Today's News

Business Insider: There's something wrong with the US labor market

The "something wrong" is a skills gap. Just speaking from a tech perspective, one thing I have noticed in my job hunt is a lot of companies looking for people with skills in rather unknown software. In other words, companies are buying software which nobody ever gets trained for, and they look for employees with experience in these software packages from fly-by-night tech companies. 

One of the inherent problems in tech is the executives making tech decisions have little or no experience. So they buy what's cheap, without considering how that will work going forward.

This creates a job market mess where people get trained by schools in the most common software, leaving a lot of jobs unclaimed on the table. 

The Telegraph:  Star pupil finds lost Mayan city by studying ancient charts of the night sky from his bedroom

I will never know how he got the ancient night sky in his bedroom...

But seriously, this is one of the most inspirational stories I have read in awhile. What this kid did was nothing short of incredible.

Fox News: Citadel rejects hijab for Muslim student; family considers lawsuit

The Citadel military college has decided a newly accepted Muslim student cannot wear her traditional Muslim headscarf if she enrolls. 

The South Carolina school announced Tuesday that Commandant of Cadets Geno Paluso decided that allowing the student to wear the head covering known as a hijab wouldn't be consistent with the school's policy of having cadets look similar. 

The school in Charleston is known for its buttoned-up uniforms and close-cropped haircuts that represent the sacrifice of one's self for the greater goals of the unit. 

"Uniformity is the cornerstone of this four-year leader development model. The standardization of cadets in apparel, overall appearance, actions and privileges is essential to the learning goals and objectives of the college," Citadel President retired Lt. Gen John Rosa said in a statement.

This is a private military college. Naturally, the girl is considering suing the school for behaving like...a private military college. Say what you will, but colleges are allowed a reasonable amount of discretion is how they educate students.

If she wants a military college that will let her wear her hijab, let her try the Egyptian Military Academy. Unfortunately, I don't know if they accept women...

Business Insider: A Brazilian soccer legend gave an ominous warning to fans considering traveling to Rio for the Olympics

Brazilian soccer legend Rivaldo offered a foreboding message over Instagram on Sunday to fans considering traveling to Rio de Janeiro for this summer's Olympics: Stay away. 

"Things are getting uglier here every day," Rivaldo posted to his Instagram (via Yahoo). "I advise everyone with plans to visit Brazil for the Olympics in Rio — to stay home. You'll be putting your life at risk here ... Only God can change the situation in our Brazil."

Long story short: Brazil is a mess in almost every way possible. Picture an oversized, third world banana republic, and Brazil is pretty close to that.

When they gave Brazil the Olympics, I think they expected Brazil would grow into the role needed to host the Olympics. As one of the BRIC nations, a group of developing economies, that was a reasonable expectation. Unfortunately, BRIC nations have a history of growing for extended periods, only to stumble and fall back. Brazil stumbled, and the Olympics look silly for it.

On the bright side, the Brazil Olympics will have a unique flavor. Just imagine the marathon runners...being chased by angry mobs.