer, the Sierra Club, is having another revealing scrap over immigration. A year after losing in a rout, a group of anti-immigration insurgents is back this month making a run at five seats on the group's 15-member board. Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization wants the super-green club to endorse immigration limits, with a broader goal of freezing the American population. "The issue of escalating population growth in the United States is the single most important environmental issue in the nation," board member Paul Watson recently told the AP. In its wire-service deadpan, AP noted that...

This past March in Columbus Ohio a disabled 16 year old girl was sexually assulted at  Mifflin High School by a group of boys.  They beat her, stripped her naked, and video taped the incident while others watched as it happened.  This occurred while school was in session in the school's auditorium.  When the girl was finally brought to safety, a school official named Richard Watson did not want to call the authorities because it would attract unwanted media attention.  The father of the disabled girl was not called until a considerable amount of time had passed after the incident was reported.  The principle (Ms Crenshaw) has been fired for...

Wesley Clark the other day blamed the Bush administration for the intelligence failures leading to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. And Hillary Clinton said, darkly, that the administration's refusal to hand over documents to a 9/11 commission "unnecessarily raises suspicions that it has something to hide." Meanwhile, Condi Rice in a speech last week pointed to the failure to take terrorism seriously during the 1990s — in other words, she pointed to Clinton administration failures. The war over the war on terror has just begun. In this battle, it's useful to stick to specifics. Let's take,...

On September 19, 1997, the New York Times announced the discovery of a group of earthen mounds in northeastern Louisiana. The site, known as Watson Brake, includes 11 mounds 26 feet high linked by low ridges into an oval 916 feet long. What is remarkable about this massive complex is that it was built around 3400 B.C., more than 3,000 years before the development of farming communities in eastern North America, by hunter-gatherers, at least partly mobile, who visited the site each spring and summer to fish, hunt, and collect freshwater mussels... Social complexity cannot exist unless I it...

News Advisory: Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired ambassadors and senior military officers, will hold a Morning Newsmaker news conference Wednesday, June 16, at 8 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club (Zenger Room), 13th floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The topic will be "The Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy." The group includes former ambassadors Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy, David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes...

Ashcroft denied anti-terror funds on Sept. 10 Attorney general to testify today in front of 9/11 commission CURT ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The day before the Sept. 11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected an FBI appeal for an extra infusion of money for counterterrorism, according to a Sept. 11 commission staff statement released today. The statement, issued as the independent panel's spotlight turned to the FBI and Justice Department, said Ashcroft on Sept. 10, 2001, rejected a request made earlier by acting FBI Director Thomas Pickard for "further counterterrorism enhancements" in the 2002 budget, which already would have...

Fifty years to the day from the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of its co-discoverers has caused a storm by suggesting that stupidity is a genetic disease that should be cured. On 28 February 1953 biologists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA - the chemical code for all life. The breakthrough revealed how genetic information is passed from one generation to the next and revolutionised biology and medicine. But in a documentary series to be screened in the UK on Channel 4, Watson says that low intelligence is an inherited disorder and that molecular...