GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Mar. 27, 2004 -- Imagine fighting two Beasts of Terror at the same time?  Or, two Goliaths and being only one David?  Or, trying to hang wallpaper with only one arm?
       Ah, the "double trouble of Terrorism."
       That's what I got myself into.
       My fight is on two fronts.

       One is eating too much.  The other smoking.
       Within a little more than a month, I have chosen to fight both the Beast of Obesity and the Beast of Smoking simultaneously.    It's like taking on Iraq and North Korea all at once, and needing someone to oil the swivel in your neck as you switch back forth from the Eastern to the Western front.
        So far, I've been successful.   Ah, beware the dangers of Complacency.
        For more than forty years I've smoked, crippling my lungs' capacity to manufacture oxygen, and choking bits and pieces of my life away with each puff.    I've heard a wide range of estimates from losing seven minutes of life for every cigarette you smoke to cutting down a third of the "quality of life" time.    
        The Beast of Smoking got too large and onerous.    I wish I had some magic answer as to why I finally quit on Valentine's Day when, almost every day I smoked I begged not to smoke to the gods above and all who might listen.    Providence must be the answer, or, the fact that I had chronic bronchitis five times this past year and got so tired of hacking and coughing I finally had a duel with the Beast of Coughing and Gagging, refusing to reduce myself any longer to a bent over phlegm hawker.

        The same is true with my weight.    There comes a time when you can no longer look a Ben & Jerry's in the eye, no matter how beautiful and seductive its black and white cows may appear grazing peacefully in the Vermont sunshine of cream and Heath Bar Crunch.
          I had reached my limit.    I was approaching three hundred pounds, a horrible size for me even though I am 6-4 and the weight generally seems to pile upon my bones in some relative even distribution.    
         Moving about, however, became as lugubrious as piloting the Exxon oil tanker in a sailboat harbor.    Bending over to tie my shoes threatened to burst my undersized trousers and created huge cramps that shot through my gut as though someone shoved electrical prods to my gut.
         Worse, I saw no end to my "obesity."
         I was Terrorizing myself with each bite; sliding deeper into the quagmire of adipose tissue; my blood pressure was raging wildly; I feared tripping on the streets of New York City and falling on a baby in a stroller, crushing it.    Several weeks ago an obese mother keeled over from a heart attack and smothered her young child.

       Somehow, over the past few weeks, I have been able to fight these two Beasts of Terror simultaneously.   I wouldn't recommend it, but I do say that it can be done.
        I call on the Sentinels of Smoking and Eating Vigilance to act in my behalf, be assured of that.  I am not foolish. 
       There is no way I can believe I have the personal power to stave off such incredible Beasts with such daunting power of persuasion:  "Aw, come on, Cliff, you can have one bite of chocolate!!!   You can handle one puff off that cigarette!!!   One pint of B&J!!!!"
        Most all of us in America and other prosperous parts of the world have been where I am--trying to push away food.    I could probably feed a whole village of people in impoverished parts of the world with my past overeating, but I am not here to bang the drums of social justice.
       My message today is simply that any one can if I can fight the Beast of Smoking and Food Terror, individually or collectively.
       That's all.

       But, I do assure all readers I engage the Sentinels of Vigilance for Food and Smoking, and ask them to help me have the Courage, Conviction and take the Right Actions for future generations in both battles.
       I feel better when I do, for I know that the ultimate Terrorism is to think you are alone with your Beasts.     None of us are.   We have all kinds of Sentinels around us waiting for us to reach out our hands.
        Take the Pledge of Vigilance today and prepare for the day when you might them against some Terrorism.  They'll be happy to wait at your side until called.
 

Mar 26--Cockroaches Of Terrorism Attack Americans Daily

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