Chick-fil-A President Draws Praise and Criticism for His Public Scorn of Gay Marriage

It's never a good idea to intentionally wake a sleeping bear. Nor is it a good idea to wake up controversy unnecessarily.

That's what Dan Cathy, president of Chick -fil-A, did when he took a public stance against same-sex marriage. "In a new interview with Baptist Press, Cathy puts on the record what critics say his company’s actions have indicated for years. 'Well, guilty as charged,' he said in the interview when asked about Chick-fil-A’s backing of families led by a man and a woman. 'We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,' Cathy said...

"'We don’t claim to be a Christian business,' Cathy said. 'But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles.'" (http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-chick-fil-a-gay-20120718,0,3020372.story)

Chick-fil-A has been long known for being closed on Sundays. That's an inconvenience for some customers. But Cathy's comments on gay marriage have rekindled a hot debate. He made himself some friends for standing up for his faith. But he probably also lost some former customers with his open views on gay people.

The Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog said, "The Jim Henson Co., whose Muppet characters have been featured as toys in the chain's kids' meals, was particularly bothered by the stance, and their relationship appears to be coming to an end as a result. 'The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors,' the company said in a posting on its Facebook page, CNN reports." The Henson posting drew more than 10,000 likes and 2,000 comments as of Tuesday morning.

Chick-fil-A's Facebook page sings from a different hymnal. "Another rumor related to Chick-fil-A that is currently in the media is related to the Jim Henson Kid's Meal prizes. We want to set the facts straight. Chick-fil-A made the choice to voluntarily withdraw the Jim Henson Kid's Meal puppets for potential safety concerns for our customers on Thursday, July 19. On July 20, Chick-fil-A was notified of the Jim Henson Company's decision to no longer partner with us on future endeavors." (https://www.facebook.com/ChickfilA)

Boston has no Chick-fil-A restaurants, and after Cathy's comments, Boston's mayor said he doesn't want any. According the The Boston Herald, he said, "Chick-fil-A doesn't belong in Boston. You can't have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We're an open city, we're a city that's at the forefront of inclusion," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said.

According to today's edition of the Daily Dog, criticism "has been quick and unmerciful from gay-rights advocates and others who simply disagree with the company's high-profile voicing of its exclusionary viewpoints. Multiple comments are pouring in every minute on the chain's Facebook page.

The Chick-fil-A Facebook page posting quoted above has 17,000 likes and 6,000 comments. It was posted two hours before. A sampling goes like this:

• "As for you closed minded homophobic uneducated haters it is a proven fact people are born gay bi lesbian whatever. And many of them even live normal lives and are even Christian!"
• "Believe what you believe but that was a terrible business move. Hope your doors close all over America."
• "Poor crisis management on CFA's part is all I see here."
• "y do we get upset when someone wishes to voice their opinion on the subject, n respectfully say they do not agree with gay marriages. Y can't we let people have their opinion? Not everyone has to like what others do."
• "Gay people also go to church and they are Christians too... wow must make those Christians pretty up set that god even allows those gays to sit in church with the rest of the normal wife beaters, drunks, and drug dealers." 

 Most of the Facebook comments are critical, but many are supportive. Count New York Mayor Mayor Michael Bloomburg ( none of "the government's business.") in Chick-fil-A's corner or at least neutral, but the mayors of San Francisco and Chicago joined Boston's mayor in criticizing the chain.

At the University of Louisville, a petition to oust Chick-fil-A from the student union building had 900 signatures as of this morning. Other businesses are looking to cash in on the opposite viewpoint of Chick-fil-A's.

"Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos became the biggest financial backer of gay marriage in the country today when he and his wife MacKenzie pledged $2.5 million to support Washington state’s same-sex marriage referendum.... Target is broadcasting its support for equal marriage rights with a wedding registry ad featuring two smiling men dressed in suits and bow ties holding hands and touching foreheads." (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/target-and-amazon-are-the-opposites-of-chick-fil-a-on-gay-marriage/)

I won't make the same mistake Cathy made and express my opinion on gay marriages, which would mean nothing to anybody nor change anyone's view anyway. I'll just say that I think Cathy made a business mistake in condemning gay marriages. But he didn't make a mistake in being brave enough to express his biblical opinion, which he probably knew would be controversial.

As a Christian, I support Cathy's right to express his opinions. But as a crisis communicator, I would tiptoe around that bear and let him sleep.

Lettuce Learn Something From Burger King's Crisis

Burger King seems to be laying low in hopes that its latest sanitation scandal will go away without any major impacts on the bottom line. Just as an advertising push seems to be fading, it remains to be seen if its earnings will fade along with it.

"A photograph showed a person from the knees down standing with each foot in a shredded lettuce container. It was taken July 13 and originally posted on the website 4chan.org, "According to a HyperVocal.com report, an aggravated 4chan user tracked the image’s geo-tagging to locate the employee. The photo was tagged back to Ohio."  (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/18/burger-king-employee-believed-to-be-in-disturbing-lettuce-picture-is-fired/)

The company investigated the allegation. Burger King responded by firing three employees at the restaurant at fault in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland. "'We are aware of the photo that was allegedly posted by an employee at a Burger King restaurant in Ohio and are taking the issue very seriously,' said Bryson W. Thornton, global communications director. 'Food safety is a top priority for Burger King restaurants and the company has strict policies regarding its food handling procedures. We are investigating the matter and will take appropriate action as necessary.'”

I can't find any other statements from Burger King, via the media or on its website. (http://www.bk.com/en/us/company-info/news-press/index.html)  On the positive side:

"The food protection program at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health investigated the Burger King franchise July 17. No contaminated lettuce was served to customers, reported Rick Melendez, a supervisor with the food protection program."  (http://www.cleveland.com/hillcrest/index.ssf/2012/07/burger_king_employees_fired_ov.html)

Supervisors at the Mayfield Heights franchise location declined to comment further, according to yesterday's Cleveland Plain Dealer.

This isn't the first time Burger King has faced questions about food safety. The Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog
 reported last week, "Back in 2008, Burger King found itself embroiled in a PR fiasco when video of an employee at an Ohio BK restaurant taking a bath in a restaurant sink surfaced on MySpace. The employee and several colleagues were immediately fired for their shenanigans, but the PR damage was done as fears of food poisoning and other unsanitary possibilities dogged the chain for a while afterwards."

Burger King needs to pull out files from the 2008 incident. I hope there was an assessment of how that crisis was handled and what could have been done better. If so, the latest crisis can be managed better. If not, it's back to square one in responding to the trampled lettuce.

Always take time to learn from your crises.

'Disappointing' Third Quarter Takes a Bite Out of Apple

It was a tough quarter for Apple. It reported sales Tuesday that rose 24% from a year ago and a profit up 21%. Net income rose to $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share, in its fiscal third quarter. Sales rose to $35 billion, buoyed by record sales of 17 million iPads.

Poor Apple! The company clearly is struggling.

No, really. The trouble is that Apple missed analysts' forecasts and barely made its own conservative predictions. For example, the $9.32 per share fell short of analysts' expectations of  $10.36 per share. The $35 billion in sales missed analysts' forecasts of $37.2 billion.

Apple decided to sell iPad 2 at a $100 discount, which boosted unit sales. But analysts were concerned that the lower price is hurting revenue. Average revenue per iPad fell to $538 last quarter from $653 a year ago. In addition, delays slowed the stocking of store shelves with iPads in China.

"But the biggest disappointment was Apple's No. 1 revenue driver: the iPhone. The tech giant said it sold 26 million iPhones during the quarter -- a steep drop-off from previous quarters.... Wall Street analysts had been expecting about 29 million of the smartphones to be sold." (http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/24/technology/apple-earnings/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2)

Shares of Apple fell 5%.

This is hardly a crisis. CNN calls Apple the world's most valuable company. But it is a problem when analysts are overly optimistic and your company doesn't live up to their forecasts. Apple needs to emphasize its conservative internal predictions to the investment community to be sure its voice is heard. Nevertheless, that 5% slip is probably a blip, not a trend.

Batman Shooting Copycats Are Just Threats So Far

I wrote in passing Friday about the Aurora theater shooting:  "Movie theaters everywhere should be prepared for copycat attacks.... Nevertheless, the noon news on WHAS-TV reported that just two of 11 theaters in Louisville, Kentucky, planned to add extra security."

Louisville police beefed up security around theaters and there were no incidents here. I hope the added security continues because my wife and a friend are going to the Batman movie at noon. No, I'm not concerned. But as I warned last week, there have been several incidents related to Aurora and the theater that caused some tense moments:

• "A Maine man was arrested when he told authorities that he was on his way to shoot a former employer a day after watching 'The Dark Knight Rises,' Maine state police said Monday. Timothy Courtois of Biddeford, Maine, had been stopped for speeding, and a police search of his car found an AK-47 assault weapon, four handguns, ammunition and news clippings about the mass shooting that left 12 people dead early Friday, authorities said." (http://www.timesonline.com/entertainment/movies/arrested-in-separate-dark-knight-incidents/article_7e24d1f2-96f0-5865-8393-8ed5a9a4f52e.html)
• In Southern California, a man at a Sunday afternoon showing of the film was arrested after witnesses said he made threats and alluded to the Aurora shooting when the movie didn't start.... "I should go off like in Colorado." They said he then asked, "Does anybody have a gun?"
• "Moviegoers in Sierra Visa, Ariz., panicked when a man who appeared intoxicated was confronted during a showing of the movie. The Cochise County Sheriff's office said it caused 'mass hysteria' and about 50 people fled the theater." Off-duty Border Patrol agents tackled the man, who had a backpack. Authorities said it contained an empty alcohol container and a half-empty moonshine bottle.

We haven't seen any copycat attacks yet, but we have seen threats. Whatever kind of organization you work for, keep in mind that a highly publicized man-made tragedy at a similar organization should be taken seriously at yours. Having a crisis operations and crisis communications plan that spells out how to respond in such instances will prepare you to take appropriate action.

Chemicals and Fracking: 'Everyone Takes What They Want to See'

Working in the chemical industry, I heard the complaints and fears that our plant and those around us were causing everything from headaches to cancer. Reporters jumped on that bandwagon, interviewing surviving family members and accepting without statistical evidence that most of the people on this street or that one have had cancer.

First, one in four people will get cancer. If there are just two people in every house, cancer will strike half of those households. Second, the cancers affected a variety of organs, with one exception: The high smoking rate in that part of town was causing lung cancer. And third, the Kentucky Cancer Registry, with the exception of lung cancer, claimed cancer rates weren't any higher around the chemical plants than one would expect anywhere else in the state.

Yet the myths persisted and eventually turned into class action suits that had nothing to do with illnesses and everything to do with collecting settlements.

I use this personal example to share information about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. "Shale gas drilling has attracted national attention because advances in technology have unlocked billions of dollars of gas reserves, leading to a boom in production, jobs, and profits, as well as concerns about pollution and public health. Shale is a gas-rich rock formation thousands of feet underground, and the gas is freed through a process ... in which large volumes of water, plus sand and chemicals, are injected to break the rock apart." (http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/experts-some-fracking-critics-use-bad-science/article_e886eb07-0177-5aef-9083-7a3ccedf5355.html)

Much of the gas is trapped in the Marcellus shale, which lies under large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, and the Barnett shale in north Texas. Many other shale deposits have been discovered.

An Associated Press story Sunday accused fracking critics of raising alarms about groundwater pollution, air pollution and cancer risks, even though there are still many uncertainties. Many of the claims have little — or nothing — to back them. Scientific experts accuse the companies of other wrongful claims.

"For example, reports that breast cancer rates rose in a region with heavy gas drilling are false, researchers told The Associated Press. Fears that natural radioactivity in drilling waste could contaminate drinking water aren't being confirmed by monitoring, either. And concerns about air pollution from the industry often don’t acknowledge that natural gas is a far cleaner fuel than coal.

“'The debate is becoming very emotional. And basically not using science' on either side, said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University professor studying groundwater contamination who has been praised and criticized by both sides."

Simon Craddock Lee, a professor of medical anthropology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, called the claims of an increase in breast cancer at the Barnett Shale “'a classic case of the ecological fallacy' because they falsely suggest that breast cancer is linked to just one factor. In fact, diet, lifestyle and access to health care also play key roles."

Here's the part of the article I find most interesting and gives those of us in criticized industries a key lesson to remember. "One expert said there’s an actual psychological process at work that sometimes blinds people to science, on the fracking debate and many others."

“'You can literally put facts in front of people, and they will just ignore them,' said Mark Lubell, the director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior at the University of California, Davis.

Lubell said the situation, which happens on both sides of a debate, is called 'motivated reasoning.' Rational people insist on believing things that aren’t true, in part because of feedback from other people who share their views, he said.

"Vengosh noted the problem of spinning science isn’t new, or limited to one side in the gas drilling controversy. For example, industry supporters have claimed that drilling never pollutes water wells, when state regulators have confirmed cases where it has. He says the key point is that science is slow, and research into gas drilling’s many possible effects are in the early stages, and much more work remains to be done.

“'Everyone takes what they want to see,' Vengosh said, adding that he hopes that the fracking debate will become more civilized as scientists obtain more hard data."

The Penn State Punishment Is What Can Happen if an Organization Tries to Hide Its Problems

From the Penn State Freeh Report: "The avoidance of consequences of bad publicity is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities." Among those eight other reasons is, "A president who discouraged discussion and dissent." (Read the Freeh report here.)

So, Penn State. How's this working out for you?

Organizations need a culture of openness without fear. And they need to recognize that sweeping problems under the proverbial rug leads to crises far worse than if dealt with early.

In case you haven't heard, the NCAA this morning released its penalties against Penn State: a $60 million fine, a four-year ban from post-season bowls, loss of football scholarships, and vacating all wins from 1998 - 2011. That final item was purely a shot at Coach Joe Paterno because it takes away Paterno's title of winningest college coach ever. The crimes had nothing to do with the team on the field. Shameful!

Gold Mining Company Guilty of Polluting Water and News Releases

One of my most memorable camping weekends when I lived in Boise was a trip to Atlanta, Idaho, an old, mostly abandoned, mining town. To get there, we drove a half hour or so past Lucky Peak Reservoir, then took 70 miles of rough dirt roads to reach a campground at the edge of Atlanta. We walked the town and soaked in some hot springs there. I used to like getting far from it all.

Atlanta actually made the news this week. A gold mining company there has been fined $2 million for water pollution. To make matters even worse for Atlanta Gold Corporation, it has spent $40 million there since it bought interest in the site 27 years ago, and has yet to remove a single ounce of gold.

"The Idaho Conservation League (where I was once an active member) and the National Environmental Defense Center sued the Toronto-based company last year, accusing the company of violating its federal discharge permit and failing to reduce the levels of pollutants flowing daily into Montezuma Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork of the Boise River." (http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/07/20/2196275/judge-slaps-mining-company-with.html)

Arsenic being sent to the creek is 26 times higher than the EPA allows. The judge also ordered the Atlanta Gold to fix the problem by October 31 or face additional financial penalties. According to a company news release, "CEO Wm. Ernest Simmons commented 'The Court has rendered a decision and AGC intends to honor its ruling, comply with its direction and pay the imposed fine.... With the penalty-phase defined, the Company will commence improvements to the PWTF to meet compliance with the Clean Water Act, to initiate final closure and remediation of the Adit, and to develop the Atlanta Project subject to approval of the U.S. Forest Service,' commented Simmons." (http://www.atgoldinc.com/news/2012-news/158-atlanta-gold-receives-clean-water-act-judgment)

Who believes Simmons talks this way and actually made this comment? By the way, I didn't know this, but an adit is the entry to a horizontal mine shaft.

While we're on the news release, Atlanta Gold clearly uses someone without a clue of how to write a release. I want to share the opening paragraph because it is so ridiculous:

"(the 'Company') announces that the U.S. District Court for the State of Idaho issued a Memorandum Decision on July 19, 2012 ('The Decision') in a case in which the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Atlanta Gold Corporation ('AGC') is a party, pertaining to AGC’s non-compliance with the United States Federal Water Pollution Control Act ('Clean Water Act'). The Court imposed a penalty in the amount of $2,000,000 to be paid on or before October 31, 2012. In addition, the Decision orders AGC to implement measures to come into compliance with the NPDES Permit by that same date."

It sounds like it was written by an attorney. The contacts at the bottom of the release are the CEO, vice president and CFO, and senior account manager. I suggest the company spend a few dollars to hire PR counsel to write news releases and offer communications advice and assistance. There must be one or two such agencies in Toronto, eh?

Communications Off to a Poor Start at Colorado Theater

I watched with horror today the coverage of the mass murders at Century Theater in Aurora, Colorado. The latest numbers as I write this are 12 dead, 59 wounded. James Holmes entered the darkened theater at 12:39 a.m., threw a grenade of pepper spray or tear gas, and began randomly shooting people.

Perhaps as things calm down, communications will improve. But so far, federal and Aurora officials are making too many mistakes.

A problem that should have been fixed immediately was that local and federal officials both had their own spokespeople. That caused trouble when the locals said Holmes' apartment was booby trapped, but the feds said they found no explosives. There should have been one spokesperson only so there wouldn't be contradictory information. The scene is confusing enough without the agencies adding to it. Early this morning, the number of dead went from 16 to 14 to 12. The number of injured went from 50 - 59.

As an aside, movie theaters everywhere should be prepared for copycat attacks. That's highly unlikely to happen in my theater, you say? You're right. But who would have expected it to happen in Aurora? Nevertheless, the noon news on WHAS-TV reported that just two of 11 theaters in Louisville, Kentucky, planned to add extra security. There should be extra support at back and side emergency exits around the theater. It wouldn't cost much.

And third, a news conference with law enforcement was scheduled for 1 p.m. Instead, it didn't start until 1:48. The governor spoke off the cuff and appeared to be shaken. His message was the emotional burden of the shootings.

Then came the mayor of Aurora. He was more composed than the governor.  He expressed his sympathy and gave a pep talk about everyone pulling together to get through this catastrophe. He thanked the hospitals and emergency responders. Like the governor, he spoke without notes. That's okay as long as the speakers don't ramble. They didn't, and both came off as sincere by speaking extemporaneously.


Then Police Chief Dan Oates provided details of the shooting, the suspect's arrest, and the problems entering Holmes' apartment with all the trip wires and strange-looking devices. He said the injured were taken to six different hospitals. Fifty victim advocates were available for families and survivors, and a 24-hour counseling hotline had been established. He told what he knew, then turned it over to the district attorney and an FBI agent.


Both only spoke for about a minute. Then it was back to Oates for questions. Here's where they lost it. He said he would take a "modest" number of questions, without defining what he meant. Because he already told them what he knew, most questions were answered with, "That's not something we can discuss," or "I have nothing to say about that," or "We've just begun our investigation." He was able to elaborate on a couple facts he already discussed, but no one learned much from the Q&A. Reporters were shouting their questions all at once.


I guess he reached his "modest" number when he said one more question. He then proceeded to take two more after that. The news conference took place under a canopy, it looked like in the parking lot. There was no escape for Coates, other speakers, or city council members who had gathered there. I imagine the chief and others were accosted by reporters all the way to wherever they were going next.


Another news conference is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at city hall. I would suggest they start on time. More important, they should lay the room out in a way that the dignitaries can leave without passing through the reporters. Plus Coates should say in advance he won't take any questions.

When you conduct a news conference, you set the rules and guidelines, not the reporters.

President Obama and Mitt Romney both issued appropriate statements and both cancelled their campaigning and negative ads today. Cinemark, which owns Century Theater, issued a statement of condolences, but I don't see it anyplace on the website. (http://www.cinemark.com/home.aspx)

Century, meanwhile, still listed its movies until late morning or early afternoon. As I'm wring this mid-afternoon in the east, the website says in small red letters that there are "currently no showtimes." A statement of sorrow and regret should be posted. What's there is cold and insensitive. (http://www.fandango.com/centuryaurora16_aajni/theaterpage)

Closed Daycare Suffers Another Serious Allegation

I wrote about Heavenly Angels Childcare in Louisville on June 21. A van accident killed an adult and injured 14 children. The owner then closed all three locations. In my post that day, I listed other problems Heavenly Angels suffered through negligence and weak management.

A P.S. from Thursday's The Courier Journal: "Lavonia Lewars (owner) is charged with fraud connected to $306,187 in funding from the Kentucky Child Care Assistance Program and with theft of more than $10,000.... The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued a statement after the indictment was announced, saying it was the result of an investigation by the agency’s Office of Inspector General. The investigation 'resulted in numerous substantiated instances of non-compliance with a state program providing child care assistance subsidies to families,' spokeswoman Gwenda Bond wrote.

"Those findings were passed along to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office 'for further investigation into possible criminal activity,' the statement said. (http://www.courier-journal.com/article/B2/20120719/NEWS01/307190068/Owner-Heavenly-Angels-daycare-indicted-fraud?odyssey=nav%7Chead)

I lamented last month how abruptly she ended the business, leaving parents to make other arrangements quickly. Perhaps now we know why she closed so suddenly. She probably knew she was under investigation for criminal activities.

Friends, again: You have to do the right thing.

Yahoo Crisis Well Defined, But Solution Remains Elusive

Yahoo was once the place for internet searches. Then along came upstart Google, led by 20 geniuses, and Yahoo ultimately dropped its search engine altogether. One of those shining stars was Marissa Mayer, who was just named CEO for the company she deposed. Whether she can pull Yahoo from its ongoing crisis is at issue. She is the fourth Yahoo CEO in four years.

Yahoo has never decided whether it wanted to be a media or a technology company. Carol Bartz, who took over the company in 2009, tried to do both -- unsuccessfully.

"Scott Thompson, who took over after Bartz, promoted media and content as Yahoo's key asset, while laying off thousands of employees to cut costs. Thompson also launched some odd crusades, including a Facebook patent battle that was quickly killed after his scandal-laden exit in April." (http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/17/technology/yahoo-earnings-mess/index.htm?source=cnn_bin) Thompson, it was found, embellished his academic credentials and was gone in four months. (http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/15/technology/yahoo-future/index.htm?iid=EL)

The company reported revenue of $1.1 billion last year, same as the last year and just short of Wall Street analysts' expectations.

"That's nowhere near the level of growth expected of one of the most-visited websites in the world.
Profit is going in the wrong direction: Yahoo earned $229 million during the quarter, down 4% from the same period a year ago.

"Despite all of its Web traffic, Yahoo's market value is basically on par with the value of its Asian assets. The rest of the Yahoo -- according to investors, anyway -- is more or less considered scrap." (http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/17/technology/yahoo-earnings-mess/index.htm?source=cnn_bin)

Yahoo certainly knows it has a crisis, and apparently has identified specifically what it is. Good start. The question is, will the company make the right decisions to diffuse the crisis and become an internet darling again? The last three CEOs couldn't fix it. The business world will be watching with great interest to see if Mayer has better success.

Crisis Should Have Gate Gourmet on Pins and Needles

Sewing needles have been found in five turkey sandwiches on Delta Airlines flights from Amsterdam to the United States. One person was injured.

The sandwiches came from Gate Gourmet in Amsterdam, according to MSNBC. "FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett in Atlanta confirmed Tuesday that the agency is investigating but declined to comment further." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48209579/ns/travel-news/t/fbi-investigates-needles-airplane-sandwiches/)

So what does Gate Gourmet have to say? Nothing on its website or in any news release. In fact, the last news release shown is almost a year old. The company should be telling customers and the public it is cooperating with authorities and is conducting its own investigation and is looking to prevent further contamination.

Instead, the website carries this boilerplate, that makes one wonder if perhaps the company or some sick employee is responsible. "At Gate Gourmet, we orchestrate the assembly of meals according to your specifications, pack the service trolleys in the prescribed manner, stage the carts for loading in huge coolers, and deliver them in high-loader trucks to provision your aircraft’s galley just before departure. " (http://www.gategourmet.com/gategourmet/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=387&Itemid=209)

It sounds like it would be tough for an outsider to sabotage the sandwiches. We can't rule out that possibility, but the company should visibly be seeking the source of the needles, whether it turns out to be internal or external.

Gate Gourmet needs to be communicating its concern now before it loses the trust of airlines and passengers.

How to Break Laws And Remain Insensitive

I've written about Massey Energy and the explosion at Upper Big Branch coal mine so much my fingers are blue in the face. An explosion at the West Virginia mine in 2010 killed 29 workers. Massey was led by Don Blankenship, who infamously threatened to shoot an ABC news crew, then shoved a camera. See a Nightline video on Blankenship at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Ym8qqR5vU.

Massey has since been bought by Alpha Natural Resources and Blankenship has since retired -- with $12 million in his pocket.

A story in the Washington Post reveals a little more about Blankenship, Massey, and Alpha. While some elected officials and company executives continue to cry that the Obama administration is picking on the coal industry, the Post reports: 

"More than two years after an explosion that an independent panel appointed by former West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin blamed on a corporate culture that put 'the drive to produce coal above worker safety,' no former high-ranking Massey executives have been criminally charged. No new federal mine safety legislation has passed, a matter Gary Quarles (father of a victim) and other families pressed in Washington recently."  (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/after-massey-mine-disaster-killed-their-son-settlement-of-millions-is-worth-little/2012/07/14/gJQAMpXikW_story.html)

The company has settled with all the victims' families. The first offer of $3 million was called a "slap in the face" by Quarles. So the families hired lawyers and negotiated for four days before settling for an undisclosed amount.

The way families of victims were notified is a lesson in how to be insensitive. "Families gathered in a building and a woman from Massey holding a clipboard opened the door, keeping it ajar with her foot, a detail that still disturbs (Quarles). "If I call your name," he recalled her saying, "you are to report to the fire department to identify bodies." What kind of person says that? People was passing out, falling out.”

And not surprising, Quarles noted "the frozen face of Don Blankenship as he stood with another Massey official who announced that, in fact, all 29 miners had died, and people began throwing soda cans at them."

Alpha expresses sympathy, but at the same time, it doesn't acknowledge the grief and resentment these families continue to feel. "Ted Pile, a spokesman for Alpha, said the company is committed to resolving problems and issues it inherited when it bought Massey last year.

“'Everyone wants to look forward,' he said, honoring the standard agreement not to discuss details of the settlement. 'It was a terrible thing that happened. I don’t think anyone wants to keep reliving that. . . . We’ve been able to do a lot since June of last year to sort of tie up some of those things and move forward.'”


Quarles and others, despite millions of dollars, haven't moved forward yet. And they do keep reliving that night.

According to the article, Massey officials were kind in expressing abundant sympathy. One peculiar account, however, goes like this: "During one memorial service, his grandson Trevor was telling about how he killed a turkey. 'And Don Blankenship walks by,' Quarles said. 'And Don reaches into his pocket and gives Trevor a business card and says, ‘You’re the only 12-year-old that’ll ever have this.’ He wasn’t sure what to make of that."

Neither am I. But watch the video referenced above for a look at this very strange man.

Racism in Texas Town Creates a Crisis

 "Outrageous" is how his attorney described the dismissal of the police chief in Jasper, Texas. What's outrageous is the look of racism in this eastern Texas town. Rodney Pearson was the first black police chief in Jasper, hired by a city council with three black members. Those three were victims of a recall and the new council, by a 4-1 vote, fired the chief.

Jasper gained international notoriety in 1998 when three white men abducted and murdered a black man by dragging him behind a truck. Since then, whites and blacks had united to build harmony in their community.

"That harmony disintegrated last summer, though, when largely opponents of Pearson's appointment launched a drive to recall three black City Council members." The effort succeeded in removing three from office. Their positions were filled with white candidates, who then fired Pearson. (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Jasper-s-first-black-police-chief-fired-3628643.php)

Jasper blacks tried unsuccessfully to recall Mayor Mike Lout, who is white.

What a shame! Most of us have grown beyond dividing the races, but obviously some haven't. If a leader still thinks like Archie Bunker, shut up and don't let on. These racists, probably on both sides, have created a crisis for their town that will never lead to any good. For the sake of Jasper, they should bury their latent prejudices and learn to get along.