GREENMUSE is a regular reader and fan contributor at antiMUSIC, the views expressed here don't necessarily reflect those of antiMUSIC or our sponsors, but we are sure you will enjoy what he has to say! 

In the face of the current disasters, this point has become more and more apparent to me, people will use anything to make a buck.  But lets forget for a minute the war in Afghanistan, and all the nasty little terrorists.  Think to those anti-smoking ads you see on TV, they are all sponsored by Phillip Morris, or one of the other big tobacco companies, so in a way, its like advertising, with a little morbid twist, sure they are telling you the truth, but does anyone think they will be running out of customers anytime soon? I sure don’t see it happening.  Take my dad for instance; he smokes approx 3 packs a day, this being his limit after “cutting down”.  He’s been smoking since he was 10, he’s about 43 or so now.  Needless to say his lungs are shot.  He’s coughed and lost all the air in his lungs, and wrecked his truck, luckily he was ok, but to top all this off, his dad died from smoking and had to carry an oxygen tank till the day he died.  This guy would even crank up the regulator on the tank so he could still smoke.  But I drift from my point,  my favorite ad, which was pulled from American TV, was a commercial with the old Marlboro man, riding his horse, the stereotypical strong, all American man, then when he passes the camera, you can see the oxygen tank strapped to the back of the horse just so the poor guy could breathe. 

Another great ad series is the anti drug commercial. You see some kid, he could be any kid, even your next door neighbor or the newspaper boy, usually filmed in black and white, to really get the dismal mood going.  Then the kid goes into a spiel about how smoking marijuana ruined his life, made his grades drop, got him kicked out of his house, killed his dog, and whatever else the producer decides to toss into the mix.  Now I’m not saying drugs are a good thing and I don’t want to see a crack pipe in every 1st graders lunchbox, but do you think that kid on TV is an actor, or doing it of free will? I doubt it, I think its part of a probation/community service package decreed by a judge for violation of senseless laws.  And upon seeing how this poor, defenseless little boy, lead on by the treachery of others, will not doubt how serious the war on drugs is, and continue to fund, and support it with their votes.    .  And to further add to the irony of the drug war, its partly funded by the drug money it confiscates.  If this isn’t incentive to overbearing laws, I don’t know what is.  but again I stray from the point. 

Speaking of drugs, a conversation I had with Keavin(the managing editor of antiMUSIC) inspired this paragraph. Technically speaking, cigarettes are drugs, and people can be and are addicted to them, the same with booze. Both substances are highly addictive and are detrimental to society, but these are the tolerable drugs, the drugs your grandparents probably use daily and the grandparent’s grandparents, and this seems to be why these aren’t listed under controlled substances.  Also I love the fact that the government can’t tax other “non tobacco” plants, as pretty much anyone can get the seeds, and grow their own.  I could be wrong but I believe I read somewhere that it is illegal to grow your own tobacco, and for that matter, I don’t think the seeds are readily available anymore, as that would infringe on the tobacco companies “right to profit”.  I know for a fact its illegal to distill your own alcohol. Questions to ponder...

Just to pad this article out, let me explain why it seems so disjointed, yesterday morning I wrote this article, sent it out to Keavin, then I read the antiMUSIC newsletter which included a preview of Dr Fevers November rant. Well come to find out, we both wrote about the same topic. What are the chances of that happening? So I decided to cut the last part off and change it. That’s it for this month, for those here in the states, have a good thanksgiving.  gm

Editor’s Note: Yes it’s true the direction of GM’s article this month originally led into the subject area covered in Dr. Fever’s Rant. That sometimes happens with hotbed issues. After he read Fever’s rant, GM told me he was going to rework his article and in the process it sort of lost it’s original focus and intention. So with that background in mind and knowing that GM and Fever independently saw what was happening and decided to comment on it, I thought I would give the readers the opportunity to read GM’s original article. So click here to read This Commercial Brought To You By The Letter "$"
 

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