Experts on Everything: A Newspaper Tells You How to Run Your Business

The Idaho Statesmen has expanded it’s “wise ones of everything” bit to workplace practices, writing:

Hey, didja hear about the four workers who got fired for dishing dirt about the boss?
No kidding. Happened in Hooksett, N.H. (like we could make up a name like that). These four worked for the town government. They started gabbing about two other town employees, including the town administrator.

So he had ‘em canned.

That oughta shut ‘em up.

And it oughta worry us all.

Stuff like this sets a bad example. It gives free speech a pop in the mouth.

We’ll concede that gossip can be impolite, mean-spirited and hurtful. We’re not condoning that you start or spread a bunch of rumors about your supervisor or your least favorite politico (or, for that matter, about the friendly folks on your local newspaper’s editorial board).

Friendly folks? They must have made some staff changes since I met with them in 2004 when I ran for the Legislature.

The new folks must have no first hand experience with the damage that gossip can do to an organization, be it a business, a church, or a community. It is corrosive. A gossip can wreak havoc on a workplace, destroy retention, and ruin lives, and reputations. The wreckage from gossips line the failings of a multitude of businesses and countless church splits.

One also has to wonder how much religious liberty do the Stateman Employees enjoy. Can they stand on their desks when they’re on break and tell you about Christ? Can Two Mormon employees go desk to desk handing out copies of the Book of Mormon? I doubt it. These are all free speech, freedom of religion activities away from work, but away is the key thing. I don’t really have the same freedom of speech when I go to work as I do when I’m sitting at home writing on my blog. The Statesmen adds bizarrely:

Trouble is, one person’s gossip is another person’s whistleblowing. When bosses start using the power of the pink slip to stop tawdry talk, it’s a short slide down the proverbial slippery slope to muzzle any expression that’s possibly (but not demonstrably) bad for business or somewhat (yet vaguely) out of step with a work place’s “image.” What’s next? A bumper sticker? An off-hours blog? A letter to the editor?

And then you’re stopped from using absurd slippery slopes, and then Nazis come and take you to concentration camps. What the heck?

This type of sad and silly relativism leads to a breakdown in any understandable code of conduct.

If you’re blowing the Whistle, you should be talking to your boss’ Internal superior or an administrative official. If you’re talking to a fellow employee (to do anything other than ask for advice) you’re gossiping and anyone can tell it.

While I agree your off-hours activity and bumper stickers on your car are not the employer’s business unless there’s a conflict of interest, this is a huge red herring. Did any of these people study logic? Apparently not. The quality of editorials at the Statesman has dropped off in recent weeks, but this marks a low.

Fascinating Reading Round Up

I’m having a build up good and interesting that I’ve read but don’t have much to say much about. So, it’s time for a round up:

I was uncertain of Scott Ott’s points system for members of Congress, but when it promised to send 93% of Congressmen home that sold me.

Despite whatever disagreements, I have with my younger brother, I have to be thankful that our differences don’t come anywhere close to those between Christopher Hitchers and his brother, Peter, who offers a critique of his brother’s book (“God Is Not Great”) (Hat Tip: Dawn Patrol.)

A Rhode Island Catholic Bishop compares Rudy Giuliani to Pontious Pilate:

Rudy’s preposterous position is compounded by the fact that he professes to be a Catholic. As Catholics, we are called, indeed required, to be pro-life, to cherish and protect human life as a precious gift of God from the moment of conception until the time of natural death.

God bless Him. Were he an Evangelical, he’d be criticized for not being seeker-friendly. Sad to say.

This piece from the News Record in Greensboro, North Carolina showed me that while I was far kinder to Jerry Falwell than the liberals, I may have been a tad too dismissive of him. The author was a Liberty University alumni and records some of Falwell’s spot on wisdom:

4. Tell people about the vision God has put on your heart, because this will motivate you to work toward it. Falwell believed that we should plan specifically, write our “game plan” down on paper, and show it to others. (He derived this from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, chapter 2). Going public with one’s personal calling is an initial step in beginning to follow through on the mission.

5. Leaders are ones who exchange all of the little options for the “one big dream.” Falwell had wanted to be an athlete. Then a journalist. He probably could have done either. But when he found the Lord, Christian service became the only option.

6. Don’t be ashamed to promote your cause and yourself. When Falwell would begin to repeat the ministry’s history, students in chapel services might roll their eyes and sigh, “Oh no. Here we go again. The story of how all this started in the Donald Duck soft drink bottling factory…” But I used to carefully watch Falwell tell his story. He never told it boastfully. He didn’t mind asking you to buy into it, because after all, it was God who was driving it.

Wow, I ought to put those on my wall, Lord knows I need to remember them. Hat Tip: World Magazine.

The winner of this year’s spelling bee? Another home-schooler! 2040: Home-Schoolers rule the world, mark my words.

College Graduates are turning to Community and Technical Colleges after not finding a good job with their degree. Apparently, English Degrees don’t bring the big bucks. Yet another good reason for us to have approved Western Idaho College in the Treasure Valley.

Half of Southern Bapitst pastors believe in the validity of “private prayer language.” (aka Speaking in Tongues in private prayer.) That’s nice, but there are only three relevant parties on this issue: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Governor Mike Beebe (D-Ar.) may be my new favorite Democrat Governor. Can’t remember the last one but Beebe has cut the grocery tax in half (take some notes, Governor Otter.) and now is speaking some common sense on a slavery apology.

“Race relations and the ability of people to get along is based upon deeds more than it is words and we’ll be judged by how we treat one another. That’s how we should be judged.”

Indeed.

The Easy Way Out Isn’t the Way Out

Their are mature adults who opposed the war in Iraq. Let’s be honest. I didn’t embrace it going in. In recent conversations, I’ve talked about our need to maintain national honor and a credible reputation. Yet, Iraq War skeptics, including journalists covering Iraq, General Anthony Zinni, and Sunni States that opposed Operation Iraqi Freedom have been honest: the result of U.S. withdrawal is likely expansion of the war and an eventual US return to a much bigger conflict in a few years. (Hat Tip: Instapundit)

Also, the Las Vegas Review Journal is picking up on the broken promises of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat Congress on spending and ethics. (another hat tip: Instapundit)

We also talk about slavery and sexual trafficking in the United States.

Also, in order to balance, serious substantive stories, I talk about some of the stories that are passing for news elsewhere in my non-news Commentary section.

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Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, The Random Yak, DeMediacratic Nation, Maggie’s Notebook, Shadowscope, Webloggin, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Colloquium, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, third world county, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Planck’s Constant, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

A Fair Game

Today, as I was waiting for my turn as a guest on Top Story with Kelly Klaas and Scott Martin, a discussion broke out over closed primaries and both confessed that they didn’t get it and were quite concerned by it. A challenge was given to explain why we need closed primaries and what bad had ever occured from having open primaries.

Well, I was on a bit of a tight schedule. The show was focused on Dan Popkey’s adventures in Washington, DC gay bars, and Scott and Kelly were gracious enough to give me a chance to plug my blog. Had I taken their original full invitation, I would have had half an hour, but in 20 minutes (give or take) I didn’t have time to answer the challenge. So, let me go ahead and take a crack at it for my kind hosts

Let’s imagine two baseball teams will meet on opening day. The pitchers and fielders chosen will decide the outcome of the game. Now imagine that a General Manager of one teams gets to choose the players for the other.

Doesn’t quite seem fair. Yet, this is the situation that exists in Idaho with the Open Primary where Democrats can and often do cross over to choose the Republican nominee. Some people have used this to try and support a weak candidate:

Personally, I think Dems ought to vote for Vasquez. Although he has done well raising money so far, immigration has been a hot issue. There is no guarantee that it will stay hot, and his money could trickle off for the general. Being outside the establishment he won’t be able to raise funds as well as an insider. Also, the racist right probably won’t vote for him. And last, in the event that the R beats Larry Grant, I’d rather be stuck with Vasquez than Sali.

Some have used it to try and choose a more liberal candidate

Bill Cope of the Boise Weekly warned the D’s to vote for Sorensen instead of Sali, reminding them that the last time they helped a “weak” Republican candidate in the primary, that Helen Chenoweth-Hage became a three-term incumbent.

When i was in Montana, they also have the open primary season. In the 2002 race for Flathead Valley Commissioner, an incumbent was ousted by the Mayor of Columbia Falls. After the election, word began to sift through the grapevine that the winner’s election had come as a result of Democratic cross-over in the primaries. Eventually, this contributed to the incumbment Commissioner launching a write-in bid that got 12% of the vote. Had the Democrats not nomianted a weaker candidate, Democrats could have been the net beneficiary of this, and in the long term they may have been, as this frayed relations in the GOP.

What happened? A lot of activists came to the conclusion that even though the process of crossover voting was perfectly legal, it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t legitimate, the nomination had been stolen! This made the job harder on the Republican nominee, the Republican Party, and eventually the County. It was a corruption of the political process where in a lightly contested year, Republicans saw Democrats choose their nominee. I should add that the Republican that was chosen did turn out to be a fine commissioner, but had his victory not been tained by Democrat Crossovers, he would have had an easier time. Some might not be satified because this example comes from Montana. Really, Montana’s laws on open primaries are just the same as Idaho’s. Part of wisdom is avoiding other’s mistakes, not insisting they happen here first.

The primary is for members of the party to choose their nominees. Our open primaries are an absurdity that are unfair and discourage political activism. Our political parties are First Amendment Associations that have the right to choose the folks who represent them. Then, everybody (member or not) can choose whether they like the Republicans, the Democrats, or one of the Independent or Third Party Candidates out there. What the advocates of open primaries are saying is that Republicans have no right to pick their nominees as the Democrats can handle that for them. Thus we have the Red Sox getting to choose who plays for the Yankees.

Our current system is not only unfair to party activists, but tempts people to behave dishonestly, by tampering with the other party’s primary. It’s unfair to those who are real Republicans who see their votes cancelled by jokers. Should the farthest left liberal nut in Idaho have as much say as me in who the GOP nominates? I think not. Having seen the uproar open primaries caused in Montana, I will strongly fight to see them end in Idaho.

Radio Show Guest Midweek Open Trackbacks

I got a surprising e-mail from a radio show in Twin Falls yesterday. They’d like me to be a guest on their program. While I’ve guested on a few podcasts, this will be my first actual radio appearance since 1995. Here’s hopin’ I don’t choke.

Now, onto today’s trackback party. Here are the rules.

1) Post about anything that’s in good taste. No porn, no spam, no profanity.
2) Send me a trackback of any tasteful post you want and as soon as I check my blog, I’ll update this post with your link provided you link back to this thread. If your software won’t allow you to send trackbacks, just use the Wizbang Standalone Pinger.
3) Deadline is Wednesday at 11:00 PM MT. Further trackbacks won’t be posted after that time.

For your convenience here’s today’s link. If you’re a registered user, the, trackback should appear below. If not, here’s the process:

Enter the characters as shown in the box and something like this should appear

This is a Trackback URL that’s good one time only so that we can seperate humans from spammer bots.

Below are other great parties:

Linking In:

The Florida Masochist:

The Knuckleheads of the Day award
Today’s winners are Media Rights Technologies and Bluebeat.com.

Ask Andrea

carnival of Christian advice – June 4, 2007 Edition
The next edition will be on July 10th, in observance of the 4th (my fifth anniversary, naturally. What, did you think I meant Independence day?)
We have some great entries this time . . .

The Florida Masochist:

From the Silly News Desk
Some news from Japan. I would think it would easier(and safer) to call in to work claiming a bad headache. Even in Japan.

TOKYO – A Japanese policeman distraught by working long hours and weekends for two months stabbed himself in the stomach with…

The Florida Masochist:

Norris Hall to reopen
I still think the University should rename the hall after Professor Librescu. If not for that brave man, more people would have died.

Expect the reaction of the families of those who died on April 16th to be mixed. As it will be from students and …

Open Trackbacks

The Unequal Treatment of Islam by Public Schools

Schools teach Islam in ways that would gain lawsuits if Christianity were the topic.

I discuss this in depth on today’s podcast. (#270)

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Related:

Wizbang! Blog:

How Would You Feel If Your 7th Grader Particpated In This?