… a term used in law to describe a situation in which a person seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting him or herself in a position where he or she will be unaware of facts that would render him or her liable. (Wikipedia) Another Margaret Heffernan TED…
I live my work life with the daring mindset to prove my ideas wrong. And I gather around me others willing and capable of doing the same. It is the best way to get things right. It takes an appreciation for the ability to disagree. It takes collegiality in conflict, debate, and willingness to solve the…
Back in 2010, I did a post on I Write Like which reported the author most similar to a writing sample. I gave it several samples for which it gave me several different authors. The trend I noticed was the topic of the sample seemed to predict the result. IBM Watson Personality Insights : uses linguistic analytics…
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States by Ida B. Wells-Barnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars The shooter in the recent Charleston massacre reportedly said: “You rape our women, and you’re taking over our country.” In the aftermath, the mayor claimed to not know much about the…
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself by Harriet Jacobs My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book accounts for Harriet Jacobs’ life as a slave, hiding for several years in the South, escaping to the North, and finally obtaining her freedom. She presents some letters documenting the tale. Given the…
Go read “Science Fiction Is for Slackers.” As a rule, science fiction may be the laziest of all genres, not because the stories themselves are too facile—they can be just as sophisticated and challenging as those of any other genre—but because they often revel in easy solutions: Why walk when you can warp? Why talk…
A while back I pulled a post. It had to do with my wanting to be caught being wrong by my coworkers. I catch myself being wrong all the time, so I very much know my own fallibility. But, people take lack of confidence as lack of ability. Which means to get things done, one…
You can keep your Confederate flags, BUT you have to stop asking for people to give up their heritage. You have to stop asking people to only speak English. You have to stop asking for everyone to look and act American. Because, after all, if heritage is that important to you, then you understand how…
As I have previously written here, I am biracial. One parent is European descent while the other is of African descent. When I was born, I was the first biracial child many had ever seen. Thankfully, it was just the start of a trend, so these days plenty are around for people to notice us.…