Denise Jackson steps into the spotlight
"Honestly I have to say that (publisher) Thomas Nelson approached me about this idea"
Denise Jackson had such success with her first book that she was inspired to write another. via WBIR-TV
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As Gas Prices Climb, Employee Productivity Plummets
Rising gas prices are affecting more than the family budget. More pain at the pump results in more employee stress on the job, says Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at Florida State University’s College of Business.
“People concerned with the effects of gas prices were significantly less attentive on the job, less excited about going to work, less passionate and conscientious and more tense,” Hochwarter said. “These people also reported more ‘blues’ on the job. Employees were simply unable to detach themselves from the stress caused by escalating gas prices as they walked through the doors at work.”
Hochwarter gleaned the information by surveying more than 800 full-time employees this spring when gas prices hovered at about $3.50 per gallon. All of the people surveyed work in a wide range of occupations, primarily in the southeastern United States. All drove personal transportation to work and had an average commute of 15 miles each way.
Survey respondents said gas prices were foremost on their mind, including a disgruntled factory worker who wrote, “I spend more time at work trying to figure out what I need to give up to keep gas in my tank than thinking about how to do my job.”
Hochwarter’s research will be submitted for publication later this summer. Among his findings:
- 52 percent have reconsidered taking vacations or other recreational activities
45 percent have had to cut back on debt-reduction payments, such as credit card payments
Nearly 30 percent considered the consequences of going without basics including food, clothing and medicine
45 percent report that the escalating gas prices have “caused them to fall behind financially”
39 percent agreed with the statement “Gas prices have decreased my standard of living”
About 33 percent — or one in three — said they would quit their job for a comparable one nearer to home
Hochwarter’s discussions with employees confirm the study’s results. Many employees report that gas prices rank as the No. 1 water-cooler discussion topic, ahead of family, sports or work, he said. He found little difference in responses among different ages, gender, work tenure and occupations.
“Several employees said they simply could not escape the media onslaught of bad news regarding the future of gas prices, and many reported their financial futures were looking bleaker and bleaker,” Hochwarter said.
As gas prices rise, so does the stress. Consider the words of Sandy, a medical records clerk: “The more it goes up, the more behind I get. If gas goes up to $5 or $6 a gallon, I just don’t know what I’ll do.”
[Wayne Hochwarter @ Florida State University]
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A Digital Haven for Terrorists on Our Own Shores?
If you use one of America’s top Internet service providers, you may share server space with an organization that enables worldwide terrorism, says a new study by Tel Aviv University.
A workshop on terrorist organizations and the Internet was organized for the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) by the Netvision Institute for Internet Studies (NIIS) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis & Forecasting, both of Tel Aviv University. Berlin’s Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research (NEXUS), affiliated with the Technical University of Berlin, also participated in the workshop.
The findings were presented in Berlin to a closed audience of high-ranking representatives from NATO in February 2008.
Organizing and Recruiting Online
Enlisted by NATO officials to study the web activity of terrorist organizations, researchers found that some of the world’s most dangerous organizations are operating on American turf. Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad, and al-Qaeda all have websites hosted by popular American Internet service providers — the same companies that most of us use every day.
“These websites hosted in America are targeting Muslim mothers in America, Canada, the U.K. and all over the world, convincing them that being ‘Shahid’ or a suicide bomber is particularly good and very important for their sons,” says Prof. Niv Ahituv of the NIIS.
Available in English, Arabic, Spanish and other languages, the websites also provide tutorials on bomb building and enlist impressionable American and British Muslim women and men into a life of terror activity.
Free-Speech for Terrorists
Prof. Ahituv acknowledges the dilemma that America’s First Amendment creates — free-speech protections may foster propaganda directed towards the U.S. “America’s First Amendment protects these websites from being shut down,” he says, recognizing the irony of waging a war on terror when some of the most dangerous propaganda is being created at home.
According to the study, the Islamic Jihad operates 15 websites in Arabic and English, hosted by both U.S. and Canadian companies. Hamas operates 20 websites in eight languages, a portion of which are based in the U.S and Canada, while Hezbollah operates 20 websites, also hosted by companies in the U.S. and Canada.
Limited Successes and American Law
The FBI has shut down a few websites, but American law prevents the closure of most, says Prof. Ahituv. Terrorists could coordinate a 9/11-scale attack via these websites, he warns. There are, however, some people who believe that leaving those websites intact is desired in order to monitor content, trends and policy. It is hard to tell which side is right, adds Prof. Ahituv.
An issue of great concern is that terrorist organizations are using the Internet to bypass the role of the established press, he notes. “Since those organizations do not possess TV stations, radio stations and printed press outlets, they use the Internet to impart their views and events to the public and to the media.”
More information about the Netvision Institute for Internet Studies here.
[George Hunka @ American Friends of Tel Aviv University]
Eddy Arnold Dies
Country music superstar, Eddy Arnold, has died. Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville, just a few days short of his 90th birthday. via WJBF-TV Augusta
