Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
It turns out that — in this time of modernity where language can persuade anything and anyone on everything everywhere — that a guarantee is not quite what it proposes. Is a “money-back guarantee” a guarantee at all? To say to X, “I guarantee you an outcome-O; but if it doesn’t turn out that way, then I will give you your money back.” Huh? How is that different from no guarantee at all? […]
Of course, we all make them; the issue is one of containment, not of avoiding them altogether. For, the corollary can be equally faulty: Of indecision until and unless all conditions for perfection can be met. In other words, the thwarted view that waits until everything is perfect: The perfect life; the perfect marriage; the perfect career; the perfect choice. […]
It is a plagiarized phrase, from a short story written by Brazil’s (often-considered) greatest writer, Machado de Assis. It is that heavy material, where a large quantity of gravel, iron, metals, etc., placed low in a vessel in order to provide stability; the weight itself is what “grounds” the vessel so that the torrents of waves and storms of fury will not topple it. Or, it can refer to the coarse gravel used in order to set railroad tracks, again allowing for stability of a foundation to prevent shifting, sinking or damaging movement. […]
That is the purpose of sleep, is it not? Or so we anthropomorphically attribute. Is that the only reason for the somnolence that overwhelms, the snore that momentarily suspends in the air and pauses for people to smile, to be horrified or laugh because of the incongruence of the sound that shatters the quietude of twilight? Do humans sleep more soundly than other species? […]
How does it develop? Does youth necessarily, by definition, undermine the existence of it, and if so, why does such a “rule” become obviated by the old fool who rests his arms (and other elements of the anatomy) upon the shoulders of one who could be one’s grandchild, only not by birth? Is life not linear, but circular, and thus do we all revert back to childish ways when old age and decrepit bodies reveal the sanctity of our fragile mortality? When Darwinism prevailed upon the civilization of discontent, did we not recognize that ultimate reductionism to pure materialism would trickle down into a singular desire to discover the fountain of youth? […]
When the residual impact of a crisis goes well beyond cosmetic concerns, the usual and customary description is that the “cause” involves “systemic” problems. Such foundational fissures can occur both in organizations, as well as in individuals. For Federal agencies, it may require a need for new leadership, or a restructuring of internal chains of command, and sometimes even outside intervention. […]
One hears much these days about the importance of forming a coalition of forces before engaging an offensive action; and, indeed, there is the old adage of having strength in numerical superiority, and the sense that a consensus of opinions and cooperation of numbers results in an increased chance of success. Quantitative composites can mask a disarray of qualitative forces, […]