WIRTW #695: the “cover” edition

Earlier this week, I used the song "Pass the Kutchie" to illustrate Ohio's new recreational marijuana law. Some commenters were quick to point out that the song is called "Pass the Dutchie," not "Pass the Kutchie." Except it's not. "Pass the Kutchie" is a 1981 Jamaican reggae song by the Mighty Diamonds about Rastafarian cannabis pipes. One year later, Musical Youth covered that song and made it famous. Because they were all children, however, they replaced the song’s drug slang with “dutchie,” a food reference.

Coincidentally, this week the AV Club published lists of the 25 best and 25 worst cover songs of all time. All of this got me thinking about my favorite cover songs. Here are my top 5:

1. The White Stripes  "Jolene"
2. Sinead O’Connor — "Nothing Compares 2 U"
3. Johnny Cash — "Hurt" 
4. Janis Joplin — "Me and Bobby McGee"
5. Talking Heads — "Take Me to the River"

What about your favorite covers? Head over to LinkedIn and drop a comment to let me know.

Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.

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Ohio voters decide to pass the kutchie on the left hand side

By a margin of 57% to 43%, voters legalized recreational marijuana. As a result, recreational cannabis will become legal in the Buckeye State on December 7, 2023.

Employers have lots of questions about how to handle this change. Here are answers to the top 5 questions I anticipate receiving over the coming days, weeks, and months.

DEI programs continue to be a lawsuit target

Major League Baseball. NASCAR. Starbucks. McDonald’s. Morgan Stanley, American, United and Southwest Airlines. America First Legal, a conservative group led by Stephen Miller, has targeted each of these for their “illegal” practices of hiring non-Whites and females.

In its most recent letter to the EEOC, urging it to investigate American Airlines, AFL cited the following as evidence of “unlawful employment practices” —

Your business is not a charity

Your customers are not your bank. It’s not their job to bail you out from poor business decisions.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea as I’ve been following the recent news from R. Shea Brewing.

Here’s the Cliffs Notes version of what’s happened.

From 2015 - 2019, R. Shea was a small local brewery. In 2019, it opened a much larger, 60,000 square-foot second location, which enabled it to significantly expand its production and operations. That expansion, however, also included a vast expansion of its debt, to the tune of a $2 million SBA loan. A combination of the lingering impacts of Covid, rising wages and production costs, and skyrocketing interest rates have created a situation in which R. Shea in now unable to service that debt.

As a result, it just launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise … wait for it … $2.3 million. Thus far, it’s raised approximately $17,000.

WIRTW #694: the “trick-or-treat” edition

I have a bone to pick with one of my neighbors. When my kids returned home on Tuesday night and opened their trick-or-treat bags, they found this DVD.

Your religion is your religion. I don't tell you how to practice yours, and in return I expect you not to tell me or my children how to practice ours. I don't need to tell you how awful the world is right now about religion. The last thing we need is neighbors proselytizing neighbors. Halloween isn't difficult. Kids ring doorbell. Door opens. Candy goes into bag, bucket, or other candy-carrying vessel. Let's keep it that way.

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Here's what I read (and heard) this week that you should read, too.

Maybe don’t forge texts if you want to win a lawsuit?

Andrea Rossbach, a registered nurse working at Montefiore Medical Center, claimed that her supervisor, Norman Morales, sexually harassed her. In support of her claim, she relied on a series of sexually harassing text messages Morales allegedly sent her, including messages in which he called her "hot," asked her to send him a photo of a G-string he gifted her.

Rossbach's claim, however, had one huge problem — the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that those text messages did not exist. She created them after the fact to use as evidence in her claim.

At her deposition, Rossbach testified that she could not produce screen shots of the text messages because she had initially received them on an old iPhone with a badly cracked screen, and that instead she had to take a photo of the texts with a newer iPhone X, which she had also later disposed of. 

Does your workplace have a written AI policy?

The White House has unveiled the first-ever executive order on artificial intelligence (AI).

According to the White House, "The Executive Order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans' privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more."