Would love to see these trends plotted against total tax burden on cigarettes: Federal, state/provincial, local.
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What is that? The foliage looks like the damned ‘iceplants’ people (terraformers) like to plant as groundcovers.
I knew it! Vile weeds…
He-he-he…I rednecked - Oops! I mean ‘modified’ a Harbor Freight Sidewalk Ice Melter into a propane weed torch. If you really want to get rid of those things, I’ll send you a list of instructions - easy peasy!
My dad has a degree in forestry, and spent most of his life selling equipment and chemical for vegetation management (ask me about the awesome power of the top of the line tree chippers.) One of his favorite quips for when such and such won’t grow in South Central Kansas, “God didn’t put such in such in Kansas.”
Whats worse, what DOES grow down there that God didn’t put, and tends to over run native plants. There is a weed taking root at his local lake - the one he fishes so much he caught 2000 crappie last year. He has told them they need to do something now, as it will choke the ever living shit out of huge sections, but the people there are hesitant to use chemicals, and don’t have the man power to attempt to control it physically.
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“But it’s pretty!” (The justification for half of the invasive species out there.)
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Let me guess, you watched a lot of Beevis and Butthead as a kid
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That’s one of the (many) common names, actually. But to be fair, “iceplant” refers to a variety of genera in the Aizoaceae family. This specific species, Carpobrotus edulus, is with its sister species the ubiquitous coastal iceplant weed throughout Mediterranean climates worldwide. It was introduced to prevent dune erosion but, ironically again, contributes to exactly that with the water weight from its leaves. It spreads from seeds AND fragmentation, the plant itself can’t be burned due to its water content (it’s recommended as a fire break in the interior valleys), the only effective treatment is the absolutely DRENCH the inhabited soil with Glyphosate herbicides.
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Hmmmm…is there something that eats Sunfish and that specific weed?
c.f. Tamarisk, Russian Olive, Kudzu vine, Eurasian sunflowers, Starlings, European sparrow, Prickly pear, Mediterranean barley, phragmites…
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I worked in restaurants in the 80s when it was common for patrons to smoke after their meal. It was no big deal cleaning up after they left, pick up the dishes, dump and wipe out the ash tray, wipe the table. I worked in that smoke filled environment. These days, it’s highly offensive to see someone smoke indoors. I encounter it when I go to Reno, in a casino (which is rare for me) and it’s just blows my mind that this was ‘normal’ back in the day.
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Yes, I believe we are united in our hatred of that particular plant - the Kniebolds, who coined the term Xeriscaping, personally liked that plant and advocated that everyone in the Denver Water District kill their Kentucky Bluegrass* and replace it with those vile weeds. If it helps, our clay does eventually poison it. …and the weed torch from Hell!
- “Does this LOOK like Kentucky here? No, it does not. Quit planting that crap!”
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Even better was the smoking “section” on commercial flights. Yeah, that really protected the non-smokers from all those second-hand carcinogens.
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When I was working in the Diarrhea Laboratory, I was the only non-smoker. My co-workers would pour radiation with one un-gloved hand* and smoke with the other. “The government has outlawed smoking in the workplace? F@%# 'em - it’s all fake news”. I had to bleach the ceiling tiles because they were so yellow with nicotine, no one could tell what exactly was falling off them and into the beakers.
*The smokers refused to wear gloves because they had caught them on fire too many times. About 6 months after I was fired for ‘Being Female’, I ran into one of the other lab assistants. The lab lost their license to do research with radioactive markers when the radiation inspector….started on the top floor first! They were caught red-handed. So to speak.
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I don’t imagine it would survive particularly well in the Colorado climate to begin with. It’s particularly susceptible to cold weather, high rates of frost mortality are the reason it hasn’t invaded further from the coast.
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That the rampant smoking was truly the most disgusting part of working in the Diarrhea Laboratory says a lot!
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By the looks of that chart, I have to wonder: did governments (at least states in the US) raise taxes on tobacco to deter smoking, or to make up for lost revenue due to people quitting on their own?
I quit around 2006, and was astounded in the years following by packs nearly doubling in price.
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… Europeans,
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ABSOLUTELY! The lab wasn’t ‘dinged’ for their bad science, it was for ignoring radiation protocols in order to keep smoking, smoking, smoking non-stop.
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I was just a boy in the eighties, and I recall accompanying my mom at the local mall when smoking indoors was acceptable. When she finished a cigarette, she would just toss the butt on the floor and stamp it out. Workers walked around with brooms and dustpans to sweep up everyone’s butts.
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I tried to use Prickly Pears* to turn my garage roof into a ‘green roof’ - apparently, even Prickly Pears are too delicate for that microclimate.
- I started microscopic cacti from seeds collected from another part of my yard. I’m going to take another run at it this summer, but THIS time, I’m going break off pads and start them that way.
If you continue to not have success converting to a “green roof,” you’ll always have pun ammunition for comments about successful green roof cultivation going over your head.
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