Page 101 - Bus101FlipBook

CH 6] Business 101 6-19

an awkward position: ban smoking and risk offending valuable employees who smoke
or do nothing and ignore the complaints of the generally larger population of
nonsmokers in the workplace. Fully 30 percent of America's corporations now restrict
on-the-job smoking.
Examples of smoking restrictions are plentiful. Turner Broadcasting System
refuses to hire smokers; U.S. Gypsum has banned smoking on and off the job for all
workers except those in its corporate headquarters; and Northwest Airlines banned
smoking on all flights after it found that 90 percent of its frequent flyers do not smoke.
Other airlines have followed Northwest’s example. Some employees challenge the
right of companies to restrict their right to smoke, but many approve of the measures.
There is also a financial reward for employers to discriminate against employee
smokers, this reward is in lowered insurance premiums that company’s pay.
Responsibility to the Environment
Environmental issues continue to be religiously trotted before the public as the
industrial sector of the economy becomes less visible. Special interest groups have
lobbied state and federal legislatures in the name of “saving the environment”, “saving Tipton Kangaroo rat: on the
the planet” (Gaia) to place any number of roadblocks to prevent any development and endangered species list.
use of private property, the end result is that businesses are closed, people lose their
jobs, and unemployment increases. To wit:
The United States federal government, in 2000, filed suit in California’s federal
district court against a tractor and a disc (a piece of equipment used to break up soil)
owned by Tuang Ming-Lin, an immigrant from Taiwan. Mr. Ming-Lin immigrated
legally to the United States in 1997 and purchased 720 acres of desert land near
Bakersfield, California, with plans to grow herbs and vegetables on this barren soil. He Hermans Kangaroo rat: not on
laid out his farm, hired help and even asked local officials if everything was alright for the endangered species list.
him to farm, where-upon he was advised that the land is zoned for agriculture. Grow
what you want, create jobs, and welcome to America!
However, no one told him that his property was listed as natural habitat for the
Tipton Kangaroo rat, a rodent member of the endangered species club. The Federal
agents had their eyes on this little farm, and they keep such information secret (not 6
advising the county, nor title companies), and did not inform property owners of their
legal liability, except when they try to do something potentially criminal, such as
plowing a field.
On February 20, 2000, a platoon, in excess of two dozen state and
federal agents, with helicopter support, assaulted Mr. Ming-Lin’s farm, Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard
taking pictures of a crime scene, looking for animal (rodent) parts, and
ordered the Kern County fire department employees to haul away the
weapons (tractor and disc).
Five weeks later the case of “United States of America, Plaintiff, vs.
One Ford Tractor, Mdl VC715V, Unit OH22B, Engine OH16A, its tools
and appurtenances thereon, One Towner Offset Disc, Model A248, Serial
Number 24C665, its tools and appurtenances thereon, Defendant(s)” was
entered and the government informed the court that Mr. Ming-Lin “did
knowingly take and aid and abet the taking of an endangered species of
wildlife, to wit, Tipton Kangaroo rats.” Several weeks later the government
added in counts of harming San Joaquin Kit foxes and Blunt-nosed
Leopard Lizards.
The federal agents, in this filing, were uncertain if indeed the rodent
parts found were actually from any Tipton Kangaroo rats, because they are
virtually identical to the non-endangered Hermans Kangaroo rat. The
identifying and measurable difference in these two rodents is that the
Tipton rat’s rear feet are 1-100th of an inch longer—and of course they can
be used as an excuse to seize private property. San Joaquin kit fox
It has been documented that Tipton Kangaroo rats actually prefer
plowed fields to uncultivated fields. Rodents will abandon brush in favor of the airier

Copyrighted Material