December, 2014 archive
When the Boss Is the Stasi 0
The San Jose Mercury-News reports that employers are rushing to surveil their employees.
(snip)
But other studies conclude that such monitoring can be so intrusive it undermines an employee’s work and well-being, producing anxiety or even depression. The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, a now-defunct advisory branch of Congress, warned that the trend might lead to poor office morale, staff turnover, worker slowdowns and even “employee sabotage.”
In another life, I did management training. Fundamental to good management is trusting employees to do their jobs, then, as the saying goes, “working the exceptions.” Employers who do not trust their employees will find that they have created untrustworthy employees. Persons tend to meet expectations, and, when you expect misconduct, you will get misconduct.
The Morally Bankrupt Party 0
The Daily Banter rounds up Republican defenses of torture.
Responsible Fiscals 0
Indeed.
The party owes $75,000 on a line of credit at Alliance Bank for loans taken out in late October and November, according to federal finance reports filed this month. It owes another $85,000 in other bank loans.
All told, the party had $990,000 in debt in its federal account after the election. As of mid-October, it also had $450,000 in debt in its state account.
I trust I am not the only person to see the irony in this.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Play politely . . .
. . . and another gun that apparently just goes off all on its ownsome.
Droning On 1
It occured to me last night that that jingoistic chestnut, The Green Berets, from the Viet Nam era needs updating. Here’s a try at it:
Flying robots in the sky,
Raining death as they spy,
Making war the American way,
Flown by gamers a world away.
Air power, robotic or not, will succeed in today’s Middle East, whatever the hell “succeed” means there, as thoroughly as it did in Viet Nam, whatever the hell “success” would have meant there. The war in Iraq, like the one in Viet Nam, was based on a lie, and our falling for the lie is not a reason to keep fighting for the lie.
“Just Following Orders” 0
Eugene Robinson unloads both barrels on those who would defend evil:
We relied on legal advice, the torturers say. We were just following orders. We believed the ends justified the means.
It is nauseating to hear such pathetic excuses from those who, in the name of the United States, sanctioned or committed acts that long have been recognized as war crimes.
Read it.
Facebook Frolics 0
Remain calm. Philadelphia thought police are on patrol.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Being polite at the open-carry-out:
The gentleman, who was carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun did not have a secure holster for the gun.
“As he was leaving, he bent down to pick up an aluminum can and his gun hit the ground and discharged, hitting him in the thigh,” said Stewart.
Guns and stupid go together so well.
There’s an App for That 0
The Driving while Black app purports to instruct Not White persons on how the be properly subservient when rousted by the cops.
How about a “Rousting while Blue app” to help cops not kill innoce–oh, never mind.
Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button? 0
I discovered last night that my new television, which is quite a nice little television, seems to have no buttons. At least, I could not find any buttons, not even with the help of a flashlight.
If you can’t find the remote, you can’t turn it off. This produces a quandary if your partner has fallen asleep atop the remote.
I have another smaller, slightly older model from the same manufacturer that does have buttons (on the bottom right of the frame). If the newer one has buttons, they are certainly well hidden. Buttons are not a fit subject for a treasure hunt.
I can conclude only that we as a society are becoming too remote.
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
