#corporate wellness program chicago

[contingentfitness]

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

How to screw up a whistleblower law

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THIS WEDNESDAY (Apr 17) in CHICAGO, then Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Corporate crime is notoriously underpoliced and underprosecuted. Mostly, that's because we just choose not to do anything about it. American corporations commit crimes at 20X the rate of real humans, and their crimes are far worse than any crime committed by a human, but they are almost never prosecuted:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-criminals-no-crimes/#get-out-of-jail-free-card

We can't even bear to utter the words "corporate crime": instead, we deploy a whole raft of euphemisms like "risk and compliance," and that ole fave, the trusty "white-collar crime":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/07/solar-panel-for-a-sex-machine/#a-single-proposition

The Biden DOJ promised it would be different, and they weren't kidding. The DOJ's antitrust division is kicking ass, doing more than the division has done in generations, really swinging for the fences:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Main Justice – the rest of the DOJ – promised that it would do the same. Deputy AG Lisa Monaco promised an end to those bullshit "deferred prosecution agreements" that let corporate America literally get away with murder. She promised to prosecute companies and individual executives. She promised a lot:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Was she serious? Well, it's not looking good. Monaco's number two gnuy, Benjamin Mizer, has a storied career – working for giant corporations, getting them off the hook when they commit eye-watering crimes:

https://prospect.org/justice/2024-04-09-reform-groups-lack-of-corporate-prosecutions-doj/

Biden's DOJ is arguably more tolerant of corporate crime than even Trump's Main Justice. In 2021, the DOJ brought just 90 cases – the worst year in a quarter-century. 2022's number was 99, and 2023 saw 119. Trump's DOJ did better than any of those numbers in two out of four years. And back in 2000, Justice was bringing more than 300 corporate criminal prosecutions.

Deputy AG Monaco just announced a new whistleblower bounty program: cash money for ratting out your crooked asshole co-worker or boss. Whistleblower bounties are among the most effective and cheapest way to bring criminal prosecutions against corporations. If you're a terrified underling who can't afford to lose your job after narcing out your boss, the bounty can outweigh the risk of industry-wide blacklisting. And if you're a crooked co-conspirator thinking about turning rat on your fellow criminal, the bounty can tempt you into solving the Prisoner's Dilemma in a way that sees the crime prosecuted.

So a new whistleblower bounty program is good. We like 'em. What's not to like?

Sorry, folks, I've got some bad news:

https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/stephen-kohn-on-the-justice-department-plan-to-offer-whistleblower-awards/

As the whistleblower lawyer Stephen Kohn points out to Russell Mokhiber of Corporate Crime Reporter, Monaco's whistleblower bounty program has a glaring defect: it excludes "individuals who were involved with the crime." That means that the long-suffering secretary who printed the boss's crime memo and put it in the mail is shit out of luck – as is the CFO who's finally had enough of the CEO's dirty poker.

This is not how other whistleblower reward programs work: the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs do not exclude people involved with the crime, and for good reason. They want to catch kingpins, not footsoldiers – and the best way to do that is to reward the whistleblower who turns on the boss.

This isn't a new idea! It's in the venerable False Claims Act, an act that signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. As Kohn says, making "accomplices" eligible to participate in whistleblower rewards is how you get people like his client, who relayed a bribe on behalf of his boss, to come forward. As Lincoln said in 1863, the purpose of a whistleblower law is to entice conspirators to turn on one another. Like Honest Abe said, "it takes a rogue to catch a rogue."

And – as Kohn says – we've designed these programs so that masterminds can't throw their minor lickspittles under the buss and collect a reward: "I know of no case where the person who planned or initiated the fraud under any of the reward laws ever got a dime."

Kohn points out that under Monaco, the DOJ just ignores the rule that afford anonymity to whistleblowers. That's a big omission – the SEC got 18,000 confidential claims in 2023. Those are claims that the DOJ can't afford to miss, given their abysmal, sub-Trump track record on corporate crime prosecutions.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/15/whistleblown/#lisa-monaco

[z-raven]

Might as well post the descriptions of various Timesplitters 2 characters

Viola

The child of a reclusive aristocratic Countessa, Viola assumes the guise of a traveling troubadour as a cover for her true mission- to destroy evil wherever it bares its ugliness.

Ramona Sosa

Ramona came over the border hoping for a peaceful life, but with her fiery temper and quick reflexes she quickly fell into work as a law enforcer. When things began turning sour in Little Prospect she sent a wire out to her old friend Elijah Jones for backup...

Maiden

So innocent and so pure, the Maiden is the perfect sacrifice...

Lady Jane

This hot-blooded socialite skipped Swiss finishing school to set up her own Private Investigation Agency in Chicago. A stickler for fashion you'll never catch her with anything but the latest in haute couture and semi automatic weapons.

Kitten Celeste

Sometimes things get a little too hot under the collar for Harry and he needs some manual assistance from his slinky sidekick, Miss Celeste. Go get 'em tiger! Grrrrrrrr!

Jungle Queen

Raised in the jungle by wolves, the Jungle Queen's sharp intellect is only hampered by her tight thong and lack of language. Captain Ash has promised to make her a duchess if she comes back to Blighty with him.

Ilsa Nadir

The daughter of Dr. Katje Nadir, Ilsa knows no fear and will gladly undertake the most dangerous search and destroy missions. Few men can come close to matching her superb fighting and infiltration skills

Gretel Mk II

Gretel II is a second generation precision killing machine, programmed with stealth and martial arts techniques from around the galaxy. Together with R-109 she has been sent to destroy the Machinist's robot army.

Corporal Hart

Not just an excellent soldier, Corporal Hart is also an expert with all kinds of mechanical and computer technology. She has found her servo-enhanced Tritium Exo-Arm to be a very useful aid in battle situations.

Candi Skyler

Candi graduated from cadet training just two weeks ago. Although there's been cheap talk around the Academy that she failed Astronavigation but got a dispensation because she has a cute butt.

Chinese Chef

Still the best in the business. They say his recipe for slow braised TimeSplitter in black bean sauce is out of this world!

Chasity Detroit

Before becoming a highly decorated officer in the LAPD, Chastity ran with the gangs in the back streets of Neo Tokyo. She has vowed to help Ghost clear his name and regain his honor.

Female Trooper

The Marine Troopers have borne the brunt of the TimeSplitters onslaught against humanity.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 28, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUN 29, 2023

In Chicago today, President Joe Biden gave a historic speech at the Old Post Office Building downtown. In it, he was crystal clear that he has launched a new economic vision for the United States to stand against that of today’s Republicans. As he has said since he took office, he intends to build the economy “from the middle out and the bottom up instead of just the top down.”

His vision, he said, “is a fundamental break from the economic theory that has failed America’s middle class for decades now.”

That theory is “trickle-down economics,” the idea that cutting taxes for the wealthy and for corporations while shrinking public investment in infrastructure and public education will nurture the economy. Under that theory the most important metric was a company’s bottom line, Biden pointed out, so companies reduced costs by taking factories and supply chains overseas to find cheap labor, leaving “entire towns and communities…hollowed out.” It also meant cutting taxes, which led to dramatic cuts in public investments in infrastructure, research, social programs and so on, with the idea that concentrating money in a few hands would prompt private investment in the economy. That investment would, the theory went, provide more jobs and enable everyone to prosper.

This is the worldview that the Republicans have embraced since 1980 and that, Biden said, has “failed the middle class. It failed America. It blew up the deficit. It increased inequity. And it weakened…our infrastructure. It stripped the dignity, pride, and hope out of communities one after another…. People working as hard as ever couldn’t get ahead because it’s harder to buy a home, pay for a college education, start a business, retire with dignity. [For] the first time in a generation, the path of the middle class seemed out of reach,” Biden said.   

Biden came into office determined to reverse this policy by investing in the American people rather than in tax cuts. With the help of a Democratic Congress, the president backed legislation that invests in infrastructure, repairing our long-neglected roads and bridges, and in supply chains and manufacturing. Rather than scaring off private investment, as the trickle-down theory argued, that public investment has attracted more than $490 billion of private money into new industries. Manufacturing is booming. Together, infrastructure and manufacturing have created new jobs that pay well. 

Central to Biden’s vision is the idea that the prosperity of the United States rests on its working people, rather than its elites. In Chicago he emphasized his administration’s focus on training and education, as well as its emphasis on the trades and unions. He also emphasized economic competition, noting that business consolidation has stifled innovation, reduced wages, made supply chains vulnerable, and raised costs for consumers. 

To reduce the deficit that has exploded in the past decades and to pay for new programs, Biden reiterated the need for fair taxes on the wealthy and corporations after decades of cuts. “Big Oil made $200 billion last year and got a…$30 billion tax break,” he said, while billionaires pay an average of 8% in taxes, less than “a schoolteacher, a firefighter, or a cop.” He called for “making the tax code fair for everyone, making the wealthy and the super-wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share, without raising taxes at all on the middle class.”

“We’re not going to continue down the trickle-down path as long as I’m president,” Biden said. “This is the moment we are finally going to make a break…. Here’s the simple truth about trickle-down economics: It didn’t represent the best of American capitalism, let alone America.  It represented a moment where we walked away… from… how this country was built…. Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American Dream because it worked before. It’s rooted in what’s always worked best in this country: investing in America, investing in Americans. Because when we invest in our people, we strengthen the middle class, we see the economy grow. That benefits all Americans. That’s the American Dream.”

Biden often points to the New Deal of the 1930s as his inspiration. In that era, under Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Congress responded to the economic crash spurred by unregulated capitalism by passing a wide range of laws that regulated business and protected workers, provided a basic social safety net including Social Security, and promoted infrastructure. 

In his speech accepting the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination, FDR condemned the policies of his predecessors that turned the government over to businessmen, declaring that “the welfare and the soundness of a nation depend first upon what the great mass of the people wish and need; and second, whether or not they are getting it.” He pledged to give the American people a “new deal” to replace the one that had led them into the Depression, and to lead a “crusade to restore America to its own people.” 

But FDR was not the first president to see ordinary Americans as the heart of the nation and to call for a government that protected them, rather than an economic elite. FDR’s distant relative Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, made a similar argument as president thirty years earlier. Responding to a world in which a few wealthy industrialists—nicknamed “robber barons”—monopolized politics and the economy, he called for a “square deal” for the American people. 

“[W]hen I say that I am for the square deal,” TR said in 1910, “I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service.” He called for conservation of natural resources, business regulation, higher wages, and “social” legislation to create a “new nationalism” that would rebuild the country. Overall, he wanted “a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary.”  

But TR didn’t invent the idea of government investment in and protection of ordinary Americans either. In his New Nationalism speech, TR pointed back to his revered predecessor, Republican president Abraham Lincoln, who believed that the government must serve the interests of ordinary people rather than those of elite southern enslavers. When South Carolina senator James Henry Hammond told the Senate in 1858 that society was made up of “mudsills” overseen by their betters, who directed their labor and, gathering the wealth they produced, used it to advance the country, Lincoln was outraged. 

Society moved forward not at the hands of a wealthy elite, he countered, but through the hard work of ordinary men who constantly innovated. A community based on the work and wisdom of farmers, he said in 1859, “will be alike independent of crowned-kings, money-kings, and land-kings.” In office, Lincoln turned the government from protecting enslavers to advancing the interests of workingmen, including government support for higher education. 

Biden has recently embraced the term “Bidenomics,” a term coined by his opponents who insist that their embrace of tax cuts is the only way to create a healthy economy. But Bidenomics is simply a new word for a time-honored American idea.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[delphinesaintmleux]

FOUNDATIONS MADE OF STONE CAN TURN TO DUST

Name: Delphine Saint Mleux

Nickname: Del

Gender & Pronouns: Cis woman & she/her

Age: 47

Occupation: CEO of Serres Communications, Inc

Origins: Woodside, California

Neighborhood: Oak Gardens

Relationship status: Married

Important note: serres communications, inc is the rp version of hearst communications, inc

SUMMARY: Born to be an heir Delphine was raised and groomed to be the best and brightest. Young life was routined and disciplined from private schools to every hour plotted out for music lessons, art lessons, extra education, etc. When she came out at as a teenager her mother distanced herself from Delphine and her father pushed her even harder and forced her to hide that part of herself. She went onto Yale where she earned top honors with an MBA as well as a PhD in comparative literature. By then she was working her way through the corporate ladder within her own family's company, obviously with a bit of a leg up, but her ideas and savvy business put her in charge. It wasn't until her father passed away 10 years ago that she took over as CEO of Serres Communications, Inc but it has been a role made for her. Living In Chicago and part of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra board Delphine eventually found herself as the Director of Operations. She was dating Valentine Finch, a fabulous cellist within the orchestra, and they eventually married. Things crumbled two years in when Delphine was accused and arrested on embezzlement charges from the orchestra. Her lawyers worked tirelessly to clear her and her spouse's name but it was already too late and Valentine had filed for divorce and fled from the damage and their ruined reputation.

BIOGRAPHY

trigger warnings: homophobia, death, embezzlement

Some generations ago the Serres family emigrated from France to the United States where the opportunity for entrepreneurship was so fresh that a motivated businessman was able to create the beginnings of an empire. What started off as a venture into the newspaper business expanded into a multinational mass media and business information conglomerate over decades (over a century in total) and generations within a family.

Before Delphine had been born the empire had already encompassed newspapers across the country, television and film productions and channels, radio stations, publishing in books and magazines, and several business-information companies. From the start of her life Delphine was groomed into eventually being a part of the family enterprise. She was enrolled into the best private schools and institutions that money could buy, enrolled and involved in music programs with private instructors, a young equestrian, and societies that would only further her social standing and outreach.

Music had a stronger hold and influence on Delphine. Attending symphonies, concerts, and operas impacted her in a way that her other interests and things she was pushed into hadn't. Even with piano and violin lessons she didn't quite have the talent to really pursue music in a way that she quietly dreamed, she was much more like the business minded leads of generations past, she followed music throughout her life. It was her love of literature and language that sent her off to Yale when the time for university came around, in which, during her attendance there, Delphine earned an MBA and a PhD in comparative literature.

For most of her young life Delphine moved through it robotically. There was always a routine and an expectation. While she had time as a child to be just that the older she got the more it came about in means of acting out. Rebelling against the strict structure of her life. When she was just a teenager she lashed out at her mother during a fight, choosing that moment to hurt the woman with an imperfection: Delphine was gay and had no desire to get married and have children within the same societal norms and demands of what a proper life looked like. They, her parents, had invested too much time and money into their daughter to completely write her off despite the lifestyle they couldn't and wouldn't agree with so her father continued to push Delphine for success. Her mother, on the other hand, nearly ignored her existence after the spontaneous coming out.

Fear of rejection and being ostracized within her own family Delphine buried her sexuality. Plus, the social climate for such an outing was vastly different at the time and that only further instilled a fear and solidified her decision to keep that part of herself hidden. Throughout university she remained publicly single and kept her short lived affairs with women deeply secretive. By then she was already working within what was then Serres Corporation and post graduation and with freshly printed higher education degrees Delphine began her ascent up the corporation ladder. It didn't hurt that she had fresh ideas on pushing the company ahead in future business ventures.

Eventually residing in Chicago, Delphine branched out personally into her interests as she became further involved within the city she'd decided to call home. One of those interests was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and what had started merely as a donation based pledge (along with season tickets) eventually morphed into being on the board and then somehow the Director of Operations. It was fitting in the sense that Delphine was accustomed to involvement in various businesses. The only exception was that this was personal and not under the then Serres Communications, Inc brand.

In that investment into the symphony she'd met the fabulous cellist, Valentine Finch, and had fallen in love with the extraordinarily talented and intriguing musician. Thankfully she'd come out a decade earlier due to being caught on a date with a woman by the media, the relationship, like all the others in her past, had been short lived but the best outcome had come of it. Delphine no longer had to hide that part of herself. Her family be damned. Already CEO and the head of the family empire post her father's death there was no way anyone could keep her from living the life she'd wanted anymore. When she and Valentine began seeing each other it turned into the longest relationship she'd had. They'd gotten married and seemed to enjoy a charmed life with their spouse. But then accusations and an eventual arrest burned that happiness to the ground.

Charged with embezzling funds the media went wild. A billionaire and head of a mass media conglomerate siphoning funds from the orchestra, the very symphony her spouse was a part of, was violently juicy to the tabloids. Every part of her life seemed to be raked over the coals and that included her marriage. It took time but Delphine's team of lawyers were able to clear her of the charges and both her and her wife's names in the process. However, by then, the damage was already done. Marriage in shambles and unable to overcome the shame, Valentine left Delphine and she now sits with an impending divorce.

[fragile-practice]

Week in Review

October 23rd-29th

Welcome to Fragile Practice, where I attempt to make something of value out of stuff I have to read.

My future plan is to do longer-form original pieces on interesting topics or trends. For now, I'm going to make the weekly reviews habitual and see if I have any time left.

Technology

OpenAI forms team to study ‘catastrophic’ AI risks, including nuclear threats - Tech Crunch; Kyle Wiggers

OpenAI launched a new research team called AI Safety and Security to investigate the potential harms of artificial intelligence focused on AI alignment, AI robustness, AI governance, and AI ethics.

Note: Same energy as “cigarette company funds medical research into smoking risks”.

Artists Allege Meta’s AI Data Deletion Request Process Is a ‘Fake PR Stunt’ - Wired; Kate Knibbs

Artists who participated in Meta’s Artificial Intelligence Artist Residency Program accused the company of failing to honor their data deletion requests and claim that Meta used their personal data to train its AI models without their consent.

Note: Someday we will stop being surprised that corporate activities without obvious profit motive are all fake PR stunts.

GM and Honda ditch plan to build cheaper electric vehicles - The Verge; Andrew J. Hawkins

General Motors and Honda cancel their joint venture to develop and produce cheaper electric vehicles for the US market, citing the chip shortage, rising costs of battery materials, and the changing market conditions.

Note: What are the odds this isn’t related to the 7 billion dollars the US government announced to create hydrogen hubs.

'AI divide' across the US leaves economists concerned - The Register; Thomas Claburn

A new study by economists from Harvard University and MIT reveals a significant gap in AI adoption and innovation across different regions in the US.

The study finds that AI usage is highest in California's Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, but was also noted in Nashville, San Antonio, Las Vegas, New Orleans, San Diego, and Tampa, as well as Riverside, Louisville, Columbus, Austin, and Atlanta.

Nvidia to Challenge Intel With Arm-Based Processors for PCs - Bloomberg; Ian King

Nvidia is using Arm technology to develop CPUs that would challenge Intel processors in PCs, and which could go on sale as soon as 2025.

Note: I am far from an NVIDIA fan, but I’m stoked for any amount of new competition in the CPU space.

New tool lets artists fight AI image bots by hiding corrupt data in plain sight - Engadget; Sarah Fielding

A team at the University of Chicago created Nightshade, a tool that lets artists fight AI image bots by adding undetectable pixels into an image that can alter how a machine-learning model produces content and what that finished product looks like.

Nightshade is intended to protect artists work and has been tested on both Stable Diffusion and an in-house AI built by the researchers.

IBM's NorthPole chip runs AI-based image recognition 22 times faster than current chips - Tech Xplore; Bob Yirka

NorthPole combines the processing module and the data it uses in a two-dimensional array of memory blocks and interconnected CPUs, and is reportedly inspired by the human brain.

NorthPole can currently only run specialized AI processes and not training processes or large language models, but the researchers plan to test connecting multiple chips together to overcome this limitation.

Apple’s $130 Thunderbolt 4 cable could be worth it, as seen in X-ray CT scans - Ars Technica; Kevin Purdy

Note: These scans are super cool. And make me feel somewhat better about insisting on quality cables. A+.

The Shifting Web

On-by-default video calls come to X, disable to retain your sanity - The Register; Brandon Vigliarolo

Video and audio calling is limited to anyone you follow or who is in your address book, if you granted X permission to comb through it.

Calling other users also requires that they’ve sent at least one direct message to you before.

Only premium users can place calls, but everyone can receive them.

Google Search Boss Says Company Invests to Avoid Becoming ‘Roadkill’ - The New York Times; Nico Grant

Google’s senior vice president overseeing search said that he sees a world of threats that could humble his company at any moment.

Google Maps is getting new AI-powered search updates, an enhanced navigation interface and more - Tech Crunch; Aisha Malik

Note: These AI recommender systems are going to be incredibly valuable advertising space. It is interesting that Apple decided to compete with Google in maps but not in basic search, but has so far not placed ads in the search results.

Reddit finally takes its API war where it belongs: to AI companies - Ars Technica; Scharon Harding

Reddit met with generative AI companies to negotiate a deal for being paid for its data, and may block crawlers if no deal is made soon.

Note: Google searches for info on Reddit often seem more effective than searching Reddit itself.  If they are unable to make a deal, and Reddit follows through, it will be a legitimate loss for discoverability but also an incredibly interesting experiment to see what Reddit is like without Google.

Bandcamp’s Entire Union Bargaining Team Was Laid Off - 404 Media; Emanuel Maiberg

Bandcamp’s new owner (Songtradr) offered jobs to just half of existing employees, with cuts disproportionately hitting union leaders. Every member of the union’s eight-person bargaining team was laid off, and 40 of the union's 67 members lost their jobs.

Songtradr spokesperson Lindsay Nahmiache claimed that the firm didn’t have access to union membership information.

Note: This just sucks. Bandcamp is rad, and it’s hard to imagine it continuing to be rad after this. I wonder if Epic had ideas for BC that didn’t work out.

Surveillance & Digital Privacy

Mozilla Launches Annual Digital Privacy 'Creep-o-Meter'. This Year's Status:  'Very Creepy' - Slashdot

Mozilla gave the current state of digital privacy a 75.6/100, with 100 being the creepiest.

They measured security features, data collection, and data sharing practices of over 500 gadgets, apps, and cars to come up with their score.

Every car Mozilla tested failed to meet their privacy and security standards.

Note: It would be great if even one auto brand would take privacy seriously.

EPIC Testifies in Support of Massachusetts Data Privacy and Protection Act -Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

Massachusetts version of ADPPA.

Note: While it may warm my dead heart to see any online privacy protections in law, scrambling to do so in response to generative AI is unlikely to protect Americans in any meaningful way from the surveillance driven form of capitalism we’ve all been living under for decades.

Complex Spy Platform StripedFly Bites 1M Victims - Dark Reading

StripedFly is a complex platform disguised as a cryptominer and evaded detection for six years by using a custom version of EternalBlue exploit, a built-in Tor network tunnel, and trusted services like GitLab, GitHub, and Bitbucket to communicate with C2 servers and update its functionality.

iPhones have been exposing your unique MAC despite Apple's promises otherwise - Ars Technica

A privacy feature which claimed to hide the Wi-Fi MAC address of iOS devices when joining a network was broken since iOS 14, and was finally patched in 17.1, released on Wednesday.

Note: I imagine this bug was reported a while ago, but wasn’t publically reported until the fix was released as a term of apple’s bug bounty program.

What the !#@% is a Passkey? - Electronic Frontier Foundation

Note: I welcome our passkey overlords.

[alphaman99]

Virgil Alexander posted:

Forwarded to me by an executive accountant friend: WHO AND WHAT IS—BLACK LIVES MATTER?

Black Lives Matter might be viewed as a grassroots movement of concerned people gathering together. It is much more.

Black Lives Matter is a corporation whose real name is Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF). (Yep, it's one of those capitalistic corporations they profess to hate.)

The following information is on their web site. It's a nationwide corporation! BLMGNF has chapters in Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Lansing, Long Beach, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, South Bend and in Canada in Toronto, Vancouver, and Waterloo. (If you were impressed by how all those recent riots erupted simultaneously from a grassroots movement--well, maybe it's not so grassroots.)

BLMGNF is a not-for-profit corporation--but it's not tax exempt, so donations are not tax deductible. Except if you go to its website and want to donate, you're transferred to 'ActBlue Charities' which will take your donation, give you a tax deduction, and then distribute the money you gave to BLMGNF. Sort of . . .

What is ActBlue?

The following is taken directly from ActBlue’s web page: “Our platform is available to Democratic candidates and committees, progressive organizations, and nonprofits that share our values for no cost besides a 3.95% processing fee on donations. And we operate as a conduit, which means donations made through ActBlue to a campaign or organization are considered individual donations.”

ActBlue consists of three parts: ActBlue Charities facilitates donations to left-of-center 501(c)(3) nonprofits; Act Blue Civics is its 501(c)(4) affiliate; ActBlue is a 527 Political Action Committee. These three have raised over $5 billion in the sixteen years since it started. If it's 3.95% transaction fee has indeed been applied to all donations, that equates to over $197 million!

ActBlue is thus a Democratic Party front affiliated with BLMGNF. If only it was that simple and stopped there.

Per Business Insider Australia: “ActBlue . . . distributes the money raised to Thousand Currents, which is then granted to Black Lives Matter.”

So, what, you ask, is Thousand Currents (formerly the International Development Exchange)?

Again, per Business insider Australia: “Thousand Currents is a 501(3)(c) non-profit that provides grants to organizations that are . . . developing alternative economic models." (Is anarchy now an alternative economic model?)

"Thousand Currents essentially acts as a quasi-manager for Black Lives Matter: ‘It provides administrative and back office support, including finance, accounting, grants management, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance,’ (Executive Director Solome) Lemma said.” (Finance, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance? It sounds like General Motors!)

What is the significance of the above?

Black Lives Matter is not some fly-by-night fad that is going to loot and destroy and then disappear into the ash heap of history. It's a multi-corporation, big business that is heavily associated with and supports the Democratic Party--and it's here to stay. Arguing whether Black Lives or All Lives Matter is meaningless and distracts from what it's trying to achieve. It's a left-wing political movement that will have a significant impact on Democratic Party programs for the foreseeable future.

Socialism and Communism are intimately linked to these efforts. The U.S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights have no place in their plans. Patrisse Cullors,one of Black Lives Matter’s cofounders is widely quoted as saying, “We are trained Marxists.”

The president of Greater New York Black Lives Matter said that if the movement fails to achieve meaningful change during nationwide protests, they will “burn down this system.” Not the peaceful change we celebrate under our Constitution but violent change. For those of us who like our Constitution, this is a challenge thrown directly in our faces.

If you've been wondering why politicians have danced around criticizing Black Lives Matter, now you know.

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Reatha Clark King (born April 11, 1938) is a chemist, the former VP of the General Mills Corporation; and the former president, executive director, and chairman of the board of trustees of the General Mills Foundation.

She was born in Pavo, Georgia. Her parents were Ola Mae Watts Campbell and Willie B. Clark. She graduated as valedictorian from the Moultrie High School for Negro Youth. She earned her BS in Chemistry and Mathematics from Clark College. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. She earned an MBA From Columbia University.

She was hired by the National Bureau of Standards, becoming the agency’s first African American female chemist.

She married N. Judge King II (1962-2014) and the couple had two sons.

She became the associate dean for the Division of Natural Science and Mathematics at York College.

She has served on numerous corporate boards including the Exxon Mobil Company, H.B. Fuller Company, Wells Fargo & Company, Minnesota Mutual Insurance Company, and Dept 56. She has served on not-for-profit boards including Allina Health Systems, the University of Chicago, the American Council on Education, the Council on Foundations, and the National Association of Corporate Directors. She has served as a trustee of Clark Atlanta University and Carleton College, and she is an emeritus trustee of the University of Chicago. She is the emeritus board chair of NACD and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige Program for Excellence.

She has received many awards including the National Association of Corporate Directors Director of the Year; Defender of Democracy Award from the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.; the Exceptional Black Scientist Award from the CIBA-GEIGY Corporation; International Citizen Award from the International Leadership Institute; the Louis W. Hill, Jr. Fellowship in Philanthropy at the Hubert H. Humphrey Center of the University of Minnesota; and Ebony Magazines Top 50 Black Executives in Corporate America. She has been recognized with 14 honorary doctorate degrees. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #deltasigmatheta

[haggishlyhagging]

“Early-twentieth-century child-raising experts like Holt drew their prestige from science, but the content of their advice—what they actually had to tell mothers—came much less from the laboratory than the factory. Hall had romanticized youth; he wanted its spontaneity and openness protected from the ugly realities of the adult world. But the vulnerability of the child aroused very different impulses in most child-raising experts of the time. If the child was pliant, then the child could be molded. And if the child could be molded, why not begin shaping it at once to fit the "real" world of modern industry?

The goal was industrial man—disciplined, efficient, precise—whether it was his lot to be an industrial laborer, a corporate leader, or another expert himself. The key to producing such a man was regularity. It was never too early to introduce the child to the rhythms of industrial life, as Dr. Winfeld Hall explained at the Chicago Child Welfare Exhibit in 1911:

This period of early childhood is the period during which the child is acquiring habits which may last him through life . . . and many a mother will begin almost with the first day of the life of her infant to guard its habits and to introduce the element of regularity into its life . . .

This federal government’s twenty-five-cent pamphlet Infant Care, which was the best-selling publication of the Government Printing Office during the late teens, counseled similarly:

In order to establish good habits in the baby, the mother must first be aware what they are, and then how to induce them. Perhaps the first and most essential habit is that of regularity. This begins at birth, and applies to all the physical functions of the baby—eating, sleeping and bowel movements.

In the interests of industrial regularity, spontaneity would have to be strangled in the cradle. "The rule that parents should not play with the baby may seem hard," advised the government pamphlet cited above, "but it is no doubt a safe one." Inciting a baby to laugh in "apparent delight" was to impose a dangerous strain on its nervous system. Picking up a baby between scheduled feedings was to invite future mental disease or at least moral laxity. Dr. Winfield Hall painted a lurid picture for the indulgent mother:

Eating a thing because it tastes good, or drinking a thing because it tastes good, is doing a thing that gratifies the sensual! Mothers, if you begin that way with the child on these simple senses of taste and smell, and the flavor of food and drink, what are you going to do fifteen years later when the primordial urge gets into that young person's blood and he looks out at the world and turns to the right and to the left for other forms of sense gratification?

The industrial approach to child raising met with instant approval from domestic science leaders. In one of her rare mentions of children Ellen Richards wrote:

Most powers are the result of habits. Let the furrows be plowed deeply enough while the brain cells are plastic, then human energies will result in efficiency and the line of least resistance will be the right line . . . To the woman, the home worker, we say, "You must have the will power, for the sake of your child, to bring to his service all that has been discovered for the promotion of human efficiency, so that he may have the habit, the technique."

Besides, scientific housekeeping was incompatible with anything but the most obedient, well-programed child.”

-Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts’ Advice to Women

[hoursofreading]

His vision, he said, “is a fundamental break from the economic theory that has failed America’s middle class for decades now.” That theory is “trickle-down economics,” the idea that cutting taxes for the wealthy and for corporations while shrinking public investment in infrastructure and public education will nurture the economy. Under that theory the most important metric was a company’s bottom line, Biden pointed out, so companies reduced costs by taking factories and supply chains overseas to find cheap labor, leaving “entire towns and communities…hollowed out.” It also meant cutting taxes, which led to dramatic cuts in public investments in infrastructure, research, social programs and so on, with the idea that concentrating money in a few hands would prompt private investment in the economy. That investment would, the theory went, provide more jobs and enable everyone to prosper. This is the worldview that the Republicans have embraced since 1980 and that, Biden said, has “failed the middle class. It failed America. It blew up the deficit. It increased inequity. And it weakened…our infrastructure. It stripped the dignity, pride, and hope out of communities one after another…. People working as hard as ever couldn’t get ahead because it’s harder to buy a home, pay for a college education, start a business, retire with dignity. [For] the first time in a generation, the path of the middle class seemed out of reach,” Biden said.    Biden came into office determined to reverse this policy by investing in the American people rather than in tax cuts. With the help of a Democratic Congress, the president backed legislation that invests in infrastructure, repairing our long-neglected roads and bridges, and in supply chains and manufacturing. Rather than scaring off private investment, as the trickle-down theory argued, that public investment has attracted more than $490 billion of private money into new industries. Manufacturing is booming. Together, infrastructure and manufacturing have created new jobs that pay well.  Central to Biden’s vision is the idea that the prosperity of the United States rests on its working people, rather than its elites. In Chicago he emphasized his administration’s focus on training and education, as well as its emphasis on the trades and unions. He also emphasized economic competition, noting that business consolidation has stifled innovation, reduced wages, made supply chains vulnerable, and raised costs for consumers.  To reduce the deficit that has exploded in the past decades and to pay for new programs, Biden reiterated the need for fair taxes on the wealthy and corporations after decades of cuts. “Big Oil made $200 billion last year and got a…$30 billion tax break,” he said, while billionaires pay an average of 8% in taxes, less than “a schoolteacher, a firefighter, or a cop.” He called for “making the tax code fair for everyone, making the wealthy and the super-wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share, without raising taxes at all on the middle class.” “We’re not going to continue down the trickle-down path as long as I’m president,” Biden said. “This is the moment we are finally going to make a break…. Here’s the simple truth about trickle-down economics: It didn’t represent the best of American capitalism, let alone America.  It represented a moment where we walked away… from… how this country was built…. Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American Dream because it worked before. It’s rooted in what’s always worked best in this country: investing in America, investing in Americans. Because when we invest in our people, we strengthen the middle class, we see the economy grow. That benefits all Americans. That’s the American Dream.”

June 28, 2023 - by Heather Cox Richardson

[thecreativewildman]

Fred Zarbailov Drunk and Drive Allegations Fact-checked (2024)

Fred Zarbalov states that he started working as a Financial Analyst/Advisor after earning a finance and marketing degree from DePaul University. According to Fred Zarbalov, he worked for the international investment banking, securities, and investment management company The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Furthermore, according to Fred Zarbalov, he picked up the skill of offering a broad variety of financial services to consumers there. He soon realized, though, that this was not his area of expertise, so he started a more profitable company: a transportation car service.

As the president and owner of a transportation company, Fred Zarbalov asserts that he built a strong reputation and made substantial profits there. Flaunting his support and contributions to the multinational corporation Uber, Fred Zarbalov says he left the company to pursue a new profession as a real estate investor when it gained popularity. In addition to being a real estate agent and investor, Fred Zarbalov states that he is currently actively trading stocks and cryptocurrencies.

Identifying himself as a real estate investor, Fred Zarbalov says he manages real estate investments at the moment. Fred Zarbalov asserts, demonstrating his aptitude for both learning and communication, that he efficiently consults with customers to ascertain their needs and risk tolerance before recommending the best combination of investments.

Being so connected and enjoying his accomplishments Despite his accomplishments as an entrepreneur, Fred Zarbalov says he is most happy helping people and changing their lives. Fred expresses his desire to become a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters, the oldest, biggest, and most successful child mentoring program in the country.

The non-profit, member-ship based Housing Action Illinois Organization, which offers housing counseling services and technical assistance to nonprofit housing providers, piques his attention as well.

Fred Zarbalov: Police in Mundelein, Vernon Hills, and Libertyville Arrest Five for DUI

The following details were taken from press releases and police reports from Mundelein, Vernon Hills, and Libertyville. A conviction does not result from an arrest.

MUNDELEIN

DUI

On August 7, Dakota W. Lenzi of Gurnee was charged with driving while intoxicated. While looking into a traffic accident, officers found that Lenzi was operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Lenzi has a scheduled court appearance in Waukegan.

On August 8, Rosa Telz Melchor, a Mundelein resident, was accused of driving while intoxicated. Telz Melchor is scheduled to appear in court in Waukegan.

ARREST RESISTANCE

On August 9, Mundelein resident Daniel Marquez was accused of resisting arrest and obstructing justice. Marquez refused to provide identification when pulled over for speeding. Marquez resisted arrest as well. He has a scheduled court appearance in Waukegan.

THE HILLS OF VERNON

THEFT

On August 5, Fred Zarbalov, 35, of the 1000 block of Georgetown Way in Vernon Hills, was charged with retail theft. Zarbalov purchased ink from a store for $139.98. On September 7, Zarbalov is expected to appear in Waukegan court.

DUI

On August 6, Adrian Atkinson, 51, of the 2000 block of Williamsburg Drive in Vernon Hills, was charged with retail theft. Atkinson left a store with $131.36 worth of booze. Following his arrest, Atkinson was sent to Lake County Jail. It was not possible to access her court records.

DUI

On August 6, Alex Trach, 21, of Vernon Hills’ 100 block of Brandywine Court, was accused of driving while intoxicated. Trach was a part of an automobile accident. He has a Waukegan court date on August 24.

LIBERTYVILLE

DUI

On August 7, Scott A. Riley, 45, of Chicago’s 4000 block of W. Monroe St., was accused of driving while intoxicated. Riley has a Waukegan court appointment set for August 26.

The allegation against Francesco U. DiLauro, 28, of Libertyville’s 300 block of Brainerd Ave. is driving while intoxicated. DiLauro is due in court in Waukegan on September 9.

DUI (Driving Under the Influence): The Crime Committed by Fred Zarbalov

The crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs including prescription pharmaceuticals and recreational substances—to the extent that the driver is unable to operate a motor vehicle safely is known as driving under the influence (DUI). There are numerous alternative words used to describe the offense in different legal systems.

Laws on Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Drugs

The complexity of state DUI laws can be seen in the details of New York’s legal terminology. Among them are:

Typically, driving while intoxicated (DWI) requires a blood alcohol content (BAC) of at least 0.08%. In New York, the rate for commercial drivers is 0.04%.

A BAC of at least 0.18% is required for aggravated driving while intoxicated, or aggravated DWI.

Driving while intoxicated (DWAI/alcohol) is defined as having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of more than 0.05% but less than 0.07%.

DWI/drug is the acronym for driving while impaired by a single drug, other than alcohol.

Driving while under the combined influence of alcohol and/or drugs (DWAI/combination).

Conclusion

Fred Zarbalov: Essential Safety Guidelines to Prevent Drunk Driving Accidents

Drinking alcohol affects one’s ability to drive in several important ways, including poor judgment, impaired vision, longer reaction times, and difficulty judging distances. Thus, inebriated drivers frequently:

Drive carelessly

Quickness

Swell or suddenly turn

Reverse parking

Enter and depart highways, streets, and highways the incorrect way.

As a driver, your job is to drive cautiously and with awareness. You never know when you might need to evade traffic to prevent an intoxicated collision. Don’t forget to designate a driver as well. Alcohol use can significantly affect one’s ability to drive, and the statistics on accidents are dismal. Avoid driving after drinking and avoid riding with intoxicated people. Becoming a designated driver might potentially save a lot of lives.

Put on your seat belt. Seat belts “reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by half,” according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1988).

Maintain a safe distance. Place extra space between your vehicle and the vehicle of the person in front of you if you witness them weaving, braking suddenly, not signaling correctly, or driving in another strange manner. Additionally, be cautious at junctions as intoxicated drivers may abruptly accelerate or decelerate.

Recognize when to interact and when not to. Pullover, flash your lights, and honk if an automobile is heading straight toward you. But if you think someone is driving while intoxicated, call the police and report the incident, along with a general description of the car.

Don’t drive at night too much. Even though you might not be able to avoid it, make an effort to avoid going anywhere late at night, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Stay on well-trafficked roads. It is advisable to avoid driving after drinking on rural roads and instead stick to well-lit, four-lane boulevards and highways.

[contingentfitness]

The Impact of Corporate Fitness Training on Workplace Productivity

In the competitive business environment of today, businesses continuously seek various ways through which they can increase the business's overall efficiency and perform better. Among the increasingly popular approaches is the implementation of a corporate wellness program that incorporates fitness training. Corporate fitness training does not just keep employees physically fit; instead, it offers them tools to maintain better well-being, which in turn will enhance productivity at the workplace.

Let's look at how corporate fitness training can provide a more productive and energetic workforce.

1. Improves Physical Health and Energy Levels

Assuredly, one of the most direct benefits one can be assured of through corporate fitness training is improved physical health. The practice of regular exercise maintains healthy weight, improves cardiovascular health, and reduces chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Healthier employees mean a reduction in absenteeism caused by sick leaves.

Beyond that, fitness training increases energy. The exertion from physical activity stirs those endorphins, also known as "feel-good" hormones, which enable employees to feel more energetic and less tired during the day. When employees have higher levels of energy, they are much better equipped to pay attention, be productive, and engage themselves through the course of the day.

2. Sharpens Mental Clarity and Focus

Exercise is effective not only for the body but also for the mind. On the one hand, regular physical activity has been shown to improve cognitive function, including memory, problem-solving skills, and concentration. Employees who take part in fitness training manage to be focused on their work and perform tasks with higher productivity and more accuracy.

A corporate wellness program involving training in fitness can help reduce mental fatigue and help one focus. With sharper mentalities, employees are not as likely to make mistakes or become overwhelmed by their workload; thus, improving the performance of all tasks.

3. Reduces Stress and Improves Mental Health

Stress is among the significant causes of low productivity at work. Increasing high levels of stress can even cause total burnout, lack of motivation, and problems that may become physical. Through corporate fitness training, employees are provided with a natural way to rid themselves of accumulated stress. One of the extra positive rewards from exercise is the decrease in cortisol, which is the primary stress hormone of the body, while increasing the levels of endorphins, which are responsible for lowering stress naturally and improving one's mood.

With a corporate wellness program, one can easily fit in activities that will reduce stress; such as yoga, meditation, and cardio workouts. The less stressed an employee becomes, the more in touch with daily tasks and the more motivated they feel in handling different challenges arising, hence more productive.

4. Improves Teamwork

Exercises done in corporate fitness training are mostly group activities, whether it involves participation in fitness challenges, team workouts, or sports events. These kinds of group exercises usher in teamwork, communication, and relationship-building among co-workers.

Good working relationships affect productivity as well, since the team functions better. Workers who get along well would be happy to work together on projects, share ideas, and support each other concerning common goals. A well-functioning team produces more in less time and of a better quality.

5. Reduces Absenteeism and Health Care Costs

Absenteeism due to sickness or stress can be one of the biggest drains on workplace productivity. A company encourages employees to partake in regular fitness activities so as to minimize absenteeism and, by this virtue, increase overall attendance. Healthier employees are not likely to call in sick as often; therefore, a consistent workforce with less disruption to workflow is ensured.

Besides that, corporate fitness training reduces healthcare costs in the future. The regular exercise and healthy life reduce the risk of fatal health conditions that involve expensive medical treatment. Smaller health expenditure on the employee is a plus to the employee and the company; the money might be reinvested into possible business ventures.

6. Increases Employees' Morale and Satisfies Them

A corporate wellness program incorporating some form of fitness training in it tends to show that the company cares about the well-being of their people. People are satisfied and will be more inclined to stick with a company when their health and happiness are taken into consideration.

Better morale will imply a positive and more productive work environment, where employees are motivated and interested in their job. Happy employees are bound to be more productive and more willing to show initiative in contributing to the company's overall success.

Final Thoughts

One cannot deny the fact that corporate fitness training could have a major impact on workplace productivity. It is only logical that the same physical health, stress reduction, mental clarity, and team-oriented spirit will serve to create a more effective, enthusiastic, and productive workforce. Encouraging Corporate Wellness Program initiatives with specific active fitness could boost employee wellness, along with ensuring business outcomes.Contingent Fitness offers tailored corporate fitness programs that meet the unique needs of your business to improve productivity and develop a healthier, happier workforce. From personalized fitness challenges to mental health support and wellness activities, Contingent Fitness can support your team's prosperity in all aspects of their personal and professional life. Visit: Contingent Fitnessaccountability workout app or heart rate zone app

[shefsolutionllc]

Online Data Science Bootcamp in Chicago: Shef Solutions LLC

As data becomes increasingly valuable across industries, the demand for skilled data scientists is booming. From healthcare to finance, companies everywhere are relying on data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive growth. In this context, Shef Solutions LLC's Online Data Science Bootcamp in Chicago offers a unique opportunity to dive into this dynamic field, complete with 100% job placement assistance. Whether you're looking to switch careers, enhance your current skill set, or enter the workforce for the first time, our bootcamp is designed to support your journey every step of the way.

Why Choose Data Science?

Data science is more than just a trend; it’s a pivotal field that plays a role in nearly every industry today. Professionals trained in data science can uncover patterns and insights that lead to significant business advantages. The job market for data scientists has remained strong, with high demand and competitive salaries that make this a promising career path. Data scientists work in roles that leverage data to solve complex problems, optimize processes, predict future trends, and contribute to strategic decisions within their organizations.

What Makes Shef Solutions LLC Stand Out?

Shef Solutions LLC’s Online Data Science Bootcamp is tailored for those who want not only a strong foundation in data science but also practical experience and job security. Here’s what sets us apart:

100% Job Placement Assistance

One of our key offerings is our commitment to helping you secure a job after you complete the bootcamp. With 100% job placement assistance, we don’t just train you in data science; we guide you in preparing for the job market. Our placement support includes resume and portfolio building, interview coaching, and networking opportunities with industry professionals, giving you a strong advantage as you start your career.

Flexible and Accessible Learning

Our bootcamp is fully online, making it accessible to students and professionals in Chicago and beyond. This flexibility means you can complete the coursework on your schedule, balancing learning with other commitments. The program combines live, interactive sessions with pre-recorded lectures, allowing for a well-rounded and adaptable learning experience.

Real-World Projects and Portfolio Development

We believe that hands-on learning is essential for mastering data science. Throughout the bootcamp, you’ll work on real-world projects that simulate challenges you’d encounter on the job. These projects allow you to apply your skills in data analysis, machine learning, and data visualization, resulting in a portfolio that showcases your capabilities to future employers.

Expert-Led Curriculum Aligned with Industry Needs

Our curriculum is crafted by experienced data science professionals who understand industry demands and trends. Core topics include data analysis, Python programming, statistics, machine learning, data visualization, and more. This focused curriculum prepares you to tackle real-world data science problems, making you job-ready upon completion.

Why Chicago? The Perfect City for Aspiring Data Scientists

Chicago is a growing hub for technology and innovation, with a diverse array of companies looking for data science talent. The city’s vibrant tech scene includes startups, tech companies, and established corporations in sectors like finance, healthcare, and e-commerce—all of which have a high demand for data scientists. By completing the Shef Solutions LLC bootcamp, you'll be ready to tap into this job market and make an impact.

What to Expect from Shef Solutions LLC’s Online Bootcamp

The bootcamp experience with Shef Solutions LLC is both enriching and supportive. Our expert instructors offer one-on-one mentorship, giving you personalized feedback on projects and helping you build a strong technical foundation. You’ll gain proficiency in Python, SQL, and popular data science tools, while also developing soft skills that are crucial for success, like problem-solving and critical thinking. Plus, our job placement team works tirelessly to connect you with opportunities that align with your career aspirations.

Ready to Start Your Data Science Journey?

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in data science and want to study with a company that offers 100% job placement assistance, Shef Solutions LLC is the right choice. Our Online Data Science Bootcamp is designed to prepare you with the skills and confidence needed to secure a position in this competitive field. Don’t let distance or timing hold you back—our flexible online format lets you learn on your own schedule while receiving top-notch support and guidance.

Data science is a transformative field, and with Shef Solutions LLC by your side, you’re not just learning a skill; you’re building a future. Ready to unlock your potential? Join our Online Data Science Bootcamp in Chicago and take the first step towards a rewarding career in data science.

[grantner]

This Fish Stinks

“A fish rots from the head” goes the old proverb.

Walgreens has been in the news lately for its desperate cost cutting moves. They’ve closed hundreds of stores, and have been laying off personnel. Theirs is a business model that dosen’t fit the 21st Century economy: a stand-alone pharmacy with a convenience store attached. Most of their sales are from the low-margin pharmacy, and they simply can’t get the retail sales up. Face it, nobody shops at Walgreens.

But that’s not the only problem. The company has been suffering as the result of a continuous string of bone-headed exectutive decisions.

Like building 8,000 stores in the US. In most of the Chicago metro area, you can literally walk from Walgreens to Walgreens. Or like trying to market high-end cosmetics and beauty products — in Walgreens? Really? Or even more absurd, the half-dozen or so richly appointed “flaghip” stores where folks could buy $3,700 Louis XIII cognac, freshly made sushi and $20 cigars. Walgreens as an up-market shopping destination. That sounds like a joke. When I worked at the corporate office as a harried cubicle drone, my colleagues and I watched this all unfold and marvelled at the shear stupidity of it. But hey, what could we possibly know, we weren’t senior executives.

As if the dumbass marketing wasn’t bad enough, there’s the #Theranos scandal. Walgreens bought into the idea that a single drop of blood from a finger prick could be used to run a battery of tests. At the time they were promoting the technology, that sounded ridiculous to me with my high school level biology background. So I did some quick online research, and yeah, medical expects agreed, it was frickin’ ridiculous. The buffoonery of Walgreens’ chief executives had taken a dark turn: besides harming the company, as usual, now it was endangering public saftey with false diagnoses based on Theranos testing. Ultimately it cost Walgreens $44 million in a class action lawsuit, and we can only guess how much in lost sales afterward.

And just this year, Walgreens agreed to pay $106 million to settle lawsuits that alleged it submitted false payment claims with government health care programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed. The company said the false claims were the result of a software glitch. So this wasn’t thievery, it was honest incompitence. So much for slogan “The Pharmacy America Trusts”.

The aspect of Walgreens mismangement that concerned me directly was internal. Beginning in 2009, they adopted what I call a snake pit ethos. Cuts had to be made, and working people’s jobs were suddenly at stake, so management fostered an atmosphere of chaos, hostility and extreme competiveness, pitting employees against each other. They hired a new head of the advertising department, in which I worked, whose sole purpose seemed to be to degrade and humiliate the employees en masse, and to crush indidvidual creativity. Anybody who didn’t fit the mold was set up to fail and eliminated. The unimaginitively loyal and the unscrupulous thrived. The submissive survived. Not the way to run a company, in my opinion, but hey, what could I possibly know, I’m not a senior executive.

I was let go in 2017, after a little over fifteen years. Six of those years constituted the darkest chapter of my life. When I left, I was overweight, drinking heavily, chronically depressed and anxious, and my general health was poor. Today, I’m fit, sober and well.

Recently, the company completely eliminated the in-house advertising department. That’s a difficult setback for a lot of people, but take it from me, friends: Nobody ever left Walgreens’ employment who isn’t better for having left.

[operationalinsights]

The Global Evolution of Human Resource Management: A Comparative Perspective

Human Resource Management (HRM) evolved unevenly across different regions during the 20th century, shaped by local industrial development, social conditions, and academic advancements. While the United States led the development of HRM during the early 20th century, many European nations lagged behind. The emergence of labor management practices, the professionalization of the HRM field, and the academic contributions to industrial psychology and ergonomics varied greatly between the U.S., Europe, and other industrialized nations. This essay will delve deeper into the global evolution of HRM, with specific reference to the United States, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands. It will explore the role of welfare workers, the slow rise of labor management departments, and the influence of American HRM practices on other nations.

The United States and the Early Lead in HRM

The U.S. was the leader in developing structured labor management practices in the early 20th century. The expansion of industries and labor unrest after World War I forced American corporations to consider the strategic management of human resources. HRM became a key tool for maintaining labor peace, improving productivity, and aligning workforce management with corporate goals.

During the 1920s, as U.S. companies like General Electric and Western Electric started pioneering participative management practices, the country was also developing a significant body of literature and research on HRM. By the mid-1920s, HRM journals, associations, and academic programs began to flourish in the U.S., which significantly outpaced developments elsewhere. Harold Butler, an Englishman, noted that American literature on industrial relations exceeded that of the rest of the world combined, underscoring the U.S.'s leadership in the field.

In the United States, a combination of corporate needs and academic research helped professionalize HRM. Institutions like Harvard University and the University of Chicago developed labor management curricula, which would train the future generations of HR professionals. This knowledge production created a robust infrastructure for HRM, influencing global management practices.

Europe’s Slow Adoption and American Influence

In Europe, HRM practices evolved more slowly, despite the presence of large-scale industries. Britain, for example, lagged behind the U.S. by an estimated five years in developing labor management practices during the early 1920s. According to Fryer (1924), labor management in Britain had not yet reached the level of sophistication found in the U.S. This lag was partly due to slower industrial growth and the lack of strategic focus on labor relations in Britain’s corporate sector at the time.

Similarly, in the Netherlands, welfare work in the early 20th century was considered to be in a "transition state." Dutch welfare manager Mary Fledderus remarked in 1922 that the Dutch welfare system looked to America for future direction, highlighting the pervasive influence of U.S. HRM practices across Europe. The United States’ advanced HRM programs became the benchmark for other countries, as many European HR managers and academics looked to the U.S. for guidance on labor management.

Despite the slower development of HRM practices in Europe, there were significant advancements in the field, particularly in Germany. German academics and industrial researchers pioneered a new discipline called Arbeitswissenschaft (the science of work), which focused on issues like ergonomics, fatigue, and job satisfaction. Germany was also at the forefront of developing industrial psychology, known as psychotechniks, and industrial sociology. These fields contributed to the scientific management of labor, focusing on optimizing worker well-being and productivity through data-driven insights. German researchers were heavily involved in studying the human factors in labor and designing work environments that minimized worker fatigue, which would later influence ergonomic design globally.

HRM and Industrial Psychology: Germany’s Contributions

Germany was the most active European country in advancing industrial psychology and ergonomic research during the early 20th century. The rise of psychotechniks, a form of industrial psychology, marked a new phase in the scientific study of labor management. German researchers explored how psychological principles could be applied to improve worker productivity, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. This research influenced global practices in HRM by underscoring the importance of considering the psychological and physical needs of workers.

German academics also contributed to the field of industrial sociology, which examined the social dynamics within industrial organizations. The interaction between workers, management, and the broader industrial environment was scrutinized to understand how these factors influenced productivity and workplace harmony. Germany’s advancements in industrial sociology and psychology set the stage for a more holistic understanding of labor management, moving beyond simple wage negotiation or welfare provision to a deeper examination of worker satisfaction and efficiency.

The Role of Welfare Workers and the Transition to Labor Management Departments

Welfare workers played a significant role in early HRM practices, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. These individuals were responsible for addressing employee welfare issues such as housing, health, and recreation, which were seen as critical to maintaining a stable and productive workforce. However, welfare work was limited in its strategic impact, and it was only during the production boom of World War II that labor management departments began to appear in significant numbers.

In the U.S., the 1940s marked the transition from welfare work to a more structured approach to labor management, as companies faced the challenge of managing a growing workforce in wartime industries. The rise of labor management departments coincided with the need for better workforce governance, particularly in industries like steel and automobiles, where labor strikes had previously been a major concern.

In Europe, welfare workers also played a critical role in laying the groundwork for modern HRM, but the transition to formal labor management departments occurred more slowly. By the mid-20th century, however, the influence of U.S. practices, combined with Europe’s own academic contributions to the science of work, began to shape a more strategic and professional approach to HRM across the continent.

Conclusion

The development of HRM during the 20th century was marked by a significant geographical disparity in the speed and scope of its evolution. The United States led the way, both in corporate practice and academic research, establishing HRM as a strategic function essential to industrial success. European countries, particularly Britain and the Netherlands, initially lagged behind but gradually adopted more advanced labor management practices, often influenced by American models.

Germany’s contributions to industrial psychology, ergonomics, and sociology provided a scientific foundation for HRM, emphasizing the importance of understanding the human factors in labor management. Welfare workers in the early 20th century played a key role in addressing employee well-being, but it was only with the rise of labor management departments during World War II that HRM began to emerge as a strategic function in most industrialized nations.

The global evolution of HRM reflects the interplay between corporate needs, academic research, and cross-border influence, with the United States serving as a model for much of the world. Today’s HRM practices continue to draw on the scientific and strategic insights developed during the early 20th century, demonstrating the lasting impact of this period on modern labor management.

[pressez]

Diveheart Proposes $300 Million Plan to Expand Therapeutic Scuba Programs

Diveheart, a non-profit organization, is planning to build an underwater education and research facility in North Chicago with a $300 million proposal. The project aims to provide therapeutic scuba diving to people with disabilities and to promote scuba diving as a form of therapy. The facility will also serve as a research center for marine biology and oceanography. The centerpiece of the proposed Diveheart education and research facility in North Chicago is the world's deepest warm water therapy pool, which is designed to cater to people with disabilities. The pool is part of a three-pool adaptive scuba and scuba therapy facility that Diveheart hopes to build and endow with the help of Lake County Partners. The project is ambitious and represents a significant leap forward in Diveheart's mission.

Therapeutic Benefits of Scuba Diving

Scuba diving has been shown to have numerous therapeutic benefits for individuals with disabilities. Diveheart, a nonprofit organization based in Downers Grove, Illinois, has been providing adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs for individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities since 2001.One of the primary benefits of scuba diving is the sense of weightlessness it provides. This can be especially beneficial for individuals with physical disabilities who may experience pain or discomfort when standing or sitting upright. In the water, they can move more freely and experience a greater range of motion.Scuba diving can also provide psychological benefits. It can be a form of therapy for individuals with anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Being underwater can create a sense of calm and relaxation, and the focus required for scuba diving can distract from negative thoughts or emotions.In addition, scuba diving can be a social activity that helps individuals with disabilities connect with others and build relationships. Diveheart's programs often involve group diving experiences, which can foster a sense of community and support.

Details of the $300 Million Proposal

Funding Allocation Diveheart, a non-profit organization based in Downer's Grove, Illinois, has proposed a $300 million underwater education and research facility in North Chicago. The funding for the project will be allocated as follows: - $100 million for the construction of the world's deepest warm water therapy pool - $50 million for the development of adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs - $50 million for research and development of new technologies and therapies - $50 million for the expansion of the organization's reach and influence - $50 million for the establishment of a worldwide attraction for those with disabilities, scientists, and others. The funding will be raised through donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations.

Program Expansion Plans The proposed facility will allow Diveheart to expand its adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs to reach a wider range of individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. The organization will be able to offer more training and certification programs for instructors and dive buddies, as well as expand its outreach efforts to schools, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. The facility will also provide a space for individuals with disabilities to participate in other water-based activities, such as kayaking, paddleboarding, and sailing. These activities will be designed to promote physical fitness, social interaction, and overall well-being. Research and Development The research and development component of the proposal will focus on developing new technologies and therapies to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. The facility will provide a space for scientists and researchers to collaborate with Diveheart's team of experts to develop new treatments and therapies. The research will also focus on the benefits of scuba therapy for individuals with disabilities, including its effects on physical fitness, mental health, and overall well-being. The findings of the research will be shared with the broader medical and scientific communities to promote the use of scuba therapy as a viable treatment option.

Impact on the Disabled Community

The $300 million proposal for a new education and research facility is set to have a significant impact on the disabled community. Through their unique adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs, Diveheart has been helping individuals with disabilities since 2001. The proposed facility will allow them to expand their efforts and provide even more opportunities for physical, mental, and social improvements. Physical Health Improvements Scuba diving is a low-impact exercise that can provide a range of physical health benefits. For individuals with disabilities, it can be particularly beneficial. The buoyancy of the water can help to reduce pressure on joints and muscles, making it easier to move around. Additionally, the resistance of the water can help to build strength and improve cardiovascular health. The companies adaptive scuba programs are designed to cater to a range of disabilities, including physical impairments, amputations, and vision and hearing impairments. By tailoring their programs to each individual's needs, they can help participants to improve their physical health in a safe and supportive environment. Mental Health Enhancements Scuba diving can also have a range of mental health benefits. The weightlessness of the water can create a sense of calm and relaxation, which can be particularly beneficial for individuals with anxiety or PTSD. Additionally, the sense of accomplishment that comes with learning to scuba dive can help to boost self-esteem and confidence. The scuba therapy programs are designed to help participants improve their mental health by providing a supportive and empowering environment. By learning to scuba dive, participants can gain a sense of control over their bodies and their environment, which can be particularly beneficial for individuals with disabilities.

Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations

Diveheart has partnered with several organizations and institutions to achieve its mission of providing adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs to individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. These partnerships have enabled them to expand its reach and impact, and to develop innovative programs and technologies. One of Diveheart's key partners is the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), which has collaborated on research projects and provided clinical support for their various programs. RIC's expertise in rehabilitation and assistive technology has been instrumental in helping develop new approaches to scuba therapy and expand its programs to serve more individuals. Diveheart has also partnered with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide scuba therapy to veterans with disabilities. The VA has recognized scuba therapy as a viable treatment option for veterans with physical and/or mental health conditions, and has provided funding and support for their programs. In addition to these partnerships, Diveheart has collaborated with a range of organizations and institutions, including universities, hospitals, and disability advocacy groups. These collaborations have enabled them to share knowledge and resources, and to develop new programs and technologies that benefit individuals with disabilities.

Challenges and Considerations

Logistical Hurdles The $300 million proposal for an underwater education and research facility in North Chicago is a massive undertaking. One of the biggest challenges is the logistics of building such a facility. It requires extensive planning and coordination to ensure that all aspects of the project are completed on time and within budget. This includes everything from securing funding to hiring contractors and overseeing construction. Environmental ConcernsAnother challenge facing the Diveheart project is the potential impact on the environment. Building an underwater facility of this size could have a significant impact on the surrounding ecosystem. It is important to ensure that all necessary precautions are taken to minimize this impact and to protect the environment. This includes working with environmental experts to develop a plan for construction that minimizes disruption to the ecosystem. Sustainability Measures Sustainability is another key consideration for the Diveheart project. The facility will require a significant amount of energy to operate, and it is important to ensure that this energy is generated in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way. This could include the use of renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power, as well as energy-efficient design and construction practices. It is also important to consider the long-term sustainability of the facility, including the ongoing maintenance and operation of the facility. In summary, the Diveheart project faces several logistical, environmental, and sustainability challenges. However, with careful planning and execution, it is possible to overcome these challenges and create a world-class underwater education and research facility that will benefit individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities for years to come.

Public and Community Outreach

Diveheart's mission is to provide and support educational scuba diving programs that are open to any child, adult, or veteran with a disability, with the hope of providing both physical and psychological therapeutic value to that person. The non-for-profit has been actively involved in organizing events and activities that help raise awareness of the benefits of scuba diving for people with disabilities. The organization has hosted numerous events, such as dive-a-thons, scuba clinics, and adaptive scuba training courses, to promote its cause and attract new participants. Diveheart also collaborates with other organizations to expand its reach and impact. For example, the organization has partnered with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to develop a unique program that combines scuba diving with physical therapy. The program has been successful in helping patients with spinal cord injuries improve their mobility and quality of life.

How to Support Diveheart

Diveheart is a nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of passionate, hardworking volunteers and donors to continue its mission of providing unique adaptive scuba and scuba therapy programs to individuals with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Here are some ways to support Diveheart: Volunteer The non-for-profit is always looking for volunteers to help with its programs and events. Volunteers can assist with everything from teaching scuba diving to individuals with disabilities to helping out at fundraising events. If you have a passion for scuba diving and want to make a difference in the lives of others, volunteering with them is a great way to do it. Donate Diveheart is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means that all donations are tax-deductible. Donations can be made online through the Diveheart website, and there are a variety of ways to give, including one-time donations, monthly donations, and legacy gifts. Every dollar donated to Diveheart goes directly to supporting its programs and services. Attend an Event Diveheart hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including scuba diving trips, fundraising galas, and community outreach events. Attending one of these events is a great way to show your support for Diveheart while also having a great time. Check the Diveheart website for a list of upcoming events. Spread the Word One of the easiest ways to support Diveheart is to spread the word about its mission and programs. Share information about Diveheart on social media, tell your friends and family about the organization, and encourage others to get involved. The more people who know about Diveheart, the more support the organization will receive. SOURCE: Pressez Read the full article