From: mjassels@cs.concordia.ca (Michael Assels)
Newsgroups: sci.research.careers
Subject: Re: Do the police have Fabrikant's postings?
Date: 3 Sep 92 14:12:49 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

In article <19374@ector.cs.purdue.edu> sjc@cs.purdue.EDU (Steve Chapin) writes:
>}} In article <4822@daily-planet.concordia.ca> mjassels@cs.concordia.ca (Michael Assels) writes:
>}} 
>}} When Fabrikant was a disgruntled academic, I thought his claims should be
>}} examined.  Now that he's a murderer, I think his claims should be tossed
>}} immediately into the nearest garbage can (if it's large enough for the
>}} entire dossier).  If there are problems in academia, let them be brought
>}} up fresh by someone else at some other time, after Fabrikant's personal
>}} grievances have faded into richly deserved obscurity.  Let's not allow
>}} the social agenda to be determined by violent savages.
>
>Bull cookies.  This is the worst sort of ad hominem argument.  There
>was clearly something going on inside the ME department at Concordia.
>Saying that because Fabrikant later acted in an irrational manner, his
>earlier actions and statements must be irrational and false is tripe.
>
>If the village idiot tells you that the sun rises in the east and sets
>in the west, would you not believe him simply because he is the
>village idiot?  The fact that Fabrikant has a long-standing history of
>crank legal actions makes me doubt that the story is true, as he tells
>it, yet his research and teaching record is such that there must be
>more to the story than the Concordia administration wants to admit.

Excuse me?  Did I say anywhere that the reason for disregarding Fabrikant's
claims was that they were FALSE?  I thought it was fairly clear that I meant:
"He's trying to get his way by killing people; let's not do him any favours."
Because he is a murderer, he deserves to be forgotten as quickly as possible.

An "ad hominem" argument is one in which a claim is said to be false (or 
true) on account of the character of its proponent.  I did not say anything 
whatsoever about the truth-value of Fabrican't assertions; I've only pleaded 
with people to deny attention to an evil bastard who murdered in order to 
get attention.

Please note:  I did not suggest that problems such as academic corruption
should be ignored.  I suggested that Fabrikant's personal grievances should
be ignored.  There are many people in many places who suffer from academic 
corruption.  Why not take up their cause, or do they have to slaughter
some innocent people and terrorize hundreds of others to get your attention?

--
Michael Assels,  Analyst,  Comp. Sci.,  Concordia U.,  mjassels@cs.concordia.ca
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Newsgroups: sci.research.careers