New conspiracy theory

[rucus7]

I spoke with my elder sister over the holidays. She lives in the panhandle of Idaho. Anyway we were discussing her general health, she is operating on one lung after two bouts with lung cancer ( still smoking). She is of the opinion that the Swine Flu threat was greatly exaggerated by the Obama administration. She believes peoples fear of swine flu helped pass the health care bill. See what you are missing in America.

[Beer Chang]

Good theory!

[Bob]

Never heard that one in the midwest. Something in the water out there in the Idaho panhandle?

Basic fairness and justice is what should have driven the health care legislation (which still must survive a conference between the House and Senate and votes in both of those chambers, I believe). But it faced tremendous opposition - from basically all Republicans and from potent lobbyists working for entities making tons of money off the current system.

[rucus7]

"More things in politics happen by accident or exhaustion than happen by conspiracy."

Jeff Greenfield

[rucus7]

Never heard that one in the midwest. Something in the water out there in the Idaho panhandle?

If there is a sad irony, it is not in Idaho. It is the fact that my Sister is a highly educated professional, upper middle class white female. In other words I cannot fathom how she arrived at this juncture.

[Wino]

I am sorry to hear about your sister's problem. I don't think much about her conspiracy theory. She may be a highly eduacated professional, but she isn't too smart. One lung, two bouts of cancer and she is still smoking?

[rucus7]

I smoked for 20 years. I quit almost 24 years ago. Most people know it is detrimental to their health, but many struggle with the addiction unable to stop.

[Wino]

I smoked for a few years, too. I had some respiratory problems as a child, but due to peer pressure, I took up the nasty habit. I thought I was cool. I am so glad I chose to quit more than 30 years ago.

[lvdkeyes]

I and my partner of the time decided to stop smoking back on July 4, 1976. I never had another cigarette. He lasted only a week or two and then went back to smoking. He died of lung cancer in 2000.

[Beer Chang]

July 4, 1976.

Was renting a summer share in Manasquan at that time.

[Wino]

Hard to believe this study found that standard cigarette pack warnings may make smokers smoke more. You think they should change these warnings? You would think that "smoking will kill you" would be a detriment. Not so! Maybe warnings should change to "smoking is not cool" or "you don't look good smoking" would work better. You never know.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Cigarette pack warnings that remind smokers of the fatal consequences of their habit may actually make them smoke more as a way to cope with the inevitability of death, according to researchers.

A small study by psychologists from the United States, Switzerland and Germany showed that warnings unrelated to death, such as "smoking makes you unattractive" or "smoking brings you and the people around you severe damage," were more effective in changing smokers' attitudes toward their habit.

This was especially the case in people who smoked to boost their self-esteem, such as youth who took up the habit to impress or fit in with their peers and others who thought smoking increased their social value, the researchers said.

"In general, when smokers are faced with death-related anti-smoking messages on cigarette packs, they produce active coping attempts as reflected in their willingness to continue the risky smoking behavior," the study said.

"To succeed with anti-smoking messages on cigarette packs one has to take into account that considering their death may make people smoke."

The study was based on 39 psychology students, aged between 17 and 41, who said they were smokers.

Participants filled in a questionnaire to determine how much their smoking was based on self-esteem, were then shown cigarette packs with different warnings on them, and then after a 15-minute delay, the students were asked more questions about their smoking behavior that included if they intended to quit.

"One the one hand, death-related warnings were not effective and even ironically caused more positive smoking attitudes among smokers who based their self-esteem on smoking," the study said.

"On the other hand, warning messages that were unrelated to death effectively reduced smoking attitudes the more recipients based their self-esteem on smoking."

The researchers said this finding can be explained by the fact that warnings such as "smoking makes you unattractive" may be particularly threatening to people who believe that smoking makes them feel valued by others or boosts their self-image.

The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091209/od_nm/us_warnings