This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Smokers died, the zealots lied or, Death by smoking ban
I just came across a compelling blog written about a year ago entitled, “Death by smoking ban.” The author is Edmund Contoski who describes himself as a former director of planning for an internationally renowned environmental consulting firm doing business in more than forty countries. He has also been an urban planner and has held positions with major real estate development companies.
Contoski analyzes the tactics of the pro-smoking ban fanatics.
“In order to get smoking bans passed, it was necessary to create an atmosphere of hatred toward the ‘enemy,’ to work people into a frenzy over a threat to their health, whether the threat was real or not. What mattered was not truth or science but whether the desired result—smoking bans—could be achieved. So truth and science were quickly sacrificed to the-end-justifies-the-means policy of anti-smoking organizations. Michael Seigel, MD, is both a medical doctor and public health official. He has 21 years experience in tobacco policy research and currently teaches at the
Dr. Seigel has cited over a hundred anti-smoking groups—including the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association—for misleading the public with fallacious scientific claims. His website, ww.tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com, details an astonishing array scientific misrepresentations, outright lies and hypocrisy by anti-smoking groups. These tactics have proven effective, even as they have become ever more shrill and absurd.”
He writes about second-hand smoke:
“Statistically, the risk of secondhand smoke is far smaller than the risk of getting lung cancer from drinking pasteurized milk. While secondhand smoke has not been shown to represent a statistically significant health risk, deaths continue to mount from smoking bans.”
Contoski explains the above claim and then also raises and documents a disturbing trend that, “fraudulent claims of health dangers has spawned a level of hatred that has produced violence and death.”
I don’t think it’s too far-fetched that as a society, we have gone from hating smoking to hating smokers.
Here’s Contoski’s lengthy blog. Please take time to read thoroughly, there’s a lot there.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.