#it was an ethical disaster just from a professional standpoint

[not-poignant]

Pia omg I loved the last chapter so much, I was definitely crying along with ef. I’m kind of wondering what Lija was hoping to get out of coming to see ef? It seemed a bit unprofessional/insensitive to come visit a potentially suicidal patient and then talk about a bunch of potential triggers like augus, crielle, gwyn? I get that she was like ‘I want to check on an old patient’ but seems like a bit of a conflict of interest when you’re also the mum of the guy who just punched him out. Seems like if your priority is making sure this guy doesn’t want to hurt your kids then you shouldn’t be seeing him in your capacity as a medical practitioner??

Oh man Lija was 100% unprofessional, inappropriate, and insensitive, and could easily be reported for her actions.

When Dr Gary finds out, he's going to rip her a new one. And he'll be right to do it. Efnisien literally sat there, cried, and wished a nurse would save him from what she was putting him through, until she badgered him into regressing so severely that he began treating her like Crielle. And we actually haven't seen him regress that severely since the night on the bridge.

She's basically put his life in danger again. I don't even think her main priority was 'checking on an old patient.' I think she was curious, and wanted to see the person who had made people close to her suffer, and had the power to do that. And I think she genuinely and mistakenly thought that saying something like 'I don't want you to die' would mean anything when she's also saying 'I'm so angry at you.'

Seems like if your priority is making sure this guy doesn’t want to hurt your kids then you shouldn’t be seeing him in your capacity as a medical practitioner??

Absolutely.

I honestly think Lija has believed what Gwyn and Augus and many of the others have believed, because all of her information mostly comes from Gwyn and Augus: That Efnisien couldn't possibly have really changed, and that even if he's feeling vulnerable and she doesn't want him to die, she still needs to make sure that he's not going to hurt her son or daughters (or Gwyn) again.

Even not knowing about those things being potential triggers and not understanding the complexity of Efnisien's trauma or inner landscape, she:

* Casually asserted ownership over Efnisien's body in a way that was callous and authoritative ('that's my work' not 'that's your body'). No wonder he was reminded of Crielle, who did the exact same thing. She basically made it seem like she owned a part of him. She doesn't.

* Interrogated him, and refused to stop when he began to cry, or get the nurse, even knowing he was in a psych ward for suicidal intent.

* Threatened him by saying she might come back, despite - at that point - finding it clear that he was being retraumatised.

* Went there as a protective mother who didn't really give a shit about Efnisien as a person.

* Used a 'tough love' approach which is profoundly inappropriate for most suicidal patients or people experiencing serious mental illness.

* Constantly seemed to assume that just saying 'I don't want you to die' while also constantly reminding him of his crimes would actually be helpful. That's some guilt-tripping right there.

* The absolute power trip of the words 'I saved your life' (and therefore you owe me some of your time now) and not 'I did your surgery with a team of competent people who I was absolutely dependent on.'

I could list more things, like the fact that she did that while Efnisien was incredibly vulnerable and medicated, for example, but that's a good start! Dr Gary will probably list the rest, lmao. He's going to be furious.

Like, yes, did she eventually realise she'd fucked up and back out of there and get a nurse? Absolutely. Thank god she's not a total asshole. But did she 100% do a completely unethical thing that there could be professional consequences for? Absolutely. She should never have been in that room.

You can absolutely bet that she lied to the nurses by saying: 'Oh he was my surgical patient 3 years ago and I saved his life and I just wanted to remind him that his life is worth living' and just casually forgot 'also he tortured my son and my son's boyfriend and was a threat around my daughters and my son is the one responsible for his worst physical injury right now.'

Bridge interrogating Efnisien was bad. Lija doing this was worse. He's not her patient anymore, she discharged him years ago. And her casually asserting authority over him and his fragile and vulnerable body to the point that he profoundly regresses, and then not leaving after that, is a cruel thing to do. Whether she did have some good intentions there actually doesn't really matter, she dropped a bomb in Efnisien's lap, and she left a nurse to deal with the aftermath.

[maglors-anion-gap]

Hi! 9, 17 and 23 for the ask game?

Hi! :) thanks for the ask! 

[link to ask game] 

9. What Age of Arda would you like to live in?

Ohh good question! Bc “like to live in” and “like to read about from the safety of my armchair” are two wildly different things.  Lads, you all know I love the First Age from a narrative perspective, but it’s a Hot Mess 10/10 for plot 0/10 for livability and life insurance.  

Gotta go with Second Age.  Yeah, it ended in an Absolute Disaster but there was a couple-thousand-year period of peace and prosperity that I would have liked to see in person.  The lovely fernstrike wrote me a fic for the tolkien secret santa exchange a few years ago about the ruins of Eregion, and every time I go back and re-read it I want to see Ost-in-Edhil in its golden days. 

17. Are you glad the Last Battle isn’t in the published Silmarillion?

Interesting question, and I have mixed feelings about that! On the one hand, I always love new content, I feel like the glutton in me is always hoping for the expanded edition and happily ever after and the sequel and and and.... 

But I think part of the magic of the Silm is that its open-endedness allows for so much personal interpretation that I never get tired.  I can approach the text from one angle or using one sort of meta-analysis, and write a whole fic from that premise, and then turn around and use the opposite side of the meta-analystical coin and do it again.  And if I want some more details I can hunt through the unfinished tales or morgoth’s ring etc... 

I think I like a sort of open-endedness because my One Fear is the author writing an ending that is just. not in line with how I pictured it going (see: JKR’s much-hated “19 years later” or “cursed child”).  In the end, I’m pretty satisfied with the vague details of the Last Battle that we get in the extended texts, and I can do what I like with those details.

23. Do you have pity for Melkor?

3/3 for thought-provoking questions today! wow!

Yes and no.  I think that at a point, he crosses a line past which I don’t feel much pity for him.  

I think this question in general touches an interesting ethical question on pity, forgiveness, repentance, and absolution.  In general, I try not analyze the silm from a cuturally-christian or moral absolutist standpoint, because I don’t live my life like that.  

In general, I judge not based on whether or not someone “deserves” forgiveness but on how likely they are to repeat their behavior.  Will they do it again? What resources do they need to prevent them from doing it again? etc.  It’s the public health professional in me... 

So looking at it from that standpoint, I see Melkor as someone who probably needed a different sort of guidance from what he got.  Ideally, that guidance should have come after his interference in the Song.  I do genuinely pity him then because Eru and the rest of the ainur seem judgemental but permissive in equal measure, like a parent saying “because I say so” without further elaboration and without teaching some self-regulation skills.  But then he goes on this downhill slide, raising utumno, smashing the lamps, destroying the trees, killing finwe, and starting a conflict that take like 10,000 years (I’m counting to the fourth age) to fix.  And he’s offered more than one opportunity to surrender and he doesn’t.  It would be interesting to analyze the purpose and outcomes of Pride and Wrath in tolkien’s work... 

We can debate the efficacy or moral righteousness of his first and second (permanent) imprisonment, and I’m not sure he could ever be held back from becoming what he became... so IDK.

I would say I feel a measure of pity, yes, for the creature that twisted himself into pure evil... and I’m always looking for the systemic Root Cause, but also at a point he has to own up to his actions... 

[apathetic-revenant]

Multiples of 6 for the recent ask thing

[ask meme]

(6) Relationship Status.

Extremely single. 

(12) Take A Vitamin Daily?

Nope. I take a fair amount of other pills daily, but no vitamins at the moment.

(18) Do You Collect Anything?

Oh yeah, I’m a packrat. I have a frankly unnecessary amount of little trinkets and toys cluttering up my desk: legos, those little blind bag Minecraft figures, various other stuff. 

Also I like to collect those pressed pennies you get in touristy places. I’ve accumulated a mini Altoids tin’s worth of them so far. 

(24) Are You Wearing Makeup Right Now?

Nope. Pretty much the only times I’ve ever worn makeup have been for Halloween or for something theatre related. 

(30) Do You Study Better With Or Without Music?

Generally I do most things better with music, but it can depend on the task. I was never real good at studying to begin with. 

(36) What Colour Shirt Are You Wearing?

Black. 

(42) Are You Easily Influenced By Other People?

Oh, god, yes. My life is an ongoing cyclone of anxiety over what other people are thinking. 

(48) Are You A Picky Eater?

I am the most picky eater. I’m really sensitive to touch and textures, so there’s a lot of food that’s really hard for me to eat regardless of whether I like the taste. 

Also I have zero tolerance for spices. Seriously. Just none at all. 

(54) Put Your Music On Shuffle, What Is The First Song That Came Up?

‘Secretary’ by Charming Disaster. 

(60) Do You Have Any Homework Right Now? If So, What Is It About?

No, because I’ve GRADUATED AND I’M NEVER GOING BACK MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

(66) Do You Get Homesick?

I get very homesick very easily. Pretty much any time I’m out of a familiar environment I freak out. It was a big problem for me in college.

The annoying thing is, I don’t even like where I live that much. 

(72) Do You Miss Your Ex?

Can’t miss what you never had!

(78) Would You Give A Homeless Person CPR If They Were Dying? Why Or Why Not?

Well, that kinda depends on a lot of factors, really. I mean, for one thing, why are they dying? CPR is not a catchall solution by a longshot. And it’d be a higher priority to get help first I think, because even at its most effective CPR is basically a means of buying time; it’s almost never going to solve the problem itself. Then you have to address the situation, because unless you’re a professional EMT or whatever you do not go into a dangerous situation to try to give medical help. Because if you do, you can very easily wind up becoming another victim and now the crisis just got escalated. 

I do know how to give CPR, though it’s been a while since I’ve practiced, and I think technically I’m certified but I don’t have a card or anything and I’m not completely positive? So…if the scene was clear, and CPR seemed applicable, and there was no one more qualified around, and I’d already done my best to call for help, I’d like to think I would try it. To be honest, it’s entirely possible I would freeze up and panic and be no good to anyone.

From an ethical standpoint, I mean, of course I would want to try and save someone if they were dying, and why is them being homeless relevant to the question at all? 

(84) What Are Three Things You Did Today?

Watered my plants, fed my cat, and made tea.

I’ve only been awake for like an hour now so cut me some slack. 

(90) Favourite Soda Drink?

Uh…I don’t drink all that much soda, but I do like Coke or Pepsi every now and then. I’m not picky about which one. I’m also partial to Ale8. 

(96) Favourite YouTuber?

Not really a single YouTuber exactly, but I’ve been watching a lot of outsidexbox lately. They’re very cheerful and I appreciate them. 

[adland]

"Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie. Make the audience or the reporter believe that everything is ok. How many times have you heard a CEO stand up and say "No, I'm not leaving the company" and then - days later - he's gone. Reporters understand that you "had" to do it and they won't hold it against you in your next job when you deal with them again."

— Edelman Senior Training Executive 

  It was fascinating to watch faux woke joke and quintessential cliche of a PR agency in the worst possible sense Edelman struggle to turn its cowardice and hypocrisy into a win this week. Particularly and especially since they failed.

  Surely you know of what I speak: The latest big agency tone-deaf marketing disaster story broken suspiciously simultaneously in the ethically struggling, run-by-a-creep New York Times and Adweek, abruptly pulling the ripcord on its ill-advised-from-a-PR-standpoint deal with private prisons company The GEO Group, which was being targeted and scapegoated for the perceived sins of the Trump administration’s separation of illegal immigrants’ children from their parents and their “parents” at the Mexican border, even as one-quarter of the “parents” turn out to be probable human traffickers.

  Considering how impeding humanity’s emotional, intellectual and empathetic evolution looks to be Edelman’s groove thang, it seems a bit weird that this is where their suddenly enlightened employees would draw the line, but hey—we’ll take what we can get when it comes to disgruntled underlings sticking a plank in the spokes of one of the world’s largest and most despicable propaganda cabals of corporate conniving and cancerous communications conspiracies.

Trust me. I know of what I speak. I’ve had unpleasant, unethical dealings with the too-smooth-by-half leader of the eponymous agency, and dealt with its consistently dishonest spawn on numerous fronts over the years. Like a virgin schoolmarm with Long Dong Silver, my first Edelman experience was the worst and most painful, but almost all of them share sinister similarities that suggest an ingrained communications strategy rooted in fundamental dishonesty and self-generated fake hype.

  When I worked at MediaPost covering Edelman's "Wal-Marting Across America" scam in 2006, CEO and Prez Richard Edelman himself personally called me and "swore upon his professional honor" [off-the-record, of course] that they had no idea the people driving the RV and staying at Wal-Marts and blogging about how great it was were actually a Washington Post photographer doing double-duty, and a woman who had a family member who was an Edelman executive.

  When I later discovered that the organization financing the trip, "Working Families for Wal-Mart," was a shell company SET UP BY EDELMAN ITSELF, Dick Edelman would not take my calls but instead wrote a mea culpa for his personal blog. As did Edelman's WoM specialist Steve “Rubber” Rubel, who likewise pled total ignorance that the whole thing was orchestrated by Edelman. Dick Edelman did speak to me later, on-the-record, to apologize. But only after he got caught.

  Since you gotta figure Edelman the agency and presumably its CEO Dick Edelman were cool with PITCHING the GEO account, it doesn’t really sound like too much has changed in the 13 years since Dick Edelman lied to my face. They’ll try to get away with as much as they possibly can, and, if caught, eject and try to spin the hand-in-the-cookie-jar moment into a happy mistake we all learned from. 

  But who is learning what, exactly? My repeated experience with PR people who work or have worked at Edelman is that the "off-the-record lie" is a go-to communications propaganda strategy. People who work or have worked at that firm have crossed my path and deployed that tactic again and again throughout my career.

  ”The fish stinks from the head down," as my grandmother used to say.

  But hey, don’t let me come off as the bitter bastard burning—Edelman’s got a looooong rap sheet that showcases their business as the type of place that would gladly take ten bucks to put your mother’s corpse on strong twine and make it dance like a puppet. Or at least Robin Williams’.

  Remember when Edelman lost a slew of executives who got sick of working for a place that played the climate debate from both sides for maximum profit?

  How about when a bunch of make-your-kids-fat corporations and associations formed the Law of Inversion named “American Council for Fitness & Nutrition”--a clown world creation with the subversive actual intent of stifling regulatory action intended to confront and combat the nation’s obesity epidemic. Who did ACFN members Kraft Foods, Chocolate Manufacturers Association, Sugar Association, National Council of Chain Restaurants, Association of National Advertisers, and so on, literally ad nauseam...who did this crew choose to flip the fake news script from healthy to hellish? Edelman!

  And who did the shady Red Cross turn to when it backstabbed 9/11 families by keeping nearly half of the half-billion dollars it raised for the so-called “Liberty Fund” after the Sept. 11th attacks? Edelman!

  And what about your dead mom’s malevolent marionette sendoff? In 2014, Edelman advised clients to "Seize the day," and capitalize upon tortured comic genius Robin Williams' tragic suicide with a "visible and aggressive approach" to create content tied to Williams' death.

  You would think that pointing out this type of despicable soulless anything-for-a-buck hypocrisy would be like shooting fish in a barrel or hanging Harvey Weinstein in a whorehouse. But apparently not, which is why I ended up writing it here. Last week, the half-smart/half-hopeless closed Facebook PR/Media group to which I may not still belong after this gets published had a bunch of lemming-like lapdogs licking Edelman’s hand after its not-so-brave slapdown of the GEO Group (there were, to be fair, a few iconoclasts pushing back).

  Quite a belated stand to take, too, since all reporting stated Edelman so impressed the client they didn’t even have to pitch against anybody else. But then they quit and apparently gave the story to the Times and “AdWeek,” because fucking over your client two times is twice as satisfying as paying the sister of an employee to shill for Wal*Mart.

  Ah well. Professional denialism continues even though the fatal iceberg hit has already occurred. There are already two large agencies dealing with a kind of primal moral awakening among their younger employees That we know of. Like bugs in the walls of a decaying building, if we see two, there are probably 22. At least.

Still, the mentality of too many remains that Leo and the Titanic might be going down, but maybe if we all wish really hard, our whores will turn into heroes...even as all indicators IRL are flashing bright red that the opposite is true.

  Me? I know a Dick move when I see one.

United States

adrants

Opinion editorials on advertising and business

-- via Adland

[csrgood]

Airbnb Abandons CSR Values By Acquiescing to Anti-Israel BDS Campaign

Airbnb executives acquiesced last week to pressure from the BDS (“Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions”) campaign by removing roughly 200 Jewish rental listings in the West Bank. While hundreds of companies are pressured by BDS activists, and some European companies have acquiesced and cut ties to Israel, this is the first time a US company has caved publicly to BDS pressure. Background information is essential to understanding the consequences of this misguided move, and to provide context for CSR professionals as they increasingly face pressure from the BDS campaign.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex and two-sided

The extremely complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict involves centuries of history, global geo-political alliances, heart-wrenching atrocities, and compelling narratives from a range of perspectives. Any effort to frame the conflict in simplistic black and white terms, where one side is right and the other side is wrong, is at best ignorant and at worst politically biased and immoral.

Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people for over 2,500 years. In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the land into two states for two peoples: Israel and Palestine. While Jewish leaders accepted the UN partition and built the modern state of Israel, Arab leaders rejected the plan and instead supported the Arab League boycott to prevent the creation of a Jewish state in the region. War and conflict have persisted ever since. Despite the intractable conflict, many Jews and Arabs (Israelis and Palestinians) recognize that their futures are entwined, and that seeking peace and coexistence is the best path forward.

The BDS campaign does not promote coexistence and peace

The BDS campaign was launched by a handful of NGOs in 2001 and later adopted by a group of Palestinian civil society organizations. The ultimate goal of the BDS campaign is the elimination of the Jewish state, not peaceful coexistence for two peoples. Omar Barghouti, a BDS founder, has said “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The economic warfare tactics of the campaign include boycotts (i.e. consumer, academic, entertainment, sports), divestment by investors and corporations, and government sanctions in an effort to cripple Israel’s economy. The campaign explicitly seeks to compare Israel to apartheid South Africa. This analogy, like many other aspects of the BDS campaign, does not hold up under scrutiny. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a two-sided conflict where both sides have important claims and grievances. For this reason, BDS will never be effective and will only entrench the conflict. Most leaders in the US and around the world oppose BDS and consider it a discriminatory anti-Semitic movement.

Economic development lays the groundwork for peace

There are many inspiring examples of coexistence, but they are excluded from BDS materials. BDS activists reject any economic development or other interaction with Israel by individuals, organizations, and companies. Yet divestment from a conflict region in an attempt to punish one of the actors only leads to further economic instability, rather than help lay an economic groundwork for peace. It is tragic that the BDS campaign has framed the choice as either one of divestment or of violating human rights. The truly responsible choice for companies is to lay the economic groundwork for peace through sensitive and thoughtful impact investment and economic development in conflict regions.

Cisco is an interesting case study of a company that invested heavily in the Palestinian tech sector only to receive BDS pressure including multiple anti-Israel shareholder resolutions in recent years. The BDS campaign claims to be concerned with Palestinian rights, but aggressively undermines the development of the Palestinian economy, job creation, and coexistence with Jewish neighbors.

Consequences of Airbnb decision to acquiesce to BDS pressure

Airbnb’s statement on their decision is flawed. They admit they are “not the experts when it comes to the historical disputes in this region” and they spoke with “various experts” without listing those experts by name. They describe settlements as “the core of the dispute,” but while settlements are one of many issues to be resolved, the conflict existed long before the settlements were established. The decision is discriminatory as the company only de-listed properties in the West Bank that are Jewish-owned. Airbnb did not de-list Palestinian-owned properties despite the two-sided nature of the conflict, nor has Airbnb de-listed properties in any other conflict area or disputed territory in the world despite the broad nature of its newly announced policy.

Companies need to understand the financial and reputational implications of succumbing to BDS. From a revenue standpoint, the small number of Jewish listings located in the West Bank are a miniscule percentage of the company’s overall revenue. But from a reputation standpoint this choice has already proved a disaster as Airbnb traded one controversy for a much larger one.

Airbnb now faces multiple legal actions; it has quickly become embroiled in controversy in the many US states where it is illegal to support BDS; some city and municipal governments have already issued calls to boycott Airbnb for their decision; and the company has received significant negative press. Other vacation rental companies including Booking.com, under similar pressure by BDS, have refused to acquiesce.

Corporate Social Responsibility field should be wary of the BDS campaign

The CSR field has evolved significantly in recent years, buoyed by the growth in socially responsible investing and the importance of ethical business for investors, consumers and employees. In the 1980s, divestment/avoidance was the only option a company had when faced with a social challenge. Nowadays, business and investment capital has truly become a force for good, and corporate executives embrace policies that use corporate power to address social and environmental concerns.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a legitimate social concern. But BDS tactics only serve to further stoke the conflict. Rather than using business to lay the economic foundation for peace and coexistence, BDS promotes discrimination, attack campaigns, and threats. CSR executives must guard against being manipulated by a political agenda and instead seek to use the power of their company to advance progress and positive impact for people and planet. 

Guidance for CSR Executives:

Understand how the BDS campaign co-opts the values of corporate social responsibility for a political agenda. The BDS campaign frequently couches its claims in benign-sounding human rights language to obscure the politicized nature of its ambitions.

Verify the facts and research you are provided, not just from the BDS campaign, but for all campaigns that attempt to influence corporate behavior. Understandably this has become increasingly challenging as the number of campaigns has increased dramatically, and the expertise required to assess a campaign is not easy to acquire. But it is a vital step.

Collect complete information before you make a decision in order to not trade one controversy for another. Speak with a variety of experts, all of whom should be willing to publicly disclose that you spoke with them. It has been speculated that Airbnb rushed to a decision after Human Rights Watch threatened to release a negative report.

Contact JLens. Our organization serves as a bridge between the Jewish community and the SRI/CSR movements. We engage with over 300 public companies owned in our Jewish Advocacy Strategy on a range of issues related to Jewish social and environmental values. We work collaboratively with CSR professionals and admire the critically important role they have inside corporations, and we don’t want to see another company fall victim to the discriminatory BDS campaign.

As socially responsible investors we share the same belief as CSR professionals: that business and investment capital can be a force for good. We all have worked too hard to gain credibility and influence for the SRI/CSR arena to be manipulated by biased campaigns with ulterior political motives.

Related LINKS

www.jlensnetwork.org

source: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/41577-Airbnb-Abandons-CSR-Values-By-Acquiescing-to-Anti-Israel-BDS-Campaign?tracking_source=rss