Tuesday Mashup (6/2/09)

(And I also posted here.)

Not a lot going on today in Doomsy land, but I did manage to come across a few items of interest:

From here…

WASHINGTON — The Senate took a step Tuesday toward giving the government some controls over the tobacco industry, bolstering the chances that a long-sought goal of anti-smoking advocates will finally be realized.

The 84-11 Senate vote to consider the bill came a month after the House overwhelmingly passed a similar measure giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Why exactly is this necessary? Well, as the New York Times told us a few days ago (from here)…

(A recent) unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld major elements of a 2006 lower court decision that found big tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud as part of a prolonged campaign to deceive and addict the public. That 1,742-page opinion, rendered by Judge Gladys Kessler, laid out in painstaking detail how the tobacco companies made false statements and suppressed evidence to deny or play down the addictive qualities and the adverse health effects of smoking.

Judge Kessler found that the companies manipulated the design of cigarettes to deliver addictive doses of nicotine, falsely denied that secondhand smoke caused disease and falsely represented that light and low-tar cigarettes presented fewer health risks.

The appeals court not only upheld her decision as legally sound, it seemed deeply impressed by the “volumes of evidence” and “countless examples of deliberately false statements” underlying many of Judge Kessler’s findings. It also upheld some but not all of the marketing restrictions and other requirements she imposed to prevent the companies from making future false claims and engaging in additional fraudulent activities.

And as Daily Kos blogger DemFromCT tells us here, regulation of tobacco is part of a program called Healthy People 2010, from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with one of the goals of the program being the reduced consumption of tobacco.

But in case anyone has any doubt as to the bipartisan influence of Big Tobacco on Capitol Hill, all you need do is read this story about the opposition of both North Carolina senators, Dem Kay Hagan and Repug Richard Burr (I realize any regulation on tobacco is going to impact their economies, but somehow I think the health of this country trumps those concerns).

And as far as a potential new "cure" is concerned, this tells us about the so-called “electric cigarette” created by a man named Hon Lik, which…

…turns the adage “where there’s smoke there’s fire” on its head.

It doesn’t burn at all. Instead, it uses a small lithium battery that atomises a liquid solution of nicotine. What you inhale looks like smoke, but it’s a vapour similar to the “stage fog” used in theatrical productions. It even has a teeny red light at the tip that lights up with each drag, just like the ember of a real cigarette.

So what’s the reaction to the electric “ciggies” here? Well, according to the Times (here)…

The reaction of medical authorities and antismoking groups has ranged from calls for testing to skepticism to outright hostility. Opponents say the safety claims are more rumor than anything else, since the components of e-cigarettes have never been tested for safety.

In fact, the Food and Drug Administration has already refused entry to dozens of shipments of e-cigarettes coming into the country, mostly from China, the chief maker of them, where manufacture began about five years ago. The F.D.A. took similar action in 1989, refusing shipments of an earlier, less appealing version, Favor Smoke-Free Cigarettes.

“These appear to be unapproved drug device products,” said Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the agency, “and as unapproved products they can’t enter the United States.”

But enough of the e-cigarettes have made their way into the country that they continue to proliferate online and in the malls.

The issue appears to be whether or not the electronic cigarettes help to curb a cigarette addiction or feed into it.

I’m not a smoker, but if they help at least one person kick the habit, then I see no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed.

My better instincts tell me to ignore this, especially because it will probably generate another angry comment thread, but alas, I cannot.

On the eve of President Obama’s trip abroad, Armstrong Williams over at The Hill tells us this…

The Obama administration is globally known for appeasement to despot countries that will only betray them in a matter of time.

In addition to being poorly written (the “appeased” countries will betray…themselves?), any sentence with the words “Obama” and a variation of the word “appeasement” sets me off.

And hmm, Armstrong Williams…why does that name sound familiar?

Oh, I remember. It’s because he took nearly a quarter of a million dollars from Bushco to generate press releases about how great No Child Left Behind supposedly was (here).

Yeah, I guess Williams would know about “appeasement,” wouldn’t he?

And in another long-delayed triumph of justice, we learn the following (from here)…

PITTSBURGH — The criminal case against celebrity pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht ended Tuesday when federal prosecutors, citing a judge's ruling that threw out much of the government's evidence, dropped all the remaining fraud and theft counts against him.

Prosecutors originally indicted Wecht, the former Allegheny County medical examiner, on 84 counts in January 2006. The case was whittled down before trial, which ended in a hung jury, and trimmed again after trial. Wecht had 14 counts remaining, but the government's case was undermined when a judge threw out two search warrants.

"The district court's May 14th ruling suppressed crucial evidence in the case," U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said Tuesday. "This impacted our ability to present our evidence at any future trial and to sustain our burden of proof."

No, it wasn’t because of reports that jurors were interviewed in Wecht’s trial after they couldn’t reach a verdict on what were once 41 counts (from the original 84) against Wecht, in a case so bad that even Repug “made man,” former PA governor and Reaganite Dick Thornburgh told Buchanan to give up (all noted here).

No, it was because a judge threw out two search warrants pertaining to the 14 remaining charges.

Sure it was.

And by the way, I wonder if this means that Buchanan will now relinquish her position?

As I said earlier, if she doesn’t, she should be lead handcuffed out of her office by U.S. marshals.

Update 6/4/09: Nice digs by Wecht here (and I forgot to note earlier that Buchanan hired Monica Goodling - sheesh).

And finally (as noted here), let us bid adieu to The Philadelphia Bulletin - again…

Employees of The Bulletin say they were informed Monday afternoon by Publisher Thomas Rice that the paper couldn't afford to operate any longer. Rice told The Philadelphia Inquirer by e-mail Monday night that he didn't want to comment. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Rice by phone and by e-mail were not immediately successful.

Another paper called the Bulletin had long been Philadelphia's dominant newspaper but shut down in 1982. Rice got permission from the family that published that paper to use its name.

(By the way, when the original ceased operating in 1982, it was truly a sad occasion – the original was an afternoon daily that was a staple of our household, among many others.)

And what kind of fare did the most recent incarnation of The Bulletin offer?

I’m not sure you want to know…

Noted Clinton hater and onetime confidant Dick Morris on how Hillary Clinton has supposedly been marginalized in her role as Secretary of State (here – and by the way, “Dick,” her name is Samantha Power, not Powers).

“Why (An Israeli-Palestinian, of course) Two-State Solution is Insane,” by former local TV consumer affairs reporter Herb Denenberg (here)

Sotomayor: Obama’s Divisive, Race-Baiting Nominee (here – ‘nuff said).

Shed no tears, people.