Thursday, July 25, 2013
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The Property Rights Newsletter July 26, 2013 - Issue #723 "My advice is to give up stevia, aspartame, sucralose, sugar alcohols like xylitol and malitol, and all of the other heavily-used and marketed sweeteners unless you want to slow down your metabolism, gain weight, and become an addict."- Mark Hyman |
Tobacco: Crime's new currency. By Thomas Lesnak, Former ATF Agent. It may shock you to know that smuggled cigarettes command the same net profit as heroin, and that in dozens of recent government investigations, crooks traded everything from guns, drugs, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and stolen vehicles - including Lamborghinis - for cigarettes. Cigarette trafficking in America has reached epidemic levels, because even in limited quantities cigarettes are worth more than narcotics, and carry less risk of prosecution or meeting a violent death. Most shocking of all, it is our well-intended tobacco control policies that created - and continue to fuel - this vast criminal industry.
FDA invites public input on menthol in cigarettes. The agency is issuing the ANPRM to obtain additional information related to potential regulatory options it might consider, such as establishing tobacco product standards, among others. The ANPRM will be available for public comment for 60 days. The FDA will consider all comments, data, research, and other information submitted to the docket to determine what, if any, regulatory action with respect to menthol in cigarettes is appropriate. FDA Regulator to act on e-cigarettes. THE FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) will resolve in a month whether to regulate or ban electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) after medical groups raised health concerns on its use. Dr. Kenneth Y. Hartigan-Go, director-general of the FDA, said inputs presented in a public hearing yesterday as well as position papers of various stakeholders on e-cigarettes will be considered in the decision. "The regulators will study these and come back to you in a period of one month's time with a clear position of what we need to do as far as this item is concerned," Mr. Go said. 
Abbot (without Costello) Smoking bans are imposed because a small number of people dislike the smell of burning tobacco therefore they have abused the positions they have attained by imposing their miserable, intolerant lifestyles on anyone who dares to smoke-Godber being a prime example! But are they right to do so?
NY: 14 cig havens still smoking 10 years after Bloomberg's ban. Here's smoke in your eye, Nanny Bloomberg! "It's our right!" declared Vietnam vet Richard Velez, 63, at the Bay Ridge American Legion hall in Brooklyn. "Who the hell is this one individual to come in and micromanage my life?" Netherlands: Finance ministry breaks WHO treaty. Vrij Nederland also reports that employers' organisation VNO-NCW lobbies at the highest government levels in The Hague and in Brussels to soften the anti-smoking policy. VNO-NCW director Niek van Kesteren told the magazine the Netherlands government needs tobacco taxes to balance its budget. Russia: What DO they support? Lies that enrich pharmaceutical companies? The whole purpose of the anti-smoking policy is to force people to quit, increasing the profits made out of smoking cessation drugs. And what should be done with the art that already exisist? Must we burn all books or paintings where smoking is present for the sake of political correctness? Scotland: Freedom-2-Choose: Three smoking wardens fail to manage the problem. - Plain packs fallout. - Lancet blames tobacco for everything, others more realistic. - Dangers to life and the public health lobby: adverse drug reactions kill more than smoking. UK: Smoking, democracy, plain packaging and the Soviets. Even if plain packaging were a successful intervention and decreased the number of cigarettes smoked, it is a Soviet era-style restriction that does not sit well in a liberal democracy. An assault on personal freedoms in the name of health is still an assault on democracy. Isn't it? World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. 
Aspartame: Study Links Aspartame To Fast-Paced Decline in Kidney Function. A study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology determined that sugar sweetened soda increases the odds for kidney function decline. Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that aspartame is lniked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukaemia. It was determined that one main health effects was that it had a high chance of inducing brain tumours. Piles of comprehensive studies have been completed that show aspartame is a cause for over 90 serious health problems such as cancer, leukemia, headaches, seizures, fibromyalgia, and epilepsy just to name a few.
Sugar: Regulating Our Sugar Habit. Added sugar is not the only dangerous food. But unlike animal products, for example, which we also overconsume, it has no benefits. Yet we down it at the rate of 150 pounds per person per year, and while scientists argue whether it is addictive in humans (it meets the criteria for addiction in animals), it is most certainly habit-forming. Lustig and his co-authors suggest that actions like imposing taxes on added sugar or establishing a minimum age for purchase of sodas (they mention 17 in their paper) would reduce consumption.
More: Articles about sugar, sugar tax, and the sugar police. |
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Thursday, July 18, 2013
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The Property Rights Newsletter July 19, 2013 - Issue #722 "A recent police study found that you're muchmore likely to get shot by a fat cop if you run." - Dennis Miller | |
Australia: If It Looks Like A Domino... By Dick Puddlecote. GRAPHIC images and plain packaging for junk food may be forced on consumers, as food industry heavyweights debate tough measures to combat obesity. A panel of food science, nutrition and manufacturing experts will tackle whether tobacco's plain packaging approach would help curb the country's growing obesity epidemic at the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology convention today.
Indonesia: City targets pot-bellied police. Overweight policemen in an Indonesian city have been ordered to join an exercise programme as many of them are currently too slow to catch fleeing criminals. "The pot-bellied police run too slow," Wahyu Widada, police chief of Tangerang, near the capital Jakarta, told AFP. Around 130 officers deemed excessively overweight out of the 1,473-strong force will undertake compulsory physical exercise three times a week for a total of four-and-a-half hours. Malaysia: State to whip pot-bellied cops into shape. Fat police officers in Malaysia's central state of Pahang will soon be forced to attend daily exercise sessions in response to criticisms that many in the force were out of shape, a newspaper reported Wednesday. "I am aware that there are personnel in the force who are pot-bellied and overweight," said state police chief Sharifuddin Abdul Ghani. Pakistan: Warns Pot-bellied Cops To Diet or Quit. A Pakistan police commander has ordered tens of thousands of pot-bellied officers to diet or quit frontline duties, officials said Monday in what one newspaper dubbed the "battle of the bulge." Habibur Rehman, police chief in Pakistan's most populous province Punjab, has ordered 175,000 personnel not to allow their waistlines to exceed 38 inches (96 cm), spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar told AFP. At least 50 percent of Punjab police are overweight, Ghazanfar said. Thailand: Potbellied police told to lose weight as 60 overweight Thai officers are sent to 12-day boot camp. Five most common concerns among officers were obesity, high cholesterol, liver problems, high blood pressure and diabetes. It includes dawn-to-dusk exercise and lectures on healthy eating at a police training centre in Bangkok. The officers wear T-shirts with the slogan "Get rid of the belly" and start their days with pre-dawn jogs, yoga, aerobic dance classes and lessons from nutritionists. They also do tai chi to reduce stress and improve the body's blood flow. Vietnam: Paunchy traffic policemen not allowed working on the road. Hanoi's traffic police officers who have a pot-belly, undersized and speak improperly will be arranged to do paperwork, not having contact with people. The traffic police teams in Hanoi are reviewing their members to make the list of police officers, even the young ones, who have big waists. World: Signs Of A Broken Society Part Two: Inmate Sterilization and Eugenics - California still grapples with an ugly past - Packed lunches: pupils face ban in new school food plans - Man Has Home Ransacked by Police for Paying Cash - Tricking the public to 'promote' health - and more! World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. 
Electronic Cigarette: Another Day, Another E-Cigarette Opponent Fabricates Evidence to Deter Use; This Time, It's the World Health Organization. By Dr. Michael Siegel. The World Health Organization has fabricated a new piece of evidence that is completely false and has no basis in reality: that cigarettes are safer than e-cigarettes because unlike e-cigarettes they have a filter so the nicotine does not go directly to the lungs.
Electronic Cigarette: Electronic cigarettes could rekindle battles over smoking in public. The e-cigarette industry is promoting vaping as a hip, healthier alternative to smoking — and as a way to quit. But while health experts largely agree that the vapor from e-cigarettes poses less of a threat to public health than tobacco cigarettes, some worry that welcoming the so-called "clean nicotine" could erode smoking bans, encourage smokers to trade one addiction for another and hook nonsmokers. Electronic Cigarette: Research & Commentary: The Emergence of E-Cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes, or "e-cigarettes," have quickly become one of the most popular nicotine replacement products. The Wall Street Journal reports sales of e-cigarettes doubled in the United States over the past five years, moving from $250 million to $500 million in total sales. Some industry experts predict sales of e-cigarettes could reach $1 billion this year, doubling sales from 2012. | |
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Thursday, July 11, 2013
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The Property Rights Newsletter July 12, 2013 - Issue #721 "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."- Mother Teresa |
Is cutting down a waste of time? Newspapers today are reporting on a new study from Scottish researchers on smoking reduction. Today's Sun says "Cutting down on cigs is a waste of time." But only last month headlines said "Smokers urged to 'cut down' rather than quit" (from The Telegraph). What's going on? In one sub-group (heavier smokers who reported reduction) in the smaller of the two cohorts, the researchers did find quite large improvements in mortality outcomes, but this wasn't seen consistently in rest of the study data. The researchers contrast their findings with a similar recent study from Israel that found more consistent evidence of improved mortality outcomes in reducers.
Signs Of A Broken Society. Law professor calls for ban on parents drinking, she compared the offence to minor assault which currently carries a penalty of up to six months imprisonment. - Humorless Ohio AG mugs 'prescription' coffee cup, jokes on cups should not be allowed. - Elderly man who picked dandelions for food gets $75 ticket. - Sandals Recalled Because Flower is a "Choking Hazard."
Former German Chancellor Stays One Step Ahead of European Nannies, Hoards Cigarettes. The 94-year-old former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has hoarded 38,000 menthol cigarettes in his house, fearing that they could be banned by the EU. This means that he has enough to keep him on a packet a day until he turns 100. The proposed ban on menthol cigarettes is only the latest example of the nannying instinct exhibited by many legislators in the EU, which has already proposed or implemented bans on unsupervised children blowing up balloons, refillable olive oil jugs, and pictures of babies on baby formula.
MO: City-imposed smoking ban appears dead in St. Charles. City leaders here have backed off efforts to pass a limited smoking ban and now want to only require businesses to post signs saying whether they allow customers to light up. Mayor Sally Faith and Council President Dave Beckering announced plans for the sign ordinance at a City Council meeting Tuesday night. USA: New York school drops Michelle Obama lunch standards: Kids too hungry. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake school district has become the latest casualty in first lady Michelle Obama's preferred lunch plan, dropping the menu after too many students complained of hunger. The district lost about $100,000 trying out the federal menu, which offered such meals as "part" of a chicken patty on a minicroissant. USA: A Label Calls Attention to Obesity. This distorted view may change now that the American Medical Association has finally labeled obesity a disease, not just a risk factor for other disorders. The A.M.A. has said in effect that it is medicine's responsibility to provide the knowledge and tools needed to curb this runaway epidemic. UK: Children's caffeine intake "should be controlled." The European Food Safety Agency suggested more than two-thirds of the UK's 10 to 18-year-olds have drunk high-caffeine energy drinks. Caffeine is defined as a drug because it stimulates the central nervous system. In both children and adults, too much caffeine can cause difficulty concentrating and sleeping and increased heart rate. UK: Imperial Tobacco has launched Smoke Spots in the UK, a new website to support adult smokers and promote smoker-friendly venues. Smoke Spots is already live in Germany and Austria and now it has been extended into the UK, with London being the flagship city. World: Smokers Blogs. Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. |
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Wednesday, July 03, 2013
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| The Property Rights Newsletter July 5, 2013 - Issue #720 "Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism." - Thomas Jefferson | |
 Georgia - Douglas and Gwinnett County: Fox 5 News I-Team Investigation Video. In some Georgia counties, as well as all over the USA, drivers are getting their blood forcibly stolen from them. As shown in this video, every driver who refuses to give the police a blow, even for misdemeanor offenses, is strapped to a table, put into a headlock by a police officer, and their blood forcibly taken.  Iran Confiscating Pet Dogs: Radan was quoted by the Fars news agency saying that police would "confront those who walk their dogs in the streets. Cars carrying dogs will also be impounded." "Owners are being told that their dogs will be killed, and no paper (confirming the confiscation) is given to them," a Tehran pet hospital chief, Payam Mohebi, was quoted as saying by the Bahar daily, according to AFP. Islamic beliefs cherished by the vast majority of traditional Iranians consider dogs as najis, or unclean.  Contradictions among the Zealots: The results of these studies are totally contrary to common sense. If drinking one bottle of red wine per day is harmful, then it surely must be true that drinking two bottles of red wine per day must be more harmful... Contradiction by Aage Tverdal and Kjell Bjartveit in 2006 with Conclusions: Long-term follow-up provides no evidence that heavy smokers who cut down their daily cigarette consumption by >50% reduce their risk of premature death significantly. In health education and patient counselling, it may give people false expectations to advise that reduction in consumption is associated with reduction in harm. Also read, "They have created a fear that is based on nothing."  Research Funded for DNA Vaccine to Create Nicotine Immunity. Chang and colleagues at Arizona State's Biodesign Institute are taking a different approach to breaking the hold of nicotine on the body, by harnessing the body's immune system to stimulate antibodies that bind with nicotine and keep it from reaching the brain's reward circuits. In addition to testing three alternative structures, the researchers expect to test different combinations of components in the lab and with animal models. The goal of the team is to identify two or three vaccine candidates for subsequent clinical trials and eventual submission for regulatory approval. Thailand: Tobacco companies to sue Thai government over health warnings. Their target is the Kingdom's health department and its new regulations for bigger health warnings on cigarette packaging, making them the world's largest. USA: Happy Fourth of July! Pick up your card for facts, jokes, and music. Electronic Cigarette: Dalli, The Bahamas, And Millions Of Mysterious Euros. To recap, he was sacked personally by EU President Barroso after the anti-corruption body Olaf found what they called "unambiguous circumstantial evidence" that he - through intermediaries - had solicited EU60m in bribes from snus manufacturer Swedish Match. Electronic Cigarette: Looking at the helpfulness of e-cigarettes. "If you're trying to quit or just looking for something to use when you don't have a cigarette at the time, it works," Walston said. "The electronic cigarettes have really taken off. There might be only e-cigarettes in 10 years." Electronic Cigarette: FDA: Second-hand smoke from e-cigarettes may be harmful to your health. Because of this, the FDA reiterated its appeal to the public, especially the youth, "NOT to start smoking at all and to stop using cigarettes, cigars, or e-cigarettes." Electronic Cigarette: Taking the pleasure out of e-cigarettes. By Christopher Snowdon. The authorities' attempt to classify e-ciggies as medicinal effaces the real reason people smoke - they enjoy it. No one denies that e-cigarettes should meet basic standards of safety and quality, but there are enough consumer-protection laws in place already without forcing this patently non-medical product down the pharmaceutical route. Electronic Cigarette: Read more articles at The Property Rights Newsletter. | |
 World Smokers Blogs: Watch instant postings to your favorite blogs. | |
