I'm sure they are willing to use violence. But for anything that matters, it's a question of "you and what army". The UN doesn't have a military force, it has national military units that the national governments allow it to borrow.
1. Convince people to give you power. 2. Trade for it, which requires having something to trade. 3. Use violence or the threat thereof to get people to do what you want.
The UN doesn't have anything useful for #2, and "you and what army" for #3. #1 is the only option left to them, and sovereign nations are not very easy to convince to give up their power (except, maybe, for post-National Europe).
The UN was originally the alliance of anti-Nazi powers: US, UK, and USSR. Out of the three, two were western. Now, however, most countries are not western and not interested in becoming western.
The UN prefers the interests of member governments over western ideals? I'm shocked! Shocked!
Seriously, imagine the Republican Party leadership, and/or the Democratic Party leadership, if they never had to stand for elections. How much would they care about our interests? Now, remember that most of the UN doesn't belong to our culture either. Why would a bunch of government employees, mostly from dictatorships of one kind or another, be opposed to censorship?
Yes, but the level of impulse control required not to have kids dropped significantly. It used to be that to avoid having kids you had to be celibate, and that's very hard. Now you have to go get contraceptives, which is a lot easier.
it's birth control that we should blame for the study's results!
Probably birth control is playing a big role. I predict that in two centuries most people will be descended from those who wanted children or had bad impulse control. Probably we'll have a more religious population (religion tends to correlate with fertility in western societies).
There is a huge number of career possibilities for each of us. Some we reject because they'll be boring. Others because we won't be able to stand ourselves if we do them. Some, because we want to get paid more.
Money is one of a number of criteria used to select a career. I don't think that makes it the prime motivator.
So doing a bad job gets you fired, but there's no penalty for a mediocre job (since the company needs to be able to prove at court you've been negligent)?
BTW, are there any advantages to European companies to hire employees, instead of getting in contractors? It seems they'll have to be really good at anticipating future demand with employees.
"At will" employment scares me especially since you can be fired without any good reason.
How do European companies handle it when people don't bother to do a good job? How do they handle it when there's a downturn and they can't afford to keep all the people they hired? Or when there's a surge in demand and they need people to work longer hours?
Or do they feel less welcome in the culture? Or perhaps their own home cultures are changing to where they feel they can shape them for the better?
Speaking as an immigrant to the US, the only part of the country that ever made me feel unwelcome was the INS. However, China and India have a much better economy now than they used to. It makes sense less PhD graduates will choose to stay here than used to.
Whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their actions?
The welfare state. Or to quote Kipling:
WHETHER the State can loose and bind In Heaven as well as on Earth: If it be wiser to kill mankind Before or after the birthâ" These are matters of high concern Where State-kept schoolmen are; But Holy State (we have lived to learn) Endeth in Holy War.
Whether The People be led by The Lord, Or lured by the loudest throat: If it be quicker to die by the sword Or cheaper to die by voteâ" These are things we have dealt with once, (And they will not rise from their grave) For Holy People, however it runs, Endeth in wholly Slave.
Whatsoever, for any cause, Seeketh to take or give, Power above or beyond the Laws, Suffer it not to live! Holy State or Holy Kingâ" Or Holy Peopleâ(TM)s Willâ" Have no truck with the senseless thing. Order the guns and kill! Sayingâ"afterâ"me:â"
Once there was The Peopleâ"Terror gave it birth; Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth. Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, O ye slain! Once there was The Peopleâ"it shall never be again!
According to this research, ads in video games are more memorable when the game includes a violent component. This makes evolutionary sense, there are good reasons to pay attention during violent incidents. If you survive violence, you should remember what happened so you'll be able to survive next time.
This ability to learn quickly in relationship with violence might be useful in Instructional Design, especially when teaching facts that are inherently boring. For example, imagine a version of Quake which requires you to shoot one specific molecule type while avoiding shooting any of the others to teach organic chemistry. While you're looking for that one molecule type, you have billboards in the game world that teach you the others, which you'll need at higher levels.
In other words, help your manager do their job instead of you doing yours.
Not instead of your job, but in addition to it. Overall, an organization where people go the extra mile to help those they work with tends to be a lot more productive than one where people stick to doing their formal jobs and nothing else.
And yes, this also means helping your co-workers and the people you manage (if you're a manager).
His advice seems to be "If you are a great programmer, you still have to get out and market". Jesus freaking Christ, can't companies do employee evaluations at all?
In a word, no. The reason they can't do it is that measuring the value of n programmers on a team would require reading and understanding all of their code. Managers have too much other work.
You need to make the job of the people around you easier. That includes your manager.
Spiegel claims he's fired people. I wonder how he would have chosen people if he saw through an employee's thinly veiled attempts to make himself look better? Or if he knew that employee spent time trying to cover his or her own ass instead of -- you know -- just get work done? These points aren't addressed in the blog.
I think it's a matter of semantics. Bragging as a thin attempt to make yourself look better when you suck is worthless. Managers are not stupid.
However, managers are busy. In most organizations, too busy to do too much work managing their employees. Business bragging simply means to inform your boss when you do something good. Don't lie. Don't stretch the truth. Just provide information the boss might be too busy to notice.
but what about covered up scandals and government conspiracies (ie- NSA Wiretapping Program, Secret CIA Prisons, Torture)
Have the investigations funded by somebody who has a financial interest in finding out about them. I'm sure the Democratic party got plenty of value out of any dirt uncovered by looking for this. Similarly, the Republican party has a lot of interest in getting bad news about ACORN out.
It might require investigative journalists to gather really good evidence, but requiring that is a good idea anyway.
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I'm sure they are willing to use violence. But for anything that matters, it's a question of "you and what army". The UN doesn't have a military force, it has national military units that the national governments allow it to borrow.
Not exactly. The League of Nations disbanded itself in 1946, giving its assets to the UN. The UN itself was first thought out in 1943 in the Tehran conference. It was during WWII, so only the allies were in attendance.
There are three ways to expand one's power:
1. Convince people to give you power.
2. Trade for it, which requires having something to trade.
3. Use violence or the threat thereof to get people to do what you want.
The UN doesn't have anything useful for #2, and "you and what army" for #3. #1 is the only option left to them, and sovereign nations are not very easy to convince to give up their power (except, maybe, for post-National Europe).
The UN was originally the alliance of anti-Nazi powers: US, UK, and USSR. Out of the three, two were western. Now, however, most countries are not western and not interested in becoming western.
I don't see why the US is paying 22% of the costs.
The UN prefers the interests of member governments over western ideals? I'm shocked! Shocked!
Seriously, imagine the Republican Party leadership, and/or the Democratic Party leadership, if they never had to stand for elections. How much would they care about our interests? Now, remember that most of the UN doesn't belong to our culture either. Why would a bunch of government employees, mostly from dictatorships of one kind or another, be opposed to censorship?
Yes, but the level of impulse control required not to have kids dropped significantly. It used to be that to avoid having kids you had to be celibate, and that's very hard. Now you have to go get contraceptives, which is a lot easier.
it's birth control that we should blame for the study's results!
Probably birth control is playing a big role. I predict that in two centuries most people will be descended from those who wanted children or had bad impulse control. Probably we'll have a more religious population (religion tends to correlate with fertility in western societies).
Isn't it normal practice for administrators to look in mailboxes when debugging mail problems?
Do you have an expectation of privacy when you send a postcard?
Would you care to look at the economic statistics from the late 70s, prior to Reagen and Thatcher? They weren't good.
There is a huge number of career possibilities for each of us. Some we reject because they'll be boring. Others because we won't be able to stand ourselves if we do them. Some, because we want to get paid more.
Money is one of a number of criteria used to select a career. I don't think that makes it the prime motivator.
I had hoped that the best scientist and engineers would be motivated by something more than just money.
They might not be motivated just by money, but money is a motivator in our society. Scientists and engineers are just like other people.
I don't see the problem with a docker making $80 an hour
When you have to pay a bunch more money for anything that comes by ship, you might.
So doing a bad job gets you fired, but there's no penalty for a mediocre job (since the company needs to be able to prove at court you've been negligent)?
BTW, are there any advantages to European companies to hire employees, instead of getting in contractors? It seems they'll have to be really good at anticipating future demand with employees.
"At will" employment scares me especially since you can be fired without any good reason.
How do European companies handle it when people don't bother to do a good job? How do they handle it when there's a downturn and they can't afford to keep all the people they hired? Or when there's a surge in demand and they need people to work longer hours?
Or do they feel less welcome in the culture? Or perhaps their own home cultures are changing to where they feel they can shape them for the better?
Speaking as an immigrant to the US, the only part of the country that ever made me feel unwelcome was the INS. However, China and India have a much better economy now than they used to. It makes sense less PhD graduates will choose to stay here than used to.
Thank you *blush*. If more people read Kipling, we'd be better off.
Whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their actions?
The welfare state. Or to quote Kipling:
WHETHER the State can loose and bind
In Heaven as well as on Earth:
If it be wiser to kill mankind
Before or after the birthâ"
These are matters of high concern
Where State-kept schoolmen are;
But Holy State (we have lived to learn)
Endeth in Holy War.
Whether The People be led by The Lord,
Or lured by the loudest throat:
If it be quicker to die by the sword
Or cheaper to die by voteâ"
These are things we have dealt with once,
(And they will not rise from their grave)
For Holy People, however it runs,
Endeth in wholly Slave.
Whatsoever, for any cause,
Seeketh to take or give,
Power above or beyond the Laws,
Suffer it not to live!
Holy State or Holy Kingâ"
Or Holy Peopleâ(TM)s Willâ"
Have no truck with the senseless thing.
Order the guns and kill!
Sayingâ"afterâ"me:â"
Once there was The Peopleâ"Terror gave it birth;
Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth.
Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, O ye slain!
Once there was The Peopleâ"it shall never be again!
According to this research, ads in video games are more memorable when the game includes a violent component. This makes evolutionary sense, there are good reasons to pay attention during violent incidents. If you survive violence, you should remember what happened so you'll be able to survive next time.
This ability to learn quickly in relationship with violence might be useful in Instructional Design, especially when teaching facts that are inherently boring. For example, imagine a version of Quake which requires you to shoot one specific molecule type while avoiding shooting any of the others to teach organic chemistry. While you're looking for that one molecule type, you have billboards in the game world that teach you the others, which you'll need at higher levels.
Bad argument, since rich people can also afford more medical treatment.
Not that sin taxes are a good idea - but this particular argument against them doesn't work well.
Your manager needs to make YOUR job easier. That's the whole and only reason management should exist.
Reciprocity. My manager makes my job easier, and I make his job easier.
In other words, help your manager do their job instead of you doing yours.
Not instead of your job, but in addition to it. Overall, an organization where people go the extra mile to help those they work with tends to be a lot more productive than one where people stick to doing their formal jobs and nothing else.
And yes, this also means helping your co-workers and the people you manage (if you're a manager).
His advice seems to be "If you are a great programmer, you still have to get out and market". Jesus freaking Christ, can't companies do employee evaluations at all?
In a word, no. The reason they can't do it is that measuring the value of n programmers on a team would require reading and understanding all of their code. Managers have too much other work.
You need to make the job of the people around you easier. That includes your manager.
Spiegel claims he's fired people. I wonder how he would have chosen people if he saw through an employee's thinly veiled attempts to make himself look better? Or if he knew that employee spent time trying to cover his or her own ass instead of -- you know -- just get work done? These points aren't addressed in the blog.
I think it's a matter of semantics. Bragging as a thin attempt to make yourself look better when you suck is worthless. Managers are not stupid.
However, managers are busy. In most organizations, too busy to do too much work managing their employees. Business bragging simply means to inform your boss when you do something good. Don't lie. Don't stretch the truth. Just provide information the boss might be too busy to notice.
Managers like when you make their jobs easier.
but what about covered up scandals and government conspiracies (ie- NSA Wiretapping Program, Secret CIA Prisons, Torture)
Have the investigations funded by somebody who has a financial interest in finding out about them. I'm sure the Democratic party got plenty of value out of any dirt uncovered by looking for this. Similarly, the Republican party has a lot of interest in getting bad news about ACORN out.
It might require investigative journalists to gather really good evidence, but requiring that is a good idea anyway.