Music Break

Mark Isham: "A Tale of Two Cities" from A Winter's Solstice.

Modern Life

While navigating freeway traffic this morning I began to wonder if turn signals are no longer available in automobiles.

"The Bishop's Wife"

A great Christmas film that deserves a larger audience. 

Just be sure to see the version with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven.

Captain Kirk, We Have a New JAG Officer

One of FutureLawyer's most appealing qualities is his full embrace of geekhood.

Lounge Wear and More

Once again, I find myself behind the fashion curve.

Terror in Europe

Sympathy, prayers, and assistance should go out to the German people. 

All should be heart-felt and substantive.

That said, nothing that has recently happened in Europe with regard to terrorism should be a surprise. Writers such as Bruce Bawer, Mark Steyn, Claire Berlinski, and Melanie Phillips warned of it years ago but they were dismissed in some quarters as alarmists. 

The critics had what a foreign policy scholar once called The Pearl Harbor Mentality; an attitude which denies that a matter is a problem until something blows up. 

If one wants to understand why the political elites in Europe have taken some hits lately, a quick review of their decisions on immigration and border control would be a good place to start.

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.

- Henry J. Kaiser

First Paragraph

In the beginning - not the imagined beginning of patriarchs and prophets, and certainly not the beginning of the whole universe, just the documented beginning of ordinary Jews - in that beginning, a father and mother were worrying about their son.

- From The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words 1000 BC - 1492 AD by Simon Schama

Books for the Trump Era

The New York Times: Ross Douthat provides a list.

I'm glad to see that the Peter Hitchens book is mentioned.

Softening the Blow of Rejection

Check out the fine work of the Rejection Generator Project. 

Write your own rejection letters so you'll be prepared when you get a real one.

Breakfast Meeting

We will sip coffee and munch toast while reviewing the subtle nature of management. Robert's Rules of Order will be briefly debated. Bylaws consulted. Goals and plans reviewed.

Good stuff.

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

Chains required, whips optional.

- California highway sign

"Roman Holiday" Break

First Paragraph

Seven hundred years ago a man almost conquered the earth. He made himself master of half the known world, and inspired mankind with a fear that lasted for generations. 

- From Genghis Khan: The Emperor of All Men by Harold Lamb

Long Before "Star Wars"

A noted actress captured the hearts of America in a thrilling story featuring stunning special effects and brilliant dialogue.

Illustrating a Ghost Story by Dickens

Cory Godbey at Muddy Colors looks at how illustrators have approached A Christmas Carol,

Music Break

Placido Domingo: "Hacia Belen va un borrico."

Miscellaneous and Fast

Wally Bock: Read like the Warrior Monk.
Matthew Lang advises us to level up. (Will do.)
Patrick Rhone: Paper is not broken. (Bravo!)
Law Latte: Mathematical gift wrapping. (Sorely needed.)
Unconventional education: Althouse on the Badger Rock Middle School.
Sippican Cottage on toughing it out during a Maine winter.

Pre-Obvious

The idea of the wheel now seems oh-so-obvious and yet at one time it wasn't. Once you get past trying to duplicate legs, then you are closer to the mark, and some wise individual or group made that move.

In doing so, they left one realm and entered another.

It is a heady atmosphere - when you see something which others have missed - and doing so requires a willingness to break free from old assumptions and to ask new questions.

That's why an Assumptions List can be so valuable. Jot down your assumptions and then review them. See what stands out.

You may find a wheel.

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

I could never have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.

- Charles Dickens

"Poor Boys Long Way From Home"

You'll find some John Fahey at The Hammock Papers.

Just in Time for Those Holiday Meals

Reprise: "How to Become Gluten Intolerant."

From Prostitutes and Drug Addicts

The Guardian: Chris Arnade finds some unexpected challenges to his belief system.

Ban The Straw Man

Proposed resolution for the coming year: Ban The Straw Man.

People can think differently without being monsters or morons. Those who jump to call others racist, sexist, homophobic - you know the list - and who throw in ignorant and evil for seasoning, do good for neither themselves nor anyone else.

Conservatives should make an extra effort to listen to National Public Radio, read The New York Times, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The Nation. And yes, tune in to some MSNBC.

Liberals should make an extra effort to listen to Dennis Prager, read The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Weekly Standard, and Commentary. And yes, watch some Fox News.

Will they find a few weasels on the other side? Certainly, but each side has its share.

Will opinions shift? Perhaps not, but both groups will be better informed and the effort will be in keeping with one of the key concepts of the people who founded this nation: Neither side has a monopoly on the truth.

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

Sometimes I get the feeling that the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that is not true. Some of the smaller countries are neutral. 

- Robert Orben

Let's Have a Great Week

Random and Fun

Anderson Layman's Blog has a variety of examples, including some advice from Ward Cleaver.

Find Something Beautiful Today

The Boogie Man

FutureLawyer turns in his report on the Boogie Board. 

For now, he's sticking to his legal pads.

First Paragraph

By the time I arrived in Bali the exodus had already begun. Every flight out of Denpasar airport was packed and Qantas was said to have commissioned an extra aircraft specially for panicked Australians. In the last of the evening's light, in sarongs and printed shirts, thongs or sandals, here and there a surfboard tucked under an arm, they formed a ragged line outside the airport. 

- From My Friend The Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist by Sadanand Dhume

The Wexford Carol

See and hear Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma at Cultural Offering.

Managing Across Departments

Some very innovative ideas come out of departments. In my experience, however, those departments are usually marshaling their own resources and getting the best from their own team.

A far more challenging task is to achieve progress as an internal consultant - a missionary if you will - who has to work across the lines of multiple departments. Human Resources professionals can attest to that. They have to administer programs across the organization. As such, they are an insider/outsider who is frequently regarded with greater suspicion by departments than would be the case with an external consultant.

I've long joked that the HR job is threefold - Clerk, Consultant, and Cop - and that the best HR professionals fall mainly in the consultant slot.. But is there a better way to describe that department's role? Would any of the following be more accurate?

• Evangelist?
• Emergency Room Nurse or Physician?
• Firefighter?
• Farmer?
• Troubleshooter?
• Coordinator?
• Other?

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution. 

- Clay Shirky

Something about Mary

"How do you think Mary will feel about this?"

"Well, what did she say the last time this happened?"

"I can't remember. Do you?"

"Nope."

"And you?"

"No way."

"And you?"

"I wasn't working here at that point."

"So what's your guess on how she may react?"

"I think she won't care."

"Are you kidding? This is in one of her main areas of interest. She'll care. I just don't know how much."

"So what should be done?"

"Beats me. I can't crawl inside her head."

"Don't look at me. She's always been hard to read."

"Excuse me. I know I haven't been here very long, but has anyone simply asked Mary for her opinion? 

(Pause) 

"Why is everyone so quiet?"

Personal Appearance Discrimination

A serious contender

I always include a case example on personal appearance discrimination in my workshops on Equal Employment Opportunity. 

Although such discrimination can sometimes fall under the coverage of disability or religious discrimination laws, many cases do not and, setting aside all legal concerns, it is interesting to consider the extent to which subtle aspects come into play. 

Would you be reluctant to hire a person because the individual is too good-looking? 

Would a plain-looking or even ugly person get the job if the person's abilities exceeded those of any competitors or would they have to be far superior?

Can being well-dressed neutralize physical deficits? Is there a tendency to avoid extremes, such as a person who is a frump or a fashion-plate?

Is there an appearance blunder that triggers alarm bells? Can an otherwise fine candidate be done in by unshined shoes or a loud tie or scarf? 

The more you delve into the topic, the more interesting it becomes. 

Socially Awkward?

This article in The Telegraph provides advice for the socially awkward.

One approach I've often used and recommended: work at putting others at ease and that will help put you at ease.

Campaign Management

From Politico on how Clinton lost Michigan:

“They believed they were more experienced, which they were. They believed they were smarter, which they weren’t,” said Donnie Fowler, who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee during the final months of the campaign. “They believed they had better information, which they didn’t.”

It is a Skill

It is a skill to hear the unsaid and to see the unseen, to sense an ultra-slight hesitation, and to spot how Ted moved just a tad too quickly over one bullet point in his presentation.

All of that is important and one thing is equally important: not doing anything which inadvertently reveals that you are aware of these items.

Highly Recommended

Quote of the Day

Life's tough. It's tougher if you're stupid. 

- John Wayne