Paradigms...where shift happens!

I don't get it!

Maybe I’m not so bright. I am a smoker, that should tell you something. Some things, however, just seem to defy comprehension. Today’s “WTF” has to do with cigarettes. Did you ever hear of “American Spirit” cigarettes? They advertise themselves as producing additive free tobacco products. True enough that the side of the pack reminds us that being additive free does not mean that their cigarettes are safer but how many smokers look at those federally mandated warnings anyway? Apparently from what I could glean on line some of the additives they mention are ones that make the tobacco burn more slowly. Seems to me that means that a consumer has more time to inhale the bad stuff in a smoke, more time to take in that life smothering carbon monoxide smokers get in their blood.
Some of the qualities of their product that they mention on their web site are:

Earth friendly farming
Leaf Selection
Organic Growers Program
Dedicated Manufacturing
No Additives
Full tobacco ingredient Disclosure
Perique Heritage
Additive Free Menthol 

The take away I get is that these product qualities only function so as  to make us feel somewhat less guilty about indulging our habit. “Yeah, I smoke two packs a day but it is earth friendly tobacco!” As I see it that’s not so much a good thing as a cop out. Finally before anyone gets too warm and fuzzy about the Native American themed graphics on the package, American Spirit was acquired by Reynolds American Tobacco 5 years ago. We should be grateful they are not presenting their product line as containing “free range tobacco”. 

Extreme Makeover

Reader beware…this posting is about a TV show that I love. Each week a family that needs help is helped in ways that change their lives for the better. I love this show; it's a Sunday night emotional shot in the arm. ABC presents it and company's like Sears and Home Depot are shamelessly promoted in mentions and visual screen credits. Yeah they do it for commercial purposes but there is so much good that comes from their underwriting the show I just can't let my cynicism win over as it so often does in other life situations.

Tonight they are helping their 100^th family, a family which was victimized by domestic violence. The children witnessed their mother being murdered. As a parent who has seen his daughter's family torn apart by domestic violence this show hits very close to home. Tonight's episode is two hours and if you miss it maybe you'll get a chance to catch it in re-runs this summer. If you did miss it and get the chance to see it in re-runs, do so. It will break your heart while elevating your soul.

If you're too cynical to be elevated by the show I feel badly for you. You are missing a good thing.

Border security

Many of you may have missed this little news gem from upstate New York. There was a fire Sunday night at the Anchorage Restaurant in Rouses Point, New York. Rouses Point is about 1.5 miles south of the Canadian border. Many of the fire departments along the Canadian border have mutual aid agreements with their Canadian counterparts and have had them for years. When the units that responded to this fire from Rouses Point radioed for a mutual aid fire company they fully expected the relief manpower and additional equipment to arrive within the usual time frame. They did not count on the reported eight to 15 minute delay at the border while American customs officials checked them for passports of all things. The responding firefighters had their ID cards but were told that they were not good enough since they didn't show dates of birth or an expiration date.

"I've been crossing this border for 30 years, and the only question we were ever asked was: Where's the fire?'" Lacolle Fire Chief Jean-Pierre Hebert told the Toronto Globe and Mail this week. (From The Plattsburgh Press Republican 11/16/07 See the entire text of the article cited below. )

What is it about a firetruck with red lights and siren that is so difficult to understand? It would appear that the Feds training regimen does not include a unit on using common sense. The restaurant was reportedly a total loss.

MONTREAL (CP) -- The Lacolle, Quebec, fire chief is concerned about cross-border Mutual Aid efforts after six of his volunteer firefighters were delayed at U.S. Customs this week.

The fire crews were on their way to help with a Rouses Point fire at the Anchorage restaurant, which was destroyed by fire overnight Sunday.

In the past, officers at the Rouses Point crossing have waved the Canadian fire trucks through.

This time, a customs official delayed them by between eight and 15 minutes, according to differing accounts.

The firefighters were rushing to Rouses Point as part of the long-standing Clinton County Mutual Aid agreement.

"I've been crossing this border for 30 years, and the only question we were ever asked was: Where's the fire?'" Lacolle Fire Chief Jean-Pierre Hebert told the Toronto Globe and Mail this week.

"This time, we got someone zealous. He told us we'd need our passports next time."

Tightly bound border communities have bailed out one another in emergencies for decades, with first-responders crisscrossing the boundary hundreds of times with minimal scrutiny.

Now fire officials wonder whether increased border security cost the firefighters precious minutes. Hebert said fires double in intensity about every minute.

The six Quebecers showed their firefighter photo ID, but were told it wasn't good enough because it didn't have a date of birth or expiration date, Hebert said.

"It's gotten harder since 9/11. We don't blame the United States -- they say they've got to protect their borders -- but we were going over there to help.

"When you're answering a call at midnight, all you think about is putting on your pants. You don't think about taking your wallet."

See also the related story on CNN: Rouses Point Restaurant Fire