Coded Discourse

In a job listing on Craigslist for a tech start-up:

"We value ability over experience. If you have a 20 yr office manager background, this probably isn't the position for you."

That is code for No Olds should apply which translates into a discriminatory hiring practice. Shame on you, Paystand.com! 

TLDR: Modi

Is the newly elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, good for India? The short answer is no, and here's why. He is a right wing religious (Hindu) conservative nationalist who has an ugly history with Muslims dating back to his days serving as the state's chief minister in Gujarat, that resulted in the slaughter of approximately a thousand people, mostly Muslim. This is the approximate equivalent to Bill Clinton presiding over riots and slaughter of African Americans in his home state of Arkansas prior to winning the presidential election.

That said, I hate that The New York Times chose such an inappropriate image of Modi on their front page coverage of his win; it reeks of the "Inscrutable Oriental".

Time Cover

"Beyoncé, Time magazine's Most Influential Person of 2014, covers the issue in what appears to be a bathing suit covered by a sheer shift. That's annoying on many levels. Why is the most influential person of the year half-clothed? As Brogan Driscoll at Huffington Post observed,

"Thigh-high boots, corsets, the teeniest of short shorts may be Beyoncé's look du jour, but do they really have a place on Time magazine's cover?...Bey says Time magazine's recognition is important 'because it's not about fashion or beauty or music; it's about the influence I've had on culture.' So why does she have to come half-dressed?"

There are three other alternate covers for the Most Influential Person of 2014 issue: Robert Redford, Jason, Collins, and Mary Barra, all of whom are fully clothed. I could not resist painting them all with the same brush, so to speak. Below is Bey's cover.

Bey's cover style modeled by Jason Collins

Bey's cover style modeled by Robert Redford

Bey's cover style modeled by Mary Barra

Fair Warning

From writer Anne Lamott:

Via twitter.com/ANNELAMOTT