Comments on: Unarmed kamikaze

By: dsquared

dsquared — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 10:07:00 +0000

People might have more sympathy for you

To be honest, I wouldn't get your hopes up. I'm quite an unsympathetic type of person, and would be supremely ungrateful if they did.

By: Timbeaux

Timbeaux — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 00:57:00 +0000

Well he and the rest of you can think what you like, it makes little difference to me. But y’all can sing the praises of statistics until you’re blue in the face, the methods mean absolutely nothing when the data set is so obviously flawed. Anyone telling you otherwise either bases his belief on faith, or is trying to sell you something. And let me tell you, you can sell the worst kinds of plastic crap to the faithful: http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/art/j2k3-15.jpg.

The Lancet study was nothing more than an exit poll, and suffers from the classic problems such surveys always do (I think Mr. Kerry is still crying over the ones that said he was coasting to a "landslide"). Cheifly among them, people representing one side of the potential findings (here "no deaths") just up and tell the pollsters to fuck off, I don’t have the time and I don’t like you anyway, gringo. Of course, the group on the other side (here "deaths") not only wants to talk with a pollster they want to talk to three, and make sure they know where that third cousin Habib lives in the process.

So go on, keep clamouring about how "the statistics are impeccable". You’re probably right, and it’s still shit. You’re just embarassing yourselves trying to continue such nonsense.

By: Charles

Charles — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 00:04:00 +0000

"There's a new comments policy at HP"

People might have more sympathy for you if you hadn't commented here a couple of months ago (can't be assed to find it but will look if you deny it) that your longterm aim was to be banned from Harry's Place.

Isn't that an admission of being a troll? How does that square with your statements of indignation above?

Just askin'.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:27:00 +0000

There seems to be a flexible deletion/banning policy on people who mention Harry's Stalinist past, too.

Ohhhhh. Yes I did that too, more by accident than anything else. Ah weel.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:43:00 +0000

I suspect it might be cock-up rather than conspiracy. Perhaps Marcus is still banning you, and Harry isn't, something like that.

There seems to be a flexible deletion/banning policy on people who mention Harry's Stalinist past, too. Not that the relevant evidence isn't available through Google already.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:07:00 +0000

Yeh, but you didn't coin the ace nickname "Little Green Soccer Balls" which is what got me banned :-)

That is, to be honest, my big problem with the HP deletion policy. The posts they delete are by no means the content-free flames; I have plenty of them still up. They delete posts (mine anyway) that actually argue against them. I made two factual corrections on the Venezuela thread and they got deleted (the errors are still there AFAICT). Deleting people who make arguments against you and leaving the morons alone to make it look like a) you tolerate dissent and b) all the people who argue against you are morons is IMO pretty sleazy.

By: Squander Two

Squander Two — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 09:33:00 +0000

I've got into some pretty big arguments at HP, accusing the hosts of profound stupidity, and have never been censored.

Just saying, like.

By: George C

George C — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 07:48:00 +0000

meaders does the same. He wont even answer one of his own political supporters who asked why an anti-Semite who circulates holocuast-denial articles has been invited 2 years running to the SWPs premier political event. If he’s asked again he deletes the comments, lies about what they say, and bans the commneter.

By: Jarndyce

Jarndyce — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 05:54:00 +0000

Strangely, I have never seen Pete and my favourite Samizdata commenter Verity in the same room at once.

By: dsquared

dsquared — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 05:54:00 +0000

There’s a new comments policy at HP, by the way as far as I can tell; they aren’t banning me any more, but randomly deleting posts (some but not all) by people who argue against them, unless they do so in such a lame manner that they make HP look good.