Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The Property Rights Newsletter Issue #782
November 28, 2014 - Issue #782"It is worth remembering one of the important lessons of the Buck story: a small number of zealous advocates can have an impact on the law that defies both science and conventional wisdom." - Paul A. Lombardo, Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck v. Bell |
For the Public Good: The Shameful History of Forced Sterilization in the U.S.: "For the Public Good," Belle Boggs's story for The New New South about the shocking history of forced sterilizations that occurred in the United States, and the story of victims in North Carolina, with original video by Olympia Stone.
Rapid-DNA technology: The FBI Is Very Excited About This Machine That Can Scan Your DNA in 90 Minutes. Rapid-DNA technology makes it easier than ever to grab and store your genetic profile. G-men, cops, and Homeland Security can't wait to see it everywhere. Schueren grabbed a cotton swab and dropped it into a plastic cartridge. That's what, say, a police officer would use to wipe the inside of your cheek to collect a DNA sample after an arrest, he explained. Other bits of material with traces of DNA on them, like cigarette butts or fabric, could work too.  Zapping brain may cure heavy smokers, study finds 44% of pack-a-day-plus smokers studied were able to kick the habit with 'shock' treatment, despite past failures. The magnetic current method stimulates regions of the brain that are central to addiction, using a specially designed helmet. It's is able to turn the brain regions' electrical activity up or down - apparently making quitting easier. A small study that Zangen recently co-authored finds a machine with a different coil may help treat depressive alcoholics. Brainsway has even bigger plans. The company says it is testing helmets with coils for almost two dozen conditions, including bipolar disorder, chronic pain, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Program To Diminish Tobacco Use in California Is Fading: In a California Healthline report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed the funding conundrum of the California tobacco control program - because it has helped lower the number of smokers in the state, it gets about half the cigarette-tax funding it used to get. A new report from UC-San Francisco researchers said efforts to raise additional money have failed, in part because of increased willingness among state legislators to accept tobacco industry campaign donations. 
A Truly Frightening Halloween In Our Future? But now "public health" activists seem determined to truly frighten our children by taking away that annual ritual. I call them the Food Police. From health arguments, it's a short step to Puritanical suppression. At first, candy might seem safe from such attacks, but the experience with sugary soft drinks suggests otherwise.
UK: 'Ban fat customers from fast food restaurants like bartenders ban drunks from bars,' says weight loss expert. Steve Miller, presenter of Sky's Fat Families, says shock tactics are needed to help combat the obesity epidemic. Says fast food chains should implement training for staff to help them refuse obese customers in a 'delicate and forthright' manner. Mr Miller said while radical at its core, his idea does not involve shaming those who are overweight. LA: New Orleans: DRAFT OF CANTRELL'S SMOKING BAN RELEASED. New Orleans City Councilwomen LaToya Cantrell proposed an ordinance to tackle the issue in New Orleans. The proposed measure is severe elliminating smoking not only in bars, but many outdoor areas. The ordinance would ban smoking (defined to include vaping or e-cigs as well) in a large part of the city; so it might be easier to talk about where smoking wouldn't be illegal. Video: Queensland councils are fighting against a push to expand 'no smoking' zones in public spaces. Damien Hansen reports. UK MPs are left fuming by 'crazy' bid to ban e-cigarettes from the House of Commons, saying it would lead to a total ban at Westminster. Many MPs were outraged calling it a perverse result of the nanny state. A Commons spokesman said a final decision had yet to be made. |
UK Call for Knife Control: It had to happen. We've been told for decades that gun control has curtailed violence in Great Britain. With no guns around, people who are intent on doing harm are using knives. So, of course, there is now the call for knife control. "The new 'Save a Life - Surrender Your Knife' program is in full swing and police are telling us that they have joined forces with an already growing trend in the United Kingdom to ban 'pointy' knives." |
Thursday, November 20, 2014
The Property Rights Newsletter Issue #781
|
November 21, 2014 - Issue #781 "Unless you become more watchful in your states and check the spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges you will in the end find that... the control over your dearest interests has passed into the hands of these corporations." - Andrew Jackson |
Express Scripts Eyes Forming Alcohol and Tobacco Free Pharmacy Networks: Express Scripts, the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager, is surveying pharmacy owners about creating a network of outlets that do not sell tobacco products or alcohol. A spokesman confirms that information is being gathered, but no decision has been made on whether a network will be created or if customers will be charged extra co-payments for visiting a pharmacy that sells such products. CVS pharmacies no longer sell tobacco products, some do sell alcohol, at least in certain states. So if Express Scripts were to form 'no-sin networks,' some CVS pharmacies may be excluded, just as CVS rivals that sell tobacco would be excluded from Caremark tobacco-free networks.
Westminster, Mass., and the well-tended grass roots of tobacco bans: The staff paid for with money from outside the town seem to have seen their job as, in part, lobbying the local officials: "We've had to work on each individual board [of health] member to get them to come around," said one. And it's worth knowing exactly how the game plan works, because similar ones have been rolled out to localities in various states not only on "tobacco control" but on "food policy," environmental bans and other topics. Grass roots? If so, most carefully cultivated in high places.
AND: Control Freaks. By John Stossel. Control freaks want to run your life. They call themselves "public servants." 
More Humiliation: China Furious At "Disrespectful" Nicorette-Chewing Obama. "The chew seen around the world," as President Obama chomped on Nicorette gum during the recent APEC summit ceremonies, has sparked outrage in China, describing his behavior as "rude" and "inappropriate."
Stanton Glantz: By Dr Farsalinos. Personal attacks, questionable ethics and support for censorship when the results do not fit to the agenda. A sad story of scientific misconduct. In an unprecedented attempt to create confusion, support censorship, intimidate journal editors and discredit research which obviously does not fit to his agenda...
Free Audio Book - Vices Are Not Crimes: Lysander Spooner (1808 - 1887) Unless this clear distinction between vices and crimes be made and recognized by the laws, there can be on earth no such thing as individual right, liberty, or property, and the corresponding coequal rights of another man to the control of his own person and property. CA Foster City: A smoking ban in Foster City apartments, condominiums and townhomes that share walls, floors, ceilings and ventilation systems moved forward Monday with a unanimous City Council vote after nearly a year of sometimes heated discussion. TX Alert: Senate Bill 97 - Relating to regulation of the sale, distribution, possession, use, and advertising of vapor products; authorizing a fee; creating offenses. UK Cigar Auction: Christmas is arriving early for some of the world's wealthiest smokers, who will be flocking to Boisdale Belgravia on 1 December for C.Gars Ltd's fifth winter - and largest ever - auction of rare, aged and vintage cigars. 
Parents question physical exams. A group of parents who have children in the Buffalo Public School District are calling on the district to review school policies allowing what they call, "sexually invasive" physical exams.
Michelle Obama's School Lunch Program Now Faces Organized Opposition from Hungry High Schoolers. And they're not gonna take it anymore. As we've previously reported,students and parents are fed up and have posted pics of the skimpy meals on Twitter. |
 Our Thanksgiving Card for you. |
Thursday, November 13, 2014
The Property Rights Newsletter Issue #780
|
November 14, 2014 - Issue #780 "Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war." - Loren Eiseley |
Oregon State comes to senses on beach smoking ban.  IL: Clark County. Entire Park District Board Placed Under Citizen's Arrest. Group objects to board's failure to allow public comment at meeting. Kraft said he wasn't planning to pull out the citizen's arrest statute at the park board hearing until it became clear the board was refusing to let people address them. Board members took immediate notice. "It's not that they should have. They're mandated to," Clark County Sheriff Jerry Parsley said. "The people need to have their voice. It's not a dictatorship. It's a democracy." Wallace said, he'd be willing to split those court costs seven ways with his fellow board members. MO: Columbia. Housing authority smoking ban still needs final approval. Radtke said at the meeting that the Board of Commissioners would consider residents' suggestions for "tweaks" to the policy, such as whether or not shelters or additional lighting should be provided to increase safety for smokers outside. NC: Mount Airy. City tobacco-free plan goes up in smoke. "I think that's taking away freedom," Commissioner Shirley Brinkley said of prohibiting smoking in the Great Outdoors. "This is God's country - the air is His and it's free." Brinkley was quick to say Thursday that she does not approve of tobacco use, and wishes the world could be free of cigarette smoke. And citizens have the right to prohibit someone's tobacco use in their homes, said Brinkley, but she believes banning smoking in outside public venues is problematic. "I just think we have to be very, very careful taking away the use of free air," Brinkley added, saying the ban on tobacco use would be "imposing too much control over people who've paid the bill for the recreation facilities." Illegal cigarettes? Blame government: An ongoing advertising campaign to stop people from buying illegal cigarettes puts all of the blame on the buyer and none on the one entity that could actually do something about it - the government. But why do otherwise law-abiding people go to the black market for their smokes? Easy. Price. So governments created a black market with high tax rates while allowing criminals to control it by refusing to enforce the law. New threat for smoke-free campaign: High tobacco prices create home-grown demand. The plants, which she believes are of the "Virginia" strain, do best in warm climates, particularly during the summer. Once dried, the tobacco leaves are shredded in a blender. The New Tobacco War: They may be safer, but could e-cigs renormalize smoking? Johnson decided on his own he needed to make a change and began to wean himself off smoking using e-cigarettes. Almost immediately, he was able to cut his cigarette use, stretching each pack of 20 cigarettes to last a full day, then two. By September, he was down to just five cigarettes a day. Scotland: Health campaigners fury as new e-cigarette advert to be first 'smoking' commercial shown in 49 years. Angry health campaigners think the 20-second clip will "sexualise and glamorise" the nicotine devices.  StingRay Technology: How Government Tracks Cellular Devices. StingRay is an IMSI-catcher (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) designed and commercialized by the Harris Corporation. Essentially, an IMSI catcher operates as a bogus mobile cell tower that sits between the target mobile phone and the service provider's real towers. The IMSI catcher runs a Man In the Middle (MITM) attack that could not be detected by the users without using specific products that secure communication on mobile devices. RFID Technology: Human tagging. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. RFID tags, antennas, readers, database system, cell phones, and more. Camera Technology: Constant camera surveillance, red light and speed cameras, security cameras, and more. TV Technology: I'm terrified of my new TV: Why I'm scared to turn this thing on - and you'd be, too. From facial recognition to personal data collection, this thing is downright scary - and so are the implications. The amount of data this thing collects is staggering. Information, a built-in camera - with facial recognition, a microphone for "voice recognition" and an ominous warning: "Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party." |
 |
Thursday, November 06, 2014
The Property Rights Newsletter Issue #779
|
November 7, 2014 - Issue #779 "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." - Mark 12:31 |
Hate Thy Neighbour: Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behaviour of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at another's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative, abusive, devious, and deceptive. Social influence is not necessarily negative. For example, doctors can try to persuade patients to change unhealthy habits. Social influence is generally perceived to be harmless when it respects the right of the influenced to accept or reject and is not unduly coercive. Depending on the context and motivations, social influence may constitute underhanded manipulation.
Smoke Sensors Update: Researchers unveil first real-time secondhand smoke sensor. Dartmouth College researchers are going to market with the first-ever sensor that detects secondhand and thirdhand tobacco and marijuana smoke in real time. Cigarette ash can clean arsenic from water. Scientists have found that discarded cigarette ash can cheaply and easily remove more than 96 percent of poisonous arsenic from water. As a result of mining and other industries, the toxin arsenic has contaminated groundwater at high levels in countries such as China, Chile, Hungary and Mexico. The poison is odourless and tasteless so it's hard to detect, but it can cause skin discolouration, stomach pain, partial paralysis and a range of other serious health problems. So now scientists could clean up cigarette butts and arsenic in developing countries at the same time, which is pretty awesome. From the Nanny State to the Bully State. By Patrick Basham. "The past generation of welfare statism saw the unduly protective Nanny State bleed into every sinew of our daily lives." Of course, the implications of the Nuffield Report extend far beyond health. Given the expansive way in which health is now defined, the state's power to enforce behavioural change on individuals reaches considerably beyond the current notion of what falls within health care. Are we seeing the start of the corporate nanny state? Now they want your blood. Honeywell International, founded in Minnesota, recently implemented a plan to reduce health care costs and promote healthy living for employees. Sounds good so far. But the company went a step further by penalizing workers financially if they and their spouses refused to agree to a biometric testing. That's a harmless enough sounding concept. But what it means is you let medical providers for the company draw blood to check for health problems, such as diabetes. It means they would also would test you, and your spouse, for blood pressure, HDL, total cholesterol and glucose. Oh, and they'd need your height and weight, and that of your spouse. And while they're at it, let's run a tape measure around your waistline to see how you are doing with that diet. Failure to agree to the tests brings a hefty price, up to $4,000 per family in penalties and lost company contributions. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said this goes too far. The agency filed suit in federal court in Minneapolis last week in behalf of two Minnesota employees, saying the health screening and penalties violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. AND: Is the CDC Fueling Anti-Fat Bias in Workplaces? By Bill Briggs. A CDC campaign that gives U.S. bosses an "obesity cost calculator" to tally the financial losses linked to their overweight employees is being criticized as spurring workplace discrimination - and perhaps enticing companies to fire fat people. |
Nation's First Soda Tax Is Passed. Berkeley, CA, became the first U.S. city to pass a law taxing sugary drinks including sodas. Proponents of the Berkeley tax say the fee will help curb consumption of sodas, energy drinks and sweetened iced teas, beverages they say are contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic.
How to beat Big Soda. Lessons from the war on tobacco. By: Holly Scheider is Outreach Coordinator for the Berkeley Healthy Child Coalition and a former Tobacco Policy Coordinator for Contra Costa County. Remember when people could smoke in restaurants, on airplanes, and at work? This changed, thanks to tireless efforts by health advocates like me. So how do we beat Big Soda? Learn from tobacco control's success.
Why Tax Just Soda? Why Not Tax Sugar? While the intake of sugar/high fructose and sweetened beverages is certainly detrimental to health (see links below), it seems taxing sodas is more a topical excuse for skimming a new revenue stream than a meaningful way to reduce obesity/diabesity.
|
