Life at Up Up and Away Investment Management International: Chapter 25 Megastress Largecorp

Chapter 25

Megastress Largecorp

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability claims in Canada. Is this because stress is now more widely recognized or is it because largecorp’s Senior Management Team mismanagement has created an increasingly stressful environment? I’ll vote the latter.

In a recent study of the Canadian workplace by the employee benefits consulting firm Morneau Shepell it was found that 43% of managers and 34% of employees reported suffering from extreme levels of organizational stress with both groups ranking workplace stress over that of personal stress.57% of both these groups indicated that they are currently suffering or have in some point in the past suffered from a mental health issue or sleep related disorder. The clear majority of respondents felt employers should take an active role in supporting distressed employees.

So why is largecorp to blame for workplace stress? I think it is often to be found in a previous chapter where we discussed what it takes to advance up in the ranks of largecorp. These same events are frequently the events that cause stress for the largecorp employee.

  • Downsizing

If downsizing was a form of magic the employee downsized would be dispensed with like a junkie’s syringe at a safe injection site and that employee’s job function and task would mysteriously disappear. However, the job function remains without an employee to perform it. Someone must fill in for the departed employee! Impeccable logic demands that these functions be transferred to the remaining employees.

Now imagine after successive rounds of downsizing the unassigned work just adding up and being “reassigned” to the remaining employees. Is this a neutral emotional and physical event? Or is it an event that heaps more responsibility, work and stress on the survivors of downsizing? The answer appears quite apparent. Load them up and hope they don’t buckle is the hope of the compassionate and caring Senior Management Team of largecorp.

Trust me on this but there is a breaking point for everyone. I think the SMT’s strategy is to let the weak ones be culled and quit or go on long-term disability. As most long-term disability programmes are funded by insurance companies retained by largecorp severe employee burn out is no longer an out of pocket expense of largecorp unless stress claims skyrocket and insurance premiums payable by largecorp increase! Largecorp pays short term disability but usually for 10-20 weeks but after that it progresses to long term disability which most often is paid out of the insurance company’s pocket.

  • Outsourcing

At first blush one would think outsourcing might reduce stress as the job function is removed to a foreign jurisdiction. However are the outsourced employees in these foreign jurisdictions not also subject to stress albeit at a cheaper cost to largecorp? Stress is transferred not eliminated.

And given the different time zones of the outsourced destinations the difficulty in managing this at “head office” is not easy. Staggered supervisory shifts are required at “head office” subjecting the supervisors to the night shift stress factor previously thought restricted to the industrial night shift worker.

  • The unhealthy work ethic

Largecorps, particularly those with head offices in the United States, have a very unhealthy work ethic. Slavery may have been abolished in the United States but there remains a slavery-based work ethic that drains and depletes. Americans are the highest forfeiters of vacation in the world and what is good for America is good for Canada or whatever branch plant or office largecorp has on the go.

In my experiences at Up Up and Away America many of my American counterparts worked throughout their vacation. Mobile phones were always at hand. To hell with family commitments. The attitude was pride at being shortchanged and manipulated by Up Up and Away America. Dummies. And of course, heading out for lunch is a deadly sin. Chained to your desk was in vogue at Up Up and Away New York but never fully embraced at Up Up and Away Toronto.

I remember receiving many a mobile phone communication at early morning hours over a “big deal” for an “important client”. Time is always of the essence unless it was your time in which case it had no value for largecorp.

  • The do-it-yourself mentality and the “liquidation” of administrative assistants

You know when I started with CRAP and Up Up and Away Toronto there were omnipresent “admin assistants” to assist you whether it be photocopying, printing, processing expenses, making travel arrangements and often CYA. These admin assistants were liquidated over the years and suddenly you as a lawyer or senior manager were stuck with performing administrative tasks that were not germane to your function. You spent more time on functions not related to your job and had less time to accomplish your tasks. Put crudely you were paid $200 an hour to do $15 an hour tasks but expected to continue doing the $200 an hour tasks as if you still had a $15 an hour admin assistant doing those $15 an hour tasks. Incompetence of the SMT. Talk about a waste of resources. Where on earth were these SMT members educated? Perhaps at the in the pocket schools of business funded and controlled by a cabal of largecorps?

Illogical and stupid yet these folks at the SMT are almost immune from corporate hits so what do they care about heaping admin assistant’s jobs on overworked employees? An example of cost saving being an unwise decision but as we know bad management decisions are the hallmark of an SMT. Is it right you spend half a day trying to process expenses for a $1,500 three-day business trip on a faulty based expense reporting system monitored by poorly trained employees in Mumbai?

  • Bureaucratization of employee performance reviews as largecorp protection

In my father’s era you did your job and went home. You either did a decent job or bad job. You did a bad job you were fired. You either completed your work or didn’t. If you didn’t you were fired. Clean and simple.

Largecorp, stung by litigation over wrongful dismissal, has developed an elaborate performance appraisal system that at Up Up and Away forced upon all employees on a bi-annual basis using unfriendly and complicated software on an “employee dashboard”. Pardon me but what turkeys developed such an unfriendly and utterly stupid system? Employee goals for Up Up and Away Toronto Legal were set by Up Up and Away in New York with no local input. Do as you are told naughty little foreign boy! No democracy here!

  • Silent ageism

Being over 50 at largecorp is a bit stressful unless you are in the SMT. You feel like an outsider and a relic. If largecorp had any compassion it should take a gun to your head like a horse with a broken leg and shoot you to put you out of your misery. Instead to avoid paying out a severance package it will freeze your salary and hope you get so pissed off you’ll quit. Yes, Up Up and Away had a definite unwritten procedure to follow once an employee reached 55 years of age.

  • Insufficient resourcing

Quite closely linked to downsizing but not always is insufficient resourcing. We will delve into this a bit later but I can tell you at Up Up and Away Toronto I covered for three disability leaves and two maternity leaves for fellow colleagues in my Legal Department. This caused an enormous strain on me.  Sally Self offered no competent resources to assist me despite for the last fill in I had advised her I had been diagnosed with workplace stress and anxiety.

  • The urgent need to participate in corporate initiatives

It is the Human Resources Department of largecorp that revelled in promoting totally facile, transparently foolish and timewasting programmes. I have mentioned Global Inclusion and Celebration of Differences as one programme.

Up Up and Away also required all its employees as part of their performance assessment goals to “volunteer” for two philanthropic events each year. A wonderful idea but the software programme to obtain approval was so complicated and flawed it took hours to figure out how to get approval. Why not just ask your boss and get a verbal OK? No, as everything had to be documented so it could be measured and used as a valuable PR tool by Up Up and Away. Despite having to endure the agony of having employees take two days off a year Up Up and Away was trying to convince existing and prospective clients just how community minded it was and it needed some measurable facts to be able to do so. Considering how badly it treated its own community of employees I don’t think it fooled anyone. Most clients really could not care if they were fooled as long as matters looked authentic! Perception as opposed to reality is the name of the game for largecorps.

  • Measurable objectives

Intricately linked to part 5 of this Chapter at the end of my tenure at Up Up and Away Toronto the Legal Department in New York and Toronto was challenged by Up Up and Away New York’s SMT to prove its worth in measurable ways. This is not an easy task as Legal Departments do not produce widgets and in-house corporate counsel don’t mine billable hours like law firms do. Horrifically complicated Excel spreadsheets were created to note whether key contractual clauses were contained in negotiated contracts. Contractual phrases were measured like widgets. Were key contractual terms included in each contract?  If not, was management approval obtained? It was getting so complicated and time consuming that despite hiring some 50 junior lawyers (at an enormous expense) in New York to help with inputting these contractual terms on the Excel spreadsheet this measurability project was beginning to choke all Up Up and Away Toronto’s and New York’s legal departments. The result was further bureaucratization of Up Up and Away’s legal departments so that a decreasing amount of time was spent dealing with legal issues and more on reporting and documenting what the lawyers had negotiated.

 I recall driving into work one night and hearing a radio special on stress in the workplace. The expert interviewed said quite simply stress is an inability to reach a goal due to interruptions. The goal of Up Up and Away’s lawyers was to solve legal problems and negotiating contracts. This contract measurability project was an interruption to these goals. Up Up and Away’s legal departments were operating under extremely high stress levels.

  • Yankee imperialism raises its ugly head in Canada

I think I have said I understand that many a largecorp is controlled by Americans. That is fine with me. However, I become uncomfortable when American law imposes obligations on Canadian subsidiaries such as Sarbanes Oxley legislation. U.S. extra-territorial legislation has no place in Canada but tell that to Up Up and Away New York who scrambled like a chicken with its head cut off to have Canada comply with Yankee legislation. And by God yet another round of exhaustive of projects were launched to the point 75% of my time was devoted to “administration” as opposed to doing my core job function. Servicing Canadian clients had no relevance. Obeying Yankee legislators was Numero Uno! A sad by product of American imperialism was subjecting its foreign operations to American law. Having American law apply required a detailed analysis of where it should apply then determine how to make it apply. Hundreds of hours were consumed!

Does Sugar Contribute to Gut Inflammation?

Curr Dev Nutr. 2019 Jun; 3(Suppl 1): nzz040.P20-041-19.Published online 2019 Jun 13. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzz040.P20-041-19PMCID: PMC6575000

Sugar-sweetened Beverage and High Fat Diet Consumption Harmfully Alters Gut Microbiota and Promotes Gut Inflammation (P20-041-19)

Woo-Jeong Shon, Min Ho Jung, Eun Young Choi, and Dong-Mi ShinAuthor informationCopyright and License informationDisclaimer

Abstract

Objectives

It is clear that epidemiologic trends document a dramatic increasing incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) paralleling global westernization. Despite strong tie among diets, gut microbiota (GM) and IBD, the exact mechanisms causing IBD remains incompletely understood. Here we hypothesized that changes in the gut immune system, in response to changes in gut microbiome induced “Westernized diet”, would be sufficient to trigger IBD.

Methods

We set out to test this hypothesized by analyzing the changes in gut microbiota composition induced by feeding mice with High sugar-solution or/and High fat and demonstrated their causal roles through high-throughput microbiome analyses. We further assessed changes in inflammatory cell recruitment using flow cytometry, and performed transcriptomic profiling analyses of intestine tissue to identify altered gut microbiota deliver changes in intestinal innate immune and adaptive T cell homeostasis. Importantly, to identify the role of the microbiota in directing host immune responses, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments were conducted.

Results

The microbiome analyses results showed that Prevotella, Betaproteobacteria, and Cytophaga, which are a well-known the most representative species in IBD, was significantly enriched only in the HF-Sugar group, suggesting that addition of high-sugar to high-fat diet may reshape the GM by favoring colonization of pathobionts. Also, transcriptome and FACS profiling results showed, among others, high sugar synergistically changes intestinal transcriptomic signature related Inflammatory/Immune Response induced by several pro-inflammatory cytokines and induces expansion of inflammatory DCs and T cells driven by the high fat diet. By using FMT, we prove that host immune traits can be regulated by altering the GM.

Conclusions

Together, our large-scale profiling analyses may uncover an interaction between dietary alterations causing IBD and gut microbiota and provide helpful information regarding the microbiota plays a critical role in programming the immune phenotypes of the host.

Funding Sources

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2018R1D1A1B07048023).

Articles from Current Developments in Nutrition are provided here courtesy of American Society for Nutrition

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Is there a link between sugar and cognitive impairment?

Clin Interv Aging. 2019; 14: 1331–1342.Published online 2019 Jul 22. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S211534PMCID: PMC6662517PMID: 31413554

Habitual sugar intake and cognitive impairment among multi-ethnic Malaysian older adults

CP Chong,1S Shahar,1H Haron,1 and N Che Din2Author informationArticle notesCopyright and License informationDisclaimerCopyright © 2019 Chong et al.This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php).This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.Go to:

Abstract

Background: Sugar is widely consumed in Malaysia, and the excessive intake of sugar has been associated with cognitive functions. However, the association between sugar intake and cognitive impairment among Malaysian older adults is yet to be determined.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the associations between types and sources of sugar intake and cognitive functions and to identify their risk in predicting cognitive impairment (MMSE score <24).

Subjects and methods: A total of 1,209 subjects aged ≥60 years were recruited through multi-stage random sampling from selected states in Malaysia. Dietary intake was derived using a 7-day dietary history questionnaire and supplemented with a quantitative food frequency questionnaire for added sugar intake.

Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment as defined by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) less than 24 was 31.9%, while the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment was 13.1%. The median (IQR) for total sugar intake was 44.60 g/day (26.21–68.81) or 8 tsp, and free sugar intake was 33.08 g/day (17.48–57.26) or 6 tsp. The higher intake of total sugars, free sugars, sucrose, lactose, sugar-sweetened beverages, sugar-sweetened cakes, and dessert was found to be significantly associated with a lower MMSE score, after adjusting for covariates. On the other hand, the consumption of cooked dishes and fruits was significantly associated with a better MMSE score. The adjusted OR for risk of cognitive impairment (MMSE score <24) was 3.30 (95% CI 2.15–5.08) for total sugars and 3.58 (95% CI 2.32–5.52) for free sugars, comparing the highest with the lowest intake percentiles.

Conclusion: Excessive sugar consumption among older adults showed a notable association with poor cognitive functions, but longitudinal studies and clinical trials are further needed to clarify the direction of causality and to investigate the underlying mechanism.Keywords: sugar intake, free sugar, sucrose, cognitive functions, older adultsGo to:

Background

Sugar, in the form of glucose, is the primary energy source for cognitive functions. However, excessive sugar consumption may lead to impaired memory, and link to an increased risk of dementia.1 WHO (2015) recommended “free sugar” intake of 25 g per day for an adult of normal BMI and the Malaysia dietary recommendation suggested intake of <10% of the total calories from total sugar.2 Nevertheless, the Food Balance Sheets showed that the amount of available sugar (kg per capita per year) has risen by 91% from 22.51 kg in 1963 to 42.96 kg in 2013. At this level, Malaysia ranks among the topmost countries in Asia concerning the availability of sugar.3 This dietary pattern that involves the rapid escalation of the availability of sugar is quite alarming, as it is related to an increase in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes.4,5

Sugar intake has also been linked with high blood glucose,4 high blood pressure,6 dyslipidemia,7 and a constellation of these metabolic risk factors, ie, the metabolic syndrome.8 Metabolic syndrome has been linked with cognitive impairment and type 2 diabetes is also considered to be a significant risk factor for impaired cognitive function. However, the effect of sugar consumption on cognitive health continues to be a controversial topic.

Data from animal studies have suggested that sugar intake might play a role in cognitive impairment. Studies have examined the effect of sugary diets on spatial learning and memory in the Morris Water Maze found that feeding rats with sugar solution (notable sucrose) showed impaired spatial learning and memory,9–12 while fructose-fed rats showed poorer long-term spatial memory with peripheral metabolic dysfunction (elevated serum glucose, insulin, and triglycerides).13 Accordingly, the results from animal studies provide strong evidence that sugar impairs spatial memory via damage to the hippocampus, a region known to be integral to spatial learning and memory.14

The limited human studies investigating high sugar intake also concurred that sugar consumption could have a significant impact on one’s cognitive abilities. A population-based study among Puerto-Ricans aged between 45 and 75 years old found that total sugars, added sugars, sucrose, glucose, added fructose, and sugar-sweetened beverages were each significantly inversely associated with cognitive function as assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).15 Additionally, in a dietary pattern study, Gustaw–Rothenberg investigated the dietary pattern of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients characterized as having a high intake of meat, butter, high-fat dairy products, eggs, and refined sugar as compared to the control.16 Similarly, Power et al, in a community-dwelling of an elderly Irish cohort found that the consumption of a high glycaemic diet was associated with impaired cognitive performance as assessed by the MMSE.17 Recently, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over experimental study was undertaken suggesting that the ingestion of glucose and sucrose led to lower performance of cognitive tasks, ie, simple response time, arithmetic, and Stroop interference.18 Most studies used a single test to determine the cognitive functions. Thus, the present study was conducted to determine the association between sugar intake and cognitive functions as measured by a series of cognitive tests ie digit span, Rey’s auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT), MMSE, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), digit symbol, and visual-reproduction test (VR) among multi-ethnic Malaysian older adults.

Sugar in excess may lead to mental disorders

Fructose and uric acid as drivers of a hyperactive foraging response: A clue to behavioral disorders associated with impulsivity or mania?

Author links open overlay panelRichard J.JohnsonaWilliam L.WilsonbSondra T.BlandcMiguel A.LanaspaaaFrom the Division of Renal Diseases, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of AmericabNew England Inpatient Specialists, North Andover, MA 01845, United States of AmericacDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80217, United States of America

Received 2 May 2020, Revised 27 September 2020, Accepted 28 September 2020, Available online 1 October 2020.Show lessAdd to MendeleyShareCitehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.09.006Get rights and content

Highlights

•

Recent studies show that fructose is a unique nutrient that stimulates an innate survival pathway for many species that involves the foraging for food with storage of the energy as fat.•

In Western Society the high intake of sugar has placed this survival pathway in overdrive, leading to an increase in obesity and diabetes.•

Excessive fructose intake may lead to a hyperactive foraging response, contributing to behavioral disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, manic depression, and aggressive behavior.

Abstract

Several behavioral disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and aggressive behaviors are linked with sugar intake and obesity. The reason(s) for this association has been unclear. Here we present a hypothesis supporting a role for fructose, a component of sugar and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and uric acid (a fructose metabolite), in increasing the risk for these behavioral disorders. Recent studies have shown that the reason fructose intake is strongly associated with development of metabolic syndrome is that fructose intake activates an evolutionary-based survival pathway that stimulates foraging behavior and the storage of energy as fat. While modest intake may aid animals that would like to store fat as a protective response from food shortage or starvation, we propose that high intake of sugar and HFCS causes a hyperactive foraging response that stimulates craving, impulsivity, risk taking and aggression that increases the risk for ADHD, bipolar disease and aggressive behavior. High glycemic carbohydrates and salty foods may also contribute as they can be converted to fructose in the body. Some studies suggest uric acid produced during fructose metabolism may mediate some of these effects. Chronic stimulation of the pathway could lead to desensitization of hedonic responses and induce depression. In conclusion, a hyperactive foraging response driven by high glycemic carbohydrates and sugars may contribute to affective disorders.

Life at Up Up and Away Investment Management International: Chapter 24 Largecorp’s contract game

Chapter 24

Largecorp’s contract game

Accompanying the downsizing and outsourcing largecorp is embracing the concept of contract employment. In many cases I have friends who have been on continually renewed contracts for over a decade.

There are several advantages to largecorp in availing itself of this strategy. It’s very easy to terminate a contract employee as in almost cases they have signed an employment offer and relinquished any rights they have to common law notice. This makes them cheaper than terminating non-contract employees. Additionally, there are no medical or pension benefits to pay a contract worker.

Not having the benefit of any meaty severance rights makes the contract employee very expendable and insecure. Ultimately cheap employees help the bottom line of largecorp. Yet to be determined legally is whether a decade long contract employee is and should be treated like a full-time employee.

Of course, on the downside largecorp realizes its contract employees have no loyalty and will hire themselves out to the highest bidder. Many continue to search for full time employment so one wonders what attention span they have while working at largecorp.

This expansion of a contract-based workforce is part of a strategy to strip out a full-time workforce to pave the way for artificial intelligence to replace almost all employees. In many cases this holding a contract employee in suspense until and if the contract renewal occurs is cruel. On the positive side they are free from the largecorp programmes and bullshit foistered on full time employees. And many can incorporate and deduct expenses from their income. These contract workers also not slaves to largecorp’s unpaid overtime abuse.

However you slice and dice it a new class of largecorp employee has been created. A second-class free agent employee devoid of control of the ideological tentacles of largecorp. No allegiances. Distrust of largecorp. Again, we must ask if this is only part of the beginning of the end for largecorp. My view it is a shameful ploy to emasculate its workplace, save money and treat contract employees in a more cattlelike manner than regular employees are.

Let’s not forget the lavish employment contracts members of the Senior Management Team receive when they are terminated which in their sphere is often referred to as “retiring”. Often a “consulting contract” is offered for up to a couple years to help “transition” the SMT member function to a replacement SMT member. They are offered as hush money in the form of a generous severance package which under the guise of these consulting contracts help them “save face” and avoid high level litigation that may cause reputational damage to largecorp. Treat a regular joe like an expendable commodity that is fine but mistreating a high level management employee is more likely to hit the media.

Life at Up Up and Away Investment Management International: Chapter 23 Outsourcing and downsizing as largecorp’s biggest products of Misery

Chapter 23

Outsourcing and downsizing as largecorp’s biggest products of misery

Not being a business school graduate, I am uncertain where the terms “outsourcing” and “downsizing” originated. They are somewhat neutral but hide a good deal of misery. I can say however that I have lived through both and they continue to be the nasty underside of largecorp and most likely will be a force in their demise.

Downsizing means mass firings. The fact downsizing occurs is frequently the result of poor management of the Senior Management Team. Had they been managing largecorp properly there would be no need for downsizing. The excuse most often pointed to is “rising expenditures” which reduce profits and get the analysts all lathered up. The goal is to become “more competitive”.

I have been through mass culls by CRAP and Up Up and Away where thousands were fired. The untold and incalculable misery caused by downsizing is massive. It hurts both victims, spouses, the family and the communities they live in. It shatters the confidence of the remaining employees as they wait bathed in fear and stress for their heads to be on the chopping block during the inevitable next round of downsizing. Further stress is heaped upon them as someone must fill in for the tasks formerly done by the victims.

A companion to downsizing is salary freezes, a frenzy of activity over cutting expenses and often hiring freezes. All these compound the misery of the survivors.

Strangely the SMT incentive payments and enhanced pension benefits keep rolling in and increasing at that!

Then a few years later hopefully profits increase and hiring freezes are maintained as why not keep the remaining employees working to the bone? Work them until they break like mules.

I think a few wise employees realize that the goal of largecorp is to have artificial intelligence reduce as many employees as possible, so downsizing will continue until machines and computers replace employees and create a mass of unemployed and a small group of wealthy senior management types. Social unrest will increase, and a social revolution will take down largecorp and its fat cats or alternatively the revolution will be defeated and the financial tyranny of largecorp will be augmented by political tyranny.

Largecorp creates the seeds of its downfall as the victims see largecorp for what it is. Any trust and respect for all largecorps by its employees and now the general public is transformed into a fiery ball of cynicism and disgust aimed right back at largecorp. Many of the victims of largecorp do end up working for another largecorp but they become actors playing a role solely for the pay. Loyalty is but a joke. Dislike and distrust for the SMT runs rampant. Retirement is an escape into freedom from the tyranny of largecorp ad the welcome bliss of a government pension income below the poverty line.

Outsourcing is more of a silent killer unless it results in downsizing. However, in many cases it means not hiring a local employee but instead hiring a dirt-cheap foreign employee. The central idea is the same and that is to reduce costs. Pay a Mexican assembly line worker $2 an hour which is much cheaper than the $35 an hour the unionized Canadian worker is paid not to mention a generous benefit package tacked onto that nice hourly wage.

In the long run increasing outsourcing raises the standard of living of the foreign workers until at a point they become too expensive for largecorp who then looks to source a new cheaper labour market. As India becomes too expensive the outsourcing then shifts to China or the Philippines. At one point will there be no cheap labour markets so that outsourcing is no longer useful to largecorp?

I note former President Trump’s attempt at bringing back jobs to the United States. Outsourcing is becoming a big American political theme. I recall the Governor of New York and the Mayor of New York City praising the CEO of Up Up and Away New York for being a big New York State employer while it was setting up huge outsourcing operations in Warsaw, Shanghai, Mumbai and Punnai. And when artificial intelligence replaces any need for employees this will include outsourced employees. Many politicians are about as stupid and incapable of management just like the SMT of a largecorp.

It is probably too late to do anything about stopping downsizing and outsourcing. I am not sure what Bully Trump and his successors could do to stop the bleeding? About the only solution I can think of is establishing a punitive tax regime for largecorp that downsize and outsource and a favourable one for largecorps that refrain from outsourcing and downsizing. The result is a more impoverished Third World that will not doubt lead to political and religious radicalization threatening the New American Dream.

Now in Up Up and Away New York’s case its first outsourcing location was Canada! The Canadian dollar was weak and the Toronto workplace was highly educated and culturally and linguistically Canada was very similar to the United States.800 jobs in Toronto were created servicing clients throughout the globe.

Some outsourcing is necessary as many countries in which Up Up and Away America operated in did not have English as their first language, so some local servicing and administrative type employees were required. Additionally, some legislation in these jurisdictions required a local corporation to be set up and locally licensed employees to provide regulated services to clients.

Yes I was downsized by CRAP as my gut feeling was , which turned out to be correct, they were selling my division to a competitor and close to 100 of my fellow employees followed me out the door. I remember being humiliated and very angry. Although if it were to happen again just give me my severance package and good riddance. Of course, may Felicity Poker and her henchman at Ooze & Ooze, Brian Cochon, rot in hell. And I am not going to tell you what I plan to do on their gravestones.

Life at Up Up and Away Investment Management: Chapter 22 Twelve Tips for getting ahead at largecorp

Chapter 22

Twelve tips on how to get ahead at largecorp

1. Never complain or criticize

Be very careful about criticizing or complaining about largecorp in a public forum whether it be in the workplace or social media. This may constitute a valid reason for your termination. To the world you will communicate that largecorp is a wonderful place for you to work at. Remember the phrase used in repressive political regimes namely that, “The walls have ears”. Who knows who what informant might be within largecorp.

2. Praise your Senior Management Team

Your Senior Management Team is bursting with brilliant ideas that are going to increase profits. It is irrelevant for your purposes to note most of the profit ends up in their pockets. Put another way do not bite the hand that feeds you. Like a dictatorial political regime the only news permitted by the SMT is positive news unless it comes from within the SMT. Look at poor Winston and Julia in George Orwell’s “1984”.

3. Work like a dog

Forget any baloney you hear from the largecorp Human Relations Department about how you should lead a balanced life. Never take a full maternity or parental leave. Best to limit your family life or pursue any hobbies so go ahead and hire a nanny. Working out is seen by largecorp as acceptable as it builds your resistance to stress at little or no cost to largecorp. Some week-end work is mandatory. Late nights too! Of course, the more you do the more is expected of you. Don’t think of this as a vicious circle that will take a physical and mental toll on you. Why do you think you have disability and medical plans?

4. Be kind to the peons below you

Your Human Resources Department does not like difficult to get along with people. Let the nastiness amongst the SMT remain within the SMT or be directed towards low life employees. Respect is the right attitude towards those who report to you and work with you.

5. Skip coffee breaks and lunches

Unless you are expected to lunch with clients it is best to avoid taking a lunch hour or coffee break. Nothing smells more like a unionized attitude. Largecorp hates unions unless its leaders are in the SMT pocket in which case unions are ideal for keeping employees in line. Speaking of lunches, no alcohol. Boozy lunches are a thing of the past. It’s Perrier for you. Eating lunch at your desk wins you points. Interesting that it is an established fact from the medical community that that lunch and coffee breaks increase productivity. The failure by the SMT to encourage breaks once again illustrates their poor management skills.

6. Easy on the shrimp!

At client receptions sponsored by largecorp eat no more than three shrimp and make that glass of wine last a long time. You are not there to eat and have an enjoyable time. Networking is the name of the game.

7. No personal use of the internet

Big brother can monitor you.

8. Forget having an affair

They tend to blow up in a messy fashion, so you are taking a chance. You should prefer your reputation as opposed to your lust.

9. Be helpful and available

Sally Self was a master of portraying an image of helpfulness and availability. And her fellow SMT members took away a very positive view of this particularly useful behaviour as it was also solely directed to her fellow members of the SMT and not to her staff.

10. Do not die on the job nor contract a fatal disease

These are career limiting moves. Being a victim of workplace stress and going on disability is just about equal to dying however on the bright side at least you get paid for it if your largecorp group insurer if largecorp has a short- and long-term disability plan.Good luck on prying out and long term disability payments!

11. Do not outshine your boss

If your list of accomplishments begins to start looking superior to the person you are reporting to then you risk a jealous revenge which in my case with Felicity Poker along with some blackmail by Brian Cochon resulted in my termination from CRAP.

12. Take those internal training courses

Eagerly enroll in courses offered by largecorp. Remember you are a team player. Not taking them reflects negativity on your attitude towards self development.

Canadian Red Cross Stepping in to Support Crumbling Long Term Care In Ontario

NEWS RELEASE

Federal government funds Canadian Red Cross Supporting up to 20 Additional Long-Term Care and Retirement Homes

Ontario Welcomes Federal Assistance in Fighting COVID-19 Outbreaks

December 23, 2020

Long-Term Care

Table of Contents

  1. Content
  2. Quick Facts
  3. Additional Resources
  4. Related Topics

TORONTO — Through funding provided by the federal government, Canadian Red Cross teams are providing short-term support to an additional 20 long-term care and retirement homes in Ontario. They will assist with ongoing efforts to keep residents, staff and caregivers safe in homes facing significant challenges due to COVID-19.

Today’s announcement is an expansion of the province’s existing partnership with the federal government for seven long-term care homes. It will see the Canadian Red Cross’s support expanded to include retirement homes and will continue until at least the end of March 2021.

The Canadian Red Cross will assist each home with their individual needs. In addition to supporting the improvement of infection prevention and control measures, they may also help with daily living activities such as the delivery of meals, housekeeping and light cleaning duties. Resident Support Aides will also continue to socialize and engage with residents so that the home’s frontline workers can continue to focus on providing direct quality care to residents.

“Combatting COVID-19 has required all levels of government to work together, and by expanding our partnership with the Canadian Red Cross we will be able to better protect and care for our most vulnerable,” said Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care. “To further improve care, we have developed a comprehensive staffing plan which sets out actions to hire more staff, improve working conditions for existing staff, drive effective and accountable leadership, and implement retention strategies.”

Conditions at long-term care homes and across the province continue to be monitored and tracked daily. The Ontario government will work closely with the Canadian Red Cross to determine which homes would benefit most from their assistance and what supports are most helpful. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with all involved parties.

“As all regions of Canada continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government will continue to be there, in lock step with provinces and territories to provide support where it is needed most. We will continue to provide support to provinces and territories to use the Red Cross to bolster their COVID-19 response efforts,” said the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. “Our nation’s seniors deserve to be safe, respected, and live in dignity, and we will be there for them and for their families during this difficult time.”

“COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges not seen for generations. Together, we can push back against this terrible pandemic, and protect our most vulnerable,” said Raymond Cho, Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. “We appreciate all Ontarians, and indeed all Canadians, who are stepping up to keep our seniors safe.”

“The impacts of COVID-19 continue to put the most vulnerable at risk. The Red Cross is committed to providing expertise and support to staff and residents in long-term care and retirement homes in Ontario,” said Tanya Elliott, Vice President, Ontario at the Canadian Red Cross. “We are continuing to build our capacity to continue to be ready to provide this vital assistance to communities most in need. The Red Cross is recruiting for a variety of positions and encourage Canadians who wish to make a difference to apply.”

Assistance from the Canadian Red Cross works hand-in-hand with other measures Ontario has taken on behalf of long-term care residents and staff, including investments of over $780 million in emergency funding, regulatory flexibility, expanded testing, direction and guidance on outbreak management, and infection prevention and control.

Additionally, the government has released A Better Place to Live; A Better Place to Work: Ontario’s Long-Term Care Staffing Plan which delivers on an historic commitment to increase hours of daily direct care to four hours per day for each long-term care resident. To support the plan the province is investing up to $1.9 billion annually by 2024-25 to create more than 27,000 new positions for personal support workers, registered nurses and registered practical nurses.

Quick Facts

  • Since October, the Canadian Red Cross has assisted in seven long-term care homes. They have completed their work in four, assisting the homes to stabilize and return to normal operations.
  • The province’s vaccine strategy prioritizes the most vulnerable populations first, including health care workers and residents of long-term care homes, who are at higher risk of contracting the virus.
  • Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover sets out a total of $45 billion in support over three years to make available the necessary health resources to continue protecting people, deliver critical programs and tax measures to support individuals, families and job creators impacted by the virus, and lay the groundwork for a robust long-term economic recovery for the province
  • In total, the government has made $15.2 billion available to support Ontario’s frontline healthcare heroes and protect people from COVID-19. This includes supporting 141 hospitals and health care facilities, and 626 long-term care homes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Do Americans Have a Few loose Screws in their Brain?

I hear that as of yesterday some 3.1 million Americans have been subject to security screens at United States airports which have seen their busiest days since the beginning of the plague.

Despite health officials warning Americans about the danger of travel when case counts and hospitalizations are busting open the health care system in the United States it seems like visiting mommy and daddy and siblings in a highly congregate setting is a kamikaze mission willingly undertaken by Americans. Is this a libertarian statement or is ignorance bliss? Memorial Day, July 4th and American Thanksgiving all have led to spikes in cases and hospitalizations and at the breaking points the skies are full of Americans flying to a family reunion and a spike that may leave many in the hospital hallways gasping for breath. Why not have another maskless Trump rally to celebrate his coup d’etat?!

Hoping there are sufficient refrigerated trucks at the waiting for the body count. Americans are in for an exciting Christmas while we obedient Canadians will be at home spending a lonely Chritsmas.

CDC warns of severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 Vaccinations

COVID-19 Vaccines and Severe Allergic Reactions

Updated Dec. 19, 2020LanguagesPrint

CDC has learned of reports that some people have experienced severe allergic reactions—also known as anaphylaxis—after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. As an example, an allergic reaction is considered severe when a person needs to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen© or if they must go to the hospital.

This page will be updated as quickly as possible when we get new information.

If you get a COVID-19 vaccine and you think you might be having a severe allergic reaction after leaving the vaccination site, seek immediate medical care by calling 911.

What CDC Recommends

If you have ever had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine, CDC recommends that you should not get that specific vaccine. If you have had a severe allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies, you should ask your doctor if you should get a COVID-19 vaccine. Your doctor will help you decide if it is safe for you to get vaccinated.

CDC recommends that people with a history of severe allergic reactions not related to vaccines or injectable medications—such as allergies to food, pet, venom, environmental, or latex—may still get vaccinated. People with a history of allergies to oral medications or a family history of severe allergic reactions, or who might have an milder allergy to vaccines (no anaphylaxis)—may also still get vaccinated.

If you have a severe allergic reaction after getting the first shot, you should not get the second shot. Your doctor may refer you to a specialist in allergies and immunology to provide more care or advice.

Safeguards Are in Place

CDC has provided recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination providers about how to prepare for the possibility of a severe allergic reaction:

  • All people who get a COVID-19 vaccine should be monitored on-site. People with a history of severe allergic reactions should be monitored for 30 minutes after getting the vaccine. All other people should be monitored for 15 minutes after getting the vaccine.
  • Vaccination providers should have appropriate medications and equipment—such as epinephrine, antihistamines, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and timing devices to check your pulse—at all COVID-19 vaccination sites.
  • If you experience a severe allergic reaction after getting a COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination providers should provide rapid care and call for emergency medical services. You should continue to be monitored in a medical facility for at least several hours.

Learn more about what to expect after getting vaccinated for COVID-19, including normal side effects and tips to reduce pain or discomfort.

CDC Is Monitoring Reports of Severe Allergic Reactions

If someone has a severe allergic reaction after getting vaccinated, their vaccination provider will send a report to the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS).external icon VAERS is the national system that collects reports from healthcare professionals, vaccine manufacturers, and the public about adverse events that happen after vaccination. Reports of adverse events that are unexpected, appear to happen more often than expected, or have unusual patterns are followed up with specific studies.

Learn more about how federal partners are monitoring the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.