The infamous Google Diversity Memo - Author Fired

[UWDude]

8-7-17: The day Google stopped being an enviable place to work and became the focus of widespread disdain and the brunt of endless jokes.

I was just thinking that today. To more than half the aspiring coders in the US, Google suddenly sounded like it was working for the Gestapo as a Jew, with a colorful ball pit and arcade room.

[Marenco]

Let's also not forget...

How the CIA made Google

Inside the secret network behind mass surveillance, endless war, and Skynet:

https://medium.com/insurge-intellige...e-e836451a959e

[helmuth_hubener]

Today, men are more able to talk about their feelings and emotional problems, to take more of a role in family life, to have women as friends, and so on: though there is still so far to go in every department. The biggest killer of British men under 50, after all, is suicide

Was it in 1830?
Hmm. Wonder how could that be?

So far to go, such work to do, though,
'Til all the world is pure insane,
When every decent man's face-down in snow.
Let gleeful madness reign!

[Brian4Liberty]

Interviewed:

Seems like an honest, well-intentioned, scientific, logical, slightly naive guy. Put his head on a pike!

[specsaregood]

Google Cancels Town Hall To Discuss Diversity In Its Ranks

Google employees will gather for a town hall meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the tensions ignited by a memo circulated inside the company that claimed to explain why more women are not engineers. Town hall meetings are nothing new at Google, but this one will likely be different after the so-called "Google Manifesto" went viral over the weekend, adding fresh fuel to the debate around gender bias in Silicon Valley. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an email earlier this week that he would cut his family vacation short in order to facilitate the forum. "The past few days have been very difficult for many at the company, and we need to find a way to debate issues on which we might disagree -- while doing so in line with our Code of Conduct," he wrote. "I'd encourage each of you to make an effort over the coming days to reach out to those who might have different perspectives from your own. I will be doing the same." The town hall comes amid a report from The Guardian that as many as 60 women are considering filing a class action lawsuit against Google, alleging sexism and wage disparity.

UPDATE: NBC News now reports the event has been cancelled, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying "Googlers are writing in, concerned about their safety and worried they may be 'outed' publicly for asking a question in the Town Hall... we need to step back and create a better set of conditions for us to have the discussion."
Instead of the company-wide format, Google will now hold several smaller forums "to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely," Pichai wrote.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/0...y-in-its-ranks

It is clear that the morons in charge don't even realize the scope of the problem they have on their hands. Also I read that the place the "memo" was posted was supposed to be "anonymous." if that's true, I think his future lawsuit chances are looking bright.

[UWDude]

Instead of the company-wide format, Google will now hold several smaller forums "to gather and engage with Googlers, where people can feel comfortable to speak freely," Pichai wrote.

No way in hell that is ever going to happen, ever again at Google. Ever.

What I would love to see is a secret organization arise (it will), that suddenly goes on strike, and shows Google, most of it's top performers, (guarantee most of its top performers don't like this diversity drivel), want a change in culture.

And Google's reputation as just a fun loving awesome atmosphere... has been forever crushed.

[specsaregood]

No way in hell that is ever going to happen, ever again at Google. Ever.

No kidding, check this out:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/10/tech...ing-questions/

In an email to staff, Pichai explained that questions from employees had been leaked and that, in some cases, specific employees' identities were revealed, exposing them to harassment and threats. Instead of today's large-scale meeting, which was to be livestreamed to Google's 60,000 employees worldwide, smaller groups will meet sometime in the future.

"We had hoped to have a frank open discussion today as we always do to bring us together and move forward. But our Dory questions appeared externally this afternoon, and on some websites Googlers are now being named personally," Pichai said in the email.

lol, the culture over there does not sound productive.

[UWDude]

james Domar said all Google meetings are livestreamed and public... ...except the diversity training he had to go through. He said those were done in secret, because Google knows they promote discrimination, which is illegal.

He also said he got most of his data about the genders from Google's own analytic records.

BTW, although Google says it believes the sexes are equal... BUT ...when buying ads, you certainly can choose to have your ads targeted towards a male or female audience, among other demographic choices.

[timosman]

No way in hell that is ever going to happen, ever again at Google. Ever.

What I would love to see is a secret organization arise (it will), that suddenly goes on strike, and shows Google, most of it's top performers, (guarantee most of its top performers don't like this diversity drivel), want a change in culture.

And Google's reputation as just a fun loving awesome atmosphere... has been forever crushed.

The geeks were shown their true place.

[Brian4Liberty]

Silicon Valley Tightens Its Grip on Free Speech
Alliance between progressives and tech is killing the unfettered exchange of ideas
by Edmund Kozak | 14 Aug 2017

Political totalitarianism is coming to America, and it is being ushered in not by government thugs in jackboots but by progressive activists and their allies in Silicon Valley.

In a chilling oped published in The New York Times on July 14, Lisa Feldman Barrett, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, argued that so-called “hate speech” is the same thing as physical violence because it may possibly cause emotionally fragile individuals stress — and should be made illegal.

Thankfully, the First Amendment prohibits the federal government from following such advice, but online companies are taking it upon themselves to stamp-out so-called “hate speech,” strangling free speech and the free exchange of ideas in the process.

A number of troubling actions by internet companies — Google most prominent among them — are making it increasingly clear that some in Silicon Valley have proclaimed themselves defenders of the progressive, politically correct faith, and that those firms will silence any and all heretics who challenge those beliefs.

"Silicon Valley lives in a politically regressive, exclusive bubble. They are not aware of their own biases in how they talk, have a limited understanding of the philosophy behind free speech, and find it difficult empathizing with other points of view," said Aaron Ginn, co-founder of the Lincoln Network, a think tank that seeks to promote libertarian ideas in the tech industry.

But Google not only has difficulty empathizing with other points of view — it is also actively trying to suppress them.
...
"Emmett says he personally witnessed efforts from leftists within Google to bias YouTube's algorithms to push anti-PC content off the platform's 'related videos' recommendations," Breitbart reported. "The software could just 'astroturf' your Related Videos section [an effort to hurt overall ratings], and you would be none the wiser," said Emmet.
...
People familiar with the process have told reporters recently that YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, is also laboring to cleanse its platform of alternative voices that challenge the mainstream liberal narrative. The social media video-sharing site has in the past few months systematically demonetized videos of right-wing commenters and journalists, such as Infowars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson and former Rebel Media reporter Lauren Southern.
...
Unfortunately it's not just Google. On Thursday, Watson of InfoWars posted a YouTube video titled "I Won't Be Around Much Longer," in which he revealed that "they banned me on Facebook because of a video I posted 18 months ago," and went on to posit that if digital platforms continue at the current rate, Silicon Valley will have soon entirely purged all right-wing voices from mainstream social media.

But although social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are already known among conservatives for suppressing even mainstream right-wing voices, despite allowing controversial content from the far Left and even radical Islamists to remain online unmolested — non-social-media sites have also begun to target right-wing dissidents.
...
More: http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/s...n-free-speech/

[osan]

Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber

Go to this page for chart and live reference links: http://diversitymemo.com/

I've only skimmed the memo, but judging by what I've read, I'd not have fired this man but given him a promotion where he could do some good.

This memo has a feel as if I'd written it, so it must be good.

That they indeed fired him because of his memo only serves to reinforce with great strength what was written therein. Google strikes me as a dangerous entity - far greater a threat than Microsoft ever imposed, so far as I can see. Yet, M$ faced antitrust threats from "government" that included "divestiture" and a settlement stipulation that barred them from going into the hardware business... which appears to have perhaps expired?

It is interesting to note how there seems to have been little to no talk of going after Google on similar bases as were the pretexts for doing so with M$. I am not saying anyone should go after them; it is the apparent hypocrisy that I find worthy of note.

I would add that Google is a suspicious player in the first place. Never in the known history of the world has a company gone from zero to king of the hill in nearly so short an interval as has Google. Perhaps this is all well known, but I am not aware of whence Google came, where the money came for them to develop their technologies, and how it is that they managed to fly so high so quickly. It could be what it superficially appears to be, but I am doubtful that it is so.

Finally, it pays well to once again note how anyone introducing the least shred of basic human sense into the "social" arena is quickly and unequivocally dispatched with stern prejudice. I would also note that if the memo went truly "viral", it further underscores the truth of its content. If that many people agree with the message but the company is not in the turmoil of a pending rebellion... well, do the math.

I for one avoid Google. Duckduckgo seems to provide equivalent results in searching and I could give the least damn about "social media". I use FB, for example, for one primary purpose: to communicate with people important to me. I read and post an occasional political tidbit, but do not spend my life there as it seems some do, so Google with all its fancy freebies holds no attraction for me. As for Sketchup, feh - serious engineers use serious software, whether AutoCAD, Solidworks, SoldEdge, Dassault, Microstation, etc. But the Google play to corner the information market is indeed very telling and once again brings me to the question of why there has been no big governmental outcry by Justice to investigate/prosecute them for anti-trust violations. Very telling, indeed.

[specsaregood]

That they indeed fired him because of his memo only serves to reinforce with great strength what was written therein. Google strikes me as a dangerous entity - far greater a threat than Microsoft ever imposed, so far as I can see. Yet, M$ faced antitrust threats from "government" that included "divestiture" and a settlement stipulation that barred them from going into the hardware business... which appears to have perhaps expired?

I recall reading a while back that prior to the antitrust suits MS never actively lobbied in DC or did any fundraising for politicians. All that changed after they had to deal with those antitrust suits. Google on the otherhand has always been very active on both of those fronts.

[PierzStyx]

Silicon Valley isn't tightening its grip on free speech. Companies have the right to hire and fire whom they please for the reasons they please. If the man's opinions were counter to the corporate culture Google wants then they have every right t fire him and his freedom of speech hasn't be limited in any manner. And it isn't strangling teh free exchange of ideas simply because you have no right to their services and they have ever right to set the terms & conditions of their services, which you then can willingly enter into or reject.

And of course if you really dislike their policies, stop using them and their products.

Don't like Google? Use Apple.

Don't like YouTube? Use Daily Motion.

[specsaregood]

Silicon Valley isn't tightening its grip on free speech. Companies have the right to hire and fire whom they please for the reasons they please.

They SHOULD have that right; but the law says they don't. Don't like it, don't do business here?

[dannno]

Silicon Valley isn't tightening its grip on free speech. Companies have the right to hire and fire whom they please for the reasons they please. If the man's opinions were counter to the corporate culture Google wants then they have every right t fire him and his freedom of speech hasn't be limited in any manner. And it isn't strangling teh free exchange of ideas simply because you have no right to their services and they have ever right to set the terms & conditions of their services, which you then can willingly enter into or reject.

And of course if you really dislike their policies, stop using them and their products.

Don't like Google? Use Apple.

Don't like YouTube? Use Daily Motion.

Uh, ya, you aren't paying attention at all.

[timosman]

Uh, ya, you aren't paying attention at all.

But I am the smartest person on this board. How can this be?

[Swordsmyth]

Silicon Valley isn't tightening its grip on free speech. Companies have the right to hire and fire whom they please for the reasons they please. If the man's opinions were counter to the corporate culture Google wants then they have every right t fire him and his freedom of speech hasn't be limited in any manner. And it isn't strangling teh free exchange of ideas simply because you have no right to their services and they have ever right to set the terms & conditions of their services, which you then can willingly enter into or reject.

And of course if you really dislike their policies, stop using them and their products.

Don't like Google? Use Apple.

Don't like YouTube? Use Daily Motion.

The issue is not whether they can fire him but whether they should.
In a private company free speech is not a right but it is still the right thing to do unless someone really goes too far, the famous memo did not.

[timosman]

The issue is not whether they can fire him but whether they should.
In a private company free speech is not a right but it is still the right thing to do unless someone really goes too far, the famous memo did not.

PierzStyx is trying for the PR position at Google.

[Swordsmyth]

PierzStyx is trying for the PR position at Google.

Are we sure that is not his current job?

[osan]

I recall reading a while back that prior to the antitrust suits MS never actively lobbied in DC or did any fundraising for politicians. All that changed after they had to deal with those antitrust suits. Google on the otherhand has always been very active on both of those fronts.

Sadly, this may explain a lot.

[UWDude]

Silicon Valley isn't tightening its grip on free speech.

Yes it is. Whether it has the right to or not is the question. But whether they are doing it is unquestionable.

Sargon of Akkad just had his twitter permanently banned today.

[dannno]

The issue is not whether they can fire him but whether they should.
In a private company free speech is not a right but it is still the right thing to do unless someone really goes too far, the famous memo did not.

The memo was actually a response to something that the company sent out related to company diversity, that was inviting responses.

[PierzStyx]

Uh, ya, you aren't paying attention at all.

I'm paying attention. I'm just not whining about a company doing something I don't like. This whole page is the "libertarian" equivalent with big, fat, salty tears.

[dannno]

I'm paying attention. I'm just not whining about a company doing something I don't like. This whole page is the "libertarian" equivalent with big, fat, salty tears.

So, not only are you not paying attention to what is going on, or the content of the OP, but you also are not paying attention to the discussion that has ensued.

Great contribution.

[Swordsmyth]

I'm paying attention. I'm just not whining about a company doing something I don't like. This whole page is the "libertarian" equivalent with big, fat, salty tears.

Culture is just as important as politics, we can and will express our opinions while not calling for government to enforce them.

[PierzStyx]

Culture is just as important as politics, we can and will express our opinions while not calling for government to enforce them.

*Yawn*

Like I said, whiny rightists crying over their "culture.". You've heard of the SJW? Well, you all are just a bunch of CJWs, "Culture Justice Warriors."

[PierzStyx]

So, not only are you not paying attention to what is going on, or the content of the OP, but you also are not paying attention to the discussion that has ensued.

Great contribution.

I am paying attention. Most of it is the empty babbling of CJWs whining that their "culture" is being attacked while attacking a private enterprise for daring to decide how their property should be used.

[PierzStyx]

Yes it is. Whether it has the right to or not is the question. But whether they are doing it is unquestionable.

Sargon of Akkad just had his twitter permanently banned today.

Boo hoo?

You're like a bunch of whiny politicians complaining a newspaper owner won't let their political party use the newspaper's press. Your freedom of speech is in no way limited or infringed by any of this in any way. You're just butthurt they don't agree with you. Well, deal with it you big babies.

[Swordsmyth]

*Yawn*

Like I said, whiny rightists crying over their "culture.". You've heard of the SJW? Well, you all are just a bunch of CJWs, "Culture Justice Warriors."

Culture produces politics, and if you want to invent that label then I will wear it with pride, unlike "SJWs" we don't want to use force on those we disagree with, but we are perfectly within our rights to advocate what we believe in and to avoid using google or any other Alphabet (agencies) company.

[PierzStyx]

Responses in bold.

Culture produces politics,

Sure. And here is your culture proudly marching on:



The only kind of politics your cultural fascism creates are oppressive, corrupt, Fascist CJW garbage.



and if you want to invent that label then I will wear it with pride, unlike "SJWs" we don't want to use force on those we disagree with,











Yeah you tooooootally don't use force on those you disagree with. Totally.

but we are perfectly within our rights to advocate what we believe in and to avoid using google or any other Alphabet (agencies) company.

I suggested you stop using Google in my first post. Even gave you some alternatives. You want to do so? Go ahead. But that doesn't make your argument that your free speech is somehow being limited by Google any less bullcrap.