We Didn't Start the Pyre
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- Published: Sunday, 15 March 2009 21:23
Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Betty Grable Gracie Allen, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio Buster Keaton, Burl Ives, Bert Parks, Vincent Price Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz Nat King Cole, Yul Brynner, Chuck Connors, Lana Turner Ian Fleming, Henry Corden, Jean Vander Pyl Eisenhower, FDR, Oppenheimer, Groucho Marx Peter Sellers, Peter Gzowski, Peter Jennings goodbye We didn't start the pyre Cigarettes are burning; now the world's been learning: We didn't start the pyre Corporations light it but they tried to hide it Errol Flynn, Ernie Kovacs, Eric Carr, Eddie Kendricks Eddie Rabbit, Edward Murrow, Ed Sullivan Rod Serling, Rowland Evans, R.J. Reynolds, Rory Calhoun Roger Miller, Roger Maris, George Harrison Robert Shaw, Robert Mitchum, Robert Palmer, Richard Burton Richard Boone, Dashiell Hammett, Walt Disney, Dean Martin Dick Powell, Dick York, Dick Haymes, Don Knotts David Janssen, David Hodo, David Millar, Redd Foxx We didn't start the pyre Guys in suits ignite it; now they've been indicted We didn't start the pyre Let's speed their demising with a big uprising Audrey Meadows, Agnes Moorehead, Colleen Dewhurst, Susan Hayward Linda Darnell, Anne Ramsey, Lee Remick, Gene Tierney Nancy Walker, Nancy Gore, Barb Tarbox, Mary Wells Princess Margaret, Dana Reeve, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy Chet Huntley, Forrest Tucker, Tyrone Power, Victor Crawford Kiel Martin, Harry Nilsson, Bill Tuttle, Carl Wilson Andy Kaufman, Alan Landers, Mark Twain, Michael Landon Lon Chaney, Louis Armstrong, Larry Linville, Leonard Bernstein We didn't start the pyre Now we're agonizing watching loved ones dying We didn't start the pyre While the doctors chide it, make the courts decide it William Buckley, Tex Williams, William Talman, Warren Zevon Warren Harding, Wayne McLaren, Morton Downey Jr. Walter Matthau, Mo Howard, Curly Howard, Shemp Howard Scott Fitzgerald, Spencer Tracy, Sammy Davis Jr. Sigmund Freud, Sarah Vaughan, Steve McQueen, Spike Jones John Wayne blown away, what else do I have to say? We didn't start the pyre Health care underwrites it; now let's dynamite it We didn't start the pyre Don't be pacifiers for the crucifiers Gary Cooper, Glenn Hughes, Graham Chapman, Jack Soo George C. Scott, George Knudson, George Peppard, Julie London Jean-Paul Sartre, Jimmy Dorsey, Joan Woodbury, Gypsy Rose Lee Jesse Owens, Jim Boyd, James Franciscus, James Brown John Huston, John Candy, John Thaw, John Gotti John Testrake, Lyndon Johnson, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Carson Jack Wild, Jim Varney, Wolfman Jack, Jack Benny Jackie Gleason, Jacquie O., I can't take it anymore We didn't start the pyre Lists are growing dire; now I'm getting tired We didn't start the pyre 'til tobacco's gone will it still burn on and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and We didn't start the pyre It's been piling higher making bucks for liars We didn't start the pyre If we stand united, we can quickly fight it We didn't start the pyre Big Tobacco's trying to escape by bribing We didn't start the pyre Though they're great deniers, it's time they're retired We didn't start the pyre We can turn the tide on all their homicides We didn't start the pyre There's no justifying of their terrorizing We didn't start the pyre. . .
Joe Jackson protest
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- Published: Sunday, 11 May 2008 05:59
On May 5, 2008, members of Airspace Action on Smoking and Health protested a Joe Jackson concert, held at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia.
Why was Airspace protesting this event? So glad you asked.
We learned about Joe Jackson and his "allegiance" to the tobacco industry a few months ago. At that time, Airspace president Errol Povah attempted to contact singer/songwriter Jackson (via his website), to challenge him to a public debate on any and all aspects of smoking/tobacco control. While Povah didn't get through to Jackson, directly, one of Jackson's reps did the talking for him... and made it clear that Jackson had neither the time nor the energy -- nor the inclination -- to debate the issue, "now or ever." We urge you to check out Jackson's website -- www.joejackson.com -- and click on the "SMOKING" link at the top of the home page. As you will see, Joe is not just your average, run-of-the-mill smoker; he's clearly a puppet of the tobacco industry. He denies getting paid by the tobacco industry; we have no way of proving otherwise, but obviously, we have our doubts about that. In any case, whether Jackson likes it or not, he's a celebrity and a role model... and as such, he should be ashamed of himself for so aggressively promoting such an addictive, disease-causing, debilitating and deadly product...the only legal product which kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer!
As we stated in our hand-out -- or "Program!" as we called it -- we didn't seriously expect any Joe Jackson fans to, after reading our material, change their minds about going to the concert... and leave. But we do encourage everyone to think about the issue... and Jackson's role in promoting a product which is, ultimately, responsible for one of the biggest drains on our "in-crisis" health-care system.
Here's an e-mail we got from one now-former Joe Jackson fan:
I attended the concert in Vancouver, last nite... had I been aware of Joe's position on smoking, I would not have attended. There can be no excuse for supporting this vile and sickening addiction. I'm thankful to Vancouver Airspace for enlightening me on Joe's position ... I will not buy any of his music until he comes clean.
Joni Mitchell Phlegm
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- Published: Thursday, 29 November 2007 10:01
From Frank magazine: “Joni Mitchell’s lament for our desecrated environment”. Song titles include “Big Yellow Fingers” and “Wild Smokers Don’t Run Very Fast”.
Click here to view the full-size image.
Deadly Fumes
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- Published: Wednesday, 21 February 2007 03:46
The Tobacco Industry funds "hospitality" organizations
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- Published: Saturday, 05 November 2005 17:00
The indications were there all along. Nick Losito of the Vancouver-Richmond Regional Health Board noticed that the number of cigarette vending machines in pubs increased in January, even though the WCB no-smoking regulation should have reduced the need for them.
The persistence of BCTV reporter Darlene Heidemann eventually paid off. She discovered that the tobacco industry gives $800,000 per year to the Canadian Hotel Association's "Courtesy of Choice" campaign. Hardly any of this money is used to keep ashtrays out of hotel lobbies. Instead, it pays the salary of Tim Crowhurst, who works for Vance Campbell's "Coalition of Hospitality Organizations".
When confronted by Heidemann with this information, Campbell initially denied that COHO got tobacco industry money, then claimed that Crowhurst was only a "media consultant" for them.
There's more. All three of the multinational tobacco companies that do business in Canada are "associate members" of the B.C. Liquor Licensee and Retailers Association, the group headed by Dave Crown, another very vocal opponent of the WCB regulations. Also, the 2000 annual report of Rothmans describes the "Benson & Hedges Business Edge" program. This basically consists of bribing pub owners for placement of cigarette vending machines.
The tobacco industry has a lot at stake here. A study done in the Whistler-Squamish area shortly before the WCB regulations were invalidated showed that pub employees were quitting smoking in startling numbers. Every smoker that quits costs the tobacco industry about $700 per year of revenue. Add this to the 45,000 customers they lose to cancer, emphysema, heart disease, etc. and we're talking about a serious dent in their profits.
Are you getting smoked out of your otherwise smoke-free home?
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- Published: Friday, 19 August 2005 18:00
If anonymity is a concern, please don't worry about it. We would certainly like to have some basic contact information for you (i.e., an e-mail address and, hopefully, a phone number) but if you don't even want that information to go to the government, we will look after that.
We recommend you keep a diary for this specific purpose. Please provide as much detail as you're comfortable with. For example, if you'd rather not provide your full address, please consider providing the street name or, at the very least, the town/city. And dates and times (or frequency of exposure) are good too... and temperatures as well. And any other details you may consider pertinent.
Clean Air Carols
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- Published: Thursday, 16 December 2004 17:00
However, the carols that we sang are available for use by other Sworn Enemies of the Tobacco Industry. Included are such classics as "Law Suits are Comin' to Town" and "We're Dreaming of a Smoke-Free Christmas".