What's in the News? 2.0

[Lilias]

Jesus. Sexist bullshit, coupled with a healthy dose of anti-intellectualism. As a not-real-doctor, I've never heard of this happening to any of my male colleagues.

Not just any kind of anti-intellectualism - the very specific 'how dare women hold titles superior to mine' kind.

[Oniya]

I remember going to a movie theater and watching the adventures of a famous Ph.D. in archaeology. None of the dudes watching the movie insisted that he should be called 'Mr. Jones.'

I doubt any of them would refer to 'Mr. Sagan', 'Mr. Susskind', 'Mr. Einstein' or 'Mr. Hawking'.

[Haibane]

None of whom, co-incidentally ever delivered a baby either.

Perhaps we could write a joint letter to the BBC and demand that the scriptwriters change their sci-fi series about the man who time travels to "Mr. Who"?

[Haibane]

The backlash is building up.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/wall-street-journal-writer-sparks-backlash-for-calling-jill-biden-kiddo-suggesting-she-drop-dr-title-230447069.html

Epstein wrote in reply to Yahoo Life: “The stream of truly ugly hate mail has been surprising.”

The fact that it is surprising to him just shows how far he is disconnected from contemporary acceptable behaviours.

[Lilias]

You don't say!

[RedRose]

I took less than a semester of French, back in 7th grade - but am I seeing that it was actually passages from the Koran (unsure of context) that were heard?

Yes. But they couldn't have known.

[RedRose]

Doctor wise, it is really for medical doctor round here. I'd say "Professor", maybe, for a teaching Phd lit. I don't know. My mom actually has a doctorat and explained to me doctor is "medical." But I would give the same title to a man and a woman with the same degree... Maybe I should get people to call me Maîtresse as I have a maîtrise though some titles remain masculine. Mmmm. https://www.question-orthographe.fr/question/comment-sadresser-a-un-avocat-de-sexe-feminin/ My notary friend (female) goes by Maître.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Something I picked up on the internet:

Most college professors have a PhD. The name of the degree comes from the Latin phrase philosophiae doctor, and the "philosophy" part of the name comes from the Greek word philosophia, "love of wisdom."

A love of wisdom is what encourages so many to devote the time necessary in their academic career to the study of the course they wish to pursue.  It's a lot of hard work and usually those who have not bothered to put in the time denigrate the use of the title by others.  Envy and jealousy play a large part in this attitude and behavior.

[legomaster00156]

None of whom, co-incidentally ever delivered a baby either.

Perhaps we could write a joint letter to the BBC and demand that the scriptwriters change their sci-fi series about the man who time travels to "Mr. Who"?

Hey, now. The Doctor said he has a medical degree. For what time period, species, and planet is uncertain, as is whether he was lying.

[Missy]

None of whom, co-incidentally ever delivered a baby either.

Perhaps we could write a joint letter to the BBC and demand that the scriptwriters change their sci-fi series about the man who time travels to "Mr. Who"?

Canonically the doctors choice of moniker relates to his intention to be a healer. His participation in the time war and persistent disgust and references to the harrows of war are one of the few consistent features of his personality between generations and is likely the basis for his choice of moniker. Although he oft seems to retain the mindset of the soldier regularly finding himself contending with the likes of the Darleks, Cyberman and the Master.

[Regina Minx]

https://nypost.com/2020/12/12/nyc-medic-helped-make-ends-meet-with-racy-onlyfans-side-gig/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter

The reporters who wrote this piece, and the editors who published it, are absolute scum. The worst of the worst. This isn't news, and the only thing they're accomplishing here is to make a woman's life miserable.

[Beorning]

https://nypost.com/2020/12/12/nyc-medic-helped-make-ends-meet-with-racy-onlyfans-side-gig/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter

The reporters who wrote this piece, and the editors who published it, are absolute scum. The worst of the worst. This isn't news, and the only thing they're accomplishing here is to make a woman's life miserable.

True. Bleeeeh.

As for the whole "doctor" thing - I'm genuinely curious, what's the accepted norm in America regarding these things? Are there men with PhDs in history, linguistics etc. that use the "Dr." honorific? Back here, it's quite normal - people with PhDs go with "dr" and medical doctors go with "dr med." ("doctor of medicine").

Anyway, that Epstein guy sounds like a sexist douche.

[legomaster00156]

Yes. Anyone with a PhD is known as "doctor", whether or not the PhD is a medical one. Claiming otherwise is unusual.

[TheHangedOne]

https://twitter.com/nathanTbernard/status/1338591039540563970

Apparently the Chinese sent tens of thousands of soldiers to British Columbia to plan an invasion of America, which is why we're moving tanks and artillery pieces to the Maine/Canada border. It comes from Q Anon, so you know it's Totally True^(tm).

More seriously, it seems like there's a lot of people playing pretend with it.  Unfortunately, some others are taking this pretend talk seriously. It just blows my mind.

[Beorning]

... seriously, WHAT???

[TheGlyphstone]

QAnon really likes Maine for some reason. That's also the place that North Korea sent a boat loaded with fake Biden votes to steal the election.

[Hades]

Plus you know, communist China and Israel have a long history of working together with Canada (aka Canuckastan) to bring down the US, because.....reasons.

[Regina Minx]

As for the whole "doctor" thing - I'm genuinely curious, what's the accepted norm in America regarding these things? Are there men with PhDs in history, linguistics etc. that use the "Dr." honorific? Back here, it's quite normal - people with PhDs go with "dr" and medical doctors go with "dr med." ("doctor of medicine").

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law is the style guide for most (but not all) US print publications. The New York Times has its own in-house style guidelines that deviate in a number of key respects from those of the AP.

The biggest difference, in fact, between the AP guide and the NYT is the Times' use of honorifics. If a "John Smith" were to be quoted multiple times in a story, the Associated Press would, after that first mention, refer to him simply as "Smith." The New York Times will refer to him as "Mr. Smith."

Then we consider honorific or professional titles. For the AP:

Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of optometry, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of podiatric medicine, or doctor of veterinary medicine: Dr. Jonas Salk.

Later, it says:

If appropriate in the context, Dr. also may be used on first reference before the names of individuals who hold other types of doctoral degrees. However, because the public frequently identifies Dr. only with physicians, care should be taken to ensure that the individual’s specialty is stated in first or second reference.

And then:

Do not continue the use of Dr. in subsequent references.

The New York Times standards are:

Dr. should be used in all references for physicians and dentists whose practice is their primary current occupation, or who work in a closely related field, like medical writing, research or pharmaceutical manufacturing: Dr. Alex E. Baranek; Dr. Baranek; the doctor. (Those who practice only incidentally, or not at all, should be called Mr., Ms., Miss or Mrs.)

Anyone else with an earned doctorate, like a Ph.D. degree, may request the title, but only if it is germane to the holder’s primary current occupation (academic, for example, or laboratory research). For a Ph.D., the title should appear only in second and later references.

[Haibane]

QAnon really likes Maine for some reason. That's also the place that North Korea sent a boat loaded with fake Biden votes to steal the election.

Yeah, what did happen to those N Koreans in Maine? Wouldn't they maybe be a bit curious about a western state and be going around asking "where are ze nuclear wessels?" or whatever the dialect is. Its all very suspicious that after doing their DHL delivery of 1000s of fake voting papers we heard no more about them, so something's a bit off there.

[Haibane]

Reading that QA link I am convinced that some of those posters KNOW this is just dumb crap and are trolling and having a laugh, throwing in more and more stupid ideas to the pot just for shits n giggles. Some wackos however appear to lap it up. Its somehow both hilarious and tragic at the same time.

[Oniya]

Reading that QA link I am convinced that some of those posters KNOW this is just dumb crap and are trolling and having a laugh, throwing in more and more stupid ideas to the pot just for shits n giggles. Some wackos however appear to lap it up. Its somehow both hilarious and tragic at the same time.

There's a story that Scientology started up because Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard made a bet (likely while drinking) about starting religions.  The name 'Dianetics' came from Hubbard's daughter's name, because 'God's Son' had 'Christ-ianity'. 

I'm fairly sure that Heinlein never profited from the Church of All Worlds.

[Beorning]

There's a story that Scientology started up because Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard made a bet (likely while drinking) about starting religions.

Hey, anyone want to try this bet again..?

[Oniya]

My thought is that Q themself decided it would be a lark to start this crap.  (For DC Comics fans, there's a low-grade 'hero' named 'Question' who is obsessed with conspiracy theories.  His shining moment is when he uncovers Lex Luthor's real reason for running for president.)

[Regina Minx]

...His shining moment is when he uncovers Lex Luthor's real reason for running for president.

See I always found it to be when he disclosed that the true purpose of aglets is sinister.

[Haibane]

In a way its something of a relief to reach the conclusion that QAnon is really just a big bundle of laughs with cooked-up conspiracies so insanely far out there that no-one could buy into them ... and when some fools do, the joke is on them, such as influential politicians suggesting that N Koreans delivered a boat load of fake voting ballots into Maine. I suppose my brain-wiring is happy at this as it is a way to cope with any of the alternatives.