BLANTYRE — Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has charged the World Bank and the IMF with causing foreign exchange shortages by forcing the country to liberalise the economy, state media said on Thursday.

“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have been forcing us to have a free market economy…but now all foreign business operators externalise forex to Asia and the Middle East,” Mutharika said on public radio.

The two lending institutions are the major sponsors of Malawi’s economic reforms.

“The forex is ours, but there is no money at the moment. Right now we cannot import anything. How do I run this country? The forex is externalised to Dubai, Bombay and London,” said the economist turned politician.

He accused foreign investors of exploiting economy of the poor southern African and said they would be “deported and their companies closed.”

Global household goods manufacturer Unilever and British American Tobacco are some of the top foreign companies operating in Malawi.

The foreign exchange woes are plaguing country regardless of the receipts of over 472 million dollars a year from tobacco exports, which makes up 70 percent of foreign earnings.

The crunch has led to fuel shortages, resulting in long queues of trucks and cars outside garages.

Reserve Bank governor Perks Ligoya told a media conference that the forex shortage had reached “crisis” levels, adding that the demand was “much higher than supply.”

The government of Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, has proposed a law allowing it to sue tobacco companies for the cost of treating smoking- related illnesses.

Prince Edward Island is the final Canadian province to propose the law, with similar legislation pending or already in place in all other provinces.

Canadian governments may seek more than C$200 billion ($188.7 billion) in compensation for health-care costs and lost taxes from cigarette smuggling from tobacco companies that include JTI-MacDonald, the Canadian unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans Inc., an Ontario judge said at a hearing in Toronto last month.

“This government made a commitment to introduce this legislation,” Prince Edward Island Attorney General Gerard Greenan said in a statement posted today on the government’s Web site. “Essentially, the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act will allow us to take action against tobacco firms for past health care costs that have resulted from the use of tobacco.”

Prince Edward Island proposed the law so it can bypass its statute of limitations, which wouldn’t allow the province to recover costs from harms that occurred more than six years ago. Ontario is attempting to recoup costs from as far back as 55 years ago.

The Prince Edward Island law, similar to most of the other provincial laws, is based on British Columbia’s 2000 legislation that has been upheld by Canada’s Supreme Court.

“By using British Columbia as a model, we know that the principles of the act have already been tested by this country’s highest court,” Greenan said.

By Joe Schneider
November 26 2009

In 2006, the U.S. Surgeon General reported that any exposure to secondhand smoke increases an individual’s risk of developing heart disease and lung cancer. As a result, 19 states have banned smoking in workplaces, bars, and restaurants. Now, some communities want to take the bans a step further, banning smoking in public parks and beaches—even in private homes.

Condominium owners in New York City and Dallas filed lawsuits recently to prevent smokers from lighting up in their own apartments, claiming that smoke seeps through shared walls and ceilings. New Jersey State Sen. Barbara Buono introduced a bill this month to ban smoking at outdoor parks and beaches. “People have a right to smoke,” Buono says, “but they shouldn’t have a right to impose on others the health risks caused by smoking.”

One recent study found that heart attacks dropped by up to 26% within three years in communities with smoking bans, though the communities may have taken other measures to improve residents’ health as well. A report by the Institute of Medicine showed that smoking bans can decrease heart attacks by as much as 47%.

But as public support for the bans continues to grow, some people are questioning how far the government should go to protect nonsmokers. “The general public should have the right to decide what they’re going to do on private property,” says Gary Nolan, regional director of Citizens Freedom Alliance, a group that opposes smoking bans. He believes it’s reasonable for the government to ban smoking in government buildings but not at parks or privately owned businesses. Adds Nolan: “We’re giving away the right to self-determination.”

By Brooke Lea Foster, Parade

The cafes are filled with perfumed smoke, hip music and the chatter and laughter of the young people who enjoy them.

Hookah pipes use charcoal to burn flavored tobacco; the smoke passes through water and through a hose from which the user inhales. The lounges are filled with comfortable couches and decorated in a chic way that makes reference to the pipe’s traditions in the Middle East.

Now, a study has been released that shows how this ritual has really caught on among today’s young people.

According to the study by University of Florida researchers, 11 percent of high school students and 4 percent of middle school students have tried smoking hookah.

“This is something that’s become popular in the last couple years,” said Tracey Barnett, medical sociologist and lead researcher on the study.

Some users think the water acts as a filter and makes hookah safer than smoking cigarettes.

“There’s no reason to think it’s any less harmful,” Barnett said. “There’s no safe way to use tobacco.”

Michael Dowie has been working at Hookah Hutt on University Avenue since May 2009. He’s 19, studying History at Santa Fe.

“I know it’s bad, but I still do it,” Dowie said. “I’m aware that it’s not healthy for you.”

He said a lot of young college students and seniors in high school come in to smoke hookah.

Florida’s minimum smoking age is 18.

The owner of Hookah Hutt has been running his shop in Gainesville for three years. He preferred not to be named out of concern for his family. He said that he checks the ID of anyone who looks close to underage.

“If you’re not 18, we can’t serve you,” he said.

He said that his lounge is a good place to socialize. “What makes hookahs so enjoyable is that you connect with many people,” he said.

He said he doesn’t try to hide the fact that smoking is unhealthy. “It’s just as bad as cigarettes … it’s not good for you,” he said.
By Andrew Ford, Gainesville

The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) today announced that the BOE has notified wholesalers and distributors that it is illegal to sell flavored cigarettes or roll-your-own (RYO) under the federal U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The BOE sent a special notice by email informing them of this new federal regulation. Under federal law, these products can no longer be manufactured, imported, or sold in the United States and could be seized by federal, state or local law enforcement authorities. Cigarettes and RYO products banned by the FDA have been and continue to be removed.

This federal ban prohibits a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) from containing, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.

For general information regarding the FDA’s Tobacco Program and the ban on flavored cigarettes and RYO products, please refer to the FDA’s website at www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm.

To access the product listing on the California Tobacco Directory, please refer to the AG’s website at: http://ag.ca.gov/tobacco/directory.php.

It is illegal for distributors to affix a California tax stamp on packages of cigarettes or pay the tax on roll-your-own product unless the manufacturer and the brand family are listed in the California Tobacco Directory.

The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $53 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes. For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.

A senate inquiry will examine draft laws which would see plain cigarette packaging mandated in Australia, Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding said.

The laws would ban advertising logos or trademarks on any cigarette packets so tobacco products would only carry plain labelling dominated by health warnings.

“There is no case for allowing any glossy brand promotion for a product that is lethal and addictive,” Senator Fielding said.

“Smoking related diseases cost the Australian community over $30 billion each year.

“Family First’s plain tobacco packaging bill would take the polish off cigarette branding and the positive images the tobacco giants try to associate with their products.”

Chair of Cancer Council Australia’s tobacco issues committee, Kylie Lindorff, said Family First’s reforms to tobacco product packaging are essential to reducing the unacceptable level of cancer death and disability caused by smoking in Australia.

“It is incongruous enough that a poorly regulated product that is available from retailers almost anywhere kills more than half of its consumers,” Ms Lindorff said.

“For the products to also be marketed in glossy packets intended to convey the aspirations or sense of identity of the consumer is even more absurd.”

The Heart Foundation also strongly supports Senator Fielding’s laws because current cigarette packaging is a potent form of advertising and promotion for smoking.

“Generic plain packaging, with a clear graphic warning on the front and back of the pack, should be mandated to counter the allure of smoking and reduce the disease burden it causes,” National Heart Foundation’s tobacco control spokesperson, Maurice Swanson said

The Public Health Association of Australia says smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia, with over 15,000 deaths each year.

Family First introduced its Plain Tobacco Packaging (Removing Branding from Cigarette Packs) Bill 2009 on 20 August 2009.

NEW YORK – Ireland’s implementation of a workplace smoking ban in 2004 appears tied to a decline in maternal smoking rates as well as lower risk for preterm births, study findings hint.

Compared with the year prior to the smoking ban, 12 percent fewer women reported smoking during pregnancy in the year after the ban, Dr. Zubair Kabir, of the Tobacco Free Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, and colleagues report.

Their study, in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, also revealed “a welcome sign,” Kabir’s team notes. They observed 25 percent lower risk for preterm births in the year after the smoking ban compared with the year prior to the ban.

Kabir and colleagues analyzed records at Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital to assess whether Ireland’s workplace smoking ban altered smoking during pregnancy, a known risk factor for preterm birth and having a low birth weight infant.

Their comparison included 7,593 births in 2003 and 7,648 births in 2005, and allowed for other maternal factors tied to birth risks such as the mother’s age, number of previous births, alcohol intake, blood pressure, and complications during pregnancy.

Overall, babies with the highest birth weights on average were born to former smokers. By contrast, babies with the lowest birth weights had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

However, in addition to the noted declines in maternal smoking and preterm birth risk, the investigators also identified 43 percent greater risk for low birth weight in the year after the smoking ban compared with the year prior to the ban.

This finding “is intriguing and needs further exploration,” Kabir and colleagues say, particularly in light of evidence that exposures to secondhand smoke during pregnancy may play a role in having babies with low birth weight.

They also call for further exploration of their observed increase in Caesarean delivery rates – from 15.4 in 2003 to 19.5 percent in 2005.

BJOG, An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, December 2009

Competition is the master of a true free market and seems to be working for the electronic cigarette industry as a whole. The improvements in technology over the last several years has produced some strong competition in the industry that is making for better quality products and strides for more controlled e liquid that is used to produce the vapor.

With top companies spending thousands on health studies and lab analysis studies to verify their products are safe, and engineering cost rising to stay ahead of the game to come out with the next generation products, it is an ideal example of the free market in the U S.

Studies of electronic cigarettes are on the rise not only in the United States. but around the globe as well. With a recent study in South Africa that shows some amazing results in helping people to quit smoking tobacco is a testament to the fact that electronic cigarettes, which was already a excellent alternative, may be deemed as a product that may help millions kick the habit of tobacco smoking. The study in South Africa stated that 45% of the people who used them for 8 weeks completely quit smoking tobacco.

Earlier in 2009 another study out of New Zealand by a world renowned health professional and ant-tobacco advocate stated that electronic cigarettes are between 100 and 1,000 times safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes. Health New Zealand was founded by Dr Murray Laugesen in 1995 after serving a full 18 years as an established medical officer in the Ministry of Health and in the Public Health Commission.

Dr Laugesen is one of the most recognized anti-smoking health practitioners in Australia and New Zealand and has been the recipient of many awards, including a medal from the World Health Organization in 1998 “for achievements deemed worthy of international recognition in promoting the concept of tobacco-free societies.” Dr. Laugesen claims that after having performed tests on electronic cigarettes, they are 100 to 1,000 times safer than commercial tobacco cigarettes.

With the progress of many studies and others that have been completed, the electronic cigarette market is a prime example of an open and free market that self regulates to make better and safer products for consumers. It seems that the only time that manufacturers are corrupted is when they become tangled in political corruption.

After reading a story on The Consumerist, consumer protection site owned by Consumers Union, I could not stop thinking. The subject of smoking tobacco is always an interesting one. From one side, there is default “if you smoke, you know it’s probably bad for you” and from another comes the grave error that tobacco industry made when it came to advertising their products. Personally, I was always neutral when it comes to smoking because a part of my family has to smoke tobacco [not the post-processed kind known as cigarettes] to avoid a non-curable cancer. Yes, that’s correct – smoke to avoid cancer. At least that particular type. I came clean in genetic testing and hence, I am not smoking but I am definitely against discrimination of any type.

The reason for this story is a set of isolated incidents where Mac owners who experienced issues with their computers ended shut out by Apple Inc., claiming secondary smoke and OSHA violations are the cause for the warranty termination. Given the description of the issues at hand, we smell a seven-day old fish left out at 50C/120F.

“Dena set up an appointment at the same Apple store. They told me that they would take pictures of the computer – both inside and out before determining whether to proceed and that if the only problem was the optical drive, they’d probably just replace it. Dena called me earlier this week to deliver the “bad news.” She said that the computer is beyond economical repair due to tar from cigarette smoke! She said the hard drive is about to fail, the optical drive has failed and it isn’t feasible to repair the computer under the warranty. This computer is less than 2 years old! Only one person in my household smokes – one 21 year old college student. She said that I can get it repaired elsewhere at my expense. I asked why my warranty didn’t cover the repair and was told it’s an OSHA violation.”

There are two sides of each medal, but after reading a certain Apple-related story on the Consumerist, this definitely takes the cake. It turns out that fruity company from Cupertino decided to void warranty if you’re a smoker without stating that in the purchasing contract or warranty terms. Regardless of being a smoker or not, this is illegal. Secondly, calling “OSHA violation” at the time when Apple still ships products that contain hazardous materials is nothing else but bull.

In all seriousness, this is a dangerous precedence, because if customers don’t end up suing Apple for discrimination we might end up with more invisible warranty limitations which you would be unaware of. This issue goes beyond nicotine as a hazardous material as it opens us a whole set of circumstances where a company that is known for manufacturing fragile hardware maximizes its profits as it unilaterally shuts part of the warranty without prior consent.

We offer you improbable, but not impossible timeline of future warranty limitations by Apple:
2010: Apple voids warranty to all users who leave their computers in dusty rooms
2011: Apple voids warranty to drivers with “DUI” [Driving Under Influence]
2012: After initial shock, Apple cancels warranty to any alcohol consumer, citing “our machines feel threatened”
2013: Apple voids warranty to women during pregnancy “to avoid child trauma”
2014: The company cancels warranty if you eat meat because “you’re damaging the planet”
2015: AppleCare technician has to qualify you to see are you suited for purchasing Apple’s product
2016: Additional controversy: Apple initiates genepool testing to determine product suitability
2020: Apple cancels warranty to all carbon-based life forms – “because you aren’t organic enough”

Fruity company? Then again, with all these restrictions, one might start to ask – instead of telling people how to live and what they can or can’t consume, it might be a good idea to either re-start manufacturing or put more attention to QA department over at Foxconn. People who paid several thousand dollars for their Core i7-based iMacs aren’t amused at the fact a lot of iMac units are arriving dead.

© 2009 Bright Side Of News*, All rights reserved.