Theater Night Update 7-26-08

Hello Everyone -

Time for another update. Shawn and I have been very busy vetting the House candidates on the smoking ban issue. Please take a look at the government scorecard that has been put together on the website www.banthebanminnesota.com . I believe what we have so far is just great! You might even get a few chuckles out of the "comments". It is still a "work in progress" so visit it often as we get new information in everyday and please feel free to blog anytime. We will be adding a "freedom ranking" to the scorecard soon and will probably publish some of the letters we received. It is a non-partisan scorecard. Keep in mind that this is just based on one issue, the "smoking ban", however, it does give you insight into how a candidate thinks. Like just maybe, if the candidate is for the ban then what other "freedoms" is he/she willing to take from us.

Below are a couple of articles that are worth reading. We are up against big money....Gates & Bloomberg. But remember that old saying, "The bigger they are the harder they fall"! And if you know any truck drivers...tell them to watch out because they are coming after them next with the smoking and obesity. It just doesn't stop! But then neither will we! Also, don't forget to visit Greg's website www.freedomtoact.com . There is a really good article about the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and Johnson & Johnson...how they fund the smoking bans and then reap the benefits from the nicoderm products....not a bad strategy, huh.

Well, enough for now. I will be sending out more frequent updates with lots to do with politics...you know that election that is coming up in November. There will also be some updated news with regard to theater nights, the appellate case that Mark Benjamin is doing and other items of interest.

Break a leg,
Sheila


Global anti-smoking effort
GATES, BLOOMBERG PLEDGE $500 MILLION TO ANTI-TOBACCO CAMPAIGN
By Donald G. McNeil Jr.New York Times
Article Launched: 07/24/2008 01:32:01 AM PDT
NEW YORK - Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday that they will spend $500 million to get people around the world to stop smoking.
The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco will kill up to a billion people in the 21st century, most of them in poor and middle-income countries. In an effort to cut that number, Bloomberg's foundation plans to commit $250 million over four years on top of $125 million he announced two years ago. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is allocating $125 million over five years.
That far outstrips current spending of about $20 million a year on anti-smoking campaigns in poor and middle-income countries, according to a recent WHO report.
The $500 million would be spent on a multi-pronged campaign - nicknamed Mpower - that Bloomberg and Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the health organization, outlined in February. It coordinates efforts by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, the health organization, the World Lung Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The campaign will urge governments to sharply raise tobacco taxes, outlaw smoking in public places, outlaw advertising to children and free giveaways of cigarettes, start anti-smoking advertising campaigns and offer their citizens nicotine patches or other help quitting. Third World health officials, consumer groups, journalists, tax officers and others will be brought to the United States for workshops on topics like lobbying, public service advertising, catching cigarette smugglers and running telephone hot lines for smokers wanting to quit. A list of grants is at tobaccocontrolgrants.org.
The campaign will concentrate on five countries where most of the world's smokers live: China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Bangladesh.
Bloomberg, founder of the financial news company bearing his name and creator of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, has long been known for his antipathy to tobacco.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9980614?source=rss

Anti-Smoking Effort Targets TruckersNov 1, 2004 11:24 AM
Anti-Smoking Effort Targets Truckers
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is teaming up with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School, to focus on reducing smoking by truck drivers as well as the issue of obesity among the commercial driver population.
“Smoking has ingrained itself into the truck driving culture but there is no reason why this can't be reversed,” said Tyson Johnson, IBT’s freight division director. “This program fits into the daily lives of truck drivers so it will be much easier for them to stay involved in the program. Anything the Teamsters Union can do to improve the lives of our members, we will do.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded researchers at DFCI two grants totaling $3 million to develop workplace-based health promotion and prevention programs. DFCI will be working with the Teamsters Union on a study called “Health Promotion for Mobile Workers: Addressing Smoking Cessation and Obesity.”
The DFCI study will assess the effectiveness of a tailored telephone delivery program on tobacco use and weight management for motor freight workers, and will provide one of the first evidence-based health promotion programs for mobile workers.
“Because of the mobile nature of this work, worksite health programs are generally inaccessible for these workers; in addition transportation workers have among the highest smoking rates of any workers,” said Glorian Sorensen, director of Dana-Farber’s Center for Community Based Research, and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the study's principal investigator.
“Workers may use smoking to alleviate boredom, cope with stress and fatigue, and to connect with fellow workers; being overweight may be strongly tied to drivers’ lack of physical activity and unhealthful food options available on the road,” she added. “We will develop a program that responds to these concerns.”
http://fleetowner.com/news/anti_smoking_truckers_110104/index.html