Smokers and fat people send U.S. jobs overseas. That's scary, but bad health habits produce high labor costs, a condition that forces some employers to move operations overseas. Labor costs are much more than hourly wages, annual salaries or commission rates. They also include pension benefits and the costs of employee health care, which is going through the roof for many reasons including the bad habits of employees. An employer recently told me he sees the day coming when workers will be required to take care of their health if they want to keep their jobs. That means workers will not be permitted to smoke and must keep their weight within a safe range. [continues 442 words]
The day after the U.S. Senate approved using Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a stash for the nation's nuclear waste, the Associated Press reported that voters in Nevada will decide whether to legalize small stashes of marijuana. There's nothing like a few ounces of giggle weed to take your mind off 77,000 tons of nearby nuclear waste. Who cares if you glow in the dark as long as you have weed and Cheez Doodles? The proposal, which will be voted on in November, allows adults to have up to three ounces of marijuana as long as they don't smoke it in public places, assuming pot heads will recognize public places. [continues 421 words]
The day after the U.S. Senate approved using Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a stash for the nation's nuclear waste, the Associated Press reported that voters in Nevada will decide whether to legalize small stashes of marijuana. There's nothing like a few ounces of giggle weed to take your mind off 77,000 tons of nearby nuclear waste. Who cares if you glow in the dark as long as you have weed and Cheez Doodles? The proposal, which will be voted on in November, allows adults to have up to three ounces of marijuana as long as they don't smoke it in public places, assuming pot heads will recognize public places. [continues 538 words]
It's past time for Americans to start treating the AIDS epidemic more like a deadly disease and less like a political problem. The worldwide AIDS epidemic is outstripping all predictions by health experts at the World Health Organization and the United Nations AIDS program. Even in the United States, where more the $600 million has been spent on federal prevention programs, the rate of new infections has maintained a steady 40,000 or so per year. A new alarming study reports that four out of every 10 Americans infected with HIV refuse to tell their sexual partners that they are carriers of the deadly virus. [continues 492 words]
