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Libertad's Journal

libertad
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11/14/2007 18:37 #42123

Smoking cessation
This guy I talked to today was 15yrs old and wanted to quit smoking. He really wanted to stop and he made me think of myself at 15 years old and smoking. He also started very young at like 12 years old. I pleaded with him to stop and told him how much I wish I stopped when he did. It was nice to feel like OK maybe I didn't stop at that age, but that this guy could and that I could help him. That feels nice. I think I'll try and call him to check on him. It is so hard to stop at any time but I really tried to tell him how much harder it will get if he waits. I told him about all the smokers who wish they stopped earlier.

I'm not for prohibition, but I think cigarette advertising should be illegal, and that the manufactures not be permitted to add anything to the tobacco leaf. This is a major crisis in our country and in the world. New York State's goal by the way is to reduce smoking prevalence from 19% to 12% by 2010. It is a lofty goal, but I believe it is a good one.


metalpeter - 11/15/07 16:42
Ok I gotta ad a little more here. Anything you burn puts out stuff that will do damage to your lungs and body. I'm not a doctor but I don't think the tobacco is what really does all the damage (yes it does some) it is the stuff like nicotine that addicts you and then all the other shit that they ad for what ever reason it is in there that does all the damage. Not that it would be considered ethical by the science community. But I would love to see someone do a study with thousands of people in each group and have multiple groups broken up by things like age, sex, race and then compare smoking cigarettes over say 10 years to just tobacco and see what they find. One of the things with weed I think why it isn't as harmfull is cause they don't add all kinds of nasty shit to it. The other thing is that you don't smoke anywhere near as much of it. If you have a two pack a day habit of weed you must be making a lot more money then a doctor or selling your own shit.
lauren - 11/15/07 11:47
My beef is...pot is illegal, cocaine is illegal, i could go on...but these laws don't stop people from doing these things...if cigarettes were illegal it would become one more commodity to sell on the streets and cause violence. This is why I think pot should be legalized, among other reasons. If cigarettes were made illegal we would see something akin to alcohol proabition and it would not be pretty. We need to ask questions about WHY people start smoking in the first place...I know I started because I wanted to be cool for the older kids, I wanted to fit in. What is going on in our school systems that kids think they need to do these kinds of things? One thing I can't stand is adults (ie 18+) who start smoking...not that my adolescent excuse is any better, but come on.
joshua - 11/15/07 09:23
I suppose seeing black lungs and cancer patients all the time would turn people off to smoking.

Personally I've always felt that being able to sell addictive products, thus guaranteeing customers for their (short) lives, is the most unethical market endeavor in human history. Then again, in the 40's when movie stars, etc. smoked for glamour, they all thought that cigarettes were good for your lungs! At the time, if people knew that cigarettes were addictive and could kill you, I think things would be different now.
tinypliny - 11/15/07 00:52
And I am with jenks 100000000000%.
james - 11/14/07 22:25
well, as long as you leave alcohol and kinky sex out of it then you have my support ^_^
jenks - 11/14/07 21:30
Ok, that was harsh. I'm sorry.

But in the few years that I've been doing what I do, I have seen WAY too much smoking related illness. And it's not just lung cancer. It effects every system in your body.

I made a scary realization a while ago.

There is not ONE REDEEMING THING about tobacco.

At least pot/hemp can be used to make rope/clothing, etc, and to treat glaucoma and AIDS wasting syndrome etc. Not to mention the minor detail that it doesn't kill you.

Yet, pot is illegal and tobacco is legal?

It's hypocritical of me to say I want to legalize pot and criminalize tobacco, I guess. But frankly that's what I think should happen.

But it never will b/c it's all about the $$, and Big Tobacco has alot.

I keep thinking about how if tobacco was illegal, we'd lose a lot of tax money and the gov't doesn't want that.

But- imagine how much health care money we'd save!! I wish I knew the numbers, but I don't even know the ballpark. But I can't imagine that the money made off cigarettes is THAT MUCH more than the money lost- directly in hospital bills etc, and all the indirect losses like lost productivity at work etc.

So yeah. I am strongly anti-smoking.

To the point that even if I think someone is super-cool, and then I find out s/he smokes- my opinion of them goes through the floor.

Sure, that's harsh.
And I'm not sorry.
james - 11/14/07 21:16
Just smokers Jenks?

What should we do with other vices like drink, red meat, sun exposure, car exhaust, nuclear waste, desk jobs, and so on?
jenks - 11/14/07 20:54
I am all for prohibition. And demonization of smokers.

Unapologetically.

metalpeter - 11/14/07 19:39
The problem with smoking lounges is that someone has to work there and they are exposed to the smoke. That would make the company liable for any health problems that person gets. The other problem is lets say a place has a lounge for smokers since there is a health factor you can't force any one to clean it or work there.

In terms of advertising I'm a little mixed there. I think that what they are doing is advertising there own brand. But the problem I have with it is where they advertise. Little corner stores or even Wilson Farms get money for putting those ads up. They are often at eye level for kids or light up. I think that having them behind the counter is a great trick really. Everyone who goes to a store cashes out there and then they see all the brands and holders often light up with a brand name . Look the next time you go to a corner store or a wilson farms.

I agree with you that legally cigs should only be Tabbaco and you can add nicotine if you want but if any thing else is added it has to be sold as something else like maybe a they have to be called Chems or something like that.

Just so I'm clear hear I also think that Weed should be made legal taxed and sold in stores. But what does that have to do with Cigarettes you might ask. Well part of my plan is that there is a tax maybe 1% - 5% not sure that goes directly into a government addiction program. That money would be used to fund true facts about the harms of smoking and education and it would also help to fund quiting programs.
james - 11/14/07 18:43
I don't like the puritanical demonization of smokers. I appreciate not smoking in closed in public spaces. I think smoking lounges should be legal.

So far, the legislation has limited the rights of smokers. Wouldn't it be nicer if they instead went after the people who manufacture the cigarettes and made them not put in little things like asbestos and chlorine into their product?

probably, but then cigarette companies have lobbyists with big bank accounts.



I do hope this kid quits though.

11/07/2007 19:01 #42031

My dreams are on fire.
Wow all of a sudden I'm so tired and then I realized why when I saw (e:jenk)'s latest journal. It seemed like I was hearing sirens all night long. I remember looking at the clock at 2:30 and thinking about when Coffee & burned to the ground which I also was awoken to by the sirens. Again the sirens became part of my dream and this time someone told me that it was far away and that they were just trying to get through to it and everyone had to pass by my house. I guess that sort of makes sense because I do live by a fire station by the Left Bank. At about 4pm two police cars came and blocked off Elmwood at Lexington. The lights were strobing and it was extra disorientating with being groggy from my dream state. My alarm was set for 6pm so I got up and turned on the news and saw the Parish Commons had a serious fire. I drove by on the way to work and wow. My friend who lives directly across the street didn't even wake up. I wonder if the smoke kept him asleep, because it was a really smoky fire and he does sleep very lightly. I couldn't believe he didn't hear it. I hate when things burn.

Today at work I asked where a guy was from and he said Cuba. I said oh your Cubano and he was like "yeah, why do you say it like that?" Then he was all mad cause I told him I had been there. He started yelling at me in English and asked me if I liked Communism or if I was in love with Fidel. He was definitely interested in why I went to Cuba and he was surprised that I spoke in Spanish the way that I do for only having been there for four months. I told him that I hardly knew it at all when I had went, but that I have been working on it and now I work on this bilingual line and get to practice. So overall it was a good conversation, but a reminder of the ways things are. I love getting to ask people what country they are from. Usually they are from PR, but rarely Cuba.

I took the bus tonight home from work. This is the first time since I have started working there because I have been riding my bike because of our extended summer. It was a pretty good experience and some lady even gave me .50 because I couldn't get any change for the bus in the gift store. Was all good timing because by the time I walked to the end of Allen I only had to wait a couple of minutes before the bus pulled up. I even got off the phone a tad late with the Cuban guy, so at least I know that is OK to be a few minutes over.
james - 11/08/07 11:16
I read some magazine article a year or so ago where South American countries were creating tourist destinations surrounding communist and nationalist revolutions. Part of it talked about American's getting to Cuba some how for a little Che and Fidel hero worship.

10/31/2007 18:27 #41910

Sex, drugs and carbon polluting.
HSBC Center in Buffalo according to a friend in the know is going carbon free. They are starting here in Buffalo and even composting everything in the cafeteria. They are recycling everything I guess. Here is a little something I found.

Since already (e:tinypliny) has made her own letter to Roswell's Trump regarding better environmental practices, then maybe I can draft something up as well that provides an example of a company as large as HSBC already making these efforts. Surely a cancer institution will do so as well. This all reminds me that I have to look for a washable plate and utensils that come in a small case I can carry to and from work in the meanwhile. I have used more Styrofoam in the last couple of months at Roswell than I have in the whole year. (e:tinypliny) is glaring at me with her beady little eyes of disapproval while I'm eating lunch.

It is Halloween and I have no scary movies and tricker treaters will never reach me in my lair that has no door bell. I haven't had tricker treaters in so long. Today I overheard someone saying that because there wasn't prayer in schools anymore that people were dressing up as devils and what not. I love dressing up as a devil. They are so scary. When I saw who had said this I was surprised at who it was. It seemed like inapropriate conversation (time and place), but I guess I am not always so appropriate either like during my lunch time conversations in the cafeteria that are usually too loud about sex, drugs and carbon polluting.


tinypliny - 11/06/07 03:23
Heheh... I made everyone pick up their plastic bottles and take them home, today at the evil cafeteria. My beady little eyes work their hardest magic during lunch. ;)





libertad - 11/01/07 20:20
You really couldn't ever be carbon-free in our society. Even the Amish are buzzing around at the greyhound station and at airports. I'm not sure how they claim to be going carbon free, but at least they are making attempts. Like (e:terry) said, they are referring to pollutants, mainly the one that causes global warming. Whatever we do really is producing more carbon dioxide which now even the oceans aren't able to absorb like they used to. Less trees, the saturation of the oceans, increasing levels of pollutants are all contributing to the changes in temperature we are all ready seeing. We are not responding fast enough to these changes.
carolinian - 11/01/07 09:26
One of my friends knew a person who was responsible for wearing the costume and being the Duke mascot at Duke games (I grew up in Durham, where Duke is based).
terry - 10/31/07 22:43
i believe he means carbon emissions, ie: CO2, methane, etc, and not just carbon the element in general.
jenks - 10/31/07 21:44
sorry, but what does carbon-free mean? Pretty much everything has carbon in it...
metalpeter - 10/31/07 19:18
Your post just gave me a great idea for a costume of course it is to late now, not that I would have any idea how to get or make this costume but to go as a blue devil as in the mascot and name of the Duke basketball team.

10/25/2007 21:16 #41802

Beauty is in the palm of our hands.

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james - 10/25/07 21:50
I love that movie ;_;
libertad - 10/25/07 21:49
lick it up james, lick it up!
james - 10/25/07 21:38
except just after we sneeze.

10/29/2007 19:48 #41867

Ybor City
Here is the man behind the name of the city--Vicente Ybor. He is responsible for bringing the cigar factory to Tampa. Cuban, Italian and Jewish immigrants migrated to the city and worked in the factories.

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They have a trolley in Ybor.

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This Saturday Market sign is upside down. A sign of discontent and strife?

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Ybor City Museum

The museum is housed in this old Cuban bread bakery.

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Some guy would crawl into the oven while it was still hot to repair the broken tiles. He would cover himself in wet burlap to do it.

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El lector. This person was paid by the workers to read to them. El ingenioso hidalogo Don Quijote de la mancha was a popular read.

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Factory work station.

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Damn cigarettes.

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Ten Year War

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José Martí would stay in the house of Paulina Pedroso, a black Cuban immigrant, while staying in Ybor city in order to raise support for the Cuban independence movement. He would often stay up late into the night writing by candle light in her and her husbands house which is now a park commemorating Martí and his devotion to Cuban independence.

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Immigrant Statue

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Teddy was one rough rider cowboy.

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These mosaic tiles are found outside the Columbia restaurant which has very good Cuban food. I love this tile and got a couple of post cards of it.

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My mom and I. I had the loma de cerdo (pork) and we shared a pitcher of Mojitos. There were Cubans working there and eating there which I loved. It really reminded me of eating in Cuba especially when the Cuban guys kept checking me out to the point that even my mother noticed. That is Cuban men for you. God help you if you are a woman and a foreigner in Cuba. They will look at you no matter what. They are way more sexual and open then we are.

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Here I am an amigo de José Martí. This park where Paulina Pedroso's house once sat is now a park owned by the Cuban government. The park is run by Cuban exiles now who keep it under lock because of vandalism which may be political in nature. They only keep the park open during the week for a couple of hours. Inside is soil from each of the provinces of Cuba. This kind of park is very common in Cuba.
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Here he is the man who is adored by all Cubans.

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I put my foot in trying to once again touch Cuban land. If I could go back I would....I really would. It makes me so sad that maybe I never will be able to go back. It was so expensive for me to go the first time through UB, I couldn't even afford it then, but I did it anyways. Now I can only go illegally and risk being punished for doing so. Land of the free people, land of the free.

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I also stopped at this photo exhibit of pictures from Cuba. They had some nice work there, but I was expecting way more. I could have contributed if I had known.

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libertad - 10/31/07 18:44
(e:tiny) and (e:jenks), you can both just stop it. They seriously will fuck a pig if necessary. And don't let anyone tell you that they won't. (e:tiburon), I still haven't been able to party at Ybor City. Last weekend was Guavaween where the mythical Goddess came and led the city on a path of self-destruction. That sounds so fun. (e:james), tell (e:jim) he has not even heard a lecture on José Martí until he has studied in Cuba! Listen, I was given a book from my professor (not a small gift in this country) of letters he wrote back and forth to a friend. She was so nice. His writings are difficult even for them and I had to read Nuestra America and stuff like that. I wish I could go back and talk to her now that I can communicate better. Yes, (e:imk2) I miss it so. I try to remember sometimes by writing about it.

jenks - 10/31/07 00:01
hehe. Tiny's got a point.
tinypliny - 10/30/07 23:43
What beautiful pictures! Thanks for the virtual tour.

Um. I would disagree with your opinion of Cuban men. It's not them. It's just you. People just can't help looking, Cuban, American, Indian or Human. You are just too gorgeous. :)
tiburon1724 - 10/30/07 11:24
As many times as I've been in Tampa I have to admit all I ever did in Ybor is go to bars and clubs and get drunk. Still ranks 3 out of 3 as far as party strips or whatever you'd like to call them (1. Chippewa 2. Orange Ave Orlando 3. Ybor) Though I know there's a lot of history there - was an interesting read. I do hate Florida though.
james - 10/29/07 20:53
Jim an I were in the Ybor city neighborhood last year. I made Jim suffer through a ten minute lecture about Jose Marti.

I hope some people will die over there and a whole lot more people will grow wise over here and you will be in Cuba again.