Thursday, October 13, 2016

Workplaces of ROBOTA: a “guaranteed jobs” program

“Life is an illness we must enjoy.”
~ V.S. Pritchett, “Boswell’s London”

The childishness Sweeping The World:
Quite simply, the behavior illustrated by all these links as that of a bunch of spoiled brats, throwing temper tantrums because they aren’t getting their way. Unfortunately, these brats also generally control our culture today, so no one is allowed to call them for what they are. If you do, you will get slammed, verbally, financially, and even violently. (Note that I once worked in academia, and do so no longer. I leave it to my readers to guess why.)
These are the Crazy Years. I fear, and increasingly expect, that Nehemiah Scudder in some form or another will bring this to an end ..

Courage: We decide for ourselves and face the consequences ... Pericles: “The secret of happiness is liberty, and the secret of liberty is courage.”

How about a “guaranteed jobs” program

ATO Twitter Supervision circa 1955  

Get me out of here: nearly a third of APS employees plotting quick exit  


NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why I Have No Home Internet





Postcapitalism and the city Paul Mason

CIA ‘Siren Servers’ Can Predict Social Uprisings 3-5 Days in Advance


 “Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom,” Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in contemplating the sacredness of public libraries. “If librarians were honest, they would say, No one spends time here without being changed,”

Joseph Mills wrote in his ode to libraries “You never know what troubled little girl needs a book,” Nikki Giovanni wrote in one of her  poems celebrating libraries and librarian

"To be clear, I support the act of checking facts, of holding candidates accountable for what they say and calling them out when they are lying. My objection is to the label 'fact-checking,' because I'm old-school enough to remember when we called it by another name: journalism." — Salt Lake Tribune columnist Sean P. Means   

An economist makes the case for saving investigative journalism

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings USA Today. “Good luck with copays on Obamacareless.”

Teachers Threaten Strike in Chicago Wall Street Journal
Working in tobacco fields can make kids sick. But they still need the money. Washington Post 
World’s ‘gig economy’ larger than thought Financial Times. 1/3 participate as last resort.

Book reviews of Slavery’s Capitalism and This Vast Southern Empire, with some thoughts on their relevance to our own day.


Letting the Public In: Opportunities & Standards for Open Data Financial Transparency Coalition 

Link to the Alan Krueger paper on where the workers have gone.  Note that pain is not a contemporary invention, yet it seems to be playing a larger role in joblessness than before.


Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson's $20 million settlement with Fox News was unusual in some ways; she received an apology from the network and her complaint resulted in the ouster of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.  Her high-profile case is just one of an increasing number of retaliation claims. Retaliation cases now exceed claims of race discrimination, making up about 45 percent of complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Toxic Water Coolers 

Henry Stewart, founder of London-based training business Happy, says: “People work best when they feel good about themselves. (Mindfullness)  People do not work well when they are bullied, told off or blamed. Such behaviour should have no place in the modern workplace. (via Forbes) We need environments where people feel trusted to do their best, within guidelines, and where the role of managers is to coach not instruct. Do that and you will get both better mental health and a more productive organisation.” A company's success depends upon people trying to beat each other as much as trying to cooperate with each other ... Bullying can be subtle, such as secretly sabotaging someone's work, or setting them up for failure by purposely making unreasonable demands.” In short: repeated, deliberate harm Complex coolers
"The Truth, when you finally chase it down, is almost always far worse than your darkest visions and fears." - Hunter S. Thompson: Kingdom of Fear (220)


Computer-savvy criminals posing as Internal Revenue Service officers at call centers in India may have bilked unsuspecting Americans out of millions, police in India said Thursday Indian call center employees posing as the IRS may have bilked americans out of millions

More than bakers dozens of suspects are accused of asking Americans to pay bogus tax fines through iTunes gift cards Indian police have arrested 70 people in relation to an alleged call center scam in the city of Mumbai, accusing them of being part of a scheme that conned more than $100,000 a day from U.S. citizens Workers faking to be IRS officers in Indian call center scam


How Big Pharma’s Shadow Regulation Censors the InternetElectronic Frontier Foundation. Important.


Everyone complains they are too busy. The only time I can recall people complaining that they were not busy was in Biglaw in 2008, when there was little work to go around and everyone was afraid (with ample justification) they were about to get laid off


Internships, Fellowships, and Other Work Experience Opportunities in the Federal Government. Christina Miracle Bailey, Senior Research Librarian; Jennifer E. Manning; Senior Research Librarian. September 30, 2016.
“While there are many opportunities in the federal government for internships, fellowships, and other work experience, there is no comprehensive source to assist in locating these opportunities. This report describes Internet resources for prominent and popular opportunities for internship, fellowship, and work experience programs within the federal government. The report is intended as a selective guide for students of all levels: high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate. It provides information on legislative, executive, and judicial branch opportunities and links to several aggregators of jobs data. The introduction provides a number of insights to assist applicants on understanding terminology, timing applications, and expectations for types of work involved.”

Hope amid cynicism, sickness, and death. Kierkegaardrenounced worldly pleasures, like trips to the countryside and even marriage. But his vision wasn’t entirely pessimist 

Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and machine learning are enabling computers to understand the world and respond intelligently to it. Google is already embracing these technologies for Android, but they’re poised to have bigger implications, touching everything from drones to medical diagnosis. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen explains how AI will change the world

Tax Office hires customer service chief from Masters hardware Customer Service
 
From cops to coaches: Tax leaves behind old bureaucratic culture ...
 


A Tax Office public servant has won workers' compensation for mental damage he suffered when his boss told him she was used to managing "people like you". The case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has revealed the tensions behind the scenes as ATO technicians struggled at its Brisbane offices to ready the new E-tax for Mac software in time for Tax Time 2013. Thompson Francis will be compensated for the anxiety and depression he said was caused by workplace bullying and harassment as he and his colleagues were pressured by bosses to iron-out bugs in the system. His claim was initially rejected by federal workplace insurer Comcare and the ATO, which argued that its treatment of its employee was "reasonable administrative action taken in a reasonable manner"  Workplace Manager told public servant of experience managing 'people like you' in bullying case ATO worker wins compensation

Corporate Crime: New principles will help governments and law enforcement tackle corporate abuse   


US taxpayers made millionaires out of Afghan gangsters, warlords and connected class

Jersey introduces 'sandbox' reforms to test virtual currency 

Half of all Australian employees will experience workplace bulling during their careers, new research finds Toxic Cultures