The federal government and tobacco

Smoking is a tough issue for me, though I am not a smoker. Close family members and friends have been smokers in the past and while I did not like that they smoked I recognized that it was their legal right to do so. I have watched people in my life quit and I have seen first-hand how difficult it was for them.

I am all for education for young people in the dangers of smoking. Much like I am in favor of teaching healthy eating habits and the dangers of heart disease and diabetes as a consequence of poor eating choices.

The federal government requires that tobacco products carry a label that warns of cancer, now they would like to require labels on all packs one of which looks like this:

The new packaging law requires that 20% of the packaging must be the new warning label. There are other requirements in the law for education, marketing and advertising. For the full MSN article on the new legislation and the lawsuit in response you can click HERE.

My problem with the whole thing is that it is still legal to purchase and use tobacco products. If this is a legal product, why isn’t the government trying to shut the entire industry down rather than tell the company how to spend advertising money?

The answer is threefold. First the tax loss is more than they can stomach at this point. The second is the guarantee of money going into advertising, marketing and packaging. The third is the amount of jobs that would be lost in a market that can take no more hits.

Until tobacco sale is no longer legal I refuse to accept the argument that the burden to the healthcare field is the driving reason for the new regulation. If that were true, tobacco sale and consumption would be illegal.

Caught

Every few months there is a big story about police brutality. The media shows film footage of a struggle on the ground and a police officer hitting a guy who he is trying to get into handcuffs or into the back of a cruiser. The next scene is a woman crying on the side of the street talking about how long she has known this nice boy who was doing nothing wrong.

Nothing wrong except selling crack... which is still in his pocket... running from the police... calling him a pig and resisting arrest.

I get why the CRIMINAL is running. No one likes to get caught doing something wrong. It's not right but I at least understand the mentality. What I don't get is why there is always a neighbor who stands in the rain crying defending him.

Two brief lessons for all of you with picket signs chanting for the dismissal of the arresting officer - who is most likely home with a concussion.

Lesson number one. STOP RUNNING FROM THE POLICE.

Lesson number two. Stop defending people who are destroying your neighborhood.

English as Ohio's official language.

I think this is a very clever way to start the offence to keep the American culture alive. In no way does this bill discriminate against anyone. It does not say that another language can not be spoken. The bill simply states that English be used for official business.

The bill should be promoted as a way to cut governmental costs however; I have not heard this argument yet. Spanish is now the second most commonly spoken language in the US and it would be beneficial for us to learn that. But to what cost are we willing to go to make not learning English a possibility for citizens? The amount of taxpayer money to provide translators, print every document in other languages is staggering.

From the begging of our nation we as a people have struggled to find our way, we have struggled to be united and yet individuals at the same time. The most amazing thing about our nation is the diverse heritage that we all have. It is wonderful to celebrate that heritage, it is a terrible thing to forget where and who you come from. But why come to a new place if you don't want to join those people and that culture. On the same train of thought – why are we as Americans now trying to pattern our laws (capital punishment) and our social systems (healthcare) after countries that are failing?

One language unites people. One language for one nation.... under God. It seems that every generation must re-learn the lessons from the generations before us. For a society that is supposed to be "evolving", it seems that we keep making the same mistakes again and again.