Cigarettes roundup

Source: Inquirer.net (Original Article)

MANILA, Philippines — Beginning Tuesday, cigarette advertisements are banned on television, radio and print in accordance with the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act No. 9211.

Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), said the total ad ban on cigarettes would be a tremendous help to health advocates who are working to discourage teenagers and young adults from smoking.

“Starting [Tuesday], cigarette ads will be banned in all forms of mass media,” she said. “This is a big thing for us because young people are the target of the ads.”

Roberto del Rosario, advertising executive and FCAP board member, said the prohibition on cigarette advertising would save millions of Filipino youth from tobacco-related diseases. He said that cigarette firms were “fooling” the youth in their ads.

“If you notice, print advertisements convey a fun and enjoyable lifestyle, when in fact, the tobacco industry is aware that smoking causes agonizing ailments like emphysema, lung cancer, etc. Are these [conditions] enjoyable? Is this a true [picture] of a pleasant lifestyle? It is sad that the tobacco industry is looking for replacement smokers for those who have already died,” he said.

“There are already four million young Filipinos who smoke — we don’t want this number to increase. Instead, we have to protect millions of children. That is why a total ad ban is imperative,” Del Rosario added.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 80,000 and 100,000 children pick up the habit every day. Half of the neophyte smokers come from Asia, with teens heavily influenced by cigarette advertisements.

The Western Pacific region — which covers East Asia and the Pacific — has the highest smoking rate with nearly two-thirds of men smoking. Cigarette companies are among the top 10 advertisers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Amex Cards Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines.

According …continue reading

Source: Telegraph.co.uk (Original Article)

Germany have to settle for second best
By Tim Rich in Vienna
Last Updated: 2:41am BST 30/06/2008

Harrison Ford has spent much of his career watching the Germans come second, whether it is in the race for the Ark of the Covenant, which grants success in battle, to the Holy Grail which grants eternal life.

Last night the man who will forever be Indiana Jones was in the Ernst Happel Stadium watching Germany come second in the race for the Henri Delaunay Trophy, which grants a certain smugness about your nation’s football for the next four years.

And it was “coming second” rather than losing. There was no logical reason why Germany should have won their fourth European Championship, they possessed perhaps only three footballers who would have made Luis Aragones’ starting line-up and Michael Ballack was one of them.

That he had spent the weekend attempting to recover from a serious calf injury would have made Joachim Low, who resembles Bryan Ferry as football manager, reach for another cigarette.

By the end, with his captain cut over his eye and his team sliced apart by the kind of passing so many Spanish teams have threatened but which few until now have achieved, Low would have required more than nicotine for inspiration.

Germany’s will to win does not always work in the finals themselves. This was their 13th major final, which is 12 more than England.

But more than half have been lost and as Spanish nerves eased and the rhythm of the drum carried by their most celebrated fan -Manolo, a bar owner from Valencia - quickened in the sultry night, this looked like being a rerun of Germany’s last final in the 2002 World Cup. Then, they had managed to hold off a vastly-superior Brazil for as long as realistically possible before going under.

Ballack, the man who had sweated so much to drag his side there, watched that match from the stands in Yokohama; the final act University Course 174 of an exquisitely agonising season that …continue reading

Source: Washington Post (Original Article)

The campaign to reduce teenagers’ smoking has stalled, new federal data show, dismaying federal health officials and anti-smoking advocates who said that one of Amex Gold the nation’s most important public health priorities is faltering.

Source: The Associated Press (Original Article)

David Adams and his daughter Carly, 5, hold the sign they posted earlier this year between their home and that of their neighbor, whose two dogs they allege bark at all hours of the night, June 5, 2008, in Magnolia, Miss. Adams posted a video of the dogs barking on the Web site RottenNeighbor.com, which received No Annual Fee Credit Card several thousands of hits and comments. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Source: Motley Fool (Original Article)

Altria (NYSE: MO) needs to go to rehab. No, not because it’s come down with yet another hacking cough, but because its customer base is shrinking quickly.

Before I continue, the inner surgeon general in me must make an admission: The popularity of smoking is on a downturn because, duh, it’s bad for you. From that perspective, of course, declining sales is a good thing. Nobody denies that. But the debate over the ethics of investing in cigarette companies isn’t the topic of discussion today. Health risks aside, let’s look at Altria purely from an investing standpoint, shall we?

Cigarettes’ waning popularity in the U.S. was part of the reason Altria shed healthier assets like Kraft (NYSE: KFT) and Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM). Over the last year, Altria’s Philip Morris USA saw sales volume fall 4.6%, and management expects overall sales to continue to decline around 3% going forward. Clearly, the U.S. is no longer the vibrant tobacco market it was in years past, so what has management done to combat declining sales? Well, it has pushed innovative, snazzy, and potentially healthier products in a drive to reignite growth.

Big, big mistake.

Altria’s new products — such as Marlboro Ultra Smooth cigarettes, spit-free chew, and a battery-powered unit that heats the tobacco rather than burning it — have gone nowhere. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Consumer companies like Altria that derive success from brand-name recognition shouldn’t be expected to excel outside their core competence.

Stick with what you know

Historically, when mammoth companies have ventured outside what they do best, the results haven’t been encouraging. Back in the ’80s, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) came up with a plan to keep rivals like Pepsi (NYSE: PEP) in check: It invented a completely new formula — dubbed New Coke (where were you, creative department?) — to replace its original cola, which had gained so Citibank Gold Card much love in the prior century. …continue reading

Source: Bizjournals.com (Original Article)

The Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Foundation has received a $150,000 grant from Altria Group Inc., which is closing its Philip Morris USA plant in Concord.

The grant will help cover expenses of the college’s R3 Center in Kannapolis. The center provides outreach programs to unemployed and under-employed adults in Cabarrus and Rowan counties.

Altria has contributed $75,000 to the program and will give another $75,000 next year.

“As Altria Group’s operating company, Philip Morris USA, goes through a transition period in the region, we continue to support initiatives like this one that contribute to the economic vitality of the area and the education of its citizens,” says Greg Wilson, director of Altria’s client services’ stakeholder relations.

Philip Morris plans to close its 2,500-employee cigarette plant in Concord in about two years, citing a decline in U.S. demand for cigarettes.

Most local production will move to the company’s Richmond, Va., facility, where many of the Cabarrus County plant’s workers will be offered jobs.

The decision to close the 2.4 million-square-foot Concord plant is part of a larger plan by Philip Morris to consolidate its facilities and move more cigarette production to Europe, where smoking isn’t taking such a large hit as in the United States.

After the Concord plant closes, the 1.6 million-square-foot Richmond facility will be Philip Morris’ only U.S. production plant.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College offers 40 programs of study in business, health and human services and engineering technologies at multiple campus locations. The school offers associate’s degrees in arts, science and applied science as well as ANZ Flyer Credit Card diploma and certificate programs.

Altria (NYSE:MO) is based in New York.

Source: Canada NewsWire (press release) (Original Article)

WATERLOO, ON, June 23 /CNW/ - The results of the latest national Youth
Smoking Survey (YSS) reveal that the percentage of young people who have tried
a tobacco product has stopped declining, suggesting the issue of tobacco
control requires continued attention in Canada.
The 2006-07 version of the survey found that 21 per cent of youths in
grades 5 to 9, most between the ages of 10 and 14, had tried at least one
tobacco product. This result is similar to that reported in the 2004-2005 YSS,
following a decade-long decline. The original YSS, conducted in 1994, reported
that 52 percent had tried a tobacco product.
For the first time, the latest survey included students in grades 10 to
12, 55 per cent of whom had tried tobacco. This represents the highest
percentage of survey participants in this category.
While 48 per cent of students in grades 10 to 12 had tried cigarette
smoking, 11 per cent were classified as current smokers. For students in
grades 5 to 9, 18.5 per cent had tried cigarette smoking and two per cent were
current smokers.
The researcher who coordinates the study for Health Canada is heartened
by the earlier decline, but concerned with the levelling off among younger
youths and the jump in tobacco use in higher grades.
“Tobacco control continues to be an issue that we need to keep our
efforts focused on,” said Steve Manske, the researcher with the Centre for
Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE) who coordinates the
survey. “Tobacco products that appeal to youth continue to appear on the
market, which is why continued vigilance on cancer prevention has never been
more important.”
Provincial and territorial governments in British Columbia, Nova Scotia,
Ontario and the Yukon have recently moved to ban smoking in vehicles with a
child present, while Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are
considering similar bans. Manske applauds this move, noting that 28 per cent LAZYTOWN dvd
of students in the YSS reported …continue reading

Source: TMZ.com (Original Article)

Amy Winehouse Officially DiseasedPosted Jun 22nd 2008 10:53AM by TMZ StaffHuge shocker — crack, cigarette and who-knows-what-else smoking trainwreck Amy Winehouse has a lung disease.

Winey’s father, Mitch, spilled the beans on her hospitalization, admitting the 24-year-old has contracted emphysema — the same disease Johnny Carson died from when he 79.

Mitch told the Daily Mail, “With smoking crack cocaine and the cigarettes her lungs are all gunked up … She’s got 70 per cent lung capacity.”

Amy has been in the hospital since collapsing in her London home last week.

See Also

Amy Winehouse — Back to Black Hating
Amy Winehouse BankWest Credit Cards Does Two Bumps

Filed under: Comments [20]Digg itDel.icio.usMy YahooSphereRSSMySpacePermalinkEmail

Source: Press-Register - al.com (Original Article)

As Christopher Joseph Carr of Chunchula stood handcuffed
Friday before a federal judge in Mobile to accept his
punishment for a fatal methamphetamine lab explosion, he had
support from an unlikely source — the victim’s sister.

Following a recommendation by prosecutors, U.S. District
Judge William Steele sentenced Carr to four years and four
months in prison. Before Steele announced the sentence, Carr
turned toward Tiffany Betancourt and apologized for the
death of her brother, Joe Forrest New, in 2006.

Later, Betancourt said that she appreciated the fact that
Carr owned up to his role soon after the fire and helped
investigators build cases against others involved.

“I do forgive him, and I hope he can overcome his
addiction,” she said.

Carr’s cooperation prompted Assistant U.S. Attorney
George May to ask Steele to lop off close to four years from
the prison term suggested by advisory sentencing guidelines.

“A young man lost his life as a result of this
methamphetamine explosion,” May said. “However,
this defendant was the first one to come forward and detail
everything that happened. … We had other parties that
tried to avoid responsibility.”

The explosion occurred March 14, 2006, at the Eight Mile
home of Amy Johns in the 200 block of Faith Avenue.

The fire ignited when someone lit a cigarette, according to
court records. New, 23, suffered burns over 70 percent of
his body and died two months later. The fire also badly
injured Howard Ronald Marks, a second man who was at the
house.

Johns initially said that she wasn’t present, which
prosecutors disputed. Johns was convicted of methamphetamine
conspiracy, and Carr testified at her sentencing in March.

Another man arrested in the case, Ricky Eugene McCammon,
pleaded guilty in October and got three years and nine
months in prison.

Carr’s lawyer, Jan Jones, said that her client has been
eager to Amex Platinum Card aid investigators, even with cases unrelated …continue reading

Source: BusinessWeek (Original Article)

A New York woman has been accused of punching a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight attendant who tried to stop her from smoking a cigarette onboard.

Thirty-five-year-old Queens resident Christina Elizabeth Szele was advised Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Colorado of charges of assault and interference with flight attendants. She didn’t enter a plea.

An FBI affidavit said Szele yelled obscenities and racial epithets at an attendant who tried to stop her from smoking on Flight 643 from New York to San Francisco on Tuesday.

Szele is accused of breaking through flex cuffs that flight attendants used to restrain her and punching an attendant in the jaw. The captain diverted the flight to Denver.

Authorities said Szele claimed she had been drinking and credit card doesn’t remember the incident.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday.