Monday, January 15, 2007

Keith Olbermann

More ....

First time I came across this name: Keith Olbermann.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann - A Unique Newscast that Counts ...
Keith Olbermann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olbermann.org: An Unofficial Keith Olbermann Fan Site

Media Smear On Obama's Name
Wolf Hitler, I mean Bitler, Blitler, Whatever
Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Rama, Whatever The F___ His Name Is
Barack, Fox, MLK, Mandela
Bill O'Reilly: A Right Wing Gadfly

In The News

19% See McCain as Next President; 17% See Clinton Hillary Project
Asian Leaders Plan Free-Trade Area From India to NZ (Update5) Bloomberg
Bollywood's Hottest Couple To Wed CBS News
Britney Spears: 3 Days of X-Rated, Sex Driven Parties in Vegas Bodog Beat
Will smoking hurt Barack Obama's presidential run Journal Times Online
Senator Clinton Wraps Up Tour Of Middle East NY1
War in Iraq casts shadow on '08 race for president Buffalo News
Nepal begins tryst with peace amid dissent Indian Muslims
Nepal's new rebels want autonomy for southern plains PeaceJournalism.com
Cairn starts aerial survey for oil exploration in Bihar Zee News
British oil major begins survey in Bihar India eNews.com
Bihar govt is harrassing the masses: Rabri Moneycontrol.com
US arranges three-way Mideast summit Houston Chronicle
Somalia Makes Moves to Crush Insurgency New York Times
Pakistan rules out MFN status for India Times of India
Maoists join Nepal parliament Financial Times
Ecuador's new leader has no kind words for US CBC.ca
China and Russia veto UN Security Council resolution on Burma Asian Tribune
NLD condemns China, Russia for blocking UNSC resolution on Burma Mizzima.com
China, Russia Failed Burma, Says Opposition The Irrawaddy News Magazine
Google exec defects to Bebo C21Media
WiMax and Wi-Fi will be mobile broadband's energy saviour IT PRO
My son proposed & Ash accepted it: Amitabh Bachchan SantaBanta.com
Posh Beckham starts house hunting as celebs snap up tickets Playfuls.com
Soccer in US won't be easy for Beckham Houston Chronicle
Engineered Chickens Make Cancer Drugs ABC News
RIM takes page out of Apple's book with BlackBerry Pearl iTWire
Bollywood's Hottest Couple To Wed CBS News

Nepal gets interim Constitution Indian Express
Bayh & Clinton in Iraq WANE
Hillary Clinton Courts Bill's Friends for Help NewsMax.com Time and again they have reached out to those same activists and others in early voting states, inviting them to White House events, appointing them to administration posts, and generally remembering them on holidays, birthdays and at important moments in their lives. .... maintaining and strengthening those bonds is also smart politics, and both Clintons are superb players. ...... New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan points out that her state has changed considerably since the Clintons first campaigned there. ...... The current top five Democrats in the state - governor, two members of Congress, the state Senate president and House speaker - were not politically active in 1992, Sullivan said.
CNN Hires Clinton Operative as 2008 Presidential Polling Unit Men's News Daily Opinion Research Corporation, however, was recently acquired by InfoUSA a company controlled by one Vinod Gupta, a very active Clinton supporter (of Hillary as well as Bill). .... Gupta is so enamored with the Clintons that back in his native land, India, he has built little monuments to his favorite American politicians in the form of the “Bill Clinton Science and Technology Center” and the “Hillary Rodham Clinton Mass Communication Center” for the Gochar Intermediate College, Rampur Maniharan, India.
Hillary’s White House Plans Unmasked! See Secret Story – Click Here Now!
Al Gore: I'm Not Running for President
Black Leaders Wary of Obama Powerful black activists in the U.S. remain surprisingly cool to a White House run by African-American Senator Barack Obama. .... Jesse Jackson, the first black candidate to run for president, declined to endorse Obama ...... Al Sharpton ... said he was considering another presidential run in 2008 and observed about Obama: "Right now we’re hearing a lot of media razzle-dazzle. I’m not hearing a lot of meat, or a lot of content. I think when the meat hits the fire, we’ll find out if it’s just fat, or if there’s some real meat there.” ..... singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte said America needed to be "careful” about Obama .... veteran civil rights leaders "are basically jealous. They’ve been toiling in the trenches for decades, and along comes this son of a Kenyan farmer and suddenly he’s measuring the drapes in the Oval Office.” ..... "The unexpected coolness between the old civil rights guard and the new Democratic hopeful has added an intriguing twist to the budding rivalry between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, who hopes to emulate her husband . . . in attracting support from black voters.”
O’Reilly-NBC War Heats Up The war of words between Bill O’Reilly and NBC is getting nastier. ..... Bill O’Reilly has now charged that "NBC News has gone sharply to the left.” ...... The Fox News host recently told his radio audience: "They are an activist network now. They hate Bush across the board.” And O’Reilly told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell during an early January interview: "I’ll admit it. I don’t like you guys.” ....... He added in an interview that O’Reilly "really does toe the party line more than I ever have.” ....... the cantankerous talking heads are also showmen who know that a bench-clearing brawl can be good for ratings ........ He called the O’Reilly-NBC feud "mean-spirited and incredibly entertaining.” ....... O’Reilly’s animosity toward NBC is largely fueled by his dislike of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, who faces off with the "O’Reilly Factor” at 8 p.m. and has been gaining in the ratings. ...... Olbermann’s show "Countdown” was up 60 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, although with 656,000 viewers, it still lags well behind O’Reilly’s show, with 2.04 million viewers. ....... Olbermann has often bestowed his "Worst Person in the World” award on O’Reilly. ....... O’Reilly’s agent called Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC’s television group, urging him to tell his MSNBC commentators to back off ....... O’Reilly for his part refuses to mention Olbermann by name. But he did say that "an NBC commentator” had stated that "President Bush is allowing Americans to be killed in Iraq for money and other insane stuff. Unbelievable.”

The Media's Barack Obama Love Affair National Ledger included him on a list of 20 "Leaders and Revolutionaries." ...... one of Obama's opponents in the primary, Illinois' Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, called him "The Tiger Woods of the Democratic Party." .... senior Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, who started an online petition urging Obama to run for President ....... Together, the Democrats and their media allies have created a kind of hysteria. ...... made an unsuccessful campaign for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 2000 (losing the Democratic primary to a former Black Panther)
Obama a hit as he honors King Chicago Sun-Times Obama said money sent to rebuild Iraq should be spent to rebuild Harvey, the one-time murder capital of the south suburbs and a town besieged by accusations of police corruption and political cronyism. ....... "Some folks here in city hall think that maybe the office that they possess is because they are so special ..... I know you all have noticed I have kept a low profile
Obama inches closer to announcing Chicago Tribune adding a "very" to the "soon" in his assessment about when an announcement would come. ..... an emotional keynote speech to celebrate Martin Luther King's birth. ....... a widening circle of political advisers and hiring new staff in key primary states, leading political analysts to surmise that he is about to formally launch a presidential bid. ....... "I don't think that whatever my political plans are, (they) are comparable to the heroic struggles that he went through, and I don't want to draw false parallels." ........ weighing issues such as his personal safety and loss of privacy ...... King looked beyond his own personal needs and safety, Obama said, for a larger meaning and a larger purpose. ....... Obama's star power overshadowed Rev. Jesse Jackson, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and an assortment of other political leaders and civil rights activists ....... "A new president… He's in the house," Jackson said to thunderous applause from the crowd of an estimated crowd of 1,600. ....... Jackson introduced Obama as the junior senator from Illinois "who is on the verge of making a decision to further the dream."
Obama: 'The Torch Has Been Passed' NewsMax.com Obama received a standing ovation at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's annual King scholarship breakfast when the Rev. Jesse Jackson introduced him with an approving reference to the Illinois Democrat's presidential aspirations. ... "It's a long, nonstop line between the march in Selma in 1965 and the inauguration in Washington in 2009," said Jackson ...... "I've gotten a little attention lately, but the fact of the matter is all I do is stand on the shoulders of others." ....... He noted that King was six years younger than he is now when he was assassinated in 1968 at age 39. ....... : "Some folks were surprised I was coming to Harvey. But as I recall, Dr. King wasn't hanging out in Manhattan, Dr. King wasn't hanging out in Beverly Hills. We'd do well to remember that before he was a leader of men, he was a servant of God." ...... he also has hired policy, research and press staff for a campaign to be run from Chicago
Some 'regular black folks' are Obama fans, some not Chicago Sun-Times
Obama ready for top job Rockford Register Star Obama has much more understanding of the world than Bush did in 2000 and even more than Bush does now ..... Bush didn’t even know where Iraq was when “elected” president .... How about an Obama/Clinton ticket?

Arabs look to link Iraq, Mideast deal San Jose Mercury News Moderate Arab governments plan to tell Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice they will help Washington stabilize Iraq if the U.S. takes more active steps to revive a broad peace initiative between Israel and its neighbors ...... widespread Arab feelings that a lasting Middle East peace cannot be achieved as long as Israel doesn't reach a settlement to hand over lands it occupied during the 1967 Mideast war to the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon. ...... the "Arab Peace Initiative," which was unveiled at an Arab summit in Lebanon in 2002 and calls for Israel to withdraw from all territory occupied in 1967 in return for full recognition by Arab countries. ..... Arab diplomats said Mubarak's views - shared by other key regional leaders - will be presented forcefully to Rice when she meets with Arab foreign ministers in Kuwait. ...... leaders of the region's heavily Sunni Muslim nations aren't eager to help the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shiite Muslims and deemed too close to the hardline Shiite regime in Iran.
Obama Says He Will Announce 2008 Presidential Intentions `Soon' Bloomberg Obama will set up an exploratory committee this week. ...... Obama's announcement may come within three weeks

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Corporate Politics: Martial Arts

The Art Of War, Bruce Lee

SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR
Art of War by SunTzu [SunZi] -English Hypertext
Sonshi.com's Original Sun Tzu The Art of War Translation
The Internet Classics Archive | The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Art of War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sun Tzu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Search, Read, Study, Discuss.
The Art of War
The Art of War - Sun Tzu

Corporate Politics: Martial Arts

Corporate politics are like derivatives, they can be learned.
Work is 50% performance, 50% politics, so get into it.

WINNING OFFICE POLITICS: DUBRINS GD FOR 90S by Andrew J. DuBrin (Paperback)
100+ Tactics for Office Politics (Business Success Series) by Casey Fitts Hawley, Casey Hawley (Paperback)
Applying Sun Tzu's Art of War in Corporate Politics by Khoo Kheng-Hor (Paperback) Spiced With Real-Life Illustrations and Ovservations, It Is Written in a Breezy Style That Allows for Easy Reading, Understanding and Retention
The Unofficial Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder by Jack Griffin (Paperback)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Paperback)
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, Daniel Donno (Mass Market Paperback)

Column - Manager's Workshop: Tough Bosses ..... "Tough bosses are tough to deal with, period. They subject you to various circuitous and veiled mind games, unpredicted and unexpected changes of topic, and befuddled and baffling questions designed to bamboozle because they may have no answer whatsoever. They pose menacing, nerve-racking challenges to both your attention span and your ability to read between the lines of their unspoken intentions. Tough bosses are in your face. They issue more than their fair share of crotchety and cantankerous commands during head-to-head encounters."
Surviving Corporate Politics Part 2: Keeping Up Appearances ... ..... "Especially in large companies, where there is constant personnel movement, keeping up your appearance is a full time task...... "
How do you survive the politics at work? @ workopolis.com ..... " The politics where I work are driving me crazy. I got off on the wrong foot with a few people here and now I can't get anything done. Is there anything you can do to get back in the good graces of corporate politics? ..... Every organization has people who get stuff done without knifing anyone else in the back. Keep your eyes open for these people and learn everything you can from them...... Ironically, politicians have it easier than the rest of us. They run for office only every two, four or six years. The rest of us have to play politics virtually every day."
Office Politics & Corporate Power Structures ..... " ...tips and tricks on the fine art of office politics .... "
Politics Comes with the Office ..... "Politics don't only make for strange bedfellows, they can make for uncomfortable work situations ..... the deeper the infrastructure and the older the company, the more chance of facing corporate politics ..... in today's highly competitive, ever-changing business arena where jobs aren't for life, office politics flourish ..... internal conflicts, rivalry disputes and other volatile situations ..... "Even if you are a person who takes no active part in [office] politics knowing how the game is played means that you stand a good chance of surviving the depredations of those who undertake the lifestyle of cubicle warfare." ..... "All politics really boils down to is the play of human interactions at work that can make your job either easier or more difficult," write co-authors Ronna Lichtenbrug and Gene Stone in their book Work Would Be Great If It Weren't for the People. "Being a good office politician means that you know how to turn individual agendas into common goals." .... Start with your boss. Part of everyone's job is learning how to make the boss look good. Learn what the boss expects from your performance and then evaluate ways in which you can add more value to the team. If advancement within the organization is a priority for you, knowing the answers to these questions is important to becoming more politically savvy: Do you work in a department that is integral, i.e., adds profitability, to the organization? Can you measure, in numbers, the results of your work? Is your boss a team player? Does he or she have the power to make decisions that affect your goals? How is your boss perceived within the organization? .... "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.""
Phoenix IT&T Consulting... Media & Newsroom > Corporate Politics ... ..... "Politics isn't limited to Parliament House. It is alive and well, eating away at the soul of every organization ..... Managing politics minimizes stakeholder negativity so it's important to involve stakeholders at all levels, from the business owner to perspective users, he said. "It is critical to have face-to-face discussions rather than relying on e-mails and phone calls.""
Racial discrimination and harassment at work ..... "Direct discrimination .. if, because of your race, you are treated less favourably than other people who are in the same circumstances, this is direct discrimination ..... If you feel you are being harassed or discriminated against, do something about it and don't let the situation fester. ..... Note down all the behaviour that offends you in a diary. Record the date, time and place and the names of any other people who are there. If the harassment is affecting your health, causing symptoms of stress or depression, for example, go to see your doctor..... You could go to your personnel department (if there is one) and ask what are your company's procedures for reporting a grievance ..... "
The bully at work: Jan's story ..... "Bullying is alive and well in the ... workplace ..... 'The effects of bullying lead to a sense of helplessness, inadequacy, confusion, anxiety, tiredness, disorganisation at work, lowered self-esteem and depression.' ..... 'I'd been with the company twelve years when my new director arrived. From day one she just didn't like me. It started with her trying to win over people's regard by embarrassing me at meetings.' ..... bullying occurs continually over a period of many months. Your self-confidence becomes eroded. That can happen pretty fast...... The bully may exclude you from the information loop and threaten your professional standing. You become isolated and suspicious..... The bully may attempt to wear you down with overwork and absurd expectations. You become overwrought, jittery, and overtired. You toss and turn all night, suffer from nightmares, and have trouble dragging yourself out of bed in the morning. Your stomach is in knots, you have frequent headaches, and lose your appetite..... 'I sought the help of the HR director but he told me it was my issue: "You're single, lonely, you can't fit in, you don't have many friends." I was devastated.' .... Bullying always feels personal because it always is personal. For the bully at work, you are not really a person with feelings but an object to be manipulated and manoeuvred against. The motivations may lie in the character and personal history of the bully or they may derive from a hidden organisational agenda. Whatever the reasons, bullying tactics are always an act of cowardice..... 'The trouble is, it takes two to be bullied. The person who is being bullied begins to feel like the coward. It's a complete invasion.' ..... What can you do? 1. Trust your instincts. If it feels like bullying, it most likely is. 2. Knowledge is power. 3. Consult the grapevine. 4. Keep a diary.. 'a contemporaneous record' is very much more powerful than half-remembered events later on 5. Find your voice. Write a memorandum to the bully setting out the criticisms concisely, coldly, and clearly. 6. Stand up and be counted. "
Asian American Experiences with Racial and Ethnic Discrimination ... ..... "...the consequents of discrimination, the relations between negative treatment and a) physical health, b) psychological health, and c) organizational outcomes .... Asian Americans do experience racial discrimination ..... Those who experienced racial discrimination in the workplace were more likely to exhibit signs of depression and to be in poor physical health..... "
16 Racial Discrimination ..... "It's unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your race, when choosing someone for a job, and when deciding which staff will be: promoted; given benefits at work, such as training; dismissed; or made redundant. "
Long Articles In PDF Format: Institutional Racism
Institutioanl Racism: Where Is The Prejudice In Organizations? .... why more ethnic minority staff went down the disciplinary route ..... There is a dearth of literature dealing with race and the organization.... two theories .... first, centred on cognitive processing theories, suggest that when assessing the performance of their subordinates, managers may look for information and evidence that confirms broader stereotypes (ie based on gender or race). A stereotype is defined as: 'a set of attributes ascribed to a group and imputed to its individual members simply because they belong to that group' ..... The second theory, 'in-group' and 'out-group' membership identifies two key groups within organisations .. identity groups and organisation groups (Alderfer, 1986). An identity group might be determined by its gender, age or ethnicity, whereas an organisational group is defined by task, function or hierarchy. The behaviour and attitudes of managers to 'in-group' and 'out-group' members can differ. It is argued (Danserau et al., 1975) that managers assign subordinates to one of these groups. In-group members are generally treated more favourably whereas out-group members are likely to be managed using a more authoritarian style and through contract compliance...... data show no statistically significant difference between how black and white employees view the organisation's equal opportunities policies and practices. However, ethnic minority employees are much more negative about their opportunities for career progression and about how their skills are valued compared to their white counterparts...... the decision to apply formal measures or not often had little to do with the behaviour of the individual in question, but was often based solely on the fact that they were of different ethnic origin...... White interviewees are more likely to refer to individuals' management skills and others skills, which it could be argued are more likely to be associated with more senior roles ..... Whites are more likely to be described positively than ethnic minority individuals...... It is the white interviewees that appear to be making more positive attributions of white colleagues whereas the ethnic minority interviewees show no similar pattern of response. These differences hold across a wide range of attributes...... ethnic minority individuals are less likely to be offered as exemplars of excellent performance ..... In the absence of a standard, agreed set of criteria for assessing ability to do a job, individual managers judgements about what constitutes a 'good performer' are likely to hold more sway..... Whilst a competency framework, or performance appraisal system is by no means a panacea, there would appear to be great potential benefits ..... develop an understanding of the full range of valued behaviours and develop standard and explicit criteria against which job performance is measured ..... racism can exist even where there are adequate management systems .... even in an organisation where equal opportunities are a high priority, the systems and procedures within the organisation are not beyond criticism...... need to consider not only recruitment strategies, but the organisational systems and cultures that govern our experience of work.