The
DISH
Unbossed and unbought news and information you can
use
Vol. 8 No. 44…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November 4, 2005
Pipe and Can
By Anonymous (17th
Century)
The Indian weed
witherèd quite;
Green at morn, cut
down at night;
Shows thy decay: all
flesh is hay:
Thus think, then
drink Tobacco.
And when the smoke
ascends on high,
Think thou behold'st
the vanity
Of worldly stuff,
gone with a puff:
Thus think, then
drink Tobacco.
But when the pipe
grows foul within,
Think of thy soul
defiled with sin,
And that the fire
doth it require:
Thus think, then
drink Tobacco.
The ashes, that are
left behind,
May serve to put thee
still in mind
That unto dust return
thou must:
Thus think, then
drink Tobacco.
When as the chill Charokko blows,
And Winter tells a
heavy tale;
When pyes and daws
and rooks and crows
Sit cursing of the
frosts and snows; then give me ale.
Ale in a Saxon rumkin
then,
Such as will make
grimalkin prate;
Bids valour burgeon
in tall men,
Quickens the poet's
wit and pen, despises fate.
Ale, that the absent
battle fights,
And frames the march
of Swedish drum,
Disputes with
princes, laws, and rights,
What 's done and past
tells mortal wights,
And what 's to come.
Ale, that the
plowman's heart up-keeps
And equals it with
tyrants' thrones,
That wipes the eye
that over-weeps,
And lulls in sure and
dainty sleeps; th' o'er-wearied bones.
Grandchild of Ceres,
Bacchus' daughter,
Wine's emulous
neighbour, though but stale,
Ennobling all the
nymphs of water,
And filling each man's heart with laughter—
Ha! Give me ale!
Tobacco Dangers
From the Haitian word tabaco,
tobacco is the common name applied to the plant genius Nicotiana. Tobacco is highly addictive and toxic;
its habit-forming properties or narcotic effects come from nicotine, a
colorless oily alkaloid. Given widespread
tobacco use, nicotine is the most generally used of all narcotics. A toxin, even small doses of nicotine
ingested in smoking causes blood-vessel constrictions, raised blood pressure,
nausea, headache and impaired digestion.
In addition to a host of known
health risks associated with smoking, new studies point to other dangers,
including infertility, an elevated risk of prostrate cancer and thin bones.
A recent study conducted by
doctors at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in
Lucknow show men that have a defective version of the NAT2 enzyme, which helps
expel toxins from the body, are at an increased risk of prostrate cancer, if
they use tobacco. Several studies
outside India earlier showed NAT2 activity can influence susceptibility to
certain cancers.
According to orthopedic
specialist Michael Zuscik of the University of Rochester, smokers who break
bones require longer to heal, and smoking contributes to bone-thinning
osteoporosis. The US Department of
Defense has awarded Zuscik a $1.4 million grant to study the danger smoking
posses for soldiers injured in combat.
Tobacco (1400-2000)
Native Americans widely use
tobacco before Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies (1492). They cultivated and prepared it for
smoking, chewing and snuffing.
North American natives mainly smoked cigars and pipes. Some chewed the leaf. In South America, they made snuff.
When Spaniards landed in Mexico
(1519), natives cultivating tobacco believed it possessed great curative
powers. According to early
authorities, the Spaniards began cultivating tobacco in Haiti before 1535. By the 1600s, the Spanish and
Portuguese had developed an important trade in tobacco between Europe, the West
Indies and South America.
After his 1555 visit to the
Orinoco forests of South America, André Thevet carried tobacco seeds back to
France, where the first tobacco was grown the following year. Europeans paid
little attention to the plant until Jean Nicot, the ambassador to Portugal
(1559-1561), introduced it to the royal court. Named after Nicot, the genius of tobacco is Nicotiana.
Sir Richard Grenville, following
his return to England from Virginia (1585), introduced pipe smoking as
practiced by the Indians. The
Indian pipe of peace was smoked in common by those attending grand councils; it
was held as very sacred. Although
tobacco was originally viewed as a medicinal agent, it grew in popularity as a
general indulgence during the second half of the 17th century, despite
instances of strenuous efforts by authorities to prevent its use.
John Rolfe began the cultivation
of tobacco at Jamestown (1612)
from seed brought from South America or the West Indies. Like cotton, the cultivation of tobacco
was labor intensive; slaves were a chief import for states that grew large
quantities of tobacco for domestic consumption and exportation. By 1860, manufactured cigarettes
appeared. And, during the US Civil
War (1861-1865), troops on both sides of the conflict received tobacco in their
rations.
The first US Surgeon General
report warning the public about smoking was published in the 1960s. By then, millions worldwide were
addicted to tobacco, despite the growing body of scientific evidence linking it
to cancer. In 1964, seventeen (17)
tobacco liability lawsuits were filed.
The tobacco industry responded by making cigarettes the most heavily
advertised product in the USA.
Raking in millions of advertising dollars, magazines and newspapers
stopped covering tobacco as an adverse health issue.
The 20th Surgeon General's Report
(1988) called nicotine "a powerfully addicting drug." Brooklyn, New
York’s attorney general began a criminal probe of the industry four years
later. In 1994, the tobacco
industry released "The List" of 599 cigarette additives, industry
executives testified before Congress about tobacco’s lethality and Mississippi Attorney
General Michael Moore and states’ attorney generals filed suit to recoup health
care costs associated with smoking.
In 1997, the states’ attorney
generals and the tobacco companies came to a landmark agreement that placed
some restrictions on cigarettes
and on tobacco makers' liability in lawsuits. The industry agreed to spend $360 billion over 25 years on
anti-smoking campaigns, use bold health warnings on tobacco packaging, curb
advertising and face fines if youth smoking fail to sufficiently drop. By 2000, the industry faced more
litigation and restrictions, as a wave of smoking bans were instituted in
public spaces. (Sources: Encyclopedia Americana, http://historian.org/bysubject/tobacco4.htm
and
www.tobacco.org)
Black Tobacco Ads
By Renoir Whitney
Gaither
I want to say kudos for The DISH (Vol. 8 No 41) article on meat consumption and its relationship to cancer. I also want to ask you to consider publishing and distributing some pertinent information about the dangers of tobacco use, which include lung cancer and other serious ailments.
Smoking tobacco is presently
killing millions of black people.
The export of tobacco from plantations in the United States was
"the" major factor in the import of slave labor from Africa. The
history of African Americans and tobacco is intertwined. As conscious black
people, we should be outraged that cigarette ads are published in black
periodicals
We should be especially outraged
at the full-page cigarette ads targeting blacks that routinely appear in
so-called black magazines, such as
Ebony, Upscale and others. Ebony takes in tobacco advertising money that is
used to advertise a deadly product to black people. Blah on them!
I have sent dozens of letters and
postcards to Ebony expressing my displeasure without a single response. It is time for black information
content providers, such as The DISH, to do some educating. For facts and pertinent information
about tobacco dangers, see: www.cancer.org/.
Great American
Smoke-Out
Tobacco is lethal, but it is
legal. Nearly one in five US
deaths are tobacco related. Taxed
and sold as cigarettes; tobacco kills more US citizens than alcohol, car
accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined. Annually, smoking kills more than
435,000 people in the US.
Worldwide, the number of tobacco related deaths are astronomical.
The host of health problems
associated with tobacco smoking range from short-term effects, such as
shortness of breath and chronic coughing, to very serious complications that
include cancers of the lung,
larynx, esophagus, liver, bladder, pancreas, stomach and colon. Smoking shortens the life span and
lowers the quality of life. On
average, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that non-smoking adult
males and females live more than a decade longer than smokers. CDC estimates that more than 45 million
US adults still smoke cigarettes.
Annually, the American Cancer
Society sponsors the Great American Smoke-Out to raise awareness of the dangers
associated with smoking and to provide support for those trying to quit. This year, the Smoke-Out is Thursday,
November 17.
In general, habits are difficult
to break. Even though smoking is
lethal, it is especially difficult to quit. However, more than 44 million people living in the US today
have quit smoking. The health
benefits of breaking this habit are significant; they include a longer life, a
reduced risk of cancer and other diseases, and an improved quality of life.
The American Cancer Society and others provide online tips to help smokers quit. Tips range from going cold turkey and a gradual cutting back to seeking professional help to break the habit. For more on these quit smoking tips, visit the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or www.ahealthyme.com. And, join the millions of others worldwide in the Great American Smoke-Out.
Tobacco Ruled Supreme
The Bush administration is
decidedly pro-business. While it
freely bandies about notions such as saving jobs and promoting economic growth,
George W. Bush’s tort reform efforts and his policies, whether foreign or
domestic, have been all about protecting business profits and promoting big
business interests.
Bush believes manufacturers of
“legal” products and services should not be subjects of lawsuits, even when
their services or products prove harmful to the public and/or the environment.
This is basically the administration’s attitude relative to products that
include tobacco, genetically modified foods, asbestos and pharmaceuticals,
including childhood vaccines and other drugs not yet developed. He is already hard at work shielding a
vaccine for a possible flu pandemic.
By stacking the courts with
judges that share his pro-business philosophy– earth-be-damned and let the
buyer beware– lawsuits making their way to the Supreme Court or newly filed
ones will be ruled in favor of business.
Pro-business court rulings will result in windfalls for investors. A prime example is Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeldt, who will get rich without fear of negative consequences from
the manufacture and use of a vaccine for bird flu. Rumsfeld is a big investor in the company that stands to
reap big profits from Bush’s decision to prepare the nation for a possible
pandemic. Likewise, Vice President
Dick Cheney will become wealthier as a result of a favorable resolution of the
asbestos lawsuits. Haliburton,
Cheney’s previous employer and a company he remains heavily invested in, will
reap a windfall from favorable legislation and/or court rulings settling
asbestos claims against the company.
A recent example of how this
pro-business world works is the US Supreme Court’s refusal to review an appeals
court ruling, which barred the government from seeking some $280 billion in
past tobacco profits as legal remedy for decades of tobacco industry
fraud. US Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales has yet to decide whether or not the government will continue to
pursue big tobacco. On news of the
court decision not to hear the government’s case, shares of tobacco stocks
soared on Wall Street. As big
tobacco ruled supreme, its investors scored a win as millions of consumers hurt
by using tobacco products were left in the lurch.
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is in the throes of battle fatigue as he fights the raging hormones of an adolescent body, teachers that insist on piling on the homework and an ever-present need to spend time playing and acting like a carefree young person. And, the change in time as the nation switched from daylight savings time did not help his situation. In commenting on his quandary, the Dark Knight/Ninja/Zorro would only say, “Sometimes life sucks!”
Disgruntled feels:
Pandemic! Worldwide, smoking
tobacco kills five million people every year. By most measures, this amounts to an ongoing pandemic. Yet, it is not being openly and
aggressively addressed. Millions
of dollars are spent by the US government to fight a war on drugs that does not
include tobacco, which is a deadly narcotic. Under the cover of law, tobacco, a “legal” product, is
allowed to keep on killing.
When big tobacco’s activities were marginally restricted in the US, in
terms of openly advertising to lure young people into picking up the deadly
habit, big tobacco turned to plying its poison in developing countries, where
no laws or restrictions on its use exists. Instead of throwing billions of dollars at a possible flu
pandemic that currently affects mainly birds, limited resources could be better
spent on tacking the real pandemic posed by tobacco’s deadly march across the
globe.
Disgruntled says: This week the US honored
and buried one of the icons of the civil rights movement. White men one would ordinarily not
expect to care suddenly felt the need to stand in line and stare at Rosa Park’s
casket. We have come a long way! An indication that the country has a
long way yet to go, we are currently embroiled in a debate about judicial
temperament with the nomination of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court. His nomination has delighted the
country’s conservatives, presumably because he will strictly interpret
constitutional rights as intended by the founding fathers, the propertied white
men that codified slavery. In that
vein, neither women, the property-less nor blacks have rights white men of
means are bound to respect. Their
sudden need to show respect for Rosa Parks is suspect and should be placed in
the proper context. It was just a
show, nothing of substance to benefit those Parks championed will come of their
well-staged photo opportunities.
All the hoopla is hypocrisy personified.
Disgruntled wants to know: During extensive
investigations into possible criminal conduct by nearly everyone in the Clinton
administration, including the First Lady, members of the Republican Party that
zealously led the charge for truth and justice dismissed the notion that they
could be doing anything other than following the evidence and observing the
“rule of law.” Clinton was
excoriated for his involvement in the Balkans; anti-Clinton commentators called
it over-reaching, a costly diversion aimed at deflecting the public’s attention
away from the more important matter of investigating Clinton’s affair with
White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
More than five years later, the nation has gone to war on the basis of
faulty intelligence, and White House officials have outed a covert operative to
quiet a war critic. The Republican
zealots that touted “the rule of law” in pursuing Clinton are silent. Will any of these principled
individuals call for the prosecution of those who falsely led the nation to
war?
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone
Calls
Email lrprice@snet.net
: The prospect of a bird flu
outbreak is proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California
biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's
now the most-sought after drug in the world. Rumsfeld served as Gilead's
chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush regime in 2001, and he still holds
a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal
financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.
Fed by mainstream media, fears of a pandemic and the ensuing scramble
for Tamiflu have sent Gilead's stock from $35 to $47.
E-mail www.monstersandcritics.com: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids,
a Washington anti-smoking group, says children are seeing fewer anti-smoking
ads on television. “This decline
is have a measurable impact – it corresponds to a leveling off in smoking rates
among our nation’s kids. Too few states have utilized their tobacco settlement
and tobacco revenues to property fund such programs, and states have cut
funding for such programs by 28 percent,” said Daniel McGoldrick, vice
president for research. Only three states– Maine, Delaware and Mississippi –
fully funded their programs in fiscal year 2005, while 37 states funded their
programs at less than the CDC minimum.
Email dstaylor@cs.com Infertility: A New Danger from Smoking...By Eric Sabo...Men hoping to settle down and start a family should give up smoking, a new study warns. Dr. Lani Burkman, a fertility expert at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine who led the study, said that smoking does not make men sterile, but husbands who chain smoke could add a couple of years of futile attempts before their wife is able to get pregnant. Overall, men who smoked 18 or more cigarettes a day for at least two years had about a quarter of the fertilization power as nonsmokers. Message: Smoking impedes sperm function, which lowers fertility.
|| 2005 Issues || The DISH ||