This is where Rummi's random (and not so random) thoughts will be placed.
(08/19/03) Things I Keep Meaning to Write About:
Funeral Processions (and How They Annoy Me)
Leather (and How They Disgust Me)
Women's Age & Babies (Science VS. Nature)
Weight & Health
Feeding The World
Homosexual Marriage (& Other Related Things)
Other Things I Can't Remember Right Now (Doh!)
This is a Smoke-Free Site!
Quotes from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (link on My Links)
High school students who are current (past month) smokers: 28.5% or 4.5+ million
Kids (under 18) who try smoking for the first time each day: 4,000+
Kids (under 18) who become new regular, daily smokers each day: 2,000+
Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home: 15.5 million
Packs of cigarettes consumed by kids each year: 900 million
Adults in the USA who smoke: 23.3% or about 45 million
People who die each year from their own cigarette smoking: 400,000
People who die each year from others' smoking (secondhand smoke & pregnancy smoking): 40,000
Kids under 18 alive today who will ultimately die from smoking (unless smoking rates decline): 6,000,000+
Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined--and thousands more die from spit tobacco use. Millions more suffer from serious tobacco-caused health problems each year without actually dying. Of the roughly 750,000 kids who become new regular, daily smokers each year, almost a third will ultimately die from it.
Do you want to cry yet or is it just me!? I don't even feel like I have to say anything else. There are so many facts out there about what smoking does and yet more people start each day and more never try to quit! OK, I believe it's not easy. But.. ARGH!!!! I guess I'm not quite ready to put into words how I feel. Just look through some of my anti-drug links. I just don't know...
*OK.. back for a bit more... Why is it that smokers don't think that tossing the cigarette butt outside the car window is littering? Or do they not care about littering? So not only is it OK to kill themselves and everyone around them, it's OK to litter all they want too!?
Do you know what it's like to kneel down to help a kid and gag because s/he have the smoke stench all over them? To know that s/he is going to have health problems because of the parents... I sure hope her/his parents didn't have dreams of the olymics for the kid.
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Dangerous Vehicles
"The country's top road safety regulator, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently told an auto industry group, 'The fatality rate per 100,000 registered SUVs is about three times higher than it is for passenger cars. It doesn't take a statistician to tell you something is wrong here.'"
Do people intentionally risk their family like this?? Once I realized this, it didn't take me long to realize that how a car looks is not worth the risk. I'll get a station wagon any day!
Gallons Per Mile
"Dealers say the military-style behemoth (Hummer) made famous in the Gulf War gets 8-10 miles per gallon. Its manufacturer, General Motors, puts the figure at 10-13 mpg."
"A Web site for Hummer enthusiasts boasts: 'You might be driving a Hummer if ... you don't measure fuel efficiency by miles per gallon, but rather gallons per mile.'"
"Gas mileage figures are not posted on Hummer window stickers because the car weighs so much it is exempt from mileage-reporting requirements."
Compare Cars (Doesn't work with certain browsers.)
Why would anyone buy any vehicle that couldn't even give 10 miles per gallon? Alright, so some people don't care about the earth.. But aren't these the same people who complain that gas is SO expensive these days!? Do they realize that if their vehicle gave 30 mpg instead, they would pay a third of what they now pay for gas?
Wishy-Washy
"Most Americans know instinctively why we are in the gulf. They know we had to stop Saddam now, not later. They know that this brutal dictator will do anything, will use any weapon, will commit any outrage, no matter how many innocents suffer." -President Bush, Sr. (1991)
"Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. This dictator, who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons, has already used them on whole villages - leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured." -President Bush, Jr. (2003)
Why are people always FOR war when they're upset with others but then AGAINST war when they realize that people could die going to war!? Do people really forget that war will ALWAYS mean death!? How many wars have you heard about where NO ONE died? Why is it that people support the president's idea of war when something has just happened but when they realize that the war isn't going to be easy or end quickly they stop supporting him!? Once again, how many EASY wars have you heard about? Will we ever learn? I think it's about time people actually thought about what they want and supported it whole-heartedly. People always criticize the extremists but at least they're not 'wishy-washy' about whether a dictator needs to be stopped or not!