Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 6, 2024

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SGT
December 06, 2024

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 6, 2024

Cruise into the weekend with our Friday newsletter, now buzzing on Beehiv! 🐝 Stay tuned for fresh updates, exclusive content, and more—delivered straight to your inbox.

University of Michigan the latest organization to move away from DEI criteria in hiring decisions.

CURRENT EVENTS.

Our take: DEI has always seemed to us to be a noble cause that has good intentions but inevitably leads to unintended consequences. More and more organizations seem to be acknowledging this fact.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are, without a doubt, outcomes that any decent person strives to achieve. Who would argue that we want all people, regardless of gender, race, or religion, to have equal opportunities in the workplace? No one. Which is why the push for DEI to take an outsized role in hiring and promotion decisions is so baffling.

While everyone should have a seat at the table and access to the same opportunities, the minute you introduce factors that have zero to do with your capabilities and performance and everything to do with your DNA, the only logical outcome is for the scales to tip to someone’s advantage for reasons that no one has control over.

From a US history perspective, Blacks, Asians, Irish, Italians, and Jews, among other groups, have all been discriminated against at various points simply because of where they were born or how they looked. It was 100% wrong when it happened. To allow it to happen in the name of equal outcomes is just as wrong.

The pendulum appears to be swinging back to the middle on these issues as more and more companies are shunning DEI criteria in hiring and promotions. To use Martha Stewart’s phrase, "It's a good thing.”

COURTESY: MSN

A poll shows a majority of Americans disapprove of Joe Biden’s pardon for son Hunter.

Our take:  In a surprise to no one other than the most tone-deaf defenders of Joe Biden, a public opinion polls shows 62% opposed the pardon. After numerous public declarations that he would not pardon his son, Biden announced the sweeping pardon earlier this week.

Not only did he pardon his son for the 2 crimes he has been convicted of, but also made the pardon unconditional for any or all crimes that his son may have committed against the country (even crimes yet to be uncovered) for an 11 year period. That 11 year period reaches back to when Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian oil & gas company during Joe Biden’s Vice Presidency, despite Hunter Biden having no oil and gas experience.

There has already been much circumstantial evidence that Hunter was using his proximity to the sitting Vice President to extract payments from foreign companies. There has also been speculation and anecdotal evidence that Joe Biden at minimum knew about these transactions, and may have directly benefited from them as well.

Let’s take the legal aspects out of it for a minute and just look at facts: Hunter was paid $1 million per year starting in 2014 as a board member. Total payments from Burisma alone to Biden and his associates totaled $6.5 million. 2 months after Joe Biden left office, payments to Hunter Biden were reduced when his father left office, and his board tenure ended in 2019 after his father left public office. Joe Biden stated several times he had no knowledge of his son’s business activities. Call logs show Joe Biden joined dozens of calls and meetings at the behest of his son. During a debate with then President Trump leading up to the 2020 election, Joe Biden stated his son had taken no money from foreign companies in Ukraine and China. Both claims proved untrue. Biden repeatedly said he would not pardon his son, then issued a stunningly broad pardon absolving him for all crimes, known and unknown, for the past 11 years.

Maybe laws were broken here. Maybe they weren’t. For arguments sake, let’s assume all these dealings were legal. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. And none of this seems right to most Americans.

COURTESY: MSN

Pennsylvania Senator Fetterman calls for pardons for “politically motivated” prosecutions of Trump and Biden

Our take: John Fetterman, the junior senator from Pennsylvania, told The View he felt both Hunter Biden and Donald Trump’s prosecution (specifically his New York real estate trial) were politically motivated, and both men deserved pardons.

We have become fans of Fetterman. He took office after a stroke led to serious doubts he was mentally capable (because of medical issues, not intelligence) to perform his duties. He has clearly been recovering and has shown significant improvement after his stroke, which is great news for him and his family. He has proven to be a surprising (at least to us) voice of common sense and objectivity. We appreciate his willingness to speak the truth and not just parrot party talking points.

We certainly have disagreements with Fetterman on some political positions, but we are always fans of people who act in good faith to try and make the country a better place. That description seems to describe Fetterman, at least from our view.

COURTESY: NBC NEWS

TIP OF THE DAY

Focus on your approach, not your goals. Every MLB team has the same goal at the beginning of the season. Win the World Series. Only one team accomplishes their goal. The teams that focus on playing good baseball versus focusing on wins and losses ironically usually wind up with more wins than losses. You should follow suit and focus on the approach that will get you where you want to be instead of focusing on the destination.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You are what you do, not what you say you will do.” - Carl Jung

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