As Daniel Pink has so compellingly argued in Drive: the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, once the issue of compensation is off the table, more money does not cause us to work harder, longer or more efficiently.

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While the news spokesperson said it may not be work related, employees also said to the media that the root cause is that they are upset under such an inordinate amount of stress.

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There is a large number of other issues yet to be resolved, not least how much disruption they will cause to the existing network while work is in progress.

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Though dirty glasses won't cause an eye infection, saliva "is not the best hygiene method, and it just won't work very well, " she says.

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But Mr Bush, and perhaps his pugnacious ambassador too, seem to have been persuaded that the anger this would cause among Democrats, with whom Mr Bush is now obliged to work, was just not worth it.

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