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Friday, August 26, 2011

The Property Rights Newsletter

August 26, 2011 - Issue #627

"Hindsight, or our ability to see our past clearly, is a learning function that, when damaged ... renders us unable to look at the past to guide ourselves through the present and into the future. Without this ability, we cannot learn from our mistakes. We cannot clean up the wreckage of our actions. We are locked into a cycle of repeating the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. This is commonly known as the definition of insanity."- Barbara S. Cole

Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! A whiff of revolution in the air. A LOOK BACK TO 1996: Barred from polite society, the new militant smokers are demanding their own space. After years of submission, they are rising, phoenix-like from the ashes, to fight back. Smokers-with-attitude have had enough of social apartheid: the non-smoking sections, smoke-free zones, abuse from strangers and finger wagging from government. This refound pride is also being given a boost by celebrity endorsements.
UK Now: GPs have signed off a series of sweeping referral restrictions by NHS managers that will bar smokers and overweight patients from being referred for surgery, as PCTs across the country bring in new cost-saving restrictions. Both LMCs and GP consortium leaders have backed moves by NHS Hertfordshire to block any patient with a BMI over 30 from being referred for routine joint replacement surgery without first being referred to a weight management scheme. Dr Mike Ingram, chair of the single-practice Red House Consortium and a member of Hertfordshire LMC, said: "Patients' access to services should be based on the care they require and not on a discriminatory policy. I'm very worried about denying people care on the basis they are fat."
NHS group call to ban children watching 'smoking' films. Children should be banned from watching films like 101 Dalmatians and Lord of the Rings because they show people smoking, a Devon health group has said. The NHS smoking cessation service wants Plymouth City Council to use its powers to reclassify such films.
West Midlands Human Rights Film Festival 2011. The Festival aims to screen a range of films that investigate the notion of human rights in the 21st Century as measured against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What are human rights, who is entitled to them and how are they represented by our media?
Cancer death rates keep falling. Did you hear that, NY Times? Notes ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "We’re not surprised but continue to be disappointed that The Times does not deem a decline in cancer death rates newsworthy."
Quitting Smoking With Chantix May Increase Risk of Heart Attack. A popular drug prescribed to help people quit smoking may pose a significantly increased risk of heart attack in users, a new study finds. The results may further complicate doctors' and patients' decisions to use the drug, Chantix, which has been associated with various safety concerns since its approval in 2006. Read more articles about the suicides, and other side effects of Chantix.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights!
A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!
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# posted by Samantha : 4:35 PM

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Property Rights Newsletter

August 19, 2011 - Issue #626

"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds." - John Perry Barlow

Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Facial Recognition System: Here's Looking at You, and You, and You ... "The system looks at each driver’s license photograph stored in the state’s computers, mapping thousands of facial data points and generating algorithms that compare the images to others in the mathematical database... The software then displays licenses with similar-looking photographs - those with two or more images that have a high score for being the same person. Registry analysts review the licenses and check biographical information, criminal records, and drivers’ histories, in part to rule out cases with legitimate explanations, such as drivers who are identical twins." However, apparently no one at the RMV or State Police keeps track of the number of false positives generated by the system. In each suspected case flagged, the person identified has to come to the RMV to prove their identity. In Mr. Gass's case, both he and the other driver identified were told to come in. Mr. Gass, who needs to drive for his job, is now suing Massachusetts for "... unspecified damages and an injunction blocking the Registry from revoking licenses without a hearing." The RMV Registrar Rachel Kaprielian apparently has little sympathy for Mr. Gass, saying that protecting the public far outweighs any inconvenience Gass or anyone else might experience.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Fight to Prevent FDA Cigar Regulation Gets a Boost. Last week, Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, a Democrat and Republican respectively, introduced Senate bill 1461, otherwise known as the "Traditional Cigar Manufacturing & Small Business Jobs Preservation Act." The legislation aims to remove the FDA's jurisdiction over the premium cigar industry by amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The measure is the companion bill to H.R. 1639, which was introduced in May by lawmakers and pro-cigar lobbying groups Cigar Rights of America and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association as a cooperative effort. "If you're a small business owner, invite your representative to your cigar shop and show him around," said Borysiewicz. "We need cigar smokers to individually reach out to their senators and congressmen."
From The Mailbag
MI: Smoking's Bottom Line. Michigan should repeal its private-business smoking ban and return this decision-making power to restaurant owners. They — not policymakers in Lansing — can better determine what affects their bottom line.
NV: American Cancer Society drops appeal over convention center smoking. The law allows smoking in the convention center if an event is closed to the public, if it was produced by a business with ties to tobacco or a professional association for convenience stores, or if it has displays of tobacco products.
WV: Smoker sues hospital when wheelchair overturns. The hospital is liable for injuries to his head, neck and back suffered in the fall, the lawsuit says, because it was negligent in maintaining the designated smoking area in a safe manner.
USA: Electronic Cigarettes. How they Are – and Could Be – Regulated. The new fact sheet provides background on the FDA’s attempts to regulate e-cigarettes and outlines some of the policy options that are available to state and local governments, such as limiting the use or sale of e-cigarettes.
UK: Updates; It's only money - OURS!, Killing me Softly, Boating & Smoking!, Lunacy reigns supreme, and more.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! The Lies Behind The Smoking Bans! Print out, use, and share. Section 1: The Health Fraud. Section 2: The Economic Fraud. Section 3: What YOU Need To Do!
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# posted by Samantha : 10:16 PM

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Property Rights Newsletter

August 12, 2011 - Issue #625

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." - Patrick Henry

Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Is Quitting Smoking to Blame for Obama’s Irritability, Instability, and Confusion? In June 2009, he said, “I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No.” A quick look around QuitSmokingSupport.com confirms that much of Obama’s erratic and depressive behavior is consistent with symptoms of quitting. House Speaker John Boehner, who has no interest in quitting smoking, successfully hijacked the legislative process for weeks and secured an agreement that was far more appealing to his ranks. For the sake of the country, can someone get the president a pack of Parliaments?
Science is conclusive: Tobacco increases work capacity. Nicotine improves human brain performance. Is the bad reputation of smoking undeserved? The brain works better when it gets nicotine - almost like an optimized computer. Nicotine is a "work-drug" that enables its consumers to focus better and think faster. The brain also becomes more enduring, especially in smokers: Nicotine experiments show that smokers in prolonged working situations are able to maintain concentration for many hours longer than non-smokers. Nicotine boosts attention, precision, motor skills, speed and memory.
USA: States Near Tobacco Deal. Cigarette Makers, Arguing '98 Pact Favors Small Rivals, Could Recoup $2 Billion. States and the companies have battled over $7.1 billion that the companies argue they shouldn't have to pay on sales from 2003 through 2010. The dispute revolves around the companies' contention that they have lost business because states haven't adequately sought payments from smaller competitors not party to the 1998 pact.
From The Mailbag
AZ: Navajo Nation backs off casino smoking ban. The CEO of the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise said that if smoking were to be banned in casinos, the Twin Arrows casino and resort planned near Flagstaff would not be built. Bob Winter, CEO of the Gaming Enterprise, said casino revenue historically has dropped by as much as 25 percent whenever smoking bans were instituted in other parts of the nation.
IA: Graphic smoking billboards to be cut. Iowans no longer will be confronted with stark anti-smoking billboards and ads from a state-sponsored youth group, a leading tobacco-control official said Friday. The Legislature slashed spending for anti-tobacco efforts, and state leaders earmarked most of the remaining money for such things as local advocacy groups and telephone counseling for smokers who want to quit. That means there probably will be no money for new ads from Just Eliminate Lies, a statewide teen group that portrays tobacco companies as nefarious forces trying to trick young people into thinking cigarettes are cool.
KS: Bar Owner Fights for Property Rights Across the U.S. Sheila Martin told a rally in Topeka that the battle isn't about smoking. "The fight is going on. It's physical. It's in the trenches for property rights. This is not about smoking; it’s about your property rights. We do not want to be New York. We do not want the mayor telling you, you can’t have sugar." "We’re going to protect property rights because that's what this country was built on," Martin said.
LA: Premium Cigar Retailers Say No to Proposed Alexandria LA Smoking Ban. "We fully support the right of individual business owners to choose to make their establishments smoke free or not. However, when the government steps in and tells them how to run their businesses, it has gone too far. That's what legislated smoking bans do," he said.
North Wales: Pub landlady hit with £300 fine for displaying homemade no-smoking signs while waiting for official signs to arrive. She had violated regulations which decree that No Smoking signs must be rectangular with the shortest side at least 6.3in long.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights!
Comedy is good for you. Laughter And Music Could Lower Blood Pressure Just As Much As Cutting Salt.
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# posted by Samantha : 9:54 PM

Monday, August 08, 2011

The Property Rights Newsletter

August 5, 2011 - Issue #624

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." - Wayne Dyer

Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Are new health warning labels on cigarette packages too graphic? By George Koodray. Lost in all of the chatter now are principles such as the freedom people have to consume a perfectly legal product (which does much to fill government coffers in taxes). And, since the acrimony is directed against smokers, not many others will be quick to come to their defense. And, at the same time, we’ve been lulled into a dangerous new subtlety, the phrase “places of public accommodation,” which is often interchangeably used with “public places.” I don’t know about you, but the last time I looked a restaurant, or a bar or any other privately owned establishment is, well, private property.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Beach Butt Baloney. By Michael J. McFadden. Children are at FAR greater risk of drowning while at the beach or dying from playground falls at the park or contracting serious infections from broken glass in either location than of being “poisoned” by picking and eating up old cigarette butts. The disgusting antismoking fantasy plays well on the media, but that’s pretty much all that it is: a disgusting fantasy meant to use and abuse our love for our children. In brief: there is no good argument for these bans outside of social engineering. They’re just an activation of NY Mayor Bloomberg’s statement of dedication “to making smoking as difficult and expensive as possible.” In other words, to give the smokers little “electric shock” equivalents every time they smoke so that they’ll act like good little rats and change their behavior.
Property Rights for all include Smokers Rights! Property Rights: USA Lemonade Stands. The city of Midway, Georgia was made a little safer after police shut down a…lemonade stand? Instead of speaking with parents, Morningstar approached the girls and told them they couldn’t sell the lemonade. When a reporter asked another of the girls if police had told them why, she simply said, “No.” The girls said they did as the officers said because they were scared.
MI Woman Faces Jail Time For Growing Vegetable Garden in Her Own Front Lawn. Julie Bass faces the prospect of going to jail for what she's growing in her front yard. The illegal growth is tomatos. And zuchinis, peppers and other edible and what normally would be legal plants. The officials in Bass' hometown of Oak Park, Mich., have charged her with growing "vegetable garden in front yard space." If convicted, she could spend up to 93 days in jail. "Michelle Obama plants vegetables on White House front lawn. I don't think the jury is going to think that it's suitable for the White House, but it's not suitable for Oak Park," said Radner. The first lady's office, which is encouraging growing fresh vegetables to help fight childhood obesity, declined to comment on the Oak Park vegetable case.
From The USA Mailbag
GA: Cigar Retailers Counter Richmond County Endorsement of Proposed Extension of State Smoking Ban. McCalla says business owners have the inherent right to decide for themselves whether or not their establishments should be smoke free or not.
IA: Iowa funding for tobacco prevention low, division head quits. Miller-Meeks said if the division ultimately folds, it will be from a lack of funding. “We will continue tobacco and smoking cessation. What people don’t know is that our divisions have tobacco provisions attached to them,” she said.
MO: St. Louis County Cigar Store Owners Seek to Maintain Exemptions. “It’s too late to save all the businesses that were hurt, the scores of jobs that were lost, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes that won’t be collected due to enactment of the current smoking ban. But only less than 200 establishments fall within the exemptions to that law and, because of the nature of their businesses, they should be allowed to remain exempt,” said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.
NH: Court: Roll-your-own retailer liable for fees. The court unanimously rejected the argument by North of the Border Tobacco that customers at its Tobacco Haven store who pay a fee to rent cigarette-rolling machines are the real manufacturers.
SC: Alert. Myrtle Beach City Council to mull smoking ban. "Do you want a total ban?" Councilman Randal Wallace asked Smoke Free Horry spokesman George DuRant during his presentation on why Myrtle Beach should implement smoking regulations. "It's what the citizens want," DuRant said, citing a public opinion survey of 900 people showing 99 percent favored a ban.
USA: A letter to Princess Cruises. I discovered that you are about to change your smoking policy. Not only will you be banning smoking in all cabins, you will also ban smoking in private balconies. Needless to say we will not be cruising with you, opting instead for a cruise line that welcomes all people.
Defiance And Ban Damage Hurts Everyone
Canada: Alberta Hospital 68-year-old psychiatric patient died. Fatality inquiry hears she left building in a blizzard to have a cigarette. Lorraine Adolph was found (a week later) lying with her head propped against the building, her dentures on the ground beside her. Her glasses and watch had been removed, but she was still wearing sweatpants and a jacket. Her body was frozen solid.
South Africa: Mom kills son for smoking. Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk says: “She took her two boys to the back of the yard and doused them with paraffin and set them alight.
UK: Star Sean Bean Stabbed in Bar Brawl. The fight started when the 52-year-old actor and Playboy model April Summers were standing outside the bar for a smoke. Later, when Bean went out for another smoke, he was attacked by the man.
UK: Passenger, 52, decapitated after tumbling off Tube train as he tried to secretly smoke a cigarette. Police said that he fell through a gap and, after tumbling onto the track, he was dragged along at 50mph, gruesomely severing his head from his body.
Temptations - Power
Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure
Devo - Freedom Of Choice
More Music
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# posted by Samantha : 7:00 AM

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