Rather than fighting it out in the legislature...

[Fluff and Stuff]

Aparently not.  I live in a predominately Black neighborhood.  15 years ago I would never see younger people around here, now all teens seem to be smoking.  I know 'Kools' became popular with many of them some years ago, so, that might be what got it going.

That's interesting.  Few black people even smoke.  Like 6 of the 50 black people I know smoke.

That's 12%.  The national median is 10%, if I'm not mistaken.

OK, a sample of 50 of way off and this is just me.  I'd say about twice as many white folks (percentage wise) that I know some when compared to blacks (percentage wise).  I am not sure of the actual facts, but I'd be willing to bet (if I bet) that the national average for blacks is much lower than whites.  I tend to not hang out with smokers and accordingly, I end up hanging out with my black friends a lot more than my white friends.

[Friday]

This may not exactly match up, but I've been thinking about something similar to this regarding disasters (storms, fires, death of parent of youngsters, etc.). What do you think about setting up some kind of volunteer action to reach out to these people and help them directly - without government assistance?

I like this idea a lot.  Kind of like a militia, only instead of spending your free time practicing how to kill people, you spend it practicing how to save people.  And of course, everything you learn/practice can be applied to yourself and your family when needed.

San Francisco has a program like this to prepare volunteers for major earthquakes.  When the Big One hits, the streets will be filled with rubble (the ones that aren't on fire, that is).  Ambulances and fire trucks won't be able to get anywhere.  People will need to depend on themselves, and the kindness of well-prepared strangers.  One place that I worked had a well-thought-out disaster preparedness plan, right down to the level of detail of where to haul the dead bodies. 

[Kat Kanning]

How did they train, Friday?  Did the gov't train them?

[Friday]

I'm not positive, as it has been several years since I lived in SF proper, but yes, I think it was a government-sponsored program.  You'd take the standard first aid courses and then learn extra stuff about emergency triage.

Maybe a baby step along this path would be for as many of us as possible to take a first aid course. I've done it several times, but it's the sort of stuff I forget because I never put it to use.

[Incrementalist]

Aparently not.  I live in a predominately Black neighborhood.  15 years ago I would never see younger people around here, now all teens seem to be smoking.  I know 'Kools' became popular with many of them some years ago, so, that might be what got it going.

That's interesting.  Few black people even smoke.  Like 6 of the 50 black people I know smoke.

That's 12%.  The national median is 10%, if I'm not mistaken.

OK, a sample of 50 of way off and this is just me.  I'd say about twice as many white folks (percentage wise) that I know some when compared to blacks (percentage wise).  I am not sure of the actual facts, but I'd be willing to bet (if I bet) that the national average for blacks is much lower than whites.  I tend to not hang out with smokers and accordingly, I end up hanging out with my black friends a lot more than my white friends.

I'd certainly want you to clear up the numbers before going around making the claim.  Drawing lines by race about anything is a touchy subject, you don't want to approach it if you don't have some serious data on the issue.

[KBCraig]

I'd certainly want you to clear up the numbers before going around making the claim.

I googled it up, but it was late and I didn't get around to posting the numbers. I believe the overall smoking rate for white non-hispanic adults was 22%, and for blacks it was 21%.

Kevin

[Lloyd Danforth]

Aparently not.  I live in a predominately Black neighborhood.  15 years ago I would never see younger people around here, now all teens seem to be smoking.  I know 'Kools' became popular with many of them some years ago, so, that might be what got it going.

That's interesting.  Few black people even smoke.  Like 6 of the 50 black people I know smoke.

That's 12%.  The national median is 10%, if I'm not mistaken.

OK, a sample of 50 of way off and this is just me.  I'd say about twice as many white folks (percentage wise) that I know some when compared to blacks (percentage wise).  I am not sure of the actual facts, but I'd be willing to bet (if I bet) that the national average for blacks is much lower than whites.  I tend to not hang out with smokers and accordingly, I end up hanging out with my black friends a lot more than my white friends.

I'd certainly want you to clear up the numbers before going around making the claim.  Drawing lines by race about anything is a touchy subject, you don't want to approach it if you don't have some serious data on the issue.

I don't know about touchy, so much as talking about apples and oranges.  My exposure is urban Blacks.  I'm guessing TN-FSP might know many college Blacks

[Incrementalist]

I know, I'm just saying that people don't leave much room for debate when race comes up in the conversation, so if you're going to make a claim involving race, make sure you have your homework ready.

[Atlas]

I know, I'm just saying that people don't leave much room for debate when race comes up in the conversation, so if you're going to make a claim involving race, make sure you have your homework ready.

It shouldn't be too big of a deal in NH. It would be in MI.

[Dreepa]

I'm not positive, as it has been several years since I lived in SF proper, but yes, I think it was a government-sponsored program.  You'd take the standard first aid courses and then learn extra stuff about emergency triage.

Maybe a baby step along this path would be for as many of us as possible to take a first aid course. I've done it several times, but it's the sort of stuff I forget because I never put it to use.

My wife and I took a class run by the city when I lived in LA.

Everyone should take First Aid and CPR classes.  That could be done by the Red Cross.  If we got a big enough group it could be cheap.

Other things to know.  How to make a 72 hour kit.  (I could give that class).
I am sure that there are other topics that we could fill in.

[Kat Kanning]

John Babiarz is in the volunteer fire dept.  I wonder if he could do some emergency training for us?