Thursday, May 31, 2012
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The Property Rights Newsletter June 1, 2012 - Issue #666 "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."- Michelangelo | ||
 United Nations plan to regulate Internet: The proposal is backed by China, Russia, Brazil, India and other UN members, and would give the UN more control over the governance of the Internet. Next week's hearing is expected to bring more attention in the U.S. to the measure, which would give the UN more control over cybersecurity, data privacy, technical standards and the Web's address system. It would also allow foreign government-owned Internet providers to charge extra for international traffic and allow for more price controls. 
CO: ALERT: Denver airport will close three of four smoking lounges. Mayor Hancock said that he anticipates the city will reach agreement about the fourth smoking lounge which could close in the near future.
MN: Sue Jeffers Announces Run for Ramsey County Commissioner - District 2. This seat covers all of the cities of New Brighton, Roseville, Little Canada, and parts of Mounds View, St. Anthony and Lauderdale. OH: These Ohio Supreme Court Judges SHOULD have recused themselves from the smoking ban case. Donations from: Pfizer Political Action Committee and Political Contributions to O'Conner, Lenzinger, Stratten, Goodman, Cupp, O'Donnell. OK: No-smoking rule demeaning to veterans. By Jay R. Schrand. Those who join the military agree to give up many freedoms and take personal risks to defend our country. They also have an inclination to other legal risk-taking behaviors such as drinking, tobacco use, motorcycle riding and delicious chow. Unfortunately these risky personal choices are at odds with the current lifestyle craze. So, today's warriors are faced with conflicting messages. They're recruited and trained to take mortal risks on the battlefield but, good heavens, not those risks. Scotland: Read Freedom-2-Choose articles: Scotland slips behind in the race to control tobacco (says ASH, Australia), Scottish Grocers' Federation attacks ASH Scotland on transparency, Patients hide in the bushes in pyjamas to evade smoking ban, More on the blatantly one-sided plain packaging consultation, Arizona lung conditions, secondary smoke exposure and guesswork, F2C Scotland letter on minimum pricing, Edinburgh Evening News, Lansley's Health Department ensures tobacco control rules the day on plain packaging, BAT produces cheaper brand to compete with illegal tobacco in Australia, Less anti-smoking advertising under the Coalition, Tobacco company worker offers views to Frank Davis, Professional insight into plain packaging, Dutch smoking ban warded off in court, Dave Goerlitz interviews in eleven episodes, More scribblings from the ASH Scotland CEO. UK: By Dave Atherton. In just over a months time we are due to 'celebrate' 5 years of the smoking ban. We can also celebrate: 8,000 or 14% of our pubs closing, 25% of bingo halls and Working Men's Clubs, Upwards of 150,000 full and part time jobs lost, social isolation, especially of the elderly characterless pubs, and a nanny state smelling blood. And now alcohol, obesity: every fake charity wants to get its nose in the trough to tell us how to live our lives. We read that David Cameron wants to introduce 'parenting classes.' The nanny state in literal and metaphorical terms. UK: World's largest auction of boxes of sealed vintage Havanas. "The gavel will go down on 150 boxes of rare pre-embargo Havana cigars at our sixth auction, at Boisdale Canary Wharf on 2 July," said Mitchell Orchant, managing director, C.Gars Ltd. World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. | ||
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What Kind of Citizen Are You? Check out the new music video from Donald York and the State Line Refugees in Spokane, WA. | ||
Thursday, May 24, 2012
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The Property Rights Newsletter May 25, 2012 - Issue #665 "We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice."- Stephen Covey | |
NY: Proposal from Mayor Bloomberg. City plans to ban junk food from commissary snack bars at all jails. The top item is sodium-packed ramen instant noodles, which are 190 calories per serving. Inmates tend to discard the dried noodles and use the flavor packets to add kick to the often tasteless jail food. Packets of mayonnaise, beef sticks and honey buns are also popular purchases at the commissary, jail records show. The roughly 13,000 inmates in city jails spend a total of almost $13 million a year on commissary items. Apart from snacks they can also buy soap, shampoo and toothpaste. It was not clear if the proposal would add healthy foods to the commissary.
NY: Apartment Hunt. Wanting to Smoke at Home, and Facing Hurdles. A few thousand apartments are available for rent in New York City on any given day, and a search on Craigslist last week revealed a sweeping range of options, from city views and roof decks, to simple studios and walk-ups, all outlined in the Web site's signature Smurf-hued-blue. One category, however, turned up very lean results: apartments that advertised they allowed smoking with an enthusiastic "welcome" or even a tepid "O.K." In all five boroughs, there were only four.
NY: Read more about Mayor Bloomberg Bans. 
Dr. Michael Siegel: Orthopedic Surgeon Recommends Refusing Knee Replacement Surgery for Smokers. "At the forum, experts offered suggestions about how to get patients to quit smoking. One way is to refuse to perform surgery on patients who smoke, said Dr. Glenn Rechtine, an orthopedic surgeon and associate chief of staff and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He said this rule has convinced 40 percent of his patients to stop smoking." In essence, these patients are being deprived a needed surgery as a punishment for being addicted to cigarettes. This is a harsh and brutal punishment that is not only inappropriate, but is in violation of the basic principles of medical practice. Why should these people be punished so severely -- by the refusal of needed medical treatment and the imposition of pain and a decreased quality of life - for being unable to break an addiction that only 3% of smokers in the general population are able to break each year?
Canada: Controversy around province's choice of stop-smoking drug. Pill provided through B.C. program is subject of a class-action lawsuit. Traditionally, the cost of antismoking drugs has not been covered in B.C. However, through the B.C. government's smokingcessation program launched in September 2011, PharmaCare now covers a single continuous course of one of two prescribed smoking-cessation drugs - varenicline (sold under the brand-name Champix in Canada and Chantix in the U.S.) and bupropion (Zyban) - or a free 12-week supply of nicotinereplacement gum or patches. Health Canada received 1,724 adverse-reaction reports on the drug. "I was the one who noticed the irony that in the same week that [Premier] Christy Clark announced this new drug policy to cover these treatments, the French government took Champix off the formulary," Cassels said. "When a government takes a major drug off the formulary - which says we don't believe it's safe or effective - that's something you have to listen to."
Chantix: Suicides and suicide attempts - FAA Ban of Chantix Use by Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers - Was linked to an increased risk of a heart attack, stroke or other serious ... - Chantix has been documented to have death as a serious side effect. (More) | |
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
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The Property Rights Newsletter May 18, 2012 - Issue #664 "Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it."- Mark Twain | ||
McFadden's Law: McFadden's Prime Corollary states, "The use of such excretory comparisons in the context of arguments about secondary smoke exposure effectively exposes the lack of scientific basis for any real arguments to be made in favor of smoking bans, effectively 'losing' the argument for ban-supporters." "Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool." If you are tired of an argument that you know you've lost because you can not win it with facts, resorting to a stupid statement is not a good idea. You didn't win because you shut the other person up. You lost. You only got the last word because your opponent realized he was having a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
CA: No on Proposition 29. Stop the $735 Million Tax Hike! More Wasteful Spending: Allows a new, unaccountable board to spend up to $110 million every year buying buildings and real estate for huge for-profit companies. Nothing requires those buildings to be built in California - they could be out of the state or even out of the country.
MN: State funded anti-tobacco group proves that smoking bans eliminate business. Will lawmakers heed the lesson? Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT) now ClearWay MN, proved that smoking bans eliminate on average nearly 40% of a private businesses' customers; with the most dramatic decrease in business of nearly 90%.
KS: Listen: KFDI News Anchor Marc LaVoie interviews Paul Soutar of Kansaswatchdog.org about the Kansas Clean Air Act. The act outlawed smoking in most public buildings, including stores, restaurants and bars, but it exempted state-owned casinos. OK: Votes NO on House Bill 2267, a bill that would have allowed local governments to adopt ordinances to control smoking in public places. The bill made it through the Oklahoma House of Representatives, but, once sent to the Oklahoma Senate, didn't make it out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. USA: Drs. Benowitz, Henningfield, and Samet have strong financial ties to pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and/or sell nicotine replacement products. These ties are extensive, and create an actual financial conflict for these individuals in evaluating dissolvable tobacco products that pharmaceutical companies view as competing with nicotine replacement products. At the very least, their strong financial ties to the smoking cessation market create an apparent conflict that is beyond any reasonable doubt. Bulgaria: Bulgarians Hold Rally, Concert against Full Smoking Ban. The initiative, held on Alexander Batenberg square, was spearheaded by popular movie stars Andrey Slabakov and Asen Blatechki among others. Bulgaria's crack-down on smokers date back to 2005, when a partial smoking ban was introduced only to be widely ignored. Mexico: Passes National Climate Change Legislation. Thomas Laprade, "The discovery of the real cause of the recent increase in the Earth's temperature is indeed a convenient truth. It means humans are not to blame for the increase. It also means there is absolutely nothing we can, much less do, to correct the situation." Canada: Graphic health warnings go too far. Imperial Tobacco Canada today announced that it has commenced proceedings to challenge the constitutionality of the federal government's decision to increase the size of graphic health warnings on cigarette packages to 75 percent. Russia: Scary pictures not to dissuade Russian smokers. "If a person wants to smoke, no pictures will make him quit," said one of those questioned. Russia is the world leader on smoking, with more than 39 percent of the adult population - or 43.9 million people. The government is mounting an anti-smoking campaign which is to include stricter rules on smoking in public places and a drastic increase in cigarette prices through taxation. UK: Forest and The Free Society present: Smoke On The Water. Riverboat party from Westminster Pier, June 20, 2012. RSVP and register now. SMOKERS WELCOME! World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. | ||
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Thursday, May 10, 2012
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The Property Rights Newsletter May 11, 2012 - Issue #663 "So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honor, they are satisfied."- Niccolo Machiavelli | |
 "SMOKING" WEBSERIES ONLINE PREMIERE. From Flower Sun Productions. The show focuses on an eclectic group of Angelinos in the entertainment industry who are tied together by bonds of friendship, family, proximity and their shared addiction to nicotine. (Caution, strong language.) CO: Watch Joyce Shaffer Video: Takin' Back Our Country. If it doesn't sound good to you, let us help you pack. GA: Norcross bans smoking in public spaces. "I really think it could take some of the business out of town," said McElroy, who said he isn't a smoker. "I just don't think we have a need for this." MA: Northborough municipal deal blows off smokers. D.J. Wilson, tobacco control director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said he hasn't come across another municipality in the state that bans smoking, and doubted any town in New England has a similar provision. MA: Worcester Outdoor Tobacco Ad Ban Ruled Unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled that Worcester, Massachusetts' outdoor tobacco ad ban is unconstitutional in that it effectively bars tobacco companies from advertising their products to adults who may legally purchase them. NM: Las Cruces Property Rights. City is threatening to cut off water, gas and sewer service over unpaid red light and speed camera tickets. NY: Four hurt as party floor caves in. The party, featuring DJ Fruit Loop, at the Slave Theater on Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant ended at 10:30 p.m. after the victims fell 10 feet into a cellar. NY: Smoke Screening. What's next in the war on tobacco? Will the government outlaw smoking in your apartment? City officials say they have no plans to ban smoking on sidewalks. They point out, quite reasonably, that the mere fact that they're polling the question doesn't, by itself, mean they're going to try it. But they wouldn't be polling the question if they weren't thinking about it. The Smoke Report Video: The Death Penalty for Smoking? Those graphic cigarette ads the FDA tried to push on tobacco companies recently had a day in court. Ireland: Irish Health Minister James Reilly says he will ban outdoor smoking in parks and on beaches to stop children seeing adults smoking. He also intends to ban smoking in cars with children present. Korea: More firms pressure staff to stop smoking. A non-smoker will be chosen over a smoker with similar evaluation scores for promotion, which means it will be nearly impossible for smokers to become executives, a Samsung official said. Voice of Russia Radio Program: Stripping Cigarette Packs Of All Branding. VOR, London's Juliet Spare and a panel of guests debate the government's consideration of stripping cigarette packets of all branding. World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. | |
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance John Wayne's Pledge of Allegiance | |
Thursday, May 03, 2012
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The Property Rights Newsletter May 4, 2012 - Issue #662 "The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center.So does a person." - Norman Vincent Peale | ||
NICOTINE BENEFIT: Tobaccos restorative effects on self control: "Our goal was to study whether tobacco smoking affects an individual's self-control resources," said study leader Bryan W. Heckman. "We hypothesized that participants who underwent a self-control depletion task would demonstrate less persistence on behavioral tasks requiring self-control as compared to those with self-control intact, when neither group was allowed to smoke. However, we also hypothesized that we would not find this performance decrement among participants who were permitted to smoke." The findings supported the investigators' hypotheses - smoking did have a restorative effect on an individual's depleted self-control resources.
NICOTINE BENEFIT: Parkinson's disease: Study Confirms Long-Term Smoking Protects Against Parkinson's. - Parkinson's disease update. - Smoking may lessen the risk of Parkinson's disease. - New research suggests that nicotine treatment protects against the same type of brain damage that occurs in Parkinson's. (More) NICOTINE BENEFIT: Alzheimer's disease: The anti-tobacco fanatics are in a tough spot. Reliable scientific research has turned up the horrible news that tobacco smoke is good for your health. Alzheimer''s, Parkinson''s, Tourette's Syndrome, even schizophrenia and cocaine addiction are disorders that are alleviated by tobacco. There is even evidence that tobacco helps to prevent colon and prostate cancer. - Nicotine might be Public Enemy No. 1 for the bureaucrats who run America's local governments, but it's also a miracle drug that fights memory loss in old folks facing Alzheimer's Disease. (More) DRUG WARNING: Buproprion: Not long after, though, something else changed. Biking home from work across the Williamsburg Bridge or riding the subway I'd start to have these horrible thoughts about what would happen if I threw myself in front of a train or down into the river. In the studio I was using power tools and thinking about cutting my hand off. It was really freaking me out. My mind was spinning out these very full, detailed and dark narratives, which I was simultaneously watching happen from another, walled off perch in my brain. One day I was coming home from work and my wife was out on Long Island and I sent her a text message saying that I wanted to kill myself. DRUG WARNING: Chantix: Suicides and suicide attempts - FAA Ban of Chantix Use by Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers - Was linked to an increased risk of a heart attack, stroke or other serious ... - Chantix has been documented to have death as a serious side effect. (More) | ||
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The Property Rights Newsletter April 27, 2012 - Issue #661 "I am what I am and, you know, I'm a very lucky guy."- Michael Bloomberg | ||
Trans Fat: No, the state says you may not choose. New York City banned so-called "trans fats" in all food service establishments.
******* Salt: Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking. ******* Alcohol: Mr Bloomberg's office detailed plans to cut the number of drinking establishments as well as restrict alcohol advertising. ******* - Food Police: Mayor Bloomberg Bans Food Donations to Homeless Shelters. - Read More Food Stuff: - Mayor Bloomberg's grand vision to improve New Yorkers' health by severely limiting sales of high-calorie beverages on city property - Banning soft drinks from folks on food stamps - Passed new regulations forcing some restaurants to post calorie content for all the food on the menu board - Ban on free doughnuts and sweets for seniors - Mr. Bloomberg said governments should be using the law to mandate behavior when necessary. He said encouraging people to change behaviors through advertising campaigns is important, but is not enough. He quoted Mark Twain, saying, "Thunder is good. Thunder is impressive, but lightning does the work." - He pushed for a revamp of school menus and by the start of the next school year, fat-laden meals were being replaced by healthier versions. That same year, 2003, the city began handing out free nicotine patches and Bloomberg won his crusade to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants. - In an appalling extension of the nanny state, New York is slated to become the first city to monitor diabetics' blood-sugar levels. It plans to register them like HIV or tuberculosis sufferers and nag them when their levels aren't healthy enough. Drop the cupcake; here come the sugar police. ******* - Freedom: The problem is that Bloomberg's idea of public health, like the CDC's, does not distinguish between deadly diseases people catch and risky things they choose to do. In his speech he equated smoking, overeating, and failing to wear a seat belt with polio, cholera, and tuberculosis, wishing away freedom by pretending it doesn't exist. - Smoking ban. First Mayor Bloomberg pushed through an indoor-smoking ban. Then yesterday, at his request, a bill was quietly introduced in the City Council to increase the fines of outdoor consumption of alcohol. - Smoking ban in NYC parks and beaches. - More NY Ban Damage: Damage to lives, bodies, business closed, jobs lost, violations, bribery, burglary, and more. - Black Market: Fleenor, who continues to follow the relationship between tobacco tax hikes and crime closely, is amazed that despite the crime situation such lucrative trafficking has generated, New York continues to consider further tax hikes. Read More articles. - Don't Tell Bloomberg: But New Yorkers can smoke at the U.N. ******* Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates today announced joint efforts to combat the global tobacco epidemic. A combined investment of $500 million will help governments in developing countries implement proven policies and increase funding for tobacco control. ******* WHO And Mayor Bloomberg Fuel Anti-Smoking Propaganda. The World Health Organization released a ridiculous report Thursday, financed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (NYC-R), claiming that up to a billion people could be killed by tobacco in the 21st century. The report included a six-point program for fighting the tobacco industry: including raising cigarette taxes, banning smoking in public places, monitoring tobacco use, warning people of the dangers, etc. New York City, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, has been among the strictest of bans against tobacco, with only 5% of the entire world having smoking laws like the Big Apple. ******* Egyptians Rally Around: Bloomberg Philanthropies announced today the winners of the Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control and Egypt's Ministry of Finance was recognized because they raised taxes. ******* And so much more! | ||
WARNING to King Bloomberg, taking rights from his subjects, and now reaching across the pond. Nothing lasts forever.WATCH: Coldplay - Viva La Vida I used to rule the world - Seas would rise when I gave the word - Now in the morning I sleep alone - Sweep the streets I used to own. / I used to roll the dice - Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes - Listen as the crowd would sing - "Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!" / One minute I held the key - Next the walls were closed on me - And I discovered that my castles stand - Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand. / I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing - Roman Cavalry choirs are singing - Be my mirror, my sword and shield - My missionaries in a foreign field. / For some reason I can't explain - Once you go there was never - Never an honest word - And that was when I ruled the world. / It was the wicked and wild wind - Blew down the doors to let me in - Shattered windows and the sound of drums - People couldn't believe what I'd become. / Revolutionaries wait - For my head on a silver plate - Just a puppet on a lonely string - Oh who would ever want to be king? / For some reason I can't explain - I know Saint Peter won't call my name - Never an honest word - But that was when I ruled the world. | ||
