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General Electric, once one of the most important companies in America started firing the bottom 10% of performers every yearwhen Jack Welch took over. Seems smart, right? Strangely, however, GE was driven into the ground by Welch. It made a lot of money, for a while, but it was burning down the house and now it’s a has been company. The routine firing wasn’t the only reason, but it was part of it.

Lately I’m seeing companies like Meta and Microsoft saying they’re doing large lay-offs of the lowest performers. Seems smart, eh?

Problem is that most performance reviews have nothing to do with performance. They ask other people to rate you, often the so-called 360 degree rating, but sometimes it’s just your boss. Problem is, people suck at rating.

On a playful journey through self-doubt, a filmmaker dives into his phone notes to reanimate a graveyard of abandoned ideas

- by Psyche Film

Watch at Psyche

Ahead of Trump’s second term, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are advancing sweeping measures to make life harder for immigrants.

The post Building the Deportation Machine for Trump 2.0 appeared first on The Intercept.

Diving into the ring of darkness beyond things easily answerable, asking ‘Why?’ questions is what make humans awesome

- by Eric Schwitzgebel

Read at Aeon

Decades of real estate lobbying pushed Californians further into fire zones. Will the fires force the state to rethink how to house its population?

The secretaries of defense and state will play key roles in U.S. policy on Israel, but they faced little scrutiny on Palestinian suffering.

The post Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio Get a Pass on Suffering in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.

Do I really need to keep saying that this is where the personal is the political? writes Penny Pepper

"For me, the act of civil disobedience was a stand against the increasing erosion of a fundamental pillar of democracy - our right to protest"

We’ve lost a true auteur. This tribute by Kyle Mclaughlin is one of the best I’ve ever read: Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to. Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, l’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.

OutsideThe circus gatheringMoved silently along the rain-swept boulevard.The procession moved on the shouting is overThe fabulous freaks are leaving town. They are driven by a strange desireUnseen by the human eye.The carnival is over -from “The Carnival is Over” by Dead Can Dance I did a piece in 2015 about my 10 favorite midnight movies. One of my picks was David Lynch’s Eraserhead, of which I wrote: If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my fifty-odd years on the planet, it’s that when it comes to the films of David Lynch, there is no middle ground. You either love ‘em, or you hate ‘em. You buy a ticket to a Lynch film, my friend, you’d best be willing to take the ride-and he will take you for a ride. And do you want to know the really weird thing about his films? They get funnier with each viewing. Yes, “funny”, as in “ha-ha” . I think the secret to his enigmatic approach to telling a story is that Lynch is in reality having the time of his life being impenetrably enigmatic-he’s sitting back and chuckling at all the futile attempts to dissect and make “sense” of his narratives.

Team, tonight we play the biggest game of our lives. I know you have heard our opposing coach’s comments—“We’re doing everything we can to honor our creator.” I also know you saw last week when their star quarterback took a knee and grabbed the sideline reporter’s microphone so the world could hear his prayer:

Our father, who art in heaven
I throw this ball for you
Please grant me touchdowns
And deliver me from interceptions
All glory to you, God
And to State, the greatest team in your creation
Amen.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “This ain’t good, Coach. They’re convinced they have the Almighty on their side. If that’s true, what chance do we have? How are we going to beat both State and the God of Western Christianity?”

Well, men, I recently completed my audit of PHIL 332: Nietzsche & The Death of Practical Meaning, and I’m tired of mincing words.

Their God is dead.

Time of death: tonight.

Place of death: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Israel has finally agreed to a ceasefire after 15 months of genocide in Gaza, following its killing of 46,700 people.

The post Gaza ceasefire at last, but Israel’s still not done killing first appeared on Solidarity Online.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

There’s been a recent fuss in various media arising from a tweet from economist Ben Golub regarding astonishment that economists haven’t “worked through” Smith and Marx. English professor Alex Moskowitz chimed in with a claim that economics can’t be a real discipline because economists don’t know the history of their own discipline. {long and somewhat […]

FESTIVE spirit burned brightly in Repton and Mylestom on Christmas Eve, as the local Rural Fire Service’s annual Santa Run delighted locals of all ages. For 40 years, Santa has traded his sleigh for a firetruck, delivering gifts and Christmas cheer to the delight of families lining the streets. Advertise with News of The Area...

The post Santa swaps sleigh for firetruck in Repton and Mylestom appeared first on News Of The Area.

PARK Beach Bowling Club continues to support Coffs Harbour Health Campus through club grants, recently donating $8000 to purchase life-changing equipment. The funds were used to buy a new plinth for the unit’s gym and eagerly awaited Patient Communication Boards for the Rehabilitation and Stroke units. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth...

The post Park Beach Bowling Club donates funds for Coffs hospital equipment appeared first on News Of The Area.

THE team at Bellingen based landscape design and construction company Now & Zen has brought home four medals from The Landscape Association (TLA) Awards in Sydney. They are for specific projects and include gold for ongoing maintenance of a long-term client’s garden; two silver medals for residential construction and another silver for construction in the...

The post Bellingen based Now & Zen wins four landscape awards appeared first on News Of The Area.

It’s a bigger challenge than we thought

The post Bringing Mars Rocks to Earth appeared first on Nautilus.

There is no more status quo, no going back, and yet, after the ceasefire, so much will remain the same.

The post Gaza Changed the World appeared first on The Intercept.

THE 60th wedding anniversary of Patricia and Darrell Davis was not just a diamond date for the couple in their early 80s. Married at 3.30pm on 16 January, 1965, theirs was the first wedding in the St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Coffs Harbour, so it’s also an historic occasion for the church. Advertise with News of...

The post Coffs couple celebrates 60th anniversary of historic-making wedding appeared first on News Of The Area.