they defend their attempts to avoid providing healthcare benefits, and allowing the government to pay for the healthcare of their employees, with the assertion that their most loyal long-term employees are old, fat, & diseased with a history of living off the government anyway
she needs to get in a time machine & go back to Salem in the 1690s and get caught by the conservative church elders while she's lounging about in a cemetary wearing that shirt
Some companies now use blogs as a weapon, unleashing swarms of critics on their rivals. "I'd say 50% to 60% of attacks are sponsored by competitors," says Bruce Fischman, a lawyer in Miami for targets of online abuse.
If this were true, I would be rolling in cash. If the price were right, I could easily spend 10 hours a week complaining about services & products that I've found wanting, or bloody awful.
Mind you, I would not take money for saying things I didn't believe myself. And I think it's foolish to think that even 1%, of the scores of bloggers out there, are, would, or have ever even been offered money to do so.
I'm a little surprised Forbes would publish an article like this, advocating some brat-in-sandbox behaviour that only the lowest common flame-war denominator on the internet would think appropriate.
The advice comes up just short of suggesting the company contact the blogger's rival to rally people to send threats & stalk the blogger.
BASH BACK. If you get attacked, dig up dirt on your assailant and feed it to sympathetic bloggers. Discredit him.
WNEP 16: First Hooters Air Flight Not Uneventful
It was the inaugural flight for Hooters Air at the airport in Luzerne County. Passengers boarded the plane for their journey to Orlando. Many were excited about the new airline, its cheaper tickets and the touch of sex appeal.
A number of media guests also jumped on the first flight. WKRZ's radio DJ Rocky Rhoades was one of them. He was on the phone talking with his station about the first flight when something out of the ordinary happened. Passengers said they heard the man sitting in front of Rhoades apparently try to make a joke, saying to Rocky, "You look something like a terrorist." After Rocky signed off, the disc jockeys back at the station talked about the man's comment on the air.
...
Passengers said the man who made the not-so-funny comment was hauled away in handcuffs, then everyone else was bused to a nearby terminal and put through another security screening.
The comment was rude... though I'm not sure that warrants a $1,000 fine. And the logic of the whole incident seems kind of hazy to me.
I saw footage of Rocky being interviewed on television, and he seemed rather embarrassed about the incident. Or maybe he was just embarrassed that he'd been on that flight at all.
NBC10.com - Education - More Teens Wearing Pajamas To School
OGDEN, Utah -- There's a new fad of students -- mostly girls -- wearing pajama bottoms to school, and so far administrators are not making a fuss about it.
...
School administrators in Ogden, Weber and Davis school districts say the pajamas have been modest and there hasn't been a problem.
Not a problem with flannel pajama bottoms.
But how about if the girls start wanting to wear lingerie to the school?
Almost 15 years ago I had seen a girl wearing nothing but lingerie out in public. Of course she wasn't much admired by anyone, much less her peers, for various reasons.
But then about 5 years ago a neighbor of mine in Edwardsville, PA had a party in the back yard, and one of the guests was wearing a lingerie slip as a dress. And nobody seemed to think anything of it. And when I told other people about it, some said they'd seen that before in certain circles.
So this is not really new.
And I maintain, because pajamas, lingerie, and bathrobes, are not designed for the conditions as are street clothes, and most people won't wear street clothes into their beds & after their baths, that for sensibility reasons, this will likely not ever be a heavily followed trend.
Did someone shoot the pig for lunch? - Food Inc. - MSNBC.com - Bullet found in woman's pork loin casserole
Diane Johnson's son-in-law found the bullet in a pork loin casserole she served Tuesday to her family. She said there was no mistaking the projectile's distinct shape in the pork loin she bought at a local Publix grocery store.
...
It's not clear how the scanners missed the bullet -- or how the bullet got in the pork loin in the first place.
Stevens said someone may have fired into a herd of grazing livestock.
According to the Wisconsin Pork Association, professional slaughterhouses don't shoot animals, for employee safety and meat quality concerns.
Alison was recently perusing my bookshelf noting books she had given me when she was moving across the country 10 years ago. I wonder if she had remorse over that paperback of Dante's Inferno.
And now I'm wondering where those Trixie Belden books I had went to so long ago..
"If you go on the Web and type in 'used endoscopes' or 'used colonoscopes,' you'll find dozens of suppliers selling used equipment," said State College police Det. Ralph Ralston. "It's kind of bizarre."
State police in Kittanning announced Thursday that they were investigating last weekend's theft from Armstrong County Memorial Hospital in East Franklin Township, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. The devices, worth $103,680 total, are used to examine the human colon.
~ryanlowe/blog: Unequal Voices
(the basic problem with Wikipedia - to get any real high quality of information, there would have to be expertise management by a command structure)
The Associated Press - Fla. Worker Stabbed in Microwave Dispute
Things got very ugly at a Walgreens when police said one employee stabbed a co-worker over who could microwave her soup first.
Both women wanted to use the microwave in the employee break room Wednesday afternoon, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
While they were fighting over who could use the microwave first, Mellesia Grant grabbed a large kitchen knife off the counter and stabbed Merloze Tilme in the abdomen, the sheriff's office said.
"They didn't get along to begin with. Who could use the microwave first became a major issue," Broward County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said.
The two women then wrestled for the knife, each cutting their hands, before the store manager could stop the fight, Leljedal said.
I love the "didn't get along" remark. Somehow I bet that there was more to it than that. It sounds to me like there was a lacking on the part of management, that they would allow such an unbalanced worker go unchecked, where it actually got to the point of actual physical violence with a deadly weapon. I have no doubt there must've been signs that the situation was escalating before this happened.
DrIrene.com - The Verbally Abused Partner: Denial
The line between verbal and physical abuse is one of degree. The same interpersonal dynamics apply to both relationships. Many verbally abusive relationships will never cross the physical abuse "line." However, the absence of physical abuse does not make a verbally abusive relationship OK! Furthermore, in not putting a stop to verbal abuse may enable it to escalate into physical violence.
Morning Edition, October 18, 2005 · A customer at a Wisconsin Burger King may not drive very well, but he gets points for staying cool. Rouland Steppert smashed his car into the front door of the restaurant in Wausau. After the collision, he backed away and parked. Then he walked right inside, past the broken glass, to place his order. Police found the 78-year-old at a table, eating breakfast. Since the accident happened on private property, he will not be charged with anything.
Bystanders, observers and witnesses - why don't they help the target of bullying?
(It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering. -- Judith Herman)
in environments where the bullying is entrenched, it's regarded as "normal" behaviour
unlike assault and harassment, bullying is subtle and comprises hundreds, perhaps thousands, of incidents which out of context and in isolation are trivial - thus bystanders can't see the full picture
bullies poison the atmosphere and actively poison people's minds against the target
when close to being outwitted and exposed, the bully feigns victimhood and turns the focus on themselves - another example of manipulating people through their emotion of guilt, eg sympathy, feeling sorry
in an environment where aggression is dominant, good people become disempowered and disenfranchised
some observers regard behavioural responses that are reasonable and civilised as a sign of weakness rather than maturity
Watermelon is not only great on a hot summer day, this delectable thirst-quencher may also help quench the inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis.
Sweet, juicy watermelon is actually packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature. Watermelon is an excellent source of vitamin C and a very good source of vitamin A, notably through its concentration of beta-carotene.
A survey by the National Watermelon Promotion Board Consumer Market Research conducted in September of 1996 shows that consumers are interested in watermelon's nutritional value and believe watermelons are a healthy alternative to processed snacks for their children. A two-cup serving of watermelon contains 80 calories, two grams of dietary fiber, 25% of the daily value of vitamin C, 20% of the daily value of vitamin A, 25 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
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