Former General Electric chief executive Jack Welch is saying that "there's no such thing as work-life balance." There are only "work-life choices." With that in mind, he says men and women (though he goes after women in particular) will just have to suck it up and choose either their family or that corner office they covet. Something tells me the kids of the men and women who take Jack's words to heart won't ever look ole' Jack in the eye and say, "Thanks." (Note: You will have to open a temporary membership to The Washington Post to read the whole article. Still, most of what you need is right there in the free sample.)

Each year, countless people use their homes as meth labs. Then they move (or are arrested). Then other people move into the house after them. And those new inhabitants often get very, very sick because of the previous owners' transgressions. I'm pretty sure you can do something interesting with this story.

I've done my best to keep this blog as close to a Michael Jackson-free zone as possible. Some of you would probably argue I've not done enough with the whole thing. Some of you probably hated that I posted even just a few links. Well, I've got one more. On the same day the famous pop singer died, a young soldier died in Afghanistan. That soldier's mother reflects on the value of her son's life in this short column. She doesn't mention Jackson and the media mess, but you know what she's driving at as you read the final paragraph.

Think you have to ooze charisma to make a difference as a leader? Think again.

A teenage girl in Staten Island fell down an open manhole because she was texting one of her friends. I'm certainly not saying you should use this story to offer some odd diatribe against texting, but I think you could use it in other ways concerning distractions, our incessant need to communicate (rather than be communicated to), and so forth.

Here's one very troubling article about obesity in America. The sound you hear when you read paragraphs two and three is your jaw hitting the floor. (HT: Tim Challies)

And let me tell you, that obesity article is even more troubling when you consider that a recent federal report says "a growing number of American children are living in poverty and with unemployed parents, and are facing the threat of hunger."

Here's a report that identifies seven things you're wasting your money on.

And speaking of money, the opening line of this article says it all: "A Berlin brothel has come up with a novel way to negate the impact of the global economic crisis and target a new group of customers at the same time - offering a discount to patrons who arrive on bicycles." The global economic crisis continues to reveal so much about us, doesn't it?