(no subject)

Is it me, or is the current two-term republican rivaling the record of the last two-term republicans number of felony convicted cabinet members? I mean I have been criticizing this administration for ages for its culture of disallowing not just dissention, but anyone who would dare to ask questions which alter the stay the impulse course mentality. Even I am shocked by how many convictions they are getting out of this clique. Bush succeeded in getting his own kind in office, but those kind don't stand up to scrutiny over time.

Touching my computer monitor is a sin. People at work do this all the time - typically people who have flashing pictures in their emails.

Nobody but you gives a damn about your baby, and neither should you. I'm tired of the sacred baby rights of loser-moms, wailing and shrieking about their lovely little child. Guess what - biological functions are nothing to brag about. You can have a baby, and I can take a shit. I don't know why there is so much hope tied up on those lumps either. The mother was a loser, the father was a loser - when they know who that is, and circumstances of the conception are typically pathetic. The vast majority of all those loser babies turn out to be losers themselves, so why the excitement? At what point does that sacred wad of dough lose its luster - when it first speaks? When it goes to school? The first time it yells that its mother sucks? When it is arrested for the first time? The first time it flunks a grade - is that when you know it's another nothing like you? Or is it at 15 when it too has a loser child? Want to be proud of your child? Well, wait for them to have a job lined up as they stroll across the stage at graduation. If they'll just be another line worker like you, it's nothing to find joy in.

I whine a lot about working for insecure people. More than once in the government, I've worked for insecure people. More than once educational level has been an area of concern, and I've faced many anti-college-educated folks. I thought for once I'd share some of my suggestions for how to deal with these dimwits rather than just sharing my observations of how and why they operate.
1. Play down your education. If you can come across as humble, they will be less intimidated by you.
2. Never point out any mistakes or flaws. Refer to problems in work as though they have no source - focus on how to correct the situation. If anyone asks who was responsible, note that the issue now is fixing the problem. Insecure people calm down when they're not under the impression they have to defend themselves.
3. If you make a mistake or play a role in a problem, take credit for it right away, publicly, and ask the insecure person for help remedying the problem. Since insecure people seem to live in constant fear of being "discovered," they are most comfortable when someone else is under fire. Show them by example its ok to make mistakes, and let them enjoy the feeling as they find fault in you. Do this with something small to see how they react - pay close attention to who finds out about it that wouldn't otherwise know...if they're just running around backstabbing over something small, you know how they'll react to a genuine problem. If they try to rally troops and attack, go to war - not just in the office, but go to their house, kill their pet, and slash their tires.
4. Don't compliment them - they'll see through that façade.
5. Ask them how they do something they are good at. Everyone has a good point, so find out what it is and ask them for advice on their strong area. Unlike compliments, asking for such things as career advice or coaching in some area makes an insecure twit absolutely dripping wet. You may learn something genuine in the process, and sincerity shows. If you don't learn anything, you have still put them in a role where they are sharing their positive side at your prompting. If they think you look up to them, they may tap into that for ego. An insecure person trying to use your positive feedback to get ahead is far less a liability than the usual insecure twat who constantly attacks everyone to try and look good by who they hurt the most.

On an unrelated note, I learned a new-to-me mediation technique from my boss yesterday. My boss is not insecure, being physically huge and athletic, educated, not stupid (I'm not a good judge of smart, but can smell outright dumb) and a leader in his community. He was a mediator, and I noted than in meetings with (insecure leaders) he was using a mediation technique I was familiar with when things came to a sticking point - he paraphrased what was being said by the IIC (Insecure In Charge). I admitted I was a horrible listener, waiting to talk rather than listening to the speaker, and I liked that trick as it forced me to listen while making the speaker feel as if they were being respected. He told me an angle I hadn't thought of - while it has that effect, when the speaker is completely wrong - sometimes just hearing what they are saying from someone else's lips may force them to reevaluate what lunacy they are spouting. I like that angle, and will try to add that to my bag of political tricks.

I have no problem with dumb people - I'm not that bright myself, but I'm weary of all the unnecessary wars as people try to mask their incompetence by attacking others.