ARTICLES FROM OTHER
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ARCHIVE 56
Articles logged from January 2001 to Present
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REDEEMABLE BUTTS -
Added January 31, 2001 -
It's clear that
anti-tobacco is a mental illness. From Maine, not a state known for
stupidity, comes a plan to tack on 5 cents per cigarette to be refunded
when the spent butt is presented at the local supermarket or tobacco
store. This batty plan developed after Maine banned smoking from
most places. When people are compelled to smoke outside where
ashtrays are not available, the number of butts will multiply.Perhaps if people who choose to smoke were treated with some respect, civility and accommodation (like an ashtray in a corner indoors), they would respond accordingly. Of course common sense will not prevail and Maine will attempt to tack on yet another cigarette tax. From cigarettes to charges on fast food coffee cups, coffee stirrers, napkins, bottles, cans and all the other refuse that really is a litter problem.
One of the
taxpayers of Friendship Heights brought suit against the Maryland town on
the grounds that as special taxing district rather than an incorporated
city, the village had no right to pass such a crazy law. A county
judge has now halted the enforcement of the outdoor smoking ban pending
resolution of the case. "We're disappointed, but we're not surprised, and we'll defend ourselves,"
says Mayor Muller. Thus speaks the
social engineer who expresses disappointment that a productive citizen who
sees his rights being flushed down the toilet by his representatives
stands up for himself and the principles upon which this country was
founded. A full hearing of the case is scheduled to be heard
February 15.
Although the NSA racked up an impressive record of successes over the years, their board of directors recognizes that, in this era of special interest influence over all levels of government - and there are few special interests more powerful, or more lavishly financed, than anti-tobacco - tactics must change. The courts have supplanted the political process and scarce resources must be allocated for that venue. The rule of law, although sadly frayed, is more receptive than legislative bodies which have been subjected for years to distortions and outright lies regarding tobacco and health. The departure of the NSA is a blow but will not deter those who are committed to bringing an end to the irrational, harmful and dishonest public policies enacted through the pressure of anti-tobacco. With sorrow we bid the NSA farewell. We offer our gratitude for its important work and resolve never to give up the fight.
New York City
enacted a terrible law six years ago that bans smoking in most restaurants
and most work places. Restaurants with 35 tables or less as well as
bars are exempt. The locals continue to ignore the law but visitors
to what once was considered America's most sophisticated city are shaking
their heads in disbelief at how far the city has fallen into Big Healthism. Rudolph Giuliani
has indicated that he considers the current law sufficient. The
political establishment at all levels will be subjected to the strident
lies and propaganda of the anti-smoker fanatics but should remember that
the widespread flouting of the current law bodes ill for one that is
worse.
It will not stop
until decent people look the anti-tobacco thugs straight in the eye
and tell them to get the hell out of the way. Anti-tobacco is a
typical bully that will bluster and threaten until it gets its way.
When directly confronted by the citizens who pay the bills the bully will
turn tail and slink out of town. A magnifying glass is
needed to find the story but Little Falls, Minnesota made a great start in
running anti-tobacco out of town. Last October, by a 5-3 vote, the
City Council spat on the residents by banning smoking in restaurants.
The citizens didn't whine and roll over. They demanded an election to
decide the matter and voted out the smoking ban on Tuesday. Although the election
was close, the results strongly refute anti-tobacco's contention that 75
percent of Little Falls want a restaurant smoking ban. The
level-headed citizens of Little Falls are to be congratulated for not buying
into the lies and hate strewn by anti-tobacco
Augmenting that hatred, a racial grievance
group alleges that the tobacco industry violated civil rights laws by marketing menthol
cigarettes to the African-Americans. The suit contends that menthol cigarettes are
more hazardous than other smokes and specific targeting of blacks warrants damages paid to
the class action participants. The suit was dismissed in 1999 by a Federal Judge who
ruled that to do otherwise would require a radical departure from the jurisprudence of
civil-rights laws. An appeal to that decision is now before the Third Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals.
Whining that only four
percent of the $468-million yearly tribute paid by the tobacco industry to
the state is earmarked for anti-tobacco programs, the Body Parts wax
indignant over the stinginess of the governor. Some people may
consider nearly $19-million a not inconsiderable sum and when that amount
is added to the $200-million to $300-million annually collected from
Proposition 99 and Proposition 10 and allocated to the Body Parts and
cronies, the pleas of poverty are a bit hard to swallow. Two days after their
strident demand for more funding, the governor pledged $400-million
to help cope with California's energy crisis. It doesn't take a
brain surgeon, or even a greedy anti-tobacco operative, to realize that,
faced with rolling blackouts, astronomical utility bills and an angry
citizenry, Governor Davis and the Sacramento politicians are not very
likely to squander the state's money on a cabal of anti-tobacco special
interests. The politicians may have screwed up energy
deregulation but they are adept at counting votes. Money for the
cartel or money for the millions of voters? The question is
rhetorical.
Well, his day has come and gone. He's
out of here and Sidney Zion strikes an optimistic, and one hopes prophetic, note in his
prognostication of how George Bush will address the tobacco issue.
Anything goes when it comes
to anti-tobacco, but ridiculing those who beat the Nazis in World War II
in order to find ways to spend stolen tobacco loot is lowering the bar of
decency into the cesspool. It's no surprise that Attorney
General Mike Moore, who tramples all bystanders in pursuit of any
microphone to trumpet how he defeated Big Tobacco, approved the ads.
When it comes to tobacco, professional ethics fly out the window. As more and more people
find themselves in the cross hairs of anti-tobacco ridicule, the ugliness
of the agenda becomes harder to ignore.
A reader of The Standard-Times, New Bedford,
MA, is asking an anti-tobacco operative to provide some proof for the hitherto unproven
assumption that secondhand smoke is harmful. The polite challenge is in response to
the anti-smoking folderol spewed by one Edward Sweda, an associate of Richard Daynard,
Tobacco Liability Project. The challenger has done his research, as his letter
demonstrates but, in the interest of fairness, is giving Sweda the chance to back up his
accusations with proof. Somehow we think the loquacious Sweda will be taking a vow
of silence.
The election of George W.
Bush continues the bad news for the Stanton Glantzes, Richard Daynards,
Matt Meyers and their patrons in the Body Parts organizations. Like
cornered rats, they are fighting the inevitable with their weapons of
choice: smears, innuendoes and blatant lies. The National Review
examines the attacks on Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, who is slated
to become the secretary of the Health and Human Services department.
The smears are baseless and Thompson will be confirmed. Anti-tobacco
should be very afraid.
In the real world, 10 years
of failure would prod policy makers to reevaluate a program that doesn't
work. In the taxpayer-financed unreal world of anti-tobacco
activism, the response has been to issued more lies. From this
story, the most inane is the excuse from one lame-brain that that popular
culture is the villain. "About 10 years ago,
smoking wasn't represented in the media", said the flack.
Huh? Not only has smoking been almost completely banished from
network television, but what little remains always confers an anti-tobacco
message. The jig is up.
Anti-tobacco is a boil on society that needs to be lanced. It
doesn't work. It divides people. It has corrupted
science. It has flushed billions of dollars down the toilet.
The only rational response to this latest study -- as usual the reporter
doesn't report how much it cost -- is to shut the whole anti-tobacco
racket down immediately.
Headlined "Tobacco's
New Clout in Washington", Louis Freedberg sounds a tocsin over Tommy
Thompson's confirmation hearing to become Secretary of Health and Human
Services. Freedberg takes a dim view of Thompson and backs up his
concerns with the talking points issued by Glantz to his faithful media
contacts. Freedberg touts a 1998
Glantz study concluding that the tobacco industry lobbies in Wisconsin,
where Thompson is currently a popular governor. The study also
determines that governors in five other states have less "ties"
with tobacco than has Thompson. Freedberg assures the reader that
this study couldn't be political in nature since it appeared two years
prior to the presidential election. Nothing more reveals Glantz'
hand in this piece than the spurious assertion that the Wisconsin study
was non-political. Any studies by Glantz produced in 1998 and
thereafter regarding tobacco industry influence in any state are designed
to pressure the states to cough up more tobacco settlement money for
anti-tobacco education. Public money distribution is always
political. Glantz also speaks through
Freedberg regarding what questions must be asked during the Thompson
confirmation hearing. Will Thompson curtail the
Food and Drug Administration's aggressive attempts to regulate
tobacco? As Glantz knows but neglected to tell Freedberg, the FDA's
attempts to regulate tobacco were terminally curtailed by the U.S. Supreme
Court. What programs will he
support to control tobacco? This question is only of interest to the
anti-tobacco enterprise. People like Glantz make their living from
the taxes paid by the productive members of society. Failed
anti-tobacco programs such as ASSIST are a waste of money and must be
eliminated. Glantz fears that Thompson may prune the unproductive
limbs from the Health and Human Services and his fears are echoed
throughout Freedberg's article. The odds are that Thompson
will be confirmed. Tobacco will be brought up but will not play the
major roll in the confirmation that Glantz hopes. After he becomes
Secretary of Health and Human Services one hopes Thompson remembers who
tried to bring him down and funds accordingly.
The punishment was meted out by their
mothers, who are all smokers themselves. So brainwashed are these
parents that they felt justified in humiliating their children for an
infraction that, a few years ago, would have resulted in a lecture and
extra household chores. It's very unlikely that any other offense,
from vandalism to promiscuous sex with the football team, would have led
to such a public shaming. It's likely that social services and the
ACLU would have been summoned to put a stop to it. Only smoking a
cigarette warrants such an extreme measure with no outcry from these
groups. The public humiliation seems to have
backfired. Instead of shame, the girls have gained what every
teenager seeks; celebrity status. As ludicrous as this incident is, the
advice from one anti-tobacco operative to the addled parents is
jaw-dropping in its stupidity. Nancy Joyce, who runs a smoking
cessation program at a local hospital believes that education is what is
needed. Parents need to promote anti-smoking programs in school,
utilizing literature and videos preaching the dangers of smoking. These girls are smoking at this age
precisely because they have been smothered, insulted, patronized and proselytized
by anti-tobacco propaganda throughout their young lives. Teen
smoking rates are up because the Nancy Joyces of the world make a very
good living off the anti-tobacco racket. Without teen smokers they
would be flipping burgers or scrubbing other people's floors.
Residents of Hawaii are not surprised at
the millions of lost tax revenue. "This gladdens my heart," said
one. "It's interesting that the article mentions nothing about internet cigarette sales. Two years ago when the state legislature raised the tax to $1 a pack, I testified before the finance committee and said, 'People are a lot smarter than you think. They will learn you can go on the internet and buy cigarettes. You all remember the Aesop's fable about the dog who walked across the bridge with a bone in his mouth. He saw his reflection in the water and decided he wanted
that bone also. Of course he dropped the bone in his mouth to get the one in the water. And of course he wound up with nothing. Now substitute the state for the dog and tobacco tax revenue for the bone, and I think you get the
picture.' "Of course they did not get the picture." Politicians don't get the picture because they are told by the anti-tobacco special interests that the high
taxes will reduce teenage smoke but will not generate a black
market. On both points they are lying.
The tobacco industry, as is usual, has been its own worst enemy when it agreed to ban billboard advertising as a condition of the tobacco settlement. With the wads of cash flowing to government from the settlement, the cigarette manufacturers needn't have trashed their First Amendment rights. If they were hoping to gain any good will they were sadly mistaken. From coast to coast so-called liberal cities that profess to revere free speech passed laws that eventually ruled illegal any cigarette advertisement that might be visible to the public. Protecting the children was the rationale but the real reason is that the left must control people completely to make us all behave. Gallup is a national polling outfit that is well regarding and this survey provides a glaring contrast with the self-administered surveys conducted by the anti-tobacco special interests. Whenever anti-tobacco seeks to enact a smoking ban it first presents a survey to the local law makers. Inevitably the results show that 75 percent of the population supports a smoking ban. That percentage never changes no matter in what part of the country it is taken. Gallup is profitable because it has a reputation for good polling techniques and because it doesn't have an ideological ax to grind. Anti-tobacco makes its money from the taxpayer grants it receives to push the smoke-free agenda. Whose polls are more trustworthy?
"There's no question that this is really devastating to the tobacco control movement. Is there anyone who can spell out the benefits from a Bush presidency as they relate to tobacco?'' asked Ahron Leichtman, executive director of Americans for a Tobacco-free Society. Around 60 million U.S. citizens will benefit from the restoration of the rule of law that has been so conspicuously lacking during the Clinton Era. Janet Reno, the most partisan attorney general in history, has been Clinton's attack dog on tobacco ever since he convinced himself that attacking tobacco was good politics. At one time Reno was conducting six criminal investigations on the tobacco industry based on absurd allegations that came straight from the anti-tobacco enterprise. When the dust settled nothing illegal was found and the investigations were quietly closed. More recently Reno launched a suit similar to those that brought about the tobacco settlement. Legal opinion has been nearly unanimous that the federal suit is completely baseless and bound to fail. Who knows what real crimes were ignored while Reno wasted the country's time and money serving the anti-tobacco special interests? The smear machine geared up immediately upon Ashcroft's nomination and anti-tobacco is busily feeding its bile to the press which dutifully distributes it to the nation. The smears won't work since tobacco control does not register on the radar screens of the American public which is more concerned with justice than the enrichment of anti-tobacco operatives.
For a glimpse of John Ashcroft's opinions regarding tobacco policy, this letter to Tobacco-Free America, one of the myriad of anti-tobacco organizations spawned by the American Lung Association, Heart Association and Cancer Society, provides hope that the insanity of the past eight years may be coming to an end. The subject of the letter is the notorious bill written and promoted by Senator John McCain that was so bad even the tobacco industry was appalled. Ashcroft was the only member of the senate committee approving the bill that voted against it. The McCain bill ultimately was defeated by the Senate, paving the way to the tobacco settlement under which the country suffers. John Ashcroft is a good choice for attorney general. Despite the hysteria infecting politicians regarding tobacco, he seems to have maintained a level head.
Smoking tobacco was a pleasant pastime for thousands of years in the Western Hemisphere whose original inhabitants discovered its pharmacological benefits. The European culture in both the Old and New Worlds have been deeply entwined with tobacco for five hundred years. The American Revolution was financed with tobacco and the columns on the Capitol in Washington are decorated with the tobacco leaf. Hundreds of millions people throughout the globe enjoy tobacco. Smoking will be with us forever. Kessler's plan for eventual prohibition will be called interesting and thought-provoking by the anti-tobacco enterprise in public but in private they will hoot at such a scheme that would eliminate the fortunes that flow their way. Memories are short but the alcohol prohibition in the 1920's did teach all but the fanatics that human beings will enjoy themselves no matter how draconian the prohibition. Kessler is a lone voice of insanity. His only legitimate function is to serve as a warning for the dangers in filling important government positions with the ranks of the deranged. Let him retreat to a well-deserved obscurity in the arid preserve of academia.
Now they are whining over cabin air quality. They were promised by anti-tobacco that if smoking was banned all their troubles would disappear. Instead of better air they received worse as the airlines reduced the circulation to save money. Experts agree that when smoking was allowed air quality was far better than it is now. Add to the bad air the number of "air rage" incidents that in part have been caused by banning smoking and the flight attendants have been truly screwed by anti-tobacco. The old adage of "be careful what you pray for, you just might get it" comes to mind.
This approach had problems from the beginning when one casino loudly went "smoke-free" to the acclaim of the prude who run anti-tobacco. A scant few weeks later the casino, faced with financial disaster, reversed itself and the adults returned. Visitors were also annoyed with the scads of kids running through the casinos and the "baby-on-board" types who insist that everyone must subordinate their behavior for their little darlings. As the country succumbed to the nannies, Las Vegas found itself the beneficiary of a puritan culture run amok. Destinations such as San Francisco and New York City more resemble Sunday School Camps than the sophisticated cities they advertise themselves to be. The convention trade also is gradually shifting from anti-smoking cities to more easy-going venues. Masses of Californians now trek to Las Vegas merely to get away from the Health Reich running their state where smoking in a restaurant is a sin of colossal proportion. The shift from family-friendly to sin is a positive development in a society that for 10 years has wrung its hands over the pleasures that adults enjoy. As Las Vegas grows richer at the expense of the dull, anti-smoking cities and states, the tide will turn in favor of letting adults behave like adults.
Although the suit will probably go nowhere, the fact that it has attracted a gang of lawyers hell-bent on enriching themselves means that the sheer number of greedy people seeking to feed off the tobacco industry's teat will probably bring the tobacco settlement down eventually. Keep up the good work, boys.
Billions have been spent to study, quantify and combat teenage smoking. The results have been quite dramatic with consistently rising smoking rates with children starting at ages far younger than when cigarettes were advertised on television. On the research front no new knowledge has been gained and no cures for the problems supposedly caused by smoking have been developed. By all standards the anti-tobacco enterprise has squandered every cent provided it by the citizens of this country producing nothing of value. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Legacy Foundation, with assistance from the National Institutes of Health, offers proof that a tax cut is necessary. The study examines a tiny segment of the population and spends a fortune pondering its smoking rates. No conclusions are offered since the real purpose of the study is to enrich a crowd of second-raters who can't get a job in the public sector. Worse, the study abounds in racist stereotyping and advocates the pernicious ethos of state paternalism When garbage like this study is paid for by public money, the need for across the board tax cuts is obvious to all.
To grease the settlement process, the industry voluntarily accepted an end to billboard advertising. The industry seemed to think that acquiescing to one of anti-tobacco's most strident demands would make them some friends. It never works out that way with anti-tobacco. Give them a handshake and they amputate the arm. Almost immediately Massachusetts enacted a law that curtailed free speech even further. The industry sued and the case is up for consideration before the Supreme Court. When will the tobacco industry learn that cooperation with fanatics is futile?
A new law encourages tenants to file complaints against their smoking neighbors. If the smokers refuse to cooperate with the city in resolving such complaints they may be fined and evicted. Since arbitration of smoking complaints are always stacked in favor of the non-smoker, smokers have been put on notice by City Hall that they are second class citizens. The law, in effect, posts a huge sign at the city's borders that says: Smokers Not Welcome In West Hollywood. It's depressing that the New Year dawns with an American city reverting to the bigoted practice of official housing discrimination. It is sadder that West Hollywood describes itself as a liberal and tolerant community. Apparently the mayor and city council do not know that "liberal" and "tolerant" are the antithesis of their mean-spirited and hateful legislation. Saddest of all is that the smoking renters in West Hollywood have financed the development and promotion of this law with their own money. The state's Tobacco Control Section (TCS), funded entirely by a special tax on each pack of cigarettes sold in California, is the government agency which has as its only job the persecution of smokers. The tax began to be collected in 1989 and by 1994 the TCS had bullied the legislature to ban smoking in all work places, including restaurants. In 1998 the TCS had succeeded in banning smoking in bars. The new millennium begins with the TCS enacting housing discrimination against smokers. Along the way the TCS has lied, illegally lobbied, passed out millions of dollars to its cronies and terrorized the executive and legislative branches of the state government. In placing Californians under the boot of health fascism, the TCS has been extremely successful. In its ostensible mission of reducing smoking, the TCS has been a complete failure. Each year the percentage of Californians who smoke rises, with skyrocketing rates of underage smokers. The American Lung Association, Heart Association, Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the organizations that promoted the establishment of the Tobacco Control Section, are taking their poison to every state legislature in the country. Their goal is to erect a tobacco control section in each state, funded by tobacco taxes, with the beneficiaries to be themselves.
Most amusing was the spin from Matt Myers, head honcho of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "The tobacco companies have offered money to states and local school districts to perpetuate the notion that these school-based programs are sufficient to educate generations of children not to smoke. The NCI study shows just how ineffective this industry-supported approach is when it is not part of a comprehensive efforts," said Myers attempting, as usual, to pass the buck to the tobacco industry. "Oh come now, Matt," responds Martha Perske, an expert on ETS and scientific fraud. "Get real. It was -- of all people -- the so-called experts at the National Cancer Institute and CDC who are responsible for this ineffective program. As reported by AP, the program 'was drawn up by smoking-prevention experts at the National Cancer Institute, which funded the research. The program met guidelines for anti-tobacco education recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." From long time critic of anti-tobacco waste, Wanda Hamilton: "Another howler in Matt 'The Spin Doctor' Myers' press release for damage control is his statement, 'For decades, public health experts have cautioned against having isolated tobacco education programs in the schools.'" "Oh, really? Then why did all three of the founding organizations of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids design and set up just such a program in many school districts in the U.S.?" "The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association sponsored the school-based "Smoke-Free Class 2000" which began in 1988 with first graders. It was a 12-year program, covering grades 1 through 12, which provided anti-tobacco educational materials, teacher training, and encouraged school tobacco prevention activities (yeah, sounds just like the Truth campaign and a zillion others)." "The program was an abject and utter failure, as underage smoking rates really started climbing in the early 1990s." "Myers also points to the programs in Massachusetts, California and Florida as being successful, but the facts are that the Mass and Cal programs have been failures in terms of underage smoking rates, and it's probable that Florida's underage smoking rate dropped only because of the passage and enforcement of a youth access law which made it illegal for those under 18 to possess tobacco." "Wonder why, a decade ago, Myers didn't tell his bosses in the ACS, the ALA, and the AHA that their Smoke-Free Class 2000 was sure to backfire, since he now says it has been known 'for decades' that such programs don't work?" We assume Ms. Hamilton's question is rhetorical since Myers and his ilk are concerned only with their fat salaries and not their inability to reach the results they are paid a fortune to produce. In the private sector a Matt Myers would be booted out of the executive suite. As an anti-tobacco racketeer, however, he continues on, spinning like a top.
If the court rules in favor of the activist a means of addressing a serious wrong may develop. The airwaves of California are filled with anti-smoking public service ads that are wildly deceptive, to say the least. Smokers are portrayed as killers of 50,000 people per year with their secondhand smoke. Smoking parents are told that they are severely damaging their children. None of these accusations, needless to say, are backed up by any proof. If the activist prevails in his quest to hold corporations accountable for all their claims, the task of taking on the health bureaucracy's hateful lies will become easier.
The business owners are almost always 100 percent opposed to smoking bans but are frequently treated as hysterical children afraid of the bogey man. Since the business owners, and their customers, are the ones who fuel society it is odd that the anti-tobacco parasites, whose only job is to spend other people's money, are too often the voices to which the politicians pay heed. The California smoking ban, now in its seventh year, has been a disaster for the small business owner. In a state where the economy is booming, the number of bars and sit-down restaurants that are going out of business is astonishing. Eating out and socializing at the local are forms of entertainment. Those whose pleasure is curtailed by foolish smoking bans will cut back and bars and restaurants will suffer. The Sacramento politicians persist in ignoring the real people to curry favor with special interests who do not command significant voting blocks nor contribute to the state's well being.
This year nearly 1,100 new laws went into effect on New Year's Day. There were as many last year and the year before that ad infinitum. Quantity not quality is the key word for the eager beavers whose idea of public service is to bind the populace so tightly with rules and regulations that it is now impossible to get through a day without breaking one or more laws. These laws are the product of special interest pressure tactics that operate well below the radar screens of the state's media which generally espouses the philosophy of more is best. During the final days of the legislative session the legislators are voting on sometimes 300 bills per day. The state's oppressive smoking ban was passed during a hubbub of activity and now many of those who voted for the ban express regret that they didn't realize for what they were voting. The bill's author, in fact, now wishes that his legislation had not been so far reaching. Unfortunately, all those regretful people have been termed out and the current crop is wedded to - and very frightened of - Big Health. California is the land of citizens' initiatives to enact policies by direct vote. The one initiative that would solve more problems than any other would be to curtail the legislative session to four months every other year. Put it to a vote by the people. It would pass.
We are delighted that the mainstream press is finally agreeing with us that comparisons between the anti-smoking nannies of today and brutal totalitarians from the past are not overwrought flights of paranoia. All totalitarians came to power promising to respect their citizens and improve life. Public Health is always the key to social control. The bloodshed comes later. The Oregonian weighs in on the outdoor smoking ban recently enacted in Friendship Heights, MD. The paper correctly notes and condemns the village's unwarranted foray into heavy-handed social engineering while pointing out that even the most hysterical fear of secondhand smoke is unjustified in a urban area where automobiles hold sway. Draconian laws like outdoor smoking bans are finally awakening the lethargic press to a very ugly social agenda.
Obscured by the slippery slope slide into government control of the media via drug messages, was the admission by a federal drug flack that anti-drug messages are not the only plot enhancements written by government bureaucrats. Anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco messages also flourish on TV screens courtesy of Uncle Sam. Prodded into action by The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORMAL), the FCC has ruled that the networks should have identified the White House as a sponsor in programs that used the anti-drug messages. Unfortunately the FCC is not addressing whether the government should ever support specific viewpoints in prime-time entertainment shows. The Clinton years have seen an unprecedented intrusion of government do-gooding into everyone's lives. It's time to put an end to it.
This report provides the figures that law firms are demanding and also delves into the workings of the arbitration panel that awards the fees. Hold your nose to escape the stench of weasels in a rut over wads of cash. |
Although he has profited handsomely from his work for the
anti-tobacco enterprise, Kessler apparently is a zealot who is not in the racket for the
money. He truly believes that with the cigarette companies completely hobbled no one
would smoke tobacco. Such a belief belies his reputation for brilliance and
indicates that his current employer, Harvard University, needs to tighten up its interview
process.