Well, I’ve told The Donald what I think:
That should shake him up a bit. He’s probably read it, and convened his advisers, and said:
“This is bad ! If we lose Frank we lose all the smokers in America. That’s 20% of the vote.”
“But Donald, Frank isn’t an American.”
“Yeah, but a lot of Americans read him. If it comes out that I’m as anti-smoking as Hillary, my base is going to dissolve. Like ice cream on a hot day. Running down the sides of the cone. All over my fingers.”
“Maybe you could hand out a few cigars at your rallies?”
“Or wear one wedged on my ear?”
“How about hold a beer in one hand, and a cigarette in the other? Nigel Farage was doing that with great success in England.”
“And where did it get him?”
“Send Frank a cigar! Boris Johnson did that, and it bought Frank’s loyalty for about five years. He’s very easily bought.”
“So what happens when Bernie Sanders sends him another?”
“Or you could always claim that you made that PSA under duress. Like Michael Bloomberg was holding a gun to your head or something.”
“Michael Bloomberg doesn’t know how to hold a gun. And even if he could, he wouldn’t have been able to reach my head with it.”
“How about asking Putin for assistance, now that you’re bosom buddies? Perhaps he could send in the KGB, or whatever they’re called these days…”
“The IRS, most likely.”
“Or get yourself endorsed by Lana del Rey. She’s a smoker. He might change his mind when he sees her crooning at one of your rallies with a cigarette in one hand.”
“Singing ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’? “
“In a duet with Leonard Cohen.”
“With a guitar solo by Slash in the middle?”
“And a dance troupe wearing Marlboro costumes?”
“Get her on the phone!! Get Lennie too! And get that Slash guy as well. And the dance troupe. But make it Lucky Strike. Next Thursday, 8 pm.“
Trump is dominating Facebook:
Donald Trump is reaching new heights in his domination of the political conversation on Facebook.
In the week before Christmas, the GOP front-runner generated just over 50 million interactions on Facebook — likes, shares, posts and comments — nearly double the combined 29.6 million total of all other presidential contenders, according to data provided by the social media service. The explosion in traffic occurred in the wake of Trump’s controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
The 50 million interactions from 14 million unique users represent Trump’s highest total for any week of the year. Trump tallied 41.6 million interactions on Facebook the first week of September; the highest total of any of his competitors was the 28.3 million interactions Hillary Clinton racked up when she announced her campaign in April. Clinton tallied 9.4 million interactions the week before Christmas; Bernie Sanders got 6.5 million.
The total interactions for the first three weeks of December demonstrate just how much of the conversation Trump consumes: Trump, 98.9 million; Clinton 22.9 million; Sanders 14.5 million; Ted Cruz, 13.7 million; Ben Carson, 6.7 million. Nobody else was over 5 million.
Which is why I know he’s read my comment. He reads all 98.9 million of them.
Frank Davis 
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
The Donald will have to scratch that guitar solo from Slash, seeing as it won’t be beneficial now that Slash is supposedly an ex-smoker. He claims he stepped outside to smoke so many times during a Cher concert (of all events) in Las Vegas that he woke up the following morning with pneumonia. Seriously??? I’m not sure if he’s turned quite anti-smoking yet, but according to the article below, he seems to be dependent upon Big Pharma now, so it might only be a matter of time.
a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/17/how-slash-quit-smoking-cher_n_5837100.html”>Slash Says Going To A Cher Concert Helped Him Quit Smoking
Whoops … I botched the hyperlink: Slash Says Going To A Cher Concert Helped Him Quit Smoking
What the heck was Slash doing at a Cher concert?
Kibbutzing with the hoi polloi.
It sure is strange. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was being wined and dined by Big Pharma execs who offered him a lifetime supply of NRT and a large sum of cash to quit smoking. He was most likely a large thorn in their side since he was hardly ever photographed without a cigarette.
Frank theres one thing for sure,Trumps likely got several hundred folks monitoring social media responses so he stays on message. In fact any candidate seriously involved would be doing just that. Its like keeping your finger on the pulse of the country.
So its very possible that mentioning theres about 50-60 million smoker voters in America would most definitely draw attention. In any plan to rebuild America it has to include smokers. We are 1/4th of the economy in more ways than one,our heavy burden of taxation is the biggest then would follow our dollars spent in venues if we weren’t outlawed from the public table any longer.
Smoking voters and tobacco taxes with the hospitality dollars we have burning holes for a place to smoke and spend makes us all a very valuable asset to any plan to get America great again and working making money.
Trump: Atlantic City casinos should sue over smoking ban …
http://www.nj.com/business/index…/trump_atlantic_city_casinos_sh.ht...
NJ.com
Apr 25, 2008 – Donald Trump called on 11 casinos Thursday to sue over a new smoking ban approved by the Atlantic City Council, arguing that it created a …
Council feuds with Trump over smoking ban – UPI.com
http://www.upi.com/…News/…Trump…smoking-ban/52911187728843/
Aug 21, 2007 – Council feuds with Trump over smoking ban. Aug. … for New York · Smoking ban supporters fight veto · Sweeping anti-smoking law in Chicago.
What Does Donald Trump Think of Marijuana Legalization?
marijuanapolitics.com/what-does-donald-trump-think-of-marijuana-legal…
Aug 13, 2015 – In the 1990s, Donald Trump declared that legalization was the only way to win … unlikely that Trump will fight for significant reforms to American drug laws, …. We the people smoke allot of brick weed and we all now it`s from …
Trumps likely got several hundred folks monitoring social media responses so he stays on message.
I don’t know what kind of organisation he’s got, but when he hit the campaign trail his Facebook operation was pretty formidable at getting his message and videos out. Jeb and all the rest of them seem to have no presence at all. Only Trump seems to know what he’s doing with the social media.
My post above was tongue-in-cheek, but actually Trump ought to be worried that he’ll lose the smokers in his base if they find out he’s been making antismoking PSAs. And how do you make America great again if you go on demonising the product that helped make it great in the first place?
Frank that PSA was done while he was under contract to NBC or one of the bigger media outlets to do a few shows. Those contracts would call for doing certain public relation functions to make a presence known. Point here is its only one single PSA and a totally scripted one at that. That PSA was made in 2006,right after that he went to battle in New Jersey against the smoking bans pushing for repeals as he knew what the outcome of prohibitions like that meant to business and revenues for both private business and government revenue collections. That was in 2007.
Whether Donald is a tee totaler and abstains doesn’t make him a Nazi. He is a realist and understands business and economics. His objections to smoking bans are based upon first profits and economic losses,then likely the loss of freedom. But my opinion is his biggest deal against the bans is the fact it breeds ever more anti business regulations and laws along with higher and higher taxes on other businesses to make up for the losses caused by prohibitional forces already in play.
A simple plan to get the economy going again is to simply repeal the bans and deregulate.
Then sit back and watch the revenues and new businesses begin anew.
Like you’ve always said how many smokers are sitting home with money and no where to go to enjoy a smoke and an activity be it a pub or a coffee shop or a bingo hall or a restaurant. Theres billions of smoker dollars out there just waiting to have a place to go and be spent. As you say if they don’t want us,we sure don’t want them.
That attitude of Nazi controlled or forced anti smoking laws cut profits by 30% and more.
Theres nothing to say that the reversal and repeal of bans wont have the same effect of increasing profits by the same amount lost if the bans and anti smoking busineses atitudes changed. Any savy business wants all the customer base they can get.
Smokers are a financial resource cut off from the public table. Open the door and watch what happens.
Well, it would certainly help my husband’s business… ferrying people around town whilst on ‘a night out’. Since the start of the smoking ban, he takings have gone down. The only increase he’s seen on the taxi ranks is the amount of surveillance… all to catch people smoking!
He hates his goo goo g’joob now; he only works at it cos he’s thinking of our children ;)
*Gno… knot those children, Clicky… there fictional *rolls eyes* *
Whether Donald is a tee totaler and abstains doesn’t make him a Nazi. He is a realist and understands business and economics. His objections to smoking bans are based upon first profits and economic losses,then likely the loss of freedom. But my opinion is his biggest deal against the bans is the fact it breeds ever more anti business regulations and laws along with higher and higher taxes on other businesses to make up for the losses caused by prohibitional forces already in play.
During his campaign he hasn’t actually said anything about smoking bans and all the other nanny state legislation, so far as I know. So we don’t actually know where he stands. He might be a nazi like Bloomberg. Or he might not be. There’s a question mark here.
Lets just say once he has the nomination in hand he will get more specific in his move to the whitehouse. Remember smoking bans were usually passed in the midnite hour when nobody was watching. But even that didn’t stop them as theyd do it even in broad daylite once they had power.
Trump doesn’t have the power yet…………But his moto of make America great again entails ending big govnmt BS and that especially would include nannystate politics.
John Wayne smoked eight packs of non-filtered Camels every day. True or false?
Cripes! Best I managed was five packs of Camel plain a day back in the 70s when I was driving trucks and awake up to 20 hours + a day. He must have been a complete insomniac!
False I heard 6 tops when he was working on scripts.
New York Loses $400 Million After Imposing The Nation’s Highest Cigarette Tax
December 28, 2015
Abuse of Authority, Economics of Liberty
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/new-york-loses-400-million-after-imposing-the-nations-highest-cigarette-tax/
New York is reaping the whirlwind of sky-high cigarette taxes with a wave of smuggling decimating the state’s revenue.
New York holds the dubious honor of having the highest cigarette taxes in country, with the average pack of smokes in New York City costing as much as $10.60.
New York raised taxes on cigarettes to $4.35 in 2010 from $2.75. In total, cigarette taxes have increased by 190 percent since 2006. The sharp rise has resulted in a raft of unintended consequences which are dealing a significant blow to the state’s finances.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reports New York’s revenue from cigarette taxes has plunged by $400 million over the past five years.
According to the The New York Post, a separate study by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shows the state lost a hefty $1.3 billion in uncollected taxes each year because smokers switched to cheaper alternatives.
Smokers responded to higher prices not by shelling out more cash at the store but by turning to the black market, crossing state lines and buying cheaper brands, such as Seneca, from Native American outlets.
The last 10 years have a been a boon to organized crime, with 58 percent of New York’s cigarettes supplied from out-of-state, according to the Tax Foundation. The number of packs bought paying the full tax has also collapsed by 62 percent.
But it’s not only New York that’s losing out from the high rate of smuggling. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates states lose $5.5 billion in revenue thanks to cigarette smuggling.
The illegal tobacco trade has a global reach with The Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a coalition of anti-smoking groups organized by the World Health Organization to promote tobacco control globally, estimating that, “illicit trade in cigarettes represents approximately 10.7 percent of global sales, or 600 billion cigarettes annually,” and reduces government revenues by between $40 billion and $50 billion per year.
High cigarette taxes not only assist global crime networks but also have a disproportionate impact on the poor. According to the New York State Department of Health, low-income smokers, defined as individuals in households earning less than $30,000 a year, spent 23.6 percent of the annual household income on cigarettes in 2010-2011. That number is up from 11.6 percent in 2003-2004.
Smokers in households in wealthier households earning over $60,000 a year spent an around 2.2 percent of their household income on cigarettes.
“Get Lennie too! A”
I wondered if you meant Lemmy?
Some sad news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35192060
If they have the story right, it seems he died just 2 days after diagnosis.
RIP Lemmy after an astonishing life. If William Blake was right about the path to wisdom being through excess then Lemmy would have been one of the wisest men in history.
I knew him slightly, as he used to drink in my local in Portobello Road when I lived in the area in the 80s. Not only did he chain smoke and drink prodigious quantities, but he also spent most of his time pouring money into the one-armed bandit.
OT and for Americans (or anyone who can fake a US zip code)
HUD, the US federal agency in charge of public housing (subsidized housing for the poor, the elderly and disabled) has proposed a nationwide ban on smoking inside all apartments in all its buildings, and, outside, 25 feet from all its doorways and windows .Under threat of eviction. This proposal is open for public comment till Jan 10. As expected, so far the professional public healthists have flooded the comments so they’re 30-1 in favor. FWIW we need to be on record. So–please–
Go here to read the proposal
, https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/11/17/2015-29346/instituting-smoke-free-public-housing.
then scroll down below it to instructions on commenting and you get a link to the comment form. You may need to type the Docket # into a search bar there and if so, it’s FR-5597-P-02. There’s a character limit (5000) in the email–enough to say you oppose this and why, though if you’re feeling prolix or want to add an article or study as backup you can attach a file.
I imagine Ms Ariel would be especially interested in commenting, so maybe, Frank, you could pass this info on and ask her to also recruit as many others as she can. Comments from smokers in such housing would (maybe) carry some weight.
http://www.cexx.org/zipcode.htm
Ms Ariel would be especially interested
I emailed her.
From what Ive seen the HUD plan is running into a brick wall. Mostly due to the fact its unenforcible and its aimed at the poor and minorities. Just like when they tried to ban menthol the blacks were up in arms against them and the government let it drop.
I expect the same to happen with the nationwide HUD ban. Its just simply insane. Most of the HUD occupants are already smokers to begin with and very few are gonna start ratting out the other. In the hood rats get shot and killed. Its always been that way.
Harleyrider – there are different HUD buildings for different populations. In my building, which houses only the elderly (average age 76) most of the occupants are not smokers – actually, they’re ex-smokers – and, indeed, are terrified of the smallest whiff of smoke. They spend most of their waking hours watching TV and soak up all the anti propaganda, plus, of course, they believe every word their doctors say. The building manager and her assistant are fanatic antis. And, yes, people in this building WILL rat others out. Oh, the smokers won’t, but there are only 5 of us out of 75 residents. I have been seriously harassed over my smoking (including a woman who uses a portable oxygen tank standing outside my door, yelling, “You’re killing me! You’re killing me!”, plus being seriously threatened – more or less, “You’re killing me, so I’m going to kill you”), to the point that corporate had to be called in to mediate. They basically told me that I could smoke in my apartment – FOR NOW.
And the building manager gleefully – with a huge smile on her face – informed me about the HUD smoking ban coming down the pipeline, several months before it hit the news.
Now, there are other HUD buildings which house people of all ages. Those buildings have far more occupants (hundreds), and the majority of those occupants are not elderly. There is far more smoking going on there. The largest of these buildings in my city passed a property-wide smoking ban, and it is STRICTLY enforced. There are random sniff tests by the building administration.Residents have to walk out of the building, through the entire large property and across the street to a vacant lot, with no chairs or benches to sit on, if they want to smoke. That neighborhood is our city’s most dangerous. The vacant lot is crowded with smokers 24 hours a day, and these smokers are NOT HAPPY. This exacerbates the crime already rampant in that area.
No, the HUD proposal isn’t running into a brick wall…
jaril my great grandmother lived in the senior hud projects for awhile. That was until we got her a house fixed up of her own when she was in her 70s. She lived to 96 smoking and chewing baccy everyday of her life since age 5. Her girlfriend Ethyl a life long friend stayed with her on her last tobacco farm before granny sold it since none of us were available to run it anymore. I was in the Navy at the time,but took a months leave to help gramps remodel her house we found her in a nice section of Evansville Indiana at the time and only 2 blocks from diconess hospital.
I spelled it wrong but wtf………anyway if you’ve got some family and are capable enuf for self sustaining your daily needs,Id highly suggest getting into an independent single unit house or camper. Youd be surprised campground living is pretty damn nice and they don’t have to many wild ass rules on anything except noise.
Yes – I have known about this for a long time – my building manager told me it was in the works before it was even in the news. I am terrified… And I don’t think comments from smokers in the building (there are only about 5 smokers here out of 75 residents) would do a BIT of good. In fact, I know they wouldn’t. We poor people don’t have a hell of a lot of say when it comes to our living situations.
For instance – today I am in a heavy-duty state of anxiety because we’re having our HUD Apartment Inspection. This happens four times a year. (Other buildings like ours only have inspections once or twice a year and give their residents a month’s notice, but each HUD building manager can set whatever rules he or she wants) We get two or three days notice. We are told what day it will happen but not what time. This is especially hard on us senior citizens who are mobility impaired, or ill (as I am right now, and have been for several months – must travel 100 miles on Thursday to a specific hospital for tests) as we must more or less suddenly do a deep cleaning (none of us can afford to hire a cleaning service) because there’s going to be a knock on our door in a few days, four people will just let themselves in and look through our refrigerators, look through our cabinets, drawers and closets, scrutinize our stoves and ovens inside and out, see if everything from tilework to floors to chrome to fixtures to baseboards to carpets to venetian blinds to windows to ceilings (are?) sparkling clean. Is your freezer “too full?” Warning! Get rid of that extra food in 10 days or LEASE VIOLATION! Is there a crumb on the floor between the refrigerator and the sink? WARNING! Is there a stray hair in the shower? WARNING! Is your bed not perfectly made? WARNING!!!!! Has a small article of clothing slipped off its hanger to the closet floor? WARNING!!!!!
They check to see if there is any “damage.” “Damage” can entail something as minor as a tiny spot on the carpet (it is a lease violation to clean your own carpet). If they determine that there’s any damage, you have to pay for that damage, whether or not you caused it, whether or not it was there when you moved in, or whether or not it really IS damage.
And if you’re a smoker, there’s a “sniff test.” The EXTREMELY anti-smoker building manager sniffs up and down your hallway, outside your door and walks through your apartment, sniffing. If she determines it smells too much like a smoker lives there, you get a warning. If she comes back in 10 days and she still thinks it smells like a smoker’s apartment, you get a lease violation. Three lease violations and you’re evicted.
Of the five smokers here, only three of us are computer literate. The three of us who are computer literate will be commenting on the proposal. The two others don’t believe a ban will happen. Seriously, they don’t believe it. “We’ll be grandfathered in,” they say. “NO, you don’t understand,” I say. To which they repeat, “We’ll be grandfathered in.” They REALLY don’t get it.
The majority of people in HUD housing can’t afford a computer and thus are not computer-and-Internet literate. The elderly HUD residents are the least computer-literate of all. Of the 75 people who live here, 3 have computers. We do have a computer room with two old Windows ’95 machines which are broken more often than not, and no one ever uses them anyway. I tried those computers and gave up in disgust. HUD refuses to fix them or to supply new ones. People in HUD housing can’t afford to subscribe to a newspaper. Yes, they watch the news, if they can afford cable TV (in my city you can’t get reception if you don’t have cable) but I haven’t seen anything on the news about a HUD smoking ban.
Besides the four other smokers in my building, I only know two others. NONE of my friends are smokers. I am not allowed to smoke in any of my friends’ houses. (I don’t go visiting a lot, needless to say). I The only other smokers I know are from online!
I really am terrified about this HUD smoking ban. Smoking is the main thing that helps me with my depression and PTSD. When I have tried giving up smoking, I have become suicidal and ended up in the hospital…
Id say fuckem,if they do it. Then call every media outlet out their if they try and evict you and use every emotionally based ploy you can find. Get a candle lite vigil going down at the entrance for the elderly being bullied and tossed to the street over a simple paltry cigarette. Make them the devils not you. Use your age and disabilities to your advantage and also a possible lawsuit for a new place to live when forced to vacate if it ever came to that.
Harley – I’m quite shy and haven’t the slightest idea how to pull off any sort of emotionally based ploy. And I can’t think of more than three people besides me who would participate in a candlelight vigil at our entrance. Plus – our entrance is set so far from the street that few city residents even know we’re here. Even people who know we’re here, and are driving someone home, miss the virtually hidden turnoff to our driveway. A candlelight vigil at our entrance would only be seen by our own tenants – and only those tenants whose windows overlook the entrance.
Film it and put it on YouTube. I’d do what can to spread your message on Twitter and on my blog. And Frank and MJM helped Gloria earlier this year when she was being bullied by Anti-smokers in her home. I’m sure it gave her lots of confidence to stand up to the harassment.
I totally understand your shyness… If it hadn’t been for the ISIS survey I might have stayed as an ‘Anonymous’ reader and doing nothing to help myself. Of course, I don’t face your personal circumstances, so please take this advice with a pinch of salt. All I can add is that I have grown immeasurably in confidence since 2012.
Jariel, if a smoking ban is imposed on your building, do this (and keep it quiet).
If you want a smoke, go to the bathroom and close the door. Run the hot water to produce steam. Switch on the steam extraction fan. Have a cigarette. When finished, toss the butt in the toilet. Make sure it’s out. Throw in a few sheets of toilet paper. Flush. Turn off the water and fan. Done. It’s better than having to walk off the property for a smoke.
Also Id burn the stinkiest candle perfumed wax I could find to boot.
Magnetic, I commend you for detailing a potential workaround for Jariel. However, the thought of having to hole oneself up in a bathroom and perform a ritual just to smoke a cigarette completely nullifies all the enjoyment of smoking (not to mention reinforces the “addict” stereotype). We should have never been exiled to the outdoors from public venues, let alone from our own places of residence! We must take action; this constantly creeping loss of liberty has gone too far. We can’t allow it to progress any further. If we can successfully defeat a public housing smoking ban, we may have the momentum to begin repealing the other bans. Unfortunately, I believe we need a good chunk of the world’s complacent smokers to wake up and join us, or else we simply won’t be heard loudly enough.
Good idea – but, sigh, I love waking up in the morning, sitting at my computer by the window, having my coffee and cig… I love relaxing and reading and smoking my cig… don’t want to feel like a naughty child – I’m 65 years old. At least 25 years older than the people who run this building.
We should have never been exiled to the outdoors from public venues, let alone from our own places of residence!
I wholeheartedly agree. We are ADULTS and it is time to remind these spineless politicians!!!
There is another way to punish them: Nullify your vote. Or withhold your vote.
I will only vote for a party which RESPECTS me and gives me my adult status (which i have occupied for many, many years) back.
Harley –
“I spelled it wrong but wtf………anyway if you’ve got some family and are capable enuf for self sustaining your daily needs,Id highly suggest getting into an independent single unit house or camper. Youd be surprised campground living is pretty damn nice and they don’t have to many wild ass rules on anything except noise.”
I have no family whatsoever. My parents died in the early ’90s. They disowned me before they died (my depression/PTSD, at-the-time severe eating disorder, anxiety disorder and quiet, shy temperament was apparently a disgrace to the family name) and I inherited nothing. I have no siblings, no kids, no in-laws, no nieces or nephews.
I really have wanted to get an independent house or trailer, and certainly wouldn’t mind living that way, but I can’t afford to buy one. They cost more money than I have. Before I was approved for Social Security/Disability in 1984, I used all my savings to pay for medical/psychiatric care and medication that my insurance didn’t cover. My disability payments started at $300 a month, and due to a crazy loophole I never got the retroactive payment that some people get. Now, 32 years later, I live on $750 a month plus $40 in food stamps, and out of that comes rent ($200), utilities, cable TV/Internet, toiletries, food (after I’ve used up the monthly $40 in food stamps, which doesn’t take all that long!) medication and doctors’ co-pays, clothing when mine wears out, transportation costs, cigs (I get the cheapest – Pall Malls or L&Ms, with coupons), food for my pet rat, synagogue dues, batteries, light bulbs, and, of course, any extra unexpected expenses that may pop up, such as paying for “damages” as determined by the building manager. ($29.99 to replace a never-used stove burner because it had a miniscule white spot on it).
So…I’m one of those people who’s stuck. Wish I weren’t. But we “stuck” people are out there. Most of the people who live in my building are “stuck.”
Have courage, Jariel. I extend a virtual hand to squeeze yours from across the pond. Take Magneto’s advice. It reminded me of a tactic I used when I occasionally smoked at night at a boarding school I was sent to decades ago. There was no extractor fans in those days and I’d be spotted if I lent out the bathroom window, so I used two decorative hash (?) pipes with very long, thin stems my eldest sister brought back from her hippy travels as gifts in the 60s. The bowl was just big enough to stick a cigarette in. After turning out the lights and lifting the sash window a tiny bit, I’d extend them both through the crack, draw in through the one holding the cigarette and exhale through the other one so that no smoke accumulated in the room. I later turned the pipe upside down and made a sort of hood to protect it from the rain and the glowing end from prying eyes. It worked a treat. As insurance, I would also add some sweet, smelly bath oil or salts to the steamy hot water just to be on the safe side, considering my numerous aunts unfailingly all sent me a lifetime supply of them each Christmas throughout my childhood.
Ms Ariel
If you go to that website and click to resd some of the existing comments –ones that just say “see attachment” — you’ll see that many of those attachments are copies of hand-written letters from public housing occupants complaining about the smoke drifting into their apartments and killing them. Most of these seem to have been solicited, scanned and uploaded by bldg management as they mostly appear under headings like “submitted by XY Housing.” The point is, first, that residents do submit comments (tho many are semi-literate) but more important that, if you like, you can get the residents w/o computers to write legible letters and then you yourself can scan and upload them one by one , under separate submissions, as attachments. Perhaps you can convince thise who say it’ll never happen to write anyway “because it couldn’t hurt” or even, if it pleases them, to plead to be grandfathered instead of being made homeless.
Rhinitis in Swiss adults is associated with asthma and early life factors, but not second hand tobacco smoke or obesity
Abstract
Background
Second hand tobacco smoke (SHS) and overweight/obesity are risk factors for asthma and lower airway respiratory symptoms. We investigated whether SHS or overweight/obesity were also associated with allergic or non-allergic rhinitis.
Methods
Cross-sectional data were obtained during the second SAPALDIA Study. Interviewer administered questionnaires were completed by 8047 participants from 8 communities in Switzerland. Blood was collected from 5841 participants and tested for allergen specific IgE. Allergic rhinitis was defined as nasal symptoms with detectable IgE. Data were analysed by multinomial logistic regression with four outcome categories defined according to the presence or absence of rhinitis and/or atopy.
Results
The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 885 (15.2%) and non-allergic rhinitis 323 (5.5%). The risk of allergic rhinitis was increased in subjects with physician diagnosed asthma (Relative Risk Ratio 6.81; 95%CI 5.39, 8.6), maternal atopy (1.56; 1.27, 1.92) and paternal atopy (1.41; 1.11, 1.79). Older subjects were at lower risk (0.96; 0.95,0.97 per year), as were those raised on a farm (0.64; 0.49,0.84), with older siblings (0.92; 0.86,0.97 per sib) or from rural areas. The risk of non-allergic rhinitis was also increased in subjects with physician diagnosed asthma (4.02; 2.86, 5.67), reduced in males (0.59; 0.46, 0.77), but not associated with upbringing on a farm or older siblings. There were no significant associations of SHS or overweight/obesity with either form of rhinitis.
Conclusions
Allergic and non-allergic rhinitis have different risk factors apart from asthma. There are significant regional variations within Switzerland, which are not explained by the factors examined.
http://www.allergologyinternational.com/article/S1323-8930(15)00210-5/abstract?cc=y=
Iro CyZane In the wise words of Pr Robert Molimard:
(…) The industry responded to the demand [for tobacco], it did not create it. If the industry were to disappear, the demand would remain and would require to be fulfilled. And it would be fulfilled. Multinationals would be investing their money in tax havens, where they would fund an offshore production in some underdeveloped nation. Cigarettes would be distributed through organized criminal networks, fueling underground commerce and auxiliary crimes in the process. No quality control could ever be achieved. Control could only be dealt with through the police and corruption would inevitably creep in. For these reasons, the fundamentalist anti-tobacco crusaders are a true danger to social balance and public health.
How far away are we from his predictions? Not too far.
You may want to read the whole brilliant article (translated from its French original by yours truly). It also shows how taxes don’t work for decreasing smoking.
http://cagecanada.blogspot.ca/2010/12/beliefs-manipulation-and-lies-in.html
New York Loses $400 Million After Imposing The Nation’s Highest Cigarette Tax
In total, New York cigarette taxes have increased by 190 percent since 2006. The sharp rise has resulted in a raft of unintended consequences which are dealing a…
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/new-york-loses-400-million-after-imposing-the-nations-highest-cigarette-tax/
percent of adults maintain cigarette habit, same as 2010
Despite legislation and public education, China hasn’t curbed tobacco use. Smoking prevalence remains the same as it was five years ago, a recent national survey found.
The Chinese Adult Tobacco Use Survey 2015 by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 27 percent of adults smoked in 2010, the same as now, but the absolute number of smokers has climbed. The total smoking population in China is now 316 million, up 15 million since 2010.
Each smoker, on average, went through 15.2 cigarettes per day, compared with 14 in 2010, when the previous survey was conducted.
More than 15,000 Chinese over age 15 were surveyed for the report that was released on Monday.
Wang Yu, head of the CDC, said, “An all-out effort is urgently needed to advance the public health campaign against smoking here.”
Currently, more than half of Chinese male adults and 2.7 percent of women light up, the survey found.
http://www.ecns.cn/2015/12-29/193979.shtml
Currently, more than half of Chinese male adults and 2.7 percent of women light up, the survey found.
I find it hard to even believe only 2.7% of Chinese women lite up…..Its obvious they lied.
It’s a cultural thing in Asia, Harley. Very few Asian women are seen to smoke, and very few admit to it. In Thailand, the official figure is 3% for women, although the reality is a lot higher – they just don’t do it in public. Having said that, it is still a low percentage – perhaps 10% tops.
Fury over £234,000 salary of the top boss at Save the Children: Charity chiefs’ huge wages must…
The individual, believed to be chief executive Jasmine Whitbread (pictured with Dame Helen Mirren) is among 20 employees earning more than £100,000 at the…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2550648/Fury-234-000-salary-boss-Save-Children-Charity-chiefs-huge-wages-reined-say-MPs.html
And another that’s more recent. This time scarifying the boss of Cancer Research UK amongst others.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/582911/charity-salaries-donations-Cancer-Research-NSPCC-Amnesty-Olive-Cooke
Cancer Research UK apparently has 36 employees in this wage bracket!
Thirty-fucking-six?!? One is more than enough ;)
According to The Times that was left on my air plane seat, yes.
Looks like the government and media are finally going after the SOCK PUPPET CHARITIES…….The NGOs around the globe. Basically their nothing but get rich quick schemes like the ACS and the ACS for the first time has been running begger ads on tv for money for about 6 months now on american tv. If its that bad for he biggest richest charity like the ACS I can just imagine what its like for the local Nazi groups
I’m quite impressed by the statesmanship of Putin – but does anyone know if he’s smokerphobic given the harassment and persecution of smokers in Russia? If he is then he’s just the same kind of arsewipe as other leaders. As for Trump? What difference? That man would persecute smokers with gusto and one wonders what next? Will he call for all smokers to be banned from the US too?
My Russian sources have told me that Putin isn’t particularly antismoking, but that Medvedev is, and he was the one who pushed for Russian smoking bans.
Trump doesn’t smoke or drink (not even coffee). But he (unsuccessfully) resisted smoking bans in his casino in Atlantic City. And he’s made at least one antismoking public service announcement (linked above). So his position is rather ambiguous, to say the least.
My Russian sources have told me that Putin isn’t particularly antismoking, but that Medvedev is, and he was the one who pushed for Russian smoking bans.
Thank you! I have heard the same from Polish friends!!! We hit on the subject when discussing my once-in-a-lifetime journey I am preparing for: The train journey from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. I found a Polish guy who wants to do it, too!!! (When I was 12 a teacher couldn’t handle us, so he showed us a documentary of this journey – in black and white. He won!!! I was fascinated and with that I balled at the others to shut up!!! The only lesson I actually was quiet and non-disruptive!!!)
A week on a train with a smoking ban is a no-no for me…..
Pat Trump fought to have the New Jersey smoking ban REPEALED as it was bad for casinos and bad for tourism……….That was in 2007 a year after that so called PSA video was made.
Thanks Frank and Harley. Trump’s fight against smoking bans in his casino comes not from a Libertarian sense of thinking, or fair play, but rather one of profit. He is practical and can see that money would be lost as we’ve seen when smoking bans hit other parts of the leisure industry.
Given his anti comments about smoking, then I think he is someone who would change his mind about fighting smoking bans depending on how much money is in it. If, for example, money was given to him to enforce smoking bans (as president or just a business owner) then he’d jump at it. Money talks and his bullshit walks.
He has no morals. He would never get my support. He would bend the way the money goes and we all know the real money comes from the anti-smokers such as bully Bloomberg et al.
As for Putin. I’m very pleased to hear it. I always thought Russia these days appeared to be far more liberal than the west has become – and that’s saying something.
That 20 percent number does not account for all the black market tobacco products sold and consumed by anonymous smokers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3377730/E-cigarettes-NO-better-regular-smoking-Toxins-devices-cause-cancer-nicotine-FREE.html
What passes for science nowadays…
I ain’t being funny but that’s exactly what you should expect to get for using Anti Tobacco’s ‘Nazi’ propaganda to make your case… Vaperers are their own worst enemy, cos they allow themselves to feel so very ‘righteous’ in kicking a ‘filthy, addictive habit’ *rolls eyes*
*Not just White House misinformed, Clicky, pretty much all governments that slavishly follow anti-tobacco diktats from the World Health Organisation.*
How much did they get paid to print that drivel?
The Daily Mail (no tobacco advertising revenue at risk) or the ‘Experts’?
Interesting etymology of the word ‘drivel’: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=drivel
The root of ‘to make muddy, darken’… kinda smeary. That’s a good question; who pays for their drivel… who wipes their nose?
jltrader, it’s who PAYS for science.
I am baffled that people dig out the few existing INDEPENDENT research carried out and think they can take on the interest funded science.
I have one question:
If I am to believe ANY tobacco control&’friends’ funded “research” (which hardly can be termed independent), why shouldn’t I believe tobacco industry funded research?
There is a problem with the latter; the Tobacco Control lobby bought Universities….
As we smokers know and have known for decades, “A study says” is never true at face value but is always manipulated and used to beat up consumers and truth is no where to be found. It’s all about “perception” what is believed to be true. We’ve been telling vapers for ages and ages that to cozy up with the likes of humungus hypocrite Linda Bauld will lead them to a hiding to nowhere.
Bauld is standing up for them for now because it suits her smokerphobic mind set and she can see that divide and conquer is the best way to beat both eventually. She even took an ecig sceptic journalist to task on Twitter for upsetting vapers by reporting a study Bauld accused of doing what she does all the time – lie, manipulate, twist, or misinterpret. Bauld urged the journo to be careful and said something like tobacco control depends on such journos getting “the right” message across (Ie – her sort of smoker hating message across). This is Bauld don’t forget – the same woman who manipulated, twisted and downright lied when she did the smoking ban review after smokers were forced out of their communities and their local pubs.
Trust the likes of that and I’m afraid vapers’ days are numbered. It’s just a question of how long it will take. Vapers have one friend – smokers. We can see what’s happening step by step to vaping and vapers because we’ve lived it these past 50 years and had it done to us first. They are just using the same template. Do you really think that all they say about smoking and health is actually true??? Really ??? Heed our warning, ALL OF YOU. Fight with smokers against tobacco control, stop the ecigs are better – or even life-savers crap – because it won’t save you nor your product and if you’re honest – with all the new regs you’ve faced this last couple of years – it hasn’t actually worked anyway. You’ve already lost unless you change tack. For ALL OF US to win we must ALL attack, question, and expose tobacco control and the likes of Bully Bauld who are not the friend of either of us no matter what lies they tell or faux support they give.
I really can’t make my mind up about Donald Trump. He most certainly adds colour to an otherwise grey and boring (scared-to-death) assortment of candidates.
I’m pretty sure his antiques serve only one purpose: to get into the media. Bad press is a good thing!!! His legal action against an off shore wind farm in Scotland because it destroyed the view from his golf course most certainly gained him a slot on the BBC news.
At least Trump has acknowledged that the anti-smoker lobbied laws are bad for (his) businesses.
PS: Belated Happy Christmas to everyone!!!! Mine was rather refreshing (and a bit wet at times) on my travel stints.
The most pleasant surprise was that yet another airport (Stuttgart) provides NICE smoking lounges. Secondly, on visiting an old school friend to whom I had little contact over the years, the first thing she told me: “I have ashtrays. I smoke now. No-one gets thrown out the door!!!”
Then she lit up.
Needless to say, we are very busy now catching up and renewing our friendship.
Harley, hope the tornadoes are over now and you and Mrs. Harley were spared! We up here are only drowning. My house is in a priceless location but a friend down the road is not so lucky. The next load is under way, so I’ll prepare myself for shovelling water in the morning – again!