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Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

I don't know. Are 9 out of 10 authors from Laos really known to be corrupt, or was it just an example used because we consider Laos a conventient place to pin third world stereotypes and first world snoberry on?

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If 9 out of 10 authors from Scottsdale, Arizona are known to be corrupt, is it unethical and racist to be biased against authors from Scottsdale, Arizona?

An implication with a false premise is a boring sort of true statement.

It was an example, and I picked Laos because it is small. People get defensive if I name their country, instead of thinking rationally, and because Laos is small most people reading my comment will not be from Laos.

May I suggest Elbonia for such uses?

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-10-30/

Good call, I will have to remember that.

There is a large Laotian community in the bay area, many in the computer industry and would be in the audience of hacker news. You should have picked Bhutan or maybe New Zealand, it's hard to offend kiwis (they are so laid back).

| should have picked... New Zealand, it's hard to offend kiwis (they are so laid back)

Did you just do what you've been accusing others of? (Suggest a discriminated course of action based on a generalization of a certain nationality)

Not when you say 9/10ths of us are suspect we aren't.

Unless you're talking about Aussie immigrants.

It's called sarcasm.

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