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by libertarian99
on Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:40 pm |
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I got a postcard in the mail today from our local community college. They are having a fall festival in October, which they advertised as follows.
In a large yellow and red banner across the top of the postcard:
"Start Harvest Homecoming at IU Southeast!"
Next heading in big red letters:
"All the fun happens on the tobacco-free, alcohol-free IU Southeast campus:"
In smaller black letters:
* Pumpkin decorating
* Games and activities for the kids
* Live performances
* Classic car display
* The Harvest Homecoming Balloon Launch
...and much, much more!
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Then there's a marketing blurb about how this is a kid-friendly festival that is perfect for families, blah, blah, blah.
Unfortunately they don't seem to realize that they have already associated their campus with tobacco and alcohol before they even try to sell the activities. My first thought when I read the postcard was, "Wow, the administrators must really be worried about drunken parents hanging around the booths, brazenly smoking cigarettes in front of the children."
So instead of imagining a fun-filled event with a free hot-air balloon launch and other activities for the kiddies, the first picture I formed in my mind was actually parents standing around smoking and drinking, forgetting all about the kiddies who are running wild. That is the exact opposite of what was intended.
I guess the administrators don't understand the law of unintended consequences, when it comes to the wording on postcards. |
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libertarian99
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by Smoker Sympathizer
on Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:59 pm |
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I hate the phrase "smoke free." It's almost irrational how much I hate seeing those two words together.
Did you ever notice that at the end of every alcohol commericial on TV there are the words "please drink responsibly?" That annoys me almost as much. Is it me or is the word responsibility and all its derivatives taking on an increasingly twisted meaning? |
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Smoker Sympathizer
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by gilster
on Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:44 am |
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Quote: "All the fun happens on the tobacco-free, alcohol-free IU Southeast campus:"
Yes, but is it Trans-Fat free?
Is it 'Empty-Calorie' free?
Is it pet free?
Is it Outward sexual activity free?
Is it allergy free?
Is it recession free?
Is it boredom free?
I just can't make a decision unless I'm informed of every minute detail /sarc |
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gilster
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by runamok
on Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:56 am |
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"Free" is a very carefully chosen substitute for "prohibited". It' s anti's way of making it sound as if we are all being liberated from the evil chains of vice when we attend the event. And that these activities are indeed evil and to be abhorred.
Phrasing it like this: "All the fun happens on the tobacco-prohibited, alcohol-prohibited IU Southeast campus"
makes it sound very overbearing and they are well aware of that. Conveying a tone of liberation is crucial to the anti-anything movement.
Makes me think of when I played youth baseball back in the late 60's and early 70's. It wasn't unusual for a couple of the dads to split a six-pack of beer during a Friday night game while they puffed on cigarettes or cigars....on school grounds (hell, everyone was smoking). I'm sure there were a scant few who disapproved but, back then, those cranks and scolds were seen for what they are....cranks and scolds. Nowadays, these same scant few have been given huge chests of money and the keys to the city. Can't quite put my finger on when and how this happened but I do know that the MSA billions are in the mix. |
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runamok
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by Pete Gatti
on Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:43 pm |
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runamok wrote: Nowadays, these same scant few have been given huge chests of money and the keys to the city. Can't quite put my finger on when and how this happened but I do know that the MSA billions are in the mix.
My finger goes back to 1990. Project ASSIST laid the groundwork for the de-normalization of smoking .
http://www.forces.org/evidence/assist/content.htm
20 years later I'm still flabbergasted how so much of the world is totally ignorant that they have been socially engineered by this plan. |
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Pete Gatti
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by garhkal
on Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:26 pm |
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Smoker Sympathizer wrote: I hate the phrase "smoke free." It's almost irrational how much I hate seeing those two words together.
Did you ever notice that at the end of every alcohol commericial on TV there are the words "please drink responsibly?" That annoys me almost as much. Is it me or is the word responsibility and all its derivatives taking on an increasingly twisted meaning?
IMO that was done so the alcohol people wouldn't get slammed like tobacco for their products being used too much. |
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garhkal
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by CigarBoy
on Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:31 am |
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| Smoke free = CigarBoy don't come in. I am happy to stay away from anything smoke free including Reds games, Bengals games and Univ of Cincy Bearcat football games. My couch is getting more use, but I am saving a ton of money. |
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CigarBoy
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by smallbird
on Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:18 pm |
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CigarBoy wrote: Smoke free = CigarBoy don't come in. I am happy to stay away from anything smoke free including Reds games, Bengals games and Univ of Cincy Bearcat football games. My couch is getting more use, but I am saving a ton of money.
The problem with all this *.free stuff is -- lack of socializing. We are turning into a nation of hermits...  - Oh that's right 20% of us are turning into hermits...the rest are into "yes, we can!" |
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smallbird
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by libertarian99
on Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:26 pm |
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libertarian99 wrote: I got a postcard in the mail today from our local community college. They are having a fall festival in October, which they advertised as follows.
In a large yellow and red banner across the top of the postcard:
"Start Harvest Homecoming at IU Southeast!"
Next heading in big red letters:
"All the fun happens on the tobacco-free, alcohol-free IU Southeast campus:"
http://www.news-tribune.net/homepage/local_story_302221541.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
Nowadays, it is almost shocking to see anyone take a stand against a smoking ban, no matter how draconian.
Notice the unsavory-looking anti holding a baggie with a black lung to protest the protest. Wonder where he got that tactic? |
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libertarian99
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by garhkal
on Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:45 pm |
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| That did not look anything like a lung. |
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garhkal
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