FORCES columnists offer news and perspectives on such issues as smoking and public policy, smoking and science, and the increasingly evident slippery slope that is leading to tobacco prohibition. They also venture into adjacent territory to chart the course of an authoritarian and censorious political and bureaucratic elite that uses state-of-the-art propaganda techniques, corporate handouts and tax dollars to woo the public towards a vision of the future that offers utopian illusions about health and safety in exchange for the privacy and freedom of both mind and body.
The concerns of our columnists range from a detailed examination of local legislative issues to broader philosophical considerations touching, for example, on the gradual (and decidedly undemocratic) globalization of public health policy.
Latest Articles
Government Destroyed U.S. Auto Companies | Edmund Contoski
Article Published: 2010/01/22
One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary. —Ayn Rand
Transplant Surgery Now Useful For Anti | Steve Cross
Article Published: 2010/01/06
Last week CNN reported on a British Corporal who died after a lung transplant. The headline of their article was "Why transplants use imperfect organs" [stored] after it was revealed the British soldier was given the lungs from a doctor who smoked.
They do not attempt to define what "perfect organs" would be, so from the headline and subsequent news report we can only presume that perfect organs come from non smokers and imperfect ones come from smokers.
Once again we see an anti smoking message flashed around the world in an attention grabbing headline without a single shred of evidence that smoking had anything to do with this tragedy.
Copenhagen Climate Summit: Hidden Agenda | Edmund Contoski
Article Published: 2010/01/06
Actually, the agenda wasn't hidden. It was right out in the open, proclaimed by banners and protesters. But it was hidden from the American people by the news media which refused to report it.
E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., is a scientist who attended the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He witnessed a very different picture from what was conveyed by American press and television coverage. Here are some of his observations:
E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D., is a scientist who attended the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He witnessed a very different picture from what was conveyed by American press and television coverage. Here are some of his observations:
Founding Weed | Robert Prasker
Article Published: 2009/11/25
Taxing to Reduce Obesity and its Costs? | Edmund Contoski
Article Published: 2009/11/25
Of the columns posted here, I have written all but one. Now I offer you another guest columnist, Gregg Cavanagh, who has written a wonderful response to a proposal by two professors for a national tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The professors claim a tax on soft drinks would provide about $150 billion in tax revenue over ten years and about $50 billion in direct health benefits. They claim it would help Americans lose weight and that the U.S. spends $147 billion on medical costs associated with overweight and obesity. But Cavanagh, with wit and logic, shows such a tax would be unfair, ineffective, and downright ludicrous if its basic idea is consistently applied. More importantly, he also shows that the real solution is not another government program, more taxes and government intervention but rather action by the individual. Here is his article:
Public Health Ignorance | Steve Cross
Article Published: 2009/11/22
Forces International columnist Pat Nurse attended a meeting last week to complain about a graphically violent UK National Health Service video that showed a smoker being beaten to death.
There were many things about the video and the NHS response that were disturbing in a so called civilised society and Pat's report of the meeting covers them well, but there is one particular myth they offered to excuse their use of violent discrimination that deserves more attention.
Graphic Violence From The UK Health Service | Pat Nurse
Article Published: 2009/11/22
I was so outraged when I first saw the video by the UK NHS Birmingham North and East Primary Care Trust that was a graphically violent production showing a smoker getting beaten to death that I complained. The background to why and how it was made, and the wider campiagn that it was part of, was explained but I didn't feel that it justified what I saw as a very irresponsible video which I honestly believe could incite violence against smokers.
The Irish Miracle | Søren Højbjerg
Article Published: 2009/11/13
The real lesson of Ireland is resistance.
EIGHT REASONS NOT TO CAMPAIGN FOR ‘SMOKING ROOMS’ | Joe Jackson
Article Published: 2009/10/30
There has been a fair amount of talk lately about ‘amending’ the UK smoking ban, possibly by allowing separate smoking rooms. This might be better than a total ban, but I still believe it’s a mistake for smokers to actually volunteer for segregation. Here’s why:
Obama's Economic Vandalism: Trade Protectionism | Edmund Contoski
Article Published: 2009/10/02
It's hard to know whether Obama's policies of trade protectionism result from his ignorance of both economics and history or simply putting politics ahead of both. Take your pick.
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