Re: OT tobacco ... was motorcycles

On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:37:19 -0400, HK <payer33859@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>gfretwell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>> On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:07:54 -0400, HK <payer33859@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> 
>>> gfretwell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:14:19 -0400, HK <payer33859@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>> 
>>>> Probably the best way to get people to stop smoking would be to make
>>>> them grow their own. A few times picking the worms off would
certainly
>>>> make you think twice about chewing it.
>>>
>>> My guess is that the powers that be in Maryland decided they did not 
>>> want to in any way facilitate tobacco growing, and thought they were 
>>> doing a public service by helping farmers get out of the biz. The 
>>> highway signs I see from time to time indicate a pack of name brand 
>>> cigarettes is about $5.00 in the general area.
>>>
>>> Most Maryland restaurants now prohibit smoking, as do most enclosed 
>>> public or semi-public places.
>>>
>>> I don't smoke and since the smell of a burning cigarette makes me ill,

>>> it doesn't bother me even slightly if smokers are banned from most 
>>> locations and have to pay through the nose for their habit. For some 
>>> reason, cigar smoke does not present me with the same problem.
>>>
>>>
>> 
>> I probably have as much reason to hate smoking as anyone, it killed
>> both of my parents and is killing my sister as we speak. I never had
>> the addiction myself. Perhaps that is why I am not so emotional about
>> it. These people made a choice, they knew it was bad for them and they
>> did it anyway. Thus is how it works in a free country. 
>
>Please. This isn't a "free" country. There are countries in Europe far 
>"free-er" than this one. This is only a free country for cor****ations. 
>If you are a working stiff, you are free to lose your job, lose your 
>health benefits, lose your pension, lose your house. We've also lost 
>many of our traditional freedoms during the last 7.5 years.
>
>This country is going to hell in a handbasket. I'm glad I'm old enough 
>that I probably won't see its collapse.

Would you be talking about a country like Sweden that just passed a
government snooping law that makes Bush/Cheney look like Libertarians