“Never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television” was Vidal’s motto as only the paranoid plans of men and mice tend to survive as who can you really trust To deliver just cold river revenges ...
What happens when two fiercely clever controversialists, skilled in the art of mandarin invective, clash on national TV?... 1968 - Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr
What We Have Here Is Failure To Educate - L'Ombre de l'Olivier.
Very few seem to learn at school how to make a logical argument, how to debate or how to respond to criticism – and the criticism need not be of them personally just someone/something they support. Hence you see cases where students complain about professors being *phobic or *ist when they quote what some other person said as a trigger for debate or learning.
Even though I am an old dog, I am comforted that I can still learn a few new tricks, and I learned some new things in the excerpt about educashun; however, being the over-the-hill, decrepit old bloodhound that I am, I am smart enough to know that even more can still be discovered, so I will stay on the challenging trail until I someday drop dead during the quest ...
The New York Times: Understanding the times Visual investigations based on social media posts require a mix of traditional journalistic diligence and cutting-edge internet skills.
Why Review The Arts?
"Our world is moving faster and faster, and we're more polarized and tribal. We find fewer and fewer excuses to talk about anything. (Reviews) are an opportunity to stop and let it marinade and understand how art helps us understand ourselves." … Read More
Has China’s Most Famous Actress Been Made A Non-Person?
Fan Bingbing has made dozens of movies in China, played roles in Hollywood's X-Men and Iron Man franchises, appeared in ads all over the glove, and has 62 million followers on Weibo (China's Twitter). It has now been more than three months since she's been seen in public. Her name has disappeared from posters for her next film (whose release date was pushed back), and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences just released of 100 celebrities ranked by "social responsibility" on which Fan was dead last. Rumors are flying, and reporter Steven Lee Myers looks at what might be behind them. … Read More
Vessels of Very Limited Content'
We are not precisely who we thought we were. We are composite creatures, and our ancestry seems to arise from a dark zone of the living world, a group of creatures about which science, until recent decades, was ignorant. Evolution is tricker, far more intricate, than we had realized. The tree of life is more tangled. Genes don’t move just vertically. they can also pass laterally across species boundaries, across wider gaps, even between different kingdoms of life, and some have come sideways into our own lineage — the primate lineage — from unsuspected, nonprimate sources. It’s the genetic equivalent of a blood transfusion or (different metaphor, preferred by some scientists) an infection that transforms identity. “Infective heredity.” I’ll say more about that in its place.
My favorite part of the book is the section, starting on p.244, on latitude bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics that have not yet been invented. Overall this is likely to prove the best popular science book of the year, you can buy it A Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life Here are various reviews of the book Top Cop bans affairs / Police affairs at work ban | NSW
John Steinbeck was a bad husband. How bad? On his wedding night, he spent more than an hour on the phone with his mistress
When we are young, we are taught that art comes from lofty places — the pursuit of truth, beauty, sublimity. Nonsense. It comes from antipathy, insecurity, jealousy Reality Bites
If you're on the receiving end of a demotion, your first inclination might be to up and quit, which is precisely what 52% of demoted workers have done in the past. But before you do, you might consider fighting back against that demotion, especially if you feel it was unwarranted.
When a demotion strikes
Arguing your demotion won't necessarily be easy, but if you feel you didn't deserve that fate, it's an effort worth making. But, first, know this: Most U.S. workers are employed at will, which means your company can fire or demote you as it pleases. There are exceptions, however. It's illegal for your employer to force you to take a step down because of your race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs, so if you have reason to think one of these factors has played a role in your demotion, that's something you should take to your HR department immediately. Similarly, if you happen to get demoted after reporting an unsafe or unfair practice at work, that's something to bring up to HR as well, since employers aren't allowed to demote workers for whistleblowing.
But let's assume that your demotion isn't a matter of discrimination or retaliation but rather just a generally unfair move on the part of your boss. If that's the case, then you still have a leg to stand on if there's no documentation on record showing your performance has been problematic. While your boss might claim that your work has been suffering of late, or that your attitude hasn't been stellar, usually companies require managers to document such unfavorable patterns so that when demotions do occur, there's a lower chance of legal repercussions. Therefore, if your file doesn't contain a single black mark against you, you should absolutely argue that fact with your company's HR team.
Before you do, however, sit down with your boss and try to get to the bottom of things. Specifically, ask for an explanation as to why you were demoted, and, if possible, get your manager to put it in writing. This will avoid a "he said, she said" situation when HR inevitably needs to get involved.
Next, gather evidence to show why your boss' assertions are bogus. For example, if your manager claims that your poor attention to detail drove the decision to demote you, review the last several dozen assignments you submitted. If none of them contained negative feedback, but were all accepted as is, that diminishes the validity of your boss' claim.
You might also need to enlist the help of your colleagues to fight back against your demotion. For example, if your boss claims that you've been rude and difficult to work with, it'll be hard to prove that that wasn't the case unless your coworkers are willing to step in and back you up. But if you can get a few of them in your corner, it might help you build your case.
Once you know what you're dealing with, take that information to HR and present it professionally. Don't accuse your boss of being unfair but, rather, state that you feel your demotion was unwarranted, and emphasize the fact that it was truly out of the blue. Then, give your HR team some time to review the facts at hand. Maybe they'll side with you and overturn your boss' decision or maybe they won't. It'll all depend on the circumstances at hand. But know that you really have little to lose by fighting back.
Demoted at work? What are your options - Industrial Relations Claims
Second Chances: Demote Them Before You Fire Them
Accepting a demotion | Financial Times
HR Advance | Demotion
Demotion: How should we handle employee demotions? - SHRM
The Entire Staff Of This Public Radio Organization Asked Its Board To Fire The CEO (And They Did)
A 16-page letter from the staff to the board of the Association of Independents in Radio described a "toxic work environment" and detailed then-CEO Sue Schardt's "unchecked gaslighting of staff," "inability to collaborate" and micromanaging style, and "sexist and racist comments." In sum, said the letter, "Sue's leadership of AIR and treatment of staff directly contradict the organization's mission of supporting and creating conditions for independent producers to thrive." … [Read More]
RealClearBooks: In “The Happiness Curve,” you write that crises such as unemployment, divorce, disease take their toll on human beings — which is intuitive — and cite research that puts a price take on it ($60,000 a year for losing your job; $100,00 for a painful divorce). Absent those kind of traumas, what’s the single biggest determinant of happiness in adults?
Jonathan Rauch: Positive, trusting social connection. Hands down. Being in supportive, trusting, and loving relationships is more important than wealth, health, and status. In fact, investing in wealth and status just makes us hungrier for more of the same (what researchers call the hedonic treadmill). Investing in core relationships and giving back to others provides lasting satisfaction that grows over time.