Over Forty Five? You May Be Targeted.

Julianne Taafe, left, and Kathryn Moon, who are filing an age discrimination complaint against Ohio State University

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, ageism in the workplace has become an increasingly large issue. Organizations have systematically targeted employees who are perceived as “older” or “out of touch,” not because they cannot learn new skills, but because of age and tenure, which can be considered liabilities regardless of performance. Older workers can easily be replaced by younger workers who will work for less. Lower benefits and pension costs also factor into the equation. For many businesses, a policy of ageism is at least in part motivated by cutting costs. I assert that everyone knows someone who has been affected by ageism in some way, shape or form. This instance at Ohio State University is, unfortunately, evocative of a systemic problem. You can read more at The New York Times.

Photo Credit: Ty Wright for The New York Times

Trump's Propaganda Machine

According to the New York Times, Donald Trump has received almost $2 billion in free media coverage. That’s more than all of the candidates, Republican and Democrat, combined. What the cable media has not sufficiently done is challenge him on his lies, threats, vulgarities, hate mongering, promises and his inability to provide substance on almost every element of what voters need to know to evaluate his intellectual and practical capability to be President of the United States of America. This begs the question – why??  Has the media, like Chris Christie and Ben Carson, been bought by Trump? As an aside I happened to see Christie at Trump’s future Winter White House, Mar-a-Lago, literally feeding at the trough.

Melissa Jelsten of the Huffington Post wrote an excellent piece last week called “Donald Trump is Successfully Conning the Entire Country,” that calls Trump out. All of the journalists covering Trump should study this and start practicing their profession as investigators and critical analyzers, rather than viewing Trump coverage as entertainment.

Regardless of what we may think of Mitt Romney, he got it right when he predicted how Trump would react to his comments. More importantly, he challenged Trump to prove him wrong by disclosing his income tax forms and comments to the New York Times editorial board. Rather than take up Romney’s challenge, Trump, with cable media playing along, predictably trashed Romney in the same dismissive tone and fashion that he always uses against anyone who opposes him.

Unless our television broadcasters provide more balanced coverage, expose his lies and inconsistencies and force more transparency from Trump, he will have a great advantage come November. Even his advisors, who are relatively unknown, untested and dubious, have been severely underreported on. Additionally, Trump’s ongoing “torture first and ask questions later” attitude towards terrorists, especially in the wake of these horrific bombings in Brussels, has been only weakly challenged by the media, and out and out echoed by his top opponent, Ted Cruz. Trump’s temperament and mental state should also be called into question, but since the media has already spent $2 billion on non-informational Trump coverage, I don’t expect any substantive progress on that front either.

Unfortunately, whatever the cable news does to provide more sensible perspectives and coverage may be too little too late. Huge damage has already been done by unleashing an immense level of bigotry, hate and intolerance, in much the same way Hitler fueled it in Germany in the early thirties and McCarthy did in the United States in the early fifties. The media must take much of the responsibility for this because they have become, for all intents and purposes, Trump's propaganda machine.

As a Canadian and seasonal resident in Florida, I am starting to feel unwelcome in the United States due to this huge shift in values. His continual alienation of the Muslim community is not only blatantly offensive, but logistically risky, as they should be the US’s natural first line of defense against terrorism motivated by radical Islam. Additionally, there’s my alliance with the other groups who are threatened by Trump’s reign: the eleven million undocumented immigrants in America, supporters of free speech, the innocent children and spouses of those who may be targeted as terrorists, and in the future, those who dare become witnesses, defenders and resistors of an authoritarian rule.

Using Technology to Build Workplace Culture

This app is a great idea – giving companies the tools to gather their own data on the value of workplace culture may go a long way towards convincing them that psychologically safe workplaces are good for business. The Faas Foundation’s Emotion Revolution in the Workplace initiative with Yale University is also seeking to gather substantive data on the benefits of positive workplace cultures, but wrapping that goal in an easy-to-use app is another step in the right direction. Read more about Culture Amp on Mashable.

Image: Getty Images via Mashable

How Surprising: Another Volkswagen Indiscretion

Volkswagen’s continual dishonesty is barely surprising anymore. Even after the emissions scandal, they have insisted on deleting data routinely despite Department of Justice requests for them to stop. They dismissed a whistleblower who tried to make VW’s consistent lack of cooperation with investigators public. You would think that diminishing trust and sales would encourage VW to attempt changing their culture of deceit, but it appears that it’s difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Read more at Fortune Magazine.

Photo Information: Jens Meyer/Associated Press via Mashable

Thoughts on Massey Energy's Massive Negligence

Massey CEO Don Blackenship

This report from 60 Minutes is infuriating, saddening and worth watching. The disaster in the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia, which claimed 29 lives, was entirely preventable. Forcing miners to work in conditions where the air is so thick with coal dust that they can’t see their own hands in front of their faces is one insult, but the reports of a culture built on falsifying safety records in the interest of profits adds insult to injury. The miners, who remain un-unionized, only have federal mine inspectors to turn to, but an environment of bullying and fear of retaliation prevented reports of the rampant safety violations in place at Massey Energy’s mines. The corporate culture of disrespect, greed and a blatant disregard for employee wellbeing is completely attributable to Massey Energy’s CEO, Don Blackenship, who can only be sentenced to one year in jail for his deadly and willful negligence. One victim’s family member called that a “perversion of justice,” and I think, if anything, that’s an understatement. Watch and read at CBS News.

Photo Credit: Don Blackenship from Getty Images

WestJet and Sexual Assault

This situation is twisted, and entirely too common in a variety of industries. After having to come through the experience of sexual assault, this flight attendant was then fired for trying to find out why her attacker was not punished for previous sexual harassment claims. Issues of a sexual nature should be taken as seriously as any other workplace harassment claims, but far too often they result in indifference, ignorance and denial. Read more at The Globe and Mail.

Canine Therapy

I love this article. I know firsthand how dogs can help heal someone, and have advised many people I’ve met with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to consider canine therapy. Canine therapy, and any kind of contact with therapy animals, can make a substantive difference for people suffering from a variety of conditions. Check out more at The New York Times.

Art Credit: Paul Rogers for NYT

360 Reviews and Workplace Bullying

In my opinion, 360 reviews can very easily turn into workplace bullying. These kinds of reviews consist of anonymous feedback from supervisors, peers and subordinate employees, and this combination sometimes leads to perceived “payback” in the form of severe or unfair commentary. It’s a feedback mechanism used by thousands of organizations, and in toxic workplace cultures, it leads to vitriolic bullying most of the time. Read more about these reviews at The New York Times.

Art Credit: Jacob Reeves for NYT

Comparing Entertainment Scandals Through Time

The more I learn about the BBC sex abuse scandal, the more I am reminded of the 2014 CBC Jian Ghomeshi scandal, which I’ve written about before. Both cases involve sex abuse, fame and what appears to be willful ignorance on the part of upper management. The practice of allowing star employees are allowed to harass others with impunity is a horrible tendency that some workplace cultures seem to be taking on in the entertainment industry. The only true substantive difference between these two cases is the time in which they took place – Saville’s abuses happened decades ago, while Ghomeshi’s are more recent. This is an ongoing problem that entertainment industry leaders cannot ignore, and need to take a firmer stand against. Read more on the Saville case at the New York Times.

White Supremacists Were the Big Winners in Yesterday's Vote

Black Lives Matter protesters at a February 29, 2016 Trump rally, shortly before being escorted out of the venue.

For the GOP and the mainstream media, the elephant in the room is the white supremacist movement. The GOP leadership, Rubio, Cruz and the mainstream media should acknowledge this horrible reality. The reason there is a reluctance to confront this is the risk of alienating the extreme fundamentalist Christians who are at the core of this movement and view Trump as their savior.

For months, Trump’s outrageous hate-mongering comments run parallel to the white supremacist agenda, largely without real challenge. An example of this can be found in an article in the February 1 issue of The New Yorker called “The Duel” by Ryan Lizza, which analyzes what resonates with voters. The article reports: "Trump fans tend to express little regard for political norms. They cheer at his most outlandish statements. O'Reilly (Fox News) asked Trump if he meant it when he said that he would 'take out' the family members of terrorists. He (O'Reilly) didn't believe that Trump would 'put a hit on women and children' if he were elected. Trump replied 'I would do some pretty severe stuff.' The Mesa crowd erupted in applause 'Yea, Baby!' a man near me yelled. I had never previously been to a political event at which people cheered for the murder of women and children." Trump's comments and the barbaric responses of his racist followers is exactly what occurred in Germany in the early thirties.

This incident, and many others like it, where Trump's racist, hate-mongering comments and the racism of his supporters have been well documented; yet, the GOP establishment, the candidates and the mainstream media have been far too timid in challenging this. Trump and his racist supporters must be called out for who and what they are; if they are not, after November, Americans will likely be required to salute Trump by declaring "Sieg Heil", which I am sure many white supremacists did last night.

In my Monday blog post, "FALLING INTO THE BULLY'S TRAP - BULLYING IN REAL TIME ON PRIME TIME," I indicated that it is fortunate that Trump, unlike many bullies, is very transparent. There is no ambiguity on what he stands for and what he has the potential of doing. Even last night this transparency showed when he called himself “a unifier,” and went on to say of House Speaker Paul Ryan: “I'm sure I'm going to get along with him (Ryan), and if I don't, he's going to pay a big price.” This is a threat, and should be reacted to as such! This is also a reflection of what he will do to anyone who stands in his way.

If someone in the GOP were to, in very quick order, produce a documentary called "In Trump’s Own Words – How The Republicans Are Falling Into the Bully's Trap," it would more effectively expose Trump and white supremacists for who they are, and the huge damage they have the potential of doing.

My ninety-seven year old mother lived through the horrors of the Nazi regime in The Netherlands. She indicated her hope that Americans will not have to reflect, with regret, on the poem by Martin Niemoller:

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Replace “communists” with "undocumented immigrants,” “trade unions” with “dissenters,” and “Jews” with “Muslims.” Niemoller's observations hold great potential for regretful reflection during a Trump presidency. 

Photo: Reuters, taken from The Daily Mail