TOBACCO
NEWS FROM CANADA September 2003 Comments by Warren Klass Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
Lung Cancer in non-smokers is not uncommon. There are 40 documented causes. Second-hand smoke ain't one of them. Second-hand smoke could not even induce lung cancer in laboratory rats under optimal conditions. So for a person to make this claim, is ridiculous. In Indiana a few years ago a Nurse from a VA hospital sued the tobacco companies claiming her lung cancer was caused by second-hand smoke. The Jury heard testimony that the cancer started in her leg and spread to her lung. The Indiana jury took minutes to dismiss the claim. Heather Crowe never took her claim to court where the rules of evidence apply. She worked as a waitress for prolonged periods in mining country in Northern Ontario-Canada's cancer capital. Health Canada never needs evidence to re-launch its blood-libel. Also from Ottawa comes a story of breathtaking hypocricy. The chief loud-mouth of Physicians For A Smoker-Free Canada, Cynthia Callard, never ceases to scream for higher tobacco taxes, which are a regressive tax that disproportionately impacts the poor and middle class. Winnipeg is proposing lowering North America's highest property taxes to instead increase consumption taxes (the added tax bite is an extra $120 million for Loserpegers). Guess who wrote a letter Saturday to the Grope and Flail decrying a regressive tax that disproportionately impacts the poor and middle-class? None other than Cynthia Callard, of course. Dateline-Thunder Bay, Ontario
The plebiscite will be null and void if there is less than a 50% voter turn out. I urge all Thunder Bay smokers not to turn out for this. The plebiscite will be purely academic, however, if Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals as expected win the Ontario election and impose a Province-wide smoking ban. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
The Edmonton Journal reported Saturday that the University of Alberta has abandoned plans for a campus wide smoking ban. Policing such a ban would be impossible was the reason given. Dateline-Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Saskatchwean
Its only in Canada where the majority can vote on minority rights. Dateline-Winnipeg, Manitoba
These hearings are a joke. The fix is in. The usual rent a crowd-everything from the Lung Association to Canada's Hitler Youth (Please don't poison us with second-hand smoke) show up. The media ignored this farce. Also in Loserpeg was a terrific column Saturday by the Winnipeg Free Press' Tom Oleson. Here are a few excerpts: "In Russia, it seems, as in many other parts of the civilized world, such as Europe, Africa and Asia, smoking is considered a socially acceptable habit. The anti-smoking lobby is not uniquely North American, but it does seem to be particularly concentrated in Canada and the United States where the roots of Puritanism-the fear that someone, somewhere might somehow be enjoying himself-run deep. "Premier Gary Doer is now considering extending Mayor Glen Murray's anti-smoking bylaw throughout the province. Why he would do that is anybody's guess. Perhaps it is because socialists by their nature like to interfere in other peoples lives. "A brief and unscientific survey of some downtown hotels this week found that business is down since the smoking ban began to be enforced on Sept.1.Owners and staff attribute it to the anti-smoking bylaw. "There is no conclusive evidence that second-hand smoke harms anyone. People can choose, should have the right to choose, whether to patronize a smoke-free or smoke filled donut shop, a lazy, smoke-hazy bar or one that smells as fresh and clear as stale beer. Most importantly, it is the owners of those establishments that should have the right to decide whether their customers may or may not smoke. They are the ones who will win or lose when their customers decide where they want to go." Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
The Edmonton Journal and Global TV Edmonton reported that Keep It Simple has been issued two $250 tickets. One for allowing smoking, and one for displaying ashtrays. The owners of Keep It Simple have publicly ripped up their tickets, and are vowing to challenge this in court. Even Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith was opposed to this high-handed action. City council is meeting for the umpteenth time next week to discuss the Keep It Simple Club. The Letters to the Edmonton Sun that I monitor have been almost unanimous in support of the Keep It Simple Club. PUBCO's Barry McKay wrote an especially eloquent defense of Keep It Simple in Sunday's Edmonton Sun. As I previously reported this club for recovering alcoholics is in the process of applying for a Provincial liquor license to sell beer for $10,000 a bottle to legally allow smoking. Stay tuned. Just when the story of the Keep It Simple Club couldn't possibly get stranger, Kerry Diotte writes in the Edmonton Sun that a group called-I'm not making this up-"Nicotine Anonymous" (My name is Warren and I'm a smoker) holds its meetings in -yup-the Keep It Simple Club. Obviously second-hand smoke does not bother those who attend Nicotine Anonymous. On a more serious note from Edmonton, Kerry is reporting on the efforts of Edmontonians For Choice. This is a group from Edmonton's hospitality industry who are trying to raise money to defeat Mayor Bill Smith in the upcoming municipal election. They are holding a $100 a plate dinner Oct.17 at the Sawmill Banquet&Catering Club. Many tickets have been sold but if interested in attending call 444-0125.Remember freedom is not free. Dateline-Calgary, Alberta
In a Calgary restaurant you can smoke indoors, but not outdoors in a patio. Restaurant owners are supposed to register with the City of Calgary whether they are non-smoking, allow smoking or are "mixed use"-part of the restaurant is for adults only. Don Braid wrote however," Nobody really has a clue which restaurants are complying and which are defying." There are apparently a whole set of regulations to be followed by restaurants that allow smoking. Don Braid, however writes: "Legally, the owners only obligation is to put up proper signs, and where necessary start working on a ventilation system...this policy is a joke to anybody who can make it through the smoke." Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
The Toronto Red Star-Canada's answer to the Guardian- only more long winded, more polemical, and way more boring, wrote a long article on Toronto's newest sensation-marijuana coffee shops. It seems boring, tight-ass, wasp Toronto wants to be the next Amsterdam according to the Red Star. Note to the Toronto Star, to this outsider Toronto is more like Cleveland than Amsterdam. If so inclined the Red Star mentions as pot friendly venues in Toronto: Hot Box Cafe in Kensington Market and Roach O Rama on Baldwin Street. More of these are in the planning stages including some at Young and Bloor. No need to worry about the police. The Toronto Star squealed and the police did nothing. Pot is decriminalized in Ontario because of a ruling by the Ontario Supreme Court. One lawyer quoted by the Toronto Star said if the police try to seize anyone's pot, the police can be charged with theft. City Councilor Joe Pantalone was quoted by the Star as saying Toronto City Council has no interest in regulating pot smokers. He maintains that marijuana control is a Provincial and Federal responsibility. If the Province or the Feds want it regulated, they should be the ones responsible. Needless to say this reticence regarding regulating cigarette smoking does not extend to Toronto City Council. Once again for the uninformed here is the difference between tobacco and marijuana. Pot has 10-20 times the tar and carcinogens of tobacco. Rich people in Canada smoke pot. Poor people in Canada smoke cigarettes. Dateline-Ontario Election, October 2
How Dare I endorse Ernie Eves and the P.C.'s after all the horrible things he allowed to be done to Ontario smokers? Its a fair question. I am acutely aware of what's gone on in Ontario, since Ernie Eves became Premier. Anyone going through the archives of Forces Canada for the past few months cannot accuse me of ignoring what has gone on in Ontario. Despite this I am endorsing the P.C.s. Why? Simply, Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal Party is far worse. McGuinty and the Liberal Party are promising BOTH a Province-wide smoking ban AND an immediate $10 a carton tax increase-for starters. Be assured if McGuinty is elected, Ontario will become a laboratory for social-engineering the likes the world has never seen. Does Ontario really want Gar Mahoodlum,and his Non-Smokers Rights Association, Physcians For A Smoker Free Canada, The Lung Association, the Cancer Society, and the rest of Ontario's legions of PARASITES not only dictating policy but using the Queens Park Treasury as their private piggy bank? Have no illusions-these are the stakes in the Ontario election October 2.If smokers don't show up and vote P.C.on October 2-its all over. If enough of you bother to vote we can send a message to the Liberals-the Patrons of the PARASITES. WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH! In November there are Ontario Municipal elections. Forces Canada will not be reticent about advocating changes in Ontario municipalities that imposed bans. This however will be pointless if Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals are elected. More people smoke in Ontario than vote for the Liberal Party in Provincial elections. The correspondent stated that a McGuinty election win wouldn't be that bad because this would radicalize Ontario smokers to pull a B.C. In B.C. the N.D.P that imposed a Province-wide smoking ban was defeated 77 seats-2 in the next election. Do Ontario smokers want to wait 4-5 years to play this game? I realize there is a lot of justifiable anger in Ontario right now. But do you really feel your interests are better served with a McGuinty victory? Put aside the smoking issue for a moment and ask yourselves what a McGuinty victory means for Ontario. It means HUGE raises for Doctors and Teachers-for starters. It means a HUGE addition to the Bureaucracy. Where do you think McGuinty will get all this money to pay for his promised HUGE raises? Obviously from smokers for starters-he already has said as much. How many businesses and jobs fled Ontario when Bob Rae tried a similar policy? If Ontario liked Bob Rae-you'll love Dalton McGuinty.Be assured that the PARASITES who dream of making your lives miserable (Non-Smokers Rights Association, Physcians For A Smoker-Free Canada, Lung Association, Cancer Society, Grope and Flail, Toronto Star, etc) are salivating at the prospect of a Dalton McGuinty Liberal Provincial Government in Ontario. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Both of these strategies are oldies but goodies. Hitler tried both and smoking rates by 1939 reached 50%-the highest in recorded history. Nazi propaganda also portrayed "Tobacco capitalism (Big Tobacco) as caricatures of Hasidic Jews scheming "to lure Aryan Youth into smoking slavery." The message Aryan Youth (Hitler Youth and The League of German Girls had to take" smoke-free" pledges for Hitler) was that smoking was not "normal." Hitler was just the person to define normal for everyone. To be a good Aryan to the Nazis meant not to smoke." You Have a Duty To Be Healthy" was the slogan of Hitler Youth. Smokers were DENORMALIZED as non-Aryans. Smokers were portrayed as a motley crew of: "Jews, Africans, Indians, loose women and decadent intellectuals." Smoking, both primary and second-hand was portrayed as: "a Jewish Plot To Poison the Aryan Race." This was Hitler's rationale for bans on indoor smoking,1,200% increase in Tobacco taxes, a bunch of highly paid PARASITES telling everyone how to live, and the rest of the campaign that is virtually indistinguishable from modern Canada. Hitler's dream was of a" secure and sanitary utopia...a "smoke free Germany." The punch line is that this led to the highest rate of smoking in history. This campaign is being financed by the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT-although kids are not supposed to suspect that its GOVERNMENT FINANCED. THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT is telling kids that smoking is not "NORMAL." Here is a list of things THE SAME CANADIAN GOVERNMENT is telling teenagers that are NORMAL: A 14 year old has the right to put someone's genitals in their mouth, but its NOT NORMAL to put a cigarette in your mouth. A 16 year old in Ontario has the right to put a joint in your mouth, even though it contains 10-20 times the tar and carcinogens of a cigarette-never mind getting the kid higher than a kite. But smoking a cigarette is NOT NORMAL. The difference? Rich people in Canada smoke pot. Poor people in Canada smoke cigarettes. An 18 year old is considered normal if they drink alchohol, but not if they smoke cigarettes. An 18 year old is considered normal if they piss all their money away at GOVERNMENT OWNED casinos, lotteries, VLTs, but its not NORMAL to smoke cigarettes. Gambling is specifically omitted as a sin in Bill Bennet's "Book of Virtue." By coincidence Mr. Bennet lost millions gambling. An 18 year old can marry someone of the same sex, this is now considered normal in Canada, but its not Normal to smoke a cigarette. Drinking a cup of coffee is considered Normal even though it contains 19 carcinogens and a thousand chemicals. Smoking a cigarette is not considered normal because it contains about 19 carcinogens and a thousand chemicals. Finally CBC Montreal is reporting that THE BIG SECRETS THAT QUEBEC KIDS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW: THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA IS SPONSORING AND PAYING FOR THESE ADS. VARIOUS GOVERNMENTS GET 70% IN TAXES OF THE PRICE OF CIGARETTES. The money is being used ($480 million this year )to support a bunch of Liberal Party affiliated PARASITES who killed the Montreal Grand Prix. Also in a Montreal related story, Grand Prix. com, the newsletter of the Formula One Race is reporting on the latest antics antics of Physicians For A Smoker Free Canada. These PARASITES are major recipients of the Liberal Party $480 million a year slush fund. Grand Prix.com reported to show their gratitude to Prime Minister Chretien for killing Montreal's #1 Tourist attraction that brings in $80 million and 300,000 tourists, Physicians For A Smoker-Free Canada sent Chretien a huge thank you note. But according to Grand Prix.com these PARASITES also sent letters to: Bahrain, Turkey, and China asking them not to stage the Formula One Race. They reminded these countries that they signed treaties banning tobacco sponsorship. But a lot of countries signed the same treaties and the races are proceeding. Turkey is spending 100 million on a track to accommodate the Grand Prix. Without trying to be overly pedantic, treaties contain loopholes. Or in extreme cases, in much of the world treaties are meaningless public relations exercises. Leopold Von Ranke, the Prussian diplomat once called treaties: "scraps of paper to be discarded when no longer necessary." Only someone incredibly naive would believe that Bahrain, Turkey, or China won't get Montreal's Formula One Race-and the prestige and economic benefits that go with staging this event. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
The price of a beer at the Keep It Simple club will, however be $10,000 a bottle. Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
The other day I reported on a story in the Grope and Flail that Ottawa was considering relaxing its moronic ban on cigarette logos not even sold in Canada so the race could proceed. Now in the latest twist, the Grope and Flail Tuesday reported that Ottawa has once again reconsidered. The Grope and Flail wrote: "When the anti-tobacco activists realized yesterday that Ottawa was seriously reassessing the situation they quickly rallied calling cabinet ministers and the media." The Grope and Flail named two of the Uber PARASITES involved: Cynthia Callard of Physicians For a Smoker Free Canada, and Francis Thompson of the Non-Smokers Rights Association-Canada's very own answer to the Taliban Vice and Virtue Committee. Both PARASITES are major recipients of the Liberals $480 million slush fund. By co-incidence there was another poll put out by an alliance of 18 separate groups in Quebec that claimed 63% of Quebecers are in favor of having the race in Montreal. Similar polls showed an overwhelming percentage of both Canadians and Quebecers in favor of the race. If anyone has any illusions that Canada is a democracy, that reflects the overwhelming will of the people, should look carefully at this story. A couple of special-interest PARASITES, under the most spurious pretexts, can wreak havoc on the economy of Montreal and thwart the will of the overwhelming majority of the people. For any smoker in Ontario stupid enough to consider voting for Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals in the upcoming Provincial election, should consider a vote for Dalton McGuinty is a vote for Physicians For a Smoker Free Canada, non-Smokers Rights Association, and a whole mob of unnecessary duplicate PARASITES salivating at the prospect of turning the Queens Park Treasury in to their private piggy bank. Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals promised/threatened that if elected October 2,there will be a Province-Wide Smoking Ban AND a $10 increase in a carton of cigarettes-for starters- for these PARASITES. If you want to stop this then please go to the polls and vote P.C. on October2,and please pass this message along to fellow Ontario voters. After October 2 it will be too late. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Also in Montreal in a related story, the Montreal Gazette is reporting that Montreal tourist chairperson Charles Lapoint is asking Ottawa for $50 million in compensation for the loss of the Grand Prix, if the race is cancelled. Bonne chance! Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
There is sort of a follow-up to this story. To coincide with the Toronto Film Festival, part of Canada's $480 million Liberal Party funded PARASITES, in this case the Canadian Lung Association had a poll commissioned that claimed that 73% of Canadians BELIEVE (it doesn't matter that there is no evidence or truth. Belief is what counts) that smoking in the movies influences kids to smoke. Citing one discredited junk science study, the Canadian Lung Association joins the Christian Science Monitor, and the Southern Baptist newspaper in pushing for bans on depictions of smoking in the movies. I don't claim to be an expert on this. The last two movies I saw (rented) were Chicago and Bringing Down the House. Its true that in Chicago everybody smoked, but that was because everybody smoked in 1920s Chicago. No word on whether kids were also influenced by the drinking, infidelity and husband killing in Chicago. And All That Jazz. Nobody smoked cigarettes in Steve Martin's Bringing Down the House. But everybody seemed to be drinking, engaging in sex outside marriage. Marijuana was glamorized in this Disney junk. How about banning drinking, drugs and infidelity in movies as well? Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
What pray tell accounts for a sudden 11th hour possible conversion from the previous Liberal Party's a thousand times no position? Political considerations, of course. The Grope and Flail reports that the Liberals want to increase their already considerable representation in Quebec. I am shocked-shocked to report that the Liberals considered dumping more millions in taxpayer money if it would help to keep the race in Montreal. The Grope and Flail also reports that the Liberals are worried about setting a precedent for all the other groups affected in Canada by the loss of sponsorship dollars. But didn't the anti-smoking nuts keep assuring all affected groups that it would be easy to find alternate sponsors? Ottawa doesn't want a long line of groups asking for tobacco replacement money. Stay tuned. This promises to get more interesting. In July, I commented on Health Canada's marijuana policy. The big laughs came when I directly quoted Health Canada's suggestion that marijuana (I'm not making this up) should be used as an anal suppository-shoved up your ass. Honest. I remarked that according to stoners who e-mailed me that Health Canada's "medical marijuana" would undoubtedly induce cancer because its THC content (the stuff that gets you high) is 2.5% vs.10-20% for B.C.Bud. You'd have to smoke about 20 joints to get a buzz, unless you took Health Canada's suggestion and shoved it up your ass. Health Canada did not want to go on record encourage anybody to smoke anything. On Monday night the Associated Press and Yahoo Canada are reporting that the poor suckers who purchased Health Canada pot at $195 an ounce, (PLUS TAXES 7% GST.7% Ontario sales tax), want a refund. Health Canada like the worst pushers won't take it back and won't offer refunds. According to the stoners an ounce of B.C.Bud generally goes for about $300-tax included. Here are some excerpts from the Associated Press in an Ottawa datelined story: "Some of the first patients to smoke Canada's government approved marijuana say its "disgusting" and they want their money back. "Health Canada, the federal health department started selling marijuana in July to bring relief to patients suffering from AIDS, cancer and other diseases. The move followed a court order that patients should not be forced to get their marijuana from drug dealers on the streets. "But some of the first to buy the government's marijuana say its no good. "Its totally unsuitable for human consumption" said Jim Wakeford 58 an AIDS patient in Gibsons. B.C, Wakeford and several others quoted want their $195 per ounce plus taxes refunded. Health Canada has already informed those affected where they can shove it. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
In a datelined story out of Toronto, the Canadian Press carried a story entitled:" First smoke may hook teens; study. Research downplays impact of peer pressure." Here are some excerpts of the new "thinking" of the anti-smoking PARASITES: "That means smoking prevention campaigns which are largely aimed at helping teenagers withstand peer pressure to smoke need to be rethought, said Jennifer O'Loughlin, a McGill University epidemiologist who studies tobacco use among children and teenagers. O'Loughlin admitted she's beginning to doubt whether prevention efforts can work. "This research demonstrates why the stop smoking message doesn't always get through to teens who have started smoking." said Cheryl Moyer, director of the cancer control program of the Canadian Cancer Society. "Their physical addiction can be a stronger influence than peer pressure. This will be a great help in developing more effective smoking cessation programs for kids." In case you wonder what "more effective" means to the Canadian Cancer Society, it means Zyban, the patch, nicotine gums-and all the snake oil that doesn't work. Would you rather have your kid smoking a cigarette or taking Zyban? As both a parent of teenagers and as someone having taken Zyban myself I can attest that it didn't work and its a serious head-f--- drug. There you have it. Hundreds of millions pissed away. But now the same morons who just finishing pissing away hundreds of millions are promising that with more billions they can succeed-in enriching pharmaceutical companies. The lucky taxpayers of Canada get to support this idiocy to turn our kids into laboratory rats for every harebrained social-engineering scheme of a group of PARASITES funded by the Liberal Party. Dateline-Chatham-Kent, Ontario
"...bars and bingo halls suffered because of lower than usual attendance since the smoking ban began...Will our municipal government rally to help those suffering businesses the way they rallied to keep Navistar open? And ultimately, can the municipality financially afford to help them? "The difference with this situation is that council will likely not be able to seek financial aid from other levels of government when a good portion of small business losses are the result of municipal bylaws." "Although the municipality has provided some relief to bingo halls, it is only to the tune of a few months. Hopefully council is either working on a plan to provide further assistance to our small businesses, or preparing to admit that a certain bylaw tipped the seesaw in the wrong direction." Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
The Letters to the Editor in the Edmonton Sun are full of non-smokers who are fed up with the devastation caused to the Edmonton hospitality industry in general, and the Keep It Simple Club and the closing of the Strathcona Legion in particular. There was another first to report Monday. The first reference outside of Edmonton to the endless story of the Keep It Simple Club-the AA meeting place that would have to apply for a liquor license to allow smoking. Ezra Levant of the Calgary Sun devoted a fantastic column to this issue. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
My only hope is that enough Quebecers will join many of their fellow Canadians in saying they have HAD ENOUGH of the Liberal Party who told Montreal to drop dead. If there is any good that can come out of this it will be if the Liberals lose some seats to the Bloc Quebecois in the upcoming election. It is only with the defeat of the Liberals can Quebec once again be: Maitres Chez Nous. (Masters in their own house.) Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec Libre. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
Keep It Simple is appealing to the Alberta Human Rights Commission on the basis of the Canadian Charter of Rights that it is being discriminated against because its members are "disabled" (alcoholics). They do not have a lawyer as yet and don't have the money to hire one. However, on Saturday this story took yet another turn. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, himself a recovering alcoholic and smoker wrote the Keep It Simple club a letter saying that Liquor licensing is a Provincial responsibility, and asking Keep It Simple to apply for a liquor license and implying something could be worked out. Keep It Simple is now applying for some kind of license. Premier Klein wrote: "I have deep respect for the service your club is providing to those seeking to recover from addictions, and I do personally support your request to the city for a special exemption from the smoking bylaw on the basis of the unique program you're offering." Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith, who championed the smoking ban complained that Edmonton has become a "laughingstock." There is an upcoming election in Edmonton. It is my hope that Edmontonians go to the polls and send Bill Smith, and some clowns packing. Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
Catherine O'Grady, the executive producer of the Ottawa International Jazz Festival told the Citizen:" This is a terrible loss, much more than your average theatre -goer or concert-goer realizes. "The sorts of work that du Maurier money paid for would rarely, if ever have received funding from other mainstream companies." Many other smaller Arts Companies quoted by the Citizen said much the same thing. Naturally the PARASITIC Non-Smokers Rights Association was very sanguine that these groups would have trouble raising money. These anti-smoking PARASITE groups receive $480 million annually from the Liberal Party. If enough Canadian smokers decide to go to the polls and throw out the Liberal Party in the next election (more Canadians smoke than vote Liberal), I'd like to see how many Canadians want to financially support these PARASITES. Dateline-Bruce County, Ontario
The Shoreline Beacon quotes the PARASITES as using an oldie but a goodie: "The ban on smoking in public and work places sends a message to children (TM) that smoking is not the norm, and helps smokers cut down. "This denormalization of tobacco is seen by health agencies as an essential part in preventing kids from ever starting to smoke." This denormalization strategy, the whole Liberal Party punishment agenda was tried under Hitler. The results were by 1939,Germany had the highest rate of smoking in recorded history-50%.Hitler raised tobacco taxes by 1,200%.Hitler imposed smoking bans. Hitler banned tobacco from culture. Hitler had a highly paid group of PARASITES to push a "smoke-free" agenda. Germans were subjected to a non-stop propaganda campaign on the evils of primary and second-hand smoke. Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls all were compelled to take "Smoke-Free" pledges for Hitler. Nazi propaganda attempted to "denormalize" smokers as: "Jews, Africans, Indians, loose women and decadent intellectuals." the result was the highest rate of smoking in recorded history. The difference between Canada and Nazi Germany is that at least we can vote out the Liberal Party. Dateline-London, Ontario
Imperial counters that Scott "lacks the motivation to quit." Also Imperial claims that he has suffered no adverse health effects from his smoking. Scott Landry is arguing the case himself because no lawyer wants to touch this fiasco. The London Free Press reported that a Quebec woman tried the same tactic 6 years ago and her claim was laughed out of court. Dateline-Penetanguishene, Ontario
Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Here's the latest: the Quebec Provincial Government held an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday to discuss its very limited options. Quebec Premier Jean Charest told a news conference:" We have asked a working group to look at all scenarios. There are people who are invoking the possibility that we could change the laws, but we're not working on that scenario right now." Canadian Press, however is reporting that Quebec is actively seeing if changing the Provincial laws would help. As usual its the Feds that are playing Grand Prix killers. Health Minister Tugboat Annie McLellan, and Chretien are telling Montreal to DROP DEAD. "What did Canada ever do to you?" I hope the Bloc Quebecois can exploit this fiasco to deprive the Liberals of some seats in their Quebec stronghold. Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec Libre. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
What could possibly be the motivation of Imperial Tobacco (B.A.T. du Maurier, Players etc) for playing into the hands of our enemies was beyond my comprehension until I read Saturday's Entertainment section of the Grope and Flail. The Grope and Flail applauded Imperial Tobacco for donating big bucks to local Arts groups, while keeping its donations virtually anonymous. Trying to appease the Grope and Flail is a dumb strategy. Winston Churchill once described the folly of appeasement as akin to throwing a crocodile one limb at a time. Once again I encourage Canadian smokers especially in Ontario and Quebec to save a few bucks and send Imperial Tobacco a message by switching to Indian Brands such as Supremes, Smoking, and Podiums. Imperial Tobacco has never lifted a finger for Smokers Rights in Canada. Dateline-Quinte West, Ontario
Steve Medd,the owner of Club Medd in Trenton speaking on behalf of the hospitality industry told council:" You socialists go ahead and buy my business and then run it as you see fit. "Some of you seem hell-bent on social-engineering our lives. If you pass the bylaw you are removing owners rights to run his/her business as they see fit. Next the health agenda will be regulating menus." If Dolton McGuinty and the Provincial Liberals are elected on October 2, the actions of city councils in Ontario will be moot. McGuinty has threatened a Province Wide smoking ban and an immediate $10 a carton increase in tobacco taxes. Dateline- St. Catherines, Ontario
"Hi Warren Have been following a little of your activities with Forces. I know we have talked many times on-line on various discussion groups. With no offense intended to you personally, I want you to know that what you are attempting to do is bordering on the criminal, but certainly well over the border on insanity." I have never, ever, never talked to this lame brain on-line because I don't go to these discussion groups-whatever they are. If standing up for the rights of consenting adults to consume a legal product free of harassment makes me a border line criminal or insane- I plead guilty. The Liberals are big on de-normalization of smokers, thus anyone who stands up for smokers rights has to be a criminal or insane. As Bob Dylan once said:" If my thought dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine." The Lame-Brain continues: "One might ask why a supposedly sane person would spend so much time pushing an agenda that has no future. Smoking bans are here. Everyday we hear of more of them enacted. Where they have been in place for a year or more they have been very successful, and the doom and gloom predicted through pawns of Big Tobacco such as Forces and other groups, not only has not occurred but in most places business has improved. One must, of course, allow for the various problems of all sorts in the past several years-2,000 stock market crash,Sept.11,SARS, Mad Cow, various wars started by the U.S. etc. All have had a major impact on the economy which would filter down through the hospitality industry. Yet most viable bars and restaurants still report good results even with smoking bans." I've read a lot of history. What seems like a historical progression is often temporal. What this means are that bans are here until enough smokers go to the polls to throw out those that impose them. In California, where this nuttiness got going, the architect on the war on smokers, Gray Davis looks like a dead duck. In B.C. the N.D.P. that imposed a Province wide ban was defeated in the next Provincial election 77 seats to (count 'em)2. Barbra whatever her name is, who tried to impose a smoking ban in Toronto was defeated for Mayor. Al Gore would be sitting in the White House if not for smokers in states like Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas (states that twice voted for Clinton-Gore) who had enough. Just a week ago in Ontario, Liberal Provincial Party Leader Dalton McGuinty who wants a complete smoking ban and a $10 dollar tax increase on a carton of cigarettes had an insurmountable 16 point lead. Tracking Polls in both Saturday's Grope and Flail and National Post shows the lead is down to 4 points. Smoking bans are inevitable if smokers sit on their asses and whine and bitch. Smoking bans can be stopped and overturned if smokers go to the polls. More people smoke in Ontario and Canada than vote for the Liberal Party. As for the effects of smoking bans-go look at the Forces Canada archives in the past few months. I have documented the devastation to a metaphysical certainty. Anti-Smoking nuts-like all congenital liars cannot tell the truth. If they made the statement that the devastation of the hospitality industry is an acceptable price to be paid for a social-engineering scheme-first dreamed up by Hitler-maybe they'd at least have some credibility. But to say that smoking bans have not caused devastation to the hospitality industry is ridiculous. The new mantra of the anti-smoking nuts as a fall back position is to blame the devastation on SARS,Sept.11,Mad Cow etc. This strategy was first dreamed up by the poster girl of affirmative action, University of Toronto Prof. Roberta Ferrence. In California, before the 2,000 stock market crash, 9/11, etc, the California economy grew by about 35% in the years from when smoking bans were imposed in the 90s.Hospitality revenues were flat, even with a huge spike in fast-food and take-out sales, and a year round patio season that skewered the overall numbers. In the midst of an economic boom in California, in the late 90s accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick reported that the re-sale value of a traditional restaurant and bar in California declined between 45-70%.This devastation caused by smoking bans was pre 2,000 stock market crash, pre 9/11 etc. In B.C. pre 9/11,pre SARS, Pre Mad Cow, etc there was a Province wide smoking ban in the province with the LOWEST percentage of smokers in Canada. After 3 months 730 jobs and 6 business were lost. The B.C. Supreme Court ruled the smoking ban unconstitutional because of the economic devastation. Here is what B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein wrote: "When the impact is so significant as to pose a risk to the private economic interests, and where the impact is so onerous as to impose a policing function upon employers coupled with severe penalties for non-compliance -then public debate is of paramount importance." B.C. Supreme Court throws out province wide smoking ban. Cites Economic Interests on Business and Workers. National Post, March 23,2000.Note this was BEFORE: SARS, Mad Cow, Sept 11,etc. This lame brain salivates at the prospect of a Dalton McGuinty, Liberal Party victory in Ontario: "...when the province (Ontario) moves to standardize the various municipal smoking bans by passing an all encompassing law to cover all bars and restaurants in Ontario. This will prohibit smoking on any part of the premises of the building including outdoors." This is straight from the horses mouth. Indoor and even OUTDOOR patio bans are being planned for Ontario by both the Liberal Party and the N.D.P. Please pass this message to smokers in Ontario and please go to the polls Oct.2 and vote P.C. Dateline-Editorial comment -Ontario Provincial Election
I am under no illusions that Ernie Eves is another Mike Harris, and he I am not defending Ernie Eves, but last year Ontario created 213,000 jobs. The N.D.P in Manitoba created 100. The hospitality industry will be decimated in Ontario if Dalton McGuinty is elected. Other business will go to the U.S. as well when McGuinty's tax and spend agenda (give big raises to the doctors and Teachers, not to mention Ontario's Legions of anti-smoking Parasites) become implemented. Voting P.C. is the lesser of three evils. I encourage Ontario smokers to please go to the polls on October 2 and please vote P.C., and please pass along the message of Dalton McGuinty's Liberal Party plans for Ontario smokers. Forces Canada reluctantly endorses the P.C's for re-election in Ontario. Dateline-Montreal Grand Prix update
Colby Cosh's column sounded very much like what Forces Canada has been saying for some time. Except Mr. Cosh is a much better writer than myself. The Grope and Flail's Roy McGregor went off on one of the usual Grope and Flail, dreary predictable diatribes about the evils of smoking. Yawn. And Mindelle...well Mindelle as usual made a complete ass of herself. Beyond the usual moronic ranting from Mindelle on the evils of smoking-Yawwwn - Mindelle concluded her idiotic rant by wondering why can't the Grand Prix just find new sponsors. She also criticizes Belgium for reversing itself for mercantile motivations. How about a Belgium-Canada war over Tobacco sponsorship of the Formula One race? One of the stories my kids always loved involved Belgium. In 1980,the Quebec based Rhinoceros Party of Canada promised if elected their first act would be declaring war on Belgium. Their second act would be putting the National Debt on Visa-the Liberals stole that Rhinoceros platform but I digress. The Rhinoceros Party threatened war with Belgium because a Belgium cartoon character, Tintin, killed a rhinoceros in one of the cartoons. The Rhinoceros Party-whose other platform involved the repealing of gravity-offered to call off the proposed Belgium-Canada war IF Belgium delivered a case of mussels and a case of Belgium beer to Rhinoceros "Hindquarters" in Montreal. In order to forestall a possible diplomatic incident with Canada, the Belgium Embassy in Ottawa sent a case of Mussels and a case of Belgium beer to Rhinoceros "Hindquarters" in Montreal. Laugh-laugh, the story made the front page of the New York Times, and the Rhinoceros Party received more votes in Quebec in 1980 than any party except the Liberals. In all seriousness does anybody with an IQ over room temperature-this excludes Mindelle-really believe that if the issue of the Montreal Grand Prix ONLY involved finding a deep pocketed sponsor in Montreal, the Grand Prix could be saved? If this only involved deep-pocketed sponsorship, the Liberals would be there with millions of Canadian taxpayer dollars for more pork-barreling in Quebec. Unfortunately three or four of the seven cars carry Tobacco company logos, although none of the brands are sold in Canada. A regular correspondent to Forces Canada pointed out how hypocritical the Liberals are in this .On one of Chretien's Team Canada trade missions to China, Chretien brought along the heads of Canada's Big Three Tobacco companies to attempt to open the Chinese market to Canadian tobacco. Its now ridiculous to play games that all of a sudden Canada had a huge epiphany and wants to save the world's children. First in line to land the Grand Prix race and the tourist and economic windfall that goes with hosting this prestigious event is of course, China. Despite the best efforts of the Roy McGregor's and Mindelle Jacobs the rationale for killing the Montreal Grand Prix remains non-existent. Dateline-London, Ontario
Another Forces Canada reader from London e-mailed me to tell me about a brand called "Podium." These are also manufactured by an Indian Tribe-Lanwest MFG Technologies, Made In Canada. The reader claims Podiums are even cheaper and taste better than Supremes. The reader claims Podiums which he claims taste like du Maurier regular or Players Light sell for $5.15 a pack or $41 a carton at Costco in London. At these prices it doesn't take long to recoup the price of a Costco membership. Podiums are $44.93 at supermarkets in the London area. If they are out of Podiums, try "Smoking" which are just as good, he claims. He raved about the taste. I personally have never tried Podiums or" Smoking", but at the prices quoted are definitely worth a try. Big Tobacco, as a reminder has never lifted a finger to support smokers rights in Canada. The correspondent also commented on Forces Canada's story the other day on "chippers", people who smoke less than 20 cigarettes a week. Apparently there are quite a few of these "Chippers" in London. He called them "moochers." People who are occasional smokers who never buy their own cigarettes but bum off others. My advice (like I'm Dear Abby, or the Playboy Advisor) is to tell "chippers, moochers, or bummers" or whatever they prefer to be called to go buy their own because cigarettes are very expensive. Dateline-Winnipeg, Manitoba
Also in Loserpeg, the Winnipeg Sun is reporting that gamblers from two of Winnipeg's Casinos are already booking trips to smoker friendly casinos just over the border in Minnesota. Breakaway Tours claims Day Trips to Minnesota casinos are "up considerably, U.S. trips are booking like mad." I encourage patrons of the McPhillips and Regent casinos to seriously consider Minnesota smoker friendly casinos just over the border. I personally don't gamble, and thus have never been to the Minnesota Casinos, but from accounts I have heard from friends who went, have raved about them. I don't know about the day trips but, for $99(Cdn)you get a bus ride there and back, two days a five star hotel with indoor pool and spa, complimentary $50 (U.S), coupons good for meals ,and a visit on the way back to the duty-free shop etc. Apparently its a wonderful vacation. Women who have went said the shopping is fantastic. If you are a gambler, do yourself a favor and check out these smoker-friendly casinos in Minnesota. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
In general I am inherently suspicious of polls. I am suspicious of the motivation of those who commission them and of the kind of loaded questions asked. You can ask the same question in a slightly different way and get a radically different result. However, there was a poll released Monday by Leger and Leger, and reported in the National Post and Canoe (Sun media) that will give our enemies the anti-smoking nuts, and their Liberal Party Patrons something to think about. Almost 70% of Quebecers and 60% of Canadians are opposed to the Liberal Party killing the Montreal Grand Prix. It's not surprising that Quebec which stands to lose its biggest tourist attraction,300,000 tourists and an $80 million direct hit to the Quebec economy, would be outraged. What is surprising is that an overwhelming majority of Canadians outside Quebec feel exactly the same way. The story of the Montreal Grand Prix,with the exception of Forces Canada has received almost no coverage in the Anglo media. Even more surprising, despite a non-stop propaganda campaign from the anti-smoking nuts, 60%of Canadians and 66% of Quebecers felt that Tobacco Company sponsorships had no effect on one's decision to take up smoking, the amount smoked or even whether to switch brands. In a related story, a media group called Carte Blanche is distributing 108,000 post cards in Pop Media, Le Devoir and Metro directed to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone to re-consider moving the Grand Prix. Why they are sending these pleas to Formula One and not Quebec's beloved Federal Liberals is beyond comprehension. To Quebecers, if you want to keep the race- protest to the Liberal Party not Formula One. In researching this story for Forces Canada, I've seen that Formula One has no shortage of venues prepared to take over the race from Montreal. Turkey, Bahrain and China are all salivating at the prospect of hosting the Formula One race. There would be a delicious irony if the Montreal Grand Prix fiasco would alienate enough French speaking Quebecers to cost the Liberals some seats in their Quebec stronghold. Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec libre. Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
RJR in America-but not Canada naturally-has a new brand called "Camel Exotics" targeted at "chippers." Personally speaking I wouldn't walk a mile for a: mint, citrus, vanilla, or chocolate flavored Camel. But I'm over 30 so I guess these Camel Exotics are not marketed at people like me. Its true-its a drag getting old. The anti-smoking nuts due to the chippers are re-questioning what it means to be addicted to tobacco. For those of us who are over 30 and not "chippers", tobacco is habit forming, not addictive. The accepted definition of addiction means something that is habit forming AND Intoxicating. Tobacco, coffee, chocolate, shopping, sex is habit forming, but not intoxicating-thus not addictive. Marijuana is intoxicating without being habit forming. Only Heroin, Cocaine and Alcohol are habit forming AND Intoxicating. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
Naturally the Edmonton City Councilors who supported the smoking ban are all over the Edmonton Sun denying that the smoking ban had anything to do with its closing. No, its just a major co-incidence that a Legion that has been in business for 60 years just happens to close its doors two months after a smoking ban is imposed. Why don't these LIARS at least tell the truth: this is collateral damage for their social engineering scheme? Who exactly do they think is being fooled by their denials? The Veterans affected are the heroes who fought Hitler and Nazism-another group that had grandiose fantasies of a "secure and sanitary utopia...a smoke-free Germany." I've stated many times that the Legions, who are major financial supporters of Cadets, is a special cause to me. One of my sons is in second-year Army Cadets. My other son is joining Navy Cadets in September. Having sat on a fund raising committee last year, I can attest how difficult it is to raise money to keep the Cadets going-and the integral role played by the Legions. I saw a headline on CTV Newsnet that Maritime Legions are also in trouble. I could not access the story but if anyone has information or a news story about the Maritime Legions-please forward it to me at warren.klass@3web.net. Dateline-Winnipeg, Manitoba
For sure this will mean a Province-wide smoking ban. Bans throughout Canada. If you don't cave in and instead have house parties (I'm open to invitations) or go instead to Headingly, or somewhere outside the perimeter there is a chance that some members of City Council will re-consider or more likely there will be a Court Challenge. There is a precedent for courts throwing out smoking bans on the basis of loss of business. The B.C. Supreme Court threw out B.C's Province wide ban on this basis. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein wrote:" When the impact is so significant as to pose a risk to private economic interests, and where the impact is so onerous as to impose a policing function upon employers coupled with severe penalties for non-compliance-then public debate is of paramount importance." National Post, March 23,2000"B.C.Supreme Court throws out restaurant smoking ban. Cites Economic Interests on Business and Workers." Premier Doer has gone on record saying the Loserpeg smoking ban is unlikely to withstand a Court challenge. However, if its business as usual for Loserpeg smokers, the hospitality industry will not challenge it in Court. Because smokers in Fredricton, New Brunswick refused to go along with the smoking ban, the hospitality is challenging the Fredericton ban in Court. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
Toronto resident and the head of Smokers Rights Canada, Stephen Hartwell has endorsed John Nunziata for Mayor. John Nunziata supports Designated Smoking Rooms and believes the marketplace should decide where smoking is allowed. John Nunziata is a long serving M.P. who left the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent in the House of Commons because he was disgusted with Chretien. Forces Canada endorses John Nunziata for Mayor of Toronto and urges smokers in the Toronto to spread the word and to please go to the polls and elect John Nunziata Mayor. If you do not go to the polls and vote it is a lead pipe cinch that smoking will be banned in Toronto. There are a couple of stories that appeared in Friday's Toronto Red Star worth reporting. The first involves another shining success story of affirmative action in Toronto, the very eclectic University of Toronto, Prof. of Health Studies, Roberta Ferrence. Attentive Forces Canada readers should be aware of the previous mathematical and statistical wizardry of Prof. Ferrence. As a paid stooge of the anti-smoking PARASITES, Roberta goes around the country assuring city councils that smoking bans are great for business. Sunday night CTV news used Roberta's lies that smoking bans don't hurt business, as an excuse to push for smoking bans. Check out the Forces Canada archives in the past few months to see how truthful Roberta has been. In the latest idiocy from Roberta, the Toronto Red Star is reporting that Roberta is crediting smoking bans for REDUCING teen smoking to one in three. Before smoking bans were imposed teen smoking rates in the early 90s were one in four-and declining. Lets get this straight before the efforts of Roberta Ferrence and the Anti-smoking PARASITES teen smoking was 25% and falling. Now thanks to a decade of the Liberal government allowing affirmative action types like Roberta Ferrence to dictate public policy - teen smoking is 33%.Be assured a few more years of smoking bans, taxes, propaganda campaigns, a bunch of highly paid PARASITES telling everyone how to live, Canada will rival Nazi Germany as having 50% youth smoking rates-the highest in human recorded history. Hitler's prescription for "a secure and sanitary utopia...a smoke free Germany" involved: smoking bans, high tobacco taxes, moronic propaganda campaigns, and a highly paid group of PARASITES co-coordinating and dictating policy. Sound a bit familiar Frau Professor Ferrence? The highly eclectic Roberta calls smoking "deviant" in women. Who is Roberta Ferrence to pass judgment exactly on what constitutes "deviant" you might ask. Who exactly appointed Roberta to be head of the Taliban Vice and Virtue Committee? This poster girl for affirmative action has vast qualifications to make this grandiose judgment. In the immortal words of Ike,who in 1960 was asked about Nixon's qualifications for the Presidency responded:" IF YOU GIVE ME A WEEK I MIGHT THINK OF SOMETHING." So smoking in Canada is now considered "deviant" according to
Prof. Roberta Ferrence. Just to put this in perspective, here is a partial list of things
NOT considered "deviant" in Canada: a 14 year old has the legal right to put
someone's genitals in their mouth- but its "deviant" for the same 14 year
old to put a cigarette in their mouth. A 16 year old in Ontario is not considered deviant putting a joint of marijuana that contains 10-20 times
the carcinogens and tar of cigarettes, never mind getting higher than a kite. In Ontario the same 16 year old can smoke pot but not cigarettes with With her vast demonstrated ability in mathematics, statistics, never mind grandiose pronouncements on "deviant" behavior, Roberta Ferrence joins "Doctor" Sheela Basir as another hugely successful Toronto affirmative action success story. You all remember Sheela from this summer don't you? The head of Toronto Public Health who repeatedly assured the world that Toronto was SARS free daily on CNN.It was not poor little Sheela's fault that SARS exploded in Toronto-and nowhere else-under her highly competent watch. Poor Little Sheela (for those of you too young to remember "Poor Little Sheila" was a Tommy Roe song from the 60s)had a great alibi as to why SARS exploded under her watchful eye. She was busy being laughed out of Toronto City Council for leading the charge against Designated Smoking Rooms. In fairness to Sheela, she is obviously a world renowned Proctologist. I am hard pressed to think of anyone who could repeatedly perform a rectal cranial inversion upon themselves (make a complete ass, for you non-Proctologists out there) with the skill and regularity of Sheela. There you have it Toronto-the two poster girls of affirmative action telling us all how to live. Also from Toronto comes word of the end of the du Maurier Arts Council that gave millions to support orchestras and jazz festivals throughout Canada. Just another example of the Liberal Party's cultural purge, under the usual pretext. One Orchestra conductor quoted by the Toronto Red Star called the du Maurier Arts Council "indispensable." To the Liberal Party financed Taliban its better to have no orchestras and jazz festivals in Canada than to have a tobacco taint. Of course, if the Liberal government taxes the same money and redistributes it, then all of a sudden its clean money. If breweries want to support the arts in Canada, however that's perfectly alright. The Jazz festivals, and orchestras join the Montreal Grand Prix, countless jobs, businesses sacrificed to the Liberal Party agenda. What exactly was accomplished with this destruction of Culture? Nothing, beyond some grandiloquent self-serving rhetoric no one other than the editorial board of the Toronto Red Star would believe. Dateline-Midland, Ontario
In a story that can only be described as part Dachau and part One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (one insistent patient was given a frontal lobotomy for claiming the right to smoke), patients are now subject to strip searches and involuntary searches of their body cavities looking for cigarettes. In a follow up story, Simcoe Online, reported that contraband cigarettes are still available and selling for $5 a piece. I think it was Albert Camus who said that every monster, every tyrant has always used" the health of the people as an alibi." Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
For anyone naive or stupid enough to believe that Prime Minister in waiting, Paul Martin represents change for Canada, should note that Martin supports Chretien's efforts to kill the Montreal Grand Prix. Paul Martin told the Canadian Press: "I think the anti-tobacco law is really a very important law for Canada. But I hope and everyone hopes, that governments could find another solution." The other solution, another Liberal Plan B, proposed by immigration Minister Dennis Codere has already been rejected by the Liberals. Under the Codere proposal, foreign tobacco companies would be exempt from sponsorship laws, but there would be anti-tobacco billboards around the race. If nothing else, Paul Martin's comments prove the $480 million Liberal
Party funded PARASITE INDUSTRY control public policy in Canada-to the exclusion of everyone else. If its a question of the Liberals alienating If Quebecers and Canadians want real change in Canada, a Paul Martin led Liberal Party will be a continuation of 10 years of Chretien. Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec Libre. Dateline-Sioux Lookout, Ontario
It seems since the Sioux smoking ban was recently imposed, business at the local Royal Canadian Legion has fallen 50%. Legion President Tom Curtis has said that the Legion is no longer in a position to donate to non-profit organizations. I can state from first hand experience that one of the major recipients of Legion donations has been the Cadets. I have one son who is going into his second year of Army Cadets. My other son is joining Navy Cadets in September. I can attest from first hand experience how incredibly difficult it is to raise money to keep these programs going, and the invaluable help the Royal Canadian Legions played in keeping the Cadets going. Also in Sioux Lookout, comes the story of two local Hotels fined for allowing smoking. The owner of the Sioux Hotel, Philip Bazer, posted warnings that read: "Warning-Enter at your own risk." Mr. Bazer also posted signs that mimicked "Health Warnings" on cigarette packs. Mr. Bazer was quoted as saying: "if this was good enough for the Feds,it should be good enough for Mayor John McDonald." Mayor McDonald responded that smokers would be the next ones fined. If you are in Northern Ontario, I would suggest that you avoid Sioux Lookout. Dateline-London, Ontario
They are very good. Damn good! As the indoor smoking ban is hitting Loserpeg on Monday, I went out for coffee with a girl on Thursday to a coffee shop in St. Boniface (one of the last places you can still temporarily smoke indoors in Loserpeg) and we shared a few. She also raved about the taste. Both of us thought they tasted a lot like Players Light. The correspondent informs me that Supremes are about $6.25 a pack vs. about $7.50 for traditional brands. He informed me that Supremes are available in about 50-75% of outlets in the London area. I have no idea how easily available Supremes are in the rest of Ontario. If you cannot get Black-market cigarettes (to help bring down taxes, and less money for Canada's $480 million dollar Liberal Party funded PARASITE INDUSTRY), then I recommend you give Supremes a try. You are not sacrificing taste, and you'll save yourselves a few bucks. By smoking Supremes you'll also be helping out some Indian businesses. Big Tobacco has never lifted a finger for smokers rights in Canada. They sit there making hundreds of millions every year, doing nothing, while Canadian smokers keep getting royally screwed. Dateline-Niagara Falls, Ontario
"The campaign to eradicate smoking, orchestrated by the Non Smokers Rights Association, has quite successfully managed to portray all smokers as demons who deliberately spew death on the people around them. "I have experienced in the past few years, as I am sure most smokers have, the expressions of disapproval and even disgust on people's faces, the waving of hands in front of faces accompanied by a cough, even in designated smoking areas, snide, hurtful comments said aloud and much, much more. At first I was amused by it all until it re-kindled memories of my childhood. I grew up as a member of a small Italian community in a coal mining town on the East Coast during the Second World War. The name calling, dirty looks, and in the case of us kids, fists and feet flying almost everyday were tolerated, and even encouraged by everyone except us and two families of German extraction who lived in town. Fast forward to today and the similarities are striking. The excuse back then, led by Government propaganda was" National Security." The excuse now led by NSRA is "public health." The catalyst back then was wild, unfounded rumors of spies and espionage. The catalyst now are wild, unfounded statistics on the effects of second-hand smoke. Same method leading to the same result. A group of people, because they are led to believe that they are superior, treating another group, because they are publicly portrayed as being inferior, as less than human. I wonder who is next? |
September
29 - There are a couple of stories worth reporting from Ottawa. Health Canada is
re-launching its infamous " Second-hand smoke kills" propaganda campaign.
Expect to see those Heather Crowe commercials once again. This was the waitress who claimed she got lung cancer from second-hand smoke. The first
two doctors who examined Mrs. Crowe justifiably laughed out the claim. It
was Ottawa's Civic Public Health doctor who recognized this would be useful
propaganda. Mrs.Crowe, rather than getting a meager disability pension,
received a financial windfall for being a dupe.