Wednesday, May 16, 2007
A 'gem of a turd' seen on Mind of Mencia:
Study suggests racial bias in calls by NBA referees
"An academic study of NBA officiating found that white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players, the New York Times reported in Wednesday's editions."
One reaction:
"I'm absolutely giggling.
I'm no NBA expert, but I do follow the game. Of the relatively few white players left in the NBA, I can't really think of a single one that has a reputation as a "banger"- one of those players who mixes it up close to the basket regularly, where most fouls are called. The white players that I can think of are almost exclusively "finesse" players- pure shooters or passers, who play on the outside perimeter mainly, and are rarely in the "paint" where most contact occurrs.
Any fool who's ever played in a pickup match in the 'Hood can tell you that it's one helluva different game than they play in Wayzata. No blood, no foul is the general rule on streetball- where most black players learned the game- and that carries over into a much more physical game all the way around and at every level.
But perhaps Spike Lee said it best. White men can't jump. So why bother playing defense?"
It is really ridiculous to formulate conclusions on an entire racial group of basketball players based on one black player who learned the game in the 'Hood. In fact I think it would be unsound to formulate such conclusions based on 200 black basketball players (though slightly more sound than basing it on one black basketball player).
Accepting that blacks can be called on fouls more often than whites is two or three steps away from saying, 'Oh they are of no inherent/less inherent worth. Therefore we are justified at spitting at them/enslaving them/sending them to death camps." Those who try to jutify this discrimination will be castigated by any right-minded person for their faux-intellectual justification of racism.
Another:
"Kobe Bryant says he's never noticed evidence of racial bias when it comes to NBA officiating.
"I think I've gotten more techs from black refs than white refs," the Los Angeles Lakers star said Wednesday.
LeBron James put it this way: "It's stupid."
Chicago Bulls veteran forward P.J. Brown said: "Somebody's got too much time on their hands.""
It's such a pity that the prevailing hegemony has deceived these players into not only ignoring but accepting - hell, defending their marginalisation by the racist NBA. They have internalised, consciously or subconsciously, the prejudicial ‘broadcasts’ of society as transmitted through everyday interactions, resulting in pernicious and intractable self-marginalisation.
Discriminating against black players is just white supremacy by another name. This phenomenon of social exclusion and persecution of blacks by whites cannot continue!
Study suggests racial bias in calls by NBA referees
"An academic study of NBA officiating found that white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players, the New York Times reported in Wednesday's editions."
One reaction:
"I'm absolutely giggling.
I'm no NBA expert, but I do follow the game. Of the relatively few white players left in the NBA, I can't really think of a single one that has a reputation as a "banger"- one of those players who mixes it up close to the basket regularly, where most fouls are called. The white players that I can think of are almost exclusively "finesse" players- pure shooters or passers, who play on the outside perimeter mainly, and are rarely in the "paint" where most contact occurrs.
Any fool who's ever played in a pickup match in the 'Hood can tell you that it's one helluva different game than they play in Wayzata. No blood, no foul is the general rule on streetball- where most black players learned the game- and that carries over into a much more physical game all the way around and at every level.
But perhaps Spike Lee said it best. White men can't jump. So why bother playing defense?"
It is really ridiculous to formulate conclusions on an entire racial group of basketball players based on one black player who learned the game in the 'Hood. In fact I think it would be unsound to formulate such conclusions based on 200 black basketball players (though slightly more sound than basing it on one black basketball player).
Accepting that blacks can be called on fouls more often than whites is two or three steps away from saying, 'Oh they are of no inherent/less inherent worth. Therefore we are justified at spitting at them/enslaving them/sending them to death camps." Those who try to jutify this discrimination will be castigated by any right-minded person for their faux-intellectual justification of racism.
Another:
"Kobe Bryant says he's never noticed evidence of racial bias when it comes to NBA officiating.
"I think I've gotten more techs from black refs than white refs," the Los Angeles Lakers star said Wednesday.
LeBron James put it this way: "It's stupid."
Chicago Bulls veteran forward P.J. Brown said: "Somebody's got too much time on their hands.""
It's such a pity that the prevailing hegemony has deceived these players into not only ignoring but accepting - hell, defending their marginalisation by the racist NBA. They have internalised, consciously or subconsciously, the prejudicial ‘broadcasts’ of society as transmitted through everyday interactions, resulting in pernicious and intractable self-marginalisation.
Discriminating against black players is just white supremacy by another name. This phenomenon of social exclusion and persecution of blacks by whites cannot continue!
After a presentation on 'A Continuous-Time version of the Principal-Agent Problem' for the 'Multiperson Decision Theory' class, I feel like gouging my eyeballs out.
***
To Leon, who keeps emailing me:
If you don't leave a return address I can never contact you back, especially since the URL to your blog you gave me leads to an empty blog belonging to some Spanish guy who has been on Blogger since August 2001.
***
To Leon, who keeps emailing me:
If you don't leave a return address I can never contact you back, especially since the URL to your blog you gave me leads to an empty blog belonging to some Spanish guy who has been on Blogger since August 2001.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
We're free tomorrow afternoon, so I'll probably crash one or two of the following Applied Maths classes since our free time is vaguely intended for being 'Free to attend seminars in various departments at Stanford':
ECON 52 Economic Analysis III
Growth and fluctuations in the economic system as a whole. National income accounts and aggregate relationships among stocks and flows in markets for goods, labor, and financial assets. Economic growth, inflation, and unemployment. The role of macroeconomic policies in the short and long run.
ECON 142 Political Economics
Formal theories of collective choice and political institutions. Topics include social choice, the interaction between public institutions and the economy, the effects of lobbying and interest groups on politics, the role of information in determining legislative structure, and elections as a mechanism for controlling versus selecting politicians. Topics that may be covered include the role of political institutions in developing nations and campaign finance reform in the U.S.
ECON 290 Multiperson Decision Theory
Students and faculty review and present recent research papers on basic theories and economic applications of decision theory, game theory and mechanism design. Applications include market design and analyses of incentives and strategic behavior in markets, and selected topics such as auctions, bargaining, contracting, and computation.
ECON 52 Economic Analysis III
Growth and fluctuations in the economic system as a whole. National income accounts and aggregate relationships among stocks and flows in markets for goods, labor, and financial assets. Economic growth, inflation, and unemployment. The role of macroeconomic policies in the short and long run.
ECON 142 Political Economics
Formal theories of collective choice and political institutions. Topics include social choice, the interaction between public institutions and the economy, the effects of lobbying and interest groups on politics, the role of information in determining legislative structure, and elections as a mechanism for controlling versus selecting politicians. Topics that may be covered include the role of political institutions in developing nations and campaign finance reform in the U.S.
ECON 290 Multiperson Decision Theory
Students and faculty review and present recent research papers on basic theories and economic applications of decision theory, game theory and mechanism design. Applications include market design and analyses of incentives and strategic behavior in markets, and selected topics such as auctions, bargaining, contracting, and computation.
