Wearing a robe and speaking in an exam room, La Donna Porter is in no wise physician, even if it makes the bidding of the tobacco industry, which contributes to the death of 443,000 Americans each year. Porter star tobacco-funded radio and television commercials designed to put out a proposal 29, an initiative on June 5 ballots that would raise taxes by $ 1 per pack of cigarettes. Consultants, who created the ad called it simply “doctor.” There is nothing complicated about it. Porter opens by saying that she is opposed to smoking, but she read the proposal, to find flaws. From a purely professional point of view, the ad “very effective”, observed David Townsend, a strategist who knows the power of the tobacco industry well. Townsend manages da-on-86 campaign, a … Read entire article »

MANY smokers and, at a guess, pretty much every cufflink-wearing executive from the big tobacco companies have a habit of posturing as macho libertarians. They argue that cigarettes are a legal product, smoking is a matter of choice, and that when it comes to telling us how we can live our lives, the nanny state can go stick it in its pipe and smoke it. This is all fine, up to a point. And that point is when smokers get sick and automatically assume that it is the job of the health system – that is, the taxpayers – to step in and cover the cost of their collapsed lungs, clogged arteries and triple bypasses. It is a logically inconsistent position and, frankly, quite a pathetic one. If smokers and the tobacco … Read entire article »

It is likely a no-brainer to many in natural health world that processed, refined sweeteners like white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) are unhealthy. Studies continue to show that these toxic sweeteners lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other serious illness. But in the mainstream world, these is still somehow a debate over whether or not these toxins are actually harmful, and over which one is preferable. It should come as no surprise that the biggest defenders of processed sugar and HFCS are the industries that produce them. Of course the Corn Refiners Association is now spending big money marketing HFCS as safe – after all, it is one of their primary cash cows. Some of this group’s untruthful claims include alleging that HFCS is natural – because it comes from corn– and … Read entire article »