Free Republic

David Bowie has died after a battle with cancer, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. "David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief," read a statement posted on the artist's official social media accounts.

It is one thing to raise cigarettes taxes to discourage people from smoking, especially the poor for benefits to their health. I guess the democrats figure they can raise cigarette taxes and people will keep smoking so the government can afford to give these working poor people Health Insurance for their children. (Let’s not get into the 2nd hand smoke stuff). Is this making sense? Maybe I read the press release wrong!

A Pasadena man died after he accidentally walked into the side of a tanker trailer in the 9300 block of Lawndale Sunday, police said. Mack Herbert Vance III, 36, was lighting a cigarette when he hit the side of the truck trailer as the rig made a left turn onto Central from Lawndale, HPD accident investigation Off. L.C. Morrison II said today. The incident occurred at about 9:15 p.m. No charges will be filed against the truck's driver, who Morrison said was so upset at Vance's death that he wept and vomited at the scene. Vance had been dropped off...

Will someone, anyone, tell me what the story is with people, especially men, wearing toxic levels of cologne.

A mother of two killed herself by driving off a ferry slipway, lighting a cigarette as she waited for her car to sink, an inquest has heard. Miss Hogan drove off a ferry slipway in Poole Harbour Helen Hogan, 30, had argued with her boyfriend and had been drinking before she decided to take her own life on November 13, 2005, the inquest was told. She drove off the ferry slipway at Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset, lit a cigarette and waited for up to five minutes before her car sank nose-first beneath the waves. The Coroner's Court heard that Miss...

The owner of a discount store in Oxford has halted the sale of cigarettes to protest the Legislature's approval of a dollar-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax.OXFORD, Maine (AP) -- Manager Mike Sturgis of C and R Redemption said the store's owner, Ron Snow, disapproves of what the state is doing and wanted to take a stand. Sturgis said his boss, who's not a smoker, feels the new tax is unfair because it would discriminate against those who smoke. The doubling of the cigarette tax to two dollars a pack was approved by the Legislature as part of a bill...

Secret smoker, 14, chokes on fabric deodorant fumes By Richard Savill (Filed: 10/05/2005) A schoolgirl has died after spraying herself with a fabric deodorant in the bathroom of her family home to hide the smell of cigarettes. Helen Coffey, 14, who had been smoking in the bathroom, collapsed as she used a can of Deofab to spray her clothes. She died a week later in hospital. Her family said the aerosol spray in the confined space had made her choke and caused a haemorrhage in her throat. Her mother, Agnes, 46, said: "She sprayed it all over her clothes, the...

Grandchildren of smokers at risk NEW research suggests women who smoke while pregnant are putting their grandchildren as well as their children at risk, writes Jonathan Leake. The study suggests that some of the chemicals in smoke can permanently alter the DNA of those exposed to it in ways that can be inherited by smokers’ children, grandchildren and possibly subsequent generations too. The researchers analysed asthma rates in both the children and grandchildren of women who smoked during pregnancy. They found the grandchildren of such women had 2.1 times the normal risk of developing asthma. The children of women who...

REDDING, Calif. - A lost hunter who started a forest fire in northern California while trying to keep warm was ordered to pay $18.2 million in restitution Wednesday. The fire in the Mendocino National Forest burned 6,058 acres and cost $33 million to suppress, authorities said. The restitution covers the U.S. Forest Service's cost of fighting the fire and restoring the burned area, prosecutors said. Jason Hoskey, 26, of Willows, lit a campfire when he got lost hunting on Sept. 27, 2003. The fire spread after he fell asleep. Flames had been banned in the area because of extreme fire...

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- A 62-year-old Boca Raton woman died Friday after lighting a cigarette while using an oxygen tank, officials said. Rosalyn Sedlak's death is being termed accidental by Palm Beach County sheriff's officials. She was smoking in a bedroom of her 87-year-old mother's home when the fire started and managed to get into a nearby bathroom, but collapsed there and was dead when firefighters arrived. "You just don't smoke in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere," fire-rescue Capt. Don DeLucia told The Palm Beach Post for its Saturday editions. "The public has to realize that if they absolutely have to smoke,...

It is with heartache and tears I inform the rest of the FReeper community of the loss of another one of us. FReeper Max McGarrity passed away peacefully while taking a nap on Monday March 8, 2004. Max and I have been online buddies and real life friends since we first encountered each other on another forum back in 1998. Without Max I would never have found Free Republic when I did. There has been a very long standing joke between Max and me, we "cyber flirted" all the time on such threads as the Smoker's Lounge..... the joke being...

Cigarette packs could soon carry distrurbing pictures of cancer-ravaged organs. A new study shows smokers have become immune to current warnings on packets and calls for a radical re-think. It could lead to the use of images pictures of damaged hearts and lungs to push home the 'smoking kills' message. Experts at the Cancer Research UK Centre for Tobacco Control Research in Scotland led the European-wide investigation. Interviews were conducted with 56 focus groups in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden. Participants looked at pre-2001 "small" warnings on cigarette packs and current large "black and white" warnings. The results...

ASPEN HILL, Md. -- An Aspen Hill woman is dead after apparently setting her clothes on fire. Montgomery County fire spokesman Pete Piringer says police notified paramedics about the 23-year-old victim at about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Rebecca Linciome was found in the backyard of her home in the 13500 block of Turkey Branch Parkway. Investigators believe the victim was smoking when she accidentally set fire to her clothes. Investigators said Linciome suffered from several serious medical conditions, including cerebral palsy, vater syndrome, and asthma. She used a portable oxygen pump. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.