The United Paranoid States of America

I work in retail and have a great deal of interaction with the general public. I have found, that the feeble emotional state of mind of Americans is dictated by what the drive by media shoots out as "news stories".

Example number one: An elderly customer calls my store and requests that I check the ACT Restoring mouthwash to see if there are safety seals on the bottle. I inform her that, yes, there is plastic wrap on the mouthwash. She states that her bottle of ACT, which she has just opened today and bought 3 months ago, didn't have a seal. I apologized to her, and told her that I would not be able to exchange or refund the product because she bought it over 30 days ago. She yells, "ARE YOU SAYING THERE IS SOMETHING IN MY MOUTHWASH?" What the hell? I repeat to her, no ma'am, I'm just saying I can't return the product...

Since 1982, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made it a federal law for all products to have a safety seal as a result of the Tylenol Murders. Since then, the American public views the safety seal as a protective barrier against product tampering and poisoning. However, the FDA approved dangerous drugs such as Celebrex, which has caused 300 deaths in America. Prescription drug deaths has increased 68 per cent between 1999 and 2004--but the FDA is doing nothing to inform the public on the dangers of mixing drugs...maybe because representatives from big Pharma companies approve prescription drugs?

Example number two: Customer comes into my store wanting a refund of a pack of cigars she bought for her husband, because the cigars were of bad quality. I inform her that I cannot refund tobacco products, but because of the poor quality, I will happily exchange the product. She informs that her husband needs to quit smoking, as he is having heart surgery. Again, I apologize and tell her the company policy. She then yells, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL MY HUSBAND? HE CAN'T SMOKE! YOU'RE KILLING MY HUSBAND!" I politely tell her that I didn't buy the cigars...and a light goes off in her head...and she says, "OH! I bought them!" and of course she was happy with an exchange, but She was killing her husband, not I. Nevertheless, her husband is having heart trouble, which could be caused by eating too many potato chips and fried chicken.

Alright folks, tobacco products are bad, ummmkaaay. No doubt smoking increases the RISK of cancer, however, carcinogens are found in every day products. Here is a list of a few chemicals found in tobacco:

Hydrogen cyanide: A chemical made during the production of plastics. Not to mention this chemical is found in every peach, cherry, and apple pit. The chemical has also been given credit as a life giving chemical. Of course, when in huge quantities, hydrogen cyanide is bad.

Carbon monoxide: Useful in the production of several industrial chemicals including dish detergents and the purification of the metal nickel. Carbon monoxide has always been in the atmosphere primarily as a result of volcanic explosions. Not to mention, if you heat your home with gas, you are breathing small amounts of carbon monoxide. Other important uses include: the packaging of meats and it is being studied to prevent the development of a series of pathological conditions such as ischemia reperfusion injury, transplant rejection, atherosclerosis, sepsis, severe malaria or autoimmunity.

Butane: Used in lighters, aerosol hairsprays and deodorants.

Toluene: Found in oil, rubbers, paint thinners, glue, and disinfectants.

Polonium-210: A radioactive chemical found naturally in the Earth. It is found in cigarettes in which the phosphate fertilizers are used. (So if these fertilizers are NOT used, then the chemical is NOT found...however phosphorous fertilizer is used in almost ALL crop production even though it causes cancer.)

Lead: A natural, but dangerous metal found in the earth. It is also used to make pewter silverware, paint, and as a glaze on some tableware products. It is also released into the air by big industrial companies that make gasoline. Not to mention, the lead released in car emissions..lead is every where...even the soil because of gasoline pipe leaks underground.

I, for one, just am not convinced that tobacco is the leading cause of all these cancers, especially lung cancer. Sure tobacco is bad, but so is driving a car, aerosol sprays, potato chips, human growth hormones in food, etc. Look, radon, a leading cause of lung cancer, is found in British homes because uranium is naturally decomposing in the ground, releasing radon in the air and causing lung cancer. Anyone else think this process causes lung cancer around the world? The chemicals found in cigarettes are found in too many everyday products and a byproduct of several natural processes. Plus, research shows that smokers who smoke 1 pack a day or less are 50% less likely to get lung cancer. So, guess the moral of the story is: everything is good in MODERATION.

Example number three: On the nightly news, a violent robbery of an elderly couple was reported. Apparently, a man knocked on the door, forced his way in, beat up the old man, kicked the old woman, and took their money. The elderly lady who was attacked, stated, "I'm just grateful I didn't get raped by this man."

Sorry old lady, but no one wants to rape your old raggedy butt. Rape among women is highly inflated on television, creating a false sense of paranoia among women. 17.7 million women are victims of completed or attempted rape, while 34.5 million Americans live below the poverty line. 80% of rape victims are WHITE, while 33% of Blacks and 28% of Hispanics live in poverty, that's a combined 61% of minorities. So, rape is an issue for WHITE people, and something MUST be done to stop the rape of WHITE people, while LITTLE is done to combat the poverty among Blacks and Hispanics.

You think rape among whites has ANYTHING to do with how white women are sexually portrayed on TV, magazines, billboards, alcohol commercials, and the like? White women are continuously labeled "sexual, flirtatious" objects starting with the Disney Princess collection. Just take a look at how sexy the cartoon images of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel are.

The beauty of women, or the life giving, life nurturing goddesses that we are, is being destroyed, and replaced with the image of sexual want and need for a prince (man) to come and rescue us.