I'm in sunny Port Arthur, Texas. Its only claim to fame is that this is where Janis Joplin hailed from. There's even a museum for her, but I don't think we'll make it over there this trip. Sorry, Janis, it's just not Graceland.
An AP article published today (http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2007-09-09-risk-penalties_N.htm?csp=34) discusses the trend of companies charging their employees for failing certain health metrics. There was an opinion piece by Dr. Arthur Caplan on the MSNBC website a few weeks ago (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20181526/) that really lit a fire under me to oppose this trend. Please go read it yourself, but to summarize it encourages employees to be thoughtful when weighing discounts (or penalties) offered (or threatened) by employers against the value of your personal privacy. The MSNBC article pointed out that it's not an unreasonable extension of the "increasing insurance costs" logic to charge employees extra if they engage in "risky" behavior. Like SCUBA diving. No, thanks. You can take your money and shove it. I'll keep my private self private.
You've got to check out the archive of the Australian TV show The Chaser's War on Everything. These are the guys who just recently created a "motorcade" with Canadian flags and got within 10 meters of the Shrub's hotel in Sydney during the APEC conference. And one of the passengers was dressed as Osama bin Laden!
From the Chaser's War website:
"If you've got a tip off or a gripe, don't tell MediaWatch they'll just make a legitimate point on your behalf. That may give you some satisfaction, but it won't be as satisfying, or as fun, as getting the Chaser team to wreak some revenge for you."
You can find the show at http://abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/ . There's a year or so of back episodes that you can download or stream to your computer. Bloody hilarious! A lot of the gags relate to Aussie politics, but just roll with it and pretend you understand until they get on to another topic. Thanks to Lesley for pointing me to that archive.
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