http://aussiebloginusa.blogspot.com/2010/10/iraqi-veterans-against-war-wikileaks.html
Iraqi Veterans Against the War wikileaks
IVAW responds to Wikileaks' Iraq War Logs
The latest release by Wikileaks of the Iraq War Logs is the largest leak in U.S. history and reveals in extensive detail what Iraq Veterans Against the War has been saying since our founding in 2004. The U.S. has presided over a bloody occupation for seven years where war crimes are a common offense, civilian casualties have been grossly under-reported, and corporate contractors run amok. See our official statement on the Iraq War Logs below.
IVAW Statement on the Iraq War Logs - A Call for Accountability
The recent Wikileaks release--The Iraq War Logs--has shed important light on the high rate of civilian death and widespread atrocities, including torture, that are endemic to the war in Iraq. As veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are outraged that the U.S. government sought to hide this information from the U.S. public, instead presenting a sanitized and deceptive version of war, and we think it is vital for this and further information to get out. Members of IVAW have experienced firsthand the realities of war on the ground, and since our inception we have spoken out about similar atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are asking the U.S. public to join us in calling on our government to end the occupations and bring our brothers and sisters home.
The U.S. government has been claiming for years that they do not keep count of civilian death tolls, yet the recent releases show that they do, in fact, keep count. Between 2004 and 2009, according to these newly disclosed records, at least 109,032 Iraqis died, 66,081 of whom were civilians. The Guardian reports that the Iraq War Logs show that the U.S. military and government gave de facto approval for hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi soldiers and police officers. These recent revelations, along with the Afghan War Diaries and Collateral Murder footage, weave a picture of wars in which the rules of engagement allow for excessive violence, woven into the fabric of daily life with the U.S. military presence acting as a destabilizing and brutalizing force. The Iraq War Logs, while crucial, are reports produced in real time and themselves may be slanted to minimize the culpability of U.S. forces. Still, they represent an important part of evidence in assessing the reality of the Iraq war, evidence that can only be improved by the further release of documents and information and corroboration by individuals involved. To this end, our members are reviewing both Wikileaks' Afghanistan War Diaries and the Iraq War Logs to identify incidents we were part of and to shed more light on what really happened.
IVAW has been speaking out about these atrocities and abuses since our inception. Our organization is comprised of over 2,000 veterans and active duty troops who have served since September 11, 2001. We demand immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, reparations for the people of those countries, and full benefits for returning veterans, including mental healthcare. At our March 2008 Winter Soldier hearings in Maryland, more than fifty veterans and active-duty service members publicly testified about the orders they were told to carry out in these countries, sharing stories of excessive violence, trauma, and abuse.
Josh Stieber and Ethan McCord, two IVAW members who were in the unit captured in the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" video, have spoken out about how the incidents caught on film are not isolated cases of 'a few bad soldiers' but rather, part of the nature of these wars. "There has been little accountability in the wars that my friends and I once thought represented everything that was noble about our country," wrote Stieber in anticipation of the Iraq War Logs. In an open letter, Stieber calls for policy makers to "take accountability for these wars and the full truth about them."
As veterans, we know that the violence documented in the Iraq War Logs traumatizes the people living under occupation. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also have been marked by staggering rates of military trauma and suicide among the troops tasked with carrying out these orders. Last year, 239 soldiers killed themselves and 1,713 soldiers survived suicide attempts; 146 soldiers died from high-risk activities, including 74 drug overdoses. A third of returning troops report mental health problems, and 18.5 percent of all returning service members are battling either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation. Our Operation Recovery campaign, launched on October 7, seeks to end the cruel and inhumane practice of redeploying troops suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Military Sexual Trauma, Traumatic Brain Injury, and other mental and physical wounds--a practice that underlies the continued occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Critics attacking Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's character are attempting to use ad hominem arguments to detract from the real issues and divert public attention from the content of the Iraq War Logs. We urge honest and thorough discussion of the content of these documents, and we think this discussion must not be sidelined. Furthermore, with past Wikileaks revelations, U.S. administration and military authorities were quick to vilify Army Specialist Bradley Manning who is being accused of leaking these documents to the public. Yet we insist that it is the right of the U.S. public to have accurate information about wars that are being fought in our name and funded by our tax dollars, and we support the public sharing of this information. Exposing war crimes is not a crime.
Government deception is inexcusable. Authorities have kept this information secret in the name of 'national security,' but what they really are afraid of is public opinion, which they know will turn against them if the truth about these wars gets out in the mainstream. An accurate count of Iraqi dead, acknowledgment of torture, and full disclosure of the role of private contractors are facts that should be made public in a democracy. We believe that real national security is created where government transparency and accountability, free press, and an end to spending on illegal wars and occupations are the norm. Continued silence and secrecy is a grave threat to the security of the Iraqi and Afghan people, and we demand openness, accountability, and real discussion of these revelations.
We grieve for the Iraqi and Afghan lives that were lost and destroyed in these wars. We also grieve for our brothers and sisters in arms, who have been lost to battle or suicide. The Iraq War Logs bring home part of the harsh reality of these wars, a reality that we--as veterans--live with everyday. We demand a real end to both wars, including immediate withdrawal of the 50,000 "non-combat" troops who remain in the Iraq. The Iraq War Logs underscore the urgent need for peace, healing, and reparations for all who have been harmed by these wars. The first step is to bring our brothers and sisters home.
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IVAW on Wikileaks' Iraq War Logs
Customize your message I just read this statement by Iraq Veterans Against the War on the Iraq War Logs, the latest Wikileaks release of classified field reports from the Iraq War. Check out the statement, and spread the word!
Here is the message that we are going to append: IVAW Statement on Wikileaks' Iraq War Logs - A Call to Accountability
"The latest release by Wikileaks of the Iraq War Logs is the largest leak in U.S. history and reveals in extensive detail what Iraq Veterans Against the War has been saying since our founding in 2004. The U.S. has presided over a bloody occupation for seven years where war crimes are a common offense, civilian casualties have been grossly under-reported, and corporate contractors run amok."
Click here to read the full statement.
IVAW Statement on Wikileaks' Iraq War Logs - A Call to Accountability
"The latest release by Wikileaks of the Iraq War Logs is the largest leak in U.S. history and reveals in extensive detail what Iraq Veterans Against the War has been saying since our founding in 2004. The U.S. has presided over a bloody occupation for seven years where war crimes are a common offense, civilian casualties have been grossly under-reported, and corporate contractors run amok."
Click here to read the full statement.
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The ReCaptcha logoreCAPTCHA is a system, originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University that uses CAPTCHA to help digitize the text of books while protecting websites from bots attempting to access restricted areas.[1] On September 16, 2009, Google acquired reCAPTCHA.[2] reCAPTCHA is currently digitizing the archives of the New York Times.[3] Twenty years of The New York Times have been digitized and the project hopes to have the 110 other years done by the end of 2010.[4]
reCAPTCHA supplies subscribing websites with images of words that optical character recognition (OCR) software has been unable to read. The subscribing websites (whose purposes are generally unrelated to the book digitization project) present these images for humans to decipher as CAPTCHA words, as part of their normal validation procedures. They then return the results to the reCAPTCHA service, which sends the results to the digitization projects.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I started off remembering the movie 'The Guys' and wishing it was on the net so I could watch it tonight but I couldn't find it. I think when I watched it, it was the first time I was aware of Tony LaPaglia, and I really enjoyed the movie contrary to what the reviewers said... The reviews were probably negative cause the elites didn't want a movie like this to be seen (9/11) ??? Go figure, eh?
I realized that there are relationships out there in Hollywood and Nashville that maybe the younger folks aren't aware of and I switched to researching that.
John Ritter is Tex Ritter's son. Tex Ritter sang High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) and I remember distinctly my dad singing it to me.
Cheryl Ladd of Charlie Angel's fame was the daughter-in-law of the late Alan Ladd who was popular back in the 50's in westerns.
Tim McGraw is the son of Tug McGraw but didn't know it for a long time. hmmmmmm
Tug McGraw wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr. (August 30, 1944 – January 5, 2004) was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher and the father of Country music singer Tim McGraw and actor/TV personality Mark McGraw. He is likely best remembered for recording the final out, via a strikeout of the Kansas City Royals' Willie Wilson, in the 1980 World Series, bringing the Philadelphia Phillies their first world championship. He was the last active major league player to have played under manager Casey Stengel.
Tug McGraw - The Last Pitch 1980 World Series youtube
Tug McGraw dies
EXCERPT:
Tug McGraw, the zany relief pitcher who coined the phrase "You Gotta Believe" with the New York Mets and later closed out the Philadelphia Phillies' only World Series championship, died Monday. He was 59.
McGraw died of brain cancer at a Nashville area home of his son and daughter-in-law, country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
The Guys w/Tony LaPaglia & Sigourney Weaver amazon
The premise of The Guys is simple: A fire captain (Anthony LaPaglia), who lost eight firemen in the fall of the World Trade Center, asks a journalist (Sigourney Weaver) to help him compose eulogies for these men. It's only a week after the attack; their bodies haven't yet been found, but the families are holding services. The writer cajoles the sometimes inarticulate and plain-spoken captain into talking about the men--who range from the captain's best friend to a newcomer he'd only know a few weeks--until she's gleaned enough to piece together a tribute. Originally a play by Anne Nelson, the movie captures much of the texture of New York through montages woven into the storyline; but the piece lives or dies by the performances, and both Weaver and LaPaglia give subdued and unfancy but carefully wrought performances that make the most of this potent material. --Bret Fetzer
Tony LaPaglia wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Anthony M. LaPaglia[1] (pronounced /ləˈpɑːljə/; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.[2]
My dad used to sing this song...... I think he liked the movie.
Tex Ritter - High Noon (Do not forsake me) 78 RPM youtube
Jason Ritter is (late) John Ritter's son and grandson of Tex Ritter
Lynyrd Skynyrd & Tim McGraw Keith Urban - Sweet home Alabama youtube
Keith Urban on his motorcycle accident
EXCERPT:
October 1, 2007
Keith Urban was en route to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Sydney on Monday when he got into a motorcycle accident while being followed by a photographer, he said in a statement.
"Today's incident was the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy," he said through his U.S. publicist, Paul Freundlich.
Hank Williams in Modesto, California
EXCERPT:
On more than one occasion during his slightly more than 16 years at KTRB he was visited by country greats including Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Snow, Skeets McDonald, Little Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Cash and young country singers like Buck Owens, Marty Robbins , Merle Haggard, Del Reeves and others. (photos below)
Tim McGraw-Grown Men Don't Cry youtube
McGraw and Hill criticize governments response to Hurricane Katrina
EXCERPT:
McGraw and Hill Criticize Government's Response to Hurricane Katrina
Couple's Comments Came During a Syndicated Radio Interview in Nashville
March 9, 2006; Written by CMT.com Staff
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
A routine roundtable interview with syndicated radio reporters took an unexpected political turn Wednesday (March 8) when Tim McGraw and Faith Hill sharply criticized the federal government's efforts at rebuilding the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The couple had already spent more than an hour talking about their upcoming tour, McGraw's next greatest hits album and other topics when they were asked to reflect on what has happened since the hurricane hit in late August. McGraw was born and raised in Louisiana. Hill is a native of Mississippi.
Indian Outlaw Tim McGraw youtube
God gave me U youtube
Kaw-Liga - Hank Williams youtube
Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (Hank Sr.) youtube
I don't much like the Confederate flag in this video but I did so like the little boy...
Only 4 Yearsold - Hank Williams Jr.Jambalaya
High Noon a better choice?
'HIGH NOON'; A Better Choice
Published: May 2, 2004
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Print
To the Editor:
Our presidents have been watching the wrong western [''It's Always 'High Noon' at the White House'' by J. Hoberman, April 25]. True to Washington and Hollywood, ''High Noon'' is more about calculation than humanity. Those of us who care about people rather than power have always preferred ''Shane.''
At the end of ''High Noon,'' Gary Cooper, after gunning down the bad guys, converting his Quaker wife to killing and showing his contempt for everyone else, rides off with Grace Kelly to some Olympus denied other mortals, all as a reward for his concept of manhood. In ''Shane,'' a retired gunfighter reluctantly takes up arms again to protect a family he loves and their hard-working community against ruthless power. His reward is to ride off to die, alone.
Aside from its moral implications, we have another reason to identify with Shane: Unlike Cooper, Alan Ladd is short.
I realized that there are relationships out there in Hollywood and Nashville that maybe the younger folks aren't aware of and I switched to researching that.
John Ritter is Tex Ritter's son. Tex Ritter sang High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) and I remember distinctly my dad singing it to me.
Cheryl Ladd of Charlie Angel's fame was the daughter-in-law of the late Alan Ladd who was popular back in the 50's in westerns.
Tim McGraw is the son of Tug McGraw but didn't know it for a long time. hmmmmmm
Tug McGraw wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw Jr. (August 30, 1944 – January 5, 2004) was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher and the father of Country music singer Tim McGraw and actor/TV personality Mark McGraw. He is likely best remembered for recording the final out, via a strikeout of the Kansas City Royals' Willie Wilson, in the 1980 World Series, bringing the Philadelphia Phillies their first world championship. He was the last active major league player to have played under manager Casey Stengel.
Tug McGraw - The Last Pitch 1980 World Series youtube
Tug McGraw dies
EXCERPT:
Tug McGraw, the zany relief pitcher who coined the phrase "You Gotta Believe" with the New York Mets and later closed out the Philadelphia Phillies' only World Series championship, died Monday. He was 59.
McGraw died of brain cancer at a Nashville area home of his son and daughter-in-law, country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
The Guys w/Tony LaPaglia & Sigourney Weaver amazon
The premise of The Guys is simple: A fire captain (Anthony LaPaglia), who lost eight firemen in the fall of the World Trade Center, asks a journalist (Sigourney Weaver) to help him compose eulogies for these men. It's only a week after the attack; their bodies haven't yet been found, but the families are holding services. The writer cajoles the sometimes inarticulate and plain-spoken captain into talking about the men--who range from the captain's best friend to a newcomer he'd only know a few weeks--until she's gleaned enough to piece together a tribute. Originally a play by Anne Nelson, the movie captures much of the texture of New York through montages woven into the storyline; but the piece lives or dies by the performances, and both Weaver and LaPaglia give subdued and unfancy but carefully wrought performances that make the most of this potent material. --Bret Fetzer
Tony LaPaglia wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Anthony M. LaPaglia[1] (pronounced /ləˈpɑːljə/; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.[2]
My dad used to sing this song...... I think he liked the movie.
Tex Ritter - High Noon (Do not forsake me) 78 RPM youtube
Jason Ritter is (late) John Ritter's son and grandson of Tex Ritter
Lynyrd Skynyrd & Tim McGraw Keith Urban - Sweet home Alabama youtube
Keith Urban on his motorcycle accident
EXCERPT:
October 1, 2007
Keith Urban was en route to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Sydney on Monday when he got into a motorcycle accident while being followed by a photographer, he said in a statement.
"Today's incident was the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy," he said through his U.S. publicist, Paul Freundlich.
Hank Williams in Modesto, California
EXCERPT:
On more than one occasion during his slightly more than 16 years at KTRB he was visited by country greats including Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Hank Snow, Skeets McDonald, Little Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Cash and young country singers like Buck Owens, Marty Robbins , Merle Haggard, Del Reeves and others. (photos below)
Tim McGraw-Grown Men Don't Cry youtube
McGraw and Hill criticize governments response to Hurricane Katrina
EXCERPT:
McGraw and Hill Criticize Government's Response to Hurricane Katrina
Couple's Comments Came During a Syndicated Radio Interview in Nashville
March 9, 2006; Written by CMT.com Staff
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
A routine roundtable interview with syndicated radio reporters took an unexpected political turn Wednesday (March 8) when Tim McGraw and Faith Hill sharply criticized the federal government's efforts at rebuilding the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The couple had already spent more than an hour talking about their upcoming tour, McGraw's next greatest hits album and other topics when they were asked to reflect on what has happened since the hurricane hit in late August. McGraw was born and raised in Louisiana. Hill is a native of Mississippi.
Indian Outlaw Tim McGraw youtube
God gave me U youtube
Kaw-Liga - Hank Williams youtube
Jambalaya (On The Bayou) (Hank Sr.) youtube
I don't much like the Confederate flag in this video but I did so like the little boy...
Only 4 Yearsold - Hank Williams Jr.Jambalaya
High Noon a better choice?
'HIGH NOON'; A Better Choice
Published: May 2, 2004
Sign In to E-Mail
To the Editor:
Our presidents have been watching the wrong western [''It's Always 'High Noon' at the White House'' by J. Hoberman, April 25]. True to Washington and Hollywood, ''High Noon'' is more about calculation than humanity. Those of us who care about people rather than power have always preferred ''Shane.''
At the end of ''High Noon,'' Gary Cooper, after gunning down the bad guys, converting his Quaker wife to killing and showing his contempt for everyone else, rides off with Grace Kelly to some Olympus denied other mortals, all as a reward for his concept of manhood. In ''Shane,'' a retired gunfighter reluctantly takes up arms again to protect a family he loves and their hard-working community against ruthless power. His reward is to ride off to die, alone.
Aside from its moral implications, we have another reason to identify with Shane: Unlike Cooper, Alan Ladd is short.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
New PM sings 9-9 youtube
New Aussie PM is atheist video
Julia Gillard Wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Of Australian prime ministers, Gillard is the first woman, the first who has never married,[4] and the first foreign-born since Billy Hughes (1915-1923).[5]
Gillard has been a Labor Party member of the House of Representatives since the 1998 federal election. She represents the Division of Lalor, west of Melbourne.
Emily's List Australia
EXCERPT:
EMILY's List Australia is political network in Australia that supports progressive women candidates to be elected to political office. EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List, a Political Action Committee with similar goals in the United States.
Issues central to the organisation's support of candidates are issues of equity, diversity, pro-choice, and the provision of equal pay and childcare.[1]
There are over 90 EMILY's List members in Australian Parliaments.[2] The organisation has contributed over $600,000 to Labor women's campaigns since its founding in 1996. [3]
David Jones scandal Mark Mcinnes a playboy brought down by lust
EXCERPT:
ONE of Australia's most successful CEOs left his $4 million job and fled the country yesterday after it was revealed he had sexually harassed an employee.
David Jones boss Mark McInnes made the hasty departure with his pregnant partner and a $1.5 million playout, leaving company chiefs to clean up the mess.
5 lessons for bosses from the David Jones scandal
EXCERPT:
1. Develop your own policies and procedures and constantly reinforce them
The first step into preventing problems with sexual harassment is to have policies and procedures in place that make it clear that this sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable.
However, workplace lawyer Andrew Douglas says simply grabbing a set of policies and procedures as part of an off-the-shelf package is not ideal. Companies need to develop their own policies and procedures based around their unique core values, and CEOs need to lead this process.
"Mark McInnes would have been the signatory and the model of the values, which are the fundamental infrastructure of policy and procedures."
Policies and procedures should be explained when a new staff member is inducted into a company, and then reinforced through bi-annual training. Again, it should be a key performance indicator of a CEO that this culture is managed and maintained.
"Overwhelming it is the CEO that models and leads that values process."
2. Be careful about booze in your business
McInnes said in his resignation statement that there had been two instances of inappropriate behaviour at two separate functions, and reports at the weekend suggested one of those functions was for a supplier's product launch, where champagne and caviar was flowing freely.
Douglas says that in many areas of society and the workplace it is recognised that alcohol impairs judgement (such as driving a car and working in an operational role in a factory or mine site) and yet many firms take a completely different approach to the sales side of the business, where drinking with clients is often encouraged.
Yet Douglas says booze can be the thing that triggers bad behaviour in these environments, such as poor decision-making, bullying and harassment.
"Relationship development doesn't need buckets of alcohol. It needs integrity."
He also says CEOs must be particularly careful when attending functions with alcohol.
"A CEO's behaviour must demonstrate leadership in how they drink and how they behave. The CEO is the brand in those environments."
3. Watch for patterns of behaviour – and act quickly
Board members or senior executives who notice a manager breaking company rules – even if it is at a function or event – need to act quickly, Douglas argues.
"We are inclined to deal with problems when they percolate to the surface. What we miss is that performance management is a daily task."
He argues that allowing behaviour to repeat is a worrying sign that policies and procedures are not working and says instances of poor behaviour must be swiftly dealt with.
"The earlier you get them and the quicker you counsel, the less damage they will do to the people around you and the business. "
4. Make people feel safe to complain
Most companies have in place clear policies and procedures for dealing with a complaint such as sexual harassment, but Douglas says that companies need to work hard to have a culture where particularly junior staff feel safe enough to actually make a complaint, regardless of the perpetrator's seniority.
A good parallel comes from the occupational health and safety sector, where many companies have policies that require staff to report "near misses" in terms of accidents – whether they were involved in the incident or just saw it. Douglas says a similar process for other misdemeanours would help reinforce a culture where problems are brought to the surface and dealt with.
5. Never lose sight of the brand, both business and personal
The potential for these incidents to damage a company's brand is clear, but individual executives should also think about their personal brands. McInnes will obviously find it extremely difficult to get a job with a public company ever again, and it may take years for him to get his career back on track. Executives need to remember at all times that their actions are all that really matter when it comes to reputation.
New Aussie PM is atheist video
Julia Gillard Wikipedia
EXCERPT:
Of Australian prime ministers, Gillard is the first woman, the first who has never married,[4] and the first foreign-born since Billy Hughes (1915-1923).[5]
Gillard has been a Labor Party member of the House of Representatives since the 1998 federal election. She represents the Division of Lalor, west of Melbourne.
Emily's List Australia
EXCERPT:
EMILY's List Australia is political network in Australia that supports progressive women candidates to be elected to political office. EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List, a Political Action Committee with similar goals in the United States.
Issues central to the organisation's support of candidates are issues of equity, diversity, pro-choice, and the provision of equal pay and childcare.[1]
There are over 90 EMILY's List members in Australian Parliaments.[2] The organisation has contributed over $600,000 to Labor women's campaigns since its founding in 1996. [3]
David Jones scandal Mark Mcinnes a playboy brought down by lust
EXCERPT:
ONE of Australia's most successful CEOs left his $4 million job and fled the country yesterday after it was revealed he had sexually harassed an employee.
David Jones boss Mark McInnes made the hasty departure with his pregnant partner and a $1.5 million playout, leaving company chiefs to clean up the mess.
5 lessons for bosses from the David Jones scandal
EXCERPT:
1. Develop your own policies and procedures and constantly reinforce them
The first step into preventing problems with sexual harassment is to have policies and procedures in place that make it clear that this sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable.
However, workplace lawyer Andrew Douglas says simply grabbing a set of policies and procedures as part of an off-the-shelf package is not ideal. Companies need to develop their own policies and procedures based around their unique core values, and CEOs need to lead this process.
"Mark McInnes would have been the signatory and the model of the values, which are the fundamental infrastructure of policy and procedures."
Policies and procedures should be explained when a new staff member is inducted into a company, and then reinforced through bi-annual training. Again, it should be a key performance indicator of a CEO that this culture is managed and maintained.
"Overwhelming it is the CEO that models and leads that values process."
2. Be careful about booze in your business
McInnes said in his resignation statement that there had been two instances of inappropriate behaviour at two separate functions, and reports at the weekend suggested one of those functions was for a supplier's product launch, where champagne and caviar was flowing freely.
Douglas says that in many areas of society and the workplace it is recognised that alcohol impairs judgement (such as driving a car and working in an operational role in a factory or mine site) and yet many firms take a completely different approach to the sales side of the business, where drinking with clients is often encouraged.
Yet Douglas says booze can be the thing that triggers bad behaviour in these environments, such as poor decision-making, bullying and harassment.
"Relationship development doesn't need buckets of alcohol. It needs integrity."
He also says CEOs must be particularly careful when attending functions with alcohol.
"A CEO's behaviour must demonstrate leadership in how they drink and how they behave. The CEO is the brand in those environments."
3. Watch for patterns of behaviour – and act quickly
Board members or senior executives who notice a manager breaking company rules – even if it is at a function or event – need to act quickly, Douglas argues.
"We are inclined to deal with problems when they percolate to the surface. What we miss is that performance management is a daily task."
He argues that allowing behaviour to repeat is a worrying sign that policies and procedures are not working and says instances of poor behaviour must be swiftly dealt with.
"The earlier you get them and the quicker you counsel, the less damage they will do to the people around you and the business. "
4. Make people feel safe to complain
Most companies have in place clear policies and procedures for dealing with a complaint such as sexual harassment, but Douglas says that companies need to work hard to have a culture where particularly junior staff feel safe enough to actually make a complaint, regardless of the perpetrator's seniority.
A good parallel comes from the occupational health and safety sector, where many companies have policies that require staff to report "near misses" in terms of accidents – whether they were involved in the incident or just saw it. Douglas says a similar process for other misdemeanours would help reinforce a culture where problems are brought to the surface and dealt with.
5. Never lose sight of the brand, both business and personal
The potential for these incidents to damage a company's brand is clear, but individual executives should also think about their personal brands. McInnes will obviously find it extremely difficult to get a job with a public company ever again, and it may take years for him to get his career back on track. Executives need to remember at all times that their actions are all that really matter when it comes to reputation.
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