strange link to link today (love the blogs)
I have been very negligent in posting the last few days (job & travel) but have found a few things I intend to post. The link to link that I followed earlier today has to come first though. I was reading Fraters and he
points to a
funny post on Nihilist making fun of a Jimmy Carter event. Having been old enough at the time (and being in College a few years later) I went for a giggle.
I had never been to this blog before so I poked around after getting several giggles on the reference. I found two other posts that were interesting, one I agree with and another I do not. I will start with
the one I agree with.
This is a great commencement speech for science grads and points to many of the problems with the current science & government interaction today.
The next one is either the best example of the
many misguided blog posts and MSM news stories on the new Pontiff I have seen or one hell of a tongue-in-cheek post poking fun at them. As I said, I don't read
Nihilist in Golf Pants so I am not sure which. I suspect it is the former but maybe somebody will correct me. I wish I had the time to take it apart sentence by sentence here but I don't.
I no longer consider myself a Roman Catholic (they do but that is another story) so I have no particular dog in the fight of who should have been elected Pope. I grew up in a very conservative Catholic parish and am a fairly well studied guy about the Catholic church. Immediately after the death of Pope John Paul II when the news channels were all Pope all the time my wife asked me who I thought we be the next Pope. Without even pausing for thought I said "They probably should elect someone from Africa or South America where the church is growing rapidly but Ratzinger will be the next Pope."
I don't care who the Pope is and other non-Catholics should let the hierarchy do it's thing. People who claim to be practicing Roman Catholics and are upset that the hierarchy elected Ratzinger because he is too conservative should actually study the religion. The kind of Pope they would like would not be a serious Roman Catholic yet alone qualified to be the Pontiff. Some of the Catholic "rules" they don't like could actually be changed legitimately by the Pope, but most of the ones they want changed cannot.
To be fair I will point out the two often complained about that could be changed: 1. Priests did marry for centuries in the church and the non-Latin Rites churches allow already married men to become priests. The Pope could with the wave of a hand end this prohibition. 2. The Catholic church is against contraception (except the rhythm method which is a scientific way to get pregnant). The Pope could void this prohibition between married couples.
The Pope cannot allow women priests or openly practicing homosexual priests (or not say that laymen practicing said are not sinners) or sanction extra-marital sex. These tenets are derived directly from the Bible itself and the Pope changing them would turn the Roman church on its head as it would be a radical departure from core interpretations of the Bible on which the Church claims its own authority.
I would venture a guess that there has never been a Cardinal in the history of the church that would have supported these things. I would bet that there aren't any in the voting group most recently convened given that JP II promoted almost all of them.
Which brings me to the point I have made to many non-Catholic friends who have followed this and said Ratzinger is conservative and a more progressive choice might have been better..... The people who label Ratzinger conservative (and I am not one of them) also called JP II conservative. He appointed almost every last one of the voters. Is it a shock that the outsiders in the press see the guy chosen as "like" the guy who appointed everybody who got to vote? Do you think they can appreciate the subtle differences between serious theologians who are mostly like-minded? There were no progressives who were going to sanction homosexuality or women priests among the possible candidates..... they are Roman Catholic Cardinals for goodness sake.
Now, please feel free to argue that not allowing women to be priests is not something you like or that telling homosexuals that their lifestyle is by definition sinful is mean or any other argument you would like to make about the Roman Church being wrong. I have a whole list which is why I go to a protestant church and don't consider myself Roman Catholic any more. The church should not have changed some of the things I didn't like to suit me and the same goes for the rest of you. If you don't like the basic tenets of the Roman Church, find a different one and leave the Catholics alone to be Catholics.
Seriously practicing Roman Catholics (and not the rest of us) should feel free to complain and petition their church to change the rules like the 2 above I documented that could be changed. Many in the US do want those things changed, many do not. Either way, it is none of my business.
Militants Shut Down Palestinian Building
I read the first paragraph of
this story and almost laughed out loud:
Armed Palestinian militants shut down a government building in the West Bank on Sunday and threatened to kill members of the Palestinian parliament, demanding the Palestinian Authority provide jobs to former prisoners and to relatives of people killed in fighting.
I read on and came across this:
The militants demanded jobs for themselves, for Palestinians recently released from Israeli prisons and for relatives of those killed during the nearly five-year-old intefadeh, or uprising.
Last month, Abbas launched a program designed to provide jobs for hundreds of gunmen and militants on the run from the Israeli authorities. The program offers security and government jobs to militants, with the best positions given to those who have spent the most time in Israeli jails or on the run from the military.
Hundreds of gunmen have already signed on to program, which calls on the new recruits to accept the rule of law and the gradual disarming of gunmen.
The initiative is the most significant step taken so far by Abbas to rein in militants and is geared mostly to gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
I don't find this funny but the question "they are kidding, right?" definitely comes to mind.
Abbas recognizes that there are bunch of lunatics running around with guns and that this is a barrier to peace for his people. So he hires a bunch of them to be security if they promise to be good little boys now. And then he is surprised when
A: Their buddies who didn't get these cushy jobs protest and demand jobs.
B: The guys he hired for security are nowhere around to protect the public from these gun wielding maniacs... You mean you want me to arrest my buddy?
This gets my
Documenting Insanity Award for the day.
Outsourcing employees commit heist
I am sure there is nothing funny about
this story in Newsday to the folks who had their money stolen. But read the first and last paragraphs of the story (emphasis mine).
PUNE, India -- Police have arrested 16 people in western India for allegedly cheating four Citibank customers out of nearly $350,000, a police officer said Saturday.
...
The suspects spent some of the money buying expensive cars, jewelry and visiting night spots, the Indian Express newspaper reported Saturday. At least $44,320 was recovered, a public prosecutor said.
So 16 guys bought cars, jewelry, etc. The police have recovered
12 percent of the lost money and the article says "spent some of the money". I bet the folks who lost their money would use the phrase "spent most of the money".
Outsourcing employees commit heist
I am sure there is nothing funny about
this story in Newsday to the folks who had their money stolen. But read the first and last paragraphs of the story (emphasis mine).
PUNE, India -- Police have arrested 16 people in western India for allegedly cheating four Citibank customers out of nearly $350,000, a police officer said Saturday.
...
The suspects spent some of the money buying expensive cars, jewelry and visiting night spots, the Indian Express newspaper reported Saturday. At least $44,320 was recovered, a public prosecutor said.
So 16 guys bought cars, jewelry, etc. The police have recovered
12 percent of the lost money and the article says "spent some of the money". I bet the folks who lost their money would use the phrase "spent most of the money".
Outsourcing employees commit heist
I am sure there is nothing funny about
this story in Newsday to the folks who had their money stolen. But read the first and last paragraphs of the story (emphasis mine).
PUNE, India -- Police have arrested 16 people in western India for allegedly cheating four Citibank customers out of nearly $350,000, a police officer said Saturday.
...
The suspects spent some of the money buying expensive cars, jewelry and visiting night spots, the Indian Express newspaper reported Saturday. At least $44,320 was recovered, a public prosecutor said.
So 16 guys bought cars, jewelry, etc. The police have recovered
12 percent of the lost money and the article says "spent some of the money". I bet the folks who lost their money would use the phrase "spent most of the money".
Anchors Away........ or don't underestimate Mother Nature
I have been on 8-10 cruises and we have really enjoyed them. It is a great way to vacation. You get to see many places without having to pack and unpack every day. The ships are huge and highly stable. Even in fairly rough open ocean waters these mammoth ships are so stable that people rarely leave the craps and poker tables as they crash through 15' rollers. I have spent enough time on 60' dive boats to appreciate the phenomenal stability of these ships in high seas.
A 70' sleeper wave is one of those freaks of nature that makes even the most fearless of seaman appreciate the power of mother nature. It weathered most of a wild storm that featured gale-force winds and choppy seas. But then the vessel, longer than three football fields, was suddenly smacked by the "freak wave," said Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman Susan Robison. It broke a pair of windows and flooded 62 cabins, she said.
"The sea had actually calmed down when the wave seemed to come out of thin air at daybreak," Robison said. "Our captain, who has 20 years on the job, said he never saw anything like it."
The tidal wave wrecked windows on the ninth and 10th floors and wreaked havoc below decks, destroying furniture, the onboard theater, and a store that sold expensive gifts
Think about it... ninth and tenth floors. Even in the biggest ships deck 3 is above the water line. Drive up to a 7 story building and think a about a wave that tall coming out of nowhere in relatively calm seas. Never underestimate Mother Nature.
Skirt or Pants Suit?
An interesting cultural post from
Pesky'Apostrophe on the question of what a professional white collar female should wear to an interview with someone she has never worked with (
HT:Wizbang). I have never read this blog before but I will tell you that this post would increase my vote for hiring her.
I have gotten this question exactly once from a female coworker. That case was somewhat different in that I had worked with the boss in question (who was a guy, and I think this makes a difference in this case) and she had never met him. I had never really thought about the generic question before and was somewhat surprised by the question even given the context that I had spent many hours not only at work but over beers with the guy she was interviewing with. Guys never think about this particular problem. As engineering geeks the question is always suit or biz casual, not skirt or pants.
As usual I have an opinion, which is no more or less valid than any other. I believe that the answer is not generic. I believe there are four types of women in regards to this question.
1. Women who are not comfortable in skirts in the biz environment. If you are one of them you should wear slacks. If the potential boss wants his/her women employees in skirts you don't want to work for them. Such a person is probably not worth working for irrespective of their gender.
2. Women who are most comfortable in skirts/dresses all the time. Such women are highly feminine and use their femininity to their advantage in the personal and business realms. Some of these women are sluts but most of them are just women who understand that their advantage in the business world is that they operate from a different perspective than their male counterparts and that they can counteract the "old boy network" by flirting with the "boys" and being allowed into their world. These women should definitely wear skirts to their interviews. And, btw, if I were running a business they are exactly the kind of women I am looking for. I am not today and don't ever intend to be. But if I were in a major hiring position I would be looking for employees who leverage who they are for maximum impact. Male, female, religious, secular, black, white, farmer's son, doctor's son, whatever. You have to maximize what you bring to the table in skills and life experience to be a major player in any business endeavor. I would never hire a slut but I would relish the opportunity to hire women who were highly qualified and separated themselves by being women who succeeded in a man's world by being women..... and bringing a new cut to every problem.
That is what I look for in a team to solve engineering problems today. Another person who looks at the problem the same way I do isn't useful. We are always looking for talented people who approach the problem in a distinctly different way than the rest of the team. This perspective, particularly w.r.t. women, is probably more skewed in the computer world in which I live than in other white collar occupations. A very small percentage of all CompSci and EE degrees are given to women. A very high percentage of the women who get the degree are below average engineers. The ones that are above average tend to be viewed as VERY above average because they inherently view the world from a different vantage point but possess the mathematical and logic skills to express that view in a way that the rest of us male geeks can follow and appreciate.
3. Women who are not comfortable in skirts at all. I have known few, even a few who are straight. Wearing something you are not comfortable wearing in general is suicide for an interview. Even if you get the job because of the skirt, will you be able to keep it wearing slacks every day? Will you be willing to be uncomfortable every day to keep it? Can you be productive if you are uncomfortable?
4. Women who pick the skirt/pants issue based on how they feel in the morning. I suspect that this is a large percentage of women and probably the author of the article in question. For them, and only for them, is this question really hard in the absence of information about the interviewer. If you have such information and the answer is skirts or pants then you have a moral dilemma which is what makes her blog entry interesting. Should a woman wear what she is "expected" to wear by the interviewer to get a job? I can't have a position on this given that I possess a penis and would like to keep it.
The big question is the generic question that the author poses. If you are generically indifferent to your wardrobe should you try to pick the "right" answer for the first interview. I ran this past my wife (see the end of #2 above) and she agreed with my position. My wife wore skirts and dresses more than slacks to work but she agreed with my position that most women pick their dress in the morning based on how they feel that day. And, suprisingly to me, she agreed that a first interview should not change that. Pick the pantsuit or skirt suit that you know works best for you, but pick between pants or skirt based on how you feel that morning. If you are dealing with someone you would like to work for the more important perception is that you are comfortable with who you are and not whether you are a pants gal or a skirt gal. And you will come across more comfortable if you make the pants/skirt decision based on how you feel that morning. I pick a red shirt or a blue shirt or a black shirt in the morning every morning. I take extra shirts on every business trip to match my clothing to my mood. I never have to choose between a skirt or slacks. I know based on the customer if I should wear slacks or jeans (and yes, jeans are a common answer in my world). On rare occasion the answer is slacks and a tie. On those occasions I travel with multiple ties. It only seems logical that most women would make their skirts/slacks decision in the morning to me.
BTW, the 25% quoted who prefer women in skirts probably fall into the category of people I wouldn't want to work for. I do not question for a minute that there are at least 25% of male managers who openly or discreetly present such a preference and fair number of female managers who do so also (and some of each prefer slacks to skirts). At least 50% of the managers I have worked with in my career are people I would not want to work for and at least 25% of the ones I know well I would refuse to work for, and I rarely dress beyond business casual outside of funerals and weddings.
As an aside, this question comes up w.r.t. dress for church. Would you go to a church that required business formal attire for services? Would you go to a church that welcomed people in jeans and T-shirts? How about shorts?
We all have our opinions about both of these topics. I disagree with Dennis Prager on the church attire question. I point this out because I agree with Dennis on most things and he is so good at making his opinions clear. I would rather go to a church that welcomes people whose heart is in the right place but are not comfortable in slacks and a tie than one that is rigid on something so non-germane to spirituality as attire. I would rather work with someone whose dress is outside of my comfort zone but is good at their job and brings a different perspective to our task than someone who is marginal at their job but I would be more likely to hang out with.
I believe that part of the reason we are kicking Europe's butt economically is that we have made the white collar world more open to educated and talented people who are not comfortable in a suit every day (and some of whom are pierced and tattooed to the extreme). I could be wrong but it is clear that our high schools are not the reason we rule the computer world and the worlds of medicine and scientific research.
