Trump Redux: The Death of Democracy, or Overblown Hyperbole?

[Jwb]

I know you're not actually threatening me

Bad return on investment because you'll either end up dead or I'm running away. Choose wisely.

No good deed goes unpunished. Such is the white man's burden.

[SGR]

I read a book that explained how the algorithm for computing jobs uses arbitrary techniques that favor men over women when looking for candidates such as, and I'm not kidding, seeing if the candidate is active on anime forums.

Alright, you've piqued my curiosity 

When you say 'algorithm', are we actually talking about a computer algorithm built for vetting/recruiting hiring candidates? Or are we talking about a set of human-driven protocols/procedures for hiring? And I'm assuming this was isolated to a specific company? Do you remember the name of this book?

Totally anecdotal, but I work in tech, and throughout my college classes, the anime lovers/weebs tended to be the students that struggled the most.

[degrassiknoll]

you know, the thing about reading books is that they're great but there's no test at the end to ensure you've understood the material.

[DJChameleon]

Right but they just hire mediocre white women 

 

This is so true. A friend(Mexican woman) is mines is currently going through that at her job and she's so frustrated about it. After two years of evidence, she finally reported it.

[DJChameleon]

I know you're not actually threatening me

No good deed goes unpunished. Such is the white man's burden.

As much of an activist that I am, you should know that I'd fight back against being enslaved Nat Turner style if need be.

[Jwb]

I meant to say "I know you're not actually threatening me with cardio" but I fucked it up.  Wamp wamp

[Trollheart]

Are we taking bids on DJ already? If so, has anyone change for a button? 

[Marie Monday]

I seriously doubt it. I think minorities will still be able to get jobs without government-sanctioned DEI policies - call me crazy, but I think the majority of them probably get hired because of their ability and competency (and not their skin color or their minority identity) - and no, their bosses won't own them as property.

man that's some shocking privileged naiveté

(I don't mean the slavery aspect necessarily. It seems unlikely to me that that would happen, at least not in the near-ish future, but I don't know enough about America to make any informed judgement on that, but I hope you're right there )

Edit: in all fairness, reading this thread more attentively, if the point is just the difference that abolishing DEI will make maybe you're not being that naive after all. Obviously minorities have great hiring disadvantages in general but we don't seem to be disagreeing there

[Marie Monday]

The more I actually read the discussion, the sillier my post becomes. Never mind my usual impulsive self, that's what I get for dipping into the politics thread on a Friday night. Carry on 

[Lucem Ferre]

Alright, you've piqued my curiosity 

When you say 'algorithm', are we actually talking about a computer algorithm built for vetting/recruiting hiring candidates? Or are we talking about a set of human-driven protocols/procedures for hiring? And I'm assuming this was isolated to a specific company? Do you remember the name of this book?

Totally anecdotal, but I work in tech, and throughout my college classes, the anime lovers/weebs tended to be the students that struggled the most.

I believe it was a computer algorithm but it was from "Invisible Women".

[SGR]

I believe it was a computer algorithm but it was from "Invisible Women".

Thanks I'll have to check that out. An algorithm that searches anime web forums for prospective tech talent sounds too ridiculously hilarious to pass up. 

[Lucem Ferre]

Thanks I'll have to check that out. An algorithm that searches anime web forums for prospective tech talent sounds too ridiculously hilarious to pass up. 

It's a really good book. I read it a few years ago and that stuck out to me for how ridiculous it was. Shout out to Buttress the phenomenology queen for indirectly recommending it.

[Weekender]

The tariffs are actually happening.

[Lisnaholic]

Turns out that Musk pushed the FAA director out on Jan 20 and in the days following they froze hiring of air traffic controllers and gutted the aviation safety committee. But, yeah, like everything else that ever goes wrong now this is actually the fault of woke DEI commie trans people or whatever bullshit buzzword slurry is being puked around.

Personally, in terms of bullshit scapegoats, I would have ran with blaming Hamas.

^ Yep, the mainstream media and perhaps this thread too, have been lured into discussing DEI by that cunning conman Trump, who wants to head off any suggestion that his own recent actions are making the problem of Air Traffic Controller staffing levels worse, not better.
How did Trump steer the conversation away from factual discussion and into the realms of partisan scapegoating ? Two tactics: (i) don't let the experts get near the microphone and (ii) get in with your own preferred explanation first, even if it´s fact-free:

Trump's performance [at the post-crash press conference] only succeeded in establishing immediate and baseless conclusions as to what caused the crash, added layers of speculation that will hamper public understanding of the investigation's conclusions and injected grieving family members immediately into the heat of a raging political controversy.

And by using the power of presidential rhetoric, he has also created a huge problem for official investigators who speak in public about the crash and may now have to issue statements that conflict with the commander in chief's position — which could put their jobs and the integrity of the probe in danger.

It was notable that Trump did not appear with experts at his news conference. Instead, he was joined by a succession of laymen with no in-depth experience of commercial or military aviation whose prime function seemed to be to shower praise on his leadership and to push his anti-diversity talking points.

Source: CNN

Although Trump can't be blamed for the crash, his recent actions suddenly look glaringly bad - and don't bode well for the air traffic control industry. No wonder he wants everyone to talk about his ludicrous DEI comments instead:

"Just last week, Trump FIRED the heads of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard, and disbanded the Aviation Security Advisory Committee," one X post read. The Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump fired those heads and removed all members of the committee.
Another X post read, "On your 2ND DAY, you 1. Fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration, 2. Fired the entire Aviation Security Advisory Committee, 3. Froze hiring of all Air Traffic Controllers, 4. Fired 100 top FAA security officers."

In his first week in office, Trump announced sweeping personnel changes, including a hiring freeze. But aviation experts said Trump had done little that could have precipitated the crash between a commercial jet from Wichita, Kansas, and a military Black Hawk helicopter. There was simply too little time – less than 10 days after Trump was sworn in – for any of his broadly worded executive orders to have had an effect, experts said.

Source: Al Jazeera

[SGR]

^ Yep, the mainstream media and perhaps this thread too, have been lured into discussing DEI by that cunning conman Trump, who wants to head off any suggestion that his own recent actions are making the problem of Air Traffic Controller staffing levels worse, not better.
How did Trump steer the conversation away from factual discussion and into the realms of partisan scapegoating ? Two tactics: (i) don't let the experts get near the microphone and (ii) get in with your own preferred explanation first, even if it´s fact-free:

You've basically hit the nail on the head for the strategy - and it is a PR strategy we've discussed before, partly stemming from his mentor and political hitman Roy Cohn and also Steve Bannon - "flood the zone with shit". This recent article went over it again rather succinctly.

quote from article

Donald Trump's opponents have spent the days since his inauguration playing political whack-a-mole over a torrent of orders specifically calibrated to overwhelm and bewilder, say analysts, as the new president gets to work on his radical policy agenda.

A chaotic first week saw him sign scores of divisive executive orders, as well as pardons or commutations for nearly everyone convicted of crimes -- including serious violence -- in the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.

And then there were the new president's freewheeling media appearances, the feuds with perceived enemies, dust-ups with the clergy, stripping of security details for critics, the launch of a meme crypto coin, and one headline-grabbing social media post after another.

"He doesn't just flood the zone, he drowns it," said Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR agency Red Banyan.

"It's a classic PR strategy: overwhelm, distract and control the narrative before anyone else can. Flooding the zone is his way of making sure no single controversy sticks because there's always a new one incoming."

[close]

It's also one of the reasons that I think many news media CEOs are probably very happy with Trump's return. They're more than happy to play along with Trump's game as he will give them new eye-catching headlines every week (unlike the Biden admin) and increase their revenue and profit margins.