Obama is listening to Google executives, which could be good for technology. But will Google's access to the halls of government lead to tacit acceptance of age discrimination? The search giant, who's public mantra is "Do no evil" has been slapped with a discrimination suit that has revealed damning statistics in Google's employment practices (if you're old).
In July 2006 ZDnet reported that Google had been slapped with an age discrimination suit for terminating the employment of one of the few executives over 40. In a statement to the press, the attorney's of defendant Brian Reid said, "Google executives overlook age discrimination laws in an effort to foster a corporate environment that emphasizes 'youth and energy.' The strategy has led to a work force with an average age of under 30 and with less than 2 percent of employees over 40, according to the claim. Google employed just more than 1,600 people in 2003."
According to the SF Chronicle One of Reid's supervisors, "Urs Hoelzle, who was 15 years younger than Reid, told him that his opinions and ideas were obsolete and "too old to matter," and that he was sluggish and lethargic, the court said. Some colleagues referred to him as an "old guy" and "fuddy-duddy......
"As part of the lawsuit, Reid presented a statistician's study of employees and managers in his department at Google that found older employees consistently received lower evaluations than their younger colleagues, and older managers got bonuses that were 29 percent less than those awarded to managers who were 10 years younger." (Article published Oct. 5, 2007)
Google handled the case badly according to an analysis posted on Nolo's employment blog
The California State Supreme Court will review the case according the SF Chronicle January 2008 follow-up article .
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Surviving the catastrophe
Ok... just in case Sarah Palin given all her Foreign Policy Expertise manages to create worldwide chaos, I'm ready with solar cooker plans...
Here are a few that I want to try. Wonder if they get hot enough to cook a Fred's steak?
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshield_Shade_Solar_Cooker
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/%22Minimum%22_Solar_Box_Cooker
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshield_Shade_Solar_Cooker
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/%22Minimum%22_Solar_Box_Cooker
Sarah Palin and Armageddon
OK Class, let's review for a minute... Does everyone know what "self fulfilling prophesy" means? (Come on, you did read Homer's Odyssey in highschool... didn't you?)
ANYWAY... here's an example... if someone believes that Armageddon is a good idea... God's Will even... and that someone is close to the little red button that blows the world away... this can't be a good thing for people who are striving for reason... it's kind of like everyone forgot that the Enlightenment happened.
ANYWAY... here's an example... if someone believes that Armageddon is a good idea... God's Will even... and that someone is close to the little red button that blows the world away... this can't be a good thing for people who are striving for reason... it's kind of like everyone forgot that the Enlightenment happened.
Monday, September 1, 2008
beauty minerals: raw, glo, bare, natural or pur? vitiligo and living a real life anyway
A few months ago I fell for my first "Free click here" yahoo mail ad... heck... if nothing else, this experience has proved that advertising is a lot like parenting -- as in: repeat yourself enough and eventually someone will unload the dishwasher.
But now 4 or 5 months later I have used-up all of my free $8.00 shipment of makeup (Like housework, exercise and eating, I wear makeup in binges -- luckily enough the practice of binging doesn't extend to drinking ... not yet anyway).
Here's the question: Should I buy more?
It's a bit of a loaded question because I have vitiligo. The effect it's had on my face is pronounced enough that more than once every few months a kid will screw up enough courage to ask me: what's wrong with your face? As a result I have grown from someone people would call elegantly handsome in the Angelica Houston mold, to someone who looks just horsey... like a paint or appolousa. So, there's a lot to sort through in answering the question. How normal do I want to look and how much am I willing to put into the effort. I still don't know for sure. Who am I fooling anyway?
But now 4 or 5 months later I have used-up all of my free $8.00 shipment of makeup (Like housework, exercise and eating, I wear makeup in binges -- luckily enough the practice of binging doesn't extend to drinking ... not yet anyway).
Here's the question: Should I buy more?
It's a bit of a loaded question because I have vitiligo. The effect it's had on my face is pronounced enough that more than once every few months a kid will screw up enough courage to ask me: what's wrong with your face? As a result I have grown from someone people would call elegantly handsome in the Angelica Houston mold, to someone who looks just horsey... like a paint or appolousa. So, there's a lot to sort through in answering the question. How normal do I want to look and how much am I willing to put into the effort. I still don't know for sure. Who am I fooling anyway?
Palin's daughter -- Does Trig Exist?
palin-daughter-baby
Who knew this election was going to be so about such real people.
A teenager who gets pregnant? Who knew. Frankly it's a refreshing change from the usual upper middle class politico teenager stuff -- partying with celebs, DUI, drugs, wild road trips, humanitarian PR trips... stuff out of the reach of the usual teen drama.
In contrast, this is so back woodsy... something that could happen to anyone anywhere... It's like the movie Juno.
But where is Trig? Does Trig exist?
Who knew this election was going to be so about such real people.
A teenager who gets pregnant? Who knew. Frankly it's a refreshing change from the usual upper middle class politico teenager stuff -- partying with celebs, DUI, drugs, wild road trips, humanitarian PR trips... stuff out of the reach of the usual teen drama.
In contrast, this is so back woodsy... something that could happen to anyone anywhere... It's like the movie Juno.
But where is Trig? Does Trig exist?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Railroads
a side passion is rail travel. I just can't understand why we can't replace route 17 with a rail line... a like minded article is here
http://www.rattenne.com/nrhs/santacruz/Santa_Cruz_line.htm
http://www.rattenne.com/nrhs/santacruz/Santa_Cruz_line.htm
Faux Fred's Steak Marinade Escapade
About 13 years ago we fell hard for Fred's Steak from Scwaub Meats in Palo Alto. Anyone who has ever seen Fred's will understand why my daughter calls it black meat. Anyway, at the time at maybe $10 a pound Fred's was an affordable luxury and worth every penny.
That was a time before the dot.bomb hit our lucrative consulting businesses ... before our two income family became a no-income family. Maybe it's a Feng Shui problem, but we've never really recovered the go-go '90s lifestyle. Although I keep hanging wind chimes in the Northwest Sector but the veil of middle class debt barely lifts above my credit limit for long. But enough about that. We've got health insurance and we're covering the mortgage. The kids are getting a better than average education and I can afford enough gas to get them to soccer meets.
So as Joni Mitchell wrote: "My dreams have lost some grandeur coming true." Now that I look at clouds from both sides now, what more can I ask?
Fred's Steak ... that's what I ask. Today Fred's costs something like $20 per pound at Schwab.
At this price, like gasoline, it's been reclassified from affordable luxury to rare luxury. Probably better for the environment anyway. (And without sounding like sour grapes, at this juncture it does occur to me to ask: "who are they selling to?" And maybe more importantly: "how do I get on that meal plan too? And the ever popular: "Maybe I should have gone to Stanford when I had the chance rather than pursuing a love of archaeology."
Luckily enough this week, apropos to nothing, I've been inspired by that all-american pioneering can-do spirit...maybe it was my week at girl scout camp this summer, the unusual heat yesterday, or the sale on Tri-tip at Piazza's Market. Whatever the inspiration I'm trying my hand at that great Silicon Valley hobby: reverse engineering. If it works for integrated circuit boards, it should work for recipes, n'est pas? As I write, my sale tri-tip is marinating in a salty primordial goo made from a recipe I found on the internet and a few other things. It includes the following:
red wine
coffee
olive oil
molassas
balsamic vinagar*
soy sauce*
miso paste*
worcestershire sauce
chili sauce
garlic cloves
*this seems like a red herring I think for a recipe that was purportedly devised by a Los Gatos butcher in 1950..... when did basalmic vinagar, soy sauce and miso make it to mainstream america anyway?
Stay tuned for the results...
That was a time before the dot.bomb hit our lucrative consulting businesses ... before our two income family became a no-income family. Maybe it's a Feng Shui problem, but we've never really recovered the go-go '90s lifestyle. Although I keep hanging wind chimes in the Northwest Sector but the veil of middle class debt barely lifts above my credit limit for long. But enough about that. We've got health insurance and we're covering the mortgage. The kids are getting a better than average education and I can afford enough gas to get them to soccer meets.
So as Joni Mitchell wrote: "My dreams have lost some grandeur coming true." Now that I look at clouds from both sides now, what more can I ask?
Fred's Steak ... that's what I ask. Today Fred's costs something like $20 per pound at Schwab.
At this price, like gasoline, it's been reclassified from affordable luxury to rare luxury. Probably better for the environment anyway. (And without sounding like sour grapes, at this juncture it does occur to me to ask: "who are they selling to?" And maybe more importantly: "how do I get on that meal plan too? And the ever popular: "Maybe I should have gone to Stanford when I had the chance rather than pursuing a love of archaeology."
Luckily enough this week, apropos to nothing, I've been inspired by that all-american pioneering can-do spirit...maybe it was my week at girl scout camp this summer, the unusual heat yesterday, or the sale on Tri-tip at Piazza's Market. Whatever the inspiration I'm trying my hand at that great Silicon Valley hobby: reverse engineering. If it works for integrated circuit boards, it should work for recipes, n'est pas? As I write, my sale tri-tip is marinating in a salty primordial goo made from a recipe I found on the internet and a few other things. It includes the following:
red wine
coffee
olive oil
molassas
balsamic vinagar*
soy sauce*
miso paste*
worcestershire sauce
chili sauce
garlic cloves
*this seems like a red herring I think for a recipe that was purportedly devised by a Los Gatos butcher in 1950..... when did basalmic vinagar, soy sauce and miso make it to mainstream america anyway?
Stay tuned for the results...
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