Google's Culture of Fear

From the article: "Before the pernicious or the insidious, we of course begin with the deeply, hilariously stupid: from screenshots I've obtained, an insistence engineers no longer use phrases like "build ninja" (cultural appropriation), "nuke the old cache" (military metaphor), "sanity check" (disparages mental illness), or "dummy variable" (disparages disabilities). One engineer was "strongly encouraged" to use one of 15 different crazed pronoun combinations on his corporate bio (including "zie/hir," "ey/em," "xe/xem," and "ve/vir"), which he did against his wishes for fear of retribution. Per a January 9 email, the Greyglers, an affinity group for people over 40, is changing its name because not all people over 40 have gray hair, thus constituting lack of "inclusivity" (Google has hired an external consultant to rename the group)."

From the comments: "It is fascinating how so many successful organizations end up accidentally setting up incentives that reward and increase the influence of the dumbest people in the room. There are undoubtedly thousands of genius level engineers at Google, and yet they get their marching orders from people who couldn't pass a freshman calculus class."

Tulsa City Ordinances in 2003

If you're curious what Tulsa's zoning code and other ordinances were like in 2003, here they are, in PDF format, courtesy the late City Auditor Phil Wood, who put city government information online long before any official city website. Also includes the City Charter, list of officials from the founding of the city, sales tax ordinances, and bond issues.

MORE: City of Tulsa Executive Orders from 1990-2008.

A Handbook for Ruling Elder involvement in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America

O. Palmer Robertson in 1988, regarding the importance of lay leadership in maintaining the orthodox direction of a denomination:

"The ruling elder gave birth to the Presbyterian Church in America. Not the preachers but the ruling elders. When the ministers were too cautious to take decisive action, the ruling elders took the lead. They formed the organizations and called the meetings that eventually led to the formation of the PCA.

"Now the ruling elder must devote himself to diligence in maintaining this great church. If the PCA is to realize fully its unique opportunities in the needy world today, ruling elders must show their commitment and concern by consistent involvement at every level of the church's life. Particularly at the General Assembly, the ruling elder must be present, and he must be heard. He who rules must do so with diligence. The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

The Problem With Human Resources - Mockingbird

"My friend knew it was harassment, but didn't trust HR to handle the matter. Nobody did -- in her working class department, everyone had been through the same training, and had written off HR as an enemy. Desperate for freedom, my friend found a position in another department, and hoping to make a change as she left, she filed an HR grievance on the way out the door. Her grievance uncovered a trail of harassment that included testimonies of nearly a dozen other women, all of whom could have reported the man, but none of them trusted HR to do anything about it. The man in question was fired, but he might have been fired sooner if the general consensus among the campus working class was that HR only cared if race or sexual orientation were involved. Every institution has trouble garnering trust from its employees, but commitments to ineffective moral frameworks make the problem worse.

"Say what you will about Christianity, but it's been a historic catalyst of achieving the goals that HR programs aim for. Its initial spread came through the underclass of slaves, women, and the poor throughout the Roman Empire, developing one of the world's first truly extranational communities. Its adherents established the first hospitals to take care of the sick and elderly. It became a champion of literacy so that normal people could have direct access to its sacred texts (and reform its own corrupt religious hierarchy). Whether it's the end of chattel slavery, the American civil rights movement, the decolonization of the British empire, or the end of South African apartheid, the moral logic of Christianity has historically been a tool of the dispossessed to challenge their oppressors. Why has Christianity been successful in this way? One imagines that its success is, in no small part, due to the fact it allows for all sins, including oppression, to be expiated as water under a bridge."

One Good Thing Every Day | Blood-Cancer.com

Some great self-care advice for anyone, but particularly those dealing with long-term health challenges, by Connie Connely, who was one of my mom's colleagues at Catoosa Elementary and her dear friend: Write down one good thing that happened every day. Set small goals and plan for activities to look forward to. Reach out to a friend. List things that are bothering you. Be alert to decision fatigue. Drink water and eat healthy meals. Get enough sleep.

Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest

Jonathan Haidt, co-author with Greg Lukianoff of "The Coddling of the American Mind" writes:

"Greg is prone to depression, and after hospitalization for a serious episode in 2007, Greg learned CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). In CBT you learn to recognize when your ruminations and automatic thinking patterns exemplify one or more of about a dozen "cognitive distortions," such as catastrophizing, black-and-white thinking, fortune telling, or emotional reasoning. Thinking in these ways causes depression, as well as being a symptom of depression. Breaking out of these painful distortions is a cure for depression.

"What Greg saw in 2013 were students justifying the suppression of speech and the punishment of dissent using the exact distortions that Greg had learned to free himself from. Students were saying that an unorthodox speaker on campus would cause severe harm to vulnerable students (catastrophizing); they were using their emotions as proof that a text should be removed from a syllabus (emotional reasoning). Greg hypothesized that if colleges supported the use of these cognitive distortions, rather than teaching students skills of critical thinking (which is basically what CBT is), then this could cause students to become depressed. Greg feared that colleges were performing reverse CBT.

"I thought the idea was brilliant because I had just begun to see these new ways of thinking among some students at NYU. I volunteered to help Greg write it up, and in August 2015 our essay appeared in The Atlantic with the title: The Coddling of the American Mind. Greg did not like that title; his original suggestion was "Arguing Towards Misery: How Campuses Teach Cognitive Distortions." He wanted to put the reverse CBT hypothesis in the title."

Weddings are daunting to plan for anyone, but for people with a disability it can be overwhelming - ABC News

"Hayley said she was riding high on a 'dopamine rush' and told her partner she could plan the whole thing in just two weeks. And she very nearly did.

"'But once that high had disappeared it was like falling off a cliff and everything stopped,' she said.

"Hayley has ADHD, and during the most exhilarating time of her life, it hit her extremely hard.

'I was lucky that in those two weeks, I had managed to go through my excel spreadsheets send out a lot of inquiries and got most things sorted and underway before I crashed,' she said.

"Decision fatigue was one of the biggest challenges she encountered.

"Decision fatigue is where the more decisions a person makes over the course of a day, the more physically, mentally, and emotionally depleted they become."

You're Morally Obligated to Do Remarkable Things - Dr Jordan B Peterson | Facebook

"You're Morally Obligated to Do Remarkable Things. Why?

"Well, partly because life is so difficult and challenging that unless you give it everything you have, the chances are very high that it will embitter you. And then you'll be a force for darkness. That's not good. Also, the fact that life is short and can be brutal can terrify you into hiding. But you can flip that on its head and understand that since you're all in, you might as well take the adventurous risks. That's a very good thing to understand.

"What is also useful to understand is that there isn't anything more adventurous than the truth. This is something that took me a long time to figure out. You can craft your words to get what you want.

"If you're attempting to say what you believe to be true and attempting to act in the manner that you think is most appropriate, that's genuinely you. If you're trying to live in the truth, you have the force of reality behind you, and that seems like a good deal. You have the reality and the adventure.

"So, why is that a moral obligation? Well, if you hide and you don't let what's inside of you out--and you don't bring into the world what you could bring--you become cynical and bitter. Not only will you not add to the world what you could add, but you'll start being jealous of people who are competent and doing well and work to destroy them.

"That's the pathway to hell."

Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide | HathiTrust Digital Library

A guide to football as played by colleges, with rules, records from the previous seasons, team photos, commentary, and a schedule for the new season. All-American players were mainly from the Ivy League, but Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, and Holy Cross were also represented. Scoring consisted of 6 points for a touchdown followed by a place kick or drop kick through the goal posts, 5 points if the kick failed, 4 points for a drop kick from the field, 2 points to the other team for a "safety touchdown." Must move five yards in three downs or lose possession, and "the quarter-back, if he run with the ball, must cross the line of scrimmage at least five yards out from the point where the ball was put in play." Because this new rule lines were marked every five yards along the length of the 330' x 160' field out from the center, creating a gridiron pattern. St. John's College finished 5-4 for the season, thanks to not playing against bigger teams, mostly. They were slaughtered by Virginia 48-0, but they beat Gallaudet 22-0 in the final game of the season.

Tiny Moore Live! Download - Acoustic Disc

A live recording of a 1980 performance by mandolinist Tiny Moore, who played with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Billy Jack Wills and His Western Swing Band, and Merle Haggard and the Strangers. Tiny plays big band and jazz standards on fiddle and mandolin, backed by drums, bass, and piano. $15 to download 28 tracks. In a half-hour video, Dix Bruce, David Grisman, and Hayes Griffin discuss the Tiny Moore live recording and play samples from a few of the tracks.

In the spotlight

True history of the two million acres opened for settlement in the April 22, 1889, Land Run. No, the land wasn't stolen. American taxpayers paid millions for it, twice.

An essay from 2012. If you want to understand why the people who call the shots don't get much public criticism, you need to know about the people I call the yacht guests. "They staff the non-profits and the quangos, they run small service-oriented businesses that cater to the yacht owners, they're professionals who have the yacht owners as clients, they work as managers for the yacht owners' businesses. They may not be wealthy, but they're comfortable, and they have access to opportunities and perks that are out of financial reach for the folks who aren't on the yacht. Their main job is not to rock the boat, but from time to time, they're called upon to defend the yacht and its owners against perceived threats."

Introducing Tulsa's Complacent City Council

From 2011: "One of the things that seemed to annoy City Hall bureaucrats about the old council was their habit of raising new issues to be discussed, explored, and acted upon. From the bureaucrats' perspective, this meant more work and their own priorities displaced by the councilors' pet issues.... [The new councilors are] content to be spoon-fed information from the mayor, the department heads, and the members and staffers of authorities, boards, and commissions. The Complacent Councilors won't seek out alternative perspectives, and they'll be inclined to dismiss any alternative points of view that are brought to them by citizens, because those citizens aren't 'experts.' They'll vote the 'right' way every time, and the department heads, authority members, and mayoral assistants won't have to answer any questions that make them uncomfortable."

Contact

BatesLine

Latest entries on the BatesLine homepage:

Published February 29, 2024. Postdated to keep it at the top of the page until the polls close. Tuesday, March 5, 2024, is Oklahoma's presidential primary. On election day, polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You'll be able to cast an early ballot at one or...
In my pre-presidential primary post, I provide a detailed explanation of the delegate allocation process for Oklahoma. As I mentioned in the same post, I am voting for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Oklahoma Republican Primary. A BatesLine reader asked me why the names of so many candidates...
In addition to Oklahoma's presidential preference primary on March 5, 2024, a small number of local jurisdictions will have propositions: Haskell, Norman, Oilton (2), Dewey County, Logan County (3), McIntosh County, Major County, and Sharon-Mutual Public Schools (Dewey & Woodward Counties). One school district, Mannsville in Carter & Johnston Counties,...
ELECTION RESULTS: Tulsa County school district bond issues all passed by a wide margin, each proposition exceeding 80% in favor. School bond issues fell short of the 60% threshold in Canute, Krebs, Silo, and Tupelo. In Boswell, Tuttle, and Weleetka school districts, a majority of voters voted against the bond...
From the BatesLine Bookshelf, a very occasional feature on authors and books that have influenced me: Christopher Alexander was an architect, but he might more appropriately have been called a philosopher of the built environment. He spent his career trying to describe and name the qualities that make a place...
I recently responded to an appeal from the Internet Archive, seeking testimonials about the value of their Wayback Machine, the tool that allows researchers to go back to earlier snapshots of webpages, including many from long-gone websites. Here's what I wrote: Tell us about the first time you used the...
The late, great Pat Campbell, morning host on 1170 KFAQ in Tulsa for over a decade, had a number of regular, weekly guests. Friday was always an interesting contrast: Dr. Everett Piper, author and nationally-syndicated columnist, then-president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, now Osage County Commissioner, would be on Fridays during...
For your consideration during New Year's Resolution Season: A little over a year ago, I decided I needed to do a better job of feeding my mind and spirit. I notice that my bedtime habit of listening to old British radio comedies (particularly Hancock's Half Hour) to help me drift...
In writing the previous entry, I came across an old draft, from October 2006, with embed code for four YouTube videos featuring western swing: Noel Boggs playing "Alabama Bound" as a steel guitar solo, Bobby Koefer with Truitt Cunningham and the San Antonio Rose Band performing his extremely animated version...
Earlier this month was the 50th anniversary of the last time Bob Wills recorded with his legendary band, the Texas Playboys. The sessions that became the album known as For the Last Time were recorded at Sumet-Bernet Studios (aka Sumet Sound Studios), 7027 Twin Hills Avenue, Dallas, on December 3...

BatesLine homepage

Archives