Author Archive

Katrina vanden Heuvel Dont confuse truth_0

Monday, April 29th, 2013

celebrate courageous individuals who spoke out even when the forces arrayed against them were large, powerful or questioned their motives and patriotism,beats by dre outlet.This year s daring have spoken out about global warming, illegal immigration, the FBI s crackdown on student radicals in the 60s and sexual assault in the military. They follow in the footsteps of earlier recipients who have come forward, often at great personal risk, to expose the lies of government and corporations, to reveal unreported truths, to rally others on behalf of transparency and to call out corruption.Truth-telling has suffered an all-out assault at the strong hands of the most recent administrations sometimes literally,cheapest beat, as in the case of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who has been detained in and now faces extreme charges that many believe . The Obama administration s actions against whistleblowers are particularly disturbing because during the president s first campaign, he the best source of information about waste, fraud and abuse in government, and said that their acts of courage and patriotism . . . should be encouraged rather than stifled. Yet this administration has invoked the since 2009. Passed in 1917, it had been previously used only three times to prosecute government officials, including the spy Aldrich Ames.One of the latest whistleblowers to suffer under the Espionage Act is 2011 Ridenhour winner . As another Ridenhour awardee,beats headphones on sale, Jane Mayer, in a sweeping New Yorker article, Drake was not a spy, but a National Security Agency employee who exposed , an NSA program that illegally monitored civilian communication,Why Rand Paul could be key player on immigration. He was outraged that the government was spying on its citizens in violation of the law. When Drake s attempts to report his concerns through traditional channels were ignored, and then punished, his only recourse was to go public.

Ask Amy advice on family estrangement_1

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

I think this will offend my dad, as he takes his marriage vows very seriously from a religious perspective. (He annulled the marriage from my mother and made his current wife get two annulments before they could marry.)
Am I out of line to ask to only see him when I visit?
Daughter
Dear Daughter: Your father can’t take marriage vows all that seriously if he is on his third marriage, but regardless he is embracing the existence of this child and is helping to raise it, which is the right thing to do, especially seeing as how the child’s mother is his wife.
So you come from a messed-up family. Join the club.
You are responding to the confusion and complication by essentially trying to erase an entire person a child who has done nothing to deserve being shunned or denied by you or anyone else. The child does have a biological father and it also seems right for this man to have a hand in raising the child.
You should be truthful with your children, despite how painful or embarrassing this is for you. You can certainly ask to see your father alone, but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t agree to this condition.
Dear Amy: I am a teenager. I have a friend, “Hattie,” who is going through a rough time at home. Her brother has dropped out of college, and he is back at home, dealing drugs instead of getting a job. Hattie told me, but she is in denial.
Should I report him to the police? I am afraid that he will harm her,beats studio. A few days ago he had a terrible argument with his mom,Boston bombings- Obama hails arrest as end of ‘important chapter’_2, and it got violent. Hattie isn’t a weakling, but she is physically smaller and mentally insecure. But if I do rat him out, will my friendship with Hattie be over,cheap beats by dr dre? Will I later regret it?
Good Friend
Dear Friend: What you can offer your friend is perspective and a very supportive friendship.
I agree with you that this situation sounds volatile and frightening. You should talk with your parents or another trusted adult about the best course of action, including perhaps inviting her to stay with you. Police will not always leap into a situation based on what a third party reports but you could also try to get advice from them about what Hattie should do.
Dear Amy: “Worried Friend” asked if she should send a card to her friend who was in the hospital for an attempted suicide. Your response was right-on.
I still have the bow from the food basket that my co-workers sent when I went into treatment for alcoholism 21 years ago. My son was in a hospital for depression, and the letter that his best friend sent him was the best medicine he received at the time,beats headphones.
Grateful
Dear Grateful: Thank you so much for sharing your personal perspective.

Emotional intelligence is a workplace concept that should be taken seriousl

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

In brief, the growing interest in emotional intelligence stems from a slow-but-steady recognition that the people who inhabit office spaces are, in fact, human beings.
A person who is emotionally intelligent can recognize and understand his or her own reactions to workplace events, while also recognizing, understanding and appreciating the responses of others.
For too long, emotions have been unwelcome at work. We had a job to do, darn it, and we weren’t going to let silly things like feelings get in the way. So we stifled tears, anger (sometimes) and even passion, lest we risk seeming unhinged.
“The truth is you can’t even decide what you want for lunch without involving your emotions,” said Anne Kreamer, author of “It’s Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace” (). “We’ve all been acculturated to believe that the only appropriate behavior in the workplace is one that does not acknowledge that we’re all human beings. And that’s just not true.”
Enhancing emotional intelligence in the workplace has two pragmatic benefits.
The individual who can understand what sets him off or charges her up or what drives him nuts can harness those emotions, control them when need be and use them to better ends. And being able to read and react appropriately to the emotions of others makes a manager more effective and builds camaraderie among workers and stronger client connections.
It sounds strategic, but being emotionally smart will get you places.
For a company, fostering emotional intelligence leads to better collaboration and creates a happier, more productive operation.
In her book, Kreamer writes:
“The goal of any person or organization should be to allow emotion at work, in all of its gendered nuances, its due but not to excess. Again, as with most of life, it’s a ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ calibration question you want not too soft or too hard, not too cold or too hot, but the elusive ‘just right.’ … (My) strong sense is that very few workplaces have their emotional temperatures set anything close to just right.”
That might be why emotional intelligence remains a concept that has yet to catch on.
Louise Altman, co-founder of Intentional Communication Consultants, said: “I think it’s still viewed as slightly suspect in the average workplace. I’m kind of astonished on a regular basis at how little people really understand about human dynamics in the workplace.”
Altman’s husband, George, also co-founder of the company, added: “Sometimes when you talk about emotional intelligence, people want to start hanging garlic around their necks because they think it has to do with psychology or therapy. But it’s really just about greater self-awareness.”
The Altmans said a good way to start building your emotional intelligence is to slow down and think about how you’re feeling during different parts of the workday. Try to observe the emotions of those around you as well.
“When you’re in a meeting and you’re presenting your case, how aware are you of how you’re feeling, why you’re doing what you’re doing and the impact what you’re saying is having on others,” Louise Altman said. “Non-verbal cues are coming all the time. Are you taking those cues in,Coma_3? Are you modifying your behavior? Perhaps you can gauge whether you’ve reached a good time to stop talking and ask a question or two.”
“If you see someone crying in the workplace,” Kreamer said, “go up and have a conversation about it in a way that doesn’t make them feel ashamed. Find out what’s wrong. If you see some abusive behavior going on at your office, go up to the person who did it and say, ‘What was going on there?’ We need to not be afraid to acknowledge that these emotions are there and to try to discuss them.”
Somewhere along the line we decided the way we interact in a work environment should be quite different than the way we interact with friends and family. That’s as it should be, up to a point. But it overlooks the fact that we don’t become robots when we walk through the office door.
We remain human beings throughout the day. Fleshy, warm-blooded, emotional.
Appreciate that. And hope that someday we can all work in office buildings made of rich Belgian chocolate which would help smooth out everyone’s emotions.
TALK TO REX: Ask workplace questions anonymously or by name and share stories with Rex Huppke at , like Rex on Facebook at facebook.com/rexworkshere, and find more at chicagotribune.com/ijustworkhere.