Rotten Core

Quick!   Get all the puns in!  Rotten to the core or just a few bad apples?  The employee didn't get the fruits of his labor?  Something about the other apples not liking the one green apple in the fruit bowl?  No, that is too far.  Bobbing for discrimination payouts?  What happens when you bite into Apple; you see the worm inside?  I will stop. 

Sharing a post that was forwarded to my account by the excellent employment site HR Grapevine.  If you have not been there, I recommend you check them out, as they have fantastic stories, such as the one below, that definitely fall outside of the stuffy or boring image that HR has with non-HR professionals.  They offer insights into studies, companies and employment practices that can be funny, commendable, deplorable, or simply unique and interesting to anyone that is in employment!

The story is pretty shocking, and obviously you cannot judge a multinational company on one action alone.  At least that is what a multinational company would hope you don't do.  My personal opinion is that if this story is true, and a CEO did ignore this type of behavior in his company, then its as damning as it gets.  

The "leader" responsibility of a CEO is to act as an example to everyone below them, work to remove any such bad behavior first and foremost, rather than ignore it to pursue other projects (i.e. anything revenue related).  Anything else and you then send a clear message; the day-to-day running / making more money for the business is more important than having good company culture, and not having blatant racism towards hard working employees. 

Just to be ultra clear, this story is a non-confirmed single case of racism, where the outcome and all the facts my not have come to light yet.  And yes, businesses really are only obliged to make money; anything else is a "moral obligation" (or legal obligation), not a "business obligation"....

Thanks for reading. 

Heinali (Oleg Shpudeiko) - Fade

Had to share this artist and his track Fade.  This is one of the most amazing sounds I have ever heard.  If you like this, check YouTube for some of Oleg's other work.  Genuinely left me speechless the first time I heard it.  

This media is all property of Heinali / Oleg and I am sharing it so that he can get more publicity for his work.  As long as you are also only doing it for non-commercial use, consider sharing as the artist is happy for it to be shared.  

Comedy, Logic, Fields, What?

I have heard the opinion that comedy is rooted in the examination of the illogical by the logical, or vice versa.  

Then isn't comedy just observations of spontaneous symmetry breaking of the logic field (a scalar field)?  That is why, anything in the universe has the potential to be funny, when observed using this mechanism...

No, I don't know what I am talking about, by the way.
  

What can we do? What can we avoid?

A link to an article in the Stylist. The style is informal and light while the message is very relevant to the current time we find ourselves in. The article is a riot to read and starkly open minded.

It speaks directly of the possibilities for progression available to our species' civilisation, the choices we can make to improve our world,  and the horror of blindly accepting the status quo if we are too timid to challenge the conventional. See my earlier article on 'How bad is history? ' for a discussion point on this in more depth. 

King Leonidas asked, 'What can you do? '.  He was talking about his personal decision to meet a mortal threat head on, to defeat it; but in a socially unusual and unacceptable method, which others were too corrupt, cretinous and cowardly to understand. 

His rhetorical question underscores the bold choice he made to forgo quiet tradition in place of loud actions to safeguard his people.

Can we do the same today?

Thanks for reading.  

Stylist: Lucy Mangan: "We can cap house prices? WTF?" http://google.com/producer/s/CBIwtq33uAQ

Thinking too much about work?

How do you know that you might be taking your work mentality home with you? 

A clue might be when you describe something that is really simple; such as towels not drying quickly on the rack in winter; as 'not being able to maintain a 12 hour turnaround cycle on towels'. 

It's even worse if you add 'I am concerned at this operational problem'...

My housemate must think I am strange. He would be correct.  

E Cigarettes and Latest Research Studies

I am a prime advocate of e cigarettes as a great relaxing tool and lifestyle accessory.

New Scientist has some excellent new research data on the positive health effects; and possible help that e cigarettes can give to users who are wanting to discontinue using flammable tobacco based cigarettes.

New Scientist: E-cigarettes help you quit as well as nicotine patches.

12 years a slave - Toronto film festival

The Guardian: Steve McQueen on 12 Years a Slave: 'It's not about sugarcoating history' 

The Guardian: Steve McQueen on 12 years a slave

A follow up to my post on history and how to recount it accurately.  Its good to see that some people are not afraid of the truth.

If a historical film such as this makes you walk out of the cinema that is fine, as long as you don't ignore its message, because it is important.