8 Comments

  1. She must not actually know any nuclear professionals.

    I would have used the Oxford comma in your list of “noble gases, iodine and cesium”. At a quick glance, one might think you were referring to iodine and cesium as noble gasses.

  2. So the former school teacher and pet shop owner, who wrote a book of fiction in 1977, called you names, eh?

    Since she lives in Southern California, it’s probably a good thing that she didn’t know at the time that you live in Lynchburg, or “trashy” would have been just the beginning. I’m sure that “trailer” or “white” would have appeared somewhere earlier in the insult. 😉 I’m also willing to bet that the name “Jerry Falwell” would have been used to demonstrate how backward and unsophisticated you are — you know, the bible-thumping hick stereotype. It’s amazingly popular in So Cal.

    I’m from the Lynchburg area. I’ve heard ’em all and I know her type. Her book and what she has written on her blog clearly indicate that she tends to generalize people into categories based on her personal biases, her predispositions, and her narrow world view.

    By the way, nice picture of Southpaw. Kids love our mascot.

    1. Being in Southern California, it is highly unlikely that she would know any actual nuclear professionals. I do not envy her apparent ignorance.

    2. You tend to do an awful lot of speculating about what you are sure people will do, think, etc. I find it funny you criticize her for generalizing people by generalizing about “her type”.

      1. She’s the type who call people that she doesn’t know “trashy.” It’s not a generalization, and it’s not speculation. She’s already demonstrated that this is who she is.

  3. She also responded to you Rod. She feels personally insulted by your remarks. Seriously.

  4. Rod – thanks for making a no-nonsense comment on Barbara Billings’s blog, and telling us about her reply. She apparently conflates criticism of her ideas with criticism of her, and seems to be subscribing to what blogger Ken at law blog Popehat calls The Right Not To Be Criticized. In that post he’s talking about John Rocker, but I think what he says is dead on target. Referring to Rocker:

    Put on your big-boy pants and go speak your mind and, if that’s what pleases you, promote and patronize the media outlets that tell you what you want to hear. But if you start whinging about how the marketplace isn’t fair because your views are not valued highly enough, don’t expect to be taken seriously. If you start talking about a “right to freely voice thought without the fear of public scorn,” expect nothing but contempt.

    (emphasis added.)

    Popehat is deeply concerned with freedom of speech, the US’s First Amendment, and the Internet. I’ve learned a lot by reading it.

  5. Re: “One member of the crowd overheard the conversation and introduced himself as an employee at B&W’s Mt Athos road facility. … he shook my hand and mentioned how he had read several recent articles about us in the News and Advance. He told me that everyone at the plant is rooting for us to succeed and to make a difference for the US’s energy supply.”

    Maybe I’m way out of line saying this, but it’d be even nicer knowing that B&W (and other nuke crafters) and/or its employees/unions also handed out a few bucks to the nuclear blogs who are the tip of the spear in educating a clueless and fearful public about the facts of nuclear power in the face of formidable opposition. Sure, root easy for nuke bloggers, but a little contribution would help too, guys. After all it’s your jobs they’re in part trying to save too.

    Off soapbox.

    James Greenidge
    Queens NY

Comments are closed.

Recent Comments from our Readers

  1. Avatar
  2. Avatar
  3. Avatar
  4. Avatar
  5. Avatar

Similar Posts