I don’t think this is what President Obama had in mind for his jobs plan, but hey, it’ll work! How about an incentive strucure / tax break to buy racing sailboats to re-invigorate the US yacht-building market and shipyard economy? Who’s with me? (@ the Maxi Worlds, via Sailing Anarchy)
Unpaid Leave for Hajj?
This is an interesting story - Federal government (DOJ) sues a local Chicago Suburban school district for unpaid leave for Hajj for a teacher. I understand that it’s part of Islam, but the written doctrine is “at least once in your life if you can afford it”. Is there a reason it needs to be undertaken in the middle of the school year?
Also, is there a reason this couldn’t have been done through the local system instead of through DOJ as a federal suit? Doesn’t really make sense. I’m all about religious freedom but in this case I’m not sure there’s a clear indication that religious freedom is being violated - that will be the DOJ’s burden to prove.
Had the claimant negotiated this a bit in advance of the school year or tried to work a more convenient schedule for the employer it might have gone better and they may have said yes - to resort to a federal lawsuit after being rejected, with a past history of legal action is a bit suspect to me. (In this author’s opinion, lawsuits are important things to have available to uphold our rights as citizens, but are ripe for abuses. Ferretting out which suits are legit through the media, however, is an admittedly difficult if not impossible task.)
That said, the above is a view on this case as a relatively uninformed outside observer. Most folks would have tried to find another gig after the first discrimination lawsuit got settled (the claimant has one under her belt already). For someone to sit in there for that long sounds a bit like abuse of a system. Individuals have the right to leave their jobs freely if the position does not provide them a comfortable environment or the contract is not conducive to their preferred behavior. Most teachers I know understand that their vacation comes in the summer when classes are out and they can’t take too much time off - not sure why this is not understood by the claimant.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how the issue evolves. I urge restraint on the part of the media and politicians - treat this rationally please. (yeah… that’s probably not gonna happen but one can hope?)
US Visas and Indian IT
One of the best things we can do as a country is keep the high skilled workers we educate here instead of sending them back to their home countries. Right now there is a very small quota of visas that force the best and brightest to leave before they have a chance to start a company or invent. A crazy percentage of graduates from US schools with post-graduate degrees are foreigners (promise, I’ll look it up) and we’re losing their ideas.
Job growth, innovation, entrepreneurship, all are dependent on creative minds doing their best. Let’s keep those minds in the US and push President Obama to raise the visa quotas for highly skilled workers to keep us in the lead for innovative technologies.
About Me
A strategy consultant with a passion for IT, geopolitics, economics, and the open ocean. Awed by simple, innovative solutions to difficult problems. This represents my favorite slices of the web and serves as networked storage for my brain which is now entirely pointer-based. Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of any organization with which I may or may not be allegedly associated.
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