jfc

My primary point was that we can't assume things that the memo doesn't say. From your comment:

> "From what I see, it was an investigation into gender-based discrimination/harassment claims"

I think you are making some assumptions, and my guess is that whoever wrote the GitHub statement wanted you to come to that exact conclusion.

This is why they kept repeating the phrase "gender-based"--they want the reader to focus on the gender claims and then GitHub can try to render those claims invalid with their investigation results.

In fact, the precise scope of the investigation was not provided in the statement--we don't know what they investigated. There are many possibilities, including the one you suggested. Another is that they might have looked into a range of issues, found a few problems, and then decided to focus their public statements on the gender-based claims because they knew they could win those.

Mostly, I'm saying that this GitHub post doesn't tell us much (not saying it should, just saying it doesn't).

> The investigation found no evidence...

This doesn't mean there isn't any evidence--it just means that their internal investigation didn't find any. If read carefully, this statement tells us nothing about the universe of evidence that exists, but only about what GitHub didn't find. A different investigator might come to a completely different conclusion, or find other evidence (this is where the comment about the investigators possibly not contacting key people could become important).

> ...found no evidence to support the claims against Tom and his wife of sexual or gender-based harassment or retaliation

So their internal investigation didn't find sexual or gender-based harassment or retaliation. But did that investigation find other types of harassment or retaliation?

> However, while there may have been no legal wrongdoing

"May have been none" or "there definitely wasn't any"? And then legal wrongdoing vs. just plain wrongdoing? Disclaimers/"wiggle words" everywhere.

> As to the remaining allegations, the investigation found no evidence of gender-based discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or abuse.

Again, we're seeing the term "gender-based" used as a modifier (also done in P-W's response). This makes it appear as if their attorneys primarily want to remove this controversy from the ambit of gender-based discrimination claims.

I'm not saying this memo is worse than any other corporate public statement. But reading carefully, you often find that the statements don't tell you very much, if anything.

Developer and designer (4+ years), work out of my own shop, Heta (http://heta.co). Primarily develop, design, and customize WordPress themes, or convert PSD designs or HTML/CSS/jQuery to WordPress. I'm also building an app and run my own server as a hobby. This month, I'm launching an online theme store (http:/hetathemes.com). Our flagship theme is MidLaw, a theme for small to mid-sized law firms.

I've worked on complex sites for digital agencies (30+ templates, 25+ plugins), as well as on smaller sites for small businesses/individuals (10 templates, 10 plugins). References available.

Technologies I use: PHP, HTML, CSS/LESS, jQuery, CodeIgniter, WordPress, mySQL, ZURB Foundation (3/4/5), Bootstrap, SVN or Git for version control, Fogbugz or Sifter for issue tracking, HipChat to keep in touch with clients. Self-taught and resourceful.

Reach out to me at: hn [at] heta [dot] co (not com). I can send you links to live sites I've designed and developed, sites I've converted to WP, etc.

Such myths abound globally, especially in rural environments. Worse myths exist around tampons--that a woman who uses a tampon is no longer a virgin. The implications of this in more rural societies are staggering, as young women can lose marital prospects or even be killed.

What impressed me most about his work was the lengths he went to in order to understand the problems the women were facing. That "football uterus" made him an outcast and he was rejected, which is not wholly unlike how menstrual women were treated in his village. He really got the full "customer" experience.

His work will also greatly help those women who have severe menstrual bleeding problems, in which they bleed non-stop for weeks (or months or, sadly, years) at a time. Not only are they outcasts in their communities, but even children will pelt them with rocks. It's profoundly sad.

It might sound trite, but we hear about the man who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved wife. Look at how much he is revered! Now consider what this man has done out of love for his wife--he has far eclipsed even that magnificent structure.

Also: never underestimate the power of convenience. These sanitary products make it much easier for women and girls to work, go to school, care for their children, and a whole host of other things. Things that make life easier for women have a way of catching on in communities.

Developer and designer (4+ years), work out of my own shop, Heta (http://heta.co). Primarily develop, design, and customize WordPress themes, or convert PSD designs or HTML/CSS/jQuery to WordPress. I'm also building an app and run my own server as a hobby.

I've worked on complex sites for digital agencies (30+ templates, 25+ plugins), as well as on smaller sites for small businesses/individuals (10 templates, 10 plugins). Soon I will begin selling my commercial themes directly to the public.

Technologies I use: PHP, HTML, CSS/LESS/SASS, jQuery, CodeIgniter, WordPress, mySQL, ZURB Foundation (3/4/5), Bootstrap, SVN or Git for version control, Fogbugz or Sifter for issue tracking, HipChat to stay in touch. Self-taught and resourceful.

Reach out to me at: hn [at] heta [dot] co (not com). I can send you links to live sites I've developed, sites I've converted to WP, etc.

Someone needs to disrupt the government contracts business pronto.

This really bugs me. It seems like many companies are either completely unaware that a breach has occurred, or know about it and are taking their time notifying customers (for PR or other purposes). Either way, customers are not getting this information in a timely manner, and that needs to change.

If I'd logged in later today, I might have missed it!

What's frustrating is that I had to search through 5 articles/blog posts to find it. Why do media outlets post articles on any lawsuit without a link to the complaint?

Doesn't Blink posit that a person's extensive experience in an area can lead them to a quick, gut reaction that is, in fact, correct, even before they are able to verify it?

It seems that Andrew's friend probably has had a fair amount of experience with being mistreated due to his skin color. His reaction to being denied a room 3 out of 3 times was perhaps hyperbolic, but certainly applicable to his experience with the service. (Andrew noted his friend's interactions with the driver, so it wasn't all his friend's imagination).

You could use the ideas noted in Blink to look at this scenario from a variety of perspectives, not just confirmation bias.

It's quite possible that their experience with black guests was negative. But by telling your brother of those negative experiences (which he had no need to know), weren't they, at least in some sense, effectively differentiating themselves from another, negative category of blacks?

Totally agree with this. Human beings often denigrate other people, based on relatively minor differences, with a view to elevating themselves. It is utterly childish, and yet people persist in doing it frequently.

This type of funding might end up being really useful for scientists in the future, in light of corporate shenanigans and diminishing government funding.

I contend that American slavery isn't as much about black and white people per se, as it is about human depravity, which we see across societies and cultures. American slavery is a context in which we can see the highs and lows of humanity. There is much we can learn about people from these narratives--if they are reported fully.

The notion that we should focus on narratives which don't include the horrors of slavery--or that they should be minimized--is just silly. Narratives are the stories of enslaved people and the horrors they lived with are part of their experiences. You prefer to gloss over the horrors they experienced and instead seek to romanticize the institution. Ugh.

Ma Bett (Elizabeth Freeman) came up with the idea to sue for her freedom and hired that lawyer who spoke for her. Further, by taking the matter to court, she was not hoping to rely on ethical arguments for her freedom, she was referencing the State Constitution. This is a far cry from approaching the Quakers and seeking help on moral or religious grounds.

Your initial comment seemed to suggest that blacks were not the primary impetus behind their freedom. This narrative (and many others) directly refute that.

Once Ma Bett was freed, she chose to become a servant to that lawyer. It scarcely needs noting that there is a difference between choosing to serve as a domestic and being enslaved.

For instance, you are incorrect that no slaves freed themselves--here's an example of a woman who sued for her freedom under the Massachusetts Constitution and won (lawsuits from other enslaved people followed--some won) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Freeman_(slave)

There are plenty of other stories such as this, along with numerous accounts of escaped enslaved people, many of whom were not helped by the Quakers, but by other, unexpected groups.

The tone of your comment is also at turns appallingly dismissive--you write of enslaved people as being "fed and watered" and indicate that they were cared for. But numerous narratives make clear that slaves were often not fed and clothed sufficiently, not to mention that their health and hygiene was neglected. The idea that they were provided for adequately is a foolish and unwarranted assumption. They were treated, often times, worse than animals.

Not to mention the routine sexual assaults that women and men endured--that's in some of the narratives as well. And not merely an assault only from the slave owner, but from his siblings, sons, overseers who worked for him, and the like. A particularly noteworthy account observed that slave owners would interrupt the meals of enslaved families and require the daughters or wives to leave with them to be sexually assaulted and then return the women after they were finished. These would be severe horrors to anyone who had to endure them and can't be ignored because someone doesn't like to hear about them--or thinks something else is more interesting.

These enslaved people were human beings. There is no reason to minimize the suffering portion of the narrative, especially since they lived with those horrors daily and accounted for a significant part of their experiences while enslaved. Again, if you've read some of these narratives, you would know that there are lengthy discussions of their lives after becoming free--everything isn't about their suffering.

There are certainly other perspectives from which we can look at American slavery. The corrupting influence was (and remains) staggering.

Of course people like stories that challenge the narrative of the sufferings of African enslaved people. It is more pleasant not to discuss or even acknowledge the horrors that existed, for a variety of reasons. But these things did happen, and sites like slaverystories.org do a good job of illuminating not only the horrors that existed, but also the variegations of life and humanity.

Not every discussion of a subject must be comprehensive--you noted in your comment that the history of slavery is vast. Why is this site owner expected to address all the different instances on his/her site?

There are plenty of sites that discuss the broader history of slavery, or specific instances of it. This one fits in with the mosaic of other sites out there.

I've been reading the narratives of enslaved people lately, starting with 12 Years a Slave, then Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and started reading Frederick Douglass' narratives. Harrowing reads.

For anyone reading these narratives: it's easy to get caught up in the dynamic of blacks and whites, racism, and the like, but the core issue of American slavery is the depravity of humanity. Focusing on the guilt/non-guilt/whatever of various ethnic groups quite misses the point.

Evils of this type exist across humanity; these enslavement narratives show us the particular context of how this depravity played out in America. They also provides us with some insight into contemporary issues in our society. The tentacles of a 400+ year institution like slavery, and their corroding influence, continue to wrap themselves around hearts and minds open to their venom.

The narratives are very worthwhile reading.

Sidenote: I think the site title might be better termed as Memoirs from American Enslaved People. For so long these people were not acknowledged as human beings, and it seems appropriate to acknowledge the dignity of their humanity.

Developer and designer (4+ years), work out of my own shop, Heta (http://heta.co). Primarily develop, design, and customize WordPress themes, or convert PSD designs or HTML/CSS/jQuery to WordPress. I'm also building an app and run my own server as a hobby.

I've worked on complex sites for digital agnecies (30+ templates, 25+ plugins), as well as on smaller sites for small businesses/individuals (10 templates, 10 plugins).

Technologies I use: PHP, HTML, CSS/LESS/SASS, jQuery, CodeIgniter, WordPress, mySQL, ZURB Foundation (3/4/5), Bootstrap, SVN or Git for version control, Fogbugz or Sifter for issue tracking, HipChat to stay in touch. Self-taught and resourceful.

Reach out to me at: hn [at] heta [dot] co (not com). I can send you links to live sites I've developed, sites I've converted to WP, etc.

Block grid docs - http://foundation.zurb.com/docs/components/block_grid.html

At this point, there should be a small department to deal with these sorts of issues, another to deal with abuse problems, etc. Way too many things go unchecked and it makes for an unpleasant user experience.

I barely even click on trending topics anymore, because it's spam city.