Observe & Retort

So, I'm laughing as I write this, for the life of me I cannot fathom how people cannot see how fundamentally philosophically flawed all this diversity non-sense is. Take this comment from a colleague from an internal platform... "Annual Women Diversity Increase: 8.5%. Technical Women Diversity Incerase? 3.8%. There's a problem here..." That was a direct paste so I'm leaving the misspelled word in there. I'll admit, it was click bait for me, so I followed the thread with the typical "this ought to be good" sentiment. The author goes on to point out that while our company has increased the percentage of women employed by 8.5% only 3.8% are in technical roles. She wants to know how management is going address this atrocity. So I have three answers (yeah I got upper management written all over me!): 1. We're going to force women whom apply for non-technical openings into technical jobs, whether they like it or not. That or we have to discrimina

Everyone has their opinions on different things and when it comes to politics these days those opinions have invoked something akin to religious zeal in some people. I've written at length regarding the orthodoxy of the ends of the political spectrum, especially the left end of it. Despite my previous points that they all should have read (clearly I'm joking), the left is doubling-down on this insanity (by definition, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results). Right. So I'm going to quickly go through events that date back to 2016 then get on with my point(s). Here. We. Go. In his statement regarding the Clinton email server Comey changed "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless", prior to interviewing Clinton, all this following a meeting between Loretta Lynch (Comey's boss) and Bill Clinton on a tarmac while this investigation is ongoing (ahem, collusion?). Peter Strzok edits the statement at Comey's (His boss) requ

Trigger warning: If this doesn't agitate you to some extent or even straight up piss you off then there is something wrong with you... so if you were having a wonderful day without a gripe in the world and would like to remain so (ignorance is bliss) then be warned, reading on might and should disrupt  that blissful mood. The Issue I work for a major tech company, those that know me personally know which one, but I'd like to refrain from calling them out specifically in this post as they are, for the most part, acting in the same manner as most tech companies these days. Let me just say that if you are reading this on a computer then you've heard of them. The management of this fortune 500 company has permitted identity politics to taint the appropriate reward and recognition of those that have brought the most fruit to bear as the company continues to post record earnings and profits. In short, they have implemented a policy of promoting individuals with the primary e

Biological Annihilation sounds like a sensational, attention-grabbing, perhaps alarmist title of the next apocalyptic natural disaster film title out of Hollywood staring Bruce Willis or Dwayne Johnson. But the claim made by the authors of the recent National Academy of Sciences study (July'17) is that it would be irresponsible for them not to use strong language. So what are we talking about? Biological Annihilation is based on the principal that we are in the sixth mass extinction event of Earth's history. The previous five mass extinction events were cause by natural phenomenon, such as the asteroid-caused dinosaur die-off. This 6th extinction event is human-caused. Human activity has depleted habitat through; deforestation, dumping chemicals into the environment, and of course anthropogenic climate-change (human-caused global warming). The truth? Who of us can question people of a science that most of us know little about? It fits the pattern of human history. We have evo

In the aftermath of yet another mass-shooting in Florida the debate resumes about how to prevent such events. While Washington will once again debate more gun controls, the merits, etc. another school is shot up. Who now can still claim they feel that their children are safe in our public schools? I have two high school-aged children, I cannot say that I feel they are safe at their high school. But will a ban on semi-automatic firearms, or the capacity of their magazines help? If the 19-year-old man whom was responsible for the attack of Feb 14th 2018 was not allowed to purchase the AR-15 that he used do we think that he would not have tried to procure it illegally? Do we think that he would have not tried using a different firearm? They found evidence of bomb-making in his home, he had many items other than the firearm and victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will testify that it does not take a firearm to maim and murder. He had intent and with intent people like him will get it do