Another aspect of this is the old, inefficient legacy gear that could be decomissioned but isn't. Where I work there are literally dozens of old physical servers that could be virtualized. It's not being done, essentially due to mismanagement. I wouldn't be surprised if this pattern is being repeated many times over across the globe.

There should be an annual 'decomm a legacy server' day!

Where is the love, the love, the love?

I agree. Both parties were in the wrong: the men should have shown more consideration for others and self-awareness than to tell off-colour jokes in situation like that; she was wrong to publicly escalate the issue the way she did. This philosophy of "I should be able to say what the f#$k I like, and you should just deal with it" is really wrong, especially when you're in a work or semi-work situation. This isn't a freedom of speech issue, but about respect and care for your fellow man (or woman).

In my experience it is common for the employer to pay for all or some of the training on the condition that if you leave the company you pay them back a percentage based on a sliding scale e.g. if you leave before 12mths you pay back 100%, 12-18mths, you pay back 50% etc Seems fair to me.

I don't think it's reasonable for the employer to be expected to pay for failed exam attempts however.

Another issue I've found, in IT at least, is recruitment agents who are supposedly 'tech specialists' but apparently don't know diddly, sending across candidate resumes that are completely inappropriate for the job spec. When that happens consistently, patience wears thin and you starting looking for ways to shortcut the process.

It's pretty simple really: Evolution is a theory based on some very big assumptions - assumptions that are the realm of philosophy and religion, not science. The Texas board is, I presume, made up of people who reject those assumptions, and therefore reject the notion that Evolution is the only valid explanation.

It sounds to me like they're having to pull their punches. They'd like to be able to say 'we don't want Evolution taught as fact', but instead are using statements like 'we want to teach all sides of scientific explanation' which is much more politically correct and palatable, but also vague and ineffective.

This is a great questions, and I hope he gets to answer it! Full disclosure: I *do* believe in original sin

Did God smite them down? I don't think so. Species die out for all sorts of reasons and bigger creatures, that require larger territories and more food, are often less able to adapt. If you believe the timeline of creation as recorded in the Bible, then dinosaurs could have been roaming the earth for a couple of thousand years before they died out. It's not like God created them one day, and they all the died the next!

Christianity's 'species centricity' as you put it is not a spatial thing. The Bible says God exists outside of time and space, so I can't see why putting us at the 'centre' would be signficant to Him. Humans are central for spiritual reasons. Unlike animals, we're made 'in His image', for the purpose of being in relationship with Him.

It means some poor sucker got squashed by a dino

This works both ways however. Reading your description, I can't help but be reminded of the power structures / heirarchies that exists within the walls of scientific academia.

This grabbed my attention, so I went and had a look at the spreadsheets but couldn't see much beyond a grand here, a few hundred there. I'd be interested to know what you think her annual income is, and how you came up with that figure based on the available data.

Interesting - didn't know that before. I just listened to the Rolling Stone's original (The Last Time) and the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestral cover for comparison. I would never have linked the Stone's version to Oldham or The Verve unless I'd been told as it sounds nothing like it! Wikipedia says that, as a result of the legal tassle, songwriting credits for Bitter Sweet Symphony were changed to Jagger and Richards, which is just ridiculous. Oldham alone should take credit for that catchy riff.

Hi have no problem with the idea of eating horse meat, but I'd like to know in advance. Advertising your horse burgers as having '100% beef' is hardly fair warning.

Small point of order: Australia did not 'outlaw' guns. You can still legally own a gun, there's just a lot more hoops you have to jump through. Sure violent crime has gone up...but linking that to reduced gun ownership is crazy talk. If I had to choose what a home invader was armed with: gun or knife - I'd be picking the knife every time.