Is there a way to hack the political process to get this moving ? Can individual states bypass the federal government with some kind of visa ? Some law that this can piggyback on ?
192 karma · joined December 19, 2009
A) The large population of older travelers, >65 years of age, is particularly at risk from the mutagenic effects of the X-rays based on the known biology of melanocyte aging.
B) A fraction of the female population is especially sensitive to mutagenesis provoking radiation leading to breast cancer. Notably, because these women, who have defects in DNA repair mechanisms, are particularly prone to cancer, X-ray mammograms are not performed on them. The dose to breast tissue beneath the skin represents a similar risk.
C) Blood (white blood cells) perfusing the skin is also at risk.
D) The population of immunocompromised individuals--HIV and cancer patients (see above) is likely to be at risk for cancer induction by the high skin dose.
E) The risk of radiation emission to children and adolescents does not appear to have been fully evaluated.
F) The policy towards pregnant women needs to be defined once the theoretical risks to the fetus are determined.
G) Because of the proximity of the testicles to skin, this tissue is at risk for sperm mutagenesis.
H) Have the effects of the radiation on the cornea and thymus been determined?
People outside the US must also sometimes fly to the US for business purposes. It is not easy sometimes to choose not to go to the US.
"Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11]: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers."
If someone with experience on these types of issues could comment I would be very interested to learn if this has any chance of removing those damn machines from airports.
Not because of the quality of his show and the fact that he has writers. Him having stupid gags is perfectly fine. Having writers watch the gazillion shows on TiVo with him and deciding what is the funniest thing that happened today - this makes the show great.
What depresses me is the sad state of the media. It takes a Jon Stewart, a simple, smart, sincere comic, to show how poor they are doing their job as journalists. He gives a voice to the people who watch the occasional news report and think - WTF! - why is Obama's daughters school menu a part of the news?! There are two wars and half the budget used to pay for them - borrowed money. People getting swept by hurricanes, toxic oil spills - and the politicians and media making it worse - not better. The media should at least show the ineptitude and bad decisions for everyone to see - not what Paris Hilton had for breakfast in jail.
I don't watch Jon Stewart to make me laugh. I enjoy his show because he uses funny as a weapon. Like the kid in Kick-Ass trying to be a superhero. Jon fights injustice with the only weapon he has - his wits and charms. The things he points at are funny (or make me cry) - not the gags so much.
Jon and his writers and fake correspondents are doing what they do best - make jokes - incidentally they also make them at the expense of those who need them most - who need to be put to their place once in a while.
The company needs to give much more information than just the current salaries that got set by who knows what way.
First, the company needs to make available what the company is making - this is usually available but in some big numbers like earnings per quarter. If you are working on some product you need to know how much it sold and how much is likely to get sold in the next 6 months. You need to at least be able to know how much the company can afford in the end when all salaries together with all the other costs are added together to still be profitable.
Then you need to know the median salary for your job at other companies. These statistics are usually available - and if not can be found from recruiters.
Finally, you need to think about what is fair in your mind - how much does your husband make, how much does the neighbor make, your friends - compared to what they do? This is something you know and the company does not know about - but it does factor into how happy you are with your salary.
Armed with all this you are ready to set your own salary. This then can be seen by all others and a proper discussion can be done. Discussing things with all this in the open is at least possible. Everyone can participate and after a few months everyone will be armed with additional historical information about Joe the Slacker or Jane The SuperStar and if their salary is fair. If someone really thinks they deserve a huge salary regardless - they can always go someplace else if the majority of her colleagues disagree and get her fired.
I'm guessing people with autism could be detected with these things easily since they focus on different things than people without the condition.
The other example on developers estimates has more to do with people being optimistic in estimates by nature. Another cause is misaligned interests where a developer gets payed the same if he is on time, misses a deadline or does the work before the deadline and gets more work for reward. When the incentive is direct, a customer gets his update on time and pays the next years support fee which in turn gets the developer more money and the developer can connect these, there is no problem with estimates or deadlines. This is ofcourse hard, but doable easily through openness.
It boils down to being surrounded by people you trust. If someone can't be trusted it is a huge waste to manage them. Finding responsible adults is hard, but in the long term brings more value, not just in terms of €€€ but in a better balance between work and life. Life is too short for squeezing productivity from losers.
Lying is far from the optimal way. When a company structure starts to mimic a hierarchical army structure then lying becomes one of the tools to maintain it.
If instead of having to lie you manage to create complete openness with people you work with and everyone has an interest in the projects success, lying is no longer a useful tool. Being honest with what you want out of something, what you expect from others and understanding what others need from you is a more optimal way to achieve your goals and keep a balance in your life. This requires complete openness, knowing everything about the business, about salaries, deals, expenses, expectations, capabilities. This means treating people like adults who can be informed of anything if they want to. No room for "on a need to know basis". This is hard.
When you feel the need to go to the park on a sunny day instead of compiling that much needed TPS report it is better to go to the park than pretend and lie you are doing the work. Everyone is better off acknowledging we are human and not mechanical beings.