The Property Rights Newsletter
December 18, 2009 - Issue #551
"Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it."
- Lincoln Steffens |  Court News: Tobacco companies win partial legal victory in Canada. A divided British Columbia Court of Appeals panel overturned part of a lower court's ruling that the federal government could not be drawn in by the industry as a third party defendant in cases over the health costs associated with smoking and the promotion of "light" cigarettes. The tobacco industry has long argued that government should share in any responsibility for damages because they were "partners" in the sale of tobacco by keeping it legal and collecting tax revenue from it.
The usual clueless complaints about spending on anti-smoking. By Carl V. Phillips. Of course it does not seem terribly likely that the activists clamoring for more state spending want any of it directed to THR since both they and the states have a history of wanting to just do more of what they have been doing even though the marginal value has diminished to zero.
Cigarette packets with serious health warnings could actually encourage people to continue smoking, research suggests. According to a study, smokers who are continually confronted with warnings that cigarettes kill actually develop coping mechanisms to justify continuing their habit. Comparatively, if smokers are shown warnings suggesting the habit could make them unattractive, they are more likely to give up. NY: Law prohibits chewing tobacco at Oneida County properties.
TN: Tennessee smokers could face more restrictions.
USA: U.S. adult smoking rate rises slightly. Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time among Americans in almost 15 years.
USA: Video: Congressional candidate Lt. Col. Allen West. You'll be glad you did. If this doesn't get you charged, nothing will.
USA: Video: Jimmy Vaughan - Down with Big Brother.
UK: Video: Message to smokers from Keep Britain Tidy.
UK: Video: Save Our Pubs And Clubs. Thanks to the smoking ban, thousands of pubs and clubs in Britain are under threat of closure.
| Ban Damage Hurts Everyone |
 CA: South San Francisco man stabs roommate over smoking. Castro pulled out a folding knife and began attacking his roommate, Lee said. He was stabbed about eight times in the head, neck and face.
OH: Babysitter guilty of burning boy's fingers. She had burnt the boy’s fingers as a punishment for smoking cigarettes. The child victim’s mother, 37-year-old Michelle M. Worthington of Wilmington, previously was sentenced in the incident to four years in prison for permitting child abuse. Her boyfriend, 39-year-old William L. Ballard of Wilmington, was sentenced in the incident to one year in prison for permitting child abuse. Worthington and Ballard reportedly witnessed the finger-burning, according to Clinton County Prosecutor Rick Moyer.
PA: A Dover man who stepped outside of a downtown York restaurant to smoke a cigarette was robbed at gunpoint.
More Ban Damage: Deaths, Injuries, Rape, and more! How many people have to die or be hurt before the Antis realize that smoking bans are a bad idea, and dangerous to people? |  | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 2:56 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
December 11, 2009 - Issue #550
"Mind Your Business"
- The very first motto on a U.S. Minted Coin |  Croatia: By Euan Ferguson. What have the Balkans ever done for us? Until I saw this picture, I would have said pretty bloody little. Anger, wars, vampires, evil food, poisoned rivers, dictators, distrust, revenge and fear and it still features the only part of the world – mad northern Albania – where I've been offered a handgun for protection in a hotel because they'd lost the bedroom key. But Croatia rebelled against its bar/cafe smoking ban and simply kept on smoking. The ban has now been revoked. Plucky little Balkans. There is hope.
| From The International Mailbag |
 The Brussels Declaration on Scientific Integrity: The Declaration is a Statement of Principles calling for the return to the Scientific Method as the guiding qualifier for the definition of a study as scientific. It centres around epidemiology and toxicology and covers topics such as alcohol, obesity and passive smoking.
Canada: Supreme battle brewing. A generous offer by one of Canada's weightiest law firms has reinvigorated the central figure in an eight-year crusade against anti-smoking legislation.
South Korea: Bans smoking in public places from 2011.
Wales: Report Claims that Smoking Ban Reduced Heart Attacks But Fails to Present Data, Which Show an Increase in the Expected Number of Heart Attacks.
The World: David vs Goliath: Tobacconists Condemn Irresponsibility of W.H.O. Report on Smoking. The anti-smoking report was issued in Istanbul, Turkey by WHO, a ‘specialized agency’ of the United Nations. The agency receives more funding from the private sector than it does from the UN. Private sector funding of WHO includes pharmaceutical interests, including those that manufacture and sell smoking cessation products and benefit from anti-smoking efforts. WHO does not reveal its funding sources on its website.
AK: Sarah Palin, "Instead of supporting a much-talked-about smoking ban at the time, though, I just stopped going to that restaurant. It eventually went smoke-free on its own, which is the way things like that should work."
IL: Joliet smoking conviction reversed by higher court. Now pending cases will have to be dismissed.
IN: Indianapolis says NO to bar and workplace smoking ban.
MI: State Rep. Matt Lori is working with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers to figure out a new strategy for getting a smoking ban signed into law.
MI: Lawmakers pass smoking ban; casinos exempt. The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
MS: Study that Reported a 27% Decline in Heart Attacks in Starkville Due to Smoking Ban Wasn't Actually a Study; Analysis Hasn't Yet Been Conducted. Instead, what happened is that the researchers disseminated a pre-determined conclusion about the effect of the smoking ban, without having the patience to wait for the actual data and conduct the analysis. "To go public with results now, before the data is even collected, is a corruption of science for the pursuit of political ends and unfortunately all too typical for today's anti-smoking movement."
USA: Bars say it's 'good business' to ignore smoking bans. | 
USA: State "Smoker Protection" Laws. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have laws in effect elevating smokers to a protected class. | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 6:34 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
December 4, 2009 - Issue #549
"In America, through pressure of conformity,
there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from."
- Peter Ustinov |  Should Smoking Be Banned Outdoors? But as public support for the bans continues to grow, some people are questioning how far the government should go to protect nonsmokers. “The general public should have the right to decide what they’re going to do on private property,” says Gary Nolan, regional director of Citizens Freedom Alliance, a group that opposes smoking bans. He believes it’s reasonable for the government to ban smoking in government buildings but not at parks or privately owned businesses. Adds Nolan: “We’re giving away the right to self-determination.”
 Second Hand Smoke and Health. By Terry Simpson, M.D., F.A.C.S. The most devastating opinion about the EPA’s decision to classify second hand smoke as a class A carcinogen, came from Federal Judge William Osteen who interviewed scientists for four years and in 1998 opined, The Agency disregarded information and made findings based on selective information… [The EPA] deviated from its risk assessment guidelines; failed to disclose important (opposing) findings and reasons; and left significant questions without answers… Gathering all relevant information, researching and disseminating findings, were subordinate to EPA’s [goal of] demonstrating [that] ETS was a Group A carcinogen… In this case, the EPA publicly committed to a conclusion before research had begun; adjusted established procedure and scientific norms to validate the Agency’s public conclusion, and aggressively utilized the Act’s authority to disseminate findings to establish a de facto regulatory scheme…and to influence public opinion. While doing so, [the EPA] produced limited evidence, then claimed the weight of the Agency’s researched evidence demonstrated ETS causes cancer. (Osteen, 1998) | 
Smoke Screens: The Truth About Tobacco
By Richard White | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 10:35 AM
The Property Rights Newsletter
November 27, 2009 - Issue #548
"If you make any money, the government shoves you
in the creek once a year with it in your pockets,
and all that don't get wet you can keep."
- Will Rogers |  Taxing "Sin Foods": Obesity Prevention and Public Health Policy. Obesity thrives in low-income communities where the quality of food and built environments is poor. Interventions that have been shown to improve those environments include subsidies to farmers’ markets and more healthful school lunches, as well as investments in the creation of bicycling and walking trails. If taxes on sodas or similar foods were delinked from the presumed effects of these taxes on obesity or health care costs — effects that manufacturers may well dispute — they could instead be implemented on the stronger grounds that these foods impose societal costs, so those who profit from them should repay society by investing in the populations most affected by obesity. We believe that a revenue-generating approach that redirects “sin taxes” toward improving the food and built environments of low-income populations has the greatest potential both to lead to healthier food choices overall and to reduce disparities in obesity rates.
THE ANTI-TOBACCO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
1. Choose an industry.
2. Regulate the industry.
3. Tax the industry.
4. Sue the industry.
When one source of money dries up,
return to Step 1 and repeat.
By S. Phillipe GA: State bans smoking in mental hospitals. Some mental health experts challenge the wisdom of taking away a coping mechanism from a person already in emotional distress.
IL: Chicago Bars letting patrons smoke despite state law banning it.
NY: Six Years After Ban, Smoking Returns to NYC's Bars and Clubs. The worst kept secret in New York nightlife is that smoking is now allowed in numerous nightspots.
NY: NYC Council Bans "All" Flavored Tobacco Products; Well... Not Exactly... Exempt are the Products Which are Actually Used by Thousands of New Yorkers. By Michael Siegel.
OH: Fuming Over Fines. In the three years Ohio has been smoke-free, not a single building has qualified for the ''private club'' exemption, according to state officials, leaving some clubs like the VFW Post 1090 in Warren expressing outrage and frustration.
USA: Miss Kitty has been Cigar Dave`s Assistant Producer for over 13 years. Dial the Show and ask a question dealing with Cigars at 1-888-Smoke-This.
USA: Watch: What is America's true form of government?
UK: December 1, 2009 at Boisdale Belgravia, Cigar aficionados light up while they bid over £150,000 at UK cigar auction.
UK: December 7, 2009 Saving The Great British Pub. Freedom2Choose will be joining the protest march in London. | 
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# posted by Samantha : 5:44 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
November 20, 2009 - Issue #547
"The Hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who,
in time of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
- Dante, "The Inferno" |  Tobacco Retailers Challenge News Reports on Roll-Your-Own, Pipe Tobaccos. The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association came out swinging today by challenging news reports regarding the labeling switch of some roll-your-own tobacco brands to pipe tobacco by their manufacturers and claims that pipe tobaccos, which have been flavored for more than five centuries, are designed to appeal to minors. "The anti-smoking forces once again are getting their underwear in a twist by reaching for straws in their attempts to besmirch our mom-and-pop members," said Gary Pesh, president of the IPCPR. Pesh also is owner of a chain of retail tobacco stores in Virginia. "We the retailers didn’t make the marketing switch and we never market to or sell any kind of tobacco products to children."
American Cancer Society Lying to Public While Playing Politics; Does the Truth No Longer Matter? By Michael Siegel. It is also not true that the tobacco companies have long used the flavors banned by this legislation to lure kids to start smoking. There was one episode in which R.J. Reynolds introduced a few candy-flavored cigarette varieties but these were removed from the market. Other than that, the only flavor that has long been used by tobacco companies to lure kids to smoking is menthol. An that's not covered by the ban. So the American Cancer Society is full of crap when they assert that the cigarette flavors they seek to ban have long been used to lure children to start smoking.
The puritanical agenda behind the crusade against smoking. By Basham and Luik. Preventing people from smoking in public was never about real health risks - that is, it was never about protecting non-smokers so much as it was about stigmatising smoking and smokers and making it difficult for them to smoke. So with the science of second-hand smoke now never discussed, the anti-tobacco movement feels confident in moving the argument forward and revealing the starkness of its real agenda.
IA: West Burlington bar owner Duncan ready for day in court.
KY: Crestview Hills urging Boone, Kenton and Campbell County fiscal courts to adopt regional legislation prohibiting indoor smoking in public buildings.
MS: Senatobia Aldermen say NO, extinguish smoking ban in city.
OH: A group of Ohio hospitality industry business owners and concerned citizens met last Friday to discuss allegations of election fraud surrounding the SmokeFree Ohio Petition Initiative in 2006.
SC: Florence City Council says NO, votes down proposed ban.
SC: Greenwood’s ban being ignored in bars. Antis not happy.
SC: Richland County, Bingo fight lights up over smoking ban, Two competitors sue each other. County has issued no tickets.
USA: Shoot the fat guys, hang the smokers. By Joe Bageant.
USA: United States Marine Corps 234th Birthday Tribute.
Beware the Adverse Effects of Cigarette Taxes on Kids: Study Suggests Anti-Smoking Groups Should Re-Think Their Knee-Jerk Support for Tax Increases.
UK: If you own a pub in the UK, join the Pub Revolution.
UK: NHS Trust Removes Latest Anti-smoking Propaganda. | The Smoking Ban song
By Terry and the Gang
(Caution: contains strong language.) | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 2:38 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
November 6, 2009 - Issue #546
"Smokers being forced outside.
Abuse is abuse, no matter what the excuse."
- Nick Melnyk |  Michael Siegel - Tobacco Policy Blog:
Op-Ed in NY Daily News Exposes Misleading Scientific Claims of Anti-Smoking Groups; Now Health Groups, Not Just Big Tobacco, are Deceiving the Public.
Published Study Shows No Effect of New Zealand Smoking Ban on Acute Cardiac Events During First Year; Study Not Considered by IOM Committee Report.
Data from Australia Show No Effect of Smoking Bans on Heart Attack Admissions.
Anti-Smoking Researcher Claims that Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks Within Minutes of Implementation.
More: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary. Michael Siegel has 20 years of experience in tobacco control, primarily as a researcher.
AL: Florence Smokers ignore the park smoking ban.
CA: A new kind of smoking gun. Transfer DNA tracing resources from murderers and rapists... to smokers?
IN: Given the IndyStar's editorial position, I challenge it to stand by its beliefs and show its dedication to the truth with two acts...
KS: Topekans Against The Ban. IT'S YOUR PROPERTY.
MO: St. Louis County, lots of exemptions including casino floors.
USA: THE TOBACCO DANCE. By Felt Lair, 1998. We are engaged in another Civil War... both sides can get nasty at times.
USA: Covert smoking ban promoter RWJF president, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, is on list of visitors to Obama White House.
Ireland: Smoking rate soars up to one third the Irish population, despite the smoking ban and higher taxes.
UK: Confessions of a fashionista: As I brush cocaine off the fax machine, I don't think my office cares about the smoking ban.
World: List of Smokers Rights and Property Rights groups. | Fun: Watch: The Fun Police. You have been warned.
Nanny: Watch: Reason.tv's Nanny of the Month for October 2009.
Neighbors: Watch: Rush Limbaugh - Health Hysteria in America. | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 2:37 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
October 30, 2009 - Issue #545
"I have made it a rule never to smoke more than one cigar at a time."
- Mark Twain |
Presidents Who Smoke: 61% of all U. S. presidents smoked tobacco. As the legendary story reveals John F. Kennedy gave orders to Press Secretary Pierre Salinger to round up as many Corona cigars (JFK's favorite) before signing the Cuban trade embargo. Salinger later reported 1,200 Coronas in his possession. It was not until the Clinton administration when an absolute no-smoking policy was implemented in the White House and Hillary happily removed all the ashtrays from the premises. So where might Barack Obama sneak a smoke? It's rumored that Willie Nelson fired up on the White House roof when invited to spend a night, though we doubt it was tobacco he was smoking. IN: Indianapolis says NO, Council votes to table smoking ordinance.
MO: Continued smoking in reservation bars, casinos boosts business. We look forward to seeing MO bans collapse too.
SC: ALERT: Florence City Council members to propose city smoking ban. (After a failed attempt in 2005.)
Canada: Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou Anti Junk Science. By Michael J. McFadden... something makes me think that this "One Cigarette Is Deadly" study may just possibly be biased a bit toward producing and promoting a certain desired perception.
Canada: Judge says NO and Ruling lets federal inmates puff away outdoors. The ruling applies to all federal penitentiaries in Canada. Smoking rules in provincial jails vary by province.
Canada: Peel says NO, rejects proposal to ban smoking in tenants homes... officials said restricting tenants rights to do what they wish in their own homes wouldn't stand up in court.
Croatia: Says NO and gives up on smoking ban. Owners of small cafés can now decide themselves whether to allow smoking or not. When the ban was introduced, it met with widespread protests.
Scotland: Increasing heart disease has steadily paralleled the rise of motor vehicle use... encourage many Scots who currently drive, to walk or use healthy bicycles instead.
UK: Watch: Welcome to Britain, eternal darkness and despair. |    | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 12:32 PM
The Property Rights Newsletter
October 23, 2009 - Issue #544
"Hatred paralyses life; love releases it.
Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."
- Martin Luther King, Jr. |  CDC-Commissioned Report Says More Evidence Is Needed to Decide Whether Smoking Bans Are Good. By Jacob Sullum. Yet the people conducting these reviews are not neutral observers either; as reflected by Benowitz's comments, they are committed partisans in the push to extend strict smoking bans across the country. AND Michael Siegel's Analysis Reveals that Institute of Medicine Report Failed to Include Data that Found No Effect of Smoking Bans on Acute Coronary Events in 3 Countries. OH: Toledo Bar Wins Smoking Case. Bar owners who try to keep their customers from smoking can't be penalized under the state's anti-smoking law just because a patron disobeys.
OR: Hillsboro ban in parks, looking into smoking areas.
SC: North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey looks back on 15 years.
SC: Springdale bans smoking; 2 others consider it.
USA: National tobacco case. Attorneys from around the country descended Wednesday on the federal courthouse in Bangor for a conference on a class-action lawsuit against the makers of light cigarettes. At least 20 lawsuits from around the country have been combined.
USA: The American College Health Association (ACHA) has adopted a NO TOBACCO USE policy and encourages colleges and universities to be diligent in their efforts to achieve a 100% indoor and outdoor campus-wide tobacco-free environment.
Canada: Prison inmates want prohibition on tobacco overturned.
Malaysia: Teacher Forces Student to Smoke 42 cigarettes as punishment, for having a cigarette and lighter.
Nigeria: Will Moghalu restore confidence in banks?
Sweden: Court gives woman OK to smoke in her own garden.
UK: Action on Champix and Other Cessation Medications.
UK: Says NO. "The Government has ditched plans to ban smoking in cars when children are passengers." | Defiance And Ban Damage Hurts Everyone |
A Bartender's Letter. By Sheila Martin. This world we live in can be such a lonely place. What on earth will happen to them? I don't know.
Dead: Missing patient found buried, had looked for a spot to smoke.
Employment: B.C. woman claims smoking ‘disability’ cost her job.
Video: Heartless nurse anti-smoker telling smokers to die. Apple refuses to fix a smokers computer. That makes this a case of discrimination, which is illegal in every state.
Bacon: Step away from the bacon: Processed meat is the latest thing to cause cancer according to the health police.
Body Odor Ban: Honolulu City Council members are considering a proposal to ban riders from buses if their body odor is too stinky.
Fat: Childhood Obesity Report Calls For Government Regulations to Limit Access to 'Unhealthy' Restaurant Chains.
Flags: Oregon Apartment Complex Bans Flying the American Flag. Not only from their dwellings but also their vehicles.
GMO: Genetic engineering is completely different from traditional breeding and carries unique risks, dangerous foods. A close examination reveals that industry manipulation and political collusion – not sound science – was the driving force.
Light Bulbs vs. The Nanny State. Watch this video from ReasonTV.
Naked: Man Arrested for Being Naked in His Own Kitchen. | 
Phil Williams
Watch: Ashbusters 4, Turning Point.
More Phil Williams | | Join FREE - Home - Events - Forum - Videos - Please Help - © |
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# posted by Samantha : 6:08 PM
