Hero/ Hack: Guest Edition
Hero
My selected hero is Speaker of the House Denny Hastert for re-naming the "Capitol Holiday Tree." Its new name is the same as its old one. It is once again the "Capitol Christmas Tree." It was renamed a "holiday" tree in the late 1990s. Hastert is not a hero solely because I happen to celebrate Christmas. The assault on Christmas is ridiculous. Is there a Hanukah tree? A Kwanzaa tree? A Ramadan tree? No. It is solely part of the celebration of Christmas. For recognizing this, Hastert is this week's hero.
Hack
This week's hack is the World Health Organization for banning smokers from employment with the organization. WHO states that it is part of their anti-tobacco campaign:
Its job advertisements now carry the statement "WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or other tobacco users".
Applicants will be asked if they are smokers and if so, if they would continue to smoke if employed by the WHO. The ban will not apply to existing WHO staff or those on temporary contracts who apply for permanent jobs for the next two years. But the agency said it was already offering programmes to help staff to stop smoking.
In the US, a number of employers have recently launched recruitment bans, driven by concern about rising health insurance premiums for smokers.
As a United Nations agency, the WHO has fewer employment constraints than many national companies.
But in the UK and other countries, experts said there were no specific anti-discrimination clauses that protect smokers.
What next? Banning overweight and obese people? They also raise insurance premiums. Although there is believed to be a gene for obesity, people have the choice to moderate their eating and have choices in what they eat. Likewise, people can choose whether or not to smoke. I hate saying this, but it's a slippery slope. Barring anyone from employment because of a lifestyle choice is sheer discrimination.Hero/ Hack appears every Friday here at JTTR.
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