Do Smokers Want To Give Up?
At Dalston Junction station, I was approached by a man, who asked if I had a lighter.
I said I was sorry, but I didn’t smoke.
He then said thanks and said that I was probably a lot healthier than him.
Little did he know!
i hope the conversation pushes him to give up!
The Cost Of A UKIP Government
According to the Times today, there is a big black hole in UKIP’s plans based on their 2010 manifesto. They postulate a figure of £120 billion, which probably has a margin of error.
It shows that those out of power can promise the earth, even if they won’t ever be able to deliver.
But I hadn’t realised until now, that Farage and UKIP want to bring back smoking in pubs. I think now, that would probably be a big vote loser, as we’ve all got used to cleaner air in bars and restaurants.
How To Get Cancer And Pneumonia
I t0ok this picture on the top of the North Terminal at Gatwick, as I walked into Departures.
How To Get Cancer And Pneumonia
Some people never learn. Or even want to!
On a serious note, I wonder how many have given up smoking this winter, as they don’t like being banished to the cold from their workplace or home.
NICE Says Ban All Smoking In Hospital Grounds
This is reported in The Times.
I can never understand, why it has not been implemented.
The Times also reports that PruHealth have found that the biggest reason people give for quitting smoking, is the price of cigarettes.
Smoker’s Corner On Oriana
The weather wasn’t good on the way home, with cold winds sweeping the decks.
I thought this might be a good place to shelter, but the smokers had got there first.
Smoker’s Corner On Oriana
I suppose I was surprised that smoking was allowed on board. You just don’t see it in hotels and restaurants these days.
Charles Everett Coop And Richard Doll
Charles Everett Coop, who was Surgeon General by Ronald Reagan has just died.
He seems to have really thought about his job and didn’t allow his religious beliefs get in the way of good health. But like our own Richard Doll,l who proved the link between smoking and cancer, he let the facts and the statistics do the talking.
Interestingly, both were recipients of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
Both though have a health lesson for us all, as Doll died at 92 and Koop did even better dying at 96.
So perhaps they not only looked at the facts and the statistics, but they acted upon them to prolong their own lives.
I always like this quote from Richard Doll.
Death in old age is inevitable, but death before old age is not.
I would put one up from Charles Everett Koop, but I can’t find something pithy and direct.
Is The NHS The Cause Of Our Bad Health?
Reports such as this one on the BBC web site, show that our health is getting worse.
I have no complaints about the way, I’ve been treated in the last few years and the NHS was very good in their treating of my wife and son, and especially my granddaughter.
But I do wonder if this good service is the problem and contributes to our bad health.
How many smokers, drinkers and obese believe that the NHS will sort their problems out and of course at no cost to themselves or their families? If I had had a pound for every smoker, who said his father smoked all of his life and then he died at 90, I’d be a truly rich man.
If we had to pay directly for our health care, we might take more care of our health. Not that I’m advocating it, but we should all perhaps get a statement each year from our GP about our health and how much we’ve cost the NHS.
An aside here, is that for the last thirty years, I’ve had private health insurance, which I haven’t used much. Because the NHS is so good round here, with two world-class hospitals a short bus ride away, I have now discontinued it. If though say, I had a small inconvenient problem like a damaged finger that needed an operation, I would probably pay to jump the queue. But the cost would be well within what I saved on the insurance.
Illegal Cigarettes On The Rise
According to this article in the Metro, the amount of illegal cigarettes smoked has risen by a third and is now costing the Exchequer about £2 billion pounds a year.
Perhaps, we should make it a criminal offence to smoke illegally smuggled cigarettes.
Some Stupid Smokers
It was too wet to get my camera out, with it raining terribly badly an hour or so ago.
However, two women, were huddling under an umbrella outside the pub on the corner, trying to have a fag.
If the fags don’t give them cancer, the weather will give them pneumonia!
You can only die one way, but these two stupid women will certainly manage to do it before their time.
Should We Have A Benefits Cash Card?
It has been proposed by a thinktank, that those on benefit should get a cash card, that they can only spend on approved purchases, that would not include alcohol, cigarettes, Sky television, gambling and other things that the great and good felt were not necessary.
It’s one of these issues like capital punishment, that if went to a referendum, the general public would vote for.
I wouldn’t, as it is just against my beliefs.
We need to cut down the drinking of alcohol and the smoking of tobacco, but this doesn’t just apply to those on benefit.
But the biggest fault in the proposal is the practicalities.
I am a coeliac and if someone like me was on a benefits cash card, would they be restricted from buying good quality food. After all the gluten-free food you get on prescription is generally crap.
And let’s say you are careful and always shop in the local market, where good food is often cheaper. Is every market stall going to have the expense of accepting the cards, when cash is the best method of payment. So will the cards be able to withdraw cash.
I’ve had times in my life, when I wasn’t very well off and I always resort to cash, as I then know how much I’ve got left.
The Anonymous Widower 