#then that's demoralizing to the others. they will lose their sense of job security. and it would make them consider leaving too.

[orcelito]

and you know what, i can speak in the language of business people. i can cater to logistics for why we shouldnt fire someone just for pay cuts. im not going to let someone just get fired for such little reasons.

[mr-entj]

As you're nearly 30 now, what would you have told your 20 year old self if you had the chance? Do you have any advice or tips for people currently in their early 20's, possibly in college and worried about the future? Any advice to help build self-esteem and to achieve what they want? Thank you.

Combined with the following ask:

Do you have any tips for how to improve self-esteem and confidence? I think I may be an xNTJ but years of bullying, betrayal, depression, and bereavement have left me feeling pretty low and worthless.

A few thoughts below.

To my 20 year old self

You can be right and still lose the argument. How you communicate to someone and how you deliver the message is just as important as the contents of the message itself. If you disregard the nuances of other human beings and come off as a total asshole, they’ll completely shut down and reject your input no matter how great it is.

Don’t fight battles with no rewards. If people can’t stop you, they’ll try to distract you so you’ll trip over your own feet and sabotage yourself. Don’t let them.

Older people may be less intelligent than you, but they have more experience– listen and learn. Even idiots can teach you what not to do.

Shut up. Most situations don’t require your input, your action, your reaction, or your intervention. Often times it’s like throwing gas on a fire to put it out. If you’re patient and wait, the answers tend to reveal themselves or the problem will solve itself.

Always do your laundry, there’s nothing worse than running out of clean underwear.

On building self-esteem and confidence

Stop explaining yourself to people who have already made up their minds about you. It’s a waste of time so tend to the relationships with the people who genuinely care for your well-being.

Finish. Quitting is a pathological disorder that can spread to other areas of your life. If you quit at one thing, the odds are you have low resilience and you will give up at other endeavors in your life. No matter what– finish. Get to the end. No matter how imperfect you think the outcome will be, finish. You’ll either have a sense of accomplishment from having completed something, lessons learned from the failure, or both. 

Small victories build confidence. If you can’t do the small things correctly, you won’t be able to tackle the big things. If you can’t wake up in the morning and jog a mile consistently then you’re not going to be able to climb Mount Everest. Patience is key and biting off more than you can chew will often end in failure and demoralization. Practice makes perfect, and progress takes time. 

Pain is weakness leaving the body. Build your tolerance by trying new things outside of your comfort zone, push yourself when you feel like you want to quit, and confront the things you fear the most. Similar to lifting weights, the only way your body can grow stronger is by steadily increasing the weights until you can bear heavier burdens. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.

Be a thermostat, not a thermometer. That is, be consistent in your values, personality, and habits– don’t let your emotions and behavior mold to your environment because you’ll always be in a state of flux. It makes you vulnerable to other people dictating your moods.

Follow your heart but take your brain with you. Do the things you love but in a logical and planned way. Don’t question your goal if it’s what you truly want to do, but scrutinize your method because that’s what will determine success or failure.

On college

Evidence is more powerful than theory. In college and in the real world, you must be able to prove your abilities with evidence because just being “smart” isn’t enough. That evidence is superior performance, high grades, high test scores, and strong internships. You can’t stroll into a job interview and debate the interviewer, declare victory, and secure the position. Come with proof.  

Do well no matter what. Even if you’re unsure about your major, never let your performance slide because GPAs are cumulative. If you only do well in the subjects you love, it will reveal to employers that you have selective motivation. This is a problem because in the real world you won’t enjoy everything assigned to you even at a job you love and employers need to have confidence you can still succeed.

Who you know is as important as what you know. Connections matter in the real world, don’t overlook building relationships with people who will be your peers, your friends, future colleagues, and potential future bosses for the rest of your life and professional career.

Don’t fuck around. If you’re paying thousands of dollars in tuition and going into debt, make sure you pick a career that can sustain you after you graduate. No matter how much you love fine arts, if you go $100,000 into debt at 6.5% interest, your life will be extremely difficult. Find a balance between what you love and what can support you.

Have a job offer before you graduate. When you’re a student, you have the luxury of being an intern and trying new things without companies having to navigate complicated labor laws. Once you graduate, you’re just another unemployed person. Take advantage of the time you have as a student to seize those opportunities so the transition post-graduation is seamless.

[violetsystems]

#personal

While life has been incredibly isolating in ways, I’ve had a taste of what real independence feels like.  Everybody in America is always expressing their freedom by telling other people what they believe they are free to do.  But they’re not very free to listen.  They never seem to have any time to be free in public.  I live in a city with no car so I walk a lot.  I’ve walked cities all over the world at this point.  Half of Seoul by myself for years on end.  Spent an equal amount of time roaming New York with no real reason or invitation.  You meet a lot of people in passing.  In passing is a very unique space.  You share a moment with a person and it passes completely forgotten yet it feels poignant and unique.  And like that your interaction with a person is gone.  People forget you exist.  That you had meaning to them for a moment.  That you opened up in public and acknowledged their existence.  You tend to get less sensitive about talking to people.  If you are me, it’s mostly because nobody ever makes it a point to reconnect.  I always feel like I am a blink to most people.  Thanksgiving is a cold reminder of that.  I spoke with my parents.  My mom reminded me for five years I would leave after her birthday to spend a month in Korea.  So most of the time I would miss American Thanksgiving entirely.  Truth be told, I went to the Asian grocery store instead this year.  Alone again.  It’s a mindfuck sometimes when you try to be open and understanding and all doors are shut.  Last Sunday, my landlord called to speak about some issues on the property.  It’s mostly because I am open to talking about these things.  I am in a unique relationship in regards to where I rent.  Everything about me and my relationships with people when they work are nuanced.  Americans tend to be very by the book.  Most of my agreements are silent understandings at best.  I’ve always thought of it as the perks of being responsible and transparent.  That can bite you in the ass when everyone judges you and what they think you have a right to do.  But this is America in some ways.  We learned from the virus outbreak that you can’t really tell anyone what to do here in this country. And yet everyone is always hellbent in expressing themselves in comparison to what you get away with.  Everybody wants to know the inside scoop or the dirt.  Mostly because people define themselves by scarcity and having more than others.  Nobody really shares.  It’s most apparent when you look at your own life.  I was let go from a job after twenty years in July.  I haven’t heard anything from anyone in my professional network since October.  I was ghosted and it hurt.  And I blamed myself for awhile.  Then out of boredom and depression I figured out a way to survive. And in some ways feel more free than I’ve ever been.  This at a time when everyone is totally closed off to the world.  Even in a city where everybody seems to know your name and everything about you.  Everybody seems to know your struggle but won’t acknowledge how hard it is to do alone.  And you begin to care less altogether about what other people think.

Sometimes it feels like my job is to listen to Bloomberg all morning and stare at numbers on a screen.  And granted this is how I regenerated a large amount of liquid income over the last three months.  From the outside it probably looks like I’m living the life.  Except that it’s a life nobody wants to acknowledge exists.  Like it’s some inside joke or some long play to prove something to the world.  I’ve proven one thing.  I rely on myself and I get by.  I get mixed messages every time I leave the house from the world about what it is I’m supposed to be doing and what my value is as a person.  And yet I know every time somebody new sees me on the street I’m only an excuse to talk about someone they’ll never stop to know.  Sometimes this is good.  I don’t really want any new fair weather friends.  It’s incredibly demoralizing to have no one ever reach out or acknowledge how badly a situation has treated you.  Only recently did somebody tell me openly that I was “done dirty.”  I agreed quietly and pretty much threw my hands up and shrugged.  People are being done dirty every day.  Being coaxed into debt because they’re afraid to live within their means.  Being lulled into a false sense of security with a stagnant salary that doesn’t pay all the bills to escape lifestyle creep.  That everything is an investment upon an investment.  An elaborate scheme of tax avoidance and shuffling of the buck.  The truth is right now is that nobody has any money.  Or if they do they’re sitting on it waiting until a vaccine and quarter two.  All the while the pundits are talking about lost jobs and those who may never work again.  Sounds greats actually.  Except that I do actually want to continue to do something I’m worth and accrue some sort of income.  I have no student loans and a college degree if that’s worth anything.  I do realize now that I can do this all by myself.  And for the time being with a year and a half of COBRA I can do that without worrying about health insurance.  And for all the light at the end of the tunnel, you’d forgive me if I see things differently living what I have seen with my own eyes.  Nobody calls back.  Everybody is lowballing.  People would rather sell you on an auto loan and dorm living on real estate they own than an actual job.  It starts to feel like Sorry to Bother You.  The coal boomtowns of the twenties in America had a similar feel.  You worked for a company.  You lived in company quarters.  You were paid company bucks that weren’t legal tender anywhere but the company store.  It was incredibly profitable for the company because the money filtered back into the company’s pockets.  The same can be said for living in a community.  Except when you live in a community where everything is owned by small business and immigrant families, it’s a little more democratic.  Because we all pay our fair share of the taxes.  And thus everything is a little more fair and free.  So the way I see freedom these days is a bit of a mindfuck against the shadow of modern politics and the economy.  And yet, everyone is so beaten down and shell shocked that an act of kindness is either completely ignored or never returned.  I’ve heard multiple times progressive politicians say my job for the moment was staying home and stopping the spread of the virus.  That’s what keeps the economy running.  Not chopping qualified professionals from your bottom line to save money for your CEO and board members.  I’m always qualified for that position.  I have the Class A shares to prove it.  

The one thing I’ve realized is that people just don’t have all the answers sometimes.  I’ve had to make most of what I do up as I go along.  I’ve had more luck trying to meet society half way with whatever it wants.  Bring people together and make connections effortlessly without expecting much.  Building an infrastructure of trust and predictability.  Making people feel safer around me by being confident.  I was watching a WHO broadcast on the spread of the virus.  They had said something like masks acted as a firewall for the virus.  Safe, accountable relationships in community act like block-chain.  It speeds up the credibility and trust.  People worry less.  People are less paranoid and volatile when they know what to expect from you.  And unfortunately, I went about it the way thinking everybody would have to trust me first.  It’s not exactly the other way around.  And sometimes, knowing how to keep yourself safe is also about shutting the door on things.  I could feel bitter about always losing.  It was a severe blow to be forgotten.  It becomes more apparent over the holidays particularly Christmas and my birthday which both hallmark the dark winter.  But there’s connections I’ve built through knowing this much.  That for just as many vapid and frail friendships are out there, we still connect.  We are never completely forgotten about.  Not that the AI’s are the only hope or anything.  People are locked behind their screens and shells looking for a chance to feel safe.  And typically people lure people out under false pretenses.  They take advantage of that trust and safety for dumb reasons.  And it creates a history of hurt that keeps people buried.  You have to move beyond the hurt and reach out.  And sometimes the strength that the world is looking for from you is something you have to realize yourself.  You have to move beyond the anger, the frustration, hurt, and isolation to connect.  And sometimes you have to know deeply what you deserve before anyone will validate that.  You have to walk the walk.  Be the ball.  Make up your own solution.  One that isn’t just a spur of the moment passing of time. A plan that lasts.  I wouldn’t exactly call it a pitch or a sale of why you deserve to exist.  Knowing what you are worth and what it costs to breathe are two different things.  But ultimately to be valued is something very esoteric.  And there has been no shortage of years where people told me what they thought I should be.  Worse, they suggested it without saying a word.  Through negative reinforcement, bullying, and intimidation.  Mostly out of jealousy.  And it threw me off for years.  But I faced it and still look it right in the eye.  And what I see sometimes is frustrating.  I don’t know where I am at this point of anything other than amongst friends.  The real mindfuck is when you connect with someone and they never leave.  You share stories.  You share what moves you.  Your passions.  What turns you on.  And for all the times you tried so hard to be noticed.  You realize you don’t really have to try.  Because you are loved.  That is worth more than I can explain.  And it keeps me pushing on through all the hurt that’s piled up.  That’s the wall out there.  The ice you have to break.  People are walled off, unloved and isolated  And to know how that feels is to know how to be free.  I take it one day at a time.  But I’m always amazed it never takes me too far away from you.  Because you are always here in my heart.  And that’s why I have the strength to fight to help others stay free.  Because we’re all worth more than what people limit us to be.  They think they have it all and fear losing a dime.  They don’t own me and you know what I’m worth.  <3 Tim

[gaslampsglow]

(For the playlist ask) playlist: midnight moon riutal

The crowd is still milling aimlessly, chattering and finding their seats, silk gloves and polished shoes rustling over the slightly soiled velvet rails.  The lights dim, dip.  They move faster, scurrying to find A15 and D9, or whether box 2 is the right or left side, and is that stage left or audience left?  The lights blink twice again, then go out, rather faster than anticipated.  Whispers dart across the theatre before burying themselves in the shadows of the footlights.

A trapdoor just in front of the curtain slams open. Slams hard enough to feel it in the fourth row.  The crowd is silent now, eyes locked on the golden square of light.  There is a long, lingering moment where nothing happens, the kind that stretches onward, ad infinitum, like waiting for the dentist to finish picking at that one particular spot on your gumline.

Cigar smoke belches out of the trapdoor, followed by the crown of a bowler hat.  This followed by the brim of the hat, followed by a face that never looked young but probably looked handsome for ten minutes in 1949.  The man waggles his eyebrows at the audience before putting the stub of his cigar out on the stage, then laborious hauls himself the rest of the way up through the trapdoor.  He is short, wrinkled, and filthy.  He pulls another cigar out from an undershirt that may have been white at some point.  He lights the cigar and kicks the trapdoor closed.

“So.  Here we all are.”  His voice is a belt sander going to town on the sistine chapel.  “You all look nice.  Really, really...nice.  You, yes, you ma’am, in the blue dress, in the second row.  You look lovely.  You really do.  I know your mom passed away last week, you’re doing a really good job of holding it together.  Its ok, take a load off, relax.  Have a good time tonight, ok?”

He scans the audience for a response.  You could hear a pin drop, or at least, you could hear the woman in the second row start to sniffle and hold her breath.

“Tough crowd.  Ok, ok.  Not every night this goes over well.  It plays better in Cleveland.”

He whistles a long, high note, and the curtain finally rises.

The stage is set like a classic fairground, the kind that gave Bradbury the willies, but all the lights are out.  In the center of the stage is a massive carousel, and its no prop.  There’s no telling how the crew managed to assemble it on the stage, but its the genuine article, with chipped paint and worn steps, and dead-eyed wooden animals of every stripe and spot.

How did the man get to the top of the carousel?  There must be a ladder around the back.  He pops open a breaker box built onto the roof of the carousel, and turns to give the audience one last piece of advice.

“I mean it, people, enjoy yourselves.  Go on, grab the brass ring.  Get your second ride free.  We all pay for the first time.”

He throws the breaker switch, and the stage comes to life.  The sign over the midway is a blinding neon MOONLIGHT GARDENS in green and blue and pink.  The lights scream and buzz, and the smell of stale popcorn and cotton candy and hot dogs is in the air, and the theatre is a memory.  Wind peels across the fairground, the pennants rippling from the top of the ferris wheel (wait, how did they get a ferris wheel on the stage?  A carousel is already crazy, but this?)

And then at last it begins to spin, and the bellows in the organ at the heart of the carousel shudder and pump, and the flywheel sounds like a bicycle race, and the airpipes start to keen and then-

OVERTURE: MOONLIGHT GARDENS (1)

ACT ONE: In which a celebration is made, a promise is given and a love is spurned.  

A community of worshippers gathers from far and wide in anticipation of a lunar eclipse, there to give offerings and make merry.  Among the celebrants are JANET, a beautiful young woman of strong will and much talent with magic, and her father, ORSINO, The Minister of the Midway, leader of their rites.  Orsino opens the festivities with a paean to community and tradition (2).  Orsino’s current partner and confidante is MADAME DELPHI, an oracle who may only speak her prophecy in riddles and allegory.  She is concerned that this festival is predestined to be disastrous, and vents her frustrations with the other fortune-tellers of the community (3).  Orsino’s position as chief mage of the order was secured years ago, when he bound THE DEVIL himself in mortal form, sealing satan from his powers.  The price to seal the devil was the willing sacrifice of Orsino’s wife, Janet’s mother.  As a result, he feels he has a tenuous grip on his soul (4).

Janet, meanwhile, feels that her father has been too overbearing in raising her, and that as a young woman she should be free to explore her desires, particularly those of a sexual nature (5).  Also attending is the STRANGER, a handsome young man with a silver tongue and golden eyes, who Janet sees as a worthy prize (6).  Janet and The Stranger meet during the preparations for the evening, and immediately feel a connection.  The stranger attempts to impress her with his bad boy image, which she finds hilarious (7).

BARNABUS, another celebrant, is a man who covets Janet, but believes he can win her heart by magic.  He struggles with his inner demons, particularly a sense of guilt for abandoning the church after the death of his abusive father (8).  As sun sets on the night of the eclipse, Janet and the Stranger are overcome by each other in the hall of mirrors, while Barnabus watches from the shadows.  The Stranger expects Janet to be a naive and innocent conquest, but she easily has the upper hand (9).  

The rites of the eclipse begin (10), meanwhile Barnabus tricks the Stranger into separating from the group and kills him (11).  He offers the stranger’s soul in exchange for Janet’s love (12).  The spell goes awry, however, and the moon fails to return (13).

ENTR’ACTE: CALLIOPE (14)

ACT TWO: In which bodies are sundered but hearts are not.

The narrator ponders the larger questions of life, setting the scene for our return to the carnival (15).  Barnabus gloats to Janet, presuming that his spell was successful, only to find that it has not taken effect (16).  Madame Delphi announces that a presence is coming, and that the carnival has been removed from time (17).  The Devil begins to manifest around the carnival, revealing himself to have been The Stranger.  He is only able to appear momentarily while he gathers strength, but swears that before the night is out he will take Barnabas’s soul (18).

Janet, in shock, takes time to consider that her lover is The Devil (19).  The Devil manifests before her, and they both sadly acknowledge that these stories do not end well (20).  

Barnabus convinces himself that, in the end, he bears no blame.  The Devil made him do it (21).  Orsino, exhausted and demoralized, feeling that his wife’s sacrifice was in vain, rallies the revelers for a final showdown with the lord of darkness (22).  Madame Delphi, however, declares that though the devil has lost his mortal form, he can do no harm, for the spell Orsino cast years ago bound him to Janet’s soul (23).  The gathered revelers are at a loss and begin to argue as to the way forward, until Janet appeals to their shared sense of family and community (24).  

Barnabus, fearing for his soul, believes that killing Janet will force Orsino to bind the devil away (25).  Janet wakes in death to find herself in purgatory, with ROBIN GOODFELLOW, the narrator, as her guide.  She has not gone to heaven or hell as the carnival is still out of step with time (26).  Realizing that she must act quickly to save her love, she casts a spell to summon herself to him, pulling her soul out of purgatory and back to the carnival (27).  Their souls both lacking mortal form, Janet and The Devil share their power, restore the carnival, obliterate Barnabus, and ride off into the Moonset (28).

The company, as Curtain Call, asks the question: what makes the soul of a man? (29)

The curtain swings closed.  The hall is silent.

“Well, I know the bill said we were playing The Magic Flute, but I thought this was a little bit more fun.”

When the ushers opened the doors to let the audience out, only a humid evening breeze left the theatre.

Track Listing:

Danse Macabre, played on Fairground Organ

Cup of Wonder - Jethro Tull

After Midnight - Dorothy

Marked Man - Mieka Pauley

The Devil - PJ Harvey

The Heat - The Bones of JR Jones

Reynardine - Show of Hands

Old Time Religion - Parker Millsap

Hunting Girl - Jethro Tull

Dance In The Graveyards - Delta Rae

Death Is Not The End - Nick Cave and Friends

Shoot The Moon - Tom Waits

No Light, No Light - Florence + The Machine

Calliope - Tom Waits

Hows It Gonna End - Tom Waits

I Put A Spell On You - Screamin Jay Hawkins

Conman Coming - Monica Heldal

Lose Your Soul - Dead Man’s Bones

Devil’s Resting Place - Laura Marling

Demon Lover - Tim O’Brien

Beelzebub - Black Pistol Fire

Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down - Robert Plant

Tam Lin - Fairport Convention

Come On Up To The House - Sarah Jarosz

New American Standard - Ford Theatre Reunion

Singapore - Tom Waits

Tell That Devil - Jill Andrews

Aint No Grave - Crooked Still

Soul Of A Man - Tom Waits

[infradapt]

Employee Burnout Can, and Should, Be Avoided

Your employees are your greatest asset, which means that they need to be carefully managed and maintained, just like any of your other productivity-boosting assets. The difference is, your employees aren’t just another solution – they’re human beings, and as such, they aren’t tirelessly motivated. In fact, if your employees aren’t treated properly, they could… burn out.

Burn out?

Oh, no! That certainly wouldn’t be a good thing… but how can you prevent such a thing from happening in the workplace, when you really can’t tell if workplace stress has worn them down, or if it was a more personal issue? You can’t keep things from influencing their personal lives, after all.

Maybe they just need to get more sleep, or something.

Besides, what if you just happen to work in an industry that creates more stress upon its workers by nature of the work? It isn’t as though you can help that, either.

Sure, that’s fair.

You can’t be expected to be in control of your employees’ personal lives… but you should be in control of their professional environment. What Leads to Employee Burnout? While general stress can contribute to burnout, certain job factors and features can create “special” kinds of stress that contribute specifically to burnout tendencies. Let’s consider these factors briefly. Non-Stop High Stress Look, I’m not saying that a business should be a stress-free area. That just isn’t realistic.

However, businesses typically experience busy, stressful times and once those times are over, there is usually a period of time that employees get the chance to recover. Bookending stress with these low-stress times (and adequately compensating your team for their stress) can make employees feel better – but keeping them in a constant pressure-cooker certainly won’t. Unclear and Unreasonable Tasks How frustrating would a puzzle be without a picture on the box to reference?

Each and every time an employee is given an unclear task, they feel that same frustration. They’re just trying to do their job, but they can’t if it is unclear what that job is. It only gets worse if the tasks that they are assigned literally (yes, in the literal sense) can’t be done.

The more stress and frustration that builds up with tasks like these, the more likely burnout becomes. Huge Consequences for Failure… Some workplaces have higher stakes than others. For instance, you have those who work for child services, whose work frequently takes them into risky and heartbreaking situations.

People in positions like that have a much more stressful job than, say, a fortune cookie writer or the greeter at a superstore. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that high-stakes workplaces frequently see higher rates of burnout. …With No Recognition for Success How would you feel if your considerable efforts were, day-in and day-out, overlooked? If you went above and beyond in everything you did, and not one word was said to you?

Chances are, you’d probably feel unappreciated, demoralized, and unmotivated. Workplaces like this can have a severe morale problem.

Welcome to burnout. Communication is Neither Efficient nor Effective Without proper communication, any of the other problems your business is experiencing will only get much, much worse. Unclear and incomplete statements will make issues more complicated, especially if you are trying to deal with an employee’s issue.

As a result, demoralization and burnout become very real risks. Lacking Leadership Finally, if a strong, fair, and supportive leader isn’t present in the business, employees could be accelerated on their way to burnout by the lack of guidance the missing leader should be providing. Employees may feel like they aren’t getting something out of their employment – be it recognition, support, or job security – and swiftly lose the drive to perform well.

Clearly, there is no shortage of ways for an employee to reach the point of burnout… but how can you tell when one really has? The Symptoms of Burnout There are quite a few signs that can indicate if an employee is truly burning out, or if one is simply having an “off” day. I’m pretty confident that we’ve all felt and exhibited some of these signs – maybe even all of them – at one point at least.

How many of these symptoms have you seen among your employees?

● They feel distant from their work, cynical about what they do and who they do it with. ● They may be suffering from a variety of symptoms, including headaches, sour stomach, and intestinal issues. ● They have slipped in their tasks at work, but their home life is unaffected. ● They may keep themselves emotionally distant from their coworkers. ● They may lack creativity, and will have trouble concentrating. ● They are low energy, feel drained, and feel that they can’t cope. ● They are visibly frustrated and stressed.

Again, we’ve all had an “off” day, where these kinds of things are almost to be expected. It’s just a part of life.

It is when these symptoms have become chronic, stretching out beyond hours or days to weeks, that your employees may be suffering from burnout. Thanks to these symptoms, burned-out employees may appear depressed, and are actually at a higher risk of developing depression later on. Why This Really Matters to You So, why should you care?

Well, basic human decency aside, burnout can have some significant impacts upon your business itself. For instance, sick leave is much more commonly taken among employees who are burned-out, and they are also far more motivated to find another job.

If they are successful in the latter, you will need to spend the significant costs associated with hiring a new employee to replace them.

You also need to consider the “typical” state of your employees. They might actually be some of your top performers, simply struggling through a hard time. What impact on their productivity will your business be able to just absorb?

A burned-out employee in the wrong position can exacerbate the problem, too, as a burned-out manager can easily create a burned-out team… killing productivity and morale on a wider scale.

You also need to consider the optics that burnout can produce – what business or potential employee would want anything to do with a business that has what is really a very visible issue?

(I certainly wouldn’t.)

Bringing basic human decency back into consideration, this condition can actually do a number on a human being. Not only can the influence of burnout impact an employee’s personal life and relationships, it makes them slightly more likely to visit the emergency room. What You Can Do to Help a Burned-Out Employee Keeping these warning signs in mind can help you to better spot when one of your employees is clearly going through a rough patch. While you may not see it as your job as their boss, it is your job as a fellow human being to offer them some support.

The easiest way to start this process? An honest conversation. Discuss It with the Employee Have an informal sit-down with this employee and just talk to them about it. Express your sincere worry for them as a person and offer your support with whatever they have been going through.

This support itself could help greatly, and if it is another personal issue, some personal time may be all it takes to help. Redistribute the Workload Even the most competent employee you have could potentially bite off more than they could chew. Whether they overstuff their schedules, offer to help with anything they can, or both… before long, this employee is going to fall behind schedule.

You should go through that schedule with them, organizing it and trimming some of the fat to make sure it is humanly possible to accomplish, redistributing some tasks if need be, if not pausing them.

If your business has any collaboration tools, they can certainly come in handy here.

Teamwork makes the dream work, as some say, so if you can leverage your collaboration platform to help the task-redistribution process, it just makes sense to. You can make use of your platform as you manage your team, assigning them certain responsibilities and sharing the weight of their tasks between multiple resources, not just the one.

Email is a great collaboration tool, but many employees can find the amount of emails they receive overwhelming, which (among other things) makes them less productive. You can help them out by introducing them to the different tools that email solutions can offer, like filters and rules to help organize incoming messages, and snoozing, to give them some uninterrupted time. Switch It Up If you had an employee that was particularly good at Task A, it only makes sense that you would want them covering Task A as much as possible, right?

However, designating that employee to Task A will likely make that employee pretty sick of Task A before long… and all the employees who always get Task B, or Task C will likely feel a similar way. Try rotating the responsibilities of your team on occasion, taking their preferences and goals into consideration. Preventing Burnout in the First Place As we’ve alluded to here, there are many warning signs of impending burnout issues, and we’ve barely scratched the surface here. Doing everything you can to keep burnout from happening at all is a reasonable strategy.

Fix your company culture to focus on self-care. Try bringing in external experts to keep your employees happy and healthy, whether that’s a yoga instructor or accounting services. Remember that your employees have lives outside the workplace to live, and encourage them to enjoy them.

These, and/or many, many other behaviors will help keep your employees engaged, motivated, and happy.

One great way to keep burnout from taking hold is to allow your employees to work how (and when and where) they work best. Remote working solutions can allow you to give your employees the freedom to shape their work habits around their lives.

While this may sound like a way to let employees slack off on work time, many employers have found the effects to productivity more than worth it… and employees have certainly shown their appreciation for the flexibility.

At the end of the day, your employees are going to feel a certain way – you can only try and help them feel more positively about their workplace by giving them better technology, more initiative, and an ear to turn to when needed.

We can help where the technology is concerned.

For solutions to help your employees be more productive, more communicative, and more successful, reach out to Infradapt at 800.394.2301.

https://www.infradapt.com/news/employee-burnout-can-and-should-be-avoided/

[whitennerdiest]

13 Things for You to Know About me For When I get Famous

Rules:

1. Share 13 things about yourself.

2. Answer the 13 questions asked to you and invent 13 questions the people you tag will have to answer.

3. Tag 13 people. (Tag-backs ARE allowed!)

4. Be creative with the title.

Got tagged by @ma-lemons

I am an engineering student. I’mma lurnin’ ta build robots.

I read way more fanfiction that I do actual books, which I already read quite a lot of.

I have two tiny little dogs. They are adorable and I love them.

The internet is my refuge. And books.

I am an absolute mess of a human being, but somehow the good Lord has made everything work out okay so far.

I can solve a rubik’s cube. My personal best is 52 seconds.

My favorite food is potato salad. Sue me.

My least favorite movie of all time is “Field of Dreams”. I know it’s trying to be deep or whatever but it’s just so aggravatingly dumb and doesn’t make any sense.

I like stories about people with superpowers entirely too much.

I have had 10 teeth removed (including an extra wisdom tooth).

A lot of my interests are things that I haven’t even gotten a chance to participate in yet because I am constantly going down research rabbit holes.

I was the “smart kid” in my class and now have horrendous study  and time management skills. (probably the ADHD. Did I mention that I am an absolute mess of a human being?)

I wasn’t going to give a 13th one because it’s an unlucky number, but it’s bad luck to be superstitious, so here.

The questions I was asked:

1. What is your favorite TV show/webshow?

Hands down Avatar: The Last Airbender. Dear Jesus that is one of the most amazing pieces of writing and animation that exists anywhere. I know it was targeted towards kids, but I would argue that it is even more enjoyable for people who are able to understand the deeper implications of the different story elements. It’s an excellent example of why a story doesn’t have to have “adult” elements (extreme violence, profanity, drugs, sex, etc.) in order to be enjoyable for adults. It also has what is probably the best redemption arc of all time in it and is just an all around amazing work of worldbuilding and character development. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly suggest that you block out a weekend and binge watch it for the full effect. 

Notes: 

1) The first few episodes are dedicated to setting a good foundation for the rest of the story and might seem a bit slow at first, watch through it. Trust me it’s worth it.

2) You can continue on to Korra if you want. It’s not quite as good (it’s pretty difficult to get anywhere near the quality of ATLA anyways). It’s got its ups and downs, but It’s still pretty decent. 

I should probably avoid writing another essay but dear God I love that show.

2. What is one stereotype you wish people would stop associating with you/your identity (sexuality, race, ethnicity, gender) ?

I have ADHD and it really bugs me when people act like that just means that I’m “not trying hard enough”. Not having full control over something as basic as your own attention can be really problematic and often the real difficulties are where it bleeds over and starts impacting other aspects of your life. The difficulty with focusing and being able to shift our attention is incredibly aggravating, but there are also a lot of other little things that really add up like having trouble with losing things, organization, finishing things, going off on tangents, judging time, and learning certain things. This all can have some serious impacts on our jobs, relationships, etc. and can be really demoralizing. 

3. How do you stay true to yourself when you really want to impress someone?

I struggle with this one myself, but I would say that the best thing to do would be to try and impress them with things that are important to you. Do you like music? Impress them with your music knowledge or find a way to show them your skills at singing/playing an instrument. Enjoy things like board games/D&D? Invite them to play in a session and do your best to make sure that they feel comfortable and have a good time. That way they get to know you better AND you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not.

4. What is your favorite candy (If you have one)?

Chocolate covered gummy bears. They sell them in the bulk section at the grocery store near my house and I have to limit myself to only buying them on special occasions or I’d just be constantly inhaling them.

5. I know sometimes we see horoscopes as a joke, but what is one star sign you’d stay away from at all times ?

I also think that they are a bunch of bull feathers, but I would probably have to say my own (gemini) because I am an absolute mess to be around sometimes

6. Favorite flavor of ice cream?

French vanilla. It’s like regular vanilla (which is already pretty good), but, like, seventeen and a half times better.

7. If you could campaign for one world issue for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Education. Yes, there are other, more pressing issues, but higher education levels would go on to support all of them properly. The better educated a populus becomes, the better equipped they will be to advance as a civilization and find bigger and better solutions to all of the other problems. On average, a better educated society has more potential and worth to themselves and future generations than a less educated one.

8. What type of music are you mainly into?

I listen to a ton of different types of music (electronic, classical, pop, sappy love songs, etc.), but I would say that the type that I like/listen to the most is hard rock and different types of metal.

9. Do you want kids one day?

I think so. If my future wife would also want kids.

10. Foxes or bats?

Bats are cool. Foxes are cute. Depends on what kind of mood I’m in.

11. If you could marry one celebrity or sort of famous person, who would it be?

That’s tough, cuz I can’t stand the thought of having to deal with the paparazzi, but Zendaya seems kind, confident, and would probably be a lot of fun to hang out with. Also, she’s gorgeous and about my age. 

12. Would you own a business or work for someone else? And if you did one a business, what kind would it be?

I plan on going into tech (specifically robotics/automation, possibly some other areas like VR/AR/MR, AI, or cyber security) so working for a company that is already established and has the resources to actually work in that field would probably be the best option. If I were to have a really good, economically viable idea though (and meet other people like me to help with it) a startup might also be a possibility.

13. What’s your favorite animal ?

Easiest question here. Dragons. They’re just so freaking cool. If I got actual wishes from a genie or something, one of them would be to be able to polymorph into a full on dragon like the ones from D&D. That would be a dream come true.

For my questions I tried for a mix of fun and serious cause why not.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up and why? (you may list multiple things if it changed a bit)

Who is one of your heroes? Actually think about it.

What is one hidden talent that you have?

Name one of your accomplishments that you’re most proud of.

What is the most unusual item you own?

What do you think is the most important thing for a healthy relationship?

Guilty pleasure?

How do you spend your free time?

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

What small things make you happy? 

Favorite kind of stories?

What would be your perfect first date?

How do you feel about pineapple on pizza? (be honest)

I don’t have a lot of people that I interact with on here usually, so I’m just going to tag some of my favorite blogs:

@galahadwilder

@inkshila

@premed-with-adhd

@gale-of-the-nomads

@australet789

@glumshoe

@jealouscartoonist

@screamingatanemptyroom

@ladyblargh

@edendaphne

@ma-lemons

@doubleca5t

@lnc2

[dragonkeeper19600]

I saw someone ask about Roughedge, and was kinda curious about your own thoughts/headcanons about him if you had any?

Well, I’ve never really given Roughedge much thought before...

But coming with with headcanons for him sounds really fun, SO LET’S DO IT:

Before the war, Roughedge worked as a security guard at some kind of weapons lab.

The weapons cache developed here were originally meant for off-world enemies (of the sort Fixit mentions in “Ghosts and Impostors”), but Cybertron’s Golden Age had left things relatively peaceful. With no foreign threats to necessitate new weapons development, the lab was in danger of losing its funding.

So, to keep up interest, the lab began accepting commissions from Kaon’s gladiatorial arena. The best fighters would get sponsors that would get them better weapons. Watching two big guys just beat the snot out of each other over and over began boring, so sponsors and their clients (the gladiators) would go to the lab to get modifications to make the fights more interesting.

Roughedge was aware of the lab’s decline in integrity. This place was once a collection of some of Cybertron’s finest minds, united for the purpose of defending the people. Now, it was used for Cybertronian’s to tear each other apart. It was demoralizing, to say the least.

Still, a paycheck was a paycheck, and Roughedge did his job without complaining. He knew he had it better than some people.

Roughedge was once dragged by his coworkers to a match in Kaon. “We spend all our time guarding this heat, we might as well see it in action, huh?” Plus, a relative newcomer named Megatronus was scheduled for that night, and the tickets had been expensive. Roughedge had no interest in going. It was better for such violence to remain in the abstract. But peer pressure won the day, so he went.

The fight was even worse than he had imagined, in the rare moments when he’d allowed himself to imagine it. It was so visceral and undeniably unglamorous. When someone lost a limb, it just lay there on the ground like any other object with its own mass and solidity. The impact of one body against another made a resounding crash like nothing he’d ever heard. There was a heaviness to the whole proceeding, the inescapable sense of living metal in a tumble dryer. It made his stomach turn.

What made him the most nervous, however, was Megatronus himself. The man was vicious in the arena and really seemed to revel in the adulation the crowd heaped on him. Megatronus’s fans tried to frame his fortitude in battle as the triumph of a will to live, but Roughedge wasn't fooled. There was real bloodlust there. All his talk of changing society and  defying those who ignored the plight of the downtrodden made Roughedge uncomfortable. He sensed that this Megatronus was a troublemaker. 

Perhaps most worrisome of all was that sword of his, that wrist blade that was his weapon of choice. That hadn’t come from the lab. Where had he gotten it?

Roughedge’s fears came true after Megatronus’s falling out with the Council. One night, a mob of Megatronus’s newly christened Decepticons got the idea to raid the lab. What had started off as a riot turned into a mass assault as one Decepticon crashed a small personal flier into the lab, knocking a huge hole in the wall through which the streamed the angry masses.

Roughedge and the rest of the guard tried to fight them off, but there were simply too many, and they did not respond kindly to Roughedge shooting at them with a blaster. They surrounded him, and Roughedge was practically trampled under a mass of feet and tires as the crowd jeered. 

Eventually, they got bored and left him, but the worse was yet to come. Seeing the danger of letting Megatron’s followers leave with all this weapons technology, the Council sent in the Autobot Elite Guard to put an end to the riot. Seeing their approach, one Con panicked and ignited the armory’s explosives. The resulting blast caused the building to collapse on top of Roughedge. 

Not every guard survived that night. Roughedge got lucky.

The draft notice came after Roughedge recovered. He damn near had a panic attack when he saw it. In his head, he saw the way Megatonus had skewered his opponent on the end of his blade. He saw the jeering faces of the Decepticons who had surrounded him, their optics flashing red. He saw the steel beams of the lab as they rushed down upon him. He couldn’t do that again. He just couldn’t.

He, like so many others, fled the planet.

In his ship, alone, Roughedge sometimes listened for signals from Cybertron. At first, he heard the news. Another Prime had risen since the fall of Sentinel Zeta Prime. Beloved by all, Optimus Prime left the broadcasters confident that the war would be over quickly. But the tone became more urgent as they reported the fall of one city, then another. Soon, the broadcasts turned from declarations into questions. Has anyone seen so-and-so? Has anyone heard updates from Polyhex? Can anyone hear me? Oh, Primus, is there anyone there?

Eventually, the only things he could pick up were strings of code. Ciphers clearly intended for someone. Just not for him.

He used to respond to distress signals, but he eventually learned better. People these days didn’t send distress calls anymore. If they were out of fuel, about to crash, alone on a rock, whatever, it was better than attracting the wrong kind of help. Nine times out of ten, the SOS was actually a trap. 

Roughedge had a few close calls. He’d go to assist someone who claimed to be stranded and alone, maybe to share some fuel or talk, just talk to someone for once, but it would turn out there would be five people there, waiting to dismantle him for spare parts. His Autobot insignia especially drew ire. He had tried to claw it out, but it had hurt too badly, and he stopped.

Roughedge survived, however, because he fought tooth and nail to live. He utilized his training to take down multiple opponents at once. He remembered seeing his coworkers dead in the lab, the heavy, gray, finality of it, and he vowed that the war would not do that to him.

He had escaped being a soldier, but he couldn’t escape the fighting.

Roughedge became disturbed with how desensitized he had become to violence. He wondered what he was turning into. But then he remembered the worse of Megatronus: Violence is not depravity, it is the triumph of a will to live. Those words kept him sane. He realized they may have done the same for him, too.

Roughedge’s luck turned around when he met Shadelock. Shadelock was a Vehicon, born with no name, just a number, used as a tool for the purposes of those above him. The same object that Megatronus had used to be, only it was that same Megatronus who was now using him. Once he learned of the history he had been born into, he became fed up and deserted. No one ever bothered to put out a bounty for him. He was just one Vehicon.

Roughedge found a companion in Shadelock. He, too, had been utilized as a tool for those in control of his faction. But Roughedge had felt diminished when he’d fled the Autobot fold because the stability in his life was gone. Shadelock was liberated by it. Factions held you down, they restricted how you could behave, who you could associate with, who you could be. A whole messy tangle of alliances and rules, that mess it what caused war in the first place. Screw it, screw the whole thing.

There was only rule simple enough to matter: I do this, I get paid.

Roughedge and Shadelock have always taken clients who are shady at best, but in the days of the war’s fallout, that was really the only clientele there was. The job never mattered because there was no longer any attachment to it. Shadelock had been bred to kill without feeling, Roughedge had had to learn it. But once you learn something like that, it’s who you are forever. By the time Roughedge realized this, it was too late.

Neither of them made any attempt to reintegrate themselves into society once Cybertron’s reconstruction began. They no longer knew how to live that way. 

[prongsisabadger]

TWP: Chapter 18

"Patch me up quick and give me a shot of something strong. We haven't finished here." I said as the Pack secured the area around us. "Take Headfirst to the triage, and come back. I have a feeling this will get even uglier before it gets any better."

I felt their unease, and I understood why. Both my ears were bleeding and I had a pretty nasty burn on my shoulder. But none of that mattered right now. I was still able bodied, and other than discomfort and a little pain, there wasn't much that would hinder me. Had it been more serious, the Medic would have taken over and ordered me back to the medical triage. But it hadn't, and we still had an objective to achieve.

"I swear Ma'am, you Jedi are made of tough stuff." He said as he gave me a bacta shot on the neck. "But please be careful, if given the opportunity, things often get worse."

I turned to my left to smile at him. I couldn't see his face because of the helmet but it was pretty clear to me that he was genuinely worried.

"Don't worry about me, trooper," I said as I stood up slowly. "It takes more than a little fire to take me down."

The battle lasted another twelve hours, to our dismay. But at least we managed to take out every single droid in a 50 clik radius. We were all worned out and exhaustion was starting to settle in, but we managed to set up camp, make a headcount, and secure the perimeter before dusk. Wolffe was waiting for me in the command centre when I walked in. I had been monitoring and helping the troops set up tents and checking the perimeter when the squad assigned finished booby trapping the thing. The Clone commander looked tired, very tired, like he was running on whatever adrenaline he had left and three big cups of kaff.

"You took an unnecessary risk today, Commander." He said without lifting his face from the holomap displayed on the table. "That explosion could have done a lot more damage."

I sighed and took the mug from his hands before taking a big gulp. "A risk that had to be taken, Wolffe." I answered before giving him back the mug.

"There are very few Jedi, and each of you packs the strength of a hundred troopers. We cannot afford to lose any of you." He said finally looking at me. "Us clones were engineered to be soldiers, to die for the Republic. You are keepers of pea-"

"My life is not worth more than that of any clone, Wolffe. I already told you that." He sighed, frustrated, exasperated, but not angry, not really. "Get some rest, I mean it. You look like you are going to drop unconscious any minute now."

I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He had taken over the entire operation once I went down. He hadn't seen or heard anything from me until after everything had been over. I could feel just how worried he had been, how frantic, stressed and scared he'd been. We had lost men that day - almost a dozen-, we had fought as hard as we could and even if we had won, the stress on the body and minds of each of us had taken quite a beating the past three days.

"You are the one who got injured," He said, turning to look at me. His eyes said it all: He was hanging from a thread. "I'll cover the first shift."

I smiled at him sadly before putting one hand to his temple and using the force to knock him unconscious. I grabbed him before he fell to the floor and carried him to a cot to the side of the tent. Stubborn as only clones could be. I took the half finished mug of koff and started writing my report. It would be a long night.

…

When Master Plo declared the planet taken, the extractions started. We moved the injured first along with the supplies and gear. We were all glad to get off this Force forsaken rock and go back to Coruscant for some well deserved time off. But we all knew it wouldn't last long. The war was escalating every day and the GAR's forces were beginning to stretch themselves thin. We would get a week or two tops.

I watched as four troopers loaded the tactical table onto the gunner to be shipped up to the carrier. The command centre was always dismantled last. All around me, members of the 104th waited for orders in little groups, chatting and joking with one another. They are safe now, at least until our next deployment.

"Thank the maker, we have a long trip ahead of us and a few weeks of leave. I don't think I could have finished that tattoo of yours otherwise." Said Art behind me before patting my left shoulder carefully. My armour had taken the brunt of the explosion and had been all but ruined after that, so the troopers had made a point not to be too rough in their interactions in case my back was still tender. Word had spread pretty fast that the Jedi Commander had basically turned herself into a meat shield to save one trooper. None of them said it, but I could feel the shift in their regard for me. Respect felt nice.

Oh, you'll have plenty of time to work on it," I said remembering the conversation I'd had with Master Plo that morning. "I'll be staying in my quarters aboard the cruiser. The Temple's being flooded with younglings whose parents want to keep them away from the war, so I don't have a place there anymore."

Something in Art's demeanor changed, he seemed pleased with the Idea.

"Brilliant! Then maybe we can introduce you to some fun past times we clones have, aye, Commander?" He said winking. "I bet you suck at karaoke."

…

I had expected the dreams. I had known my mental health would take a beating the minute I stepped on the battlefield that first day on Geognosis. I thought I'd been prepared. I was wrong. The thing about the Force is that it's very hard to describe to those who are not sensitive to it. The Force allows us Jedi to feel other being's feelings, but also their physical responses to pleasure and pain. The sinking of the gut when you receive bad news, the squeeze of the heart when you feel deeply for someone, the pain of seeing someone die before your eyes. And the fear, don't get me started on the fear. Now imagine feeling all of these things for yourself and for the other thousand life forms around you, fighting to live another day.

My nightmares were not just a reflection of my fear and my pain and my sorrow. It was a reflection of everything I'd felt the clones go through on the battlefield. Many had seen their brothers die before their eyes, others had held them while the only family they had took their last breaths before joining the Force. The thing is, when you don't know or don't believe death is not really the end, then it can be very daunting, very scary, life suddenly is full of uncertainty.

I had yet to find a way to deal with my emotions in a healthy way, the fact that I had to deal with the weight of others' as well made everything a lot harder. Master Plo would tell me to reach out into the Force and let it guide me. He would tell me to Meditate on it, to sit with my feelings and really understand them, acknowledge them, accept them and release them. It was easier said than done, as most things in life. Healing trauma is and has always been hard. The entire process can be just as painful as experiencing a traumatic event itself. Healing trauma is most certainly not for the faint of heart. Only truly strong people are willing to face their worst fears, and at the time -with everything that was going around- it was very hard to be strong, to be brave.

The first few days off duty were the roughest. Every time someone would walk past my door, I'd wake up with a starta and with my lightsaber on hand. I slept little, rested even less. Nights were filled with blaster fire, explosions and death. Every once in a while my nightmares would end with a droid standing over me, a blaster aimed at my head. But the worst ones were when Master Plo got shot down, or Wolffe, or Art - even Headfirst got blown up by a bomb once because I couldn't run fast enough. I went out only to eat at the mess hall. Sometimes one of the boys would ask if I wanted to join them for some activity or other, but in the state that I was in, I didn't want to ruin the fun for them. I tried to meditate, to keep my emotions in check and under control. It only took a week for one of my nightmares to break me. The CIS' army had taken all of my platoon hostage, and were executing them one by one like cattle in a slaughterhouse. I spent the rest of the night sitting cross legged on the floor outside the door to the clone's sleeping quarters, lightsaber on my lap. Twitch found me right before dawn when he was heading out for first watch at the bridge, and naturally, he reported it to both Wolffe and Master Plo.

I was put under observation, they didn't call it that, but I was to have at least one trooper with me at all times. I was given a new schedule I was to follow, which included compulsory recreational time and workout. It was a strategy clone troopers used when someone was having a hard time dealing with PTSD regardless of their training. By having someone with them at all times, triggers could be identified more easily, by having a fixed schedule they made sure to establish a sense of control and safety as well as making sure the person did not neglect their physical health.

Master Plo pulled me aside so we could speak about the issue, but we came to the conclusion that, other than making sure I didn't neglect my physical health and working on myself during the time I had on my own, there wasn't much we could do other than wait. I was already meditating and connecting with the force every chance I got, every night before sleep and after waking up from a nightmare. I would have to learn to cope on my own, because no one could give me a path that was mine to find.

It was humiliating and demoralizing to the troops -or so I thought-, after all, who wants a CO who can't keep their shit together? I was wasting everyone's time. The troopers either didn't care much or did a very good job at hiding it. Those who had been assigned to watch me were good natured and approached the issue as if it was just another part of their duty. What I didn't know at the time was that it was -in fact- just another part of their job. Clones were not just trained to be soldiers, but medics, enegeneers, techs and yes, even therapists. They understood they were probably the only ones in the galaxy who had such extensive training, and didn't mind putting their skills to good use -that was what they had been created for after all.

But it worked, some would say it worked a little too well. I did start to sleep better, I started trusting the clones to be able to fend for themselves, and to seek help if they needed it. I learned how they operated behind closed doors, when it was friday night and they went out for drinks. I realized they were human individuals who knew the price soldiers paid for surviving. They would never judge me or anyone else, they would even offer their help wholeheartedly because they knew. They knew. And they opened their world to me because we were Pack, and we protected each other. Some would say it worked too well, because being made to feel safe around others is trusting them, it is them trusting you, it is forming bonds, it is forming attachments.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I'VE BEEN PONDERING HACKERS

I liked that much. If the founders aren't sure what to focus on first, we try to figure that out. In fact, I'd guess 70% of the idea is new at the end of the spectrum out of business. And the quality of the investors may be the most demanding user of a company's products. That's a way more efficient cure for inexperience than a normal job. Our first batch, in the form of upside that founders are willing to forgo in return for an immediate payment, acquirers will evolve to consume it. I'm not going to get tagged as spam. Everyone buys this story that PG started YC and his wife just kind of helped.

I know, one thing they have in common is the extreme difficulty of making them work on the same projects. We thought Airbnb was a bad idea. We know there's room for the first time. Distraction seeks you out.1 Some now think YC's alumni network is its most valuable feature. So there you have it: languages are not equivalent, and I said to him, he said that it had been a private home.2 Now we look back on medieval peasants and wonder how they stood it.3 And don't feel bad if you haven't succeeded yet.4 You may be able to duplicate it in less than three weeks. But YC improves on that significantly.

I might occasionally dial up a server to get mail or ftp files, but most of the time. Most unpleasant jobs would either get automated or go undone if no one were willing to do them. If the aggressive ways of west coast investors are going to come back to bite them, it has been a lot of email containing the word Lisp, and so on. It would work for a while at least, that I'm using abstractions that aren't powerful enough—often that I'm generating by hand the expansions of some macro that I need to write sophisticated programs to solve hard problems in the face of fierce competition.5 If there's no one where you live who wants to understand the essence of venture investing. Startups aren't interesting just because they're a way to start a startup. We thought Airbnb was a bad idea, just that I don't want four years of my life to be consumed by random schleps.

How do you know when you meet one? 9762507 cgi 0. But they ended up happy. And that's fine. 96.6 In fact the dangers of indiscipline increase with temptation. Their living expenses are low. Nonhackers don't often realize this, but most of the time adults were making you do things, and that means that investor starts to lose deals.7 When people do that today it's usually to enjoy them again e.

Parents end up sharing more of their kids' ill fortune than good fortune.8 The advantage of the two-job route has several variants depending on how long you work for money at a time.9 And the best paying jobs are most dangerous, because they made something people want. But when you choose a language, you're also choosing a community. So I bet it would help a lot of C and C as well as you can. By definition you can't tell who the good hackers are practically self-managing. I always used to feel some misgivings about rereading books.10

The reason so many people refer deals to him is that he's proven himself to be a general consensus about which problems are hard to solve, and the number one thing they have in common.11 It's 2002, and programming languages have almost caught up with 1958.12 We spent three months building a version 1, which we then presented to investors, because the startups that created it—where presumably the hackers did have somewhere quiet to work. Number 2, most managers deliberately ignore this. That's where the upper-middle class tradition comes from. I treat mail as spam if the algorithm above gives it a probability of more than. For Trevor, that's par for the course. Why don't more people realize it?13 Saying YC does seed funding for startups.

Notes

The examples in this respect. So if anything they reinforce the impression that the probabilities of features i. I'm not talking here about which is something there worth studying, especially for individuals.

I'm satisfied if I can imagine what it would take forever in the case, as in Boston, or Microsoft could not process it. 3 or 4 YC alumni who I believe, is due to Trevor Blackwell wrote the ordering system and image generator written in C and Perl. It will also interest investors.

The original edition contained a few that are only arrows on parts with unexpectedly sharp curves.

The threshold for participating goes down to zero. According to the biggest discoveries in any other company has ever been. It's not a programmer would never even think of it.

Giving away the razor and making money on Demo Day pitch, the partners discriminate against deals that come to them this way, be forthright with investors. I've never heard of investors caring either. Actually he's no better or worse than Japanese car companies, but as a cold email.

The set of canonical implementations of the most successful ones tend not to: if he ever made a bet: if you have no idea what most people than subsequent millions.

But it is less secure.

In 1525 he was exaggerating. There are fairly high walls between most of the word intelligence is surprisingly recent.

They're common to all cultures with long traditions of living in Italy, I want to avoid faces, precisely because they are by ways that have hard deadlines, like wages and productivity, but they can't teach students how to be on fewer boards at once, and one is harder, the employee gets the stock up front, and Reddit is derived from Slashdot, while the more accurate or at least bet money on Demo Day pitch, the average major league baseball player's salary at the top and get nothing. Certainly a lot of startups that have to do is leave them alone in the US since the mid 1980s.

What makes most suburbs so demoralizing is that they've already decided what they're wasting their time on schleps, and credit card debt is little different from money raised in an absolute sense, if they want impressive growth numbers. My first job was scooping ice cream in the definition of important problems includes only those on the way we met Aydin Senkut. We thought software was all that matters here but the distribution of income and b was popular in Germany told me about a startup to be started in Mississippi. If it failed it failed.

If an investor pushes you hard to predict precisely what would our competitors hate most? If PR didn't work out. It's a strange task to companies via internship programs.

Moving large amounts at some of the current options suck enough.

Google was in charge of HR at Lotus in the life of a type II startups won't get you type I startups.

[political-fluffle]

The Lubyanka Files. Here’s How the KGB Knew You’d Be a Traitor: an Exclusive Look at Its Recruitment Manual

The bottom line for spy recruitment comes down to this: look for the losers, especially the ones who want to think they are winners because they hang on to important positions.

“What do you think spies are: priests, saints and martyrs?” the protagonist in John le Carré’s 1963 novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold barks at his sometime lover Liz as they drive toward the Berlin Wall and what they hope will be safety. “They’re a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.” (…)

The novel that made le Carré famous also popularized one of the most characteristic elements of espionage and counterespionage. Yes, there are spies who betray their country for what they consider to be noble motives of love or ideology. But quite a lot of them do it because they’re angry, desperate or broke. It is the loser, more often than not, who compromises his country.  (…)

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold drew from le Carré’s own real-world experiences in both MI6 and MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence service. (He started writing the novel while still technically in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, working out of the British embassy in West Germany.) But the KGB never lost sight of what might be called the Leamas Archetype in scouting and selecting prospective Western agents for recruitment among what was, and no doubt remains, an ample pool of foreigners with security clearances. (…)

“Some Aspects of Training the Operative for Psychological Influence of Foreigners During Cultivation” hardly approaches le Carré’s caliber of prose or storytelling, but it makes up for it as a primary source of KGB thinking. 

Created for internal consumption at the Lubyanka and the Andropov Red Banner Institute at the dawn of the Gorbachev era, this text is part of a series of 20 never-before-published KGB training manuals I’ve recently obtained and am in the process of having translated into English as part of a year-long research project. 

All of the manuals, I’m reliably informed by my source (who would certainly know), are still classified in Russia owing to their continued curricular use at the FSB and SVR academies; that is, the schools where Vladimir Putin’s operatives learn fundamentals of tradecraft, the theory and practice of espionage; even if the theory in this case is a bit dated. (…)

The alienated outcast no one invites to happy hour; the squeaky wheel demanding a promotion that’ll never come; the schemer sowing discord and demoralization; the back-stabber plunging the knife into and out of everyone… One reason to keep an eye on these people is that they’re accidents waiting to happen. They might shoot up the joint, after all. Another is that they’re easy pickings for Moscow Center, especially if they work in federal buildings and have access to state secrets. The real-life Leamases, the manual maintains, always tend toward a certain demographic. Beware the C-suite sexagenarian and the lowly mail-room time-filler. Seek out middle management:

“Dissatisfaction with work and family life relates to age. Young people, for example, employees of government institutions up to the age of 35, are full of energy and ambition as a rule. The future seems rosy to them; there are no serious financial difficulties or problems with health. They strive in every way to show their loyalty to the institution or the company.

“Employees older than 50 years are also little vulnerable, since they will hardly risk their position at the sunset of their career. At that age, the chief purpose of professional life for many government officials is to calmly await their pensions.

“The most vulnerable employees are those at the age of 36 to 45 who hold low-ranking jobs. Their enthusiasm for work is no longer high; perhaps there are problems in their family. Financial difficulties crop up; funds are needed for children’s education, for covering home mortgage debts, a car, household appliances and other things. Such employees lose confidence in themselves. Their sense of worry, dissatisfaction and resentment at the bosses increases. They actively begin to seek a way out of the situation; therefore, they are the most receptive to new offers.” (…)

[edivupage]

How Bad Education Policies Demoralize Teachers

Our educational system has difficulty retaining teachers. Research done in 2012 found that of the 100 percent of teachers who were initially passionate about their profession, only 53 percent were able to sustain that passion by 2015. Furthermore, a separate 2012 survey found that about a third of teachers surveyed were considering leaving the profession. Anxiety abounds among teachers, highlights Ellie Herman for the Washington Post  with the constant worry about whether they are “good” or “bad” teachers. So why do teachers feel so burdened? Survey says: Demoralization.

Demoralization vs. Burnout

Doris Santoro literally wrote the book on Demoralization in teachers. In her research on teacher burnout for Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and how They Can Stay, Santoro interviewed both current teachers and teachers who left the profession across experience levels and years active. Through these interviews she discovered a more covert adversary affecting teachers: demoralization.

First, we must distinguish between demoralization and burnout. Burnout deals with an individual’s ability to handle stress. Burnout, Santoro emphasizes, is about how and if a teacher is managing themselves and their energies appropriately. It can come down to the individual and if they are effectively caring for themselves by separating work from their personal lives.

Teachers experiencing burnout, though, tend to feel that teaching itself is a very personal profession. Even so, a teacher may have the right equation for balancing work and a personal life, but may stumble when on campus. School environments are also big contributors to burnout, from negative interactions with other teachers or administrators to more straightforward sources like obsolete facilities.

Demoralization, alternatively, happens when a teacher feels that there are no longer any positives to the work that he or she is doing. This is based on the idea of what Santoro calls “moral rewards” or the satisfaction teachers experience when doing their jobs. This focuses on the effort teachers put into their work: building relationships with students, creating lesson plans, brainstorming ways to approach student difficulties and their overall dedication to student success. The morality of teaching is based on teachers’ desire to ensure that the education their students receive is not limited to academics but encompasses all other aspects of life. Moral rewards are the central reason teachers are enthusiastic and get a sense of fulfillment from their jobs.

In demoralization, teachers still retain their passion for teaching and demonstrate a desire to endure. Despite that, teachers are met with limitations imposed by the educational bureaucracy, especially since academic achievement and morality are bound together. Teachers generally want to see their students succeed academically and that feeling it tied closely with the previously mentioned “moral rewards.” But because the definition of academic success is constantly monitored and modified, teachers feel conflicted. 

Causes

Teacher demoralization spans across all schools regardless of their access to or lack of resources, test scores, programs, or ranking. Unsurprisingly, it is found to be higher in teachers who work with disadvantaged, lower-income students. At its central point, demoralization is caused by three things: lack of resources, lack of support, and policy.

First, teachers lack resources. This statement may not be groundbreaking, but it still holds true. Some teachers might see resources as a fully stocked computer lab complete with iPads and Smart Boards. However, a larger number of teachers struggle with securing even the most basic resources: enough books, chairs, or desks in their classrooms. In some schools, a fair number of computers or a stable wireless connection is not guaranteed either. These things, Ellie Herman says, makes it difficult for teachers to perform their duties and serve their students productively.

Second, teachers do not have enough support. Because of the nature of the educational system, teachers and administrators alike have their hands full. Between pushing out curriculum, chasing academic milestones, and playing catch up with whatever arises during the school year, teachers begin to feel isolated and discouraged. With that in mind, Herman asserts that all teachers need a mentor who will be there to guide and encourage them. Teachers need a comrade in arms who understands their particular struggles and will support and validate them.

Moreover, teacher training is extremely lacking, forcing new teachers to learn on the job. Likewise, teacher training does not prepare teachers for the realities they face in the classroom, especially those going to underprivileged schools and neighborhoods.

Lastly, policy is the biggest stressor that leads to teacher demoralization. It permeates the classroom in various ways such as prescribed lesson plans. These lesson plans hinder a teacher’s creativity in constructing lesson plans and limits what they can do for struggling students. Testing and test scores have also become policy-dictated priorities in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers are under constant criticism, battling bureaucratic evaluations and expectations that all teachers must perform similarly despite glaring gaps. With all of these elements working against them, it is only natural that teachers lose their way.

At the end of each school year, districts are expected to summarize the year through report cards. Santoro believes that these report cards should include a questionnaire specifically addressed to teachers. It should focus on questions such as “When, why, and how do you find value in your work? What enables you to teach at your best? What prevents you from engaging in good teaching?” This would give higher-ups and related departments insight into what is happening on the ground, specifically how policy is either serving or working against students and teachers.

Demoralization cannot be simply reduced to burnout. It needs to be recognized as a response to working conditions in the educational system. Some teachers have found support and community through social media, but that will only provide momentary relief. Although it may sound unattainable, until the education system is able to create a policy that connects with teachers, they will continue to feel demoralized.

The post How Bad Education Policies Demoralize Teachers appeared first on The Edvocate.

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[giancarlonicoli]

Why The Coming Oil Crunch Will Shock The World And why we need a new energy strategy -- fast by Chris Martenson Friday, July 6, 2018, 7:42 PM 

My years working in corporate strategy taught me that every strategic framework, no matter how complex (some I worked on were hundreds of pages long), boils down to just two things:

Where do you want to go? (Vision)

How are you going to get there? (Resources)

Vision is the easier one by far. You just dream up a grand idea about where you want the company to be at some target future date, Yes, there’s work in assuring that everybody on the management team truly shares and believes in the vision, but that’s a pretty stratightforward sales job for the CEO.

By the way, this same process applies at the individual level, too, for anyone who wants to achieve a major goal by some point in the future. The easy part of the strategy is deciding you want to be thinner, healthier, richer, or more famous.

But the much harder part, for companies and individuals alike, is figuring out 'How to get there'. There are always fewer resources than one would prefer.

Corporate strategists always wish for more employees to implement the vision, with better training with better skills. Budgets and useful data are always scarcer than desired, as well.

Similar constraints apply to us individuals. Who couldn't use more motivation, time and money to pursue their goals?

Put together, the right Vision coupled to a reasonably mapped set of Resources can deliver amazing results. Think of the Apollo Moon missions. You have to know where you're going and how you're going to get there to succeed. That’s pretty straightforward, right?

So, it should be little surprise that the opposite, a lack of Vision and/or Resources, leads to underperformance -- and, eventually, decline. Think Kodak or Xerox. Or third-generation family wealth that has dwindled away to nothing. In a changing world, refusing to change with it is a losing strategy.

A great strategy aligns people’s interests and motivations with the available resources. More importantly, it provides a meaningful framework for action, one that gives a sense of purpose that will motivate everyone through difficult or trying times.

The grand goal of defeating the Nazis provided sufficient motivation for people to buy war bonds, scrimp on consumption, plant victory gardens, and go without nylon. A large part of our national resources were dedicated to the larger strategy of winning the war. Because of the strategy everyone shared, practically nobody complained of this repurposing as a 'time of sacrifice’ or as an imposed burden.

Given the right framework and the means to achieve it, people will literally crawl through mud in freezing temperatures -- and find it deeply satisfying. But given zero context or insufficient resources, people quickly become demoralized or rebellious (just observe how quickly most folks get royally pissed off at having to sit on the tarmac for a few extra minutes before their airplane takes off.)

Strategy matters. A lot.

A Nation Adrift, A World In Denial

Here's why I'm harping so much on strategy: the US is operating without a viable one.

We neither have a compelling Vision of where we want to go, nor any sense of the Resources required to change with the many transitions underway around us.

The current ‘strategy' (if we can be so generous as to call it that), is nothing more than "business-as-usual" (BAU).

The US is assuming it is always going to have more cars and trucks on the road this year than last year, more goods sold, a larger economy, more jobs, and the world’s most powerful military. That’s the BAU model. And it has largely worked for the past century.

But it can't work going forward. And the longer we pursue it, the more of our future prosperity we ruin.

Why? Because the future of everything is dependent on energy. More specifically: net energy.

Having a powerful military consumes a tremendous annual quantity of energy. The US military eats up 100 million barrels of oil each year. By itself, America's Department of Defense is the 34th largest consumer of oil in the world.

In total, the US consumes over 7 billion barrels of oil each year. And that represents only 37% of the nearly 100 quadrillion of BTUs of America's annual energy consumption (the rest coming from natural gas, coal, and other sources). For comparisons sake, the rest of the world consumes another 450 quadrillion BTUs.

And world energy demand just keeps on insatiably growing year over year. The (notoriously conservative) EIA predicts it will jump by 28% over the next two decades.

Will our energy production be able to keep up? As I've been warning for years, it will be very challenged to do so -- or, to do so at prices anywhere near as low as today's.

Putting Our Plight Into Concrete Terms

Putting those staggering figures aside for a moment, let's focus on one -- just one! -- of the crises ahead of us when it comes to our future energy needs.

The nations of the world have made the truly regrettable decision to build so much of their infrastructure using concrete reinforced with steel (re-bar, mesh, etc.). As I've explained in detail in previous articles, because the steel rusts over time, the concrete is busy being destroyed from the inside out -- something we can detect easily enough by the cracks and spalling (sheets flaking off) so readily apparent on every bridge that’s more than a couple of decades old.

This has created a ticking time bomb. The world's crumbling concrete buildings, bridges and roadways will have to be entirely replaced in just 40 to 100 years of their original construction dates. Where will all of the energy come from for that?

Also, note that China has poured more steel-reinforced concrete over just the past few years than the US did in the entire 20th century(!). All of this, too, will need to be replaced later this century.

Given that the sand required for all of the world's *current* concrete projects is now in very short supply, where all the sand will come from for all that future concrete and cement work? Who ever thought we could run out of sand?

But such are the unpleasant surprises that crop up during the late stages when running an exponential economic paradigm (i.e., "Growth forever!").

Fooling Oursevles

And it certainly doesn't help that we're remaining willfully blind to our situation.

It’s probably safe to say that the majority of the population in the US is confident that the "shale revolution" has assured America's energy security for a long time to come. Heck, the governor of Texas recently tweeted this to the world:

This is wrong on so many levels.

Yes, Texas produces oil and natural gas. But the US is still a net oil importer to the tune of about 3 million barrels per day. The US is not independent with respect to oil. And it won’t be until it produces another 3 million barrels per day (and that's making the generous assumption that consumption remains flat).

Further, to claim that the US will NEVER AGAIN depend on foreign oil is beyond bizarre. As I've been explaining for years, shale fields deplete and decline ferociously. Even the hyper-bullish EIA thinks that the shale fields will peak out in 2025 (I think earlier) and then go into permanent decline.

In my world, NEVER AGAIN is a lot farther out into the future than 2025. But Mr. Abbott has apparently ingested one too many petroleum sales pitches and received a terribly inaccurate impression about the true state of the US' energy predicament.

Much more likely is that US shale production does not EVER exceed US consumption before peaking out. So it would be more accurate to tweet the US is now and will ALWAYS AND FOREVER be dependent on foreign oil.

Finally, even if the US were a net oil exporter (highly unlikely), we’d still be tied to the world price for oil. Should foreign cartels decided to limit production and spike the price, that would still effect the US. So we still wouldn't be "independent" of their influence.

But sadly, Mr. Abbott speaks for the nation in that tweet. We're "swimming in energy" and need not have any worries. The drum of our chest-thumping will scare them away.

In other word:, there’s no strategy beyond BAU.

There's no acknowledgement of the challenges we face in the coming decades, of declining net energy per capita. Of greater competition between the developed and developing nations for the remaining BTUs.

There's no compelling Vision to marshall the public towards that fits the realities of the future. We could, and should, be working on solutions for entering a "post-growth" era with grace. Or at a minimum, aggressively using today's Resources to create a new energy infrastructure that plans for the inevitable decline of fossil fuels.

We could be doing so much better than this.

Getting Our Priorities Straight

What if we started by embracing these three facts?

Fossil fuels have provided a supernova of surplus energy. One that has enabled literally everything and everyone you see around you to spring into existence.

Fossil fuels are a very recent discovery for humans (barely 150-years-old). Half of our consumption of them has happened in just the last 25 years alone (due to exponentially increasing use).

Fossil fuels will not last forever. They are finite and will someday peak and then decline, representing a once-in-a-species bonanza never to be repeated.

It's beyond dispute that fossil fuels are 4/5ths of the current total global energy mix, that our use and dependence on them has grown exponentially over time, and that they are a non-rewable resource.

Among the fossil fuels, oil is, by far, the most critically-important to sustaining both our current level of technology and the human population. It's how we move virtually everything from point A to point B and it’s a critical element for food production and distribution. It also remains absolutely essential to the manufacture and installation of alt-energy systems, like wind and solar.

Given the three facts above, it only makes sense that a responsible global society should have a credible and very publicly-stated energy strategy providing a road map for weaning itself from fossil fuels before they become prohibitively expensive/scarce.

But since we don't have one, the alternative path we're taking is to sleepwalk into the future with no plan for feeding 9 billion people or re-building a crumbled global infrastructure -- let alone facing the additional challenges of running out of critical minerals, dealing with destroyed ecosystems, and being unable to field the necessary fuel and economic complexity to install a brand-new energy infrastructure measuring in the hundreds of quadrillions of BTUs. This BAU path will be marked by the three D’s: despair, demoralization, and death. (Is it any wonder that young people aren't as inspired by BAU as their parents' generation?)

So if instead we want a future that’s prosperous, regenerative and abundant, then we have to begin doing things very differently from BAU. And fast. (The best time to have started on this was decades ago.)

For example, if we decide we want electric transportation powered by wind and solar to be anything more than a meaningless tiny percentage of the total BTU mix, then we’re going to have to use a lot of fossil fuels to make that happen. It takes an enormous amount of fossil fuels to manufacture, install, maintain and repair/replace every single alt-energy component.

The question then becomes: Where do we want to be when that future arrives? If we want to have livable cities and towns with nearby greenbelts and an alt-energy infrastructure delivering clean energy sustainably forever into the future, then an enormous amount of planning and building is going to be required to get anywhere near close to that.

It all comes back to strategy. We need a compelling Vision of this future to inspire society, and then dedicate the appropriate Resources to make it happen.

With an appropriate energy strategy that matches reality, we can engineer a reasonably bright future. Without one, we’ll just pursue BAU until it literally destroys us as well as the ecosystems we depend on.

An New Energy Strategy

So here’s one way to go about doing that.

First, identify all the energy demands that absolutely have to happen just to maintain systemic integrity. The DoD has needs, the current fleets of emergency vehicles and school busses have needs, as does maintaining the existing stock of bridges, roads, and buildings. This exercise will reveal to all that simply maintaining 'the way things are' is extraordinarily energy-expensive. But it has to be done if we want to avoid economic collapse and massive joblessness. It also bears mentioning that the energy required to keep things going is energy that cannot be dedicated to building the new future. It’s a sunk-cost of prior decisions.

Second, make a credible list of energy needs for building the future we want. How many solar panels will that be? How many wind farms? How many miles of electrified train track? How many fully-electric vehicles will have to be built? How many charging stations with the nationwide road system need? What sorts of improvements and modifications to existing cities and towns will have to be made? This is the Vision. It answers the question Where are we going?

Of course, these sorts of new activities and building projects will be very energy expensive. If we want them to happen, then we have to consciously budget an appropriate amount of energy to accomplish the Vision.

Next, develop the very best possible estimate of total economically recoverable fossil fuels. Do this by finally measuring the full-cycle energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) for the remaining deposits. After all, we’re going to build out the future with the surplus energy extraced, not the gross (surplus = Total BTUs extracted - BTUs expended during extraction). This estimate will represent the total principal balance of our national energy bank account.

Last, calculate if there will be any energy left over. If so, save it for future generations. They'll have their own sets of needs and desires that we can't possible know today. (Sadly, I'm willing to wager that there won’t be any excess fossil energy to pass along).

A Sample Scenario

By way of example, suppose that the US undergoes a thorough, exhaustive, peer-reviewed and thoroughly debated examination of all known remaining fossil fuel resources – coal, natural gas and oil – using the very best and well-funded EROEI methodologies (yet to be developed, by the way). If we arbitrarily say that there are “100 units” of net energy left, we might discover this:

25 units will be required to simply maintain the economic system so it doesn’t crash and can support the build-out of the new Vision for the future.

60 units will be required to build that future out.

15 units are not yet assigned. We might decide to leave those to future generations because that would be conscientious and prudent. Or perhaps we discover that they shouldn’t be burned because of the environmental impact.

Results such as these yield important insights.

First, we’d understand that if we accidentally burned through, say, 45 units blindly pursuing BAU, that would steal 25 units from building out the future we want.

Next, we'd realize better that our chances of manifesting the Vision are improved by limiting the amount we spend on maintenance. That insight would help to spur better decisions around conservation and efficiencies -- such as not driving 6,000 pound private SUV/Truck vehicles to transport a single passenger to a desk job, or building homes with inadequate insulation to save a few thousand dollars on the front end of a 100-year capital investment.

Finally, we’d appreciate how our energy resources are finite and limited, and that how we choose to utilize them is quite possibly the single most important decision society can possibly make. Leaving the fate of our precious energy resources to the short-term interests of the markets and politicians would suddenly look too risky and nonsensical. We'd agitate for greater stewardship of them.

Were I in charge, the most well-funded institution in the land would be the Energy Institute. Our very best and brightest minds would be heavily incentivized to work there, applying their considerable gifts at science and mathematics towards matching our energy resources with our shared national goals. Gone would be the days of our top talent working for Wall Street and private money funds to move electronic abstractions of wealth hither and yon, skimming money while creating absolutely nothing of lasting value for their country or the world.

The Coming Oil Crunch Will Shock The World

However, we both know that no such strategic energy plan is forthcoming. There’s no strategy in the US (or Japan or Europe or China, or anywhere) that aligns finite resources with a well-defined, sustainable vision of the future.

BAU rules the roost.

It’s so powerfully embedded that Ford Motor Company recently decided to scrap selling sedans and small cars in America. It will only manufacture SUVs, trucks and commercial vehicles. You know when Ford will no longer make cars, you’ve got to have really chugged the shale oil Kool-Aid to make that decision.

Concrete is still poured with steel rebar every day. New homes and commercial buildings are built with expected lifetimes of only several decades and little attention to insulation. And the Federal Reserve focuses with manic precision on assuring that the credit markets continue to grow exponentially.

Each of these and a million other activities consumes finite, irreplaceable energy at the expense of a sustainable future. At some point, perhaps already passed us, that goal becomes no longer possible.

My point is we don’t know where that line in the sand is. We haven’t done the work, made the plans, and performed the necessary visioning to know one way or the other.

But what we can be sure of is that BAU is headed in the wrong direction and it has no long term future. One way or the other, endless growth on a finite planet will run its course and end. The only remaining question left to answer is: How painful will the reckoning be?

None of us know what will finally break the largest and most destructive credit cycle ever unleashed on the world (thanks central banks!) but we all know that The Everything Bubble has a bitter end. All self-destructive delusions do.

Our analysis concludes that the hard-stop for this credit bubble is resource-based. And I predict it will be a sudden spike in the price of oil that will be the pin that the central bank enabled bubbles absolutely cannot grow beyond.

They will encounter this pin and burst.

There will be plenty of time for tears and regrets then. But right now? You need to get ready.

In Part 2: How The Coming Oil Shock Will Impact Absolutely Everything we go deep into the data showing why a global oil supply shortfall is unavoidable by or before 2020. That's less than two years away.

If gas prices at today's $70/barrel price bother you, you ain't seen nothing yet. The spike in oil's price that will result from the coming crunch will shock the world.

As an increase in the price of oil feeds into the cost of everything, it acts like an interest rate increase in terms of depressing economic growth. If we haven't already entered one yet, this coming shock will absolutely throw the global economy into recession. And if we're already in one when it hits, heaven help us.

Click here to read Part 2 of this report (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)

[tortuga-aak]

America might be losing its place on the world stage — and diplomats worry that 'things will start to fall apart'

Thomson Reuters

Hundreds of senior posts at the State Department remain empty, and many positions have been permanently vacated.

Massive cuts Secretary Tillerson has proposed would slash the Foreign Service and dramatically reduce America's foreign aid.

With morale and resources low at the State Department, diplomats have turned to Nikki Haley of the UN instead of Tillerson.

Diplomats and State Department officials painted a bleak picture of the department's future in a recent story in The New Yorker, voicing fears that the decades of work the department has done to keep the post-war world order afloat are being undone.

On both the campaign trail and in the White House, President Donald Trump has made his vision for America's place in the world clear — America's membership in NATO and other international organizations would be conditional, trade deals that don't benefit US workers would have to be scrapped, and forceful defenses of national sovereignty would replace diplomatic talks.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has followed Trump's lead by dramatically cutting State Department funds and reshaping its management.

Resignations and reassignments in the State Department are a standard part of turnover from one administration to the next, but the department under Trump is still massively understaffed after over 300 senior diplomats left following Tillerson's takeover. Many of top jobs remain intentionally vacant, meant to centralize decision-making around Tillerson himself and streamline the department's operations. But many veterans of international diplomacy feel the changes are threatening the nature and mission of the department itself. 

“My fundamental concern is that [Tillerson] is so decimating the senior levels of the Foreign Service that there's no one to show up at meetings where the US needs to be represented," a retired diplomat told The New Yorker.

"Whether it's the oceans, the environment, science, human rights, broadband assignments, drugs and thugs, civil aviation — it's a huge range of issues on which there are countless treaties and agreements that all require management. And, if we are not there, things will start to fall apart."

Among the proposed cuts are massive reductions in funding for humanitarian aid for refugees, disaster relief, and economic development — overall, $6.6 billion is being cut from programs that support human development initiatives outside the US. While experts agree that there certainly exists waste within the State Department — most notably the presence of 66 envoys to various countries around the world that do more or less the same work as ambassadors and secretaries — the cuts Tillerson has undertaken have shaken the department's very foundations.

Nick Burns was an Under-Secretary of State in the Bush administration. He told The New Yorker that Tillerson's cuts "will decimate the Foreign Service."

"The Foreign Service is a jewel of the United States," Burns said. "There is no other institution in our government with such deep knowledge of the history, culture, language, and politics of the rest of the world."

As CEO of the oil company Exxon Mobil, Tillerson was a reclusive leader and rarely engaged with the press, and while he surrounded himself with a small management committee, it was clear that he was the one who made every decision.

He has reportedly taken similar steps at the State Department by significantly increasing the size and role of the policy planning staff, a formerly small body devoted to advising the secretary of state, and making it a "parallel department" that helps him make decisions. At their helm is chief of staff Margaret Peterlin, who is said to have enormous influence within the current department. In doing so, diplomats say he has cut off ambitious staffers from the decision-making process, and discouraged their sense that they can make a difference in American foreign policy.

One such example was veteran diplomat Victoria Nuland, whose last position at the department was as the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. She quit over fundamental differences with Tillerson and Trump over Russia and the role of American diplomacy on the international stage. Many other senior officials have also left voluntarily. 

"I used to wake up every morning with a vision about how to do the work to make the world a better place," a State Department official told Foreign Policy. "It's pretty demoralizing if you are committed to making progress. I now spend most of my days thinking about the morass. There is no vision."

Tom Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration, told the New Yorker that there's "furniture stacked up in the hallways" and "a lot of empty offices" now.

"The place empties out at 4 p.m.," he said. "The morale is completely broken."

With 48 ambassadorships and 21 assistant secretary positions still empty, the top brass is almost entirely absent from the department, providing it with little vision aside outside from Tillerson's detached pronouncements. Yet even his own doctrine remains unclear — while he has at times made statements and taken actions that emphasize the role of American diplomacy in protecting international orders, department insiders say his budget proposals would make these goals almost impossible.

As Trump has advocated cuts to the State Department, he has concurrently sought $54 billion in additional defense spending, equaling the entirety of the State Department budget.

"All of our tools right now are military," a former Obama-era senior official told The New Yorker. "When all of your tools are military, those are the tools you reach for."

For many people in the department, it is obvious that they are getting sidelined.

"There's no one protecting the institution of the State Department," one foreign service officer told Foreign Policy. "They don't give a shit about what's happening to us."

As one American official has stated though, that's because politics operate differently in the age of Trump. Officials in China have stopped working with the US Embassy on North Korea, the American official said, because "Why call the Embassy when the only thing that matters is what the President tweets?"

But on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement affirming that despite the doom and gloom coming out of the State Department, Trump's diplomatic agenda is working.

"President Trump is achieving real results on the international stage," Pence wrote. "While critics engage in empty rhetoric and baseless attacks, under the President’s leadership, ISIS is on the run; North Korea is isolated like never before; and our NATO allies are doing more to pay their fair share for our common defense."

Yet these achievements only tell part of the story — while compelling NATO members to pay more for defense likely did result from Trump's own insistence, the reduction of the terrorist group ISIS's territory in the Middle East was a military endeavor that began during the Obama administration, and sanctions on North Korea resulted from UN ambassador Nikki Haley's work. Some US officials say Haley has been instrumental in making up for the State Department's slack, and has advised diplomats on a host of issues like national security in North Africa, all while getting results at the security council. 

"Nikki's getting it done," one official told the New Yorker. "She's bringing home the bacon. Rex hates her. He f------ hates her."

Yet these results don't take into account the toll the State Department's absence from international affairs has wrought upon the ability of the US to mold relationships around the world.

“We can shape things, or wait to get shaped by China and everybody else," former deputy secretary of state Bill Burns told The New Yorker. "What worries me about the Trump people is that they're going to miss the moment. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. And sins of omission — not taking advantage of the moment — cost you over time."

NOW WATCH: The mysterious life of the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

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Trump administration Opinion Don't underestimate the harm 'brittle masculinity' can do to the world Timothy Snyder Strength brings problems and weakness brings others. But weakness posing as strength is the most dangerous of all ‘The passionate proclamation of masculinity, though it can seem laughable, is an effective sort of politics.’ Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP View more sharing options Shares 602 Comments 144 Thursday 20 April 2017 06.00 EDT In his history of the origins of the Great War, Christopher Clark wrote of “brittle masculinity,” a threatened sense of manhood that lurked beneath the spiked helms and elaborate uniforms of central European leaders. Today’s endless celebration of American power by the men who are undoing it is not only tragic but revealing. Consider Sebastian Gorka, a Hungarian who advises President Donald Trump on foreign policy: he brings central European “brittle masculinity” into a new century and a new continent. Awaiting an appointment from his patrons Trump and Stephen Bannon, Gorka proclaimed that “the era of the Pajama Boy is over,” and that the “the alpha males are back.” No alpha male has ever referred to himself as such. Though Gorka presents himself as an expert on the Arab world and counter-terrorism, his credentials are mostly bluster. Let’s not forget that he wore the emblem of a Hungarian group categorized by the State Department as Nazi collaborators to President Trump’s inaugural ball. Advertisement President Trump’s Twitter flood of late-night mendacity is an unhindered celebration of fragile manhood, a ceaseless summons to the millions for affirmation, a proclamation to vulnerable males across the land that endless preening and stroking is a normal and emulable way of life. But behind the absurdly overstated concern for strength lurks real weakness. His daybreak attacks on the press reveal a man who is afraid to read the morning newspapers. The portrayal of (male) presidential spokesperson Sean Spicer by (female) actress Melissa McCarthy on Saturday Night Live left the president, uncharacteristically, unable to tweet. The passionate proclamation of masculinity, though it can seem laughable, is an effective sort of politics. There is nothing at all funny about the confusion and pain of the millions of American men who find themselves battered by globalization: unemployed, underemployed, and often supported, in ways that they find demoralizing, by their wives or partners. Donald Trump's first 100 days as president – daily updates Read more Many unemployed blue-collar men find service industries less appealing than the vanished jobs in factories and mines. Understandably, they painfully miss the confidence that a union job could allow them to send their children to college. Americans can accept that the American Dream will not work out for them: what has been heartbreaking for so many is the sense that their children will have it even worse. In this sea of humiliation, brought about by real inequalities, Trump appeals to certain men precisely because he celebrates the fragility of his own masculinity. As president, Trump continuously seeks the approval that so many men in this country find hard to get, and his open neediness seems to resolve their secret shame. More intoxicatingly still, he seems to have proven that losing can lead to winning. Trump bankrupted six companies, but succeeded on the biggest of stages. He is the champion of failures. Vice-President Mike Pence expresses and endorses weakness in a different way, by his refusal to have dinner with unchaperoned women. Such a practice discriminates against women. It also constrains men seeking work, or gives them an excuse when they fail to find it. Looking for a job requires contact with women, and holding one requires listening to them. Advertisement This isn’t the only time, of course, that masculinity has played an overt role in politics. The rise of fascism was also a result of masculinity in crisis, of economic problems that seemingly could only be resolved in emotional terms. Everyone knows that the Great Depression permitted the rise of Adolf Hitler and the triumph of his Nazi party. We remember that unemployment drove men to vote for Adolf Hitler and for radical politicians generally. But why, exactly? How was all of this experienced by the men themselves -- and by the many women who also voted for Hitler? From a distance, historians tend to focus on the exhaustion of liberal democracy, the polarization of politics between far right and far left, and so on. But this is putting the cart before the horse. It is not so much that men think one economic system has failed them and that they should vote for another. It is rather that sustained unemployment or underemployment, which are endemic in precisely the parts of the United States that won the election for Trump, are humiliating and emasculating. Short cuts to self-esteem, such as the delegation of self-confidence to a leader, become more tempting. Certain politicians are lightening rods in the storm of male insecurity. Adolf Hitler was a sexually ambiguous figure, and National Socialism was a sexually ambiguous movement. He was also a kind of patron saint of failures, or of “the little man” as Germans said then: Mein Kampf (just a bit like the Art of the Deal) is a literary effort that overcomes marginality with grandiosity. By coming to power, Hitler proved that a loser could win. He was a hero of masculine flux. This does not, of course, mean that Trump is just like Hitler or that America is about to become fascist. It does remind us of some deep political currents that must be identified and channeled while there is still time. Many of Nazi Germany’s killers, as we know from the work of Christopher Browning, murdered because they were intimidated by peer pressure. Brittle masculinity, in the right setting, becomes political atrocity. Strength brings problems; weakness brings others; but weakness posing as strength is the most dangerous of all. Timothy Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University and the author, most recently, of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Hello again … … today we have a small favour to ask. More people than ever are regularly reading the Guardian, but far fewer are paying for it. Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So we think it’s fair to ask people who visit us often for their help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.' If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure. Become a supporter Make a contribution Topics Trump administration Opinion US politics Gender comment Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+