Importanttigerartisan - Untitled

IN THESE TIMES

You’ve been fired. According to your employer’s data, your facial expressions showed you were insubordinate and not trustworthy. You also move your hands at a rate that is considered substandard. Other companies you may want to work for could receive this data, making it difficult for you to find other work in this field.

That may sound like a scenario straight out of a George Orwell novel, but it’s the future many American workers could soon be facing.

In early February, media outlets reported that Amazon had received a patent for ultrasonic wristbands that could track the movement of warehouse workers’ hands during their shifts. If workers’ hands began moving in the wrong direction, the wristband would buzz, issuing an electronic corrective. If employed, this technology could easily be used to further surveil employees who already work under intense supervision.

Whole Foods, which is now owned by Amazon, recently instituted a complex and punitive inventory system where employees are graded based on everything from how quickly and effectively they stock shelves to how they report theft. The system is so harsh it reportedly causes employees enough stress to bring them to tears on a regular basis.

UPS drivers, who often operate individually on the road, are now becoming increasingly surveilled. Sensors in every UPS truck track when drivers’ seatbelts are put on, when doors open and close and when the engines start in order to monitor employee productivity at all times.

The technology company Steelcase has experimented with monitoring employees’ faces to judge their expressions. The company claims that this innovation, which monitors and analyzes workers’ facial movements throughout the work day, is being used for research and to inform best practices on the job. Other companies are also taking interest in this kind of mood-observing technology, from Bank of America to Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.

These developments are part of a larger trend of workers being watched and judged—often at jobs that offer low pay and demand long hours. Beyond simply tracking worker performance, it is becoming more common for companies to monitor the emails and phone calls their employees make, analyzing personal traits along with output.

Some companies are now using monitoring techniques—referred to as “people analytics”—to learn as much as they can about you, from your communication patterns to what types of websites you visit to how often you use the bathroom. This type of privacy invasion can cause employees immense stress, as they work with the constant knowledge that their boss is aware of their every behavior—and able to use that against them as they see fit.

Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute at Cornell University, tells In These Times that the level of surveillance workers are facing is increasing exponentially.

“If you look at what some people call ‘people analytics,’ it’s positively frightening,” Maltby says. “People analytics devices get how often you talk, the tone of your voice, where you are every single second you’re at work, your body language, your facial expressions and something called ‘patterns of interaction.’” He explains that some of these devices even record what employees say at work.

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I read somewhere about the idea that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, another way of saying don't try to be perfect but do something and learn from the experience. It's a great idea.

Some folks look for answers, others look for fights

LET ME EMPHASIZE AGAIN: THE US GOT PAID 30 YEARS AGO TO DEFEND UKRAINE

Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal 30 years ago in exchange for promises of protection.

“I don’t think we have an honest president. I don’t think he is surrounded by honest people. I don’t think most of the people in congress or in the senate are honest. I don’t believe that they are honest people … I think the proof of that is the way the country operates. I don’t think that most of the people who head up businesses are honest … I believe they are dishonest. I believe we have allowed them to be … we’re letting them do it because we’re not honest enough to face up to the fact that we are owned and operated by a bunch of really bad people.” - Frank Zappa

I’ve said it all along. So many things wrong with that day, including the reactions of the Secret Service agents. (Watch their reaction when Trump was allegedly ‘shot’ and compare it to the agents reactions when Reagan was actually shot.)

Even a graze from the alleged rifle would have taken off the entire ear. Truthful, knowledgeable marksmen will verify. As will any credible ER/trauma physician.

So. Many. Things. Wrong.