Resonant Information - Economy - Comments

I think we have to keep

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:46:00 -0500

I think we have to keep things simple in order to have a clear picture of this problem. Recently many countries introduced the smoking ban mostly for public places. I am a smoker and this new rule seems fair enough, people have the right to fresh air and we shouldn't deny them this right. Plus, smoking ban should be an alarm signal for smokers for quiting.

What are the smokers right

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:01:00 -0500

What are the smokers right exactly? For sure they don't have the right to affect others peoples health, and I think this is the main point here. I don't know anti smoking campaign is spam, I don't have enough arguments to believe so. By the way, I am a smoker.

Smoking ban data

Zed — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:05:01 -0500

That's a lot of links. Having finally managed to get through them, I'd like to note that the overall effect is rather spectacularly weak, so I'd like to respond to the major claims.

Claim 1: The California smoking ban caused the loss of 3,000 restaraunts and bars and $100 billion in state revenues. The support for this appears to be one poorly controlled and researched non-peer-reviewed paper by two men whose primary qualifications appear to be that they're both smokers, one of which indirectly benefitted financially from a tobacco company. The premise of the paper is that even though studies evaluating the impact of the years immediately before and after smoking bans have shown that either the effect is neutral or even positive, if you pick out the states that had "smoker-unfriendly" cultures, they failed to grow as fast over the last ten years as states that were "smoker-friendly". The paper is rather hampered by huge chunks of missing data, and deliberately discarding the data that went completely opposite to the trend (Utah, which underwent massive growth rather than declining at all) on the grounds that it only had half as many smokers as the other states. If you the claim is that smoking bans cause smokers to stop spending money on bars and restaurants, then the expected result for Utah is a decline in growth about half that of the others, not a massive increase. In addition, there were no controls for other economic factors over that ten-year period, and on top of that, the question is never asked where the money is going, if not to bars and restaurants. Do smokers suddenly increase in savings accounts? Buy out-of-state products? If not, then the total economic impact to the state (as opposed to the restaurant and bar industry) is going to be approximately zero. It's possible that anti-smoking sentiment and laws have caused a gradual decline in restaurant and bars in "smoker-unfriendly" states, but if so, there are no listed peer-reviewed papers to support that claim. It's rather telling that the listed pro-smoking article admits up front that the vast majority of the peer-reviewed papers show no economic impact, and the ones that show negative economic impact have ties to the tobacco industry (a problem that the article itself perpetuates), and its only counter to that is to make the undefended assertion that the peer-reviewed paper authors are somehow all funded before the fact by anti-smoking groups. No evidence of this extraordinary claim is given.

Claim 2: There is no such thing as a tax on a specific product, because buyers will buy taxed products anyway at the same rate, while reducing purchases of non-taxed products. It's hard to know how to answer this, as it conflicts on its face with my entire understanding of economics and human nature. People buy taxed (or generally more expensive) products less. In any case, since smokers disproportionately consume health care funds, it makes sense that they should carry a greater portion of the burden.

Claim 3: There is no health issue with second-hand smoke, because we didn't become extinct by burning dung. Again, it's hard to know where to begin. In the days when people were regularly exposed to smoke, they died much younger. This is generally undisputed. You might dispute how much extended lifespans are directly the result of better air in the household, and how much is just due to better medical technology, but it's certainly ludicrous to claim that only things that cause complete species extinction constitute health risks. In addition, once again, peer-reviewed papers claim the exact opposite -- and 94% of the ones that disagree were directly funded by the tobacco industry to say so.

Claim 4: Public smoking bans are invalid because they infringe on property rights. Property rights are not absolute, and there are a great many restrictions on what you can do even on private property, much less public property. Buildings have to be up to code. Restaurants and bars have to comply with a large number of health ordinances that have nothing to do with smoking. If it requires some restriction on property rights to make sure that I don't end up eating rat poop when I go to a restaurant, this is a good thing. Same with toxic chemicals in the air.

Claim 5 (from the "New Years Resolutions"): Arsenic, carbon monoxide, and nicotine are the only harmful components of tobacco smoke, and those occur in such small amounts that smoking is thus less dangerous than breathing the air outside and drinking water. The morbidity rates alone should dispel this: smoking kills off about half a million people every year. The lethality of smoking is not news — scientific studies of morbidity differences between smokers and nonsmokers go back to at least 1938, and the deadly effects of smoking were commented on as far back as 1833. Furthermore, you can control the damage you do to yourself by cigarette smoke much more easily than you can stop drinking water.

Claim 6: The nicotine consumption from people who eat tomatoes, potatoes, pepper, tea, & eggplants is on par with the nicotine consumption of smokers (resolution #8). Again, it's hard to know where to begin with this. I've never even heard of someone waking up in the night, desperate to get down to the nearest grocer to fix up an eggplant craving.

Claim 7: The total weight of Class A carcinogens in cigarette smoke is less than 1/1000 of that given off by an alcoholic drink in one hour. We're starting to get silly here, and I couldn't find anything on any of the websites listed to support this, nor anywhere else on the web (I actually hunted for quite some bit, because I'm passably interested in the health tradeoffs on light alcohol consumption, but the only related thing I found was that cigarettes apparently induce desire for alcohol, which makes this point rather counterproductive). In any case, I try to make a point of not inhaling alcohol. For one thing, I expect I'd drown before I got cancer.

Claim 8: If you support public anti-smoking laws, you also have to support extreme air filtering regulations that require removal of "bacteria, viruses, dust mites, dust mite excrement, fungi, molds, spoors, pollen, dander, flakes of dead skin,+ chemicals" (resolution #13). In fact, there are already health regulations in restaurants about concentrations of some of these things, and most places do have filters on their air conditioning systems, but I'd like to make sure that at least no ban on chemicals in the air ever goes through. I like the chemicals in air. Particularly nitrogen and oxygen and hydrogen. I kind of need those.

Claim 9: God told us to burn things, so smoke is healthy (resolution #20). There are a lot of very strange commandments in the Old Testament, most of which are (thankfully) no longer practiced. Ascribing arbitrary secondary lessons to Old Testament commandments is not exactly convincing in an argument. Selective bible quoting will get you almost anywhere, sadly, and if you're the kind of person that still burns complete cattle on altars measured in cubits, feels compelled to marry his brother's widow and get her pregnant, and thinks that crawfish are an abomination...

... well, I guess that explains a lot.

smoking bans

aalf — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 15:24:47 -0500

Anti-smoking is a SCAM. Lies about health are stuffing the coffers of lawyers, pharmaceutical companies, and the filthy rich (funded with hundreds of millions of tax$) anti-smoking INDUSTRY. The BIGGEST lie I am seeing is 'there is only one side to this issue'.

Smokers DO NOT pay the tobacco taxes, by the way. EVERYONE pays them, since smokers merely shift spending from some other part of their budget to pay them. They get sucked right up out of the general economy, just as ALL taxes. This is costing YOU hundreds of billions.

There IS NO 'health' issue re: environmental tobacco smoke. I have been laughing for about 20 years at the brainwashed morons who seem to believe a species which survived (for 'millenia' if you believe the 'evolution gospel') by heating and cooking by burning wood, coal, peat, DUNG, and anything else humans have been able to figure out how to burn is suddenly being 'killed' by tobacco smoke. I am not laughing anymore, as now in the United States of America, we are revoking PRIVATE PROPERTY rights re: a LEGAL activity. This is NOT communist Russia here - and even Russia has had the wisdom to get rid of communism.

It IS costing us all hundreds of billions. Here is one study, showing CA has about 3,000 FEWER restaurants and bars than they should have based on their past 10 yrs. of economic growth:
http://www.aalf.ws/smoking/bancostsCA100billiondollars/

Here is what I am doing about it:
http://www.aalf.ws/smoking/tourNE-ban-states0106/

Here are my New Year's Resolutions:

New Year's Resolutions 2006 for Smokers & Freedom Lovers
Based on FACTS - Info at www.aalf.ws/smokingmad/
An American who Loves Freedom ~ www.aalf.ws/

1. Give up driving for one day. Since 1 day of driving = carbon monoxide exposure equivalent of a whole lifetime of smoking, this should equalize that risk.

2. Give up 1 glass of water every 11.3 years. Since EPA allowed amount of arsenic in ONE glass of water = 165,000 cigarettes, at two packs per day, this will equalize that risk. (3 pk/day=1 glass every 7.53 years : )

3. Stay as far away from large airports as possible. Each day they produce carbon monoxide equivalent of 160 million cigarettes, & the nitrogen oxide equivalent of 8.5 BILLION cigarettes.
If smoke is really so 'deadly', you should live forever . $$$ saved by not flying will pay for the extortion cigarette taxes, + other great stuff!

4. NEVER buy another Nissan, nor any other vehicle which is not provided with a safe ash tray. Keep attorney's number handy in case there IS an accident next time skirt catches fire on Los Angeles freeway.

5. Pray for brainwashed morons who believe a species which survived (for millennia, if you believe the 'evolution gospel') by cooking & heating with wood, coal, DUNG, peat, & anything else humans could figure out how to burn is suddenly being killed off by tobacco smoke??? (ROFLOL!)

6. ADD UP all the $$$ saved by NOT BUYING nicotine patches & pills (costs WAY more than cigarettes here in KY), Prozac, sleeping meds, weight loss meds, junk food & other smoking substitutes... 6.b. Finish this list - it's long.

7. Ask insurers for discounts if weight is under control. According to a Wall Street Journal article some time ago, obesity is costing society almost double what smoking is in medical expenses.

8. Start bugging everyone to 'kick' their tomato, potato, pepper, tea, & eggplant addiction. Nicotine is in all these foods, & said to be 'more dangerous and addictive than heroin'. (nonsense...) It's NATURAL. 'Big tobacco' DID NOT put it there - God (or evolution ?) did.

9. 'For their own good', get on everyone's case about their SUGAR, Caffeine, & CHOCOLATE addictions. Addiction is BAD no matter what! Become a Total PITA, the salvation of the whole world is up to YOU.

10. Stay away from ALCOHOL. Even if you don't drink, stay away from others drinking. The total weight of Class A carcinogens in cigarette smoke is less than 1/1000 of that given off by an alcoholic drink in one hour.

11. Buy pharmaceutical stocks. 'Big Pharma' is making a grab for a nicotine monopoly. They are raking in more boodle than all the illegal drug lords put together with each new smoking ban. (hmmm-see #8 ?!?)

12. On second thought - DUMP pharmaceutical stocks. When sheep-le figure out what huge whopping lies they've been told, & how many zillion$ 'big pharma's' spent buying all our politicians, media, medical, & 'education' systems, Stuff will hit the fan - BIG time.

13. Demand REAL 'Clean Indoor Air' laws. 'Smoke free' air is NOT 'CLEAN' air. Air contains bacteria, viruses, dust mites, dust mite excrement, fungi, molds, spoors, pollen, dander, flakes of dead skin,+ chemicals. YUCK!

14. Rudeness is 'in', but don't be rude to those who assault us with smells that offend us. Take allergy meds for all who wear perfumes, colognes, after shaves, & any other scents we are allergic to. Don't make them go outside in the cold, nor refuse to be in the same room with them.

15. Withhold all POLITICAL Contributions except to those who COMMIT to protecting our PRIVATE Property Rights. Demand a NATIONAL LAW PROTECTING Private Property from bans of legal activities & substances.

16. Avoid EVENTS where there IS a heated, DESIGNATED SMOKING AREA, sealed off with doors, & those in charge of the event won't ALLOW it to be used for smoking, forcing folks to stand outside in 23f degrees. NO MORE $ for grossly inconsiderate / downright CRUEL people!

17. Boycott ALL smoking ban areas. These folks have lost their FREEDOM on Private Property. HELP them regain it by helping to put pressure on their public officials. TELL officials & CEOs of companies how much $ you USED to spend, & how much it's costing them.

18. VOTE with YOUR $ - Avoid spending ANY $ in ban areas - Not only restaurants & bars -
why are they always the only ones to pay? Do not buy gas, nor stay at motels, Do not shop at retail stores, No catalog or online orders, No produce/products/services from BAN Areas
19. Withhold $$$ from American Liar (er lung : ) Assoc., & other 'health charities', until they quit wasting all our donations on anti-smoking propaganda, & do something useful, like give us a TEST for the Lung cancer GENE. Their CEOs don't NEED those 6 fig. salaries.

20. Search the Bible - there are almost 400 references commanding burnt offerings & incense being burned in God's temple. Maybe if the EPA had been there to tell the Lord how many carcinogens are in a burnt offering, He would have realized smoke is 'unhealthy'?

21. Be thankful if you don't live in a smoking ban area - yet. The CA smoking ban has cost them 100 billion$ so far. There are about 3,000 fewer restaurants & bars than there should be based on past 10 yrs. economic growth. ALL CA taxpayers are paying that $hortfall.
It isn't necessary to do everything, or to do it ALL the time.

Every little bit helps! It will all add up over TIME.

There are still about 60 MILLION (or MORE? Anti-smokers LIE about this too) smokers in the USA.

ALL FREEDOM LOVERS JOIN IN - YOUR Property Rights are Threatened TOO!

It FEELS GOOD to be able to DO SOMETHING!

Remember: All the OLDEST people in the world happen to be SMOKERS : )http://www.forces.org/evidence/hamilton/other/oldest.htm

Happy New Year!

These resolutions are ALL based on FACTS.
Documentation, FREE Reports, and Information about everything mentioned
in these resolutions is at www.aalf.ws/smokingmad/.
Follow links there to a wealth of health, economic, HUMOR, & other info.

Animated .gif version
http://www.aalf.ws/image/SmokersNewYearsResolutionsAS.gif

Anti-smoking FACTS Card 1
http://www.aalf.ws/image/SmokingFactsCardAS.gif
Anti-smoking FACTS Card 2
http://www.aalf.ws/image/Anti-Smoking-Facts240x140AS.gif

http://www.hosanna1.com/smoking/Christians/

Please SHARE THIS COAST to COAST & Worldwide

Lynda Farley - http://www.hosanna1.com/myresume.html
Edmonton, KY (270)432-7272 CST

AALF - An American who Loves Freedom - www.aalf.ws/

'The Most Beautiful Pages & Dogs On The WWW'
www.hosanna1.com/

Housing Bubble

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 17:35:52 -0400

Dear Bill,

It has already started here in Southern California. Large housing projects that were supposed to have now starting second phases are being canceled! This is just the beginning.

Also, do not forget with $4.00 per gallon gas fast approaching there will have to be a major pull back in other purchases and realistic commute distances will have to be recognized!

Tom

Don't do it

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 07:58:22 -0400

Keep renting until the bottom drops out of this thing. Any rent you pay now will be recovered many times over by the lower purchase price you will pay later when the proverbial cow manure hits the rotating blades.

People "in the know" will tell you that that will never happen. But they will be wrong. We've, never in our history, had such a large amount of real estate leverage (interest-only loans, negative amort. loans, speculative buyers) not to mention (but I will) unprecedented government and personal debt levels as well as (just reported yesterday 8/2/05) an absolute zero (zilch, nada, zip) savings rate as a collective population which happens to include 77 million baby boomers who all think they are going to sell their houses at premium prices and retire easily. Who are all the buyers going to be?

This house of cards ... this speculative bubble ... this over-inflated, totally disconnected from the fundamentals real estate market is going to crash down hard. I don't think we'll make it to Xmas. But, even if my timing is off, the outcome is certain. There's no one left to sell to at a higher price. By this time next year, I will be buying properties at 30 cents on the dollar (today's dollar). With what? With all the cash I'm saving by not buying now.

"Debt" is a 4-letter word.

Bill W.

"Go ahead, use that line of credit to vacation in the Bahamas. I'd love to own your home"

Health Care, Medicare and social security one plan

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 02:04:55 -0500

Americans' Future In One Plan
I know that most of you are busy to read my book. As I explained previously that Taman Health Plan (www.trafford.com) takes care of all the health care, Medicare, Medicaid and social security. It will threw away all bureaucracies out of window. Let me explain shortly how it works:
1- there will be no more health care insurance companies, no Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. My plan will take care of all.
2- Basically will be only one Big Health care organization (Taman Health Plan or THP).
3- The center of the plan will be in Washington while the health departments in every state will be the branches.
4- One organized body will be taking care of the Health Care and long term care of all Americans replacing 1500 insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
5- This will allow us to provide a uniform service to all Americans every where in both inpatients, outpatients and long term care.
6- As you go to any Duncan Donuts branch your expectation is to have a fresh coffee and a donut with no long wait. We will try to provide a similar predictable service everywhere as Duncan Donuts. With having only one body will be able to do that.
7- The Capital of the plan will be the funds of Medicare and Social Security (before the bankruptcy of both systems). The maintenance will be a yearly tax from each of us (will replace our yearly social security and Medicare holding taxes). A percent of each of us go to his account cards and a percent go to THP itself. The money of the plan will be invested by the investing sector of the plan very likely in Wall Street.
8- We will have 5 ATM cards with a corresponding accounts. Card A (children), Card B (working group 18-65years old), Card C (Medicare card >65 years old), Card D (Medicaid card), Card E ( expensive medicines or investigations).We will have the health cards devoted to health care and long term care thus we will have: health cards, banks with accounts to each card and credit card machines in outpatients care and hotelling part of hospitals and nursing homes.
9- Cards pay for the outpatient medical care including doctors, emergency room visits, investigations, medical supplies, pharmacies and the hotelling part of hospitals and nursing homes. While the medical part of hospitals and nursing homes will be budget by the plan itself.
10- In the first year of issuing cards: Card B and C (most of people) will have a bonus it could be a percent of their Medicare and social security withholding (70 % or so). We will try to be fair to every one but every one has to now that most of us already lost a lot of money with the HMO's. For next year new comers to card B when first issued will have a bonus of 50,000 dollars. It will change every year by a percent a according to inflation.
11- every one of us will get a statement every one or two months of his card account. Card B account will phase in card C at the age of 65. If card C account is vanished Card D will be issued (hoteling part will be less luxurious). Only few of Card B will have card D if there account vanish most likely those with severe medical problems.
12- So basically most of us will have our own account Card B then card C. Say you are 45 and you have now in your account 200,000 you can take one or more years out of work, you Can retire early if you like and with you card you control all the medical services and its prices.
13- With this card system we will end all bureaucracies of health care, Medicare and Medicaid. No one will stand between you and any medical or long term service (only you card). Shop around with you card, have early health care security and responsibility and invest in your health.
14- We will not need Social Security since after age of 65 we will be able to use our cards to stay in any nursing home each according to our account in card C or card D. So when you invest well in your health you will be able to enjoy a nicer nursing home when you get old (actually it will be also a kind of tourism).
15- The money in cards do not get inherited when we pass away but recycle in the plan to support the next generations.
16- The plan will have very positive effects not only in simplifying our care, save a lot of wast in health care, give early health care security and responsibility to Americans it will also have a positive effect on the economy, saving billions of dollars to Americans, creating jobs in health care and cutting outsourcing.
Very like you figure it by now I could have sold the plan to one of the presidential candidate before the 2004 election for millions of dollars ( they already spent 2 billion dollars). It is my gift to the American people (it will help the healing process of the two worlds America and the Muslim/Arabs).

Maged Taman.
2/20/05