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SMOKING

By Terry Gray

Taxing smoking to keep it out of the hands of kids is the most backward ideology that I have ever heard of.  Not only that, it sets a dangerous trend.  What if someone decides that Toyota cars are a hazard to our society and pushes for a tax to raise the price out of the budgets of most Americans?  Using economic pressures to control a society is ludicrous.

When you think about it, the cigarette tax squawking is also biased.  What demographic is going to be most affected?  The poor will.  How do you Liberals justify that?  Rich kids are still going to buy smokes.  It’s the poor kids that will have a problem and it’s very likely that that problem will raise its head in violence.  Let’s face it, when something of a personal nature is made illegal, the market for the product usually moves within the ranks of the lower financial class.  By adding to the price of cigarettes, we essentially place its day-to-day distribution in the hands of the poor.  How do you Liberals justify that when you are already screaming about economic disparity?  How do you justify contributing to the black market?

STREETS OF SPEED

WAVE television should be classified as one of those stupid reality shows.  This Streets of Speed episode is just plain dumb.  Do they really think that what they are doing is helping?  Nah, just an attempt to boost ratings.

The speeders shouldn’t be speeding and the kids shouldn’t be on the streets.  Not once did I see a camera and microphone stuck in the face of a kid playing on the streets.  Aren’t there two sides to every issue, especially when it comes to journalism?  Oops, that is an ugly word when it comes to the small town news that we have in this “World Class City.”

YOUNG FOLKS ONLY

You may not be able to be King of every Kingdom that you see but you can be a prince.  Will you stay a pauper and a pawn?

During my last campaign I spoke with many young adults of voting age.  Too many of you weren’t registered to vote and weren’t interested in voting.  You are playing right into the enemy’s hands.

Most of the young people that I spoke with wanted to run things but wanted it handed to them.  They were as certain as road construction delays in the South end that they could do a better job than those in charge now.  They also felt that no one listened to them.

Why do you think the government listens to the old folks?  Because they fear them.  Our representatives are scared to mess with the older folks, because they vote religiously.  Those that you youngsters think are feeble, not phat or not in charge of their own actions are more able to get things done and make a difference than you are.  And believe it or not, they have less to lose than you.

While you sit in your political silence and worry about getting the bass boost in your car adjusted to the optimum, the boys and girls playing in government are robbing you of your freedom.  The old folks are making a difference by making noises and pushing buttons in the voting booths.  Those caught in the middle, the ones like me that care, do what we can.

You have the opportunity to make things work for you politically.  Grandpa and Grandma can only make their noises for so long.  Attrition will end their reign.  You young folks have more information at your fingertips than anyone in our history ever has had, and you have the youth to be thorns in the sides of the status quo for decades.

So the next time you sit behind some granny in her big Buick while you rev your tricked out Toyota and blow your horn for her to move, remember that she is making the rules.

Now you know why.

DUI

What constitutes driving under the influence?  I believe we specify DUI as a drug or alcohol induced influence.  Even legal drugs that influence one’s driving ability are included when a DUI is in question.

According to the law, a person doesn’t even need to be “legally” impaired to be charged.  Should a driver test positive for alcohol but he tests below the defining legal limit of impairment he can be charged with DUI because he “doesn’t seem right.”  Impairment is discretionary and left up to the police officer and the courts.

I’ve seen those found guilty of DUI manslaughter give sobbing apologies and beg for forgiveness.  Some of those found guilty of these charges didn’t even know that they were impaired.  There comes a point when one has consumed enough alcohol that he or she loses the ability to make conscious and intelligent decisions.  These people don’t get in their cars and kill someone consciously.  But all the same these people are still guilty of killing people and they don’t walk away without paying a very high price.

We’ve all read and heard about alcohol-impaired people having an accident and killing someone, sometimes killing two or three people.  These people are chastised in the media, shunned by friends and associates, they lose their homes and jobs and their freedom.  No one feels sorry for him or her.  There is little tolerance.

Why then do we see Mr. Weller, the elderly gentleman who drove into a crowd at a farmer’s market and killed 10 people, not behind bars?  Someone knew this man was incapable of driving.  Don’t we hold bar owners and servers responsible for one of their patrons driving impaired?  What about this man’s relatives?  Maybe he knew he was incapable of driving.  He was driving while impaired and while doing so he killed 10 people.  Let’s redefine the terms of impairment and understand that not being in possession of one’s faculties constitutes impairment, regardless of the reasons.

Maybe this man wasn’t impaired in any way you say?  Okay, then he knew what he was doing.  Why wasn’t he charged with murder, 10 counts of murder?  Either he was impaired or he wasn’t.

As I follow the story I hear that he may have hit the accelerator instead of the brake.  Does a person in possession of his faculties do this?  I don’t think so.

We need to send a message to these older folks that demand, beg, plead, and threaten with their votes that we not take away their freedom to drive.  When they are no longer safe on the highways it is time for them to quit driving.

They say that they need to drive to the drug store, the grocery store, to the Bingo hall, etc.  We hear about the poor older folks in rural areas that have no other means of getting things they need.  Then make arrangements before you are unable to drive.  A lot of drugstores deliver, as do grocery stores.  As for Bingo, QUIT GAMBLING.

We have a lesson in Democracy versus a Republic.  Democracy would place a mandatory age when everyone has to give up the privilege of driving.  A Republic would take it on a case-by-case basis.  Being a Republic we’ll do the Democratic thing when and if a case is made. 

Impairment needs to be looked at from the ground up.  Are BAC tests indicative of an individual’s impairment?  And when do we define responsibility in these kinds of cases?  And finally, I am not responsible for getting you to your medication, food, or social events.  Nor am I responsible for bringing them to you.  Now park it.

POISON CONTROL

This is stupid but hey, this is civilized living at its finest.  Ipecac is under the gun for not being as affective as charcoal for blocking poisons.  There is some kind of small drive from some kind of small group for some kind of banning of Ipecac.  Why?  Because charcoal does a better job.  If people don’t have a choice between buying Ipecac and charcoal then everybody that will buy something of this nature will buy charcoal.

Everyday I see ads for 20 antacids.  All 20 claim to be the best.  When we finally find out which one is the best will the others be banned?  How about painkillers?  How many brands of aspirin are there?  Which one is most affective?  Then there is Tylenol, Advil and the generics associated with each.  Which one?  We need to classify which weapons will be most affective on mosquitoes.  What about toilet bowl cleaners?  Some taco shells seem to hold the filling a little better than others.

Should we get to the bottom of this and define everything that we use in our daily lives, finally determine which is best and ban the rest?  Damn, my ice cream melted.  And what about…………?

Terry Gray

Pointing out what should be obvious.    

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