Articles written by Mark Butler

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About me - Mark Butler

Welcome to the Mark Butler Helium Home Page and thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and perhaps check out more of my articles and essays. From time to time I work on improving some of my articles and I'll look to increase the number of articles

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Jobs & Careers > Professionalism What to do when you hate your job: 2 of 63
There are those people who love their job, some who see it as a necessity and they just do it because they have to and then there are the rest of us; the ones who hate their job. For most people, working for a living is a fact of life. For some though, the job is what sucks the life out of us, makes us resent even having to g... More..
Education > Educational Philosophy Are gifted and talented programs elitist?: 2 of 34
Asking if Gifted and Talented programs are elitist is on a par with asking if high school and college sports are elitist. Is the high school star quarterback or track star an elitist? They might be if we took the same approach to sports ability as we do to mental ability. Instead, we ascribe sports ability to natural talent a... More..
Jobs & Careers > Job Search (Other) Tips for dealing with unemployment: 1 of 17
Being unemployed at any time is rough enough but to be mid-career and mid-life at the same time can be especially challenging. I should know, I was there for six months so I'll share with you the gems I learned to not only deal with unemployment but also get out of the situation and land on your feet. Perhaps not easy street,... More..
Jobs & Careers > Office Politics Office tips: How to work with a back-stabber: 1 of 17
Did that knife in the back hurt? While it didn't physically hurt, it likely caused a number of other pains, things like loss of credibility, getting passed over for a promotion, possibly counseled for your "poor performance." Make no mistake, a back stabber can ruin your career and make your job the most loathsome place for y... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Should the U.S. enact tough new environmental regulations to combat global warming?: 1 of 17
There are two ways to move businesses in the direction that government wishes to go. It is the old fashioned carrot and stick approach and if the government provides the proper incentives they can achieve the desired results without impacting on some basic freedom of choices. While there are many who proclaim that global warm... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Racism Fighting racial discrimination in the workplace: 1 of 16
While we cannot change how a person thinks, we can hold that person accountable for their words and deeds. To eliminate racial discrimination in the workplace involves several steps. First and foremost is that the company must write, publish and ensure everyone reads the company's equal opportunity policy and other policies p... More..
Home & Garden > Cleaning (Other) Ways to keep your bedroom smelling fresh: 2 of 27
Did you ever think about sharing your bedroom with 200 of your closest friends? Probably not, but in the Navy that was the typical shipboard life for lower ranking enlisted personnel and the ways we found to keep the berthing area (our bedroom) clean and fresh smelling will work for you with one or two people in the bedroom w... More..
Business > General Management Qualities of a successful manager: 4 of 52
There are many successful managers in the world and describing a common set of qualities that they all share is challenging at best. Complicating the task is that not every successful manager shares each of the characteristics in equal amounts. While one manager may be strong in one area another may be strong in another. In e... More..
Education > Distance Learning Can distance learning be a substitute for college?: 2 of 26
Perhaps the better question is "Can distance learning be a substitute for the college experience?" In this day and age, many colleges, including old, well established Ivy League colleges are offering courses via distance learning. Harvard University has several Master's degrees where you can earn the majority of the required ... More..
Jobs & Careers > Layoffs & Firings How to get over the loss of a job: 2 of 22
So you lost your job! Now what? You have enough to worry about now and those include bill paying, a place to live, food to eat and finding a new job. Despite all this, many people either agonize or get depressed about losing a job. So how do you get over a job loss? Each person has a slightly different answer but I'll sh... More..