While everyone is so busy beating up tobacco and people who smoke, there are two articles today that are interesting. The first one is about pesticides in food. “When you pick up food, you are eating thousands of chemicals at a time,” said Allan Felsot, who published “Pesticides and Health: Myths and Realities”. Mr. Felsot claims they are harmless, the Environmental Working Group say they are toxic. <br />
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The same story is on in West Virginia, raising tobacco taxes by an additional dollar. This campaign is nationwide so go to the website of your state government and search for tobacco tax and we are sure you will find it.<br />
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Chuck Hamsher says those increases will again be introduced this year at the State House. "Tobacco is a plague upon the land," he said on Tuesday’s MetroNews Talkline.<br />
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A plague, really? I thought the plague we had was HIV/AIDS or HPV. We have so many plagues’ going on these days; tobacco is the only one that is being discussed. Why? Because the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and BIG PHARM wants to sell their nicotine drugs! Money will buy just about anything including gullible state legislators.<br />
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Tobacco Free Alliance, in Virginia, is trying to get the tobacco tax raised from 30 cents to $1.45 on a pack of cigarettes. This campaign has been backed by the usual: Cancer, Heart and Lung Associations. Virginia farmers biggest cash crop is tobacco so there is quite a bit of lobbying against this bill. It might almost be a fair fight but the "usual" never give up, they are like the Terminator, almost indestructible but their lies will catch up to them and when they do no one will believe anything they have to say on any topic. You can only cry "Wolf" so many times.<br />
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State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, of Alabama will introduce legislation and a constitutional amendment to ban smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants but not private clubs. Another nut job who has no idea what the truth is, nor would she, if she fell into it.<br />
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The state legislature has not passed a statewide smoking ban in 13 years. Let’s hope they stick to their guns and are not manipulated by the American Cancer Society, who is actively lobbying for her bill.<br />
From the show of The Josh TolleyChannel: <span dir="ltr" id="eow-title" class="long-title" title="Smoking Bans: Killing our jobs, our health, and our freedom"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlENPUfuaoU&feature=youtu.be">Smoking Bans: Killing our jobs, our health, and our freedom. </a> <br />
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This will make your blood boil, have a smoke and listen.<br />
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"The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, will be newly pounding the nation’s airwaves with anti-smoking ads". The costs of these ads are $100 million per year or more.<br />
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"The CDC declined to comment, other than to confirm the campaign, but people familiar with it said that it has a broadcast TV element and is expected to focus on smoking’s health effects, using scare tactics to encourage people to toss out the smokes".
Between the newly created smoking ban in casinos, coupled with the current economic crisis and the introduction of video lotteries throughout Italy, the casinos have lost a minimum of 40 percent of their gross gaming revenues.<br />
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The Swiss Government drank the "kool-aid" and believed the anti’s that smoking bans are good for business, well they aren’t.<br type="_moz" />
Biotech firm <a rel="971" href="http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/overview/971/Medicago" class="companyPopupTrigger">Medicago</a>, Inc. (TSE:MDG) has struck a research agreement with Cellectis plant sciences to improve therapeutic proteins expressed in tobacco leaves, the company said Monday. <br />
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Tobacco farmers were made to produce another crop, even thought they made more money farming tobacco. This new discovery of therapeutic proteins in tobacco leaves may allow the farmers to choose their crops again.<br />
<p>Mike Surratt, Lanham of Maryland, is asking why no one is taking on John O’ Hara, president of the Maryland Group Against Smokers’ Pollution, known as GASP.<br />
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"Comparing tobacco use around children at the same level as physical, sexual or any other child abuse crimes defined by current laws on the books is absurd. Any person who is 40- or 50-plus years old probably has experienced secondhand smoke in a household or in society, and for some reason, we are still alive. How is that possible? How can so many baby boomers be alive going through the so-called abuse of secondhand smoke? After all, at one time, 50 percent of the population smoked."</p>
Several cruise lines have further limited smoking on ships, leaving a few designated areas as the last refuge to light up at sea.<br />
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<a id="ORCRP017388" class="taxInlineTagLink" title="Princess Cruises" href="/topic/economy-business-finance/tourism-leisure-industry/princess-cruises-ORCRP017388.topic">Princess Cruises</a>’ guests won’t be allowed to smoke in staterooms or on balconies starting with sailings on Monday. Three other lines recently tightened their smoking rules or will join Princess in doing so next week.<br />
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Nix mox cruise ships if you are a smoker. However, it appears you can use e-cigs because the cruise ships can’t smell them in your state room.<br />