Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The strange world of the anti-smoker

Surfing the web looking for new and interesting perspectives on the antics of the anti-smoker crowd can be depressing at times. The mind can handle only so much bullshit and bafflegab before shutting down in self defense. That's why it's such a break to come across more off beat news stories related to smoking.

For example, the Georgia man who broke out of jail, broke into a convenience store and stole fourteen cartons of cigarettes, then tried to break into jail again. No one should have to endure that kind of nicotine fit.

The obsessed anti-smoker
According to austriantimes dot at, an obsessed anti-smoker (is there any other kind?) dangled his neighbour from a third floor apartment balcony when the neighbour refused to put out his cigarette. Quipped a police spokesman: "The smoker dismissed the idea that smoking was bad for the health - it seems the anti-smoker had other ideas and wanted to prove a point."

Let's face it, this type of behaviour is totally unacceptable. The anti-smoker fanatics should stick to water-boarding and sensory deprivation.

Charging young people with possession
A proposal to make it illegal for youngsters to use or possess tobacco in Nebraska is being supported by both the American Cancer Society and Reynolds American. Uh-huh. Even the tobacco companies have jumped into bed with the anti-smoker zealots. Of course, that can only mean one thing; smokers are about to get screwed.

Under a bill introduced by State Senator, Arnie Stuthman, youngsters under age 18 could be charged with infractions for using or possessing cigarettes or other tobacco products. The penalty for a first violation would be a $100 fine. A second violation within two years would be $200 and a third violation in that time period would be $300. The bill doesn't stipulate what happens to the kids if mom and dad refuse to pay the fine.

Kids charged under the proposed law could get themselves out of trouble by providing evidence against the people who sold or gave them the tobacco. Uh-huh. Don't worry kid. Your mother/father/brother will be out in no time. Just tell us what we need to know and you can walk away a free boy.

Calling Sherlock Holmes
The body of a man found dead from smoke inhalation following a fire in a townhouse complex was sitting in a classic yoga position. Police were baffled by the positioning of the body, but believe the fire may have been caused by a cigarette smouldering on the bed's mattress, which was covered by an electric blanket. Uh-huh.

So the guy lights up a fag, drops it on the bed and assumes the lotus position for a little quiet contemplation. He goes into a trance so deep he doesn't realize the bed is on fire and he wakes up dead, er . . . he's dead before he wakes up. Just another smoking related death.

It will be interesting to see what the Coroner's Inquest comes up with for this one. Assuming of course they have such things down under. Maybe they'll be able to answer a few questions. Was the electric blanket plugged in? And, just what the fuck was in that cigarette?

Police said that the fire was not suspicious. Huh?

Fake tobacco smells
Anti-smokers, and even some non-smokers, find the smell of burning tobacco offensive. But some smokers in the Netherlands apparently miss the odour of the evil weed. Who wants to wake up and smell the coffee if its not mingled with the unmistakeable aroma of good tobacco. Coffee without the fag is just not natural.

Which may be why Rain Showtechniek, a Dutch company, now sells fake cigarette smells to Dutch bars and cafes. Company spokesman, Erwin van den Bergh, says: "People find that smells such as Mocha coffee, Havana cigars or cigarettes can be about good moods and different ideas of living well.”

Van den Bergh also suggests there are other good reasons to use the fake smells, like to mask the reek of sweat and stale Beer.

I wonder if the stuff is available through mail order. There's an anti-smoker fanatic at the local Legion who would make an ideal candidate for a practical joke. I could smear her favourite chair with the fake smell and watch her work herself into a frenzy trying to figure out what lout had the audacity to light up and foul her airspace.

Customers desert smoke-free restaurant
The Chinese have the world's highest rate of smoking prevalence. A state owned company has a virtual monopoly on the tobacco trade. Prior to the Olympics held in that city a year or so back,. Beijing authorities had written to 30,000 restaurants asking them to voluntarily put smoking bans in place. There were apparently no takers.

Well, OK, there was one. Meizhou Dongpo, a restaurant chain serving the spicy fare of southwest Sichuan province, apparently lost about 80 percent of its clientele after going smoke free in October, 2008.

"We figure that if we're going to die, at least we're going to die honorably," Guo Xiaodong, deputy director of the restaurant chain, was quoted as saying in a Reuters article.

I guess no one told them about the need for a “level playing field” before going smoke free.

Pig’s blood in cigarette filters?
A recent study in the Netherlands reports it has identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig, including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters.

According to the Money Times: “During the course of the research, at least one cigarette brand sold in Greece was confirmed streamlined with pig’s blood to make the product fairly effective in blocking harmful chemicals before they could enter a smoker's lungs, said Simon Chapman, University of Sydney Professor in Public Health.”

Chapman fears the findings could be problematic for Muslims, Jews and vegetarians who refrain from pork consumption due to religious beliefs.

The Greek cigarette brand in question was not identified.

9 comments:

Smoking Hot said...

Don't you just love the way anti-smokers use anything or any means to promote their crusade ... all except truth that is.

l once noticed that John Wayne was quoted as doing an anti-smoking TV advert. When l found it, it turned out to be an advert promoting getting a check-up and asking for a donation for research into cancer. Smoking was never mentioned!

lncidentally, the John Wayne Estate still promote Zippos with John Wayne on them. New releases are frequent.

Unknown said...

Yul Brynner did do an anti-smoking film prior to his death from smoking.
His advice to those who watched that film was "Don't smoke" Sadly smoking prematurely ended the life of that great actor. As it did Michael Landon, John Wayne, Nat King Cole, and many others.

The Old Rambler said...

Tuonela,

The best information I have says those individuals died from one form or anther of cancer, mostly lung cancer, not smoking. Smoking in not listed anywhere in the International Classification of Disease (ICD 10).

To say that smoking may have contributed to the cancer which caused their death is a legitimate statement. The claim that smoking killed them is not.

The difference is much more than simple semantics.

Smoking Hot said...

John Wayne died of stomach cancer, Landon of pancreatic cancer, only Nat died of lung cancer.

It really pi##es me of that smoking is now the reason for seemingly any cancerous death. We lost our Christine at 38 through cancer. Lived in the country, didn't smoke or drink, both her parents non-smoking. Bah!

Unknown said...

Old Rambler,

Seldom do doctors write on death certificates that the cause of death is smoking, because obviously the immediate cause of death would be that the heart stopped beating due to various other parts of the body shutting down. So the death report might state heart attack, lung cancer, other cancer, stroke, whatever. However, if one was to research these deaths backward through the person's medical records it likely would show that they were suffering various illnesses related to their smoking addiction, and that the doctor had advised the patient to stop smoking, which often they don't do. The fact that such and such an amount of deaths are caused by smoking is arrived at by actual studies done over time on certain groups of people (I do not have the specific details, nor am I a practising researcher. However the research that led up to the various smoking bans, regulations, laws suits etc, had much professional scientific and medical research behind it, and is supported by almost all of the world medical associations). Yul Brynner was very aware that his own death would be caused by his lifetime of smoking and he made the video which I recall watching after his death. In addition to my considerable interest and reading on this subject, my son is also a doctor, so I can say with a certain amount of certainty that the emphasis today against smoking and SHS is justified.

Unknown said...

Smoking Hot, if you check you will find that smoking is one of the main contributing factors associated with pancreatic cancer. Also if you check online regarding John Wayne, you will find that he had a lung removed in 1964, due to lung cancer due to his having smoked most of his adult life. Subsequently he chewed tobacco and smoked cigars until he died of stomach cancer. Often cancers metastasize from one area to another, so conceivably his lung cancer may have led to his subsequent stomach cancer, or his chewing tobacco and smoking may have contributed to his stomach cancer. Smoking is usually considered as a contributing factor to most forms of cancer, because even if it is not the first direct cause, it weakens the body's defense systems from various diseases. The very fact that it always damages the lungs (100% of smokers have lung damage, though not all die from that) could lead to impairment of other body parts due to reduced oxygen getting into the body. It offends you that smoking takes a bad rap, but considering the devastation it causes, I don't think it gets near the negative attention it should. If 33% of the American soldiers fighting in wars were killed, do you think that the USA might re-examine its military policies? No other product that came near tobacco in causing deaths would be legal to be sold for human consumption.

Unknown said...

Smoking Hot, sometimes a person has to be lying in an hospital bed on oxygen gasping for breath through grossly reduced lung capacity brought about by their smoking to really grasp the impact their addiction had on them. Usually then it is too late to stop smoking. Watching a person slowly dying as they struggle to get each breath is not something enjoyable.

The Old Rambler said...

Tuonela

Your comments are so full of misinformation that it would take several pages of documentation to refute your arguments on a point by point basis. I have neither the time nor the inclination to compile such a document. You may wish to review some of my previous blogs to gain an understanding of why I cannot accept the bogus statistics of the anti-smoker cult.

Or you might prefer to read the paper by Robert Levy & Rosalind Marimont
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv21n4/lies.pdf

For the straight goods on secondhand smoke, try the following links.
http://yourdoctorsorders.com/2009/01/the-myth-of-second-hand-smoke/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901158.html

A free download of Rick Di Pierri's book is available from his website.
http://www.rampant-antismoking.com/

You can download a free copy of Lauren Colby's book from his website.
http://www.lcolby.com/

You'll find a wealth of information on smoking related issues, including the hoax of secondhand smoke, in my list of links in the side bar of my blog. “Fighting Back”, for example, leads to a number of other sites disputing the science of secondhand smoke.

This blog is not intended to convince anyone that smoking is, or is not, a cause of cancer. It is intended to point out the deceit and deception inherent in the anti-smoker crusade against smokers. Public policy should be based on scientific evidence, not the hatred and vitriolic of fanatical prohibitionists who proclaim themselves to be the saviours of mankind and their suspect statistics the equivalent of the ten commandments.

If you confine yourself to researching only one side of the argument, you cannot make informed judgments as to the merits of either side. As Alexander Pope once said: "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again."

Electronic Sally said...

Whatever?!?!?!Smoking bans are great if they would be a little more considerate of us smokers.