Smokers die "early"...While this cannot really be considered scientific evidence, it is a fact nevertheless.
The oldest people on Earth are all smokers. According to the World Health Organization and the statisticians of the anti-tobacco cartel, however, these are (or will be) all premature deaths, for the simple reason that they are smokers. Therefore, these individuals did (or will) add to the smoking-related death epidemic figures that the charlatans of the numerous anti-tobacco organizations keep waving in front of politicians, media, and public.
FORCES wishes to thank
Wanda Hamilton for her usual, meticulously accurate work.
World's oldest -- All smokers
(Original compilation by Wanda Hamilton)
Says who that smoking kills? Good habits such as smoking are the secret of good life - In spite of the drumming propaganda, every record of super-longevity belongs to smokers. Here is the case of Zhang Shuqing, a centenarian in Pixian, Sichuan, China, turned 100 on May 7, and who "buried" his own daughter - probably a non smoker! - eight years ago. Jokes aside, one is to think and really ponder on this.
Record-setters of longevity are ALL smokers with a lot of other "bad" habits: Zhang also eats like a pig, including
a daily bowl of pork fat! A paradox? Hold on: what is a paradox? Something contrary to scientifically established facts, or contrary to BELIEFS passed as scientific facts? Let's face it: if smoking were such a "bad" habit Zhang and so many like him would not be here to prove the opposite, would they?
The Big 115: another ancient smoker has a birthday party -
August 28, 2006 - A reader tipped us off to this story of the ex-smoker, never-drinker who was already six when the U.S. seized Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898. "I never damaged my body with liquor," said Mercado, who quit a 76-year smoking habit when he was 90. Happy birthday, Mr. Mercado del Toro!
The tobacco death toll - February 26, 2003 - Mercilessly, tobacco keeps harvesting an endless number of premature victims. Day after day millions of cigarettes are produced by criminals who KNOW that each and every one of their customers will DIE - and there is no escape, and no more unquestionable truth: if you smoke, you die.
This is the case of the late John McMorran, of Lakeland, Florida. He smoked cigars, drank beer and ate greasy food - and now he has paid the dear price for a life turned that stands as an insult to the health crusaders. John was born June 19, 1889, in a log cabin in Michigan, and he was the oldest American living - but he could have lived longer. And that is not all; it is well known that smoking causes blindness and ear problems. In fact, "McMorran's eyesight failed in his final years, and people needed to shout for him to hear them." What a waste. This is what tobacco does to you. May this epitaph stand as warning to the young, so that they learn to NEVER make John's mistakes, and turn into statistical deaths.
The Italian Massacre - February 26, 2003 - In the meantime, we get a full dimension of what tobacco does to people in other countries as well. The Italian daily
Libero has just reported updates on the Tobacco Massacre of Milan last February 6
th. Out of a population of 2.2 million in that city,
there are 646 people whose lives will, inevitably, be cut short - shortly after they turn 100. Two of them are already 110, five are 109 and 12 are 106. Another 217 are only 100, 167 just turned 101, and 115 are 102. But that's not over. Over 35,000 Milanese are in the age range between 85 and 94, and another 92,000 are between 75 and 84. You can see them in the polluted Italian city with their dogs, in the typical little bars, indulging in despicable habits such as coffee, grease-filled brioches, alcohol and - worst of all -
smoking Tuscan cigars that stink more than any diesel tailpipe, poisoning their peers. Some of them even "do" cigarettes, having indulged in the deadly habit
for over 94 years. Imagine how dirty their lungs are. According to the daily, in fact,
the overwhelming majority of these people either smokes, drinks, or eats fatty foods. Most even do it all. No wonder the heroic health authorities must intervene to stop the carnage. It's either now or never!
Tobacco Claims Two More - The Philippines lost one of that country's most prolific and beloved composers and lyricists.
Levi Celerio, who wrote the lyrics for more than 4,000 folk, Christmas and love songs, died after a bout of emphysema. Obituaries noted that Mr. Celerio was a chain smoker. He was 91. He is survived by his third wife and the 12 children he managed to father
despite the impotence caused by tobacco. From the other side of the world, the United Kingdom morns the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. The mother of Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother was a bon vivant who loved horse racing, gin cocktails and, sadly, cigarettes. It was the latter, the beastly coffin nails, that did her in.
She was 101 years old.Television Pioneer's Life Cut Short - His trademark cigar rarely left his hand. In an interview two years ago, Berle said he'd smoked cigars
since he was 12. "I figure if George Burns can smoke 20 cigars a day his whole life and live to be 100, why should I worry if they're bad for me?" We note the passing of Milton Berle with sadness and anger at a creative life cut short by excessive tobacco use. Mr. Berle died Wednesday from colon cancer. He was 93.
Smoking Kills Famous Director - Succumbing to a life time of smoking, Hollywood director Billy Wilder died Wednesday at the age of 95. The 6-time Oscar winner directed such classics as
Some Like It Hot and
Sunset Boulevard. His 1955 movie
The Seven Year Itch made a contemporary icon of Marilyn Monroe's pose over a New York subway vent. The premature deaths of these two well-known victims of tobacco give added urgency to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's campaign to eliminate smoking from movies. Once smoking is banished from the silver screen, the focus can be shifted to the people who make and star in the movies the movies. The carnage must be halted.
Gregorio Fuentes - Cut Down By Tobacco Before His Time - Gregorio Fuentes, who skippered Ernest Hemingway's fabled fishing boat, the
Pilar, for more than 20 years and is said to have been the writer's inspiration for the embattled fisherman in
The Old Man and the Sea, has died. He was 104. Fuentes died of cancer Sunday at his home in Cojimar, the quiet Cuban fishing village about 10 miles east of Havana where Hemingway used to dock the Pilar. Smoking until the end, Fuentes is sad proof that tobacco kills.
John Berry - John Berry, a rugged-faced pipe smoker, a stage and movie director, writer and actor who made more than 50 films and, entangled in the blacklist, exiled himself from Hollywood during the anti-Communist inquests of the 1950s, died Nov. 29, 1999 at his home in Paris. He was 82.
Another premature, tobacco-related death, no doubt. We are not kidding.
Every smoker who dies is logged as a tobacco-related death to beef up mortality statistics and imply that those who don't smoke are either immortal, or live much longer lives. And when they die (...sorry, IF they die) they are not logged as a tobacco-related deaths
even if they died of the identical diseases of smokers. ... How else do you think that the anti-tobacco cartel builds up its statistical garbage about the "smoking epidemic?"
Isabella Gibson ready to celebrate her 99th - Another smoker approaches one century of life. Gambling, smoking, and enjoying life does not seem to have cut short the life of this person, though she will certainly be logged as yet another "premature, tobacco-related death" by the crooked statistics designed to create numbers proving the Lie of the Century. Isabella seems to be still in good health, notwithstanding osteoporosis (smoking-related, no doubt). Happy birthday, Isabella -- and keep on smokin'!
Wencelao Moreno: another victim bites the dust - It's with extreme sadness that we report the sad demise of Wencelao Moreno of a smoking related illness. Mr. Moreno, better known as "Senor Wences" of the
Ed Sullivan Show was 103. During the benighted era when ash resided in ash trays rather than dictating policy in Washington, Senor Wences joked, drank and smoked with his puppets on T.V. All his puppets died of secondhand smoke decades ago. Although his premature passing is sad, his death is warning to us all that smoking kills.
Mme Jeanne Calment, who was listed as the world's oldest human whose birth date could be certified, died at 122. She had begun smoking as a young woman. At 117 she quit smoking (by that age she was just smoking two or three cigarettes per day because she was blind and was too proud to ask often for someone to light her cigarettes for her). But she resumed smoking when she was 118 because, as she said, not smoking made her miserable and she was too old to be made miserable. She also said to her doctor: "Once you've lived as long as me, only then can you tell me not to smoke." Good point! [
USA Today, "Way to go, champ," 10/18/95].
When Mme. Calment died at 122 in 1997, the new longevity champ became 116-year-old
Marie-Louise Meilleur, of Canada. Mme. Meilleur had chain-smoked all her adult life (as her grandson said, "She always had a cigarette dangling from her lips as she worked,"--AP, 8/15/97, reported in
Miami Herald, p. 2A). She did give up smoking, however, when she was nearly 100.
The world's oldest man is (unless he has died since the last report I have, which is 1997)
Christian Mortensen, 114 in 1997,who has been a cigar smoker for most of his life--and still smokes them. [
San Francisco Chronicle, "114 and Still Smoking," Peter Fimrite, 8/5/97, p.A13].
Britain's oldest man,
George Cook, died at 108 in his sleep in September, 1997. He "smoked heavily for 85 years before giving up tobacco at the age of 97," ("World Briefs,"
Houston Chronicle, 9/29/97).
The
Scottish Daily Record (12/15/97) reported on
Ivy Leighton, 100, who smoked 20 cigarettes a day for 84 years, but cut down somewhat after her 100th birthday.
April claimed smoking was the key to her long life.There are two men who claim to be the world's oldest living humans, but their birth dates cannot be certified. One is
Ali Mohammed Hussein, who claimed to be 135, of Lebanon. He "smokes like a chimney," but does not drink alcohol [CNN World News, "Born in 1862," Brent Sadler, 5/13/l997].
The title is also claimed by
Narayan Chaudhari, a Nepalese man who says he is 141. However, his birth date also cannot be certified. He too is a heavy smoker and
says the secret of his longevity is "raw tobacco and no alcohol." [Nando net, Agence France-Press, "Nepalese man claims to be 141, which would make him world's oldest", 2/12/98].
Reader Comments
Seems like Wanda likes to cherry pick examples....In only just a few minutes I found these
"...Weaver cited three factors for her longevity: "Trusting in the Lord, hard work and loving everybody...."
[Link]
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"...Richard says she has told them to secret is to keep clean, mind your own business, and have a cold beer once in a while..."
[Link]
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"....A non-driver, she has previously attributed her longevity to frequent walks, not smoking and only drinking in moderation...."
[Link]
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Seems to me that these old folks ( including the articles author ) really don't know what it takes to be able to live to a very old age.
Actually it just may be, for lack of a better term, genetics...and/or perhaps the simple truth as well, these people found what worked for them, which may not be the best for the next person. Then again, it just may be a mix of many factors covering their entire life from the start, and they had little to do with any of it, other than just being themselves.
I think the whole point of my response, is such a title to the article implies smoking is good for you for a long healthy life; which is very misleading and not true. As I am very sensitive and aware of what is and what is not good for myself, I do know smoking is toxic to my body; and I don't need any kind of scientific study to verify that. Just the same, I wouldn't judge another who does smoke as someone who doesn't know what they are doing and what is or is not good for themselves.
I may just drop dead at an early age, but it won't be because I didn't smoke...but I will of had a much better quality of life than if I had smoked...such is how smoking affects me.
I've made up my mind. Please don't confuse me with the facts.
Sorry but your "arcticle" is just cherry picking.
It is fact, that smokers die earlier, life long smokers die about 10 years earlier, there are a lot studies from different countries that prove it, for example UK [Link] or Japan: [Link]
100+ years on this godforsaken planet? Maybe I should quit smoking...
When there's war, famine, plague - people don't do the work. When there's peace, prosperity and plenty, people don't do the work. A hail of space rocks isn't going to change that state of affairs in a hurry either.
it seems. I love smoking, it has helped calm my mind since I was 11 years old. I have been smoking for 20 years and have no intention of quitting, and not because I am addicted. I have had other problems in my life that I've had to quit, smoking is not one of these. Now lets not confuse tobacco with the hundreds of chemicals in the standard pack of smokes. People like to lump the two together as if a pack of Marlborough's is pack of tobacco. Big difference. That's like saying that chlorinated pool water is safe to drink because it is water (mostly). The truth is that there aren't really any studies (at least to my knowledge) that take this into consideration. Cigs are cigs, right. No, actually many cigs are poison sticks but that has nothing to do with tobacco. If you like smoking I would recommend rolling your own with organic (pesticide and additive free) tobacco.
Smoke countains thousands od chemicals, no matter if you smoke additive oder additive free cigarettes.
Tobacco Smoke is highly carcinogenic. Point.
Obviously, we (readers and commenters at Sott) need a powerful, unifying government and military to step in here and bring peace to this fierce smoking/non-smoking health issue.
The way they do it in Afghanistan.
Or Gaza.
Or the Mexican/U.S. border.
(sarcasm)
ned, out
My grandmother Fotine lived to be 102. She smoked her own homegrown tobacco all of her life. The family speculates that she may have lived longer if she had not fallen out of a tree at the age of 86 and broken her back,
Sorry. I meant great grandmother. She was my grandmother's mother. In my language we call all elders by the same word and not so not use the generational graduations.
There is nothing better than an article like this to bring out the rabid anti-smokers, you can hear them gnashing their teeth and hysterically shrieking. How dare somebody suggest that smoking is not deadly! Don't bother showing them evidence, or data that contradicts their world view, they cannot see it and they will not read it or even consider it. Likely they will have a heart attack, so upset they are at the heresy somebody is spreading.
Relax guys, really. Try to calm down and actually read some of the research that is science based, rather than the pseudo scientific religious beliefs we have foisted on us by the nanny state and hysterical anti smoking nazis.
It is clearly proven that smokers die ealier, i allready posted the links with the studies. But i think that you cannot see it and will not read it or even consider it, because it contradicts your cranky world view.
What evidence? I think pro smoking bloggers like you do not even know what the word evidence means, because the stupid SOTT article does not show any evidence.
It is clearly proven that smokers die ealier, i allready posted the links with the studies. But i think that you cannot see it and will not read it or even consider it, because it contradicts your cranky world view.
I have enjoyed the articles on sott, paid my voluntary contribution, but the continued pro smoking propaganda really destroys the credibility of the site.
I would suggest a careful review of the medical literature by the editors, it might just change their viewpoint.
The supposed "facts" that support smoking as healthful, are all put forth by the Tobacco industry financed studies.
Greed is at the bottom of it.
You seem very concerned that everyone should know what a "good" person you are. Vanity of vanities. Listen: I've smoked like a chimney for decades. I never get ill, and quite frankly, don't need saving, especially not by silly covert fascists who have no idea how up themselves they are.
Since when,have the powers that be given the slightest about our health & wellbeing.
That hard truth alone should prime ones alarm bells.
Meanwhile,here in New Zealand,$20.00 per packet of 20- Or $10.00US.
Farkn outrage.
Tobacco Smoke is highly carcinogenic. Point."
Ask yourself: Why are you here every day tilting at windmills?
About a week after reading this article I hit up an antique mall where I came across a man who cleaned out the home of a woman who finally kicked the bucket at age 99 after outliving her children. I made off with 4 smoking advertisements from the 1940s and a greek themed statue from the 1920s that is so covered in smoke residue that only my homemade lard soap is taking off. It is pretty clear to me that the woman must have smoked like a chimney and I'd consider her life a testament to what is discussed in this article.