Free Republic

this weeks "navy times" came out. it had the usual articles in it. one very touching one about the last carrier operations of the f-14s. then.....

The air pollution scare industry is at it again -- in a very timely manner to help the Environmental Protection Agency impose more dubious regulations on us. “When the air is filled with increased levels of soot and other tiny particles, more people end up in the hospital with heart and lung problems, according to the largest study yet on the health effects of such pollutants,” reported the Chicago Sun-Times on March 8. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study reports that “short-term exposure to [fine particulate air pollution or soot] increases the risk for...

Companies are charging smokers more money for health insurance CINCINNATI — Smokers already feeling pressure from increasing cigarette costs and workplace smoking bans are now feeling squeezed from another direction — health insurance premiums. A growing number of employers — private and public — are charging employees who use tobacco more money for their health insurance coverage. Employers hope that the higher charges will motivate more employees to stop smoking, resulting in improved health and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers. "With smokers costing companies about 25 percent more than nonsmokers in the area of health...

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Women have yet another reason to stop smoking while pregnant. In the largest study of its kind, plastic surgeons found smoking during pregnancy significantly elevates the risk of having a child with excess, webbed or missing fingers and toes, according to the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In fact, the study found that smoking just half a pack per day increases the risk of having a child born with a toe or finger defect by 29 percent. “Reconstructive surgery to repair limb,...