Friday, January 7, 2011

The Changing World--Let's get politic's out of our system, so we can deal with the "good old days" LOL





I am convinced the world has changed, but nobody has been able to convince me that all the changes are for the good. Remember Dr's above, who were so dedicated they made house calls? I remember Dr. Kuplis in Turtle Lake, N. Dak. Remember women(and other minorities) below, who earned respect by dedication and hard work , instead of demanding it "just because of how they were born?"

I find it sobering that the Constitution of the United States was read for the first time in her history yesterday January 6, 2011, on the floor of the House of Representatives!!!!!!! I am wondering if our Senators, Congressmen, and Presidents were required to have it memorized by heart before taking office, if it would assure that NOTHING is changed or passed in to law, unless there is a historically valid justification on why it is good for a few, and not the best for all. I wonder if it would prevent folks from jumping on the politically correct "me" boat, and instead keep them on the what has worked historically, the "us" boat.


Nowadays the Surgeon General reminds us of the health hazards of tobacco, but in earlier times on the North American continent it saved lives. That was when leaders of American Indian nations smoked it in a long-stemmed ceremonial pipe after negotiating treaties of peace. Smoking the pipe and passing it signified their commitment to the treaty as surely as a signature.

The French had a name for the pipe before the English did. They called it a calumet, their word for the reed from which its stem was made. In an English translation from the French, calumet is given as early as 1698. But the characteristic that gave the calumet its importance also gave it a descriptive English name. We can pass peace pipe into American English in 1761, a year after a certain George Croghan wrote that term in his journal of "Tours in the Western Country," published four years later: "Brother to Confirm what we have said to you I give you this Peace Pipe." The name was well established in 1779 when George Rogers Clark noted its importance among the Illinois: "I told them I would defer smoking the Peace Pipe until I heard that they had called in all their Warriors."

For making pledges to end disputes, we still say smoking the peace pipe, though nowadays negotiations may take place without tobacco in a no-smoking conference room.

Good or bad, right or wrong I'm here to tell folks that smoking is not against the law that governs all American citizens, "change/political correctness be damned. But this requirement below, for employment required by the Cincinnati Zoo reeks of reverse discrimination, which folks seem to want to ignore, unlike discrimination. If you don't think so, then let's make each persons medical history part of pre employment screening regardless of whether it is "our" constitutional right to have that history private. Smoking is also a constitutional right, good or bad, right or wrong.

Cincinnati Zoo:

Working Conditions: Employment is contingent upon passing a pre-employment, post-offer drug screen. Additionally, employees hired after 7/1/2010 may not smoke or use any form of tobacco products at any time, whether on or off duty, as a condition of employment. This means that you must be nicotine-free by the time of your pre-employment drug screen, which follows an offer of employment and is a condition of hire. The drug test will include a screen for cotinine (a nicotine metabolite). If you currently use any tobacco product, or if you are engaged in a tobacco cessation program, you must be completely free of the use of any nicotine-containing products by the time of your drug screen forward.

If we are to accept the above as constitutional then we must surely have no problem with being required to produce all medical history, so that the below is also constitutional. Oh wait, our medical history sealed is our constitutional right, so as not to be discriminated against. Is not the person who smokes, which is legal being discriminated against?

Cincinnati Zoo:

While performing the duties of the job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, walk, and utilize manual dexterity to use office equipment. The incumbent is regularly exposed to outside weather conditions and must be able to lift/move/carry up to 50 pounds without assistance. The ability to work a flexible schedule, including holiday and weekend hours is required.

With the issuance of your complete medical history the Cincinnati zoo could decide and judge in advance, whether you could" lift/move/carry up to 50 pounds without assistance." I don't see anything wrong with that being a requirement, as long as nicotine free is going to be a requirement.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Burck you are indeed spot on with this posting. This is discrimination in it's purest form. I don't smoke use alcohol or drugs and to think that you can decline employment to some one who participates in a legal activity such as smoking, yet can not decline employment to someone who has aids, which may or may not have been contracted through the participation of an illegal activity is bordering on social insanity.
As discriminatory as the smoking issue, are the universities who have shut down and ceased a particular "male" sport because of the legal requirement to provide a "female" sport, and lacking the funds for both, fund the "female" sport and eliminate the "male" sport!!!!!! Or the white American male who is denied a scholarship at a certain university, even though he has a superior SAT and GPA, because they are required to grant a certain percentage of scholarships to minorities, many of whom have lesser qualifications.
Breast cancer awareness week with it's pink ribbon and pink clothes and world products, is a tremendous noble cause, bringing attention to a horrible affliction to women. When was the last time you saw a prostate cancer awareness week with say a black ribbon, the world colored in black,from candy bars to automobiles, bringing attention to a horrible affliction to men?