Hi Bob. Yes, the stoning was great fun. I rescued the victim's cat and she is purring contentedly in my lap as we speak. Later on we rounded up a bunch of zombie smokers forming a tunnel of fire and brimstone outside the entrance to the subway, forced then to drag their own crosses and crucified them at the gates to the city. We lit fires fueled by cigarette butts collected by city street sweepers. and burned the most horrid ones at the stake. Sounds cruel but we did it in retaliation for the recent ritualistic live removal of a pink lung from a very unfortunate barmaid by the Aztec priest, Shogun.
I have to do some other stuff but shoot away with your twenty questions. I'll be around later. Why not post them all at once? Or is this some sort of debate game play where you try to maneuver me into saying something you that will sound like I actually think smokers should smoke anywhere they please?
Sigh. Do you really imagine that's what I'm doing or are you making a joke? I'm just setting out what I do and do not believe to see how far you agree and where you start to disagree. So far you've agreed with me. Perhaps this is worrying you. I guess in view of your earlier post to me...
Cigarette smoke is linked to cancer, emphysema, heart disease, allergies, etc. The fact that most people are so offended by it to the point of wanting laws passed so they won't have to put up with it anymore ought to show that it's a serious problem.
I beginning to think you people who keep dancing around the fact that just about every medical association in the world has condemned cigarette smoke as a major health hazard must have been taking lessons from Holocaust deniers on how to twist things around so you can deny second hand smoke causes harm.
the fact that I agree with you in the vast majority of areas may surprise you. Or not.
Either way, I spent a while last night setting out my thoughts.
To recap, you've agreed with points 1, 2 and 3 (I think you agreed with 3 - you added some additional points which I didn't think contradicted what I'd said so far - feel free to correct me)....
1. Primary smoking (i.e. someone lighting a cigarette, drawing on it, inhaling it and exhaling), if done repeatedly over a number of years, is highly likely to cause the smoker serious health defects including but not limited to several kinds of cancer, bronchitis, heart disease, stroke and emphysema.
2. While not offensive to all non smokers, the smell of tobacco smoke to the majority of non smokers varies between simply unpleasant to practically unbearable. The smell of tobacco gets into clothes, hair and furniture.
3. Non smokers have a right to be able to choose and enjoy a smoke free atmosphere in public. This right overrides the 'perceived right' of smokers to be able to smoke anywhere they want.
Here's my belief number 4...
4. The tobacco industry has tried to dispute claims about the toxicity of Secondary Tobacco Smoke (STS). Like any entity with a vested interest, their representations should be viewed with suspicion.