epidemic

An interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal addresses the growing trend of employers firing workers over postings on such sites as Facebook. Next week the National Labor Relations Board is expected to rule in the first case of this type. The article then goes on to describe other cases of this type where people have lost their job over social network postings:

In Georgia, former high school teacher Ashley Payne sued the local school district in the Superior Court of Barrow County, claiming she was essentially forced to resign over Facebook photos that showed her drinking alcohol during a European vacation, said her attorney, Richard J. Storrs.

"What Ashley was doing was extremely innocent,"” Mr. Storrs said. "She was on vacation and holding a glass of wine."”

This epidemic is becoming very troublesome for employers and employees. In all honesty, people should be free to do what they want once they are off the clock. The fact that people have to walk on pins and needles when at home, for fear of repercussion at work, goes against everything this country stands for.  It’s time for employers to recognize that our society and the way we communicate is changing and that they need to adapt to that.

The carnage continues, this time in Alabama:

Two women and their children were shot to death this morning at a Greenhill residence, according to friends of the victims’ family.

Identities of the victims have not been released by law enforcement officials, but they have confirmed four people are dead.

Family friends say the victims are Tammy Garner, 40, and her 16-year-old daughter, Chelsie Garner.

Several law enforcement agencies are searching for a Morgan County man who Lauderdale County sheriff’s investigators say is a “person of interest” in the case. Kevin Garner, 45, is the husband of Tammy Garner and father of Chelsie, a junior at Rogers High School.

Also killed were Kevin Garner’s sister and 11-year-old nephew, family friends told the TimesDaily.

What does it say about us as a society when our way of dealing with things like divorce involves shooting our loved ones? The second amendment crowd is quick to jump and say “don’t blame us”, but it will get to a point soon where we will have to take action, and that may very well be the same kind of action Australia took a few years ago – take all the guns.

Instead of people being divided on this issue and worrying about their own interests, we need unity now more than ever as a nation. This is nothing short of an epidemic and a cure must be found.

This is a sure indicator of how much the world is anticipating a new leader in the U.S.:

From Berlin to London to Jakarta, the destinies of Democratic and Republican contenders in Iowa or New Hampshire, or Nevada or South Carolina, have become news in a way that most political commentators cannot recall. It is as if outsiders are pining for change in America as much as some American presidential candidates are promising it.

Bush fatigue is not limited to our shores, it's an epidemic world over. He has been one of the most polarizing Presidents in American history and that has hurt us globally. That's another reason this election is so crucial - we need a President who will restore America's image in the world. Hopefully we will get that.

The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is finely coming under fire
by Congress. This was reported today in the

Washington Post.

Now many people may not be aware what CAFTA is, or what the ramifications
would be if it comes into being, so I would like to give you my opinion on the
matter.

One thing we have noticed in the last couple of decades is a steady decline
in the number of manufacturing jobs in the United States. Drive through any
Midwest suburb and you will see a landscape riddled with boarded up factories
and crumbling down industries. No longer do we have the security of a factory
job that our fathers retired from.

This is also leading to the downfall of organized labor. As matter of fact it
is fading so fast that it is terrifying. The labor of this country does not have
a solid voice behind it any longer. That should scare any American worker.
People ask why the country has gotten so bad. Why do we see such things as an
increase in school shootings, increase in drug and alcohol abuse, or an increase
in poverty? Well it is simple. The day of the 40 hour work week is over. No
longer to men and women have time to be parents. Instead children are left along
longer to entertain themselves. For a middle class family to survive, both
parents must work 40+ hours a week. This not only hurts the children but the
marriage. Adults become engrossed in their careers and lose focus of the
important things such as family.