Author: cmshannon2002

You know you are officially old when you have shoes in your closet that are older than your doctor. So since I have indeed achieved official antiquity, with memories and musical tastes based firmly in the sixties, it goes without saying that I’m not very familiar with more recent music- K-pop in particular. My concept of a boy band is the Beatles- though I was familiar with later groups such as NSYNC or Backstreet Boys. K-pop groups simply looked to me like a South Korean version of boy bands. But K-pop music has been creeping into the scope of my world lately, and now it’s got me taking a closer look at this unfamiliar genre.

My first exposure to K-pop was in 2021 when I saw the world famous group BTS perform a “Crosswalk Concert” on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The group performed their hit songs like “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” before unsuspecting motorists on Beverly Boulevard outside CBS Television City in West Hollywood. Some bystanders and drivers appeared annoyed at the traffic stop, oblivious to who the singing group was. Younger drivers did screaming double-takes, dancing out of their car sunroofs. The young men of BTS appeared puzzled at the odd setup, quite different from their usual sold-out performances before thousands. But they charmingly performed for the fans and non-fans alike- before they had to hilariously vacate the crosswalk each time the traffic lights changed.   

I’ve since learned that K-pop is an extremely popular genre of music- some surveys report that more than 200 million people across 119 countries identify as fans of Korean culture, primarily driven by K-pop music. The music blends pop, hip-hop, R&B, and electronic music styles, and is very theatrical, known for its synchronized dancing, fashion, and complex choreography. Group members (known as idols) are all in their teens or early twenties, and are typically intensively trained and strictly regulated by entertainment companies to become the next stars. Girl groups like Blackpink and Twice are as popular as the boy groups, and there are solo performers now too. Korean-inspired entertainment has continued in other forms- like the smash hit TV series Squid Game in 2021, and then the 2025 animated K-pop Demon Hunters film that broke records for 10 billion global streams to date. 

So it’s very obvious that I’ve been missing out on a huge amount of events, talent and musical expression for years. Now flash forward to the present, and here’s K-pop “popping up” once again in my life. This time, a friend of mine has a granddaughter, whose K-pop group has proudly just made their October 12, 2026 introduction into the K-pop world. This seven-member rookie girl group CODE ZiGU is a global girl group- 2 members are American, 2 are Korean, 1 is French and 1 is French-Chinese. CODE ZiGU has taken their first step into the music scene with a pre-debut single called ‘zzz.’ 

I learned there’s meaning about their team behind the single title ‘zzz’ as well. The first Z, the last letter of the alphabet, represents the end of their intense trainee days and their new beginning as artists. The second Z comes from the group name ‘ZiGU,’ meaning that members from different backgrounds and with different personalities are connected as one through music (the word ZiGU means earth or globe). The last Z stands for ‘ZERO,’ reflecting their will to create their own musical world from the starting line of zero without staying within existing frames. The familiar symbol for sleep, ‘zzz,’ also carries the meaning of the potential that is sleeping inside the CODE ZiGU members- awakening with their pre-debut. The group can be found on Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. 

Their song is catchy and well choreographed (and thankfully with captions so someone like me can follow the lyrics). I have to say that I’m impressed. Here’s the official you tube link if you want an introduction to K-pop’s newest music- and hopefully its latest hit girl group to be discovered:

Thus the cycle of generations moves on. Parents and grandparents support their progeny, recognizing the hard work and talent that got them to whatever spotlight they’ve chosen- a K-pop stage, a college degree, or a dream job. 

We may not understand the road they’ve taken, agree with their choices, or even like the expression or form that their talents have taken. But our parents often misunderstood our passions, viewpoints, dancing, or hairstyles- and didn’t appreciate our Beatles’ music, either.  And here we are, still enjoying the band’s great musical legacy more than 60 years later. 

So give CODE ZiGU group a listen, and see what you think of K-pop. Even an old person like me can recognize the dedication, talent, and dreams behind this song and the hard work of the young people bringing it to life. I only wish The Late Late Show with James Corden were still on the air so CODE ZiGU could have their own Crosswalk Concert, just as BTS did in 2021.

I think these talented girls would have handled unsuspecting motorists and changing traffic lights with great style— and given BTS some stiff competition too! 

#Kpop #CODEZiGU #Beatles #MusicLovers #GenerationalDifferences

Even though it was 44 years ago, because I grew up in the Chicago area, I still have very strong memories about the homicides that became known as the Chicago Tylenol Murders. 

During the fall of 1982, people throughout Chicagoland became panicked and horrified by a string of seven deaths that initially had no obvious connection. It was eventually determined all the victims had taken Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules from bottles of over-the-counter-medicine that had deliberately been tampered with. An unknown suspect had removed capsules from the packages, laced them with potassium cyanide, and returned the poisoned product to store shelves. 

The string of horrible deaths over a span of  3 days sadly began with 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village. The second victim was a postal worker named Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, who died that same day. In an awful twist of fate, Adam’s brother and sister-in-law also died by taking the same tainted medicine in Janus’ home- they came there to support family members who had gathered after Adam’s passing. Three more deaths linked to the poisoned medicines followed.

The Deadly Connection

The common denominator between all the mysterious deaths was identified as the use of Tylenol shortly before the victims died. So Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, along with local law enforcement and health officials, had all Tylenol products immediately pulled from local groceries and pharmacies in Chicago. After finding 2 more contaminated Tylenol bottles, Johnson & Johnson’s chairman James Burke ordered a national product withdrawal. 31 million bottles of Tylenol were recalled by Johnson & Johnson nationwide. 

Some good did come out of tragedy. The Tylenol killings quickly led to the packaging and tamper-proof medicine containers familiar today (e.g. foil seals, interior cotton wads, plastic strips)- features all designed to reveal to a consumer if a product has been tampered with. Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol became the first product in the drug industry to use new tamper-resistant packaging- a mere 6 months after the tragedies had occurred. A “Tylenol Bill” was passed by Congress in 1983, making it a felony to tamper with consumer products.  

One man, James W. Lewis, served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.”  Lewis always denied playing any part in the actual Tylenol tampering and resulting deaths. He claimed his ransom demand was based on a desire to negatively implicate his wife’s ex-employer by having the ransom money sent to them. So Lewis was never charged with the murders- just for extortion. Despite the intense focus on the Chicago Tylenol Murders, the killer or killers have never been found.

Perhaps until now. 

A Break In a Cold Case

It seems that in September 2026, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho at long last finally identified a man found dead of cyanide poisoning in a Boise church in 1982. Officials there had dubbed him “The Unknown Wanderer,” and 44 years of intense investigative work had not uncovered who the man was. 

Then came a breakthrough: Investigators revisited overlooked markings carved into a house key found on the man’s body. That overlooked clue’s unlikely trail led them to identify “The Unknown Wanderer” as Dr. Matthew Francis Betkouski, an organic chemist with a history of mental illness. Betkouski was known to have written and spoken about ways poison could be introduced into over-the-counter drugs. Betkouskis’s belongings had been preserved by his brother, and an old map of Chicago and bottle of homemade cyanide among them added circumstantial evidence to the case.  

And now, there’s a 3-part documentary true-crime series “Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders” on Netflix. Needless to say I will watch it.  Maybe the series will shed some light on the many lingering questions that remain, especially for the families of the seven victims who lost their lives. 

September 1982 became an awful time for many Chicagoans, when a sense of innocence was suddenly shattered. An action as ordinary as taking a painkiller was no longer safe. Death could be delivered from something sitting innocently on a store shelf- a product people had always trusted without a second thought. 

#TylenolMurders #ChicagoHistory #TrueCrime #ColdCase #RememberingTheVictims #Chicago #1982

Photo by Sole Gomez

An unforeseen emergency taught me a hard fact- in a crisis, you are pretty much on your own for a much longer time than you’d ever expect. So it matters greatly to have a few precautions ready in case the unexpected happens.  Being well-prepared could mean the difference between maintaining some level of comfort, or in a truly serious emergency, survival. This is especially true for the more vulnerable members in the population- the isolated, children, those with health or mobility issues, or sometimes older adults like me. 

I recently experienced a power outage in my neighborhood. At first, that doesn’t sound like an extreme emergency. But this complete power outage dragged on for 35 long miserable hours. It also unfortunately happened during a record-breaking heat wave, with humidity levels that are usually experienced in New Orleans, LA or Tampa, FL- not in mild Southern California. The first day was the worst- with temperatures that rose to 105 degrees with high humidity.  My house remained at 92 degrees all day, into a still breezeless evening, where the temperature then “dropped” to 91 degrees. 

So Much for Plan A

It was so oppressively hot, keeping hydrated and cool became imperative. I heard my neighbors’ kids escape to the complex pool, but at several blocks away, the pool was not an appealing walk for me. At one point, at the peak of the day’s heat, I resorted to reading a book by flashlight in a cool bath instead.

No air conditioning. No fans, lights, computer, or TV. No refrigerator, since I wanted to keep it closed up. (An unopened full freezer will last 48 hours without power, an unopened fridge alas keeps perishables like eggs or milk only about 4 hours). My gas stovetop worked only if hand-lit, the gas oven not at all. I had a radio, sort of- a battery-operated one and a tedious hand-cranked one- but I kept rejecting both, anticipating that the power would be restored soon.

Even escaping in my car was complicated. The electric garage door opener was non-operative of course. And the manual override worked only to a point- since lifting up the heavy garage door was a struggle for me by myself. I discovered as well that the garage door inconveniently had no handles inside or outside to help lift it easily. Plus the garage door wouldn’t stay up by itself- it had to be propped open to back the car out. Or else some kind neighbor had to be recruited to hold the door up so I could back the car out. 

My cell phone got very low, and I managed to recharge it using my car charger (to finally drive someplace cool for a break). But driving may not always be an option if you are truly isolated in earthquake or storm prone areas where roads might be damaged or flooded. That made me realize how important some form of backup power can be. A portable power bank, battery backup station or a generator can help keep your cell phone and other essential devices going when the power is down. 

My rarely-used land line—yes, some people still keep land lines as an emergency back up— was also a handy resource to keep from using up all the precious charge in my cell phone. Of course there is one funny flaw in keeping a landline for emergencies. Almost everyone has a cell phone, so if all the cell phones aren’t working, exactly who can I call with my landline? But in this instance, my dinosaur-of-a-landline worked for me.  

Nothing Says Prepared Like a Dead Flashlight

I also discovered that some of my flashlights set aside for emergencies had run-down or corroded batteries- though thankfully I had plenty of backup batteries on hand. My wall-charged flashlight turned out to be my best option of all. Some cheap Dollar Tree lanterns and round press on lights were also reliable light sources. I even repurposed solar lights from my garden to illuminate pathways inside my house in the dark, setting them about like nightlights. This helped me avoid tripping over the cat, who was nervously glued to my every step, poor thing. 

Kind neighbors were the bright spot during my emergency. They offered help and practical suggestions about how to deal with warming refrigerator and freezer items. In addition to the emotional support, they provided eye-rolling commiseration over the power company, whose restoration times became a frustrating, ever-moving target, pushing further back every few hours. 

My biggest takeaway from my power breakdown is this stark reality:  YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO BE ON YOUR OWN FOR AT LEAST THREE DAYS.  Emergency responders and other resources in any emergency are likely to be overwhelmed, and you cannot depend on immediate help. There can be a disruption of utilities, communications, and roads. Your particular crisis situation could leave you isolated, with no family or neighbors nearby to help. FEMA/ready.gov states that a person must be able to shelter in place with no outside assistance for the minimum time of three days. After experiencing 35 hours with no power, three days of it sounds like hell. My ordeal was an endless fever dream that I do not want to repeat any time soon.  And my situation was no where near as desperate as what people can experience during an earthquake, flood, or major storm, when serious destruction and injuries are added to any loss of power and basic services. 

The Bare-Bones Plan: Since “It’ll Be Fine” Isn’t a Plan

So my thinking about emergency preparedness has radically changed after my own eye-opening experience. As a result, here’s a brief list of the bare-bones emergency necessities you should have on hand to be prepared for the unexpected:

• WATER– You need 1 gallon per person per day, for drinking and some sanitation.
• FOOD– You want items that don’t need refrigeration or cooking (think crackers, snacks, peanut butter, protein bars, shelf stable milk + cereal, dried nuts and fruit, applesauce, and canned goods like tuna, salmon, or peaches.  Don’t forget a manual can opener!
• FLASHLIGHTS+ EXTRA BATTERIES– Make these easy to find in the dark.
• PHONE & CHARGING CAPABILITY
• MEDICATIONS, GLASSES, CONTACT SUPPLIES
• FIRST AID SUPPLIES
• BATTERY POWERED OR HAND-CRANK RADIO– You want ways to keep informed whenever normal communications are unavailable.
• BASIC SANITATION– Be ready with toilet paper, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, even garbage bags (useful for an improvised toilet).
• CASH– Keep some cash money ready, especially smaller bills, because ATMs and credit-card readers may not be working.
• PET SUPPLIES/ANY MEDS
• KEEP A FULL GAS TANK– You may want your car for transportation, cooling off, charging devices, or getting supplies. 

Thirty-five hours without power taught me that emergency preparedness isn’t necessarily preparing for some dramatic disaster- it can simply mean being prepared for when the lights go out- and don’t turn back on.

This should be routine entertainment news. Tilly Norwood is an actress promoting her starring role in the upcoming comedy-drama movie Misaligned.

Except for the unusual detail that Tilly Norwood isn’t human. She’s an AI generated persona- who will be performing alongside fellow human actors in the film. 

AI-focused studio Particle 6 announced that it was currently in production on their film Misaligned. Eline van Der Velden, founder and CEO of the London company, clarified that the intention behind the feature is to “demonstrate where AI is at — and upskill and bring as many people as possible from the industry with us into the future.” She urged entertainment creatives to work in AI as a way to future-proof their roles in the industry. 

Future-Proofing Jobs or Protecting Rights?  

Tilly Norwood’s debut in Misaligned is prompting fresh debate about AI in entertainment- the future for performers, writers, musicians, effects artists and directors, and how AI protections for creatives will be secured or enforced. Many entertainment workers fear being replaced by AI- and that their work will be used without adequate permission or compensation.

The UK performers’ union Equity noted that performer rights are crucial, especially now in the face of Disney’s recent $1 billion OpenAI investment. As of 2026, the new three-year licensing agreement with Disney means users of Sora (the start-up which owns OpenAI) can make content with more than 200 characters across Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars. Equity says that when using AI avatars, there are specific concerns about how a digital replica or avatar was created. Cathy Sweet, Equity’s head of film and TV, said in a statement:

“While data scraping and untraceable training data sources continue, the questions of theft and misuse will persist. Actors, voice artists and performers of all kinds are left vulnerable to their work being stolen and used without their consent or even knowledge. This isn’t OK and it has to stop.”

Hollywood performers’ union, SAG-AFTRA, representing approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, singers, etc. also has definite viewpoints about any synthetic construct that is generated by software being used in the industry. Regarding actor Tilly, SAG-AFTRA says:

“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics. 

“To be clear, “Tilly Norwood” is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation…Additionally, signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”

From Movie Magic to Million-Dollar Fraud

Ethical questions surrounding AI extend far beyond the entertainment industry. From business and finance to nearly every aspect of the digital world, AI is reshaping how we work, communicate, and create- for better or worse. Beyond concerns about job displacement, AI has also been used to carry out sophisticated deepfake fraud that has cost businesses millions of dollars. 

One of the highest-profile cases of AI-powered fraud occurred with the British engineering company Arup in 2024. A finance employee in charge of wire transfers was tricked into authorizing 15 fraudulent transfers totaling $25.6 million- through an AI-generated scheme using phishing email and legitimate-looking video conference calls. Not only was the company’s CFO convincingly impersonated, but other colleagues were as well- all recreated by AI, simply by using publicly available source materials such as video and audio from company meetings and conferences. While businesses have since responded with stricter financial controls, identity verification protocols, and deepfake detection tools, the race between AI innovation and AI misuse is likely to continue.

Whether in Hollywood or the business world, AI can be either a creative tool or a disruptive force- it all depends on how people use the technology. Actress Tilly Norwood’s debut in Misaligned is more than a movie premiere- it’s a sign that the lines between human and artificial, reality and simulation, are becoming blurred. The technology is here. The challenge now is deciding where and how we want to draw the lines. 

Photo by Cottonbro Studio

Photo by Charles Criscuolo

If you wonder why some Native Americans have a complicated approach to celebrating the 250th birthday of America, you do not have to look any further than the Declaration of Independence. It is America’s founding document filled with revolutionary ideals- a political declaration and statement of principles.  Many might be shocked to find that the Declaration of Independence also contains very negative references to the Native American peoples that were America’s original inhabitants. 

When listing the reasons why America was instituting a new government, Thomas Jefferson, principle writer of the Declaration, focused on Britain’s King George III.  Among the list of grievances the King committed against the colonists, Jefferson lists:

He [King George III] has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

This description of Native Americans in the Declaration of Independence sadly reflects the attitudes and wartime rhetoric of the time- reducing diverse Native nations to a hostile stereotype. Thomas Jefferson accuses King George of encouraging attacks on frontier settlements by those Native Americans that allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. Some say Jefferson was only referring to those Natives that sided with the British against the colonists. Nevertheless his statement about merciless Indian savages still ran directly against the Declaration’s core ideal that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Ironically the Declaration’s statement about merciless Indian Savages reveals that many in colonial America failed to recognize Native nations as complex societies that had flourished in North America for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Colonists simply saw North America as land available for European settlement, with indigenous peoples as inherently barbaric peoples to be displaced. Native sovereignty was usually dismissed, and of the hundreds of treaties formed between colonists and Native Americans, few were respected over the long term. 

As the new nation grew, conflicts over land intensified. Decades of warfare, broken treaties, and forced removals followed- and vast ancestral lands were eventually lost by many Native nations. This history helps explain why America’s 250th founding celebration evokes mixed emotions for many Native people today.

Company leaders often refuse to recognize it- much less deal with its effects.

It results in company employees experiencing anger, anxiety and grief. 

Employees say their productivity plummets because of it.

Customers experience its negative impacts. 

What is it? 

It’s a very real effect called Layoff Survivor Syndrome.

Researched in the 80s by Joel Bruckner and others at Columbia Business School, and first named in 1993 by organizational psychologist David Noer, layoff survivor syndrome has become even more relevant today as business layoffs have increased. Layoff survivor syndrome is the psychological and behavioral toll that employees experience after corporate downsizing, mass layoffs or AI reallocation. 

Colleagues that remain employed cope with: 

• Emotional fallout– anger, anxiety, guilt, and grief for departed co-workers
• Physical reactions triggered by a “Flight or Fight” response (such as headaches, elevated blood pressure, heart issues, acid reflux, severe insomnia, chronic fatigue)
• Heavier workloads 
• Reduced productivity (due to low morale and less job coverage from staffing cuts)
• Eroded company loyalty and mistrust in company management (e.g. Oracle laid off 20,000-30,000 employees via a 6am email in April 2026. This action violated organizational trust, bypassed direct manager involvement/standard best practices, and damaged its brand and worker retention)  

Joe Hildebrand, founder of leadership and culture consultancy humari summarizes the effects of Layoff Survivor Syndrome on businesses:

“Everything slows down. Institutional knowledge is lost, teams lose critical members and are unable to perform well, and people start to question whether they want to be working in a business that cuts its people.”

A good example of internal morale crisis can currently be seen at Meta. Meta recently laid off 10% of its workforce, and reassigned another 10% to train its AI models. Employees fought against a company initiative to track their mouse and keystroke movements to improve Meta’s AI models. After these mass layoffs and AI shifts, employee morale predictably has fallen to a near 20-year low. 

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth concedes that leadership did an “atrocious job explaining the vision” behind the cuts to fund AI infrastructure. Meta now is addressing the problem- with pledges of transparency by leadership, employee career development proposals, and increased budgets for travel, events, and even snacks.  

So what are 8 best ways that management can diminish the impacts of layoff survivor syndrome on staff morale, trust and company productivity?

1. Provide as many ways as possible to give employees more control. The original studies of layoff survivor syndrome indicated that higher perceived control on the part of remaining employees may serve as an antidote to some negative effects of layoffs.
2. Be aware that remaining staff view how their terminated colleagues are handled as a preview of their own possible future. Structured offboarding of departing employees with respect, support, and options like voluntary severance increases retention of remaining staff (71% retention vs 57% for companies that handle departures badly). 
3. Get input from remaining staff on how newly distributed responsibilities will be handled.
4. Empower remaining employees to collaborate with managers to identify which projects can be delayed or deprioritized due to reduced manpower (ie. stop/pause lists).
5. Establish concrete steps to prevent employee burnout– e.g. capture tacit knowledge and enable knowledge transfer with scheduled time for departing employees to pass on files, passwords, and data, and to explain workflows/client preferences to the remaining team. These steps allow the team to possess tools to actually manage a new increased workload.
6. Utilize transparent all-hands meetings with staff to explain reasons behind the layoffs, with ongoing open discussions of what’s next. It is vital that companies present their downsizing process to their employees in ways that are seen as fair, respectful and understanding.
7. Be transparent and accurate when implementing company strategies with employees. Some companies have justified job cuts by deceptively blaming them on AI. Employees may perceive cuts being due to the company’s financial over-extension or poor planning instead- especially when AI-powered efficiencies are not truly forthcoming. The end result is a low-trust culture among executives and employees. 
8. Structure incentives over AI changes as “Time Saved” not “Headcount Reduced.” Communicate employee retraining in AI as a tool to handle the most tedious low value tasks (sorting data, drafting basic summaries)- not to downsize workers. Proactively work to prevent workers resorting to sabotage of AI because they feel they are “training their replacement.” Rather communicate the automation tasks AI will do- that AI will help them do their job better. Then follow through to ensure that workers are able to subsequently work on high-value strategic projects needing human judgment and input.  

Company layoffs may reduce payroll expenses, but they don’t eliminate the need for collaboration, trust and institutional knowledge. The company story- and its future- does not end with the employees who leave. It continues with the employees that stay. 

When management recognizes Layoff Survivor Syndrome and takes meaningful steps to address it, they acknowledge that remaining employees are an asset to be retained, not a problem to be managed. 

Photo by Ron Lach

The proposed $250 bill featuring President Donald Trump has been presented as part of the national observances for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But the typical years-long process to approve new currency- done with security, legal, and practical concerns in mind- is being accelerated for this project. At the center of the tension is the now-former director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Patricia Solimene who reportedly resisted efforts to fast-track the project. According to reports, her concerns involved the established requirements for U.S. currency design, including that:

1. Current federal law prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency.

2. A $250 denomination has not been authorized.

3. The design of a new banknote requires testing, security features and coordination with stakeholders (e.g. all federal bureaus involved, Secret Service and others that combat counterfeiting, banks, credit unions, ATM, vending, currency counting, cash register, and ticket machine manufacturers).

Solimene was the first woman BEP director in its 162-year history, coming from the U.S. Government Publishing Office. Previous to this she had spent 24 years in the military as an Army Colonel and in a highly classified Joint Special Operations Command, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. 

Of her abrupt April 27 job reassignment by senior Treasury Department officials, Solimene said in a farewell email to colleagues obtained by the Washington Post that she did not choose to leave her role as Bureau of Engraving and Printing director. Solimene asserted that she “never sacrificed the values or character of myself or the organization and always prioritized the U.S. Currency Program and the value each employee brings to the mission…The buck stopped here.”

There is an irony in this situation.  A career civil servant’s role is to remain apolitical and to ensure that established protocols and procedures are followed. Yet Patricia Solimene was reportedly reassigned from her position as BEP director while upholding the very standards she was entrusted to maintain. 

Photo by Blue Arauz