Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Concerns about facist attitudes and how although the sky is not falling, there needs to be serious changes.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<But I'm sorry, I'm busy being attacked by Nikki, who has no clue what kind of 'hurting' I'm in, nor what kind of income I bring in, nor what my personal circumstances are, yet sees fit to be 'disgusted' by me. Oh well ... I just hope those judgmental 'tudes don't come out in a classroom.>> I've been called delusional, scary, ignorant and prejudiced, but I'M attacking you. I also find it AMAZING that these simple minded Disney retail workers your refer to could tell from just looking at you that you were intellectually superior to their manager and themselves. It must be an awesome burden to shoulder a genius so evident that people can detect it on site. Einstein never had it so good. And let me paraphrase what you said: you didn't go to the Character Outlet for the money, but for the discounts on your Disney habit. Yet, you're hurting financially. Can you not see how ridiculous you sound, especially in this current economic climate? dshyates- I would never begrudge government assistance to a person such as yourself. You're hardworking and a set of unfortunate circumstances have befallen you. I wish you the best of luck in your interview and I hope that you can find a good-paying job closer to home so you can be near your children. Even though I don't have children of my own, I would not wish that a child be separated from a GOOD parent in any circumstance.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<No offense Trippy (seriously) but sometimes your stats aren't accurate no matter how official they are.>> <<I filled up for 89 cents a gallon at Jin Kwik's Shell -- right behind TDA on Harbor -- in 11/01. And was consistently paying in the dollar range for the rest of 01 and possibly into '02.>> I'm sure there is always a gas war going on somewhere. We had a place recently in the Twin Cities that was selling gas for $2 per gallon as a promotional stunt. YOU are the person with the inaccurate data. You take a "random sample of one" and based on that ONE sample you imply that was indicative of the whole country. You know as well as I how totally invalid that is. The figures I presented were an AVERAGE of U.S. gas prices and were a helluva lot more relevant than yours.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<It is not just down to government either. It is a holistic social demographic approach that needs to bring in the balance between self determination, guidance and control. This has to happen at the neighbourhood level, charity and voluntary sector, civic leaders, schools, employers, government all merging with a local area agreement, with a robust business case, a target operating model, a series of key performance indicators to demonstrate step change, training, commissioning cycles, citizen governance, and a staltwart review cycle. When this is in place, it makes a huge difference.>> It's a lot faster to just take away their benefits and make them sleep in the street... ;-) Just kidding... Actually that would be faster. But not better.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well Nikki, what would be your assessment of need criteria? How would your resource allocation system work? How do you ensure in a litigious nation, that the courts are not burdened by appeals costing even more? This is why I am saying the new direction is needed. Also, I don't know what chip you have on your shoulder, but Spirit was talking in the past tense. I am pretty sure he would have had the same experience if he was looking for work for financial reasons.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<It must be an awesome burden to shoulder a genius so evident that people can detect it on site.>> That should be SIGHT, not site.
Originally Posted By MPierce You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. Now could someone please direct me to that forum to where all the Disney Geeks hang out, and babble on endlessly about Walt Disney World?
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo well Hitler came up with one better, for the disabled (Nikki's mom and my mom), the unemployed etc. Or taking it the other way, it could be like NYC, get them on the streets, and then make new laws to push them out. Don't get me started on the California Shanty towns I saw, really depressing.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo MPIERCE, also correct. It is about taking Machievelli's notions of fortuna and virtu, or fortune and control. The rich and powerful, and especially those that have risen through the ranks, should be there for us to aspire to be (much more than the sports stars, Britany's and Paris Hilton's of this world). But by the same token, abandoning them is not right too. It is about giving a hand up, not out. Teaching a man to fish. In the so called Christian country that the right love to vaunt, I see very unchristian behaviours. Perhaps this is why I am a pagan. You do not have to bring others down, but do things a little differently. That's all. There is a reason that Denmark is the happiest country in the world while the US is in the late teens, the people are prosperous. There are rich and poor, but overall people are comfortable.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <<<In my experience managers, regardless of industry, are often threatened by direct reports who are substantially more qualified than they are themselves.>> Of course they are. People are insecure, especially in the workplace, especially in the USA where workers are not valued. If I were a VP of a major company, I'd want to hire the smartest, best subordinates that I could find. I would do so because I'd feel they'd do a good job and they'd make me look good while doing so. But that is the direct opposite of how 99.9% of people in management think. They feel if they hire someone of that caliber than 'they'll have my job' ...< of course this is true. 2 years ago I was looking to change industries - to try and find one were all the jobs weren't headed for Brazil - so I applied for a VP of Organizational Development & Resources at a local large hospital. I breezed thru the first two interviews and the HR director was already pickingout my parking space. I had a casual interview with the hospital CEO which went very well. Then came the interview with VP of Operations. He was only in his role about 6 months and had moved her from a small hospital in Cleveland. He started the interview by telling me howmuch the CEO liked me because he felt I could do any VP role in the hospital based on education and work experience. I knew I was doomed by the look on his face. Here he was, 10 years my junior , armed with a bachelors degree and some operations experience - and I with 2 masters degree and a phd in OD, and handling a 1/2 B$ budget. The interview was short - and I didn;t hear anything for almost a week when I called back. he toldme they decided to go to a search firm for a candidate. Well lo and behold, my wife works for a hospital in the area for the last 7 years and whodo I run into at the groundbreaking for the new heart hospital but aforementioned CEO. He askedmewhat I was doing, and I toldhim the samething I waswhen I met him. He tells me it was a shameI wasn't interested in the VProle at his hospital. I said really ? Where did you get that from ? He said the VP of Operations told him I wanted to still look around some more before making a decision. So I gave him the real story as he looked really really pissed off. I don't know what he did with the info but I sincerely hope there was a gentleman on his way back to Cleveland.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Agreed. I do and have hired better people than me. I am a leader first and foremost. Therefore I try to find people better than me to work for me. It produces far better results and we all benefit then. But I know it is rare.< ditto here. There are 3 VP's in my corporation higher level than I am that I hired at one point for other roles. What people don't seemto realize is that if you get a rep for hiring talent, it helps you. These 3 VP's are sort of an insurance policy for me these days...as long as I keep performing as well.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Concerns about facist attitudes and how although the sky is not falling, there needs to be serious changes.< while it may not have fallen yet - there are some serious cracks in it
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey For those of you who believe I might be prejudiced in the classroom, let me say that I LOVE my students, even the one that threatened to hold a knife to my throat last year. I felt particularly bad for him because he was diagnosed with a mental disorder which, when he wasn't given his medicine, left him nearly impossible to deal with in the classroom. He'd curse me, he'd threaten me, he'd severely disrupt class on an almost daily basis - all because mom didn't make sure he took his medicine every day. She left it up to him, and on at least 10 occasions he had to be picked up from school because we couldn't handle him. None of my kids were responsible for the circumstances they found themselves in, and I can't see leaving them with a parent who isn't properly parenting. THAT is what's really unfair to these kids. I was completely torn up when I had to fail a little girl for the year because she didn't pass math. She barely passed any of her subjects, and had failing or nearly failing grades all year long. I discussed her problems with her mom, early in the year and sent progress reports home regularly, which were returned to me signed. The mother came in when she found out her daughter failed and said she had no idea she was failing. How could I make it more plain - did I need to tattoo it on her forehead? Some of you believe I am uncaring, but the whole reason I teach in Orleans Parish (which is not where I live - I live in Jefferson) is because I wanted to do my part to help improve the lives of these children. I'm trying to make a difference in their lives now so they realize that they can follow a different, more successful path that some of their parents have. I don't tell them they need to be millionaires; I tell them that their education will allow them to have choices that they otherwise may not have. On the first day of school I'm planning to talk to them about what they want to do when they grow up and relate all of their studies to their future careers, and that will be a recurring theme all year long, even more so that it was last year. I'm not cold and heartless, especially when it comes to kids. But I won't endorse continually pumping money into an adult who won't make an effort to change his/her situation.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Davewasbaloo -- in this thread you mentioned you were a leader first and foremost. I think that is hitting the nailsquarely on the head with many issues worldwide - I consider myself likewise and I guess have enough of an ego to carry it out.. the problem worldwide is we have so very few leaders. In industry, in the arts, and God help us, in politics.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<Well Nikki, what would be your assessment of need criteria? How would your resource allocation system work? How do you ensure in a litigious nation, that the courts are not burdened by appeals costing even more?>> I don't have all the answers, dave, and I'm not claiming that I do. I do know that they current system IS NOT working. You said we should teach men to fish, and I'm all for that. I'm just not going to pay someone to sit on the riverbank while everyone else is out in the boat.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I've also hired several people that were better than me. It always worked out great. The manager always gets the credit/blame for the work of the team so it only makes sense to hire the absolute best people you can. Then be sure to let those up the food chain know of the great contributions made by these folks. That keeps your team happy because they see that you are acknowledging their contributions to your superiors.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Nikki, I do truly believe your heart is in the right place, and we are on different pages in the same book. Look at the timedollars website, and the guardian article. These are not about just giving out the money. am I not explaining myself clearly? It is about joining up the approaches and getting people to contribute to their communities. when they do not, there are penalties as well. But your early posts I perceived as rants. It is about conditioning, and that takes time. The difficulty is so many "do gooders" will do something like a fund raiser and not really deal with the cause, just the symptoms. Please reread some of my posts.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<You said we should teach men to fish, and I'm all for that. I'm just not going to pay someone to sit on the riverbank while everyone else is out in the boat.>> Nor will I pay for someone to go to the person on the riverbank, grab their hand and take them to the other boat when there is a sign pointing the way. BTW, this area has two well-known job placement agencies - Job 1 and LA Works - which are heavily advertised. The opportunities are out there, but some people won't take advantage of them.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo True VBDAD. There is a difference between leadership, management, and administrators. The world is full of the two latter characteristics, and not so much of a former. I have always aspired for leadership, never management or administration, they are simply skills. Interesting etimology. Manager comes from "Manos" - to wield with a sword. Leader comes from the latin to show the way.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo But Nikki, it is about carrot and stick. One on it's own will not work. It is about striking the balance. reward people by giving them breaks when they are starting (restarting) and have a stick to show what happens if they do not achieve.
