tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post4626510042612229107..comments2023-05-30T05:54:48.988-04:00Comments on kingston progressive: WEEDING OUT THE SMOKERSMike Madsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14527557594630435730noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-62729617345686262092010-12-05T17:30:41.270-05:002010-12-05T17:30:41.270-05:00Excuse me Mike and company... but I have some seri...Excuse me Mike and company... but I have some serious questions...<br /><br />I didn't become too involved in research in this area - but now I've done a little - and it certainly appears (?????) to me that smokers have gotten screwed over by everyone - including the cigarette companies, the ACLU and the Attorney Generals of 48 states (?????)<br /><br />Tell me (I have a lot more to read on the topic) - do you think I have some basis for feeling this way?<br /><br />Would you admit it if I did?<br /><br />Lol. <br /><br />And apparently the self-righteous anti-smoking groupies are getting screwed over too... (?????)<br /><br />How does it feel?<br /><br />This is law and order and justice at work?<br /><br />Guess what? So far the whole thing smells worse than an asstray full of cigarettes in an overutilized outhouse that hasn't been cleaned in 9 months...!<br /><br />Guess I'll just have to say - tongue in cheek - "Hallelujah, I've been saved!"<br /><br />Not.<br /><br />"Touched a nerve"?<br /><br />With what I just read, I have to say: What F-ing Nerve!<br /><br />Jury is out though - I've just skimmed things, this far - and maybe I'll find a gold nugget in the BS.<br /><br />You think?<br /><br />NSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-41270741255344301922010-12-05T00:37:28.932-05:002010-12-05T00:37:28.932-05:00Well Michael, It seems this topic has struck a ner...Well Michael, It seems this topic has struck a nerve. Well done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-14786588967185692332010-12-04T15:29:05.072-05:002010-12-04T15:29:05.072-05:00Didn't see a photo of the county violators at ...Didn't see a photo of the county violators at numerous sites who are in violation of the local law adopted in 2008 which prohibits smoking on county property. Fines up to $500 will be imposed. Now that is a novel idea to pump money into the general fund. Check out Golden Hill near UCAT and GHHCC. Another useless local law which is not enforced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-66141191637630301352010-12-04T14:50:00.757-05:002010-12-04T14:50:00.757-05:00I fully understand where Mike is coming from. Peop...I fully understand where Mike is coming from. People who succumb to the propaganda of "smoking makes you cool" as youth, insist on having the right to smoke around others when they become adults.<br />Anyone who decides to light up, become addicted to nicotine, suddenly decides they need to share their joy of smoking with those who don't. For those who step outside to do so, don't think you don't smell like an ash tray when you come back inside...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-52304934745228411982010-12-04T13:17:04.213-05:002010-12-04T13:17:04.213-05:00Addendum: U.S. Presidents that smoked:
"Duby...Addendum: U.S. Presidents that smoked:<br /><br />"Dubya: Ex-cigarette smoker<br />Clinton: Smoked cigars occasionally<br />Reagan: Ex-cigarette smoker<br />Ford: Smoked a pipe<br />Johnson: Ex-cigarette smoker<br />Kennedy: Smoked cigarettes and cigars<br />Eisenhower: Ex-cigarette smoker<br />FDR: Smoked cigarettes<br />Obama: Ex-cigarette smoker"<br /><br />Copied and Pasted from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090511125938AAv56kG<br /><br />Theoretical question:<br />Say you "were" a smoker, Mike...<br /><br />You are highly intelligent. You are a terrific asset to the community. You are a terrific blogger. You are a respectible UC Legislature. You are multifaceted and extremely valuable as a human being and as a United States citizen.<br /><br />Say you "were" a smoker, Mike...<br />Should you be fired and denied other jobs / positions? Would that serve the "common good"?<br /><br />I think not.<br />NSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-36598082293551818962010-12-04T13:15:01.241-05:002010-12-04T13:15:01.241-05:00I'm sorry about your mom. I sincerely am. But ...I'm sorry about your mom. I sincerely am. But making an example of one person doesn't cut it. It is like when the Bush Jr. Administration made such an issue about the one woman that was on life support. It is interference into the private lives and choices of the American citizens. Yes, many companies screen for drugs and alcohol; but they do not refuse to hire people that drink - you and I both know that! In fact, it wasn't all that long ago that I saw one of our Assembymen drunk off his butt (pun intended) in a local bar - hanging all over some rather young looking young ladies. Should he lose his job because he chose to go get drunk and look like an A on a weeknight?<br /><br />You want to punish the folks that sold us these addictive substances to begin with... Have at it. But please piture your mother - alive - standing out in 0 degree weather to have a smoke.<br /><br />Add pnemonia to her list? Kill her quicker because you disapprove of her "habit"?<br /><br />I'm not involved in the gay debate at all. I say, "have at it!"<br /><br />But I am involved, in my way, in human rights for ALL people - and what I posted before was very legitimate and pertinent to your thread.<br /><br />Mike, as you have stated in the past, any one of us could die at any given time - or we could even be wiped out amass by a big mass of concete (or whatever...) from outer space....<br /><br />My issue is that victims are being punished for being the victims of mass media advertizing, whether it be cigs and booze in the past, or a pharmaceutical deluge...<br /><br />There are people that quit smoking and gained 100 lbs - now living with high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and/or other complications that come from weight gain...<br /><br />There are people that are popping 5 - 10 - 15 different types of meds that simply used to smoke - got depressed when they quit - and tried all the new wave solutions out there...<br /><br />My grandfather died of COPD related issues. My mom has COPD. Both my brothers had/have COPD. I have COPD. My daughter has the beginnings of COPD. All of them smoked - just like I do. And every single one of them contributed to / served this country in some way, shape or form - and/or continue to.<br /><br />Just like you stand up on behalf of your mother (honorable). I am standing up on behalf of the rights of the people I love.<br /><br />Smokers are being treated like criminals already... and it is not right! Would you also deny smokers the right to serve in the Military (one of my brothers served in Germany and one in Korea)?<br /><br />NSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-37436142677364597102010-12-03T15:22:47.002-05:002010-12-03T15:22:47.002-05:001:04 Your comment was expected. Smoking is a choic...1:04 Your comment was expected. Smoking is a choice, sexual orientation is not. Smoking is the equivalent of having unsafe sex with anyone and/or sharing needles with anyone. THAT would be something someone could change.<br /><br />1:28 The taxes you pay on cigarettes serve two functions, to offset the healthcare costs levied against the state for uninsured victims who use the emergency room as a result of smoking while acting as a fiscal deterrent to starting the addiction in the first place in hopes of lowering the number of victims.<br /><br />and finally 2:09: I totally agree your point regarding Pharma ads. However, municipalities like Kingston and Ulster County have drug screenings in the workplace today which could determine abuse of the recreational prescription drugs we see traded on the street. Alcohol, the worst of them, is continually discouraged in the workplace and has seen the same actions against it.<br /><br />To all: what I am pointing out is that the push to diminish the use of tobacco has been the successful job of our government. What we are seeing is the government releasing it's control over the private sector in NOT forcing them to hire smokers.<br /><br />My hatred of tobacco comes from watching my mother struggle with 1/8 lung capacity at 62 and no agency willing to intercede for the decades she was pumping her lungs with smoke. Like the ad at the top, Smoking was good for you back then. In reality, it was only good for the tobacco companies.Mike Madsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14527557594630435730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-52491203042041253582010-12-03T15:19:57.282-05:002010-12-03T15:19:57.282-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Mike Madsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14527557594630435730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-71588885685205390862010-12-03T02:09:19.946-05:002010-12-03T02:09:19.946-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-52555064631892227272010-12-03T01:28:28.011-05:002010-12-03T01:28:28.011-05:00All of us smokers should just quit so that all non...All of us smokers should just quit so that all non-smokers taxes go up!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24135583.post-17546990938288674612010-12-03T01:04:10.706-05:002010-12-03T01:04:10.706-05:00Wonder if you'd be singing the same song if it...Wonder if you'd be singing the same song if it were about businesses not hiring gay people. HIV and Aids costs a few dollars to treat too, ya know. They'd have the same, lame excuse you site above.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com