Frankfort is the STATE CAPITOL of Kentucky. It is really a small town. They have (had) a nice little downtown area, with lots of sidewalk cafes, and upscale shops. I was there with the Liberty Van in December 2006, just a couple of weeks before their smoking ban started (on New Year's Day). The area seemed to be thriving then. I was also there in mid March, and though a couple of the places were closed, and did not seem to be so many people there, most of these places were open.

I was in Frankfort, Kentucky on Memorial Day (5/30/07) at about 9 PM. That's when these pictures were taken. Since it was a HOLIDAY, it should have been 'hopping', instead the ENTIRE STREET was CLOSED AND DESERTED. I parked the van right in the middle of the street to take these photos of some of the 'FOR RENT' and 'FOR SALE' signs. I was IN SHOCK. The only other people on the entire block walked over to talk to me. They told me that one restaurant had a fire, but the rest of this was due to THE SMOKING BAN. Yes, bans DO NOT HELP the economy, ESPECIALLY in a TOBACCO STATE.

I happened to hear the story on the radio about how a smoking ban was shoved into the CAPITOL city of Kentucky, a state that very well may be the 'Tobacco Capitol of America'. It seems an 11 year old school girl, who has asthma, became an 'activist'. She started going around with petitions to get a smoking ban. I guess no one told her the truth - that asthma has risen 500%, and is STILL rising SINCE for the past 20 years we've had 50% fewer smokers, and 75% less indoor smoke. http://www.hosanna1.com/smoking/CausesAsthmaNOT/ & http://www.forces.org/research/files/asthma.htm

No one told her that The People's Republic of California, with the MOST 'smoke free' air for the LONGEST time (statewide smoking ban since 1998) has the highest asthma rate in the entire USA. No one told her that KENTUCKY - with (probably) one of the HIGHEST percentages of smokers in their population, and probably the most folks still heating with WOOD, and (in the USA) one of the highest poverty rates, nonetheless had the LOWEST incidence of asthma in the entire USA. NO ONE told her about the VERY LARGE and well designed study in Europe, with more than 10,000 cases, that in homes where at least one parent smoked at least 12 cigarettes a day, there was STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LOWER RATES of asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, allergies, and respiratory problems in general.

NO one told this girl the TRUTH - that cigarette smoke is 98% WATER VAPOR. NO one pointed out to her that we are a species who survived - supposedly for 'millennia' - by COOKING and HEATING by BURNING ALL KINDS OF STUFF. I guess, if we are not yet adapted to smoke in our environment, that kind of throws the whole theory of evolution out the window, doesn't it???

NO one mentioned to her the fact that The Bible (KJV) has almost four HUNDRED references to incense being burned, and burnt offerings INSIDE God's temple at his OWN command. No one pointed out to her that perhaps if the EPA had been around then to tell the Lord how many carcinogens are in a burnt offering, He might have known that smoke in our environment is 'not healthy' for us??? NO one told her that incense has ALL THE SAME THINGS that are in TOBACCO SMOKE (plus more) at about 40 times HIGHER concentrations? Personally, I happen to believe the Real Gospel, rather than the evolution 'gospel'. I don't think for a SECOND that God ever commanded us to DO ANYTHING that was not FOR OUR GOOD.

I don't know about you, folks, but I HATE being lied to, and WE ARE being lied to - about our HEALTH. I have 'followed the money', and found, that in addition to hundreds of millions of YOUR tax $, the anti-smoking movement is being funded by the PHARMACEUTICAL industry. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2006/01/will-there-be-investigation-into-this.html

http://www.aalf.ws/smoking/drug-cos-fund-smoking-bans/ Smoking bans are NICODERM MARKETING PLANS. THIS is why our state (Kentucky) is exporting our entire tobacco industry to the Philippines, Brazil, India, etc., too. The drug companies are attempting to GET RID OF THEIR COMPETITOR, the tobacco industry.

Nowadays, the big pHARMa propaganda machine scares us off cigarettes with phony junk science, then they sell us weight loss drugs, stomach surgeries, and a MYRIAD of high priced drugs for all the problems attendant with obesity (which has become epidemic since the advent of the anti-smoking movement) - from insulin to heart drugs. They shove us off cigarettes, pipes, and cigars, and then sell us PROZAC (and related psychotropic drugs), as smoking is a SELF treatment for STRESS. Smokers have the LOWEST rates of ulcerative colitis and crone's disease, and EX-smokers have the HIGHEST rates. Those are MORE PROFIT centers for the drug companies. Smokers have 70% less Alzheimer's & Parkinson's diseases - THOSE are profit centers for the drug companies. And of course, the ever escalating ASTHMA rate (since reduction in smoking) is another profit center for the drug companies. Oh, what about lung cancer? Since for the past 20 years we've had about 50% fewer smokers, and 75% less indoor smoke (due to both fewer smokers AND bans), lung cancer has NOT gone down. The only thing that seems to have change there, is that since we only have 1/2 as many smokers, now the number of those who have NEVER smoked who have lung cancer has nearly DOUBLED. So, smoking bans, and the anti-smoking movement have NOT reduced big pHARMa profits for cancer drugs, but have INCREASED their profits in MANY other areas.

Junk 'science' is being used to attempt to convince us all that someone ELSE's tobacco smoke is deadly. But there are nearly TWICE as many studies showing NEGATIVE risk (POSSIBLE BENEFIT) from ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) - although the vast majority of ALL the studies show NO statistically significant effect at all. Even the World Health Organization is LYING about THEIR OWN ETS study, which showed only ONE statistically significant result - 22% LESS lung cancer among those whose PARENTS SMOKED. http://www.davehitt.com/facts/who.html

The numbers of folks supposedly 'killed off' by someone esle's tobacco smoke are FAKE. They are NOT REAL dead people. They are COMPUTER PROJECTIONS, based on junk 'science'. Nowhere in the ENTIRE WORLD is there a SINGLE death certificate that lists 'killed by someone else's cigarette smoke' on it. On the other hand, the numbers of folks who DIE each year due to prescription drug 'oopses', and outright BAD prescription drugs ARE REAL DEAD PEOPLE - about a quarter of a million of them a YEAR in the USA ALONE.

Lying to a CHILD like this is not only lies, these are EVIL lies. I think in this state, a majority believe in God our creator. I don't think he loves ANY kind of LIES, even if there is a 'worthy cause', such as stuffing the coffers of big pHARMa (the pharmaceutical industry) at the expense of our state's tobacco industry.