3 Guys in a Pickup

It's kinda difficult to determine exactly how much different men and women get paid because most of the statistics are misleading. What I mean is that the reason men tend to make more for the same job is that, as a very general rule of thumb, women tend to be willing to work for less in certain jobs and professions.

I have read that statistically speaking, women are less likely than men to know their worth (particularly in the computer field), and therefore accept less pay. Plus, often times when they accept less pay, it's because they are the secondary source of income for the family, and not looking for a huge, primary income position. So, when looking at pay rates between men and women, perhaps it would be more fair to split women into two different categories; one for primary income career women, and one for secondary income family women.

My grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, thank you very much. And as counterintuitive as it may be, the results of the Project ensured half a century of peace. Strained peace, but peace nonetheless. We haven't had a major war for 60 years. None of the big boys are willing to throw down anymore. Nuclear weapons may be awful (though not really any more awful than any others, just more efficient), but they do have a way of deterring really major conflicts. Besides, would you rather the Americans or the Russians develop nukes first? I thought so.

I didn't realize I was that poetic in my observation. Well, there you are.

Personally, I would have preferred Poland to first develop the nuclear bomb, since they would have immediately declared war on Antarctica, everybody would have had a good laugh, and tons of schoolkids would have averted the scarring experience of crouching under their desks to practice for when the Big One fell.

Oh, and the Big Purple Van O' Love is back in action.

ryan, who is your grandfather? does he or any of your relatives still live there?

both my grandmother and grandfather worked on the project, and my father has been at ORNL / K-25 / Y-12, etc. for 30+ years...

i spent my first 18 years there and would be happy to trade notes...

Ryan, it isn't anything personal against your G-Pa, nor is it some massive moral condemnation against anyone who had anything to do with "the bomb." And regardless of whether it was "necessary" to drop the bomb etc. etc. etc., I just think it's one of those things that should automatically disqualify you from winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

It's kinda like being male disqualifies you from giving birth. It's just a priori. ;)

Okay, so maybe Arafat (and possibly others shouldn't have won the Peace Prize. But what was wrong with this year's choice?

I know you weren't going for anything personal, Josiah, that wasn't the point. My point was twofold: first, there are a lot of decent, honest people who put in a few years on the Manhattan Project before going on to do other, unrelated, productive things. My grandfather was one of them. For about five years or so he assisted in the filtering of U235 from U238, because the semi-permiable membranes used in the process were the same as those used in his previous job. After the war ended, he went on to spend the next few decades working for DuPont in their pigment division.

Second, I was trying to argue that the development of nuclear weapons, far from being a cause of great destruction and evil, was actually a positive good. It took the creation of nukes to convince the world powers that going to war really wasn't worth it. So they haven't, at least not with each other within the past 60 years. That alone makes them one of the most peace-making devices ever.

Yes, but you can't say that "peace" is something inherent to the "nuclear bomb." I mean, a "bomb" by definition is meant for distruction.

Iserdawg: I think the nobel peace prize winner this year is great. The contrast between her and Arafat just got me thinking.