I'm In the Money

Turns out my occupation is one of 38 identified by an author where women make more than men. Mine is actually the occupation with the second largest pay gap (I'm a Statistician), where the median salary for a woman is 35% higher than the median salary for a man. The occupation with the largest gap, Sales Engineer.

As I look through these occupations I'm finding two distinct catagorizations I would make, without any actual data to back me up, so this is merely conjecture. I see jobs like, statistician, Aerospace engineers, financial Analysts, Tool and Die Makers. These jobs, not jobs one really expects to see a lot of women in. And then I see the reverse Library technicians, Library assistants, clerical, Telephone operators, jobs were one might expect to see a lot of women.

This makes sense, as we're looking at jobs where women make more money, so in jobs where women are rare, they might pay women higher salaries to attract them. (like mine, I make 10K more than the median male in my job, I don't know if that is awesome or disgusting, maybe the men are just mostly government employees ;-) )And in feilds with more women women may move up faster due to bias or their may just be more women at higher levels in the feild.

The information that I want to have about this chart is the percentage of men versus women in each group. And maybe even the mean salary for each gender, to see how it compares to the median. The median is probably a good idea in this instance, because the data is probably skewed. But at the same time it could be affected heavily by sample size. So I'd want to see more information about this analysis because I don't completely trust it given the agenda of the author.

On a more political and less analytical note, while part of me is glad that women are might be getting more recognition in some fields, another part of me is not glad that we are getting MORE recognition than men. The of the game is Equality, I don't want to make more than men (okay, I want to make more than everyone, but still) I want to be payed the same amount for the same job. We're hiring at my company for another one of me, and I sureif we hire a guy he'll get payed the exact same as I did starting, or whatever is fair considering his experience.

Will Ferrell, RIP?

My coworker just forwarded this to me:

Los Angeles -- Actor Will Ferrell accidentally died in

a freak para-gliding accident yesterday in Torey Pines,

Southern California. The accident apparently happened

somewhere near the famed paragliding site after a freak

wind gush basically blew Ferrell and his companion

towards a wooded area where they lost control before

crashing into the dense foilage.

I can't find any other mentions of it anywhere. Hoax? What's going on? One would think the MSM would be all over this were it true. I hope Will Ferrell is not dead, but who knows.

UPDATE: The story is no longer on the above link. Clearly a fake. Jerks.

He LIVES!

A Proposal

Okay, go watch this brilliant video.

Brilliant right? Totally going for it.

Okay, so now we all no every time anything bad happens some group of people, typically the muslims, burn some shit, or blow some shit up or all kinds of badness.

Well in response to these protests:

Palestinian protestors set fire to the British Council offices

in Gaza city after Britain was accused of colluding in an

Israeli raid on a jail.

The angry demonstrators, chanting "death to the

Americans, death to the British," set the Council office

ablaze and stormed the EU Commission office.

The protests came after Israeli forces smashed their way

into a prison in Jericho, following the withdrawal of

British and American guards from their posts.

I propose that the Brits should put aside their politeness for a while and burn down some vaguely palestinian related things there in the UK. storm the streets, Death to the Palestinians.

Maybe if we violently protest their violent protest they'll get an idea of how silly they look.

Evil after all- UPDATE

Google has become everyone's favorite tool. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enamored of google, gmail, google talk etc. Because I am.

And when google went to China and began it's censorship, supporting the regime there I tried to be optimistic, at least now the chinese have access to some information, if not all of it. And google might as well get into this market. I googled "Google Censorship" and I yahooed it too, I found some information about government related censorship, like the unavailablility of abu ghraib photos via the image search, or other sites that have been censored at government request. Fine, government, I get it.

But, I'd really really like to know the reasoning behind censoring a random blog. The People's Cube has been removed from google's cache, completely. See their post here.

They have a number of ideas as to why. But have not gotten a response from google with their reasons.

So now my trust in you google is gone. I once relied on your lovely searches, enjoyed your clever graphics and funny responses to the ocasional query. But if I can't rely on you to present an unbiased uncensored view of the internet, then I'm just going to have to cheat on you. That's right, you betrayed my trust, and now I'm going to betray yours, I'll be with Jeeves if you feel like apologizing!

Update: Brendan Nyhan, also Missing from Google- I yahooed it and found This bboard post with a possible explaination from Wail:

This is a known phenomena right now. Sites are blipping in and out of
Google's index. If you know you've kept your nose clean and haven't been
spamming then I would sit tight.You do show the symptoms of this; no 'site:'
search information but a 'cache:' result. There have been seo forums and seo
companies effected by this and therefore drama. I would wait a week and see what
happens. I certainly wouldn't panic yet.

Commentor DeanT at Nyhan's blog said:

The Peoples Cube web site recently complained of a similar problem.
In their
case the issue was hidden spam text. Not spam that a user would notice, but spam
that would normally fool the google robot into giving the site more links than
the visible text justified. (see the link below for
details)
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-check-your-own-site/

So maybe it is their own fault after all. Oh sweet google, I am so happy to have evidence of your nonevilitude, but our relationship will just never be the same.

Freudian?

From ChrisB this photo was on Yahoo:

WHAT!?

The only time I will EVER care about the NCAA championship.

My Blogcation

I sortof took an impromptu vacation from Blogging cause I was starting to get fed up with all the stupid shit. There just seems to be far too much of it. But I plan to be back soon. I refuse to quit cause I know I will just come back in a few months anyway.

A Laughing Matter

Lately Humor has been a huge political hot button. The Tom Toles Cartoon has everyone in an uproar, especially the state department who is trying to censor him. Muslims are protesting portrayals of the prophet in Danish Cartoons (which have been re printed in a huge F-U by the French ). The US has apparently sided with the Muslims in this case, soooooooo the first amendment is a no then, cool.

And then today the Instapundit's Wife Dr. Helen posted on what she felt is overly partisan/anti American humor on the show Will and Grace.

On this one, Grace mentions the "uppity Canadians, what with their free
health care and gay rights." The message? Americans refuse healthcare to
many and are hung up on homophobia. And the digs about homophobia continue
in another scene, while at a resort of some sort, Jack tells his son not to
hug him on a street corner since one corner is named Murder and the other
Homophobia.

She takes a very measured view of things, observing that this might be the reason there are fewer viewers of prime time. Personally I just think it is because people are tired of scheduling their lives around TV. But that's a whole different topic

The same series however is mentioned on CNN in an article about Britney Spears and religious groups protesting an episode involving a cooking show called "Cruci Fixins" hosted by Britney Spears as a Christian and Jack which... Is freaking hilarious, and if they can't see that, I feel bad for them.

Obviously humor is frequently political in nature, but being overly sensitive about it is silly. The point of making jokes is so we can laugh and make certain situations less painful, to make the situation less serious so we can look at it in a different way. We do this by exaggerating, or understating a situation, making the situation funny, so we can laugh about it.

Sometimes, like the Tom Toles cartoon, we might go a little far. The situation in Iraq is painful, but by exaggerating it, and then understating the perceived reaction we get kindof a funny dichotomy. Right now though this situation may be too serious to joke about. Tom Toles was attempting to make a statement about the treatment of soldiers by the state department, and use humor. But it went a little far. That doesn't justify censorship however, he has a right to make that point, even if the situation isn't really funny.

The same goes for the aforementioned Will and Grace incidents, they are exaggerating when they talk about Murder and Homophobia. Let's face it, there ARE places in this country where gays are not welcome. So why not laugh about that and move on? Or we can get all uptight that they are makin digs at America. Maybe they are, but it's funny! And it is political too, because it is unfortunate that there are still places where gays aren't welcome. But we can at least laugh about it if we can't change their minds.

Humor is achieved through exaggeration, through understatement and through reactions to certain situations. It isn't easy, and sometimes you make a joke, and it isn't funny. Sometimes a joke you make will be funny for some people, and go too far for others. This obviously has to do with an individual threshold. But that doesn't change the intent of the joke, to make you laugh!

And we need to laugh, Why? This quote from this WaPo article about a DC area children's entertainer is an interesting take on laughter:

Even before they respond to a tickle, most babies will laugh at peekaboo.It's
their first "joke." They are reacting to a sequence of events that begins with
the presence of a familiar, comforting face. Then, suddenly, the face
disappears, and you can read in the baby's expression momentary puzzlement
and alarm. When the face suddenly reappears, everything isorderly in the
baby's world again. Anxiety is banished, and the baby reacts with her very
first laugh.

At its heart, laughter is a tool to triumph over fear. As
we grow older,our senses of humor become more demanding and refined, but
that basic, hard-wired reflex remains. We need it, because life is scary.
Nature is heartless, people can be cruel, and death and suffering are
inevitable and arbitrary. We learn to tame our terror by laughing at the absurdity of it all.

Israel has set an amazing example in embracing a production of The Producers which features heavily a musical entitled "Springtime for Hitler" and makes light of the holocaust. This might still touch tender areas for some, but for others laughing about it is probably a welcome relief from the pain.

I know for some groups, and some people it is too soon to laugh, the world is still turned upside down, they are scared or upset. But other people need it. They need to be able to express their relief or cope with their terror through laughing. And it is their right to do so in a free society. If you don't think it is funny, fine, then don't laugh, but don't take the opportunity for laughter away from someone else.

As final note I will refer you to the Bill of no Rights, (via Chez):

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country
was based upon freedom, and that means freedom for everyone-not just you! You
may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but
the world is full of dolts, and probably always will be.

Happy Belated Blogday to Me

My blog is 1 year old as of last Tuesday! So now it is one year and one week old.

woot

Thanks to all the people who stop by to read my rantings. I know that content has varied wildly in quality quantity and topic. I appreciate you tolerating me and not posting mean things about what a psycho I am.

Hamas Catches Car

Dilbert blog draws an interesting parallel with this whole Hamas election victory. (h/t ChrisB)

You know the old joke about the dog that chases cars – “What would he do if he caught one?” I was reminded of that when I read that Hamas won an election victory.

Well if Hamas is the dog, the answer to the question is quite simple. Hamas catches the car, and then it blows it up.

Well Darn

Apparently men don't like women who are funny. (Via Ace) Tragic. I'm really crushed.

This explains why the head of my department is an asshole to me every time I make a joke. I'm supposed to laugh at HIS jokes, not make my own. Got it.

Not that my jokes are actually funny anyway. So I don't see what the problem is.

Calling All Browncoats!

The Firefly Season 2 Project:Captain Mal and the crew of Serenity need your
help to stay flying.

We are looking to push the envelope of episodic television by
offering Season Two of Firefly in a groundbreaking new format. Each episode (or
the entire season) would be made available for purchase in Standard or
Hi-Definition.

It's possible that subscribers may choose one of three playback options;
monthly DVD deliveries, TV On-Demand using your cable or satellite provider, or
computer viewing via Streaming Download.

It's also possible that a box set of DVD's would be available at the end of
the season. In order for our plan to be successful, we need to take stock of the
browncoat recruits that support our cause. It will only take a minute, is
strictly confidential, and each profile will take us one step closer to
victory

Sign up here to tell Firefly how they should deliver Season 2 to us. (Via Balloon Juice)


Three cheers for on demand content! And Independance from the Network Alliance!

UPDATE: Anonymous pointed me to a couple of websites indicating this might not be on the up and up. But all the info in that form is optional if you want to fill it out still. Alas, wishful thinking.

Good Advice

Not that many "trolling for girlies" types read my blog (god, at least I hope not) but recently I have been the victim of far to many poor attempts at gaining my affection by trying to impress me, in manner of trying to be witty without actually being interesting. Usually there is a lot of treating me like some doe eyed girl just waiting to be overawed by some wonderful man so he can take me away to a fairy land where I can look pretty and be a warmer, significantly more skilled version of a Real Doll.

And while all of that sounds tempting, the Advice Goddess has some good advice for men looking to "score" that will probably be much more effective.

The Horror!

Harassment, or flirting?

Researchers found that 62 percent of college students experienced sexual
harassment, and 32 percent of college students said they were victims of
physical harassment.

"The primary form of harassment that we're seeing is actually non-contact: it tends to be remarks, gestures and jokes," Elena Silva, the report's co-author, said in a telephone interview. "But the fact that one-third of college students are experiencing some form of physical harassment is certainly a concern."

Now I hate to be insensitive to the feelings of others. But... to me... this sounds like flirting. How sensitive can society possibly be when people touching others or making sexual jokes is a form of harassment. Sex is all around us, and if you want to get a date chances are you flirt a ltitle, engage in some innuendo and occasionally do outlandish things.

But as long as the people doing this harassment are not people who can, hire, fire or determine your grades, don't be such a fucking wuss.

Also, everyone is drunk, it is college, come ON!

Or you can just sit in your dorm room and cry because people think you are sexually attractive. Oh god, the horror.

RPG

>GO HERE

You read something funny.

House Leaders

Some bloggers interviewed the three candidates for House Majority Leader today via conference call. The first two interviews with rep Shadegg and Boehner are posted at QandO and you can listen to the audio. They were both interesting and I think you should listen if you care.

Dale at QandO has posted a response to the Blunt interview:

And then there was Roy Blunt.
After spending a half hour listening to him, I
think...let's see...how do I
put this...

I would rather lick
fire ants off a stick than see Roy Blunt as Majority
Leader. I'm not at the
point of making a firm endorsement of either Reps.
Shaddeg or Boehner, but
the sun will set in a blazing red sky to the east of
Casablanca before I'd
want Roy Blunt as Majority leader.

Excellent! (Emphasis his)

He goes on to describe how Con. Blunt clearly has no understanding of how the blogosphere works, or rather what NOT to do in the blogosphere. This is a sharp contrast to Shadegg who was extremely complimentary to the bloggers on the phone and aknowledged their contribution.

At least now that Shadegg is in the race the republicans can choose something more dignified than a Boner or a Blunt. Though I think in places beyond the house of representatives neither of those are necessarily bad things.

The Gay Agenda

Finally it is out in the open. Check it.

Some girls just need....

There was a recent hubub at Feministe over some offensive bboard posting regarding the appearance of one of their posters. It was pretty ridiculous, and I think that they were if anything overly mild in how they handled this.

But NOW our Secretary of State is facing a similar slander. This is why women get pissed when their bodies are judged instead of their minds.

Some people can still say and mean things like this:

Speaking with Pravda this week, Zhirinovsky chastised Rice for calling on Russia to "act responsibly" in supplying natural gas to Ukraine.
The fascistic pol attributed that "coarse anti-Russian statement" to Rice being "a single woman who has no children."

"If she has no man by her side at her age, he will never appear," Zhirinovsky ranted on. "Condoleezza Rice needs a company of soldiers. She needs to be taken to barracks where she would be satisfied."

And this isn't the girl down the street or the chick in the office. This is the Secretary of State of the United States of America. And if she were a man, there is NO WAY that the leader of another country would come out and say that she was saying these things because she basically "Just needs some deep dicking" (well really... who doesn't?) But that's not the point, whether or not she might enjoy getting laid has NOTHING to do with her policies on Russia.

"Condoleezza Rice is a very cruel, offended woman who lacks men's attention," he added. "Such women are very rough. … They can be happy only when they are talked and written about everywhere: 'Oh, Condoleezza, what a remarkable woman, what a charming Afro-American lady! How well she can play the piano and speak Russian!'

"Complex-prone women are especially dangerous. They are like malicious mothers-in-law, women that evoke hatred and irritation with everyone. Everybody tries to part with such women as soon as possible. A mother-in-law is better than a single and childless political persona, though."

What a cock. I'm so angry I can't even form rational sentances. Whew...

This is the reason feminism isn't dead,a nd is still needed. Because there are still some people who feel they can dismiss strong women by saying they are crazy or critisizing them for not having kids. If she were a mother I'm sure he'd have a whole other set of criticism involving her being a puppet of her husband. These personal attacks are way below the belt, would he say things like this about her if she were a man? Or would he criticize her policies instead?

I know I shouldn't dignify this with a response. But I am so mad. Feministe was much more politic about it.

Radio for Charity

Today is friday, and today AccuRadio has said that they will donate a percentage of Friday's Revenue to charity today. The percentage that they donate will be based on the increase in listeners they have today. So go listen!

I personally like AccuBroadway, (I know, I know) but they also have jazz, and rock stations and some electronica stations. Mostly commercial free, and you can skip songs you don't like. Check it out and do something good for charity.

How Annoying

It is now illegal to annoy people via the internet, especially if you use an assumed name.

(I'm screwed)