Tobacco Legislation Is a Sneaky Big Government Play
Before you sigh, “Not another anti-anti-smoking article,” this issue represents the state vs. the people in microcosm. It appears to be the perfect way for Big Brother to seize authority to change the behavior of others. The underdogs are outnumbered 3 to 1. Perhaps 99.9% think the behavior is deleterious. (“Science” says so.) Many believe passionately that our action injures them physically. At least as many believe our smoking costs “you” money “because we’re paying for your health care.” (You aren’t in most cases and you should not be in any case.) Who could be “for” smoking?
Smoking isn’t the issue. Setting precedents is. Once a people accept that a government has the right, far less the duty, to regulate our choices, deny us our right to make our own choices, and be responsible for our own actions, no one is safe. State science decrees that red meat, butter, other fats, eggs, salt, insecticides, red wine, and numerous other items are “bad” for us. Even when jihad is declared on something you think indispensable, your personal preferences still won’t be the issue. That will remain freedom. Freedom to make our own choices, pay for our own mistakes, freedom to take responsibility for our decisions.
The trouble with putting zealots in charge of anything–or even listening to them–is that they want to apply their pet ideas to every facet of life. One begins to suppose there is a near-universal craving for a universal panacea. Even I appear to be among that number because my idea of the solution to all of our woes is to get the government out of our lives, out of office buildings, and off the bloated payrolls.
The latest bright idea is that vast amounts of money will be saved if the government bans smoking/tobacco use in the military. Well, there is a really bright idea. The claims are that not allowing the troops to use tobacco will improve their health and lower costs. My reaction to the latter point was a stunned, “Since when have the Democrats wanted to lower costs anywhere, at any time, for any reason?” This is certainly a first. It would be if those were the real reasons, instead of control.
Let’s start with a really quaint notion regarding a useless piece of paper known as the Constitution. Such a ban makes tobacco a contraband substance. Presumably the intent is not just to say, “You may not smoke in mess halls. You may not smoke in barracks. You may not smoke in public. You may not smoke in the middle of battle.” It appears that Ted Kennedy was not jesting when he said that all that was necessary to end smoking was just to outlaw it, even if the first part of the strategy was to hit menthol-smokers first. (The “flavoring” always mentioned, by careful design, is “cherry,” but the one under attack is menthol, for the purpose of driving smaller companies out of business, as I have discussed before, and because most of us who smoke menthol cigarettes won’t smoke regular ones.) This is reminiscent of recent city bans against smoking anywhere within twenty-five feet of a doorway, far less inside buildings! It criminalizes smoking. Never mind “the pursuit of happiness,” do we really want to encourage Big Brother to intrude further into anyone’s lifestyle? In particular, do we want the Nanny State messing with the morale of our soldiers?
USA Today (which is not the world’s premium newspaper) cites, “Combat veterans are 50% more likely to use tobacco than troops who haven’t seen combat.” They don’t tell us what the percentage of those who smoke is compared to the US average, which, until the price quintupled in the last ten years due primarily to taxes, was 28% for a couple of decades. All of those who were going to be deterred by scare tactics left long ago. Mr. Obama’s ten dollar hike did several percentage points in; they can’t pay for it again around all of the other prices going up.
I grew up in the military and was a military wife. While I am certainly a smoker, no one is going to send me into combat, so I have no personal interest here, nor am I promoting smoking. It has come to restrict my life annoyingly, as in not being able to get on airplanes. The “choice” foisted on me is whether to smoke or whether to fly. No problem. Smokes win.
Smoking is a personal choice–oh, wait, is this like abortion, in that it should be “legal, but rare?” Apparently not. My concern is entirely for the welfare of the troops, who have far more serious threats to their health than the putative damages of smoking. Viet Nam was “our” war, and only a fiend would have denied kids living in the horror of jungles full of enemies from zero to four legs the comfort of a smoke. Back then the things cost $1.25 a carton. In WWII cigarettes were included in the field rations. I imagine the effects of cigarettes are just as beneficial in Iraq and Afghanistan, soothing the nerves when there is a lull in the fighting or you’ve finally scraped out a relative measure of cover in the sand. Why does anyone suppose that the kids who get shot at are 50% more likely to smoke? Go get yourself attacked and ambushed, eat indifferent food, be hated by those in a place you never wanted to go, and watch your buddies be destroyed by sniper fire, land mines, hand grenades, and artillery shells, and you might find yourself reaching for a cigarette, too. Gum isn’t going to cut it in those situations. Enlisted men, in particular, and cigarettes are pretty much a combination. I think we can predict that a lot of the more seasoned NCO’s will refuse to re-up. I stopped to consult Asia, a combat veteran, who didn’t think much of the idea, either. MDC said calmly, “I would probably have left the military.” He did thirty years.
Health. Ah. We won’t discuss the effects of Agent Orange, Post Traumatic Stress, or being struck by shrapnel. I’m going to go with the theory that smoking is to this era as sex was to Victorians, the ultimate evil which must be destroyed. It has long been fashionable to ascribe virtually all diseases to smoking. We’ve been hearing that line since C. Everett Koop, and although the percentage of smokers has been cut in half, the diseases attributed to smoking not only become more numerous with every passing year, but the incidence of them continues to rise. “Oh!” exclaimed the AMA. “Second-hand smoke!” Very few people are exposed to second-hand smoke, friends. We smokers are far more likely to die of heat prostration, pneumonia, mugging, or drive-by shootings by being sent outside like naughty children.
Costs? We’re back to the Democrats’ ploy of “think of a really big number.” They fling “statistics” around with no regard for truth, science, or even any sort of scientific proof. Remember science? That’s how we used to determine cause and effect, back before the witch-hunting mentality returned. The claim is that “Tobacco use costs the Pentagon $846 million a year in medical care and lost productivity.” Oh? Determined how? By what standards? The guys are standing around smoking and joking instead of working? I thought the claim was that evil tobacco killed swiftly, so what was the “medical care” portion spent on, burned fingers from lighters? That’s not good math, it isn’t good statistics, and I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that “The Department of Veterans Affairs spends up to $6 billion in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses, says the study, which was released late last month.” Why? Because nobody defines “tobacco-related illnesses,” or provides a little pie chart. Are we talking about emphysema and cancer? Have we got any studies? Have we got any real proofs of causal relationships? Our dentist told me that smoking causes periodontal disease! By constricting blood vessels in the mouth. Chuckle. When I was in my thirties and really rather attractive, an Army dentist told me that my dental health would be improved by having an affair with him! I decided to stick with more usual protocols. (Pity no one told me then that tooth sensitivity is caused by the fluoride which laces our public water supplies and most toothpaste brands. Try switching to a good non-fluoride toothpaste such as Tom’s for a tube and see if yours doesn’t decrease. Only the detested “anecdotal” evidence, but I was told that, tried it, and it works for me.)
It is accepted as holy writ that smoking causes everything from ingrown toenails to hair falling out. The doctors say so. The AMA says so. Where’s the proof? “Linda! You can’t challenge that! Everybody knows that…”
I’m not “everybody.” I’m me. I will have been a smoker for forty years this fall, and am up to three packs a day. People restricting me always leads to an increase. My darling Charles has been a heavy smoker longer than that. My foreman is 50 and has smoked since he was very young, and our other hand is 54 and has, as well. Among the four of us we number exactly two prescription medications: I have a low thyroid, which escaped being stigmatized as a “tobacco-related disease” somehow, and to my dismay his doctor has MDC on Lipitor for a cholesterol level I would like to see higher. (What the much misquoted Framingham study showed was that those most at risk were men with cholesterol under 170! Cholesterol is actually good stuff, a subject for another day.) Other than that he got an absolutely splendid report on his physical Wednesday. Glittering blood work! Charles’ levels were down, again, and the doctor asked him what he had been doing. Charles used that patented Robert Mitchum sleepy “bad boy” smile of his and replied truthfully that he had been eating a lot of butter, eggs, and red meat, and consuming un-homogenized, unpasteurized milk! (Also a subject for another day.) Precisely how much healthier does anyone think MDC will be if he quits smoking, which would make both of us miserable?
We all drink, we all eat a great deal of butter, eggs, and red meat. We fry potatoes and eggs in bacon grease (delicious), and we produce a lot of that around here. Freddie thinks that bacon and pork chops are one of the three basic food groups. Half our group is black, three-quarters is male…and I admit we haven’t reached the James Linda minimum for proving that lime juice prevents scurvy. Oh, wait, yes we have. He gave seven sailors various diets, two of them including limes, and those were the men who didn’t come down with scurvy. Here’s an interesting, undeniable statistic: in every case, those who are Linda or live with Linda lead happy, healthy lives. I’m probably the cure for heart disease, stroke, aneurysm, depression, dyspepsia, boredom, Alzheimer’s, frustration, and the heartbreak of psoriasis. Perfect record.
Cigarettes actually have three verifiable effects: they annoy the whey out of most of you because of the smell; they have become ruinously expensive; they destroy 20 mg. of vitamin C each. Those of us who take our ascorbic acid a minimum of four times a day don’t have any problem with the only health threat, although the other two factors are serious.
Having tilted at a windmill far stronger than I, I want to thank a marvelous reader for sending us a quote from Heraclitus, circa 500 B.C.
“Of every One-Hundred men, Ten shouldn’t even be there,
Eighty are nothing but targets, Nine are real fighters…
We are lucky to have them…They make the battle,
Ah, but the One, One of them is a Warrior…
and He will bring the others back.”
I had planned on putting this in whatever I chose to write about, but it is sheer, amusing circumstance that the topic turned out to be abuse of tobacco users. What if “the one” (which isn’t referring to the likes of Mr. Obama) is a smoker?
Unrepentant regards,
Linda Brady Traynham
July 13, 2009
Linda Brady Traynham
Linda Brady Traynham is a former editor and analytical project report writer and is now a Whiskey & Gunpowder field correspondent on a ranch in the Republic of Texas. She studied Counseling at Boston University and got her Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii.
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Amen.
My husband is a VietNam vet. I have many, many friends & relatives who are veterans, as well as currently in the military. Most everyone I know in the military was a smoker while they were in the trenches. (These were non-commissioned and commissioned soldiers.) I cannot imagine any of them, having just been nearly blown up by a car bomb, blown away by a sniper or having lost friends to similar fates, NOT sitting down with a smoke. And, Friends, I would not want to be the one to tell any of them that smoking a ciggarette was not allowed just then.
Could we get a little perspective here? These soldiers are surrounded by horror, death and destruction every HOUR of their lives. And it does not go away when they come home – they remember it,and sleep with it for the rest of their lives. If lighting up is what it takes to carry them through, then so be it and bless their hearts.
And if our own President admits to the need for an occassional smoke due to the pressure is his life, how could anyone take the idea of banning smoking in the MILITARY seriously? Come on!
How ’bout we find something constructive to worry about? How ’bout we train people to be employable, or how to be self-employed? How ’bout we show people how to find some peace, freedom and independance in their personal lives? Maybe they’ll be smoking while they’re gainfully employed, but that is their choice, isn’t it? Surely, if we can make the choice to murder thousands of babies every day, we ought to be able to choose to stop for a smoke.
Once the FDA exhibits controls over the use of tobacco, it maintains legislative rights over cigarettes, cigars and pipes. Of course, these are all inhaled products so the FDA will naturally assume that they have legal rights to control inhalants. Now they will be controlling inhaled (so called) drugs such as weed, coke and any such thing that goes into the lungs. It’s important to note that these activities can not be performed without some assistance tools. Now there are specific tools that Need to be managed by the FDA. eg. roach clips, bongs, pipes, razor blades and the like. No need for concern because these tools along with the inhalants will be prescribed by a medical specialist who is, of course, trained, degreed and licensed in some related field of inhalant devise procurement and therapy management. We, along with our children will be safe in the knowledge that, although baggies (which are transportation devices), chemicals (which may be mixed and otherwise formulated to produce THC and other products), articles which promote and describe the use of and effects of prescription inhalants will all be outlawed and we will be safe from the harmful effects of these noxious products.
Speaking of noxious products, maybe it’s time that the FDA assumed legal responsibility of these also. Now, let’s make a list of noxious products that we should also live without …
Excellent, Linda! How about doing an article on seat belt laws, something else that really doesn’t affect anyone other than the person that does or does not choose to wear them?
Dear n9lhm:
THANK you! Talk about a subject dear to my heart! No time like the present.
Whatever happened to the Pioneer Spirit, to taking responsibility for our own actions? I’m in favor of taking carefully-calculated risks in order to gain rewards that are worth a possible lump. What’s funny is that back in the Fifties when I learned to drive we had wonderful old-fashioned lap straps which provide stability and are far more convenient, comfortable, and safer than those miserable inertial reel shoulder straps that chafe small ladies, do not fit well over deep-bosomed ladies, and don’t strap us in enough to prevent motion sickness in those prone to it. The government then, bless it, didn’t give a hoot or a holler if we wore the things, and I put mine on religiously even if I were doing nothing more than backing a car out of the garages. That was MY decision, because I’m a great believer in habits. There are things we always do and those we never do. Comes the Nanny State…and your iconoclastic little friend began resenting seatbelts (and the NS) fiercely. It is MY safety we’re talking about, and none of the government’s damn’ business, pardon me for unseemly language.
I now experiment with assorted ways to jimmy the system for my own comfort and on general principles. Surely our police have better things to do with their attention than peering through windows to be certain everyone is strapped in? The shoulder strap cuts across my collar bone and scrapes it raw, so I pull some slack out and hold it, or hook it over my knee. I’m threatening to have lapstraps installed in the cars I drive for comfort and safety. I may have to leave the others hooked up and worn for cosmetic protection, but I am quite competent to make my own decisions and take measures I deem prudent.
WHILE we’re on the subject, how about those dangerous, uncomfortable obstructions intended to prevent whip lash? Has anyone calculated (no) the increase in accidents because we can’t see over or around the things as opposed to the decrease in whip lash incidents? Of course not.
How about how many more people are incinerated in cars because the asbestos has been removed from brake linings? Asbestos is magnificent stuff, the best fire-retardant known, and it is only dangerous to those who work in asbestos mines and factories and THEN only if they do not take precautions. How many should be thrown on the fiery altar of asbestos-free automobiles before we consider that very few people spend 30 years working with asbestos, and a much better solution would be to give the few protective gear, rather than endangering the many?
Someone (I read so many articles every day I can’t always remember) commented lately that we have turned from a government that promulgates sensible “Thou shalt NOT” legislation–meaning that, in particular, which bans sensible things like murdering us, stealing from us, and setting fire to puppy dogs–to onerous, unconstitutional, insane “Thou SHALT” regulations which interfere more and more with our daily lives at incredible costs in money and freedom. One of my little peeves is the “low flush” toilet, which I hold is a safety hazard. The solution? Buy used ones. If I asked my darliing Charles I’m sure he would reply that all he has to do is go adjust the float. There is nothing like having an engineer around the house!
Poor Gary is bombarded with articles from me (Perhaps we can coax him into putting the excess over in my archives?) but has so many great contributors that there isn’t room for them. Chuckle. This is not “The Linda Brady Traynham Show,” but Whiskey and Gunpowder! Don’t we love our W&G?! Today’s send on the main page was an absolute knock-out, even though it ran so long we didn’t get our daily dose of Gary in the Parting Shot, something I find indispensible to comfort, happiness, and the American Way of Life.
Got to run because a friend just came in, but I will write you some more when I have had time to let the abuses of society percolate through my brain.
Wow! Talk about fun? What could be better than being asked to WRITE? I love it. Anybody else wants a helping of homespun “wisdom,” y’all just ask.
Delighted regards,
Linda
Utterly delighted laughter, Kristen and Nick.
What wonderful readers we have on W&G. Thank you VERY much for adding to the discussion. I hope you know what it means to this contributor when you respond. I write for sheer joy and occasionally out of outrage, but reader’s letters are the biggest pleasure of all.
KRISTEN, thank you for a moving statement, backed by your own experiences, of why the proposed ruling is deleterious to the troops. We weren’t in battle but we’ve been there through our menfolks’ letters and anecdotes. You advanced the “argument” very well, and I particularly like your suggestions for things our nation could be concentrating on. If we spent the money that goes into DARE on better reading programs… You’re a love, and I hope you will write frequently.
NICK, you reprobate–great sarcasm, and I loved it. I’m imagining a world full of bearded men and hairy-legged women because razor blades have been outlawed, thus causing further turmoil by knocking Wilkerson and Gillette off the Big Board. I wish I had said anything as clever as “some related field of inhalant device procurement and therapy management!”
“Lucky dog, lucky dog!” Me, that is. THREE wonderful letters already? n9lhm, I started writing you your article on seat belts here hours ago, but I imagine the computer kicked it out for Gary to look at because of the length. If there is anything better than a reader response (and there probably isn’t) it would have to be a request to write on some subject.
BIG group hug! Linda
I agree 100%. Governments should not be in the business of legislating morality or personal choices. Gays should be free to marry, people should be free to smoke (as long as I don’t have to breath their smoke), I should be free to use marijuana (or any other non-addictive, non life threatening substance for that matter) without the gov’t gestapos breaking down my door, taking my possessions and throwing me in jail for a decade.
Folks, it’s just too late. Until we all tell them to just go to hell, it will continue.
I will wear a seat belt only when the benefits outweigh the dangers (they’re proven killers which have never saved a single life. Go ahead- prove me wrong!) though when I’m flying my piper it is necessary to be strapped to the thing lest turbulence unseat me… likewise when driving on ice and the risk of rollover increases, but in town where a t-bone is likely- forget it.
As for flying, if I can’t have my 45ACP at least accessible, I won’t go commercial anymore. The bureaurats and armed thugs (but I repeat myself…) have made it unacceptable.
Three little words- Go to Hell. Until Americans re-learn them, the communists win.
Best-
Ernie
By the way, Linda- I was down your way this spring. Had some work in San Antonio- and took the time to tour the Alamo. Highly recommended and truly inspiring- was it Davy Crockett who said,”You may go to hell, as for me, I’m going to Texas.”
Wow – fantastic – I fully agree – time to get the lead – sorry – gov`t out. By the way you should take a look at manditory vaccination – there is another killer.
DEAR ERNIE: YOU WROTE:
“Folks, it’s just too late. Until we all tell them to just go to hell, it will continue. NOW, IF YOU’LL JUST TELL US HOW! I FEEL LIKE THE OVER RUN FORT IN THE MOVIE STARSHIP TROOPERS. WITH LUCK, GARY WILL HAVE ROOM FOR AN ARTICLE I WROTE YESTERDAY ON…CHICKEN MESS! NOW THE FORCES OF DARKNESS ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE POULTRY INDUSTRY BY CLAIMING THAT THE NATURAL BY-PRODUCT OF PRODUCING CHICKENS (WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THE BEST NATURAL FERTILIZER AVAILABLE IN THE US) IS DESTROYING THE SACRED WATERSHED AND MENACING LIFE AS WE KNOW IT.
I will wear a seat belt only when the benefits outweigh the dangers (they’re proven killers which have never saved a single life. Go ahead- prove me wrong!) though when I’m flying my piper it is necessary to be strapped to the thing lest turbulence unseat me… likewise when driving on ice and the risk of rollover increases, but in town where a t-bone is likely- forget it.” YOU’RE MY KIND OF GUY, ONLY BRAVER THAN I. MY PET PEEVE IS THOSE MISERABLE AIR BAGS WHICH ARE A REAL MENACE TO 5’2″ LADIES, AND I REALLY DON’T THINK I NEED A FACE FULL OF EXPANDED PARACHUTE IN MY FACE IF WE HAVE AN ACCIDENT…EVENTUALLY YOU’LL SEE (I HOPE) MY THOUGHTS, WHICH I PENNED HERE YESTERDAY JUST FOR YOU, ON THOSE DISASTROUS “ANTI-WHIPLASH” DEVICES WHICH CAUSE ACCIDENTS BECAUSE WE CAN’T SEE AROUND OR OVER THEM, AND THE LUNACY OF REMOVING ASBESTOS FROM BRAKE LININGS ON THE BIZARRE THEORY THAT IT IS BETTER TO INCINERATE PASSENGERS THAN TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS FOR THOSE FEW WHO WORKED 30 YEARS IN ASBESTOS MINES OR PLANTS.
As for flying, if I can’t have my 45ACP at least accessible, I won’t go commercial anymore. HAPPY SIGH. YEAH. THE DERANGED AND ZEALOTS (FREQUENTLY BUT NOT ALWAYS THE SAME) DO NOT SHOOT UP NURSING HOMES AND CAFETERIAS IN STATES WHERE THE CITIZENS ARE ARMED. The bureaurats and armed thugs (but I repeat myself…) have made it unacceptable.
Three little words- Go to Hell. Until Americans re-learn them, the communists win.
Best-
Ernie”
THANKS FOR WRITING AGAIN, ERNIE, AND WEIGH IN ANY TIME. I LIKE TALKING TO YOU! CORDIALLY, LINDA
By the way, Linda- I was down your way this spring. Had some work in San Antonio- and took the time to tour the Alamo. Highly recommended and truly inspiring- was it Davy Crockett who said,”You may go to hell, as for me, I’m going to Texas.”
DEAR ERNIE:
I CRY EVERY TIME I READ THE LETTER COLONEL TRAVIS WROTE. WOW. WEREN’T YOU AMAZED BY HOW TINY THE ALAMO IS? IMAGINE BEING SHUT UP IN THERE WITH SO FEW SOLDIERS, SURROUNDED BY SANTA ANNA….
FUNNY STORY. MY BEST FRIEND LIVES IN SAT, AND SHE WAS TASKED A COUPLE OF YEARS WITH ESCORTING THE COACHES WIVES FOR A MAJOR BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT. ONE OF THEM ASKED, “WHY DID THEY PUT THE ALAMO DOWNTOWN?!” CHARLOTTE JUST BLINKED. I WOULD HAVE REPLIED SWEETLY, “BECAUSE THE TOURISTS LIKE IT HERE; IT’S SO CONVENIENT TO THE RIVER WALK!”
NEXT TIME, Y’ALL COME TO SEE US, YOU HEAH?! SHUCKS, YOU WERE A HOP, SKIP, AND A JUMP AWAY, ONLY 175 MILES! SERIOUSLY, THAT’S HOW WE THINK OF IT ‘ROUND HERE, AND IF THERE IS ANYTHING WE TEXANS PRIDE OURSELVES ON IT IS OUR HOSPITALITY. THANKS FOR ANOTHER LETTER. IF Y’ALL COULD SEE MY FACE LIGHT UP WHEN I SEE I HAVE MAIL…AND SUCH GREAT MAIL, TOO! YESTERDAY I GOT ONE ASKING ANXIOUSLY IF MDC AND I ARE ALL RIGHT, BECAUSE THERE HADN’T BEEN A NEW LBT RECENTLY. I EXPLAINED THAT GARY HAS MANY MORE TALENTED CONTRIBUTORS, THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH ROOM, AND I TEND TO WRITE AT LEAST AN ARTICLE A DAY!
HUGS TO ALL OF YOU, LINDA
DEAR JOHN:
YOU WROTE: “Wow – fantastic – I fully agree – time to get the lead – sorry – gov`t out. By the way you should take a look at mandatory vaccination – there is another killer.”
FUNNIEST THING YOU SHOULD SAY THAT. I WROTE ONE JUST YESTERDAY, AND DECIDED I SOUNDED TOO MUCH LIKE THE BIGGEST NUT ON THE ‘NET THAT I READ! I CONCUR FULLY, WHETHER WE’RE TALKING ABOUT INFANT VACCINATIONS, ASSAULTING PRE-TEEN GIRLS WITH PAPILLOMA (DID I SPELL THAT RIGHT?) VIRUS, OR MANDATORY SHOTS FOR THE FLU. I DON’T BELIEVE MUCH IN MANDATORY ANYTHING, EXCEPT BREATHING AND LAISSEZ FAIRE. A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF DEATHS DO OCCUR WHEN INJECTING YOUNGSTERS, ALTHOUGH I APPRECIATE THAT SOME PEOPLE WORRY ABOUT UNVACCINATED CHILDREN GIVING THEIR KIDS SOMETHING. I DON’T THINK YOUNG GIRLS NEED TO BE “PROTECTED” AGAINST SOCIAL DISEASES WITH INSUFFICIENTLY-TESTED VACCINES, AND I WOULD GET VERY NERVOUS, INDEED, IF TOLD I WOULD TAKE THE SHOT OR GO TO A “CONTAINMENT CENTER.” WHO IS TO SAY WHAT IS IN THE NEEDLE, THE LADY OR THE TIGER? THERE HAVE BEEN DELIBERATE CONTAMINATIONS BEFORE, PHARMACEUTICALS THAT TURNED OUT TO HAVE SIDE EFFECTS WORSE THAN WHAT THEY PURPORTED TO CURE, AND THERE IS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY OF TERRORISTS GETTING CREATIVE…RELENZA HAS LEAD TO SUICIDE IN TEENS, WHICH MAKES IT PROBABLE THAT THERE IS A CONNECTION WITH HORMONES. AS DR. ROGER WILLIAMS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAID, “WE ARE ALL BIOCHEMICALLY UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS.” PERHAPS IT CAN MAKE SOME ADULTS SUICIDAL, TOO. PERHAPS IT HAS OTHER SIDE-EFFECTS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN DISCOVERED YET. I HAVE NEVER HAD A FLU SHOT IN MY LIFE AND DON’T WANT ONE. MDC AND I ARE VIRTUALLY NEVER ILL BUT WE DID MANAGE TO BE “COTCHED” BY THE SWINE FLU! WE WERE ON VACATION FOR A WEEK IN AN AREA THAT HAD 100 CASES…WE WERE OVER THE WORST OF IT IN TWO DAYS, ALTHOUGH WE FELT AS THOUGH WE HAD BEEN TROMPED BY WHOEVER WON THE SUPER BOWL LAST YEAR AND SLEPT A LOT FOR A PRETTY LENGTHY TIME THEREAFTER. THAT WAS THE 4TH TIME HE HAD EVER BEEN ILL, AND MY SECOND TIME IN THE LAST 18 YEARS! I DON’T HOLD WITH PUTTING SUBSTANCES IN MY BODY THAT DON’T BELONG THERE. I’M FOR BUILDING UP OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS, SOMETHING I WILL BE DELIGHTED TO WRITE ABOUT IF ASKED.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TERRIFIC COMPLIMENTS! I PARTICULARLY LIKE REQUESTS TO WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING. A QUICK FOLLOW UP: ONE PROPOSAL IS TO BAN ALL TOBACCO USE DURING BASIC TRAINING AND TO FORBID INSTRUCTORS TO “USE” IN THE PRESENCE OF STUDENTS. AS THOUGH BASIC CAN’T BE ROUGH ENOUGH, IMAGINE HAVING TO DEAL WITH A DRILL SERGEANT WHO IS SNARLING BECAUSE HE WANTS A SMOKE!
REGARDS,
LINDA
DEAR GEOS:
YOU WROTE: “I agree 100%. Governments should not be in the business of legislating morality or personal choices. Gays should be free to marry, people should be free to smoke (as long as I don’t have to breath their smoke), I should be free to use marijuana (or any other non-addictive, non life threatening substance for that matter) without the gov’t gestapos breaking down my door, taking my possessions and throwing me in jail for a decade.”
I’VE GOT A SLIGHT PROBLEM HERE, BABE. IT’S FINE WITH ME IF SOMEONE CHOOSES TO USE “RECREATIONAL” DRUGS, AND I REALLY DON’T THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD JAIL THEM FOR IT OR CONFISCATE THEIR GOODS. I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING COULD BE ENOUGH FUN TO RISK BEING TOSSED IN THE POKEY FOR, SO THEIR “DETERRENT” WORKS WITH ME. ALTHOUGH I PROBABLY WOULDN’T ANYWAY BECAUSE MY MIND IS MY MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION AND I DON’T WANT TO ALTER THAT SORT OF REALITY. (OTHER REALITIES, SOMETIMES!) I HAVEN’T EVEN GOT AN OBJECTION TO ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES SO LONG AS THE PERSON INVOLVED BEARS ALL THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS OR HER BEHAVIOR.
MY PROBLEM IS…YOU ARE ONLY WILLING TO TOLERATE MY BEHAVIOR IF IT DOES NOT IMPINGE UPON YOUR WORLD IN ANY WAY, WHICH IS NOT VERY PRACTICAL. I BELIEVE PASSIONATELY IN FREE SPEECH, BUT I AM OFFENDED PERSONALLY WHEN I GO OUT TO DINNER AND HEAR THE YOUNGER GENERATION SPEWING VILE LANGUAGE THAT “POLLUTES” MY AIR. YOU WILL, DOUBTLESS, RIPOSTE THAT SECOND-HAND SMOKE WILL MAKE YOU ILL, SOMETHING THAT IS NOT SCIENTIFICALLY SOUND. IT STINKS, I GIVE YOU THAT. IN FACT, WHEN I DON’T SMOKE I CAN SMELL WHERE THE STOCK BOY SNUCK A CIGARETTE IN THE BACK OF AN ENORMOUS SAM’S OR COSTCO WHEN I HIT THE FRONT DOOR! I CAN’T SMELL IT WHEN I DO SMOKE.
HERE’S ANOTHER THOUGHT: IF SECOND-HAND SMOKE IS SO DEADLY, WHY NOT ENCOURAGE THE TROOPS TO SMOKE? THEY COULD SIT THERE AND BLOW SMOKE ACROSS THE TRENCHES! “TAKE THAT, YOU VILE REPRESSORS OF FREEDOM!” UM. THAT DOESN’T WORK. AFGHANIS AND IRAQUIS SMOKE A LOT MORE THAN WE DO…
I THINK BOTH SIDES NEED TO GIVE A LITTLE. WE SMOKERS AGREED INSTANTLY THAT THERE COULD BE PLACES WE DIDN’T SMOKE. IT WOULD BE ONLY COURTEOUS IF THE NICOTINE NAZIS RETURNED THE COURTESY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR WRITING, AND I WON’T INVITE YOU TO VISIT! WE DO RUN IONIC BREEZES AND AIR THE HOUSE DAILY, HEAT OR COLD NOTWITHSTANDING (SURE TO ENDEAR ME TO THE GREENS), BUT ALL FOUR OF US AND ASIA’S GIRLFRIEND SMOKE. AT LEAST THE SMOKE IS SPREAD OVER SEVERAL HUNDRED ACRES…
SMILE, SUGAR. THE US HAS MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN SMOKING.
REGARDS,
LINDA
[...] Tobacco legislation is another big government play Whiskey and Gunpowder [...]
We don’t even mind if you take addictive, life-threatening substances. As long as you don’t steal from me to get your fix, we’re fine. Your body is your own to do with as you will.
Gary, Love:
I started not to add to your burden by “answering” what you said, but that is so very “us” and so very La Vida Whiskey that I feel compelled to hold forth.
No, friends, we not only do not object to how you abuse your bodies or what other personal decisions you make that do not harm others in demonstrable, legitimately scientific ways, we are always in favor of individuals making their own choices and bearing the responsibility for them. This is known as the American Way of Life and the Pioneer Spirit and becoming rational, self-reliant adults.
Every time another activity becomes either mandatory or forbidden we become weaker as individuals and as citizens. Every time we submit to having our own judgement and authority overriden, we lose more of our ability to function. Our ability to think for ourselves is diminished. Part of being competent adults and effective good citizens is the willingness to think for ourselves and to take the consequences of our actions. If I wanted to be a mindless robot that believes in serfdom I would be a liberal. I’m not even in favor of an unwilling feudal society if I get to be a Baroness in my own right. I’m in favor of laissez faire, taking my lumps when I deserve them, and succeeding through my own skills, drive, initiative, and assets which I earned my very own little self.
We really need to recruit the Latin expert, but since my Latin books are still packed, what I mean is probably sic semper tyrannus. For sure I can go morituri te salutamus if given no other choice. Mandatory seat belts and booster seats are one thing; suspending freedom of speech and assembly are another.
Sorry, must run, got a three-sided fascinating forum going on around me! L
Dear n9lhm: Honest tuh Pete I wrote you an article on seat belts right here the day I got your nice response, and it baffles me where in cyber slop the thing went. Tell you what: got to run to town (ugh) but I’ll write you another one soon. Thanks, Linda
My dearest XXXX,
I begin with two apologies ,,, first, I have not answered your email earlier because I was finishing a job in Papua New Guinea at a gold mine which had very limited and severly rationed internet and telephone access i.e. no personal use … but more on that later … secondly, I reread my email to you in which I chastised you for turning into your mother … upon reflection … it was a very clumsy and ill conceived attempt at familiar humour … indeed, I’ve always admired you for being quite your own woman …
now to the question … do you still believe in the Declaration of Independence? … as always, you answer a question with another bloody question! … the reasons for my asking are as simple as they are complex … alas, I think, as well as intimately feel, that Jefferson’s dream is finally dissolving and the great experiment that was your American Revolution has come quite undone … and I hasten to add … this is not about Republicans vs Democrats … a plaquing pox on both their houses and the damage they have collectively wrought upon the Republic … as Lincoln so famously said ” a house divided cannot stand” and thus, I despair … no civilisation great or small can so cravenly ignore the fundamental laws of economic prudence and survive … no kingdom nor republic … no monarch nor president … can project power, let alone be powerful whilst debasing the currency of the realm … I remind you that the final, the absolute final, capitulation of the British Empire came in June of 1956 during the Suez crisis … with all its imperial bluster and arrogance it declared to the world through the United Nations that the British army along with their French allies would move on Nassar’s Egypt and secure again for AngloFrench commercial interests the Suez canal … one, just one, phone call from the White House stopped the British and French utterly … and not 6 weeks later, both the British and French left North Africa never again to project national power on the world stage … and Eisenhower accomplished this without any threat of military action … can you guess, my dear Kathleen, what was said during that phone call that finally brought the mighty Britannia to her quivering knees and the always arrogant “Froggies” to their humiliation? … the American president simply but forcefully told the British prime minister that America would instantly sell all the British bonds that the Federal Reserve held at that time thus destroying forever the value of the British pound … one wonders if there exists a direct phone link between Bejing and Washington … not that it matters … the Chinese definitly prefer to excercise their overwhelming power face-to-face … its an “Art of War” thing …
after careful, deliberate and extensive research, I can see no turning back for your once great nation … whilst it will remain forever true that the American experiment was the greatest expression of the ideals of the English Enlightenment … no civilisation in human history has ever reversed its descent into the excesses of political corruption, secular greed and the moral dissipation of the industrious classes … trust and believe me when I say … I take no pleasure in this … quite the opposite … I’ve always been the first to admire the American spirit … its dreams and aspirations that when turned to action repulsed the evil of facism … placed man on the moon … and shone the beacon of freedom and hope to the world … indeed, I’m truly frightened by the prospect of the totalitarian regime of China dominating the world stage …
but by this time you must be asking … perhaps,in a somewhat bored, bemused manner … “so what”? … and … “my God, he’s just as boring 10 years on as he was when he truly bored me”! … and therefore, I reply in the spirit of Godot … in times of calamity, chaos and confusion great fortunes are made … thus, take all that you have and invest in 3 things … silver bullion (and take delivery of the physical silver), XXXX Mines (an American silver miner traded on the NYSE) and potash (the XXXXX Corp also traded on the NYSE) … if you express any interest in continuing our etheral conversations … I will explain these investments without, hopefully, the laborious lecturing tone … suffice to say, these are my current investment choices … and I have most (90%) of my wealth and hence, my retirement vested in them … in other words, I’m long on commodities and short America … yes, even the Titanic took 2 hours to sink … but sink it did … and so with depressing predictability will the great American experiment … and the vacuum will leave chaos and deprivation in its wake before the ocean of history swallows up the dream of the Declaration … unbearable as it is … imagine 300 million yelping Americans deprived of their God given “entitlements” … – no where mentioned in the Constitution – … you have been advised … be prudent … be careful … and say nothing even to the most dearest friends … act with the sense of survival and you will be rewarded with your freedom …
and as for love in the time of cholera … wisdom is in found in reflection … love is forever … laughing in memories is never better than laughing together …
and thus,
I am and I remain
your fomer lover, on the far side of the world
The slide toward tyranny continues…it is now (as of June 26th 2009) a Class C felony in the State of Washington to have pipe tobacco shipped to you that has been purchased through the internet, phone or mail order. Pipe tobacco! What next? Frisking you at the state border for tobacco purchased in another state?