Jerry Coyne's blog commenters think conspiracy theories are pretty funny. In the comments section of Jerry Coyne's defense of Steven Pinker (as usual) against the Vice article about Pinker's block list which Coyne claims smears Pinker, they joked about conspiracies including one about Soros.Left to right: Jeffrey Epstein, Alan Dershowitz, Steven Pinker, unidentified man and Lawrence "women aren't as innately good at STEM" Summers in 2004.
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Don’t forget Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos …
But as we know Jerry Coyne is a fan of New Discourses, owned by Peter Boghossian, shameless hypocrite James Lindsay and right-wing extremist Christian fanatic Soros conspiracy nut Michael O'Fallon.
I haven't talked much about Pinker's connection to Epstein on this blog, as my beat is Pinker's defense of race science, but I followed the link to the unsealed manuscript and something really jumped out at me.
So an "adventurous" quad bike ride to mountainous peaks and a cliff.
Of course it's possible that the tousled-haired Harvard professor named Stephen who knew Jeffrey Epstein also liked vigorous bike rides
Below I've quoted more from the unsealed manuscript than what appeared in the Vice article:
Giuffre refers to the Harvard Professor as "Stephen" rather than Steven, but Coyne will have you know that he doesn't think the rest sounds like Pinker either:
Two weeks later, as if Jeffrey was trying to lighten my spirits, he told me I would be going to his island to meet a new client He is a Harvard Professor, named Stephen I would be spending two days with him showing him around the island, dining with him, and treating him to a massage whenever he wanted. Without Jeffrey even verbalizing the need to have sex with him, he told me to keep him happy like I had my first client. I packed my suitcase with island apparel, and kissed T.J good-bye, who had at least offered me a warm embrace upon the news of my miscarriage but none other than that knowing it wasn?t his.
Stephen was a quirky little man with white hair and a mad scientist look about him. We arrived separately and greeted him when one of the housekeepers picked him up from the airport and arrived by boat, instead of helicopter as Jeffrey and Ghislane often arrive on. We made our acquaintances and he looked as if he was tripping over himself with words, obviously delighted with his company and location for the weekend. I showed him around as Jeffrey had asked and took him on an adventurous quad bike ride around the small curvy paths, leading the way and letting loose my hair, doing something that gave me a natural high instead of the prescription one. The sights alone were breathtaking from the mountainous peaks of the untouched parts of the island, we sat at a cliff and just sat there, not saying a word to each other besides to compliment the sights mother nature that appealed to us. I didn?t feel as if I owed this stranger anything but what was expected of me by Jeffrey and I could be polite, [just couldn?t be myself.
At any rate, yes, Pinker has white hair, but he’s not “quirky”, and I, at least, don’t think he looks like a “mad scientist”.
Giuffre mentions Epstein and Maxwell mocking her for her ignorance on proper dining etiquette:
The first time Jeffrey and Ghislane had seen me cut meat and eat with a fork and knife they were so appalled, making fun of my unsophisticated habits. Ghislane took the fork and knife in her hands and proceeded to show me how to politely cut my food and eat.
So yeah, I can believe that a teenager from Giuffre's background (her father was maintenance manager at Mar-a-Lago) would think a Harvard professor with white hair (Giuffre later says "I made fun of his tousled hair") looked like a quirky mad scientist. And wouldn't know if his name was spelled Steven or Stephen.
To be fair, at the time this would have taken place, around 2002, Pinker's hair was more silver than white.
But what was that again about the bike ride?
I showed him around as Jeffrey had asked and took him on an adventurous quad bike ride around the small curvy paths... The sights alone were breathtaking from the mountainous peaks of the untouched parts of the island, we sat at a cliff...
On top of Harvard professor and tousled white hair, Steven Pinker also likes a vigorous bike ride.
Pinker's love of biking is evident in Pinker's article for Cycle Plus in 2016: I'm a Rider Steven Pinker.
I've been a cycling fan since I was five years old when my dad took the training wheels off my first bike. The fandom intensified 30 years ago, when I got tenure at MIT (Massachusettes Institute of Technology) and could turn my mind to other things besides academic research... I used to ride on the bike path along the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge and in Boston's suburb, which are quaint New England towns. I was also a mountain biker during two sabbaticals in Santa Barbara...
Of course it's possible that the tousled-haired Harvard professor named Stephen who knew Jeffrey Epstein also liked vigorous bike rides
Another interesting note is that Coyne won't absolutely swear with total confidence that Steven Pinker, whom Coyne serves so faithfully as a (presumably unpaid) public relations spokesperson is not Stephen from Harvard.
If this incident took place in the Virgin Islands, Pinker apparently didn’t go there. If it did and he did and is guilty as charged, well, the law will find that out, but I’m betting against it.