Mar 29
Why Do We Love Don Draper?
Posted in: Today's Chili
Mar 29
Does Carrie Underwood have a future athlete on her hands?
The country singer gave her 1.7 million Instagram followers an adorable first look at her baby boy, Isaiah Michael, on Sunday. In the sweet shot, Underwood showed her support for her hockey player husband, Mike Fisher, and his team, the Nashville Predators, by placing a hockey stick in their sleeping newborn’s tiny hands:
The “Before He Cheats” singer and Fisher welcomed their first child together on Feb. 27. The new mom announced the baby news earlier this month, sharing a precious photo of her baby’s little hand:
Mar 29
I have spent many years working with, observing, teaching and coaching leaders. I have also heard many stories from employees about leaders they have loved to work for and those they have not enjoyed as much. There are some key themes that I have observed in leaders who are highly effective and get the best from people they work with.
1 – They are high achievers themselves and they expect the same from others. These leaders are clear about the vision, the big picture, but also about how to get there. They are self-directed, planners and problem solvers highly capable in both conceptual and analytical thinking. They lead by example and motivate others to set stretch goals. They take calculated risks in achieving their goals and they surround themselves with like-minded, competent high achievers. When you work with this leader the focus is on delivering goals and on excellence.
2 – They have solid self-esteem. They believe in themselves and that they can make a difference. They are change oriented and always looking for new and innovative ways to do things. They are strongly values driven and stand by their values, even in adversity. They are curious about life and approach new ideas and experiences with an open mind. They are accepting of others and value diversity and diverse approaches to problem solving. Because of their open and curious approach, they are often really interesting people – they have life experiences and knowledge that can be inspirational to others.
3 – They grow people. They are great supporters, coaches, mentors and encouragers. They are always looking to help others to be the best they can be. They are insightful, great listeners and ask valuable questions to help people solve their own problems. They are not threatened by the success of others and will celebrate and acknowledge achievements. However, this style is not fluffy. It holds people to account for their learning and development. If someone is not interested in growth this leader moves on to someone who is.
4 – They develop great relationships. They are inclusive, collaborative and highly effective as team players. Usually having wide and highly developed networks, they are always looking to add value to people’s lives. They are warm, friendly and genuinely interested in people. When you work for one of these leaders you know that they care about you as a person.
Now as you can probably see, these styles are not going to be as effective in isolation. It is when you combine them that you get powerful synergy.
Think of a leader who has brought out the best in you. What characteristics did they have?
Rosalind Cardinal is The Leadership Alchemist and Principal Consultant of Shaping Change, an Australian consultancy specialising in improving business outcomes by developing individuals, teams and organisations. You can interact with Ros, learn more about leadership and management, and download a complimentary copy of her e-guide on leading change at her website.
Ros also convenes the Shaping Change Inner Circle, an exclusive membership network for driven leaders around the world who are passionate about making a difference, building successful businesses and leveraging the talents and skills of their people. If you want to learn new strategies and game-changing ideas to become a better leader as you lead your organisation to bigger and better things, then the Shaping Change Inner Circle is for you!
Mar 29
For Those Who Don't Believe…
Posted in: Today's ChiliMy daughter shared quite an extraordinary experience …
“Mommy! Guess what happened last night? I saw three ANGELS!!! I woke up last night and there they were…watching me! One was tall and skinny and she was up on the curtains, another was on the other side of the curtains and she was smiling like the skinny angel. Then there was a little one that was kind of chubby sitting with her legs criss-cross applesauce on my stuffed animal bin! She was so cute, mom! She had a little look like she was going to giggle. They were all white but you could see through them. They were all looking at me and kept smiling, and I smiled back. Then, when I woke up this morning, the angels were gone.”
Angels. My baby saw angels.
What we can’t see, what we can’t feel, and what we can’t quite understand… we live to embrace. Most of us walk in faith, believing in all we can’t see, feel, or understand. We search for purpose and protection, while we find peace in knowing we are cared for and loved by an Almighty Powerful God. And yet there are others whose withered souls fear those deep waters, so they build blind barriers of protection that keep them safe and buoyant while floating atop the unknown. They too, must yearn for understanding and search in secret…
Is there really a Heavenly Father? Do Angels watch over me? Am I loved and cared for by an Omnipotent Creator?
We hear of stories… divine encounters that exalt Heavenly Realms in some way, connecting far beyond our own existence. We listen or read about these experiences with the awe and curiosity of a child, and perhaps we doubt the reality as an adult. Our world is rich in questions, only to find emptiness and echoes of silent answers. We pursue evidence, and oftentimes get lost in the dark swirling reasoning of why and how. Is it real? Is it true? Do I believe?
Is there A Living God?
Don’t we long for something tangible? Do we sometimes wonder in the corner of our thoughts, if all the glory and divine power and majesty of the Heavens is open to all? Or even open at all…
If only we could put our hands in His Side. (John 20:27)
My daughter has been told countless times, how her Father in Heaven loves and cherishes His beloved children. Much of her life has been immersed in learning of His Grace and His Glory. I have shared precious details of His Hand guiding every step of her glorious and miraculous journey. She has grown to believe.
And now she has seen His Angels…
I told her to write down exactly what she saw. She resisted with a whiny “Aw mom, why do I have to do that?” As if it was a torturous homework assignment. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t realize that in that wondrous night, she experienced what most would never live to see in a lifetime. She was witness to the miracle of knowing, not just believing. She was blessed with an astounding truth to behold.
And as time passes, and the world sucks her in and swirls her around into questioning and doubting…
As she grows older and her faith withers and her hope fails to see, to believe, to understand what is mighty in power and miraculous in wonder…
When she narrows her vision to only what she sees and feels and understands…
There will come a time, when she will remember that night long ago, when she saw three angels smiling at her. She will realize she was witness to something extraordinary in a life of ordinary.
And she will know.
And perhaps?
She will believe.
A version of this post was originally published at TheMomCafe.com.
Mar 29
When Apple decided to encrypt its iPhones by default, the move was hailed as a major step forward for security. Except, of course, by the FBI, which is now saying that such encryption should be outlawed. For the safety of Americans, of course.
Mar 29
When you’re buying a $10,000 watch, you expect first-class service — and Apple is apparently ready to deliver. Sources for 9to5Mac claim that people who buy the gold Apple Watch Edition will get to skip the queues whenever they need help. They’ll be…
Mar 29
What with all the hazing and the racism, fraternity life can be a hairy experience.
Thankfully, stress from those experiences need not prematurely cost you your own hair! For that, there’s “Brogaine,” a hair-regrowth formula specially made for stressed frat brothers.
According to “Saturday Night Live,” the proprietary blend reverses the ravages of stress brought on by things like “midterms, nerds … and [chanting] the n-word in a viral video.”
Hats off to you, bro. Go ahead and hit that keg stand with confidence.
Mar 29
Jon Stewart’s ‘Daily Show’ Replacement? Trevor Noah On The Fast Track | Deadline
Posted in: Today's ChiliFinally! Someone who wants to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Trevor Noah, the relatively new correspondent addition to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, now is considered the most likely candidate to replace Stewart as show host, a source told Deadline today.
Mar 29
NEW YORK (AP) — Business was brisk at the weekend box-office, where the DreamWorks animated alien adventure “Home” beat out the Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart comedy “Get Hard” with a resounding debut of $54 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
While the two films had been expected to vie for the top spot at North American theaters, “Home” came in well above expectations, handing DreamWorks Animation a much-needed hit. Though a distant second, “Get Hard” also opened strongly with an estimated $34.6 million, rewarding the Warner Bros. pairing of two of the most bankable stars in comedy. Last week’s top film, the young-adult sequel “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” slid to third with $22.1 million.
With a $100 million-plus debut expected next weekend for “Furious 7” — a franchise built on street-racing adrenaline and a diverse cast — Hollywood scored with two films that sought a variety of audiences.
“Get Hard” united the fans of Hart and Ferrell, albeit while finding some criticism for its racial humor. And “Home” is the rare animated film led by an African-American girl protagonist (voiced by Rihanna). She plays a teenage girl left alone after an alien invasion of Earth. Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin round out the cast.
“It’s a diverse cast and we drew a diverse audience, which I think is really special and something you don’t see in animated films,” said Chris Aronson, domestic distribution head for 20th Century Fox, the film’s distributor. “That just ends up broadening the appeal of the film.”
Minorities made up more than half of the audience for “Home,” according to Fox. The strong performance of an original release, based on a children’s book by Adam Rex, provides Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DreamWorks with a welcome lift. After a series of box-office disappointments, the studio cut about 500 jobs earlier this year.
Aronson called the success of “Home” ”indicative of the direction, quality-wise, that DreamWorks is going to get back to.” One of the film’s producers, Mireille Soria, was in January named co-president of DreamWorks Animation, along with “How to Train Your Dragon” producer Bonnie Arnold.
Despite the lure of March Madness on TV screens, “Home” (which capitalized on the relative dearth of family-friendly options) and “Get Hard” drove moviegoers to theaters. Overall, the box office was up about 8 percent from last year, according to box-office data firm Rentrak.
“Get Hard” had been dogged by controversy, as some questioned the tastefulness of humor that critics called homophobic and racist. The directorial debut of Etan Cohen, it stars Ferrell as a hedge fund manager sentenced to a maximum security prison for fraud. To prepare for life in prison, he turns to the only black person in his orbit, a family man played by Hart.
“When Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart get together, you hope to have some criticism,” said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. He added that it’s the biggest R-rated opening for both Hart and Ferrell.
The wild card of the weekend was “It Follows,” a critically acclaimed indie horror film from Radius, the Weinstein Company label. After the film drew packed theaters in limited release, plans for a subsequent video-on-demand release were postponed and “It Follows” expanded to 1,218 theaters over the weekend. It pulled in $4 million over the weekend.
“It’s an interesting test case,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Rentrak, who applauded Radius for having the confidence in a small, very low budget movie. “It’s rare for a horror film to enjoy those kind of reviews. Ordinarily, you don’t see a platform building of theaters for a horror movie. Usually, you see them drop like a rock in the second week.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Home,” $54 million ($24 million international).
2. “Get Hard,” $34.6 million ($4.6 million international).
3. “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” $22.1 million ($29.9 million international).
4. “Cinderella,” $17.5 million ($38.7 million international).
5. “It Follows,” $4 million.
6. “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” $3.1 million ($25 million international).
7. “Run All Night,” $2.2 million ($2.1 million international).
8. “Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” $2.2 million ($2.3 million international).
9. “Do You Believe?” $2.2 million.
10. “The Gunman,” $2 million
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. “Cinderella,” $38.7 million.
2. “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” $29.9 million.
3. “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” $25 million.
4. “Home,” $24 million.
5. “Focus,” $8.2 million.
6. “Twenty,” $6.9 million.
7. “Taken 3,” $6.1 million.
8. “The SpongeBob Movie,” $5.4 million.
9. “Lost and Love,” $5.2 million.
10. “Get Hard,” $4.6 million.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Mar 29
The water crisis in Detroit is not over. In fact, residential shut-offs are poised to continue this spring. To save lives, and to begin to satisfy the city’s dire water infrastructure needs, Detroit needs to expand the current assistance programs and enact the Water Affordability Plan (WAP) approved by the City Council in 2006. When tens of thousands of people cannot afford utility rates in a region with large income disparities, it is obvious that an income-based approach to water is the only equitable solution.
Let’s back up a bit. A few weeks ago, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) Board of Commissioners voted to increase water and sewer rates for city residents by a combined 12.8 percent, effective July 1 should the City Council seal the deal.
Mayor Mike Duggan and the DWSD developed a 10-point plan offering certain assistance programs in an attempt to help residents pay their water bills. Yet, some 26,000 residential customers still could face water shut-offs this spring, to begin after the department tackles outstanding commercial accounts and the 8,355 households that “illegally” (in other words, desperately) turned their water back on themselves. DWSD will dole out about 800 shut-off notices per day.
Detroiters need affordable water. Water is essential to life and the United Nations has recognized that access to drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right. It’s clear that Mayor Mike Duggan’s current assistance programs are wildly insufficient; they don’t address the systemic problems — like unemployment and cyclic poverty — that are a result of decades of misguided policies, and that inhibit residents from being able to pay their water bills. Put simply they haven’t, and won’t, stop the shut-offs and imminent public health consequences.
Here is why the Water Affordability Plan trumps Detroit’s current assistance programs:
Qualification
Only a customer whose water is already shut off or faces a pending shut-off qualifies for the Detroit Residential Water Assistance Program. Similarly, only people already behind on their water bills qualify for the 10/30/50 payment plan program and assistance from the Detroit Water Fund. Whereas these programs act like a Band-Aid, the WAP is preventative — qualification isn’t contingent on a customer being in payment default. Rather, qualification is determined based on the ratio of a household’s income and utility bill. Under the WAP, a customer can receive help before reaching default, and avoid shut-offs and massive make-up payments altogether.
Affordability
The existing water assistance program sets payments on a case-by-case basis. This creates a complicated, time-intensive billing process and requires a unique formula for each household. The 10/30/50 Plan requires at least 10 percent upfront on an outstanding balance and then spreads the rest of the balance over 24 months. It does not actually reduce the amount owed. Assistance from the Detroit Water Fund is strictly limited to: Households enrolled in a payment plan, with balances of $300 to $2,000, without any leaks in their homes, with a new meter installed and with household incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. The amount of assistance also maxes out at 25 percent of a household’s monthly bill.
However, the WAP uses a “fixed rate approach” which calculates, based on the household’s income, an affordable utility rate. This means less administrative and billing headaches and more incentive for the customer to conserve water. Not to mention the security of this approach: The WAP caps water utility payment at 2.5 percent of monthly income — what the federal government views to be the affordability threshold. This would be a huge relief for Detroit residents, as some families currently spend upwards of 20 percent of their monthly income on water and sewerage.
Accessibility
Under the WAP, a customer would have ample time to apply for and access the program before ever reaching default. In this sense, WAP is more accessible than existing assistance programs. Under the current Detroit Residential Water Assistance Program, qualified residents (those facing shut-offs) have only ten days to either pay the default or to apply for and be approved for a payment plan. This tight timeline, noting the mental and physical stress that comes with not having water, might keep residents from accessing Mayor Duggan’s assistance, exacerbating the crisis.
Households can apply for assistance from the Detroit Water Fund at any time if they meet all the criteria, but they receive help only if funding is available. The program depends on donations, which isn’t sustainable. And what’s worse, a household loses access to the 10/30/50 Plan and the Detroit Water Fund assistance if it falls behind on its monthly payments more than three times. These existing programs clearly do not reflect the economic reality of many Detroiters, who are living hand-to-mouth and whose livelihoods can be compromised by even minor illnesses or car troubles.
It’s past time to embrace an income-based approach to water bills that is accessible and preventative. With the upcoming shut-offs and the proposed rate hikes, it’s obvious that the current assistance programs aren’t working for residents or the city. To keep utility payments, and water, flowing, Detroit needs to swiftly and fully enact the original Water Affordability Plan approved by the City Council in 2006.
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