June Dally-Watkins & Workplace Etiquette

In an era of Ladette to Lady, proper etiquette has been thrust back to the front of our conscience. But don?t you think it?s a bit old fashion?

June Dally-Watkins, renowned etiquette maven, recently attacked young people. She says their phone manner, in particular, is ?appalling? and that a simple ?hello? or using first names in business was not acceptable. What Ms Dally-Watkins expects of us are more formal manners. She would like to hear more ?good mornings?, ?good afternoons? and ?Mr? and ?Mrs?. Isn?t it fair to say, though, that we?re beyond those times? Ms Dally-Watkins is caught in the past.

I?ve always pondered about etiquette. Why it?s rude to wear a hat inside. Why it?s disrespectful to answer back to your elders. Ms Dally-Watkins has been helpful. She has given me more to ponder about. More ludicrous customs that are based on arbitrary reasoning.

As I expected Dally-Watkins work is focused on women. I took a look at her website and there are pictures of beautifully groomed and poised women all over but very few men. And her courses are quite obviously targeted at females. The article that introduced me to the above is slanted as an attack against women, too. It appears to be considering young people primarily in secretarial roles. People that are first-point-of-contact. That is a vocation primarily filled by women, reporting to primarily male managers. I wonder what Greer has to say about people like Dally-Watkins.

What I would like to say to Dally-Watkins is times do change. How does she reconcile the claim that casual mannerisms could be dangerous to a business? Look at places like Google, they are constantly ranked as the best place in the world to work and they advocate a very fun, laid-back work environment. I believe they encourage people to refer to others by their first name. It?s the beginning of knocking down the silo mentality that has proven damaging to so many companies moving into the twenty-first century.

readthis: lulz? Check out Nice Peter and his music at His…

readthis:

lulz?

Check out Nice Peter and his music at His Site

This makes me chuckle and think politically incorrect thoughts. All in the name of satire, of course. Despicable.

Ray Comfort’s "Origin of Species" Scam

Ray Comfort is a silly man. He is well known as the ?Banana Guy? since presenting the common banana as a perfect example of a designer?s work. This, of course, was quickly rebutted on the premise that bananas are perfect examples of artificial selection, a construct of Darwinian evolutions natural selection. Common bananas were designed by humans to be easy to peel, yellow (appealing), easy to hold and so on. Wild bananas are nothing like this. Thankfully he admitted his mistake, but he certainly hasn?t moved on?

He recently announced that he would be handing out copies of Darwin?s Origin of Species, for free, but with one small adjustment. He has written a 50-page foreword for the free copy, apparently to accentuate it?s shortcomings. Well, this has backfired.

Atheist?s all over the US (the book is being handed out at various US university campuses) are embracing this stunt as a chance to get their hands on a free copy of the brilliant book. Easy. Just rip out the first 50-pages and you?ve got yourself a perfectly readably copy.

Love it.

Islam plans to take over the world. Yikes.

Islam plans to take over the world. Yikes.

Well. That?s that. Rove, after 10-years on air, is over. Oh well.

Well. That?s that. Rove, after 10-years on air, is over. Oh well.

Oh? Saw Br?no last night. My expectations were very high. A little too high it seems. I found…

Oh? Saw Br?no last night. My expectations were very high. A little too high it seems. I found it funny but not as funny as Borat. An entertaining 2 hours nonetheless.

A 10-year-old in the USA refuses to pledge allegiance in the name of GLBT rights

Get this, a 10-year-old boy in Arkansas, USA, has refused to pledge allegiance at school until there is equality for its GLBT citizens.

When his substitute teacher became agitated at his refusal, Will Phillips said to her in front of the class, ?With all due respect, ma?am, you can go jump off a bridge.? As is expected, the principle was notified and Will?s parents called in. Thankfully his parents support his stance and have brought him up to appreciate diversity.

In ?1943 Supreme Court decision found that schools may not punish students for refusing to recite the pledge.? Funnily enough this was brought in after a complain by some Jehovah?s Witnesses. Who would have thought the Witnesses would intervene with such commonsense. Good on them, for this.

Will told the Edge, ?In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they?ve [fellow students] been making comments and doing pranks, and calling me gay?It?s always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad.? All the more courageous Will?s actions were. It?s a tough society. But somebody?s got to do it.

Back to uni for me…

I?m enrolled in uni for next semester. Very excited. I?m mostly excited about the subject I am taking. Practical Ethics. The course outline is,

This unit focuses on philosophical debates concerning contemporary social and ethical issues, such as euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, genetic testing, cloning, free speech, censorship and environmental ethics. The discussion of these topics is structured around key philosophical concepts including: The boundaries of life and death; Notions of harm; Conceptions of autonomy and freedom; The body and the person and Discrimination. Although there are scientific, technological, legal, political and religious dimensions to these issues, this unit will highlight the philosophical aspect and provide a critical comparison of a number of different philosophical approaches to them.

And the topics that will be covered,

Death, life, harm and personhood

Euthanasia killing versus letting die

Abortion, pregnancy and foetal status

Wrongful life

Surrogacy

Genetic testing and cloning

Free speech, censorship & pornography

Environmental ethics

There is no guessing what I will be blogging about this summer. What I intend to do is a blog or two on the weekly course work: (1) as that?s what my mind will be on; and (2) to assist with my comprehension of the topic.

Is the Catholic church a force for good in the world?

So, I watched the latest The Intelligence Squared Debate last night. The argument: Is the Catholic church a force for good in the world? It?s proponents, Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Ann Widdecombe. It?s opponents, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry.

Onaiyekan proved outright ineffective. Widdecombe, entertaining in a Mrs Doubtfire-cum-stovetop-kettle-that?s-about-to-boil-over sort of way. What Onaiyekan lacked, Widdecombe made up for in staunch narrow-mindedness. I don?t know how even Catholics could be convinced by their argument. And they weren?t.

Hitchens seemed tame but effective. Fry, who I had never heard talk about faith, was impassioned and really hit his mark, voice raised and all. Easily, the opponents won the debate. Yes, they did concentrate on the bad brought on by Catholicism but when it is that bad, is it easily dismissed? After all, the Taliban have many righteous social initiatives in their arsenal, but they are surrounded by a disproportionate layer of evil.

I found one of the audiences? questions very profound. They asked whether Hitchens opposed just Catholicism or all other religions. Obviously she has never heard or read Hitchens. Must have been one of Widdeyekans?.

If you?d like to see the tame, albeit entertaining debate, check it out, parts 1 through 5, here.

New Tram Arrives in Adelaide

Adelaide is revisiting its history by electrifying its public transport system by bringing in more trams. A new Alstom Citadis tram is expected to arrive at the Glengowrie depot tomorrow. Five more will follow.

It?s a heated topic in Adelaide. Those that oppose the idea, see it as wasteful and as symbolism by the Labor government. Those that support the idea, see it as progressive and environmentally friendly. To be sure, commentators love to take cheap shots.

Clayton Caves said on AdelaideNow (by the way, I have neatened up his grammar):

?Bloody oath, how about employment opportunities. I can?t believe we cannot build these things here in SA. I am sure we have the capability right now to do it. Oh bugga I forgot manufacturing in Oz is now a no-no as we want to ship it all offshore. Good work Labor and with great support from your Union mates. How the hell do blue collar workers vote for you dopes.?

Thanks for that Clayton. You sound like every other AdelaideNow-reading Liberal fanboy.

Clayton, and a few others on the thread, suggest that we should manufacture these trams here, instead of importing them from Madrid. That would be nice, but it is well known that it is inviable for a country like ours to support a manufacturing industry. As soon as we do, we become uncompetitive. Look at what happened to Mitsubishi and Holden. If they were manufactured here, the government would be paying far more for the trams, and then the I?m-a-tax-payer brigade would start making their voices heard.

I am, at heart, a locovore. I like to support locally grown / made. It makes me feel good to support producers that are nearby and to consume something that has been grown in soil that I can touch. I sort of can?t agree with the manufacturing sector, though. Whilst ever we stick to making non-innovative, environmentally damaging things, we haven?t a chance against the likes of China.

I read somewhere that it would be cheaper for the government to pay all the people employed by Australia?s aluminum industry, $100k a year to go fishing, than to keep it afloat. Currently the government pays kajillions in subsidies to the industry for it to remain open.

I think the tram idea for Adelaide is great. I hope one day in the near future they will be travelling up The Parade to Norwood. I don?t think it?s just a piece of symbolism. It?s a fantastic mode of transport and, if done properly, will hopefully lead to some real positive changes in how we commute in this fair city.