28 Comments
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Greg Colley's avatar

I'm going to take a guess that Kate Sullivan is not departing with $700,000 in her pocket. Best of luck Kate

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Marilyn's avatar

Any woman who needs to track her period On her phone is too stupid to procreate anyway . Pro choice! Choose not to have sex or choose to use protection. There are two choices women can make before killing their child

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Caesar Brutus's avatar

Marilyn, you have heard of rape, yes?

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Ninah's avatar

Incest? Medical emergency when death of mother and child are imminent? Mother can’t carry the child due to medical reasons? ….

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Irene Goodman's avatar

Ask five different people when life begins and you will get five different answers. That is precisely why it needs to up to the individual. Poll after poll show that the majority of Americans favor choice. If people have the right to not wear a mask or not get a vaccine for a deadly and highly contagious illness that could kill others, they also have a right to decide what to do with their own bodies. You can't have it both ways. Freedom of the individual means just that.

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Patricia's avatar

Protection fails sometimes- surprisingly often, in fact.

Also calling people stupid is not really living up to the civility Bill has cultivated in this space. Can you articulate your perspective without resorting to meanness and disrespect?

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AprilCG's avatar

You've made a very black-and-white, simplistic argument for something that is very individualistic and complex. If you'd like people to take your statements seriously, you might refrain from calling a large portion of the population "stupid" in your first sentence. It's judgmental and simply not true.

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Jim Bowman's avatar

"Professor (soon-to-be) Doctor Sullivan", thanks for your contributions and wishing you all the best in health and your future endeavors in academics and elsewhere!

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Ninah's avatar

On the man who landed the Cessna. I read about it just after it happened. He figured out how to use the radio when the pilot stopped making sense and eventually passed out. They were coming from a Caribbean island so were over water at the time. The traffic controllers found a flight instructor who was flying another plane to explain the airplane’s flight panel and talked the passenger down from the sky into a landing. The instructor said that the man was amazingly calm considering that the first solo flight of people with lessons is more than nerve wracking.

If you were that man, would you fly again? Would you take flying lessons? Would you get sick upon landing? Yikes!!! Also, the passengers in the plane being piloted by the instructor must have been shaken too.

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Caesar Brutus's avatar

Absolutely, Ninah!

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TERI BENARON's avatar

We will miss you Kate! Happy for your future and past achievements. Come back and say hello to us. And as for you Mr. Bill, darn, I would much prefer the 700K be in your pocket.

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Cindy Novak's avatar

Kate, God bless you. Lots of success and I hope we hear from you see on! Will miss you! 🥲🥲🥲

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Dorene Blake's avatar

best wishes for much success Kate and all the best with your health. Thanks for your contribution!

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Karen Chin's avatar

Kate, The very best of luck to you! As we all know, change is the constant …

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Dwayne Thomas's avatar

In regards to females using period tracking apps, and their fear of that information being used against them if the government passes laws restricting their personal freedoms... Remember this feeling, and the anger and fear that comes with the idea of being criminally prosecuted and publicity persecuted, when legal gun owners talk about how the government is infringing on their 2nd amendment rights and wants to pass restrictive laws to track and watch gun owners all in the name of "public interest."

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Magda's avatar

Joining the "running-down-the-hill" team. About to resign from a contract that starts on June 1st. Not pretending I am proud, I am deeply ashamed for the half-a-year the recruiter spent on my process, but as we say in my country: better flushing for a while than pale the rest of the life.

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Irene Goodman's avatar

Kate, congratulations and best of luck!

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Tim Hobson's avatar

I applied and was offered a job with the US Census, 2+ years ago. The ad for the job said, "full or part time, choose your own hours..." etc. I am retired and looking for PT work, so it sounded ideal.

I went to orientation, filled out the paperwork, they did the background check, and I got a login to the secure system.

Then the truth came out. "We are understaffed, so you need to work at least 40 hours per week, not counting your traveling around time, but you you won't be paid for over that without written permission from your supervisor." I didn't want 40 hours anyway.

And first I had to sit at home and view 8 hours' worth of training videos (for which I would be paid). They covered all the s**t that I might encounter, how to get people to let me in and answer the questions, etc. It made me very uncomfortable, but it made my wife tell me to quit the job asap.

Turns out, they were withholding the first paycheck until I completed all the training and showed up for my first day on the street. They never paid me for the training or anything, but I got a notice from them that I could apply for unemployment. One phone call confirmed that you actually have to receive a paycheck before you can apply.

Moral: it was government work, so what did I expect?

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Paul B Johnson's avatar

For people who value money over character this may be inspiration but many feel that this is a sign that we are on a very destructive path. Most of your stories have positive moral values, this one was lacking except for making us realize how far we have fallen.

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Stuart Henderson's avatar

Now this is the first poor story (ie slanted and incomplete) that I have seen from you. It’s all set up as rich vs poor but do you even know if the CFO is rich (besides the $700,00, which is half that after tax)? And what more likely happened (good reporting would tell us) is he had a contract with a severance clause (very common, especially if employed already when hired) that says he gets a years pay if they fire him without cause within the first year or two of the new job. If he is guilty of anything (note prior employer cited only a late filing, not an indictment or conviction of this guy for any crime) it’s not misconduct against his new employer - so no cause to terminate, but they did anyway). They just chose to avoid the appearance and let him go, and paid him as per contract.

Disappointing that you set this up as an example of have and have not - that fire already has enough real flame that this is beneath you, in my opinion.

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Bill Murphy Jr.'s avatar

Hey Stuart. Sorry you feel that way. I don't agree with you but I wanted to let you know I saw this and say thanks for reading.

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Stuart Henderson's avatar

I am not sure how you could see it any other way, but I guess that’s what makes the world so interesting! Thanks for the reply.

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Greg Scott's avatar

Not sure why Moderna feels the need to pay someone $700K for a day. Are they not sure he really did something wrong? And unless you are a Moderna shareholder, who cares??

More importantly, Kate is leaving. You are a shining star Kate. An inspiration to thousands of people. Take that with you when you feel the burden of a deadline for your thesis. You are loved, admired and in Scotland! Ah, my brethren!

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