Re: Re: Re: yet another US electile disfunction commentary

["Ken Hanly" <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Liberals here passed rather stringent gun control legislation and it is
extremely unpopular. The right-wing Alliance party garners a lot of farmer,
hunter, and working class votes by opposing the legislation. I really do not
think that gun control reduces crime or violence against women. I await any
convincing evidence otherwise. It seems to me that other cultural factors
determine the level of violence and crime. The NDP candidate in my
constituency does not support the Liberal legislation but I believe that the
NDP party position is supportive. By the way my constituency is represented
by an Alliance member with the unlikely name of Inky Mark.
    I am of two minds about tobacco taxes. On the one hand it may to some
extent discourage use. But surely governments are hypocritical to condemn
its use and then profit from its sale. The huge suits for health care are in
my opinion a total farce.
Tobacco is for sale legally and there are plenty of warnings about it as a
health hazard. In Canada at least, the warnings are by law on the packages.
Healthy people live longer and are probably those who linger on for ages in
personal care homes etc. and cost us a fortune in their last days.
Researchers paid by tobacco companies claim that total costs for smokers are
actually less-since they die early. Of course no leftist believes this
because they accept the ad hominem argument that if it is research paid for
tobacco companies it is not sound. The same type of ad hominem is ubiquitous
in the debate on genetic engineering.
The most you could assert is that there is an increased probability of bias
not that you can ignore or write off the research.
     Cheers, Ken Hanly
----- Original Message -----
From: Max Sawicky <sawicky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2000 8:13 PM
>Subject: [PEN-L:4627] Re: Re: yet another US electile disfunction commentary


> > . . . I tend to be pretty skeptical of gun control as a solution to
crime
> in any
> > case, since economic factors are far more important.  And it's a little
> too
> > late to get all the guns off the streets in any case.  So if progressive
> > Dems did want to play "Survivor" among the various Democratic voting
> groups,
> > I would definately vote Handgun Control Inc. off the progressive island
> and
> > try to get more NRA union folks back.    -- Nathan Newman
>
>
> christ, we actually agree on something.
>
> I would throw off the tobacco taxers too.
> But don't get me started.  I might reveal
> my reactionary side.
>
> mbs
>