Small Acts of Resistance

[gotsnowgotslush]

Individual acts may not be as impressive, or effective as group efforts. But, everything does count.

US President Donald Trump's @realdonaldtrump Twitter account was deactivated by a Twitter employee who was leaving the company on Thursday and was down for 11 minutes before it was restored, the social media company said.

"We have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer-support employee who did this on the employee's last day. We are conducting a full internal review," Twitter said in a tweet.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...nald-trumps-account-on-last-day-a8034831.html

 

[someoneyouknow]

Sorry, no. There are many things one can do, but in IT the one thing you never do is screw with someone else's data/account/access/whatever when you leave.

I have access to large amounts of information, very personal and damaging information. My organization trusts me not to reveal any of it. It's called being a professional.

I'm sure there are those who will still hire this person because, the con artist, but do you really want someone who will do this? What if you get on their bad side? Don't you think they'd do something similar, or worse, to you?

There are numerous stories out there of of admins and others who left or were fired, then did something to the company's property, and went to jail for it. I'm not saying this went that far, but to trust this person in any IT capacity one has to be delusional.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Then, early evening Eastern Time,
at a quarter to seven o’clock
Americans from sea to sea
suffered quite a shock
For anyone who tried to check out potus missives
they had missed
Were met with a simple message:
“Sorry, that page doesn’t exist!”

What was it like, that silence?
That blissful, peaceful sound
That fell on Earth like Christmas snow
when potus’s tweets could not be found?


You know when you have tinnitus,
and the ringing suddenly stops?
Or when the volume of your next-door neighbor’s party
finally drops?
Or when a dog outside stops barking?
Or a screaming baby falls asleep?
Or a car alarm stops honking and you’re so glad
you want to weep?
Or an early-morning construction crew
heeds your cease-and-desist letter?
It was like all of that at once, my friends—
but way, way, way better.
What had happened?
Who had done it,
this heroic, sneaky deed?


“A rogue employee!” tweeted potus,
once his account had been restored;

(Just picture him offline in the West Wing: confused, irate, so bored.)


And yet it must be said that no great damage
has been done
But, rather, a service rendered,
for which each and every one
Of us should thank that Twitter employee,
that bold, anonymous hero
Who strode forward, and, with a click or two,
took the fiddle away from Nero.

From-

The Day POTUS’s Twitter Went Dark: A Chronicle in Verse
author- Alexandra Schwartz

Entire message at this link-

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-day-potus-twitter-went-dark-a-chronicle-in-verse

 

[someoneyouknow]

Cowards. Just like Antifa who hide behind black masks to commit crimes.

Like the KKK?

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Fine for me, but not for thee


On Monday, the company explained—in a six-part tweet thread, no less—that it would make an exception to its rules for Trump because of the “newsworthiness” and “public interest” value of his tweets. In other words, Twitter has implied that it will never censor Trump. These factors, Twitter explained, are taken into account for all content posted to Twitter that would seem to violate its content policy.


September 26, 2017

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/201...mass-death-wont-get-trump-banned-from-twitter

 

[sr71plt]

Mixed feeling about this. The tweets are going to help bring him down.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

November 6, 2017

In late October on a Virginian roadway, Juli Briskman was captured flipping off the president’s motorcade on film. After she told her employers, government contractor Akima LLC, that she was the one in the now-circulating photo, they promptly fired her.

Briskman says she argued that she should be able to keep her job, since a male colleague was only reprimanded for calling someone a “fucking libtard asshole” on Facebook. But Akima told her that as government contractors, rude hand gestures towards the president is bad for business. Which is probably true, the president is very sensitive.

https://theslot.jezebel.com/woman-who-flipped-off-trumps-motorcade-has-been-fired-1820188821

"You're a fucking libtard asshole."

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/facebookshot.png

 

[sr71plt]

November 6, 2017

In late October on a Virginian roadway, Juli Briskman was captured flipping off the president’s motorcade on film. After she told her employers, government contractor Akima LLC, that she was the one in the now-circulating photo, they promptly fired her.

Briskman says she argued that she should be able to keep her job, since a male colleague was only reprimanded for calling someone a “fucking libtard asshole” on Facebook. But Akima told her that as government contractors, rude hand gestures towards the president is bad for business. Which is probably true, the president is very sensitive.

https://theslot.jezebel.com/woman-who-flipped-off-trumps-motorcade-has-been-fired-1820188821

"You're a fucking libtard asshole."

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/facebookshot.png

She should sue. Doesn't sound that supportable grounds. Not like a death threat.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Whether they should or not is not the question. Her employer has a right to fire her and they have the right to not fire the male employee she mentioned.

 

[snugglestruggle]

Resistance? To what, President Trump? Keep pissing in the wind lol.

 

[KimGordon67]

Whether they should or not is not the question. Her employer has a right to fire her and they have the right to not fire the male employee she mentioned.

Really? Workers have absolutely no rights or legal protection in the US and can just be fired at whim?

 

[Boxlicker101]

Really? Workers have absolutely no rights or legal protection in the US and can just be fired at whim?

Not quite but, in this case, she could be fired for her actions. And it was not a whim.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Really? Workers have absolutely no rights or legal protection in the US and can just be fired at whim?

Depends on the state.

Most don't have rights and working is an at will/contract base, because freedom.

The states who hate freedom don't allow that.
http://www.nrtw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2017-with-Missouri.jpg

Surprise surprise....most of the freedom haters are in blue states.

 

[KimGordon67]

Not quite but, in this case, she could be fired for her actions. And it was not a whim.

So expressing a political opinion in your non-work time is a sackable offence?

How's that whole 'free speech' thing working out for y'all?

 

[KimGordon67]

Depends on the state.

Most don't have rights and working is an at will/contract base, because freedom.

The states who hate freedom don't allow that.
http://www.nrtw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2017-with-Missouri.jpg

Surprise surprise....most of the freedom haters are in blue states.

Sure ... in a low employment economy, the fact that employers can just fire you at will is total 'freedom'.

 

[Boxlicker101]

So expressing a political opinion in your non-work time is a sackable offence?

How's that whole 'free speech' thing working out for y'all?

It can be a sackable offense.

If this were a gov. office, that would be a different matter. But there's no such thing as free speech in private industry.

 

[JawnKarTurr]

Keep Resisting

Make jokes about the president...threaten to kill him

Break things...call everyone a racist...threaten free speech


Support your representatives in Congress to do nothing (not much of a challenge for them).


Yeah stay Hilary strong and keep holding a grudge after all this isn't your America.

 

[Hypoxia]

Sure ... in a low employment economy, the fact that employers can just fire you at will is total 'freedom'.

Before unions, 'vacation' was that interval of time between jobs. 'Retirement' came when you became unable to work, just before death. Freedom: nothing left to lose.

 

[cfuhrer]

So expressing a political opinion in your non-work time is a sackable offence?

Her company had a social media policy and they determined she violated it.

How's that whole 'free speech' thing working out for y'all?

The First Amendment right to free speech only guarantees the government won't tell you what you can't say. It doesn't say anything about your employer telling you what you can't say.

 

[BotanyBoy]

So expressing a political opinion in your non-work time is a sackable offence?

How's that whole 'free speech' thing working out for y'all?

If the employer feels so then it is.

It's working out better than for you folks across the pond where the government regularly shits on your right to speak your minds. Our freedom of speech applies to the government taking legal action against you. Not that everyone around you has to agree with you. If you pop off at the mouth with some dumb shit your boss doesn't like, they have the freedom to no longer give you their money.

Isn't freedom a beautiful thing??

Sure ... in a low employment economy, the fact that employers can just fire you at will is total 'freedom'.

In any economy.

Being able to shit can employees for whatever is a freedom anywhere the left hasn't destroyed it yet.

 

[Paul_Chance]

There is actually a wider variety of employment "types" here in the US.

-Right to Work is focused on whether or not an employee can be compelled to join a union, if the job/company is part of a bargaining unit. 28 states are "Right to Work" states, which prohibit a union job security agreement, giving the individual the right to opt out of forced union membership.

-At Will Employment is the relevant doctrine here - meaning a company can terminate employment at will (for whatever reason, whenever they want to). 49 of the 50 states are "At Will". (Montana is the exception.)

-Public Policy Exception - 42 states recognize a public policy exception to At Will employment, meaning that an employee cannot be fired for refusing to take an action that violates public policy or reporting said violations of public policy.

-Implied Contract Exception - 32 states have this one, which basically means that employment is an "implied contract" and employees cannot be fired without cause (this is reflected in company policies and procedures).

-Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing - another 11 states have these laws in place, which basically require "just cause" and forbid "malicious" terminations. This is sort of a different form of Implied Contract.

-Additionally, Federal Law universally prohibits termination due to membership in a protected class. Race, Color, Religion, National Origin, Age, Sex (Gender, including gender identity and sexual orientation), pregnancy, Citizenship (as long as they have the work authorization), Familial Status, Disability, Veteran Status, and Genetic Information.

In the specific case of the woman who flipped the bird, she was a resident of Virginia (an At-Will, but Implied Contract state). She was fired, specifically, for violating company policy, to wit:

“Covered Social Media Activity that contains discriminatory, obscene malicious or threatening content, is knowingly false, create a hostile work environment, or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated and will be subject to discipline up to an[d] including termination of employment.”

Most companies have these sorts of agreements these days, and her company was Akima, LLC - whose primary work is as a government contractor, providing services to various parts of the Federal Government, so, in essence, she was flipping off their primary customer.

On a legal level, they told her she was fired for violating policy for obscene conduct. She may or may not have a case depending on how Akima LLC has enforced their policies across their employment base (implied contract). If I were an employment lawyer, I would take the case and drive for a settlement since I am not sure you could win in court. In the media here, her primary defense seems to be that "another person in the company did something similar and was only disciplined, not terminated". So, a lot would hinge on the role she plays in the company and the specifics of the offense and subsequent policy enforcement.

At the pure entertainment level, I think most companies would probably fire you for flipping off the customer's boss/CEO and then posting it on your Facebook account. She's not being fired for flipping him off - she is being fired (legally) for then posting it to her social media account.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I think the best acts of resistance are small acts - small, persistent, consistent. However, where I differ is what those acts are (or should be in my mind). I'm partial to folks who are actually resisting - not just virtue signaling by symbolic acts of resistance.

Symbolic acts have their place of course, but I think their impact is very limited in terms of effectiveness as an instrument of change. If your resistance is symbolic - and yet you still comply to the overarching sweep of things, I question what purpose they actually serve other then to make you feel good. I don't think they persuade anyone, I don't think they really influence anyone.

I'm far more impressed with people who are in the trenches - sheltering unlawful immigrants, assisting them legally, donating to charities that support them, etc. LOL - I would be really impressed if all the upper class liberals who have stock market portfolios refused to take their profits or donated those profits to what would be a worthy cause (as they saw it). That would just be pretty awesome.

But, if you're eating the bread and enjoying the circus - all your complaints about the emperor are rather pointless. Suck it up. Go off the grid. Refuse to play the game.

 

[BotanyBoy]

I'm far more impressed with people who are in the trenches - sheltering unlawful immigrants, assisting them legally, donating to charities that support them, etc. LOL -

I like the ones shooting them as they cross the border.

I would be really impressed if all the upper class liberals who have stock market portfolios refused to take their profits or donated those profits to what would be a worthy cause (as they saw it). That would just be pretty awesome.

LMFAO!!!!! You mean like the ones in SF who don't want to re-settle "those" refugees in their uppity neighborhoods?

Like the suuuuper progressives who bus all the homeless/crackheads to the central valley and dump them in some poor farming town to deal with?

Those worthless fucking tight ass's are as full of shit as B. Sanders....nothing but talk.

But, if you're eating the bread and enjoying the circus - all your complaints about the emperor are rather pointless. Suck it up. Go off the grid. Refuse to play the game.

Most folks don't have the guts, and the ones that do get labeled RW loonies.