"Desk rage"

I've worked for myself for the past couple years, so can't say I've recently experienced this not-so-new workplace phenomenon called "desk rage." Although, having had my share of nasty, abusive and egotistical bosses, I can say I've seen a lot of bad behavior in action. No one gets paid enough to have to put up with this:

Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk rage.

Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or overwhelming debt, experts say.

"It runs the gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The severe cases of fatal violence get a lot of press but in some ways this is more insidious because it affects millions of people."

Nearly half of U.S. workers in America report yelling and verbal abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying it has driven them to tears, research has shown.

Other research showed one-sixth of workers reported anger at work has led to property damage, while a tenth reported physical violence and fear their workplace might not be safe.

"It's a total disaster," said Anna Maravelas, author of "How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress." "Rudeness, impatience, people being angry -- we used to do that kind of stuff at home but at work, we were professional. Now it's almost becoming trendy to do it at work.

Fun stuff...and just what everyone wants to be thinking about on a Saturday night. But, what was your worst workplace experience? I think there's a book to be written, a "Devil in Prada goes to D.C." based on some of the crazy things I've seen -- and heard about -- here in Washington. One of my "favorites" is the personal assistant who got fired because she wouldn't go to the drug store to buy an enema for her boss. Not kidding. Read the rest of this post...

Straight Talk Express gets a flat tire on Gramm link

I think the bus just ran over its best friend, backed up and ran over him again. The initial part of the video is McCain slamming his economic advisers remarks that he has promoted for months but when you hit the 2:38 mark, McCain completely dodges the question about the ongoing rumors of Gramm being a key economic adviser to McCain, who admits he knows nothing about the economy.

Question from Karen Tumulty to McCain: Phil Gramm is often described, however, as one of your top economic advisers. How significant was his role in formulating your economic plan and is there any chance that Phil Gramm would be your Secretary of Treasury or play a significant economic policy making role in a McCain administration?

Karen Tumulty of Time magazine isn't going to get a good seat on the McCain plane if she keeps asking questions like this. Naughty, naughty. Read the rest of this post...

IndyMac failure could cost taxpayers $4-8 billion

The credit crisis is alive and well regardless of what banking lobbyist and McCain co-chair Phil Gramm says. This "mental" problem that we're all whining about is sounding like it could possibly be the most expensive in US hisroty. To be fair to Phil Gramm and McCain, this has to be difficult. They were relying on Gramm's model to be a winner, the cutting edge of right wing economic theory. Of course he can't recognize that an entire life's work is falling apart for the world to see. It has to be embarrassing if not humiliating to see the work of a lifetime fall apart so rapidly. Unfortunately for everyone else, we're stuck with the consequences of Gramm's poor theory.

About 95% of the $19 billion in deposits in the bank are insured, but that leaves $1 billion that was not covered by FDIC guarantees. According to the agency, 10,000 IndyMac customers could lose as much as half of that amount, or $500 million. The agency says the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $4 billion and $8 billion, based on preliminary estimates.

"This will certainly be a costly failure. Whether it's the costliest, we just don't know at this point," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said on a conference call late Friday night. The failure could also affect premiums paid by all banks for deposit insurance, she added.

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John McCain: “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself"

A couple weeks ago, at the Personal Democracy Forum, one of McCain's aides told us his boss was "aware of the internet" and our good friend, Tracy Russo explained why that was not good enough. You have to watch.

Now, John McCain is telling us that he is learning about the internets. He watches Drudge. So, my parents are the same age as McCain, but they didn't seem to have the same steep learning curve when it came getting online. This guy wants to run America and he's stumped by his computer. That's a little scary:

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

“They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

Asked which blogs he read, he said: “Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics.”

At that point, Mrs. McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. “Meghan’s blog!” she said, reminding him of their daughter’s blog on his campaign Web site. “Meghan’s blog,” he said sheepishly.

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Judge blocks drilling in Michigan

We've become familiar with this routine, where the Bush team who is supposed to be looking out for the environment instead is focused on business interests. Anyone who thinks McCain would dump these people needs to have their head examined. In a rush to help Big Energy, Republicans always forget about nature as well as tourist dollars. It's as if they never heard of people paying good money to enjoy unspoiled nature, which is what Michigan's upper peninsula offers.

Forest supervisor Leanne Marten said when approving Savoy's application that the project wouldn't significantly harm the environment and the company would be required to keep noise to a minimum.

But the judge ruled the Forest Service didn't consider how degrading the area could harm tourism, and said the agency did a "woefully inadequate" job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland's warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.

Two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, sued the government to halt the drilling. Joining the suit was Tim Mason, whose grandfather, auto executive George Mason, donated the original 1,200 acres to the state upon his death in 1954 and asked that it be maintained as wilderness.

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Trying to quell uproar over the firing of Arlington Cemetery official who supported families of war dead, Army Secretary asks for "internal review"

Thursday, I wrote about Gina Gray, who was fired from her job at Arlington Cemetery for trying to honor the wishes of the families of soldiers killed in Iraq. Dana Milbank's piece on Gray and the situation at Arlington is a must read. The families wanted media coverage to honor their dead family members. The Army (read: Bush administration) didn't. Gray got canned.

An update in today's Washington Post tells us the Army Secretary wants this matter investigated:

Army Secretary Pete Geren has asked his staff for an internal review to examine the Army's firing last month of Gina Gray, the former public affairs director of Arlington National Cemetery who had worked to restore media coverage of military funerals.

Now, this is probably a PR stunt by the Army to quiet down the controversy and assuage members of Congress who have been complaining, but nothing will really change. That's what usually happens. Ms. Gray, however, seems pretty media savvy herself. Hopefully, she'll stay on top of this and keep her pals at the Washington Post -- and the rest of us -- informed. Read the rest of this post...

Chuck Hagel will join Obama on trip to Iraq and Afghanistan

Obama is going to the two war zones sometime soon with two fellow Senators -- Democrat Jack Reed and Republican Chuck Hagel:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will visit Afghanistan and Iraq, accompanied by two potential running mates, according to a source familiar with details of the trip.

The overseas trip will give Obama an opportunity to talk at length with Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.). The two men have been mentioned as potential running mates because they would bolster the Democratic ticket’s foreign policy and military credentials.

Though Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, is a Republican, he has not endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president. Hagel is now a leading critic of the Iraq war after voting for it in 2002.

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US mortgage lender goes bust - customers may lose $500 million

It was probably all mental though and had nothing to do with basic economics. Dr Phil knows all, after all so maybe he can clarify his links to creating our current credit crisis.

One of the largest US mortgage lenders, the California-based IndyMac Bank, has collapsed amid a growing credit crisis.

Federal regulators seized the bank's assets, fearing it might not be able to meet withdrawals by depositors.

It is the second-largest financial institution to fail in US history, regulators say.

The failure came on a day when shares in the two biggest US home loan institutions - Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - fell at one stage by almost 50%.

IndyMac had been struggling to raise funds and stay in business in one of the states worst hit by the US housing market slump.

CNN Money has more on the FDIC rescue and what it may mean both to customers and the government.

According to the FDIC, 10,000 IndyMac customers could lose as much as $500 million in uninsured deposits. The agency says the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $4 billion and $8 billion, based on preliminary estimates.

"It's possible this will be the most costly bank failure in history, but it's too soon to say," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a conference call late Friday night. The failure could also affect premiums paid by all banks for deposit insurance, she added.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The poem of the week is "The Portrait" by Stanley Kunitz. It's short -- and intense. I'm always impressed by anyone who can say a lot with a few words. It's a real skill. Writing less, but saying more is an art form.

Thread the news, please.

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Tony Snow, 53, is dead from his long bout with colon cancer

He was a young guy. From the Associated Press:

Tony Snow, a conservative writer and commentator who cheerfully sparred with reporters in the White House briefing room during a stint as President Bush's press secretary, has died of colon cancer, Fox News reported Saturday. Snow was 53 years old.

Snow, who served as the first host of the television news program ''Fox News Sunday'' from 1996 to 2003, would later say that in the Bush administration he was enjoying ''the most exciting, intellectually aerobic job I'm ever going to have.''

Snow was working for Fox News Channel and Fox News Radio when he replaced Scott McClellan as press secretary in May 2006 during a White House shake-up. Unlike McClellan, who came to define caution and bland delivery from the White House podium, Snow was never shy about playing to the cameras.

With a quick-from-the-lip repartee, broadcaster's good looks and a relentlessly bright outlook -- if not always a command of the facts -- he became a popular figure around the country to the delight of his White House bosses.

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Provençal cooking - pissaladière

This is a how-to video of someone's sweet great-grandmother, making one of the tastiest treats you will ever find. For years we would take the overnight train to Nice and walk to shop (at 7AM) that produced the best Provençal foods such as stuffed zucchini flowers, stuffed veggies and my favorite, pissaladière. It was impossible not to dive in to a slice of pissaladière first thing in the morning. The cute old couple finally retired a couple of years ago (had to be almost 90) and it's been impossible to find anyone, anywhere who can come close to their cooking. Everything else tastes life cafeteria quality so now I've been focusing on re-creating those tastes on my own.

This coming summer we'll be buying fresh zucchini flowers and other veggies and cooking with friends from Toronto who are coming over. We will also be attempting to master pissaladière, which is sort of like a pizza though there's no sauce and no cheese. In addition to the video here, I would add that the onions need to be cooked gently with plenty of olive oil, a bit of garlic and some rosemary. For me, the key is a thick layer of onions that are slightly caramelized. When done well, few foods can match this. You will smell like onions for a day or two but it's worth it. Read the rest of this post...

Russia, China block UN sanctions against Zimbabwe

Russia has ties to Robert Mugabe dating back to the Soviet Union days and China continues to sell military equipment to Zimbabwe in return for raw materials. (A relationship the West is familiar with in other regions of the world.) Targeted sanctions are fine though leaders such as Mugabe tend to find a way to make life more painful for the general population, so it's not the worst situation to have failed. Besides, the EU has folded on travel bans a few times in recent years so it's not like they could even maintain an existing travel ban. Time to move on to another plan. Read the rest of this post...