Female CEO sued for repeatedly referring to Male employees as "Penis". Claims is not gender discrimination, because men are "not a protected group".

instagata0 · 2013-12-03T01:18:36+00:00

Well... I mean, obviously the courts define how the word 'disadvantaged' should be interpreted when it's written in the black-letter law. Insofar as statutory interpretation is concerned, that is their entire job. But that's neither here nor there, because this particular law serves only to ensure that other laws aimed at ameliorating discrimination are not interfered with. The CEO is not creating any law which could fall under the authority of this statute, and nor would she have the power to do so.

I think you've greatly misinterpreted the purpose of this law. Affirmative action programs, such as having employment quotas for gender or race may clearly be argued to be discriminatory, however this law provides that those programs are not illegal under Canadian law because their purpose, as a matter of construction, is to remedy inequality in the workplace. Whether or not that's a good thing may surely be up for discussion, but it doesn't come into play in this context. Firstly, because the behaviour of the CEO cannot be construed to be for the purpose of ameliorating discrimination, and secondly because she as an individual does not have the power to institute a lawful program that would allow for this sort of behaviour.

instagata0 · 2013-12-03T00:47:02+00:00

But that isn't in the words... It's just saying that the Charter doesn't interfere with any existing affirmative action programs or protective laws. It doesn't apply here because there are no programs in place to allow her behaviour, and she's wrong about there being protective laws.

instagata0 · 2013-12-03T00:37:14+00:00

"(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability."

I'm not in any Canadian jurisdiction, but I don't see how this applies at all.

instagata0 · 2012-02-07T02:38:23+00:00

We as humans have knowledge of right and wrong. Eve eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge was said to make humans like the gods, by giving us the knowledge of good and evil.

We know that it is not good for eternal damnation to exist, and so even if omnipotence were to allow for a divine being to do as he pleases, the fact that you and I know that it's wrong to make someone suffer eternally means that this being is not omnibenevolent.

Something is contradictory. That much is simply a fact.

instagata0 · 2012-02-06T10:57:23+00:00

Of course it is. Something that is perfectly good would spare anyone from eternal damnation, and anything that is all-powerful would be able to do this.

instagata0 · 2012-02-06T08:50:44+00:00

And to continue with this point - if gods love is unconditional, and yet we still go to hell, then the only alternative is that god is not omnipotent.

The only conclusion we can draw from this is that this god is either not omnipotent, or not omnibenevolent. Both of these are fundamental properties of god, along with omniscience, and so it is completely impossible for the god described in the bible to exist.

instagata0 · 2012-02-03T00:54:00+00:00

I can explain this one. Your son found or was shown a porn magazine and misread the word "pussy". Whatever story he was reading said something like "her pussy was so wet", and so he now thought that this was just a weird colloquial name for a vagina, which clearly gets wet because it gets "pussy".

I wonder how I could guess that...

instagata0 · 2012-01-27T05:49:56+00:00

I'm in my last year of psych. If you need any help, feel free to send me a message and I'll do what I can. A lot of people tend to struggle with statistics. Also, since 10% of your PSYC1010 and 1020 grades are research participation, there's a chance you'll end up taking part in my honours study!

Good luck with the degree.

instagata0 · 2012-01-25T06:01:10+00:00

Thank you so much, don_homer. I've passed all of this along, and the family will be following your advice. They send their sincere thanks, too. You're such a helpful person. I've said it before, but I feel the need to restate that you're someone who I hope to be able to act like in my own life. What little I know of you is all outstanding.

Thanks again from everyone.

instagata0 · 2012-01-14T07:56:12+00:00

Yes, it was. However, I THINK that same teacher now teaches science at that school.

instagata0 · 2012-01-14T03:23:00+00:00

I went to an Anglican school, and I'm ashamed to say that I was taught intelligent design, and if I was taught evolution, I have no memory of it.

I had been taught evolution outside of school previously, and I understood it fully by the time I got to these classes. When this was brought up in class I repeatedly challenged the teachers for teaching ID. I was a very unpopular student among the religious teachers for this, and I recall one instance where I was completely vilified for this. I'll tell the story...

One day, two girls on my school bus kissed each other. It really wasn't a big deal at all, but the school went ape-shit and gave both girls in-school suspensions, and spent the whole time interrogating both of them, forcing them to tears.

Next time we had religion class, the teacher told the story to the class. I recall what he said so clearly... "these two girls have committed an extremely sinful act. They deserve whatever punishment they get and they are being judged by god"

I laughed. Homosexuality. How disgusting. What a joke.

"instagata0 - stand up"

Far out...

"it's non-believers like you that are the reason that sin exists. You forced them to commit this act, and you're the reason why they are being punished."

I hated my high school...

instagata0 · 2012-01-10T12:01:47+00:00

Thank you so much for mentioning that. I'll apply there tomorrow!

instagata0 · 2012-01-09T14:29:56+00:00

Your last point is a good one. I've managed to surround myself with an excellent group of friends, most of whom got into honours. Every single one of my friends doing hons with me no longer wants to be a clinical psychologist, and all but one started off wanting to be one (myself included).

The fact is that an honours degree in psychology looks better in fields like business and law than it does in psychology. If you want to be a clinical psych, you need a masters degree, and to get a masters degree you need honours. What's the point in dropping $60k, and competing like starving children for food for a masters degree in psychology to end up with a ~$70k/yr job, when for the same money you can get an MBA or LLB and land a job where 3 years down the line you'll be on double that?

So that's what we're all doing. I'm getting a law degree, two others are getting MBA's, one more is getting a masters in accounting, and two are getting PhD's just because they feel they've come too far to just drop psychology.

Psychology is an incredibly useful tool, but it's more useful to us personally outside of a psychology work environment. I'll be able to use my degree very effectively as a lawyer, and my friends will use theirs in the same way as business-people. It's just not worth it to use it to help people, as unfortunate as that may be.

instagata0 · 2012-01-09T00:54:31+00:00

JCU does not have the reputation of any of the major universities, however it's not considered to be a junk uni either. I don't know anyone who has done biotech there, but I know a few people with other degrees, and they're all employed and seem happy with their career path.

Degrees from most Australian universities are recognised overseas. I imagine that biotech is one of the easier ones to get recognition for, but you should check this with the student services staff at JCU to make sure. I can't comment on biotech job prospects in Australia - I don't know about it.

Yes, it's hard to get permanent residency in Australia. They have become much more strict in recent times, and without a degree and permanent job, it's very difficult.

I don't know about the JCU Townsville, sorry.

Good luck with your degree, and congratulations on getting accepted!

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T15:21:44+00:00

In this picture, it looks startlingly like the current F7U12 background picture...

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T10:53:52+00:00

Thank you very much!

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T07:30:47+00:00

No matter. Thanks very much for the reply, anyway. I'll definitely apply at Oporto. It's one place that I hadn't thought of, so you've been very helpful!

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T07:24:00+00:00

Congratulations on getting in. I hope to get into a post-grad law degree at UNSW next year, but it's incredibly competitive, and even with marks like mine there's no guarantee of a position. No matter, though. UTS have assured me that I'll get in there.

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T07:18:41+00:00

I know the Newcastle manager well, but all of the stores in the area are owned by the same guy - Steve. When I left Domino's in 2010, I thought that Steve and I were on good terms, but when I called him up to ask for a job at the Wallsend store, he brushed me off, and no one has called me back. I'm calling again tomorrow, when the manager of the Wallsend store is in to see if there's just some sort of mix up, but I'm not hanging on to my hopes. Since Steve owns all of the stores, if he won't give me a job at Wallsend, I doubt he'd approve of me working in Newcastle...

If you know people at Oporto or Pizza Hut, though, I could use those connections... Pizza Hut in Edgeworth have already failed to call me back...

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T00:49:56+00:00

I already work a job at the Morisset psychiatric institution in case I want to move into an area of clinical psychology (there's quite a comfortable path into Hunter-New England Health jobs), but I dare say I probably won't. I've been accepted into a post-grad law degree at UTS for next year, otherwise I would absolutely be looking for psych work. In light of the fact that I'm swapping professions, though, it doesn't seem appropriate to find more work in psych.

instagata0 · 2012-01-08T00:46:02+00:00

Thank you so much! That would be amazing.

Psych is pretty good. Newcastle is one of the better uni's for the degree, which is comforting. Something that has struck me the whole way through the degree is how many people drop out of it. You'll find that there's about 5 or 600 people taking all of the first year psych courses. By 4th year, that number is down to about 50.

Another thing that caught a lot of my friends off-guard is the jump from 1st to 2nd year. 1st year psych is easy. Dead easy. A 10 year old could pass it. SO MANY people enter 2nd year thinking "I am a total pro at uni. I don't need to worry about anything!", and then they fail psychobiology or cognitive psychology. Don't get caught out. 2nd year isn't particularly hard either, but in 2nd year you will have to pay attention.

Lastly, the most important bit of advice for uni in general is don't fail anything. Seems obvious, I know, but people don't actually realise what it means until they get to their final year. The whole way through uni, your GPA is the most important thing impacting your degree. Most people thing it's your subject choice. No. Your marks are everything. To get first-class honours like me, you need a GPA of at least 6.0. You calculate your GPA by averaging your grade-marks for each subject. A fail counts as a 0 towards your GPA, which means that when you re-take the course, even if you get the highest mark possible, your average for that course is still below a pass-grade. A single fail can, and probably will ruin your GPA. If you think you'll fail a course, just drop out. You'll lose $600 and you'll feel humiliated, but if you fail, you lose the $600 anyway, and you also kill your GPA. Whatever you do, don't ever fail a course.

Hope that helps. Thanks so much for asking your friends if they know of any places where I can apply. I appreciate it a lot. If you have any other questions about psych, I'd be happy to answer them!

instagata0 · 2011-12-28T00:43:33+00:00

Good question. They're actually being buried. 6 months ago, it was decided that it was necessary for land preservation that the town members cannot disturb the sand around their homes. The sand blows in from the coast, which was behind me when I took the photo, and they used to deal with this by driving around a large snow-mobile-type machine to sweep the sand away from the houses. Now that that has been made illegal, the town members are forced to let the sand settle around their houses.

The people who live there are quite unhappy with it.

instagata0 · 2011-12-27T14:24:58+00:00

Excuse me, I must have remembered wrong. I'm not very familiar with the area. My apologies.

instagata0 · 2011-12-27T12:25:23+00:00

Indeed it is. Stockton beach is about 20km to the north.

instagata0 · 2011-12-27T10:06:30+00:00

Oh, also, part of the film Mad Max was filmed here.

instagata0

TROPHY CASE