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5 Feet of Fury

Kathy Shaidle's blog. Est. 2000

Is James Damore really in trouble over a masturbation joke?

November 24, 2017 By Kathy Shaidle

Christopher DeGroot writes:

The former chess prodigy is now blacklisted from the big tech companies, despite having, in the language of the corporate rabble, a proven track record of success as a software engineer. In the Guardian article from which I have quoted, we learn that Damore was diagnosed with a mild form of autism in his mid-20s. Paul Lewis, the liberal author of this subtle hatchet job, based—where else—in San Francisco, describes Damore’s first failure to submit to the diversity idol:

“Damore was on a two-day retreat for [Harvard] PhD students, which involved an annual tradition of inviting students to perform skits that lightly poked fun at professors. Damore’s performance included an awkwardly delivered masturbation joke that offended some female students. Two professors later wrote to students apologising for the “uneasiness, embarrassment or offense” he had caused. Damore still finds it hard to see why his skit was objectionable, but accepts he may view it differently, “because I’m on the spectrum.””

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