The Truth at last.

For 22 days the hunger strike was one of Americas best kept secrets because of the anti- smoking sentiment and liberal bias of the electronic press, that being that only liberals are guaranteed the right of free speech.

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The hunger strike was undertaken as way to unlock the Cigarette Gate© which blocked the public form knowing the difference between cigarettes and tobacco. Yet once begun, the struggle became more of an issue over free speech and the result of the fact that after more than 15 years of attempting to stir fair public debate on the smoking issue and despite having collect tens of thousands of signatures asking for such debate nothing but form letters had been received.

The response to the letter sent to Donahue which preceded the letter which threatened the hunger strike met only with excuses for not answering the mass of communications sent previously. There seemed to be little possibility of POSTting a fair hearing thus the letter threatening the hunger strike was sent. The arrogant nature of the Donahue response to this letter clearly illustrated that there was no free speech when it came to the rights of smokers. At this point the hunger strike became a matter of free speech and resulted only after years of writing letters in defence of the difference between cigarettes and tobacco which met with only stall after stall from those whom he petitioned. The stone wall continued as even his request after the hunger strike for reconsideration and reconciliation also went ignored.

Despite a deluge of faxes, calls and letters of support for Dr. Lapides from his community, renown talk show hosts like Springer, Geraldo, Oprah, and Larry King, who in defence for their lewd tabloid approach to programming publicly profess to give anyone a chance to speak, privately did all that they could do to keep the truth about the difference between tobacco and cigarettes from the public and to suppress the news about the hunger strike.

The fact that the concentration of ownership of the media has given a few the ability to impose national censorship was never clearer. One of the National Bureau Vice Presidents for the Associated Press expressed his regret that he would not put the story on the AP wire because he had to back up the decisions made by his Knoxville reporter, regardless of the reporter's bias.

This reporter along with his counter part at the Knoxville News Sentinel conspired to keep the news of the hunger strike from gaining national attention, since they were both unashamedly anti-smoking. It worries me that they got to decide for America what it should hear, though neither impressed me as having the capacity of understanding the arguments or implications of the chemical issues involved with my struggle. Since both in my opinion had obviously risen to their positions as entitlements because of their conditions, I was not surprised by their astonished negative response to my question as to whether they would censure the "physically challenged" or "women" if they personally (though rather unlikely) held such blind bigotry against those groups.

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You MUST be at least 18 years of age to purchase tobacco products in Tennessee! We do not sell tobacco products in Maine or Arizona. All Packages are shipped US Post Office unless you specify UPS. All Customers will be Charged for Shipping & Return Postage on any Refused or Returned package(s). International Customers: You are to check with your local customs & duty officials to see if there are additional duties or fees required, or if there are prohibitions on tobacco or amounts of tobacco which can be shipped to your country.	Charge card customers may order by calling 1-800-862-2204 To check on an order call 865-436-4412, 9am-3pm Eastern Time Monday-Friday. Visit our showroom on D-Level of the Mountain Mall, on the corner of Parkway and River Road in Gatlinburg! We are open 7 days a week. Prices subject to change without prior notice. No Cash Refunds. Merchandise credit ONLY on returns. We DO NOT ship cigarettes.
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THE GATLINBURLIER DOES NOT SHIP CIGARETTES.

Here is the change in government you were promised!
Change in the form of a 30% or better increase to the cost of tobacco products with an added dose of insult. Get mad. Call your representatives and call them a name. Economically Ignorant Extortionist Fool, is politically correct and accurate. Here is the phone number for contacting your US Senators.

Here is the phone number for contacting your US Senators.

PHONE NOW: 202-224-3121
Tobacconists are as helpless as any other victim of organized crime. Maybe we are even more helpless since we face criminals masquerading as government representatives.

The time for nice words and platitudes has passed. The tax-gouging Congress has declared war on 20% of the American population. They have used taxation as a method of discrimination and discrimination as a tactic for persecution. Their punitive taxes have caused tremendous price increases for product, and you and we in the tobacco business have no representation to or protection from our government. Our forefathers went to war over a few pennies increase in the tax on tea, while we suffer from tax increases in the hundreds of percents. We too are being forced to cede our freedoms or also go to war.

The government�s negative economic radical action against smokers will cause decreased tax revenues for the programs that these new taxes were to fund, and sooner rather than later, all will share in the misery caused by congressmen turned extortionists. It is way past time for being the squeaky wheel. It is time to be the screeching halt. Consider acts of civil disobedience before your obedience becomes subservience.

The Gatlinburlier,
Ira T. Lapides, PhD
President