[Taxacom] Describing taxa for conservation purposes - Scott Thomson's latest attempt to sabotage the ICZN Code for his own self-gratification.

[John Grehan]

Doug, I am in sympathy with your views, and I probably should not have said
anything at all after Ryamond's initial declarations. I felt at the time it
was worth pointing out the inappropriate nature of several attributions
directed towards other individuals. Since that just repeats past behaviour
I should have known better. His claim about legalization of IUCN rules
under Australian law did, however, need to be questioned, since it was a
very significant development if it were true - but it does appear to be
unsubstantiated (which makes sense that no government is going to endorse
into legislation an informal international convention [rules] - although
such a development could be very lucrative for taxonomists becoming expert
witnesses in the never ending disputes that I could see arising :)

John Grehan

On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 12:54 PM Douglas Yanega via Taxacom <
taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:

> Since I have Mr. Hoser on a spam filter, I never see anything he posts
> unless other people rise to his bait, as in this case. I do suggest that
> others consider the benefit of blocking him as I do, it makes for a
> little more peace of mind.
>
> That aside, I do feel that there are two points that require a very
> direct and serious rebuttal:
>
> >> So now his latest plot is to set himself up as head honcho to make
> >> "species lists" which everyone else will use and in contempt of the
> rules
> >> of the ICZN.
>
> The ICZN does in fact actively encourage taxonomic specialist
> associations to create official lists that they can then submit to the
> Commission for formal endorsement, under the provisions of Article 79,
> known as the LAN (Lists of Available Names). We would be very happy to
> have the herpetological community submit such a proposal to us, and even
> if they choose not to engage with the Commission, *we support the
> principle* that the community should be able to determine, *by
> consensus*, how they wish to handle matters within their disciplines.
>
> The existence of the Commission is, itself, due to a consensus agreement
> across the entire zoological community, so it would be absurdly
> hypocritical to say that consensus decisions by segments of that
> community are "in contempt of the rules" - consensus is EXACTLY how
> rules are made in the first place. Obviously Mr. Hoser personally
> objects to being on the receiving end of a community boycott, but
> instead of changing his behavior to adhere to the ethical and scientific
> standards of the community, he screams "foul" and just makes things
> worse. This is beyond tiresome.
>
> >> This is extremely dangerous as no budding scientist will want to enter
> the
> >> science of taxonomy, as they risk their life's work being stolen by
> Thomson
> >> and the Wuster gang, who will summarily rename and all sundry in
> contempt
> >> of the rules of the Code and then improperly peddle their names to
> gullible
> >> others.
>
> The only person I know of who has actively stolen (or, rather, attempted
> to steal) the life's work of a budding scientist is Raymond Hoser, who
> seems to have conveniently forgotten who Travis Thomas is. Accusing
> others of the crimes for which one is guilty (i.e., claiming to be the
> victim when one is actually the perpetrator) is one of the oldest, and
> sorriest, tricks in the book, and it seems to be literally the ONLY
> weapon in Mr. Hoser's arsenal.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pot_calling_the_kettle_black
>
> The day that Mr. Hoser makes a *formal public apology* for the
> Macrochelys case - and the many others where he has published
> descriptions pre-emptively (for taxa that other researchers intended to
> name) - is the day I will unblock him from my feed, and start to take
> him seriously. Until that day, it would be fantastic if he would just go
> away, and stay silent, instead of trying to stir up trouble.
>
> There is a very old internet saying (as the internet goes), and it's
> very apropos here:
>
> DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> --
> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
> phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>               https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>    "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
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