Our mantra for World No Tobacco Day...

Repeat out loud whenever 
the urge to smoke hits... 
This is the RTS mantra-
The urge will pass...

A little black lung humor for World No Tobacco Day...

May 31 is WHO's 
World No Smoking Day.
For those trying to stay 
smoke free today,
we offer some dark 
humor somehow fitting
for those of you who are
hellbent on quitting...
Laughter is good medicine.
Denis Leary: "I'm an Asshole" (unscensored)

CNN: World No Tobacco Day is May 31

Meera Senthilingam reports 
for CNN about the World
Health Organization's World 
No Tobacco Day, May 31, 
and shares a list of ten great 
reasons to quit. WNTD also 
asks that you post your own
personal reason for quitting 
on Twitter using the hashtag 
#WhyIQuit.
CNN Health: Why you quit smoking...

NY Times Op-Ed: Smoking, Vaping & Nicotine by Joe Nocera

Joe Nocera reports on the 
efforts of Mitch Zeller, the 
Director of the Center for 
Tobacco Products, a division 
of the FDA. As Mitch quotes
Michael Russell, the South 
African tobacco scientist to 
first discovered that people 
became addicted to smoking 
because of the nicotine, Russell
said, "People smoke for the 
nicotine, but die from the tar..."
Zeller says that "there needs 
to be a rethink in society about
nicotine." Figuring out this 
reappraisal about nicotine is
Mitch Zeller's job. The dialogue
about nicotine expands....

NY Times Op-Ed: Smoking, Vaping & Nicotine by Joe Nocera

Photo courtesy the FDA

MAYBE smoked till he looked like this....

Don't. Smoke. Just don't.
You won't get a date.
Ever.

Smoking Worm courtesy of MIB II & Columbia Pictures

May 25 is Buddha's birthday...

Today is the day many cultures
celebrate Buddha's birthday.
It may not be an occasion
folks celebrate where you live;
but in places like Hong Kong, 
it's a holiday.

It's a good day to meditate 
on the way your life opens up 
once you become smoke free.
The following paintings are 
meditations about fresh air, 
and doing the right thing 
for yourself and the world.
Breathe...

Monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery paint a Sand Mandala
at the Center for the Work, Ojai, CA , Vesak, 5/25/15   

Remembering Billy, who didn't make it out of Viet Nam...

A day to remember 
the sacrifices of loved 
ones and friends...