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General Category => Discover Seattle! => Topic started by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 09:02

Title: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 09:02
 [DIV id=headline] [H2]Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer[/H2]

[DIV id=author] [P class=source]Canadian Press



[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]Toronto[!-- /dateline --] — Heather Crowe, considered by some to be the face of Canada's anti-smoking movement, has succumbed to lung cancer in Ottawa at age 61.

 The long-time waitress is widely known for television ads in which she describes how she contracted cancer from second-hand smoke at the restaurant where she worked.

 Ms. Crowe's passing comes just one week before the Smoke Free Ontario Act has its first reading in the legislature.

 [DIV class="bigbox ad" id=boxR] [SCRIPT type=text/XXXXscript ads="1"]aPs="boxR";[/SCRIPT]  [SCRIPT type=text/XXXXscript]var boxRAC = fnTdo('a'+'ai',300,250,ai,'j',nc);[/SCRIPT]

The act will ban any smoking in any enclosed public places and will add restrictions to the promotion, handling and display of cigarettes in stores.

 Jim Watson, the Liberal MPP for Ottawa-West-Nepean, was a frequent customer at the restaurant where Ms. Crowe worked and calls her the "matriarch of the anti-smoking movement."

 He says Ms. Crowe told him she really wanted to live to see the anti-smoking legislation come into effect.

 "It's very sad that she's not going to be here to see it, but she should be very happy that because of her influence, Ontarians will be able to breathe easier as a result of the legislation on May 31," said Mr. Watson.

 Mr. Watson said Ms. Crowe was an unlikely activist.

 "She fell into this anti-smoking passion because she experienced first-hand what so many people have suffered over the years."

[/DIV]
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 09:39
Last time I drove through Missouri I was struck by the fact that, when I went into a gas station convenience store to pick up some orange juice (2003), the cashier had a smoldering cigarette sitting on the counter next to here.

Have anti-smoking laws in your neck of the woods progressed at all since then?
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 09:57
Um that would be a resounding NO.  Got into a huge arguement on the local papers website over banning of smoking in restaurants in a town I live in. It passed but the county wide admendment was shot down.

People smoke here its everywhere. All the girls in high school light it up. Pathetic! (//vny!://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Other/8.gif)  I do not date girls who SMOKE!!!

  Outside of Jackson County (Kansas City) And Saint Louis County and city banning smoking is a wedge issue like abortion and stem cell research and gay marriage.  

  Not suprised really considering the state has too names. Missouri (Mizz-or-eee) and Missouri (Mizz -or-ah)

And you can guess where they say one and not the other.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 10:04
Hey, forgive my ignorance, but I'm confused.  My family in PA talks about "Ohiah" and "Nevahdah", so I always called it "Missourah"--but some friends from Minnesota made fun of me for saying that.

Sorry--which is it?  I don't want to be mistaken for a cracker, but I'm a West Coaster.  Please set me straight.
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 10:12
Its always been the people with no brains or people who are conservatives say -ah. People with brains and who aren't conservative say -ee.  So if you here a pundit or politician say -ah he's talking to country folk.

  And actually the intellectual normal people response isn't even the right one

  The right one is Mizz - orr-ee

Most people cut the -or- off and say -er- so it sound Mizz - err-ee

And country banjo playing hill billies say Mizz - err - ah  
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 10:31
   Thanks, Sportsdude.  A lot of people would consider my question ridiculous, but the last thing I want to do is to be associated with the descendants of Missouri (with an "ee") slaveholders.

Being white and middle class is bad enough karma without adding to it.

About the smoking thing:  it's a shame that an issue that's so much of a no-brainer has become so politicised.

However, to give you an idea how much addiction takes hold of people:  BC has had pretty good smoking laws for a few years now.  I've noticed that in some places it has taken a while, but even a lot of the grungy bars have fairly clear air.  Last night I got together with a friend of mine (another "furriner"), had dinner at a "gastropub"-type place, and went off to an outdoor smoking area when he wanted to have a "cigarillo"-type smoke.  Later on we went to a downtown bar for a few more drinks, and sat just inside the door.  I was dying from all the smoke that blew in from the smokers hanging out on the sidewalk right outside the front door.  It was as though they were still inside the bar.

The various provincial governments here in Canada have finally banned smoking in restaurants and bars in most provinces, but the underlying culture of hard drinking and heavy smoking still persists here in Canada, so it's a much steeper uphill battle than in places like California and New York.

I'm going to assume that's what you're dealing with in MO.  It's too bad.  I literally watched both of my parents die from smoking-related causes and it was horrifying.  It also shocks me whenever I see people with young children who smoke inside their house (one more thing about the South that turns me off)--it was one thing when I was a kid but you'd think people would know better these days.

At least when I have a few beers, unless I get behind the wheel of a car or pick a fight with someone, the only one I'm hurting is myself.
     
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 10:36
OH CRAP!!!

I messed it up again!!!

The proper way is to say ee

Country way is ahhh  
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 10:40
I had a friend (notice the had) who I ran into about a month ago and all of a sudden here he is smoking. I asked when did you start to smoke and he said about a year ago then I asked why and no joke this is what he said.  "Because its Fun". FUN?! You got to be f-ing kidding me. Geez you are suppose to grow up after high school but apparently one year out of it and he's gone backwards.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 11:00
I agree, that has to be one of the most retarded things I've heard in a long time.  The friend I was out with last night grew up outside of North America where smoking was more the norm--he doesn't smoke very often, but still does from time to time.  I can almost understand that.

But anyone who has grown up in the US in the past 15-20 years has done so in a society in which smoking has become increasingly unpopular.  My brother moved from Canada to Cali about ten years ago, and his kids are always shocked when they see someone smoking.  They'll say, "Look, Dad, he's smoking."  He said it would be like someone of our generation pointing out someone walking down the street naked, it has become so unusual.

I'm happy to see that Washington State has finally gotten the message and banned smoking in bars as well.  That only happened a few months ago.  I guess it's a one step at a time sort of proposition.
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 11:07
I think it was only the late eighties that missouri banned smoking in grocery stores. It was before I was born thank god but my mom remembers the days of going to store meant walking next to cigarette butts lying on the floor.

In fact there still is a store in the st louis area its a chain called dirt cheap cigarettes and beer and liquor.  They call themselves the last refuge of the 'persecuted smoker'.  The guy who owns the chain sounds like he's about to die of lung disease and that was about 10 years ago. Sadly I remember those commericals as a kid because it had the funky chicken. Talk about advertising to kids.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 11:15
 Sportsdude wrote:
I think it was only the late eighties that missouri banned smoking in grocery stores. It was before I was born thank god but my mom remembers the days of going to store meant walking next to cigarette butts lying on the floor.


Oh, man, that really is brutal.

Your description of the cigarette and liquor store reminds me of a place in Oregon, the last real bastion of West Coast rednecks, where a girlfriend of mine used to go for smokes and cat food.  They had started off as a smokeshop, but added pet food to bolster their bottom line.

Of course, what gets me is places like Kentucky, where you can go to the drive-up liquor store and some fresh young girl in daisy dukes hands over your bottle of liquor without checking your ID or caring whether you're driving drunk or not.  No open container laws, either.
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 11:18
well it is coming from a state (Missouri) that didn't end de-segregation in schools until the mid to late eighties under (you won't believe this) Gov. Richard Ashcroft.  
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 11:20
Oh, I remember.  The fellow who lost to a dead guy and his widow . . .

One of the reasons I moved to Canada.
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 11:27
Yep my parents had "I'm still with Mel" stickers.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 11:30
 You'll like this Sportsdude--even if you aren't in agreement with it politically.

My parents were both involved with the campaign behind Oregon's assisted suicide law.  One of them got the opportunity to use it legally.  The other, thanks to technicalities, was denied that privilege.  All while Ashcroft was actively opposing the law in the federal courts.

To me, it's supremely ironic--especially with the information you've provided about Ashcroft's policies while governor of MO--that the Supreme Court used a "states' rights" argument in striking down "Gonzales vs Oregon" just a few months ago.
   
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 11:35
I have no problems with assisted suicide.

  Yeah the de-seg schools thing was a landmark supreme court case. The de-seg program which is still used today. Buses black kids into the white suburbs to the all white schools. The problem with it is that if you are white and live in the city you are SOL. Another problem is that it only makes racial issues a bigger problem. Out of a 1,500 student high school for example about 200 or so are black kids. And they don't mingle during lunch hours. Heck I was only one of a few people to actually sit with the 'city kids' during lunch mainly because the rich white kids didn't get along with me.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 22 06 11:37
Oh and its John Ashcroft not Richard. Got him confused with the singer.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Dissident on May 22 06 11:50
 Sportsdude wrote:
I have no problems with assisted suicide.
 
Yeah the de-seg schools thing was a landmark supreme court case. The de-seg program which is still used today. Buses black kids into the white suburbs to the all white schools. The problem with it is that if you are white and live in the city you are SOL. Another problem is that it only makes racial issues a bigger problem. Out of a 1,500 student high school for example about 200 or so are black kids. And they don't mingle during lunch hours. Heck I was only one of a few people to actually sit with the 'city kids' during lunch mainly because the rich white kids didn't get along with me.


That's sad to hear, SD.  I worked with a couple of women who were in high school in the 70s:  one in Seattle, one in NM.  The one in Seattle was part of a voluntary busing program--the school district created all sorts of new programs in the historically black schools to attract white students, so she ended up attending a high school that was about 80% black.  She graduated a year early, and said that she learned a lot more about black culture than she would have otherwise, but that students from the two races did not mix--even on the sports teams she was involved in.  The one from New Mexico was at a school that was predominantly "Spanish"--descendants of settlers who had been in the area for about 300 years (they used the term to differentiate themselves from more recent Mexican immigrants).  She was white and had a Spanish boyfriend, which was unusual, as the races pretty much kept to themselves in her school as well.

It's sad to see that's still going on.

From what I've seen here, even though racism is pretty well entrenched here, the younger kids I've known split more on class lines--like what you're describing.  Mind you, that doesn't stop their parents from getting all freaked out and thinking they're getting caught up in gang activity.

I'm just curious to know:  what do you think is responsible for this state of things?  Is it the media?  The government?

I can certainly attest to the fact that crimes against hate speech have significantly improved what I've seen around me, at least as far as public discourse goes.  The sort of behaviour that most people would have turned a blind eye to 20 years ago is in many places considered unacceptable now.

Why do you think that it's taking so long for things to change?

 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude(timed out) on May 22 06 11:57
Well saint louis is never going to change. It always has been and will be a de facto community when it comes to racial lines. We are taught at a very young age about the horrors of North Saint Louis and East Saint Louis. Funny thing is I'm not talking to a friend at the moment because I guess he 'freaked out when I drove him around North Saint Louis and North Saint Louis County. We went by one of the notorious crime ridden communities in the area. But to me that is normal because I technically grew up in that area since my church was there and went to high school at a mainly all black private lutheran school nearby.

Public Transportation is a racial issue here. People don't want it going into the suburbs because it 'brings rift raft aka black people' into there neighbourhoods. No joke.  
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 23 06 12:00
well its 2am and I'm tired. So I hope someone can pick this up or I'll pick this up tomorrow. 2 good threads in a row today the crime one and this. Makes me feel good.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Trollio on May 23 06 04:48
Dissident wrote:
Being white and middle class is bad enough karma without adding to it.
 
 Uh... OK. Why is being "white and middle class" bad? Would you rather be Malian and in dire poverty?
 
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Trollio on May 23 06 04:52
  [span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"] Sportsdude wrote:[/span][br style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"][div style="font-style: italic;"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"]I had a friend (notice the had) who I ran into about a month ago and all of a sudden here he is smoking. I asked when did you start to smoke and he said about a year ago then I asked why and no joke this is what he said.  "Because its Fun". FUN?! You got to be f-ing kidding me. Geez you are suppose to grow up after high school but apparently one year out of it and he's gone backwards.[/span]
 
 [/div]Yeah, and for real fun there's nothing like [span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: comic sans ms; color: rgb(68, 20, 21);"]CHAW[/span].(//forums/richedit/smileys/6.gif)
   
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 23 06 11:32
Trollio wrote:
[SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic"]Dissident wrote:[/SPAN][BR style="FONT-STYLE: italic"][SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: italic"]Being white and middle class is bad enough karma without adding to it.[/SPAN]

Uh... OK. Why is being "white and middle class" bad? Would you rather be Malian and in dire poverty?
 
   Well from my experience your always looked down upon as a rich kid even thou the people making fun of you live in bigger houses.  If you go to a city school here and you are from the county you get stereotyped and targeted by other people and kids.
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: kitten on May 23 06 11:40
As a rule, people will always look for someone to put down to give themselves a feeling of superiority.

*Except for the nice people at DS*
Title: Re: Anti-smoking spokeswoman succumbs to lung cancer
Post by: Sportsdude on May 23 06 02:38
Yeah even if you are on there side.