???????? ???: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shares his thoughts on any prospective opposition to his government: “The Coalition dances around issues and have no discipline… They allow people like Senator Rennick to undermine common sense… They’ve got people in the Coalition who have stood up in the Senate to support Vladimir Putin rather than the Ukrainian people… They’ve got people who question the science behind COVID…and question the science behind climate change and engage in a range of conspiracy theories…” UTL COMMENT:- What you just said just sums it all up why we HATE YOU SOOOOO MUCH you Socialist / Commie / Globalist / DESTRUCTIVE piece of..... I actually believe in Freedom of Speech but I also believe that all Socialist or Left-Wing parties MUST be BANNED. Because if they want to end Democracy then they shouldn't have any right to operate within one!! They are also behaving in a TREASONOUS and GENOCIDAL way. And to me that includes definitely the Commie Greens and BOTH Labor and Liberal!!

The “sandwich technique,” also known as a “compliment sandwich” or “feedback sandwich,” has been a tool for delivering criticism since the 1940s. But it really became something of a workplace staple after 1984, thanks to Mary Kay Ash’s book “People Management.” The idea seems sound enough. The deliverer of the criticism would first offer a compliment to the recipient, followed by the actual feedback, then another bit of praise. This should theoretically allow the criticism to be received without bruising any ego or hurting any feelings. Everybody wins.But according to organizational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant, the compliment sandwich “doesn’t taste as good as it looks.”In various interviews, podcasts, social media posts and even a Substack article, Grant has chalked up the compliment sandwich ineffectiveness to two major shortcomings.One being that people are simply too familiar with it. So whatever compliment is given, no matter how genuine it may be, people know what’s coming next and they begin “waiting for the other shoe drop.” Knowing the compliments are obligatory can actually make someone take the criticism ever more personally.Two: the opposite can happen. Because people tend to remember the first and last parts of a conversation, the criticism might be downplayed or outright buried underneath the positive feedback. This goes especially for narcissists, Grant notes.Luckily there is a kind, yet efficient way to give some tough love. And it all boils down to one simple sentence:“I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.”The phrase comes from a 2013 study conducted by researchers at Stanford,who were able to increase a student’s openness to criticism by at least 40% just by using those 19 words.As Grant explains, this strategy works because it conveys an intention to help a person become the best version of themselves. “It’s surprisingly easy to hear a hard truth when it comes from someone who believes in your potential and cares about your success.”Of course, using the exact words isn’t mandatory. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Grant (@adamgrant) The point is focusing on helping someone improve, rather than attacking or patronizing them.To that point, Grant also has a few other helpful pointers, like not assuming a position of superiority, asking if the person is open to feedback first (Grant attests they usually welcome it) and lastly, keeping the language transparent, not manipulative.At the end of the day, most people want to grow, become better people, and live up to their potential. Remembering that one little truism can go a long way.This article originally appeared on 4.11.24

Forgetting something is part of the human experience. At some point in everyone's life they've forgotten something at least once, sometimes it's something big but most people forget things that can be quickly rectified. One woman has gone viral after not realizing that she forgot to leave the Target basket at the store after shopping. The TikTok account, Chris and Erin uploaded a video recently of Erin leaning over a Target basket on her kitchen counter. She looked exhausted and slightly annoyed with her husband repeatedly asking her if she forgot something. The woman had a travel pillow wrapped around her neck as she looked through the basket trying to figure out what Chris could possibly be going on about. Chris doesn't let up. He chuckles and asks, "Okay, so you have no idea what you have done?" Erin simply looks back through the basket confused before commenting on getting herself the fancier neck pillow. It's as if the basket does not exist.Does the basket exist? Does Erin have a reusable Target shopping bag that looks exactly like the red baskets in the store? It was clear that she was not picking up on her husband's hints so he very clearly explains they have to go back to the store because she brought the basket home. That's when the realization hits as her mind registers the clearly marked basket on the counter causing an expletive to slip. Commenters had questions, including the official Target account who chimed in on the mishap. "I knew I was missing something," Target jokes. "Are we even sure she paid for the stuff," one person asks. "How often do you hold a Target basket for it to feel natural for it to be in your home," someone questions. "Either she was trying to reduce plastic bag use or she needs a week or two of a beach vacation," a commenter notes.Chris and Erin were quick to respond that a vacation was indeed needed. Hopefully Erin gets that beach vacation and not a vacation that involves a view from behind bars for accidentally lifting a Target basket while shopping. Watch the video below: @chris_erin Judge Away We’ve All Done It Right? #fyp #basket This article originally appeared on 4.7.24

Google and smart phones have been around so long that Gen Z doesn't know a time before those things existed. They may have Googled what a card catalog was used for but plenty of them don't know the pressure we all felt having to learn the dewy decimal system while walking around the library with a card with numbers scribbled on it. They've never experienced the frustration of having an out of date Encyclopedia collection from the thrift store that was missing books "D" and "X-Z" when you had a research assignment due. Oh, sweet tech savvy - we not me generation, doesn't understand that riding shot gun on a road trip meant you were suddenly a pirate with an Atlas map bigger than the dashboard.Even as someone that was alive when having a rotary phone was the norm, I sometimes forget what life was like before all of the technological luxuries. It's not surprising that Gen Z is confused on how we survived back then without knowledge at our fingertips, so when one of them asked, Gen X, Xennials and elder Millennials entered the chat.Sarah Adelman posted a video to TikTok with the caption, "pls help I was born in 1997." In the video she says she has a genuine question for older people and that's when she asks, "what did you do before you could look something up?"Adelman gives the example of something that isn't in the dictionary or Encyclopedia. She wants to know what someone would do if there was a celebrity whose name you couldn't remember or other trivial things like that. "Would you go to the library? Like gen..and like okay, without Google Maps, like I know that there was MapQuest but before that like genuinely what would you do? Would you just accept not knowing," the Gen Zer asks before saying she doesn't think she would be able to survive without knowing. Unfortunately for Adelman, the older generations informed her that this is exactly what we did back in the 1900s. We simply wondered about things that popped into our heads. In fact, since we knew there was no way of knowing the name of the actor that played on "Matlock" for one episode, we didn't bother attempting to look it up. You'd either see them again in a rerun or it would come to you randomly while trying to locate a payphone. "The name of an actor would come up to you 3 weeks later while you were eating a bowl of cereal," one person writes. "You would just be forever annoyed by it, keep it bookmarked in the back of your mind, then realize one day that dude's name is Ray Liotta or something," another commenter says. "Ummm. I love how you reference Mapquest. We used maps. Just maps. Good ole paper maps," someone writes."We just lived in blissful ignorance and then in the middle of a conversation about pretzels a week later we would just yell out the answer," one person reveals.To no one's surprise Adelman did not like these answers. She replied to someone explaining that we simply wondered with, "I could never." The official Google account even chimed in saying, "however it worked, sounds bad."Ehh, it wasn't so bad. We didn't know any different, but in a way Adelman had that good old fashioned pre-Google experience when she posed this question. You can watch the perplexed girl's video below: @sarah_adelman Pls help i was born in 1997 #90s #genz #90skids #iphone #rant #question #funny This article originally appeared on 9.7.23

It’s pretty safe to say that everyone loves a good love story.There’s a whole genre of music and movies dedicated to the idea of someone being swept off of their feet after circumstances tried to keep them from their true love. Romance novels could single handedly keep public libraries and bookstores afloat. Everyone loves "love" and the story of Betsy and Irv just takes the cake. Betsy Sailor attended Penn State University as a business major, which was almost unheard of in 1978 and Irv Pankey attended the university while playing football. The pair’s paths never crossed, until an unfortunate incident bonded the two forever.That year, Betsy was at home singing and dancing with her refrigerator door as one does when looking for food, when she was sexually assaulted at knife point by none other than star Penn State football player, Todd Hodne. When Irv heard the evidence against Hodne during the trial, he knew he had to do something about it. In fact, he was the only one on the team who did.After the assault Betsy moved back on campus, and that’s when she met Irv, a burly football player who understood what it was like to be outcast. He knocked on her door, introduced himself and offered to essentially be her protection as she traversed through campus. The pair were glued at the hip until graduation. Irv went on to play for the LA Rams and Betsy went on to work in human resources. They hadn't spoken since, until 44 years later when ESPN decided to cover their unique bond that helped Betsy get through college. Hear directly from Betsy Sailor and Irv Pankey as they discuss their relationship in my recent interview with them (created by director @nicole_noren ): 12/12pic.twitter.com/GmWVIYp38O — Paula Lavigne (@Paula Lavigne) 1651148562 And that's when this already compelling tale became a love story.Irv and Betsy stayed in touch after the documentary was filmed, and when ESPN did an update, Betsy became emotional while talking about Irv. The two smiled and said they spend as much time together as possible. Irv said “We’re riding off into the sunset. Calling it a day. Peace out! I hope we can enjoy each other’s company for the rest of our lives and just move on,” He continued “We’re 65 years old. We ain’t got time to be messing around.”If that isn’t a love story to write home about, then I don’t know what is. Best wishes Betsy and Irv. You both deserve a lifetime of happiness.This article originally appeared on 04.29.22

Becca Moore is a popular TikToker with over 800,000 followers who's known for her funny, laid-back takes on dating. Like any influencer-type she was at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California recently. While she was at Coachella, she was robbed of her phone, rental car keys and wallet.“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video with over 3 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.“A normal Uber driver takes you to a place and then drops you off. He insisted on coming in with me and making sure that I was going to have a ride after that,” Becca said.The store wasn’t able to get her a new phone because she didn’t have access to her current plan. But Raul wouldn’t give up, so he took her to the local police station where they were able to locate the Airbnb where the thief was staying. The police let them into the room and they searched it but couldn’t find the phone. @becccamooore the uber driver that saved me from going missing is @buds4u559!! ? after spending the day w him he told me his daughter is a senior in high school & is having a hard time going through chemo. i made a gofundme, he could’ve left me and didn’t have to help me the way he did! I’d love to help his fam give his daughter a normal end to her senior year of high school this year (prom!!) i’m putting it in my bio!! After the big let-down, Becca and Raul decided to take a break from their quest and refresh their spirits with some margaritas, on Raul. “Just because he’s an angel on this Earth,” Becca said in her TikTok video.While the two bonded over drinks, Raul told Becca his daughter had been battling cancer and that’s why he’s been working as an Uber driver. “He told me all he wants is for his daughter to have a normal end to her senior year, and to be able to go to big events like prom and graduation,” Becca said.Raul also revealed that his father had cancer as well.His revelations put Becca's troubles in perspective and made his decision to drop his driving for the day to help Becca all the more incredible. @becccamooore thank god he refused to leave me ? raul’s tiktok is @buds4u559. also you can donate to the fam in my bio!! thank you all for your donations and generosity. you today, me tomorrow!! #TipsForRaul After the final slurps of their margaritas, Becca still wasn’t sure how she’d get home. But Raul wouldn’t give up. “We’re getting your phone,” he exclaimed. He drove her back to the thief’s Airbnb where she found the phone sitting on top of the outside gate. Becca believes the robber abandoned the phone after realizing the police were involved. Then, Raul helped Becca get a rental car so she could get home. Before saying their goodbyes, the two had spent eight hours together."Raul ended his Uber shift that morning to spend his day helping me, expecting nothing in return,” she said in her TikTok video. So she used her considerable audience to ask followers to help contribute to a GoFundMe page for Raul and his family. Over the first 4 days, the campaign has raised over $144,000."When I was in the car with him it seemed like we were both so focused on my situation. We were only talking about me getting a phone and like things that did not matter. And he completely glazed over the fact that his daughter and his dad were the ones that needed help," she admitted.On Friday, April 29, Raul's dad passed away from cancer.The story of Becca and Raul is a great reminder that no matter how big our troubles seem, it’s always important to put them in perspective.This story originally appeared on 05.03.22

It started with a simple, sincere question from a mother of an 11-year-old boy.An anonymous mother posted a question to Quora, a website where people can ask questions and other people can answer them. This mother wrote:How do I tell my wonderful 11 year old son, (in a way that won't tear him down), that the way he has started talking to me (disrespectfully) makes me not want to be around him (I've already told him the bad attitude is unacceptable)?It's a familiar scenario for those of us who have raised kids into the teen years. Our sweet, snuggly little kids turn into moody middle schoolers seemingly overnight, and sometimes we're left reeling trying to figure out how to handle their sensitive-yet-insensitive selves.Jo Eberhardt, a fantasy writer and mother of two from Australia, penned a reply that is so spot on that it keeps repeatedly popping up on social media. When you nail it, you nail it—and this mother nails it."Ah, puberty," she wrote, "It changes our sweet, wonderful little boys into sweet, eye-rolling, angsty, accidentally disrespectful, but still wonderful young proto-men." Yup.Eberhardt then described a discussion she had with her 11 1/2 -year-old son when he started going through this stage—a conversation they had in the car, which is usually the best place to have potentially uncomfortable discussions with kids.She told her son that she'd messed up in the way she'd talked to him about puberty, then explained exactly what was happening in his brain.“I've spent all this time talking to you about the way puberty changes your body," Eberhardt told her son, "and what to expect as you go through the changes, but I completely forgot to talk to you about what's going on in your brain right now. Puberty is the time when your brain grows and changes more than at any other time in your life — well, except for when you're a baby, perhaps. So I really let you down by not preparing you for that. I'm so sorry."Her son accepted her apology, then asked why is his brain was changing.“That's the amazing thing," she told him. "Did you know that your brain grew and developed so quickly when you were little that by the time you were about five or six, your brain was almost as big and powerful as an adult's brain?""But here's the thing," she continued, "Even though your brain was super powerful, the instructions were for a child's brain. And all the information about building an adult's brain was a bit… let's say fuzzy. So your brain did the best it could, but it didn't really know what kind of person you were going to be back then, or what shape brain you were going to need."“Now we come to puberty," she went on. "See, puberty is amazing. Not only is your body being transformed from a child's body to an adult's body, your brain has to be completely rewritten from a child's brain to an adult's brain."“That sounds hard," her son responded.“Yeah, it is," Eberhardt replied. “That's why I wish I'd warned you first. See, it takes a lot of energy to completely rewrite a brain. That's one of the reasons you get tired quicker at the moment — and that, of course, manifests in you being crankier and less patient than normal."Eberhardt paused, then added, “That must be really frustrating for you."Her son looked over at her, wiping his eyes. “It is," he responded. Sometimes I just feel really angry and I don't know why."It's amazing what happens when we explain to kids the physiological reasons for what they're going through.Eberhardt continued, “The other thing is that one of the first parts of your brain that gets super-sized to be like an adult is the amygdala. That's the part that controls your emotions and your survival instincts. You know how we've talked about fight/flight/freeze before, and how sometimes our brains think that being asked to speak in public is the same level of threat as being attacked by a sabre tooth tiger?"Her son laughed. “Yes. So you have to tell your brain that there's no sabre tooth tiger to help you calm down."“That's right," Eberhardt replied. "Well, that's what the amygdala looks after: sabre tooth tiger warnings and big emotions. So, the thing with puberty is that all of a sudden you've got an adult-sized amygdala hitting all your emotion buttons and your sabre-tooth tiger buttons. That must be really hard for you to manage."Her son nodded and said, “Sometimes I don't know why I say the things I do. They just come out, and then I feel bad."This is the moment where what a parent says can make or break a kid's spirit. But Eberhardt handled it with empathy and expertise.“I know, Sweetheart," she said before explaining:“See, the last part of your brain that gets rewritten is right at the front of your head. It's called the frontal cortex. And that's the part of your brain that's good at decision making and understanding consequences. So you've got this powerful adult amygdala hitting you with massive emotions, but you've still got a fuzzy child frontal cortex that can't make decisions or understand consequences as quickly as the amygdala wants you to. It pretty much sucks."“So it's not my fault?" her son asked.“No, it's puberty's fault your brain works the way it does," Eberhardt answered. "But that doesn't mean it's not your responsibility to recognise what's going on and change your actions. It's not easy, but it's not impossible, either. Your feelings are your feelings, and they're always okay. But you get to choose your actions. You get to choose what you do with your feelings. And, when you make a mistake, you get to choose to apologise for that mistake and make amends."Eberhardt said she then paused for dramatic effect. “That's how you prove that you're becoming an adult."It's also remarkable what happens when we empathize and communicate with our kids instead of simply chastising them.Her son responded with a perfectly understandable and relatable, “Puberty sucks."“Puberty absolutely sucks," Eberhardt responded. “I'm not in your head, but I can only imagine that it's a mess of confusion and chaos, and you don't know from one minute to the next how you feel about things."Her son looked at her in surprise. “Yes! Exactly!"“If it's confusing for you living inside there," Eberhardt continued, "imagine how confusing it is for me, when I only see your actions."“That must be really confusing," her son agreed.She nodded. “Do you know what that means?"“What?"“It means sometimes I'm going to make mistakes. Sometimes I'm going to get upset at things you do because I don't understand what's going on in your head. Sometimes I'm going to forget that you're halfway to being a man, and accidentally treat you like a child. Sometimes I'm going to expect more from you than you're able to give. This is my first time parenting someone through puberty, and I'm going to make mistakes. So can I ask you a favour?"“What is it?"“Can you just keep telling me what's going on in your head? The more we talk, the easier it will be for both of us to get through this puberty thing unscathed. Yeah?"“Yeah," her son said.When we let our kids know that we're going through these various phases together, it's easier to work with them instead of against them.Eberhardt said they "had a cuddle" before they got out of the car. She also said this conversation didn't magically make her son always speak respectfully or make her remember that he's not a little boy anymore. However, it did open up lines of communication and gave them a shared language to use.For example, she wrote, "He knows what I mean when I say, 'Sweetheart, I'm not a sabre tooth tiger.'"Ebehardt wrapped up her excellent answer by saying that she and her son are "muddling through this crazy puberty thing" together, and that she's "completely confident that he'll come out the other end a sweet, wonderful young man."It's always so helpful to see examples of good parenting in action. Ms. Eberhardt's response is something all parents can tuck away for the appropriate time. It's also a great reminder that our tweens aren't trying to try us—they're just trying to get used to their new and improved brains.This story originally appeared on 1.05.19