To: foxnewsonline@foxnews.com ; topstories@foxnews.com ; jafrick@alamc.org
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 9:51 PM
Subject: Radio Host Donates Smokes for Soldiers - Rebuttal
Fox News.com
Attn: Mr. Jeff Goldblatt
cc: Mr. Joel J. Africk, American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago
RE: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141155,00.html
Bravo for radio host, Mike North! He has revived the true meaning of supporting our military men and women overseas because he cares, not because he wants force unwanted "for-your-own-good" mandates on them.
Referencing your news report, perhaps Joel J. Africk, CEO of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, should leave his air-conditioned offices at the ALA and visit our troops in Iraq to tell them personally about his views on the evils of smoking cigarettes. I'm sure they will be very receptive. It's cowardly to attempt control over their right-to-choice in Iraq from Skokie, Illinois.
In the interest of unbiased reporting, if you want to call attention to the fact that Skokie has a restaurant/bar smoking ban, you should also include that Skokie is one of only two Chicago suburbs (Wilmette being the other) with this kind of ban.
I would also like to see a copy of the referenced memo from Donald Rumsfeld (and distributed by the ALA) published for the public to review. I have been unable to locate it. Perhaps our Defense Secretary prioritizes controlling our military's tobacco consumption over the armored vehicles they so desperately need to save their lives.
Lastly, please do not allow a known representative of an anti-smoking organization (such as the American Lung Association) to throw out the number of "400,000 annual deaths attributed to smoking" so casually. At least get a reference source, because that figure has been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked by experts. In example, 'The 400,000-deaths figure is not a body count, but a 'COMPUTER-GENERATED estimate based on assumptions that are heavily biased'......" http://www.forces.org/evidence/files/marim.htm by Robert A. Levy and Rosalind B. Marimont and published by the Cato Institute.
Sincerely,
______________________________
Garnet Dawn - The Smoker's Club, Inc. - Midwest Regional Director
The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter - http://www.smokersclubinc.com
Illinois Smokers Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/illinoissmokers/
mailto:garnetdawn@comcast.net - Respect Freedom of Choice!
Good post.