• EMPLOYEES RETURNING TO WORKPLACES AFTER FURLOUGH OR REMOTE WORK face a very different and (for many) emotional   landscape. Surveys have found up to 40% describing a decline in mental health, and attributing one factor being that “no supervisor had even called to ask ‘how are you doing?’ …While workplace topics don’t normally include complex or uncomfortable topics like grief/ anxiety/ depression, the Covid crisis has been a major disruption to our sources of identity and interactions – which, for people who spend a lot of time at work, left a gaping hole… Leaders should consider openly talking to staff to provide, especially for those who’ve experienced loneliness, an outlet to discuss their grief, loss or burnout.”  [McKINSEY – 4/19/21]
  • “PHRASES LIKE ‘CLIMATE EMERGENCY/ CRISIS/ DISASTER’ are now routinely bandied about to support sweeping policy proposals to ‘fight existential threat to humanity’ (by spending another $2 trillion) …It’s true that the globe is warming and that humans are exerting an influence, but both research literature and government reports state clearly that: (1) Heat waves are now no more common than a century ago; (2) Warmest temps have not risen in the past 50 years; (3) Wildfire area burned has declined over 25% in the last decade, last year among the lowest on record; (4) Greenland’s ice sheet is shrinking at the same level it was 80 years ago… Most of the disconnect between facts and perception come from the long game of ‘telephone’ from scientific assessment reports to media coverage, filtered & packaged – both accidentally and/or purposely – for various audiences, so most people don’t get the whole story… Reality is that climate models disagree with, or even contradict each other and are insufficient to make useful observations about how the climate will change over coming decades, much less what effect human actions will have on it.”  [NEW YORK POST – 4/24/21]
  • RANSOMWARE EXTORTIONISTS HAVE CREATIVELY INCREASED PRESSURE ON EXECS TO PAY THE RANSOM DEMAND. Latest techniques include: “(1) Using Facebook ads which threaten to publicize attacks, which then motivate customers to contact the breached company and demand settlement in order to protect their data; (2) Offering to sell breached ‘inside data’ to stock traders before any is leaked and news goes public.” These techniques can collect moneys from unscrupulous traders, as well as further pressure the target company to settle the Ransom in order to avoid customer & shareholder agitation.  [SC MAGAZINE – 4/23/21]
  • RAZOR-THIN HOUSE & SENATE MAJORITIES, SUPPORTING SOME FIVE DOZEN ‘EXECUTIVE ORDERS’ in the first 100 days of this Administration, are “exerting pressure on an American system of governance that has historically demanded a measure of bipartisanship, with an objective of radical transformation of the system itself by fundamentally changing the rules of the political game… and to introduce the quasi-Marxist ‘equity’ ideology into virtually every aspect of government operations.” Exhaustion from now two years of confusing & conflicting media reporting is a rational excuse for ignoring this reality, but those who fail to pay attention will be in for some sad surprises.  [EPOCH TIMES – 4/27/21]
  • THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: 

        San Francisco led the west coast in drug overdoses per capita last year, approaching three times the number who died from heroin as died from the coronavirus, reports the NY Times.