Paul Reiser, the comedian-actor-producer, seemed mad about something at the fifth annual God of Fire charity dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Joe Mantegna and Paul Reiser running the God of Fire charity auction.
“This man has made an entire business out of the fact that no one can find a match,” said Reiser about Keith Park, the founder and chief executive officer of lighter company Prometheus International Inc., and the head of God of Fire Inc., distributor of limited-edition cigars made by Tabacalera A. Fuente.

The roasting continued when Reiser’s God of Fire by Carlito Double Corona, a new cigar Park is releasing in November, went out.

“If they could invent a lighter that works for more than an hour,” Reiser joked, “I would invest right now.” Reiser then pleaded, “Does anyone have a match?”

Park laughed. He and 180 guests had begun the evening with a God of Fire by Don Carlos 2006, and thoroughly enjoyed a night of fine food, Cambria wines, Macallan single-malt Scotches, and outstanding cigars all for a good cause, helping children in need.

“We raised $80,000, which is less than what we usually raise at the event,” Park shared. “But given the economic situation, we did quite well. Since the inaugural dinner in 2005, the God of Fire charity dinner has raised over $900,000.”

The first dinner was held in 2005 in New York City. Since then, all the dinners have been held at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. Proceeds from each event go to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by the Fuente and Newman (Diamond Crown, Cuesta-Rey) cigar families that today serves more than 5,000 families in the Dominican Republic by providing educational and other vital services. Each year, the God of Fire dinner also benefits local organizations.

This year, two Los Angeles groups received funding from the dinner. Para los Niсos/For the Children, and Beyond Shelter have been helping Los Angeles children and families in need since the 1980s.

Every year, the God of Fire organizers also honor a person who has worked to help children in need. This year, the honoree was Cuban-born actor-director-musician and cigar lover Andy Garcia, who was also the one who recommended the two local charities. Actor Joe Mantegna, a co-host of the event, introduced Garcia.

“Will show up!” Garcia shouted.

Garcia spoke warmly about the evening’s festivities, the cause and then told a story of how he and cigarmaker Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. became good friends when Garcia traveled to the Dominican Republic to film scenes for his movie, “The Lost City,” a story about the impact of the Castro revolution on Cuban families. Garcia had to shoot scenes in a tobacco field, and some at a Latin American presidential palace. Garcia had already met Fuente and had an open invitation to visit the Dominican Republic.

Garcia visited and asked Fuente if a meeting with then-Dominican President Hipolito Mejia could be arranged so that Garcia could ask for help in shooting the scene in which the Cuban presidential palace was attacked. Fuente said it would be no problem. Garcia could little predict the new insights he would gain into his host’s “hobbies.”

September 29, 2009
By Alejandro Benes, Cigaraficionado

As part of an effort to snuff out youth smoking, selling candy-, fruit- and spice-flavored cigarettes is now illegal in the United States. The ban went into effect earlier this month. Health officials say that flavored cigarettes make smoking more palatable to kids, and studies back them up: 17-year-olds are three times more likely to use flavored cigarettes than adults are.

This is certainly a step in the right direction. But if we’re serious about wanting to improve kids’ health, how about a ban on hot dogs and Happy Meals while we’re at it? The children who eat chicken nuggets and pepperoni pizza today will likely grow up to be the obese adults and heart patients of tomorrow.

Our addiction to meat, eggs and dairy foods is making us — and our kids — sick. Thirty percent of children in the United States are now overweight or obese. According to a study published last year in the journal Obesity, if current trends continue, that number will double by the year 2030.

Overweight kids tend to become overweight adults who are at greater risk for heart disease, strokes and all the other ailments that stem from extra pounds. Children as young as 3 are showing signs of clogged arteries, and pediatricians are reporting an alarming increase in the number of children with type 2 diabetes, a disease that typically affects adults.

Simply by eliminating meat from your kids’ diet, you can slash their risk of obesity and heart disease. Population studies show that meat-eaters have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians — and nine times the obesity rate of vegans. Vegetarians are also 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease.

Vegetarian foods, which are packed with vitamins, phytochemicals and fiber, can also help your kids ward off cancer as they grow older. Researchers have found that vegetarians are 25 percent to 50 percent less likely to suffer from cancer than meat-eaters are.

In fact, the American Dietetic Association has determined that vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of life and that vegetarians are less prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity than are meat-eaters.

Cut out meat, and you’ll also cut out a heaping dose of cruelty at every meal. Kids have a natural affinity for animals, and they’d be horrified if they knew what happens to animals before they reach our dinner tables.

The chickens killed for McDonald’s McNuggets, for example, are dumped out of their transport crates at slaughterhouses and slammed upside down into metal shackles — often resulting in broken bones, extreme bruising and hemorrhaging. The birds have their throats cut while they are still conscious, and many are immersed in tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain.

Undercover investigators from PETA have documented factory-farm workers beating and kicking pigs and slamming piglets onto the ground. Fish — whom scientists now know can feel pain, as all animals do — bleed or suffocate to death on the decks of ships, gasping for oxygen. They can be left to suffer for as long as 24 hours.

If we don’t want our kids to know about the horrible abuses endured by animals in the meat industry, then the decent thing to do is to stop feeding them meat in the first place. Our kids would be better off if we did.

Lawmakers aren’t likely to ban burgers and fish sticks any time soon, so it’s up to us as parents to help our children make smart food choices. Encouraging kids to eat nutritious vegetarian foods will give them the fuel they need to be healthy and active now — and help protect them from a host of painful and debilitating ailments as they grow older. If a simple lifestyle change can help our children be happy and healthy, don’t we owe it

Chris Holbein is the project manager of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ Special Projects Division.

September 29, 2009 Sentinelsource

After 34 years of hosting cigarette-smoking customers, the Reno Club was closed earlier this week for three days of deep cleaning.
When the Billings tavern reopens Thursday – the first day of a comprehensive statewide smoking ban – it will have new carpet, new paint and, its owner hopes, a new attractiveness to nonsmokers.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity during a recession to invite people to your business,” club owner John Blair said of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, which prohibits smoking in all public buildings beginning Oct. 1. “I’m excited for the opportunity because of the growth factor for my business.”

As a member of the Montana Tavern Association, Blair strongly opposed the legislation that enacted the ban, and he still thinks that business owners should be able to decide whether to allow smoking in their establishments.

But he said he is embracing the change. As he prepared the Reno Club for what he hopes will be an influx of new customers, he also tried to make arrangements to keep his smoking patrons happy.

Blair spent $2,000 on what he’s calling a “smoking shed.” The wood structure sits outside the Reno Club’s front door and will give smokers a place to light up that is out of the elements.

“We’ve had a flurry of these things in the last few months,” said Nicole Cromwell, a planner for the city of Billings. “It’s like Oct. 1 crept up on everyone.”

The Montana Legislature passed the Clean Indoor Air Act in 2005. It took effect in two stages, with bars and casinos exempt from the ban until this year.

Montana is the 18th state to enact a comprehensive smoking ban. Another 14 states ban smoking in some public places.

About 16 percent of Montanans are smokers, compared with 20 percent of Americans.

Outlawing smoking in public places improves the health of entire communities, said Linda Lee, a supervisor of the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program. At least 13 studies conducted around the world, including one in Helena, have shown that heart attack rates drop significantly – between 17 percent and 26 percent over two years – after smoking is banned, she said.

“If one drug company developed a drug that reduced heart attacks by 20 percent, they would make a lot of money,” Lee said. “All we have to do is end smoking in the workplace.”

“We have more and more scientific evidence showing this is absolutely the right thing to do to protect the public.”

Businesses that violate the Clean Indoor Air Act can be fined up to $500, but public-health officials said they expect to issue few citations.

“We want to educate them,” said Hillary Harris, director of population health at RiverStone Health. “People are just going to need reminders.”

There are no plans for compliance checks. Instead, it will be up to consumers to complain about businesses that violate the new law.

But before filing a complaint, consider talking to a business owner about the violation, Harris said. “And thank them if they are complying,” she said.

Most local casinos and bars are ready for the change, said Vicki Holgard, a preventive health specialist at RiverStone. “They’ve been pretty receptive,” Holgard said. “They want to stay within the law.”

The state Department of Public Health and Human Services sent informational packages to every bar and casino in the state, including materials that explain the law for employees to give to customers.

“There will be instances where they lose a couple of customers because they’re mad about it,” Holgard said. “But they need to know they will gain customers.”

Contact Diane Cochran at dcochran@billingsgazette.com or 657-1287.

Contact Diane Cochran at dcochran@billingsgazette.com or 657-1287.

Enforcement of the tobacco ban at the Nov. 28 UK football home game will rely on the same method used on every other part of campus — self-compliance.

Anthany Beatty, vice president for public safety, said the university would rely on every member of the community to report violations of the policy, and punishments would be no different than on any other part of campus.

Police will be instructed to approach people who are violating the ban, but they will not be more involved in enforcing the ban than anyone else at the stadium, Beatty said.

“Remember again, this is not a criminal offense so our police officers will not be involved in this unless it becomes a public safety issue,” Beatty said.

Brendan Space, a finance sophomore and smoker, said the ban would not stop him from smoking at the stadium and does not think it will be possible to enforce the ban.

“They can’t stop underage drinking so how are they going to stop smoking?” Space said.

Beatty said if an employee were found to be violating the ban, Human Resources would handle the matter. If a student violated it, the matter would be taken care of through the Code of Conduct.

Visitors violating the ban could be asked to leave the campus if they do not comply.

Hilary Caballero, a marketing sophomore and nonsmoker, said the policy further encourages her to never start smoking.

“It’s just going to make me not want to do it even more,” Caballero said.

At the game in November, student and employee groups will hand out literature and information about the policy, its implementation and campus expectations, Beatty said.

“The approach will be again just everyone informing those who are offenders that tobacco products and smoking is not allowed on the property,” Beatty said.

Beatty said people would continue participating in cleanup efforts the days after games to take care of discarded cigarette butts in and around the stadium.

© September 29, 2009 Kykernel

On Monday, the Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance were not best pleased that their conference stand in Brighton had been placed beneath a sign saying The Killers.

It was advertising a forthcoming show by an indie band and was clearly, the group believed, not a deliberate attempt to undermine their campaign against tobacco smuggling and tougher restrictions on the display of cigarettes in corner shops.

But still, pointed out one of the Alliance representatives on the stand, “it is not very helpful”.

Now – less than 24 hours later – The Killers sign has been replaced by the conference organisers with a Labour Party banner.

No one on the Tobacco Retailers stand wanted to talk about why the sign had been changed or even if they had asked the organisers to do something about it.

But they seemed a little happier than they were on Monday. All very strange.

They will no doubt be hoping that Labour takes a similar line when MPs vote next month on whether to force retailers to keep cigarettes hidden from view beneath shop counters to discourage teenagers from taking up the habit.

Although given the government’s long track record of tobacco control, they shouldn’t hold their breath.

Sidewalk smokers, beware: The D.C. Council might be coming after you.

And people who buy cheap cigars — whether for legal or illegal purposes — you, too, should be on guard.

Three years after the council approved a ban on smoking indoors at bars and restaurants, the council is now considering a proposal to give business owners the right to ban smoking within 25 feet of the front door of an establishment.

The legislation, which also makes it a crime for anyone younger than 18 to possess tobacco, represents another step in the District’s efforts to curb smoking.

“I think it is reasonable to say to a proprietor you can put up no smoking signs if you’ve got a problem with people standing on the sidewalk in front of your establishment,” said council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), a sponsor of the bill.

In addition to Mendelson’s bill, council member Yvette D. Alexander (D-Ward 7) is proposing to ban the sale of single, cheap cigars, which she says are increasingly being used to roll marijuana.

“I am killing two birds with one stone,” Alexander said. “To make them unattainable to young people and, let’s face it, a lot of young people are using them to smoke marijuana.”

At a hearing Tuesday before the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, supporters and opponents of both measures faced off over how far the District should go in controlling tobacco and drug use.

Mendelson, the chairman of the committee, said he wants to discourage young adults from taking up smoking while protecting non-smokers from the effects of secondhand smoke.

Several advocates for health organizations, including the American Lung Association, testified in support of Mendelson’s bill. Altria, the parent company of Richmond-based Philip Morris, also announced its support for the legislation, even though it would be the city’s first effort to allow restrictions on smoking in outdoor public spaces.

“It doesn’t go far enough,” said Bob Summersgill of Smokefree DC. “In California, they don’t allow smoking on beaches and [in] public parks, and I would love to see that here, even though we don’t have that as a goal.”

But Joan Jackson, smoking in front of an office building on Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday, said she thinks the council is “going a little overboard.”

“The business owner, they don’t own the area out here; they shouldn’t be able to say who can smoke out here,” said Jackson, 53. “It’s a public street. . . . I think the government is getting a little too involved.”

Concerns about unnecessary government interference also dominated the discussion on whether to ban many single cigar sales.

Under the legislation, the ban would not apply to the city’s five tobacco shops that sell high-end cigars. Mendelson and Alexander said Tuesday they are also open to exemptions for cigar bars and restaurants.

The bill is aimed at convenience stores and other vendors who sell single cigars for $5 or less, which are associated with “blunts,” the street term for marijuana rolled in cigar paper.

Colin Ganley, a freelance reporter and cigar aficionado, told the committee he worries the proposed ban would unfairly target the city’s poorest residents.

“We have to be somewhat careful not to throw everyone who purchases these products, and may not have the incomes to buy other [cigars], under the bus,” Ganley said.

Alexander countered that few residents in her ward buy cigars for the tobacco. Instead, she said, companies are “targeting disadvantaged young people to promote drug use.”

But Darrell D. Gaston, an ANC commissioner in Ward 8, questioned how the proposed ban would be enforced, noting single cigars are often sold out of ice cream trucks in his neighborhood.

“We must stop putting band-aids on social problems,” Gaston said. “If you want to smoke, you will.”

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
September 30, 2009

WASHINGTON — The top distributor of clove-flavored tobacco products in the U.S. is asking a federal court to decide whether its new filtered cigars fall under a new federal ban on flavored cigarettes.

Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum brand tobacco products from Indonesia, sued the Food and Drug Administration Sept. 22.

The company claims the FDA, which was granted authority to regulate tobacco in June, has threatened to ban its products and the regulator is causing the company to lose money.

The FDA’s ban on manufacturing, importing, marketing and distributing candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored cigarettes took effect Sept. 22. It does not include menthol or other flavored tobacco products like cigars — issues that the FDA is studying.

Moorpark, Calif.-based Kretek International recently began selling small filtered spice-flavored cigars that are close to the size of a cigarette but are wrapped in tobacco rather than paper and contain cigar tobacco. As part of the lawsuit, it is asking for a judgment from the court that its new products do not fall under the FDA’s current ban.

Kretek says its Djarum cigar products meet federal standards for cigars. The company said the difference between cigarettes and cigars has been defined by laws that have been on the books for more than 30 years.

“We have made every effort to meet the letter and spirit of the law,” John Geoghegan, Kretek’s director of brand development, said in a news release.

FDA spokeswoman Kathleen Quinn said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

ALMATY — Kazakhstan’s government said Tuesday it would impose a total ban on smoking in public places and raise the drinking age to 21, a rare step in the hard-drinking, heavy-smoking former Soviet Union.

“We are now following the recommendations of the World Health Organization, according to whose data more than 30,000 people die every year in Kazakhstan from smoking,” health ministry spokeswoman Agmagul Abenova told AFP.

“We also continue to struggle against alcoholism, and therefore have introduced new regulations against it,” she added.

The new regulations, published in Kazakh newspapers on Tuesday, come into effect October 9.

Kazakhstan already bars people from smoking in public venues, such as stadiums and on public transport, but the new rules extend the ban to the Central Asian country’s notoriously smokey bars and nightclubs.

Although many European nations have public smoking bans, few ex-Soviet countries have followed suit, and none besides conservative Tajikistan have raised the legal drinking age.

Kazakhstan’s smoking ban does not match the strictness of neighbouring Turkmenistan where former dictator Saparmurat Niyazov barred smoking even on the streets.

Alcoholism and smoking-related illnesses are a major health problem in the former Soviet Union, which saw a huge decline in average male life expectancy following the collapse of Communism nearly two decades ago.

Kazakhstan’s drinking age was previously 18.

The sales pitch for electronic or smokeless cigarettes is crystal clear. The so-called “harmless” cigarettes are supposed to let you smoke where you aren’t supposed to.

But is the hard sell at one New Jersey mall putting non smokers at risk?

It looks like a cigarette but it’s not. An undercover video obtained by CBS 2 HD shows a demonstration of an electronic cigarette inside a local mall.

CBS 2 HD first told you about so called “e” cigarettes back in March — smokeless cigarettes sold online and in stores. The devices give off a vapor product instead of smoke and are marketed to help smokers kick the habit.

But now a company called Smoking Everywhere is showing off their products inside a Bergen County mall, and officials there want to put a stop to it.

“It has no approval from federal government, is easily accessible to young people and quite frankly we believe it is a way around the smoking ban not only in Bergen County but across the state of New Jersey and the country,” Freeholder Vernon Walton said.

The Bergen County freeholder board and Borough of Paramus are drafting one of the nation’s first bans on indoor use of e-cigarettes. In March of 2009 the Food & Drug Administration did some random sampling, which found some shocking results.

“They found e-cigarettes contain proprelyne glycol which is basically the chemical used to make the smoke in this product,” said Albert J. Ferrara of the New Jersey Health Department. “We don’t know how serious that could be, but, again, it is an ingredient used in antifreeze in our cars and that doesn’t sound healthy to any of us.”

And their concerns aren’t just for smokers but everyone around them.

“Second hand smoke is found to be very harmful in conventional tobacco smoke,” Ferrara said. “Now we may be opening another avenue in regards to electronic cigarettes.

“The FDA needs to do some studying on this and decide once and for all what kind of risks there are involved with this.”

CBS 2 HD reached out to the corporate headquarters of Smoking Everywhere but did not receive a callback.

The Board of Freeholders will consider their legislation next week and the Borough of Paramus later in October.

Famed cigarmaker Ernesto Perez-Carrillo is still a few months away from debuting the inaugural cigar from his newly formed company, but the legendary cigarmaker is providing a taste of his unique approach with the launch of an innovative “Coming Soon” website that mashes up Google Maps with real-time short messaging service Twitter.

The new site (www.epcarrillo.com) offers the first look at his new company, E.P. Carrillo, and is constructed in such a way as to celebrate and propagate the passion that people all over the world have for cigars. The temporary website, which acts as placeholder until the full website launches late next month, “scrapes” Twitter to capture and display any “Tweets” that mention the word “cigar” or its euphemisms in real-time anywhere in the world. By using Google Maps, the site then layers the Twitter information over a map to show exactly where that person is located.

Considered one the world’s premier cigarmakers, based mainly on his success in creating the famed La Gloria Cubana cigar, Perez-Carrillo announced recently that he would forego retirement to start his own boutique brand of cigars under his newly formed company. His limited-edition inaugural cigar is expected to be available for sale in December.

Until then, his newly unveiled website will serve to inform, update and engage cigar lovers while they await the introduction of E.P. Carrillo Edicion Inaugural 2009.

“The making of cigars is still rooted in old-school techniques, but the marketing of a cigar brand has evolved tremendously to the point where our creativity and communications are not constrained by any means,” said Perez-Carrillo. “We wanted to launch this brand with a website that was truly unique — one that not only would capture the essence of this brand, but to somehow capture the passion that cigar smokers have for cigars.”

The main website which launches in October will be the first brand site to be entirely built using the Google Maps interface. Ernesto and DeVito Verdi felt an interactive map would be a great way to share the story behind this new brand. The Google Maps API also lets us include some interactive features that support the larger cigar community. One example is a “Places To Smoke” this page allows cigar fans to upload their favorite spots for enjoying cigars.

Fans can also partake in a geographic journey, as they follow the path from the tobacco farms in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Ecuador (where the E.P. Carrillo tobacco is grown), to the factory in the Dominican Republic where the cigars are rolled. Cigar retailers also benefit from this format because the platform pulls in live data from Google, keeping the information current and correct.

“Cigar smokers have such a strong connection to Ernesto that we felt it necessary to create a site that strengthened that passionate bond,” said Tyler DeAngelo, digital creative director at DeVito/Verdi, the agency that created the site. “This is not your typical site to support a cigar brand — or any brand — but then again, this not a typical cigarmaker, or cigar.”

Source: DeVito/Verdi

The Food and Drug Administration’s recent nationwide ban on flavored cigarettes has many USM students questioning the government’s judgment.

The ban went into effect at midnight on September 21 and applies to all types of flavored cigarettes, with the exception of menthol cigarettes. The FDA hopes to prevent minors from getting hooked on cigarettes by removing products that they believe target the younger crowd in the market.

Many students have mixed feelings about whether the ban will be effective in accomplishing its goal of keeping minors from smoking. Rachel Ross, a junior graphic communications major from Vicksburg, Miss., said, “I figure if someone’s going to smoke, they’re going to do it regardless. But I don’t support smoking, so it doesn’t hurt me at all to see flavored cigarettes banned.”

Anna Beth Rowe, a freshman from Hattiesburg majoring in microbiology, has similar sentiments. “I agree that something should be done about cigarette’s appeal to minors and the availability of cigarettes to minors,” she said, “but I don’t necessarily see how this will help anything.”

Other students feel that the government is overstepping its bounds by banning a specific type of cigarette. “I don’t think the government should have control over what we as citizens smoke,” Rob Miller, a senior speech pathology major from Fairhope, Ala., said.

“A flavored cigarette is no more dangerous than a regular cigarette, so they shouldn’t ban one type and not another.”

Jonathan Nowacki, a junior from Biloxi, Miss., agrees. “As a smoker, I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to ban flavored cigarettes,” the religion major said.

“Flavored cigarettes present no more threat than other cigarettes.”

“It makes even less sense that they ban them since there’s been so much talk about the legalization of marijuana.”

Some students agree that the ban on specific types of cigarettes is not helpful, but think that other considerations should be taken into account. Zach Mansell, a junior economics major, said, “I don’t think the government should be making that kind of decision for us, but since we’re looking at nationalizing healthcare, I think we should prevent preventable diseases.”

K-J Lockley, a junior entrepreneurship major, considered other factors and formed a considerably different opinion. “I don’t believe that interfering with a major industry is a good idea during a major economic crisis,” the Hattiesburg native said.

Ruth Poe, a junior history and psychology double major from Vicksburg, may have summed up student feelings on the issue best: “It doesn’t really make any sense to me. I don’t really smoke cigarettes at all, but I don’t see the point of banning the flavored ones.”

Cell phones are used by an estimated 275 million people in the United States and 4 billion worldwide.

A recent review of studies assessed whether there was epidemiologic evidence for an association between long-term cell phone usage and the risk of developing a brain tumor.

In order to be included in the analysis, studies were required to have been published in a peer-reviewed journal, included participants who had used cell phone for 10 or more years, and analyzed the side of the brain tumor relative to the side of the head preferred for cell phone usage. Eleven long-term epidemiologic studies fit the criteria.

The results indicated that using a cell phone for 10 or more years approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the same side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use.

Iowa senator Tom Harkin, newly empowered to investigate health matters as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has promised to probe deeply into any potential links between cell phone use and cancer.

Harkin, who took over the committee after the death of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, said he was concerned no one has been able to prove cell phones do not cause cancer. A staffer said the senator became concerned by a report from the Environmental Working Group showing that radio wave emissions vary from one cell phone brand and model to another, as well as some reports suggesting there might be a link.

September 29 2009