Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS - An attorney who helped negotiate a multibillion-dollar settlement against tobacco companies in the 1990s and has sued insurers over unpaid Hurricane Katrina claims was indicted Wednesday in a suspected scheme to bribe a Mississippi judge. The indictment accuses Richard "Dickie" Scruggs of conspiring to pay the judge $50,000 to rule in his favor in a lawsuit brought by other attorneys who sought fees for work on Katrina insurance litigation. Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey reported the "bribery overture" to federal authorities and agreed to assist investigators in an "undercover capacity," according to the indictment. Scruggs was indicted...

Here is a thumbs-down to the Smokefree D.C. do-gooders and the D.C. Council, which voted 11-1 in favor of a smoking ban that begins next year. I am thinking of starting a Do-Gooder-free D.C. because of the scientifically proven study that shows freedom-hating do-gooders cause high blood pressure in others. There is nothing like a smug, arrogant, condescending know-it-all to get the eyes rolling up in the back of your head. The city, unfortunately, is awash in this character type. These self-important nitwits seem to think they know what is best for the masses and then pat themselves on the...

In an appalling extension of the nanny state, New York is slated to become the first city to monitor diabetics' blood-sugar levels. It plans to register them like HIV or tuberculosis sufferers and nag them when their levels aren't healthy enough. Drop the cupcake; here come the sugar police. Sensible people will laugh at this, but New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden, an appointee of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is dead serious about the Big Apple's sweet tooth. He's the man behind New York's onerous smoking ban; he doesn't shy from alleging "epidemics." Since Mr. Frieden recently told the New...

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 125 Worth St, Room 331, CN #28, New York, NY 10013. tfrieden@health.nyc.gov. OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the impact of comprehensive tobacco control measures in New York City. METHODS: In 2002, New York City implemented a tobacco control strategy of (1) increased cigarette excise taxes; (2) legal action that made virtually all work-places, including bars and restaurants, smoke free; (3) increased cessation services, including a large-scale free nicotine-patch program; (4) education; and (5) evaluation. The health department also began annual surveys on a broad array of health measures, including smoking. RESULTS:...

London Thanks to The British Board of Film Classification James Bond can carry on smoking. Having seen off all manner of Russian agents, evil geniuses and homicidal henchmen, superspy James Bond emerged triumphant in the face of the anti-smoking lobby. Anti-tobacco groups had lobbied the British Board of Film Classification, to crack down on what they see as the glamorisation of smoking. A scene in Bond film “Die Another Day” in which Pierce Brosnan lights up a cigar was cited as a glaring example. The BBFC ruled that 007 was unlikely to encourage youngsters to follow suit. afp According to...

A US government agency has drawn up a comprehensive plan to encourage five million Americans to stop smoking. The Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health, which developed the 10 point plan over 14 months, has proposed increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2 (£1; €1.60). Details of the national plan for tobacco cessation are published in the American Journal of Public Health (2004;94:205-10), and the plan was endorsed by four former US surgeons general—Jesse Steinfeld, Julius Richmond, C Everett Koop, and David Satcher—at a press conference last week in Washington, DC. The $2 tax is estimated to...