Could it be time for a return to "Roentgen rays"?
... with a side of Freedom Fries
=======================================================================
All Things Serve the Beam
=======================================================================
David J. Schuller
modern man in a post-modern world
MacCHESS, Cornell University
[email protected]
________________________________
From: CCP4 bulletin board <[email protected]> on behalf of Debanu
<[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2025 11:17
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] e: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid
“As an NMR person I create a lot of Mx (magnetization)”
>> more X than the X-ray crystallographers, MX-Macromolecular Crystallographers
>> and synchrotron magnetizations here?
Sorry, could not resist, despite the trying times..:)
Best,
Debanu
On Sun, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:11 Remco Sprangers
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Dear all,
this development is really worrying and sad.....But, before banning whole
words, one should maybe start by banning some letters. In this context I
suggest we all stop using (the letter) X and alike.
Best, Remco
p.s. As an NMR person I create a lot of Mx (magnetization), does this make
me suspicious as of now (also outside this mailing list)?
On Sun, 16 Mar 2025, Navdeep Sidhu wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
> What can one say beyond "Shameless sexism, racism and ableism"? Perhaps this:
>
>
> "To omit or to minimize [the] voices of resistance is to create the idea that
> power only rests with those who have the guns, who possess the wealth, who
> own the newspapers and the television stations. I want to point out that
> people who seem to have no power, whether working people, people of color, or
> women—once they organize and protest and create movements—have a voice no
> government can suppress.”
> -- Howard Zinn, from the Introduction to "Voices of a People’s History of
> the United States"
> <https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/voices-of-a-peoples-history-of-the-united-states/>
>
>
> And this:
>
> "Don't mourn. Organize."
> -- Wobbly songwriter Joe Hill
>
>
> By the way, George Orwell's own introduction to "1984" was successfully
> suppressed for decades because in it he'd lamented self-censorship in
> Britain. The Kommissar lives within us too.
>
> But there are cultures in which this wasn't so, including aboriginal cultures
> in North America, who understood the idea of "freedom" better. It's thought
> they were likely behind the ideas of the European Enlightenment.
>
>
> Diversely, with best wishes,
> Navdeep
> Germany
>
>
> ---
> On 13.03.25 19:24, David J. Schuller wrote:
>> https://gizmodo.com/we-are-witnessing-a-new-brain-drain-as-scientists-flee-america-for-france-2000575654
>> <https://gizmodo.com/we-are-witnessing-a-new-brain-drain-as-scientists-flee-america-for-france-2000575654>
>>
>> *‘We Are Witnessing a New Brain Drain’ as Scientists Flee America for
>> France*
>>
>>
>> =======================================================================
>> All Things Serve the Beam
>> =======================================================================
>> David J. Schuller
>> modern man in a post-modern world
>> MacCHESS, Cornell University
>>
>> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* CCP4 bulletin board
>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of V.
>> Nagarajan <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>> *Sent:* Thursday, March 13, 2025 09:43
>> *To:* [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>> *Subject:* Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid
>> Here’s an article from ProPublica, explaining how they used AI to search
>> through some 3,400 research grants called “woke” by Texas senator Ted Cruz:
>> GettyImages-1097249104.jpg
>> link.propublica.net<http://link.propublica.net/>
>> <https://link.propublica.net/view/652e85710205761260069218n7d7l.31ll/c6f60ac7>
>>
>> <https://link.propublica.net/view/652e85710205761260069218n7d7l.31ll/c6f60ac7>
>>
>>
>> From the article: ‘Among them: a $470,000 grant to study the evolution of
>> mint plants and how they spread across continents. As best Philip and Song
>> could tell, the project was flagged because of two specific words used in
>> its application to the NSF: “diversify,” referring to the biodiversity of
>> plants, and “female,” where the application noted how the project would
>> support a young female scientist on the research team.
>>
>> Another involved developing a device that could treat severe bleeding. It
>> included the words “victims” — as in gunshot victims — and “trauma.”‘
>>
>> V. Nagarajan
>>
>>> On Mar 13, 2025, at 5:13 AM, ΕΜΜΑΝΟΥΗΛ ΣΑΡΕΙΔΑΚΗΣ
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The problem is not to ensure confidentiality of what one writes. It is to
>>> ensure that one can write publicly (within some limits, see below) without
>>> fear.
>>>
>>> To go back to the original conversation, I think we have here an example
>>> of a “pendulum effect”. The onslaught on what cannot be said started on
>>> the “progressist”, “woke”, “politically correct” side, as explained in the
>>> article forwarded yesterday on this thread by Bryan Lepore. These people
>>> were well-meant, on a high moral ground and earnestly dedicated to
>>> rectifying earlier iniquities. Nevertheless, as often happens with
>>> well-meant actions, these initiatives quickly degenerated, in this case
>>> into rather indiscriminate censorship, nonsensical grammar (ungrammatical
>>> pronouns and the like) and sometimes worse.
>>>
>>> Then, the pendulum swung, and the “progressist” bigots were replaced by
>>> the real ones, who are not on a moral high ground, but are feeding on the
>>> mistrust and outrage generated by the previous status quo. The real bigots
>>> are of course many times worse than the ones that became so by excessive
>>> enthusiasm, and this is what we are seeing now (mostly in the US for the
>>> moment, but it’s spreading).
>>>
>>> So, I think the questions to ask are: is any form of censorship acceptable
>>> and, if yes, to what extent? My answer to the first question is yes: any
>>> bigot Right and Left should not be allowed to go around spreading lies and
>>> victimising people. The US has been in many cases an example of too little
>>> censorship: it is one of the most tolerant places in the West for those
>>> who are openly Neonazi for example. The answer to the second question must
>>> be: censorship should be tolerated to the least possible extent, it must
>>> be well-vetted, well-justified and liable to questioning, challenge and
>>> rational revision at all times. Ideally, it should also have some rapport
>>> with a somewhat objective notion of truth. Given the strained relationship
>>> of the present US Government with all the above concepts, I have little
>>> hope.
>>>
>>> Emmanuel
>>>
>>> Dr. Emmanuel Saridakis
>>> Institute of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
>>> National Centre for Scientific Research "DEMOKRITOS"
>>> Athens 15341, Greece.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> *From: *David <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>>> *To: *CCP4BB <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>>> *Date: *Thursday, 13 March 2025 12:10 PM EET
>>> *Subject: *Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid
>>>
>>> I guess I should remind subscribers that the CCP4BB has a public
>>> archive, at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=ccp4bb
>>> <https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=ccp4bb>.
>>> On a personal note, I always appreciate the courage of those who
>>> call out the bullshit in the world, and I've enjoyed the eloquent
>>> messages in this thread (though the content is depressing).
>>> Best wishes,
>>> David
>>>
>>> On Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 21:04 Katherine Sippel,
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> My response was more of a suggestion to make sure these
>>> types of conversations are held via a personal email where
>>> "The Man" would require sufficient probable cause for a judge
>>> to issue a warrant rather than an institutional email that
>>> does not have such a barrier. That being said, I have had more
>>> than one work email recently where I asked myself "would you
>>> want to have to defend this in front of a McCarthy-esque
>>> congressional inquest" and made a phone call instead. So,
>>> you're completely right. Thank you for the gut check.
>>> Cheers,
>>> Kat
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM Artem Evdokimov
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> The first thing that happens as freedom of speech dies is
>>> that diligent self censorship becomes the norm. People
>>> acquire a Komissar inside their heads.
>>>
>>> When I was a kid, my parents had to remind me daily not to
>>> share with school kids the jokes told at home because
>>> 'mommy does not want to go to Gulag'.
>>>
>>> Word to the wise.
>>>
>>> Artem
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 15:21 Katherine Sippel
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I love this conversation. It is an important one right
>>> now that addresses the intersection between the
>>> precise language needed to communicate science and the
>>> greater zeitgeist around politicization of vocabulary.
>>> It will be interesting to see how the etymology of
>>> scientific language migrates in response to this
>>> selective pressure.
>>> However, if you will allow me to put on my tinfoil hat
>>> for a moment, I feel compelled to remind the faculty
>>> from publicly funded universities in the US that your
>>> institutional emails may be subject to Freedom of
>>> Information Act requests. I was at the University of
>>> Florida when the Organic Consumers Association decided
>>> to go after Kevin Folta via US Right to Know, and it
>>> was nasty. I would not put it past the administration
>>> to weaponize FOIA requests in the future to root out
>>> dissent among US academics. Just something to consider
>>> when engaging in these types of conversations.
>>> Cheers,
>>> Kat Sippel, PhD, ELS
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 12, 2025 at 1:41 PM Harry Powell
>>>
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> "_golf_ of America” particularly apt with current
>>> POTUS…
>>>
>>> Harry
>>>
>>> > On 12 Mar 2025, at 17:49, Oganesyan, Vaheh
>>>
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > You never know what is on their minds
>>> (Musk&Don). Would you guess anything related to
>>> Greenland before hearing it, or golf of America?
>>> >
>>> > Vaheh
>>> >
>>> > From: CCP4 bulletin board
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>> On Behalf Of
>>> Harry
>>> Powell
>>> > Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 1:30 PM
>>> > To:
>>> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
>>> > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid
>>> >
>>> > I don’t thnk that’s why it’s been banned...
>>> >
>>> > > On 12 Mar 2025, at 17:09, Ian Tickle
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>> > >
>>> > >
>>> > > --------- Forwarded message ---------
>>> > > From: Ian Tickle
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> > > Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2025, 14:08
>>> > > Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Words to avoid
>>> > > To: Herbert J. Bernstein
>>> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> > >
>>> > > I spell it 'polarisation' anyway (from Late
>>> Latin 'Stella Polaris' = 'Pole Star').
>>> > >
>>> > > Cheers
>>> > >
>>> > > -- Ian
>>> > >
>>> > >
>>> > > On Tue, 11 Mar 2025, 20:00 Herbert J.
>>> Bernstein, <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
>>> <mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>>
>>> wrote:
>>> > > Dear Colleagues,
>>> > > When I got home today, Frances presented me
>>> with an article from the
>>> > > NY Times which contained the attached list of
>>> words and the explanation,
>>> > > "As President Trump seeks to purge the federal
>>> government of "woke" initiatives, agencies have
>>> flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid,
>>> > > according to a compilation of government
>>> documents."
>>> > > For this audience in particular, please note
>>> that "Mx", "polarization", "orientation",
>>> "status", "systemic". "discrimination",
>>> "equality", "expression", "barriers", and "bias"
>>> are among the words to avoid. Care should be
>>> > > taken in writing proposals and reports since
>>> AIs may be used for screening
>>> > > and they are' likely to miss explanatory context.
>>> > > Regard,
>>> > > Herbert
>>> > >
>>> > >
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