Posted on 03/26/2002 6:23:04 AM PST by Kermit
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:10 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
NEW YORK
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Even if I weren't a smoker, I would contribute to support that appeal as long as it takes.
This judge's egregious abuse of power must be slapped down hard; and fast.
Remember the unintended consequences folks...
And Niemoller's admonition:
First they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
And there was no-one left
To speak out for me. Pastor Niemöller, 1938
There's a link to the WHO study on the Forces International website.
Sometimes you have to look outside an issue in order to see the cracks in the big picture. The anti-smoking movement is a good example. It's easy to be lured into thinking that your best interests are being protected, when actually, your rights as a free citizen are being stripped away.
The latest example of this pertaining to the anti-smoking movement involves a case in Utica, NY. Monday's Washington Post reported, "A judge has ordered a smoker to stop lighting up at home or in her car if she wants continued visitation rights with her 13-year-old son who has complained about her pack-a-day habit."
Our gut reaction to this screams "judicial overreach!" But for many of you, especially all the non-smokers out there who look at it from a personal perspective, it might strike you as warranted, even justified. That's where the trap door falls open and you, along with all your rights, go tumbling in. The cigarette might be the first down the hatch today, but as is made clear in the audio links below, more rights are sure to follow - more than you might ever imagine possible. Your foot might be ready to stomp out that cigarette, but if you're not careful, you could find yourself tripping over that same foot down the road.
cavuto@foxnews.com
On the bottom of the screen while the discusion was taking place were bunches of statistics:
1.2 billion smokers worldwide
60% start by age 14
90% are addicted by 19
431,000 deaths in US annually attributed to smoking related illnesses
1 in 5 US deaths.
FOX News ----Fair and balanced - my A$$.
This boy needs a serious FREEPING!!!!!! the woman's name is --- Johnita DeMatteo
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