Monday, December 30, 2013

Zappos Does Away With Job Titles, Managers - Retailer turns to 'holacratic' model

Zappos Does Away With Job Titles, Managers - Retailer turns to 'holacratic' model: "Online retailer Zappos is making a dramatic change to its company hierarchy—in fact, it's getting rid of it. CEO Tony Hsieh explained to employees last month that the company was ditching job titles and management positions in favor of a system known as "Holacracy." The term, which comes from the Greek "holon," meaning a whole inside something bigger, is about "self-governing." It works by dividing the company into some 400 circles; inside a circle, a worker can have multiple jobs, Quartz reports."

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DRC Coup: Armed Group Attacks Targets Across Capital Kinshasa, At Least 40 Dead

DRC Coup: Armed Group Attacks Targets Across Capital Kinshasa, At Least 40 Dead: "Assailants armed with machetes and automatic weapons attacked the state television station, the airport and the main military base in Congo's capital in what appeared to be a coup attempt early Monday, before being repelled by the country's military, officials and witnesses said.

Congo's government spokesman Lambert Mende confirmed the attack, saying around 40 people were killed in the exchange of fire Monday morning, including 16 at the military base, 16 at the airport and eight at the TV station. Another six were captured, he said.

"These are terrorists, you can't call them anything else," Mende said."

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

When “Life Hacking” Is Really White Privilege — Get Bullish — Medium

When “Life Hacking” Is Really White Privilege — Get Bullish — Medium: "When you are an affluent-seeming white man and you ask for things that don’t belong to you, sometimes you’re not really asking. It’s sort like Bill Clinton asking Monica Lewinsky to have sex with him. There’s a context behind the asking.

When you ask a serviceperson for something that doesn’t belong to you, there is often a subtext of, “If I complain to your manager, you know your manager is going to listen to me. Just look at me, and look at you.”

And sometimes, of course, this is not the case at all, and you’re just being a garden-variety annoying customer. Or a bully.

If you seem to be “getting everything you want,” you should probably examine whether you’re getting it at someone’s expense, or whether you’re just constantly, in small ways, making the world worse."

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Rep. Peter Welch Offers Plan To End Debt Ceiling Hostage-Taking

Rep. Peter Welch Offers Plan To End Debt Ceiling Hostage-Taking:
WASHINGTON -- Vermont Democratic Rep. Peter Welch is offering a simple way for Congress to avoid damaging standoffs over the nation's debt ceiling: agree to pay the bills before running them up.
Perhaps that seems like an expectation a government would already be meeting, but the way the United States' elected representatives authorize spending now amounts to ordering up a nice meal, then holding a pitched battle over whether or not the check should be paid.
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Thursday, December 19, 2013

'You Plan On Sending Your Kids To College. It's Now Out Of The Question.'

'You Plan On Sending Your Kids To College. It's Now Out Of The Question.': "When you're fully employed and making a decent salary, you know, you don't have those worries. You enjoy your life. You enjoy your family. When you're underemployed or you're working for a little over minimum wage, you don't have that opportunity to relax."

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Malala and Nabila: worlds apart - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Malala and Nabila: worlds apart - Opinion - Al Jazeera English: "It is useful to contrast the American response to Nabila Rehman with that of Malala Yousafzai, a young girl who was nearly assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban. While Malala was feted by Western media figures, politicians and civic leaders for her heroism, Nabila has become simply another one of the millions of nameless, faceless people who have had their lives destroyed over the past decade of American wars. The reason for this glaring discrepancy is obvious. Since Malala was a victim of the Taliban, she, despite her protestations, was seen as a potential tool of political propaganda to be utilised by war advocates. She could be used as the human face of their effort, a symbol of the purported decency of their cause, the type of little girl on behalf of whom the United States and its allies can say they have been unleashing such incredible bloodshed. Tellingly, many of those who took up her name and image as a symbol of the justness of American military action in the Muslim world did not even care enough to listen to her own words or feelings about the subject."

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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Case Against Multivitamins Grows Stronger : Shots - Health News : NPR

The Case Against Multivitamins Grows Stronger : Shots - Health News : NPR: ""I think this is a great example of how our intuition leads us astray," Salzburg told Shots. "It seems reasonable that if a little bit of something is good for you, them more should be better for you. It's not true. Supplementation with extra vitamins or micronutrients doesn't really benefit you if you don't have a deficiency."

Vitamin deficiencies can kill, and that discovery has made for some great medical detective stories. Salzburg points to James Lind, a Scottish physician who proved in 1747 that citrus juice could cure scurvy, which had killed more sailors than all wars combined. It was not until much later that scientists discovered that the magic ingredient was vitamin C."

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Larry Page Wants Earth To Have A Mad Scientist Island | TechCrunch

Larry Page Wants Earth To Have A Mad Scientist Island | TechCrunch: "“… We’re at maybe 1% of what is possible. Despite the faster change, we’re still moving slow relative to the opportunities we have. I think a lot of that is because of the negativity… Every story I read is Google vs someone else. That’s boring. We should be focusing on building the things that don’t exist.”"

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Friday, December 6, 2013

BBC News - France takes 'immediate' military action amid CAR clashes

BBC News - France takes 'immediate' military action amid CAR clashes: "A French-led military operation to protect civilians in the Central African Republic is being launched "immediately", after scores died in fresh sectarian fighting on Thursday.

A contingent of 650 troops there will be "doubled within a few days, if not a few hours," President Hollande said.

Earlier the UN Security Council voted to allow French troops to join an African peacekeeping force in the CAR.

Violence there has raised fears of mass killings along sectarian lines.

"I have decided to act immediately, in other words, this evening," Francois Hollande said."

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BBC News - Central African Republic: Abandoned and burnt villages

BBC News - Central African Republic: Abandoned and burnt villages: "The sectarian and sexual violence gripping the Central African Republic is now the worst it has ever been.

Fighters from the mainly Muslim Seleka group are being blamed for a series of attacks on the Christian majority.

French and US officials have warned that a genocide could be in the making.

Since the rebels overthrew the president in March around 400,000 people have fled their homes in fear."

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BBC News - Nelson Mandela death: A life in pictures

BBC News - Nelson Mandela death: A life in pictures: "Nelson Mandela death: A life in pictures"

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BBC News - South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg

BBC News - South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg: "Mr Mandela, 95, led South Africa's transition from white-minority rule in the 1990s, after 27 years in prison.

He had been receiving intense home-based medical care for a lung infection after three months in hospital."

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