"Eat s--- 51st state anti-semite loser. Israel now and forever. Until every last Hamas rat is eliminated."
"This is what you supported during your Paid Leave with others at the Women's MARCH in DC… You truly are Despicable in so many ways."
That's one of several messages Charlene Carter, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, sent to her union president—this one accompanied by a graphic photo of an aborted fetus.
Southwest fired Carter for violating its Workplace Bullying and Hazing Policy and Social Media Policy. Carter sued, claiming religious discrimination—that she sent those messages because the union's support of "women’s rights" conflicted with her religious beliefs about abortion.
For a glorious 90 minutes last Wednesday night, my kids and I forgot all of our worries and bonded with 2,000 like-minded souls over the music of Mr. Jack White.
I love the music of Jack White. I fell in love with a band at Cleveland's Beachland Ballroom on August 10, 2001. The White Stripes were playing that night. I didn't know much about them before that concert. I had heard about some up and coming band, brother/sister (maybe) duo. I went to the Beachland to check them out. I was hooked by the opening chord from Jack's guitar and enraptured by the end of their set. I couldn't find any video online from that show, but I did find a complete recording of a show they did in London just four days earlier.
I've since passed that love on to my children, which brought us front and center at Cleveland's Agora last Wednesday night. You can hear all about it on this week's installment of The Norah and Dad Show (with special guest, Donovan) — available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, Overcast, your web browser, and everywhere else you get your podcasts.
While you're checking out things I recorded this week, also check out my appearance on Backstage Pass: The HR Rock Star Podcast.
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
"My Administration will not tolerate … unlawful conduct targeting Christians.…My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified."
That's the key takeaway from Trump's Executive Order on Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.
What does that look like in practice? According to Politico, the State Department has ordered employees "to report on any instances of coworkers displaying 'anti-Christian bias.'" The internal memo allows (but doesn't require) anonymous reporting and encourages submissions to be "as detailed as possible, including names, dates, [and] locations (e.g., post or domestic office where the incident occurred)."
If you are a fan of rock 'n' roll and have the chance to see Jack White live, just do it. Hard stop. It was an amazing night from start to finish. More next week, as it will be the focus of the next episode of The Norah and Dad Show.
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
This case started with a pair of Skechers, and will end with a jury trial.
A cocktail server at MGM National Harbor, Rebecca Lopez-Duprey, suffered from foot conditions—Achilles tendonitis and Equinus deformity—that made wearing heels painful and medically inadvisable. Her doctor recommended she wear flat, supportive shoes. Eventually, MGM granted her an ADA accommodation to do just that.
Lopez-Duprey wore Skechers-style black shoes for over two years without issue. Then came a policy change.
In late 2021, MGM issued a memo updating the dress code and specifying which shoes were allowed, even for employees with ADA accommodations. Skechers weren't on the approved list. The company disciplined Lopez-Duprey multiple times, including once for showing up to work in her doctor-recommended sneaker. She protested internally, and her doctor even submitted another note, this time stating she needed those shoes permanently.
MGM terminated her shortly thereafter for violating its appearance standards.
Lopez-Duprey sued for failure to accommodate under the ADA.
And what did it cost them? Seventy-five grand.
ChatGPT continues to amaze me with what it can do. Last week, I asked it to write a parody of "Green Eggs & Ham" about tariffs. You can read that story — called This Tariff Sham — over on LinkedIn.
This week, I decided to take it a step further: "Can you write a story in the style of Dr. Seuss's 'The Cat in the Hat' about the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and the increasing threat to the rule of law posed by the current Trump administration?" Then, I asked it to illustrate the results in a complete children's book. The results? Simply stunning. Read the story below, or download the fully illustrated book here.
* * *
The Man in the Red Tie
A Cautionary Tale in the Style of Dr. Seuss
The sun wasn't sunny. The news made us frown.
The Rule of Law seemed to be sliding down.
We sat in our house. We felt anxious and stuck.
We read every tweet and just whispered, "Oh… yuck."
Then THUMP!
Something boomed like a cannonball blast.
We turned to the screen — and he strode in fast.
He wore a red tie, too long and too wide,
With a smirk on his face and a puffed-out pride.
"I am the Man!" he said with a grin.
"I'll make us all great by just keeping me in!"
He stomped and he shouted, he pouted and screamed.
He flattered the rich and he schemed while they beamed.
He scolded the courts, he mocked every norm,
He said, "I alone will reform the reform!"
He fired the watchdogs who'd barked at his lies.
He said, "Loyal dogs are the very best guys."
He told folks in uniforms, "Do what you must.
If I tell you it's legal, then you know it’s just."
He roared at the press and he called them "fake."
He branded all truth as a liberal mistake.
He built up a wall, not just out of brick—
But out of division, and anger, and schtick.
He courted the chaos, the proud and the cruel.
He said, "I don't care — I make the rule!"
And some folks just cheered, "He tells it like so!"
(Though what "so" was… they weren't sure they'd know.)
But the skies grew darker, the air full of dread,
As the books stayed closed and the laws grew dead.
Then came the Day — the one we all feared.
The vote loomed large, and the stakes had cleared.
Would the people still matter? Would ballots be true?
Would justice be blind, or just red, white, and blue?
Then YOU stood up tall — yes, you, in that chair!
You said, "This is still our Republic to care!"
"The law is not his — it belongs to us all.
It's strong when we stand, and weak when we fall."
You voted. You marched. You wrote and you spoke.
You called out each lie. You challenged each joke.
And maybe, just maybe, the tide turned again—
The Rule of Law held, with paper and pen.
Now kids, let me tell you — remember this day.
Democracy isn't just kept safe by what we say.
It's guarded by people who act when things tilt,
Who patch up the cracks before freedoms wilt.
So the next time a man comes to town with a grin,
And says, "I alone can make your side win,"—
Say, "Thanks, but no thanks. We've read this old plot.
We're the People. We matter. Like it or not."
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.