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Cruel Reviewer

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Clarissa

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I wrote a blindingly devastating (does anybody get the pun or is it too academic?) peer review of one article today. I will now write a second equally shattering piece for another article.

But hey, I’m not wantonly cruel. I actually told the author of the first piece how he can improve. I created an idea on the spot and gave it to him as a gift (I am 90% certain the author is male). Of course, I could write the article myself but where to find the time? I’m booked up with writing engagements until 2027.

In the second piece, there’s nothing wrong with ideas or the argument. The reason why I’ll reject it is linguistic. The author is clearly a native speaker of Ukrainian whose Spanish is… limited. I’m not even talking about the beauty of the prose or stylistic flourishes. Her basic grammar (and I’m 90% certain it’s a she) is what we call “Low Intermediate.” I don’t want to be a meanie who always rejects but “la autora ha escribido”? Seriously? If it’s too hard to find a native speaker to edit, how about turning on MS Word spell check?

19 responses to “Cruel Reviewer”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    “is it too academic?”

    It would…. appeer so….

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      What we do is called “blind review” because we don’t know the names of the authors and they don’t know ours. This is aimed at preserving fairness of evaluations.

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      1. cliff arroyo Avatar
        cliff arroyo

        “What we do is”

        look at my answer again….

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Oh! You made your own pun! Funny!

          I honestly need jokes to be pointed out to me. Which is a little embarrassing.

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    2. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      “would…. appeer”

      mine again… wordpress logging in weirdness…..

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  2. el Avatar
    el

    Saw today this link to a Ukrainian in USA and was interested to read details of US life:

    Чому Україні варто повчитися в США?

    Чому Штати – не моя країна. Їжа.

    Чому Штати — не моя країна. Подвійні цінності та сегрегованість суспільства.

    Чому Штати — не моя країна. Організація простору.

    https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8F_%D0%B2_%D1%81%D1%88%D0%B0

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      All true. I read all the posts and it’s all true. I obviously don’t agree with her excitement over diversity and the exaltation of neurosis but that’s differences of opinion.

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        I wish people could read this in English because these posts are the perfect illustration why immigrants are so easily coopted by the far left (like I was). She sees that there are almost no black professors and since the only explanation provided is that it’s a result of racism, she believes it. I did, too. How is one supposed to know when nobody says anything different?

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          There’s no “school to prison pipeline” but there definitely is “immigration to far left pipeline”. Immigrants are also convenient because they don’t know that different labor conditions or different standards of freedom of speech existed. They didn’t witness the changes and perceive everything as simply what there is.

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            It doesn’t affect all immigrant groups equally, though. The Viet Kieu, and the Miami Cuban refugee groups are fairly conservative, politically. Is the difference between those fleeing Communist countries, and everybody else?

            Liked by 1 person

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              Definitely. Getting inoculated with a large dose of a totalitarian socialist regime works. But nothing else seems to have an effect.

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        2. methylethyl Avatar
          methylethyl

          My sibling just moved to rural NY for a job. When we were all doing pregame research on the company and the location, to be sure the salary offered was enough to live on, that the area wasn’t a horrible place, etc… (so, you know, crime stats, demographics, the school system, taxes, housing prices), we were totally shocked to find that the place is over 97% white. Grew up in the South and can’t even imagine that as a possibility. 97% (this is my bugeyed shocked and amazed face). I don’t even know how to think about that. How does that happen? Is that even possible? This is the whitest white enclave I have ever even *heard* of.

          Clearly a case of Southern Dixiecrat generational racism. (/sarc)

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      2. el Avatar
        el

        Have you read

        Чому Штати — не моя країна. Система та процеси.
        and
        Чому Штати — не моя країна. Люди.

        too?

        \ She sees that there are almost no black professors and since the only explanation provided is that it’s a result of racism, she believes it. 

        Well, she describes bad, underfinanced schools which prevent children from realizing their potential. Policies of how education is financed turn to be racist in practice, keeping the poor poor.

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Blacks in the top 10% of income get more criminal convictions and show worse academic results than whites in the bottom 10%.

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        2. methylethyl Avatar
          methylethyl

          Bad schools do exist. They also help keep white people poor.

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          1. Clarissa Avatar
            Clarissa

            In the poorest 10%, the difference in criminality and academic achievement between blacks and whites is notable and persistent.

            Poverty is not an explanation for everything.

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            1. methylethyl Avatar
              methylethyl

              Yeah. There’s no getting around that one, as awkward as the numbers are. It’s one of those yes-and problems. Yes, in equal conditions, white people tend to outperform black people academically, and do less crime. And asian people tend to outperform white people academically, and do even less crime. And absolutely all of them, especially the not-rich ones, could probably do better than they are doing now, if we didn’t have abysmal schools and perverse social-welfare incentives.

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              1. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                Once again, there’s no simple solution. Reducing everything to racism or poverty doesn’t really answer any questions. It’s a way to pretend to care while not doing anything at all.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. methylethyl Avatar
                methylethyl

                It’s like a more malign version of “raising awareness” campaigns.

                AFAICT, “raising awareness” is just a way for people to fundraise and look virtuous, while surfing on the backs of the disabled, and doing exactly nothing that actually helps them.

                The raaaacism game is the same, but with the added fun of assigning arbitrary blame and punishing people.

                Liked by 1 person

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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