I must disagree with your otherwise brilliant opinion good Captain. If you
give my argument the consideration it is due, you will find great benefit to
those, such as ourselves, who maintain a state of hardiness suitable to a
life of manly adventure.

I encourage smoking. I want people to smoke ten packs of cigarettes a day.
There is no cost, but only benefit to society for such behavior. The benefit
is that the majority of these smokers will die just before they can collect
Social Security or Medicare. They will have paid all their lives into the
system, but perish before collecting a dime. I and others such as the robust
good Captain Neal will collect said benefits for 4 or 5 decades. I thank
these smokers for keeping the costs of these social programs so low. Besides
smoking they should consume large amounts of butter, mayonaise and Crisco.
Their poor health will keep them out of the woods, off of the waterways,
bikepaths, mountains and the like.
I thank all those who have chosen to perish early, for they have kept the
cost of unconstitutional social programs low.

Gilligan


"Capt. Neal®" wrote in message
...
YES! It's about time they started getting tough with stupid
smokers who run up everybody's health bills and who pollute
everybody's air.

Company Fires All Employees Who Smoke

Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time
UPDATED: 8:20 AM EST January 25, 2005

LANSING, Mich. -- Four employees of a health care company have
been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they
smoke cigarettes.

Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos,
Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired
if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours
or at home.

Company founder Howard Weyers has said the anti-smoking rule
was designed to shield the firm from high health care costs. "I
don't want to pay for the results of smoking," he said. The rule
led one employee to quit before the policy was adopted. Four
others were fired when they balked at the smoking test.

Chief Financial Officer Gary Climes estimated that 18 to 20 of
the company's 200 employers were smokers when the policy was
announced in 2003. Of those, as many as 14 quit smoking before
the policy went into effect. The company offered them help to
kick the habit.

"That is absolutely a victory," Climes said. On the company's Web
site, it states: Weyco Inc. is a non-smoking company that strongly
supports its employees in living healthy lifestyles.

The above is from: http://www.wral.com/news/4126577/detail.html

CN