GUESS WHO WAS FORCED TO STOP SMOKING

If you guessed it was me, you are 100% correct. Yup, I was forced to stop smoking due to the fact I was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. Mind you, not even ONE of the doctors, or specialists, would say that smoking caused my cancer....they did however say it MAY have contributed to it (just as I say it may NOT have contributed to it)....but no emphatic "your 48+ years of smoking caused your lung cancer". I was diagnosed on Feb. 26/09, had it confirmed on Mar. 26/09, then had it surgically removed June 19/09, smoking my brains out right up until I was admitted into the hospital for surgery 3 hours later. Sounds fairly quick, right? Not if you went through the bull-puckey I had to go through JUST to confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was indeed Lung Cancer and whether or not it had spread to the lymph nodes in my neck via a Brochoscopy (they cut a hole in your throat, shove a camera down the slit and manouver it up into your lung and check out the lymp nodes...not fun). Also not fun was the CT Guided Biopsy where they went through my back close to my spine in order to get under my shoulder blade to reach the "cancer" which I'm guessing was located on the back of my right lung.

According to my Pulmonary Specialist, the diagnosis for 96% of those with this type of Lung Cancer is terminal. I, however, am "one of the lucky ones" and fall within the other 4%....meaning they caught it in time to remove it. Needless to say, having the top lobe of your right lung removed is excruciatingly painful. I would describe it in detail, but even I get queazy thinking about the 5 new scars I have on my body from my underarm to below my breast and on my back. And trying to walk with two huge drainage tubes dangling from you wasn't exactly a joy either.

Do I blame smoking for my lung cancer? NO, I do not. There is absolutely NO PROOF that it causes cancer, and only speculation that it "may contribute" to it. In my eyes, the only thing that is "absolute" is the misinformation that Politicians and the General Public have been given in order to further the cause of one specific "special interest" group.

Just because I have been forced to stop smoking does not mean that I look at "smokers" differently (I better not, I'm happily married to one), nor have I changed my opinion on the smoker's and business owner's rights.

It has occurred to me, listening to the latest WHO "warning" (carcinogens in tanning beds), that between them and ASH, they seem to "find" an awful lot of "carcinogens" in things people enjoy....know what I mean? They (meaning WHO and ASH) have become "puritans" and are bound and bent to "rid" the world of all that they consider to be "evil" by declaring them "carcinogenic". Seems to me not long ago, they were screaming how bad eggs were for you....hmmm, what changed their tune? Just like they use to say a glass of wine a day was good for your health....not any more though, now it can lead to breast cancer....(it can also lead to alcoholism, don't ya know). Listen closely the next time WHO sends out a "warning".....it'll have something to do with carcinogens and something people like to do, wanna bet?

I have a question for any medical professional out there....one I'm sure I will get many different opinions on. I have been forced to stop smoking, so I ask you, which "me", and these are your only two choices, would you rather treat as a patient...#1. A 300+ pound ex-smoker with heart problems and diminished lung capacity, who does not "snack" healthy when the nicotine cravings hit because nothing calms the urge and refuses to use "nicotine substitutes" to get "over the hump". OR #2. A 150 pound smoker with heart problems and diminished lung capacity. C'mon Docs, lets hear some "real" truth here. No, I am not at the 300+ pound mark.....yet. Know this Docs, before you answer....I did NOT want to stop smoking, and have had a constant battle going on inside me. It will be 6 weeks tomorrow (Friday) since my last cigarette. Like an alcoholic, I am taking it one day at a time, one hour, one minute and so on. To me this is even a harder battle to win due to the fact I didn't want to stop smoking.

Well my friends (and non-friends), it is getting late and I think I had best get to bed, so I will sign off for now and will write more later. Check out some of my links before you leave.

WHO'S REALLY HARMING OUR CHILDREN?

The children today are coming down with more diseases than we ever had in my generation, and I blame a humongous portion of that due to the insistent, and persistent, protectionism "special interest" groups and Governments have placed upon the parents and grandparents of these children.


(*special interst group consist of a group of persons or organization solely dedicated to the protection of their specific way of life.*)


So much protectionism has occurred that today's childrens' immune systems have grown weaker and weaker. So much so, I worry about the immune systems of the next generation....will they end up becoming "Bubble Babies"? I mean it's been statistically proven the children today are more susceptible to Allergies, Bronchitis, Asthma, etc. Do today's adults not realize that they've blamed and targeted one specific group of people for ALL the ailments our children's children are now suffering from? Yes, I'm talking about "Smokers".


Smokers are not the ones who caused the "Greenhouse" effect, yet A.S.H. (Action on Smoking and Health) would like you to believe that Smokers are a large contributor to it. The fact that manufacturing plants, nuclear plants, forest fires, oil wells burning for weeks in Kuwait, volcanoes erupting, vehicle exhaust and so on played only a minimal role????


If A.S.H. and other special interest groups gave a damn about our children's and grandchildren's health, they would have gone after the ones causing the smog. But you see, their "SMOKE-FREE LIFESTYLE" is far more important to them and they've FORCED every person, business and Government to kowtow to their preferred way of life under the guise of "for the children". What a crock of bull-puckey.


What really gets my goat is that the Governments and "followers" never bothered to check A.S.H's so-called "statistics" because had they done so, they would have found more holes in those statistics than in the ozone layer, or Swiss cheese.


Now they've come up with a new way to FORCE themselves, and their LIFESTYLE, into YOUR home----third hand smoke!!!!! Will they PUHLEEZE give me a break!!!!


What now? All previous smokers have to "cleanse" their homes? Tear up the carpeting, sterilize all painted surfaces, buy all brand new "smoke-free" furniture, clothing, appliances, etc., to "protect the children"? "Be the first in your community to have Bubble Babies"....coming to a home near you very soon."


It grates on my nerves that people and Governments are so utterly gullible when it comes "to the children" that they are 100% behind A.S.H.'s CHOOSEN AND PREFERRED LIFESTYLE, regardless of what anyone else wants. It's A.S.H.'s way or they'll sue your buns off.


A.S.H. has their feet on the necks of our Governments (local, provincial and federal) allowing them up ONLY to pass yet MORE smoking laws and by-laws. THEY are controlling OUR elected officials. WAKE UP PEOPLE, THE COFFE IS BURNING AND THE ROSES ARE DYING!!!! A.S.H. is turning Canada into a Totalitarian State, one lost Freedom at a time. Don't believe me? Think about it:

1. They "lobbied" our governments (using unsubstantiated data) to have smoking banned on all public transportation --- planes, trains, buses, cabs, subways, streetcars, etc.
2. Then they "persuaded" our governments (again, using unsubstantiated data) to have smoking in government buildings banned.
3. That not being good enough, and they've gotten away with two uncontested bans already, they "demanded" our governments (yet again, unsubstantiated data) to ban smoking in ALL public places --- restaurants, bars, hotels, motels, casinos, bingo halls, OUTDOOR cafes, etc.
4. Oh, but that STILL isn't good enough for them, after all their LIFESTYLE depends on erradicating smoking and smokers, so now, they've targeted smoking in vehicles with children under the age of 16 present (like it's o.k. to smoke in the vehicle once the kids reach 16?).....there's one foot inside your home.
5. Ah, but now they've come up with a way to fully step into your PRIVATE home.....THIRD HAND SMOKE!!! And if you think it will stop there, think again....there are two towns in California where you can't even smoke outside!!!

When will enough be enough for A.S.H. and the anti-smokers? When they've caused the "genocide" of all smokers and tobacco products, and EVERYONE is FORCED to live A.S.H.'s "PREFERRED AND CHOSEN LIFESTYLE". And it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "the health of the children".

Do I sound bitter and perhaps a teeny bit paranoid? You bet your ass I am. When a special interst group FORCES their LIFESTYLE onto John Q. Public by stripping said Public of a Freedom of Choice, I KNOW it is just the beginning of more "Freedoms" being lost.

The very first smoking law was "for Public health"; the one following that was for "the non-smoking employee", but since they were running out of cards to play, they brought out the BIG GUNS ---- "FOR THE CHILDREN".

Soon, there will be a smoking law saying smoking parents are unfit to have and raise children, smoking grand parents aren't allowed within 50 feet of their grand children; smokers won't be able to sell their homes without that home being "cleansed" and the list goes on.

A.S.H. and the anti-smokers are trying to create their own "perfect world" and they don't care who they have to sue, trample, erradicate or control to do it. As it stands, A.S.H. and the Governments have SEGREGATED Smokers from the rest of Society; they've DISCRIMINATED against Smokers by pointing their boney fingers insinuating smoking and smokers have caused the up-swing in diseases that our children have today; now they've invaded the Privacy of our homes and are attacking every parent and grand parent in this country using EMOTIONAL TERRORISM and Parental Guilt.

It's NOT the Smokers who have been harming our children and grand children, it's those who THINK protectionism means ALL things that suit THEIR Lifestyle. Our kids have been so "overprotected" from everything that their immune systems haven't had the chance to build the antibodies they need to protect them from a multitude of diseases. Smoking has dropped steadily over the decades, yet Asthma, Bronchitis, Diabetes and even Cancer in our children has risen sharply. Think about THAT the next time A.S.H. or W.H.O. (World Health Organization) comes out with yet another batch of fabricated statistics to "protect" your "Bubble Babies".

I'm sorry, but even the Medical "Professionals" have been "snowed" by all the lies spewed out over the years. They're scratching their heads trying to figure out why our children are getting so sick. Think about it, Docs, they've been OVERPROTECTED from everything. So get a grip and seriously consider what comes out of your mouths. "Statistics" that "look good" on paper do not mean it ALWAYS applies to REAL LIFE!!! Here's and example: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome --- pregnant women should not drink during pregnancy or the child could end up with FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME. If that were an ABSOLUTE TRUTH, then the MAJORITY of Baby Boomers would have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in one form or another. See what I mean?

Put the blame where it belongs---on "special interest" groups, such as A.S.H. (who's urgency for smoking laws and by-laws has become almost fanatical), for going way beyond protection and into the anihilation of our childrens' immune systems. We all want to protect our children, but at what cost? Have we "protected" them so much we've ended up killing them slowly, all because a group comes up with a bunch of bull and our Governments buy into the lies? Who protects us against the "protectors"?

By all means, we need to protect our children, but we've "allowed" that protection to go too far. Now we're harming them. We're turning them into Bubble Babies by trying to keep their "environments" free from all bacteria, viruses, tobacco smoke, etc., so much so they're sicker now than they've EVER been and it's only going to get worse by limiting their exposure to LIFE.

A.S.H. and our Governments have FORCED our children to become restricted to various exposures in the air they breathe, and for what --- so they can have a "smoke-free" Lifestyle at the expense of our CHILDREN'S HEALTH? I don't understand how any "organization" that claims they do this "FOR THE CHILDREN", can't see past their own selfishness and realize they are doing those CHILDREN they claim to care about, more HARM than GOOD. Nor do I understand why our Governments can't see it either, and just blatantly pass one Smoking law after another.

Rescind the damned Smoking laws and by-laws and go after the REAL culprits --- those who contribute to greenhouse gases, smog, etc. and butt out of the Freedom of Choice for every citizen in this country. Change your moniker to Action on Smog and Health, at least you'd have far more support by doing so. Stop attacking Smokers in the "name of the children" because you'll never win and people aren't "buying" it anymore. People are REALLY fed up with being told how to raise their children, what they can and can't do in the Privacy of their own homes and vehicles, who they can and can't cater to in their PRIVATELY OWNED businesses, where they HAVE to stand while outside having a smoke, FORCING our smoking Veterans and Seniors into weather ranging from sub-zero temperatures, to rain, to sweltering heat with little or NO protection from that weather, and so on.

So get off your ass Canada, stand up, get pissed off and FIGHT for your rights and Freedoms, just as our Forefathers and Veterans have done for us. Inundate your MLA with letters, phone calls, e-mails, DEMANDING they give us back our Freedom of Choice. Voice your disdain over the Segregation and Discrimination against Smokers. Demand your PRIVACY back. Yell at them, scream at the top of your lungs that they have gone TOO FAR and have put ALL our children at risk by kowtowing to a special interest group who's sole purpose is to FORCE every man, woman and child to live someone else's PREFERRED AND CHOSEN LIFESTYLE.

A.S.H. and the anti-smokers may win a few battles, but it will be the Parents and Grandparents who will win this WAR. We have to, for "the sake of the CHILDREN" and their immune systems. That's my opinion anyway.

A Smoker's Point of View

I am a smoker, have been for 48 years and will be until the day I die, OR, until I decide to stop voluntarily. I will not be FORCED to "quit" by ANY "special interest" group, especially ones who use unproven "statistics".

I was raised in a generation where it was pounded into your brain, "you are not a quitter". Those were, and still are, powerful words. The more "certain people" or "special interest" groups, such as ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), tries to FORCE me to quit smoking, the more I dig my heels in and rebel against them.

Every time I read about the "dangers" of smoking or how "harmful" environmental tobacco smoke (a.k.a. ETS or Secondhand smoke) supposedly is, I get on my computer and do my own research. What I've found is amazing AND disturbing.

I've found research paper after research paper stating scientific FACT about how many smokers would need to be in a 20 ft. wide by 20 ft. long by 9 ft. high unventilated enclosure, all smoking at the same time, to bring the levels of carcinogens up to the "harmful" degree both ASH and the World Health Organization (a.k.a. WHO) claim is the danger level. Well, I can't see how you can get between 1,400 and 250,000 people into that room, no matter how much you scrunch them up.

I also found out that ASH and WHO forgot to mention that these so-called "studies" they used were done over a period of 40 to 50 years!!! The studies were conducted by following couples---smoking couples, one smoking and one non-smoking couples and non-smoking couples who worked in smoking environments. The results? Barely any significant difference in their health.....over 40 to 50 years!!! AMAZING!!!

The disturbing part came when I found out that both ASH and WHO were chastized by the World Courts for manipulating figures, giving false conclusions of incomplete studies and basically lying through their teeth to accomplish their goal of having a "smoke-free" planet.

Anyone can punch numbers into a computer and manipulate those numbers to give you the outcome that you want. Garbage in, garbage out.

You've heard John Banzhaf, the Founder of ASH, state unequivicably that 80% of smokers want to quit, BUT, what you didn't hear, or read, was the rest of that 80%'s statement --- they will do so when they feel they are ready. This is just an example of how ASH manipulates words to suit their needs.

The more I read, the angrier I got. ASH cares nothing about your or my health. They care about FORCING everyone to conform to THEIR chosen Lifestyle --- smoke-free --- and they're committed to achieving that goal by any and every means possible, including using Parental Guilt. These people are emotional terrorists!!

Recent studies have shown that the air quality in a well-ventilated area, where smokers are present, barely changes and the levels came no where close to the levels claimed by ASH, yet it was barely reported to the general public. Why is that?

I find it truly amazing that ASH and the anti-smokers can slam smokers, blame smoking for every ailment or disease out there, con governments into quickly passing laws and by-laws to ban smoking and kick all smokers to the curb, yet do absolutely NOTHING about that brown haze hanging over our cities and towns that we're all inhailing. Does that "air quality" not affect our health moreso than any tobacco product could?

Think about it. If ASH cared one iota about your health, your children's health or my health, don't you think they would go after the smog makers? When one really thinks about it, it just proves that smokers have been the target of one "special interest" group, and all because they want the world to kowtow to their preferred lifestyle. At least if they went after those causing the smog, they wouldn't have to change their initials....Action on Smog and Health.

ASH is doing everything they can to segregate ALL smokers from the rest of society. They've FORCED smoking Veterans from their Legion Halls, they've FORCED smoking Seniors from the comfort and safety of their well-ventilated smoking lounges, they've FORCED all smokers to the curb regardless of the weather and with no shelters provided for them. They've FORCED all businesses to conform to ASH' preferred lifestyle. ASH must be so proud of themselves everytime they pass a group of Seniors or Veterans standing out in storms at all times of the year. Our governments must be just as proud knowing that they helped ASH accomplish that task.

Sometimes I wonder if ANY politician THINKS about the consequences before they start imposing bans on anything. What happens when a Family sues both ASH and the governments for the wrongful and premature death of a smoking loved one who became deathly ill because they were FORCED to go outside to smoke, and that the death could have been prevented by allowing that loved one to stay within the confines of a well-ventilated room instead of being FORCED outdoors? Trust me, it's going to happen one of theses days.

Anyway, that's my opinion for now. Will write more another day.