🇺🇸 Cubicle Culture

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Good morning, and happy Tuesday! There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when this son of a rock legend took over the drums during “My Hero”...

Plus, while LA is dealing with temps in the 100s, up in northern California they worry about the burn you don’t feel – until it’s too late…

Also, today’s Flag Find is a product that eliminates 99% of robocalls…

Lastly, thank you ALL for the overwhelming amount of responses we received on our recent reader survey. Our winner is Matt H. from Wichita, Kansas. Matt, please respond directly to this email so we can send you some free Flag Swag.

By the way, we've been debating whether or not to add Flag Swag to our website for a while. Let us know if this is something you'd be interested in with the poll below:

FLAG POLLS

📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 53 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Direction of Country: Right Track 29, Wrong Track 65 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 2022 Generic Congress Vote: Republicans 47, Democrats 42 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐎 2022 Generic Congress Vote: Republicans 44, Democrats 47 (Wall Street Journal)

TRENDING

Right: Progressives set sights on scrapping filibuster as midterm prospects improve (Washington Examiner)

Right: Damning New Details Emerge In Ex-FBI Agent’s Role In Shutting Down Hunter Biden Laptop Probe (Daily Wire)

Right: CNN reporter tweets there are ‘serious questions’ about Hunter Biden, FBI: ‘Shouldn’t be a partisan issue' (Fox News)

Left: Jamie Raskin Says Jan. 6 Committee Still Wants To Hear From Ginni Thomas (Huffington Post)

Left: Mothers Are Dying From Treatable Mental Health Conditions (Slate)

Left: Have American jails become the inferior replacement for mental hospitals? (Salon)

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QUICK CLICKS

UK's New PM, Special Master Ordered, Panic Buying

World: Truss issues: The challenges facing the incoming prime minister (PA Media)

US: Federal judge orders appointment of special master to review seized Trump records (Fox News)

World: Panic buying in Chengdu as China locks down another megacity to contain Covid-19 spread (SCMP)

US: Historic heat wave intensifies in the West as grid concerns mount (Axios)

US: 'No man's land': Long COVID knocks young workers out of the job market (ABC)

US: Why the US is becoming more brazen with its Ukraine support (The Hill)

US: Trump Attempted To Pay Attorney With Horse, Upcoming Book Says (HuffPo)

US: ‘Network-Wide Purge’: CNN Staffers Panic As ‘Woke’ Employee’s Heads Roll Under New Company Chief (Daily Wire)

World: OPEC+ makes small trim to world oil supplies as prices fall (AP)

US: Colleges burn through Covid cash trying to soften inflation for students (POLITICO)

World: Chile votes overwhelmingly to reject new, progressive constitution (The Guardian)

ECONOMY

Cubicle Culture

Summer vacations are ending and America is getting back to work with Labor Day in the rearview mirror. Despite the pandemic easing, many employees continue to work remotely, while others are required to come into the office or be “on site.”

Reporting From the Left: The Great Shift: How are all those "back to the office" plans going? (CBS News)

Reporting from the Right: Judgment Day on Wall Street: Banks pressure workers to return full time as summer recedes (New York Post)

From The Flag: We just covered the impact of remote learning in terms of children’s education and test scores. There’s an ongoing debate about the merits and drawbacks of virtual work, as opposed to being in the office. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Employees Want Work-Life Balance, but American Culture Could Go Away

• The decline of the office will erode the nation’s general atmosphere, specifically by killing downtown areas in cities.

• The pandemic led to enlightenment about the importance of work-life balance and employers are responding to that change.

• While employees see working remotely as a huge benefit, going fully virtually leads to a decline in communication and company culture.

“The Lonely Office Is Bad for America” Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “The benefits of working from home are obvious: freedom, no commute; it’s easier to be there for family, the dog, the dentist appointment. Less time wasted in goofy officewide meetings. I’ve wondered if there is another aspect, that office life was demystified by what began in the years before the pandemic, the rise of HR complaints and accusations of bullying, bad language and sexual misconduct. Add arguments over masks and vaccines, and maybe office life came to be seen less as a healthy culture you could be part of and more like a battlefield you wanted to avoid. … I don’t want to see office life in America end. The decline in office life is going to have an impact on the general atmosphere of the country. … All the almost-empty buildings in all the downtowns—it feels too much like a metaphor for decline.”

“Remote Work Applications Nearly Doubled This Year–And There Are No Signs Of Slowing” Natalie Campisi, Forbes: “A tighter focus on work-life balance emerged from the pandemic as more workers evaluated how they spent their time. For many, the conclusion was that they were putting in too much time commuting or sitting in cubicles. Forbes Advisor spoke with more than a dozen recruiters and employers who all said working from home has taken off in the last two years because people want more flexibility to balance work with their personal life. And because more people are reluctant to return to the office full time, companies are retooling their policies. … Along with making employees happy, employers embracing remote work are also finding meaningful benefits for their companies. For one, they can deepen the talent pool by removing geographical barriers. And they can also diversify their talent easier than if they were restricted to one town or metropolitan area.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: The Case For Going Back To The Office Christopher Tompkins, Entrepreneur

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

There’s Little Upside in the Office, and Americans Aren’t Going Back

• Employers say offices foster collaboration and mentorship but many young workers don’t see it that way.

• The economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic has led to a shortage of workers and forced employers to become more flexible.

• Remote work is helping Americans become healthier because being at the office leads to stillness and hours sitting at a desk.

“Don’t Return to the Office for Your Boss. Go Back for Yourself.” Edith Cooper, New York Times Op-ed: “In the conversation about returning to in-person office work, it sometimes seems like bosses and workers are operating in different realities. Many young workers on the first few rungs of their career ladder do not see offices as welcoming places, buzzing with collaboration and mentorship, despite what their bosses promise. Meanwhile, many senior executives are mystified by calls for change to office systems and cultures that, from where they sat, looked like they were working just fine. They weren’t. The pandemic showed a realistic alternative to the daily commute to the office, and now many workers aren’t willing to go back to the status quo. Some two-thirds of those who have worked remotely during the pandemic do not want to return to the office, according to a survey conducted by the jobs platform FlexJobs last year.”

“Out of office: The pandemic and the new meaning of work” Editorial Board, Washington Post: “A long commute? Long hours in the presence of the same co-workers? Anxiety over striving for better assignments, compensation and the chance to clamber higher up the ladder? All of this may be familiar to those who have toiled in offices, factories and other workplaces. But it may also be, increasingly, a distant memory. … The pandemic caused the biggest shake-up to the workforce in decades. Remarkably, all 22 million jobs lost have now returned, and then some, a feat worth celebrating on its own. The rapid recovery has created a lot more demand for workers than the supply, giving employees leverage they have not had in decades… Workers across the spectrum are looking for more — many are seeking more fulfilling lives and no longer assume they will spend a career in a traditional office, putting in long hours and pursuing ever-higher ambitions.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Labor Day means a return to work. And highlights the dangers of sitting all day. Nina Bartmann, NBC News Op-ed

FLAG THIS

Over Half Can Work Remotely, and Half of Them Are Hybrid

A recent poll asked Americans about the return to office as we head toward the autumn months. Around 56% of all full-time employees, over 70 million workers, are able to do their work “at home” or remotely.

Half of that group work a hybrid schedule (some at home, some on-site), 30% only work remotely, and 20% always go into the office (Gallup).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Diana's Funeral, Opening a Can, and Giraffes Don't Swim

On September 6, 1997, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the globe tuned in to television broadcasts of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris the week before. Above is Diana's coffin being transported through the streets of London on its way to Westminster Abbey.

Life Hacker: The Easiest Ways to Open a Can Without a Can Opener

NPR: The US diet is deadly. Here are 7 ideas to get Americans eating healthier

Consumer Reports: How to Cut Your Water Use in Half

Today I Learned scientists made a computer model and concluded that giraffes would perform poorly compared to other mammals and are hence likely to avoid swimming if possible.