Broad-sweeping wage reforms were instituted in the Soviet Union during the Khrushchev era, from 1956 through 1962. These were intended to move Soviet industrial workers away from the mindset of overfulfilling quotas that had characterised the Soviet economy during the preceding Stalinist period, and toward a more efficient financial incentive. Throughout the Stalinist period, most Soviet workers had been paid for their work based on a piece-rate system. Thus their individual wages were directly tied to the amount of work they achieved. This policy was intended to encourage workers to toil and therefore increase production as much as possible. The piece-rate system led to an enormous level of bureaucracy and contributed to huge inefficiencies in Soviet industry. Additionally, factory managers frequently manipulated the personal production quotas given to workers to prevent workers' wages from falling too low. The wage reforms sought to remove these wage practices and offer an efficient financial incentive to Soviet workers by standardising their wages and reducing their dependence on overtime or bonus payments. (more...)
... that as a result of the North Carolina Sullivan Acts, Asheville is the only city in the state that cannot charge a higher water rate for consumers outside city limits?
... that Indonesian actress Sophia Latjuba received no fee for playing in her most recent film?
1985 – The Coca-Cola Company introduced "New Coke" to replace its flagship soft drink Coca-Cola, which generated so much negative response that the company put the original formula back on the market less than three months later.
The all-time roster of the Major League Baseball franchise's Boston Reds spans one season in the Players' League (PL) in 1890(team pictured), and one season in the American Association (AA) in 1891. In each season, the Reds were their league's champion. The Reds were an instant success on the field and with the public. The team signed several top-level players, and they played in a larger, more modern ballpark than the Boston Beaneaters, the popular and well-established cross-town rival. After the dissolution of the PL, the AA voted to allow the Reds into the new combined league. The Reds stayed intact by keeping several of their top players, and signed several other top-level players to fill the void of the departing players. When the 1891 season ended, the AA also folded, and the Reds were bought out by the surviving NL clubs. (more...)
The pear-shaped puffball(Lycoperdon pyriforme) is a saprobicfungus present throughout much of the world. Emerging in autumn, this puffball is common and abundant on decaying logs of both deciduous and coniferous wood. It is considered a choice edible when still immature and the inner flesh is white.
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