Louis C.K. explains how humans survived the Ice Age

An outtake from Louis C.K.’s new standup special, Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theater:

The special is available exclusively from the Louis CK website for a measly $5. You can stream it from the site, or download the file and burn to DVD to watch as many times as you want. It’s a great deal for a very funny show — from the same tour that I saw in Pittsburgh some months back. Go, buy, and enjoy.

“Give the people what they want” as a legal strategy

Journalists in Britain have traditionally justified shady practices by arguing that they are in “the public interest.” Asked by an inquiry lawyer how he would define that, Mr. McMullan said that the public interest is what the public is interested in.

“British Inquiry Is Told Hacking Is Worthy Tool,” New York Times, 30 Nov 2011 (emphasis mine)

A simple and sad reason why women make less money than men

Often, a woman will enter the salary negotiation phase and I’ll tell them a number will be sent to them in a couple days. Usually we start around $45k for an entry level position. 50% to 60% of the women I interview simply take this offer. It’s insane, I already know I can get authorization for more if you simply refuse. Inversely, almost 90% of the men I interview immediately ask for more upon getting the offer.

 

The next major mistake happens with how they ask for more. In general, the women I have negotiated with will say 45k is not enough and they need more, but not give a number. I will then usually give a nominal bump to 48k or 50k. Company policy wont let me bump more than 5k over the initial offer unless they specifically request more. On the other hand, men more frequently will come back with a number along the lines of 65k to 75k, and I will be forced to negotiate down from there. After this phase, almost all women will take the offer or move on to somewhere else, not knowing they could have gotten more if they asked.

 

At the end, most of the women I hire make between 45k and 50k, whereas the men make between 60k and 70k. Even more crazy, they ask for raises far less often, so the disparity only grows.

From “I work for a large multinational tech company, I regularly hire woman for 65% to 75% of what males make. I am sick of it, here is why it happens, and how you can avoid it.” on Reddit