Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity

Janet wrote:
"Mike Burke" <mburke@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ados64hc53e6sk11r234chndjsv0gctt7i@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:18:23 -0400, "Francis A. Miniter"
<faminiter@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Not to mention that 2.5 per 10,000 works out to an extra -
and unnecessary - 12,500 deaths in England, and 75,000
deaths per year in the USA.
Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate
epidemiologists. I'm willing to bet that those 10s of thousands of
deaths cannot be attributed to smoking any more than they can be for
exposure to other atmospheric or environmental pollutants.

As I said upthread, they are statistically irrelevant, and when
officially asked to advise the military chiefs here in Oz, the
military medical authorities said as much.

Even ignoring their fascist behaviour, it's grasping such fatuous
arguments that destroys the zealots' credibility entirely.

Mique

I don't even give a damn about tobacco deaths. I JUST DON"T WANT TO REEK OF SMOKE AND HAVE SPLITTING HEADACHES EVERY TIME I RIDE ON A TRAIN OR PLANE! Or eat out. Or spend time in a public place. And before the public-place smoking bans, that is precisely what happened. Certainly, there should be a level playing field. Allowing smoking in casinos but not in bars isn't fair. (BTW, lots of us got completely out of the habit of going to bars or nightspots of any kind because the smokers made them uninhabitable. Of COURSE most of the cusotmers smoke. They drove everyone else away. There's a wine bar near where I live that is non-smoking, and it is PACKED virtually every night. I'm willing to bet that at least 75% of those who go there wouldn't if it were the smoke-filled den of yore. It has only recently crossed my mind that I could go out to a place and listen to music and have a drink in actual comfort.)

I agree. In the bad old days, whenever I went out with a bunch of friends, there was always somebody who would say "Oh, they don't allow smoking there, lets go to X", and nearly always, the non-smokers were expected to be 'good sports' and cater to the smokers.

The fact is that we are not all isolated units when we are making our social decisions, and somehow the way these social decisions get made have always favored accomodationist outcomes, which effectively meant that we'd all end up with stinky clothes, breathing foul air in dirty places.

We don't group ourselevs into non-smoking and smoking friends, we just have friends, and when some smoke, people end up going to smoky places.

I am very glad that we can all go and sit in restaurants and bars now and not be subjected to that any more. It is, as many of my friends agree, wonderful. Some of the ex-smokers among them credit these anti-smoking efforts with helping them to quit, and they are grateful for them.

Ian
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity
    ... deaths per year in the USA. ... Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate ... And before the public-place smoking bans, ... I don't believe that society should do nothing about the elevated levels of fat children we are now seeing, and forcing fast-food & other food places to stop using trans fats is, therefore, a good idea. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity
    ... deaths per year in the USA. ... Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate ... smoking bans, ... I support *informing* people of the risks of things like ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity
    ... deaths per year in the USA. ... Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate ... And before the public-place smoking bans, ... Allowing smoking in casinos but not in bars isn't fair. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity
    ... deaths per year in the USA. ... Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate ... smoking bans, ... Allowing smoking in casinos but not in bars isn't fair. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: OT: A Rare Voice of Sanity
    ... deaths per year in the USA. ... Maybe this is why Mark Miller's medical scientist friends hate ... smoking bans, ... COURSE most of the cusotmers smoke. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)