Blog Archives
LOVING OUR ENEMIES?
The Christian leaders of western countries have an odd way of loving their enemies. I don’t understand it, but it has something to do with violence and dropping bombs. Perhaps these leaders have taken lessons from Jian Ghomeshi.
I am not a Christian. I do not accept Jesus as my savior, but reading his words sometimes moves me to tears.
Imagine a country is attacked and its Christian leader says, “We must love the people who did this to us. Let us pray for them.” And that is it. No war. No retaliation. Just love . . . That is as likely to happen as Rush Limbaugh converting to Islam.
I once spoke to a devout Christian who hated Muslims and favored the war on terror. I asked him about these words from Jesus.
“Shouldn’t we be turning the other cheek and not striking back?” I asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” he said. “You want the world to see us as cowards?”
“But what about Jesus saying to love your enemies and turn the other cheek?”
“Well when Jesus said that, he didn’t mean that literally.”
“Then how did he mean it?”
“Uh-er-uh-I-I don’t know, but he didn’t mean for people to walk all over us? You can’t run a country by praying for your enemies and turning the other cheek.”
HEADLINES . . .
BILL COSBY DENIES SEX ALLEGATIONS
JUSTIN BIEBER POSES FOR CALVIN KLEIN
MARGARET CHO DEFENDS NORTH KOREAN CHARACTER ON GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS
JIAN GHOMESHI FACES FURTHER CHARGES
TOPHER GRACE ENGAGED TO ASHLEY HINSHAW
OPRAH WINFREY LOSES WEIGHT
JIMMY PAGE, 71, DATES ACTRESS, 25
GEORGE CLOONEY’S WIFE AMAL PREGNANT?
Investigative journalism is vital to a democratic society.
NEPOTISM? WHY I’M SHOCKED AND OUTRAGED!
One of the Toronto Star‘s top investigative reporters exposed Jian Ghomeshi favoring people who shared Ghomeshi’s agent and lawyer. Surprise. Surprise.
Society taught me, while growing up, that life is fair; that the race is always won by the swift; that battles are always won by the strong; that if I worked hard I would be rewarded. Yep, that’s what society taught me. How much pain I caused myself because I believed these things were true! How much easier my life is now that I know that life is not always fair; that the race is not always won by the swift; that battles are not always won by the strong; that no matter how hard I work rewards may not come if I don’t have connections.
Connections are what people need to get anywhere. You get connections by networking or through family and friends. It is nice to have talent, but talent is not as important as connections. This is how the world works. It is possible for someone to make it without connections, but that is rare.
I worked for a bank at one time. I was the supervisor of the dispatch office that serviced the automated teller machines. We had a job opening. My boss called me into his office.
“According to the rules, we have to advertise this job and interview all applicants,” he said. “You will do this, but this is the person you will hire.”
The person I hired just happened to be the son of one of the bank’s vice presidents.
I felt silly interviewing the other applicants pretending as if they might get the job when I already knew the outcome. What a charade! How often do similar charades happen?
Fortunately the son of the vice president was competent and able to do the job. I have worked at places where people were incompetent at their jobs, but management did nothing because the incompetent people were well-connected. At one place, a person ended up getting fired because he tried to do something about an incompetent, well-connected employee. Oh what irony! They fire a competent employee and keep an incompetent employee.
This is where I have a problem with nepotism. I see nothing wrong if the person hired is competent to do the job. I would rather hire someone I know, and who is capable to do the job, than take a chance on someone I don’t know.
“This business sucks! It’s who you know! It’s who you know!”
The first talent agency I was with sent me out for commercials and background work in films and television. This agency sent me out a bit, but not as much as I wanted to go out.
The agency sent out another actor all the time. This actor, I will call Steve because that is his name, had a friend named Sam who worked at the agency. Sam favored Steve. We all knew this was going on, but we also knew that is how the world works. We never complained because we knew complaining about favoritism in the entertainment industry was suicide.
For some reason, Steve’s friend Sam left the agency and got out of the business. The agency did not send Steve out as much — if at all. He was like the rest of us.
“It’s not fair!” said Steve. “This business sucks! It’s who you know! It’s who you know!”
How odd that Steve never complained before Sam left the agency.
I have worked for the municipal government, the federal government, private corporations, temp agencies, and now I have my unreal job in the business. No matter where I worked, the politics is the same: Connections. Connections. Connections.
Let me forget what I know. Let me reread the Star‘s story about Jian Ghomeshi booking guests that shared his agent and lawyer. Let me be shocked and outraged that such unfairness exists in the world. God help us!
AN ISOLATED INCIDENT?
I do not believe in isolated incidents. Alarms sound when I hear someone playing down a scandal by saying, It’s an isolated incident. Every isolated incident always turns out to be not-so isolated.
Jian Ghomeshi wanted the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the world, to believe that the allegations against him were from a disgruntled ex-girlfriend. In other words, an isolated incident.
Sexual harassment is rampant. It always has been rampant and, perhaps, always will be. Sexual predators in organizations, companies, businesses wield enough power to cover it up. They also make it hard to prove, and difficult for victims to come forward. In some cases, as in the entertainment industry, sexual harassment is out in the open for all to see. The powerful sexual predators make no attempt to hide it. They have no problems finding victims with so many people worried about their careers and wanting success. Those who refuse to go along with the sexual harassment get replaced from a long line of those who will go along.
A friend told me that his daughter worked for a major telecommunications company. It was well-known that women were expected to get into the hot tub with the CEO, and other executives, at the yearly Christmas party held at the CEO’s home. Any women refusing to get into the hot tub would be “let go.” The company always made it seem that a woman who had refused to comply was let go for a legitimate reason. No one could prove that her failure to get into the hot tub was the reason, but everyone knew and kept their mouths shut.
My friend said that his daughter refused to get into the hot tub at Christmas one year. She was “let go” the following March. The reason? The company restructured and her job was redundant.
Many years ago, a Canadian actress published and article in the Canadian actor’s magazine. She did not name the director, but said that he was well-known. She wrote that she auditioned for a role, and the director told her that the role was hers if she slept with him. She refused and did not get the part. I do not know whether her courage to report the incident, in the actor’s magazine, affected her acting career.
Isolated incidents? Was this the only company that found ways of getting rid of women who did not comply with the CEO’s sexual desires? Was this the only time a director offered a role in exchange for sex?
What a difference between appearance and reality! The appearance is that sexual harassment rarely happens. If it does, then it’s an isolated incident. The company takes measures to make sure that it will never happen again. The reality is that sexual harassment is widespread, covered up, and not reported no matter what measures existed to prevent it. For appearances, a spokesperson will say, Our company will not tolerate sexual harassment. The reality is, Our company will tolerate sexual harassment because of the power of the sexual predators. We will do out best to deny it and cover it up making it difficult for the victims to come forward. Any preventive measures we put in place are for appearances only.
Did the CBC know about Jian Ghomeshi’s “inappropriate behavior” and look the other way? Is Jian Ghomeshi the only CBC employee who used his position to satisfy his sexual desires?
What about the other media outlets? Their columnists and commentators express “shock and outrage” at the CBC’s apparent tolerance of Jian Ghomeshi’s behavior. Are these media outlets sexual-harassment free? If they are not, then I am sure that any occurrences of sexual harassment will be isolated incidents.
EINSTEIN EQUATIONS INCORPORATED 