Do you consistently decline getting involved with Facebook, Twitter, or
any other other social network scheme? Don't let others make you feel
guilty. You may be relieved to know you've made the right decision about
refusing more social obligations than are worth handling.
A new
study has discovered that social networking or checking social email is
more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes. Hard to believe, but that's
what was reported. All this "checking out what others are doing no
matter how trivial" is a time waster in the long run. But it is cheaper
than booze and cigarettes and not as harmful. Dunhill cigarettes.
How the study was conducted
The
study was conducted by Chicago University's Booth Business School.
Ironically, Wihelm Hofmann and the Chicago research team used BlackBerry
devices for checking in frequently with the 205 people participating in
Wurtzburg, Germany. The participants' ages ranged widely, from 18 to
85.
They were asked seven times each day for a week what their
impulses or desires were at the time and how strong they were. Smoking
and drinking didn't rank high at all. Taking leisure time and rest or
sleep came in first. But coming in second was the urge to check in on
social media, which includes Facebook, Twitter, and plain social
emailing.
This social media urge is less damaging or threatening
in the long term than many other vices. But it can be a time waster, for
sure. That is unless there are business, professional, educational, or
intellectual pursuits involved.
But
even among the latter more serious pursuits, there is another reason
for concerns about using Facebook or Twitter. Socially, watch what you
say even if you're kidding around in regards to politically charged
topics.
A young British couple was detained and questioned for 12
hours upon arriving in Los Angeles at LAX on suspicions of arriving
with criminal intentions. Those suspicions were based on two tweets from
Leigh Van Bryan. One of them was "free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?"
It
turned out there was confusion over the use of the British slang
"destroy," used to indicate excessive partying or "trashing" a place.
This was not a prolonged email or series of emails. Simply one tweet on
Twitter. So how did the TSA know?
Homeland Security or the CIA
had to have caught that tweeted phrase as part of monitoring what
everyone is up to, who they are, and where they're going. It has been
rumored that intelligence agencies are using social networks as an
inexpensive, convenient technique for tracking many 24/7.
It's
not necessary to read everything for every email or tweet sent on the
Internet by everyone on the planet. Intel agencies have software to
identify certain keywords or phrases. Then it's a snap to zoom in on the
profile, especially with Facebook, or IP address of whoever sent out those words or phrases.
Friday, November 29, 2013
David Cameron 'U-Turn' Over Cigarette Packaging
David Cameron has been accused of a humiliating U-turn
after ministers dramatically revived the prospect of plain packaging for
cigarettes.
Public Health Minister Jane Ellison announced that the eminent
paediatrician Sir Cyril Chantler has been asked to carry out a rapid
review of the evidence, which will be completed by March.At the same time, changes will be made to the Children and Families Bill currently going through Parliament so that a ban on branded cigarette packets can be imposed "without delay" if the review concludes it is the right course.
The move was warmly welcomed by health campaigners, but the tobacco companies said a ban would have no impact on legal smoking levels and would simply lead to an increase in smuggling and counterfeit products.
In the Commons, Ms Ellison said the Government had ordered the review in response to evidence emerging from Australia which last year became the first country to introduce plain packaging.
But for Labour, shadow health minister Luciana Berger said ministers had been forced to act in the face of a "humiliating" defeat in the House of Lords on an amendment to the Children and Families Bill tabled by a cross-party group of peers.
"Only a Government as shambolic as this one could now be U-turning on a U-turn. The minister says we need another review but the Government have already had a review and the evidence is clear for all to see," she said.
"Standardised packaging makes cigarettes less attractive to young people. We should be legislating now, not delaying."
Ms Ellison insisted that the Government had made clear last July that it was simply taking a "pause", following a public consultation in 2012, to consider the evidence from Australia.
At the time the announcement was widely seen as killing off any prospect of legislation before the election in 2015, with critics blaming the Tories' controversial election strategist, Lynton Crosby.
There was an outcry when it later emerged that his firm, Crosby Textor had been advising Philip Morris Ltd as it lobbied the Government against plain packaging.
Ms Ellison said: "We will introduce standardised tobacco packaging if, following the review and consideration of the wider issues raised, we are satisfied there are sufficient grounds to proceed.
"We have to do this in a measured step-by-step way to make sure that when and if a decision is made it is robust and will withdraw all the inevitable challenges that might come its way."
However, there was anger among some Conservative MPs who accused the Government of caving in to the "nanny state brigade".
Monday, November 25, 2013
NYC officials raise smoking age to 21
Young New Yorkers who want to light up will soon have to wait for their
21st birthdays before they can buy a pack of smokes after lawmakers in
the nation's most populous city voted overwhelmingly to raise the
tobacco-purchasing age from 18 to 21.
The City Council's vote Wednesday makes New York the biggest city to bar cigarette sales to 19- and 20-year-olds, and one of only a few places throughout the United States that have tried to stymie smoking among young people by raising the purchasing age. The council also approved a bill that sets a minimum $10.50-a-pack price for tobacco cigarettes and steps up law enforcement on illegal tobacco sales.
"We know that tobacco dependence can begin very soon after a young person first tries smoking so it's critical that we stop young people from smoking before they ever start," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement after the council's vote.
Bloomberg, a strong supporter of tough smoking restrictions, has 30 days to sign the bills into law. The minimum age bill will take effect 180 days after enactment. Bomond cigarettes.
The city's current age limit is 18, a federal minimum that's standard in many places. Smoking in city parks and beaches already is prohibited as it is in restaurants.
Advocates say higher age limits help prevent, or at least delay, young people from taking up a habit that remains the leading cause of preventable deaths nationwide.
But cigarette manufacturers have suggested young adult smokers may just turn to black-market merchants. And some smokers say it's unfair and patronizing to tell people considered mature enough to vote and serve in the military that they're not old enough to decide whether to smoke.
"New York City already has the highest cigarette tax rate and the highest cigarette smuggling rate in the country," said Bryan D. Hatchell , a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which makes Camel and other brands. "Those go hand in hand and this new law will only make the problem worse."
Another anti-smoking initiative pushed by the Bloomberg administration was previously shelved ahead of Wednesday's vote: forcing stores to keep cigarettes out of public view until a customer asks for them.
Newsstand clerk Ali Hassen, who sells cigarettes daily to a steady stream of customers from nearby office buildings, said he didn't know if the new age restrictions would do any good.
While he wouldn't stop vigilantly checking identification to verify customers' age, Hassen doubted the new rules would thwart determined smokers.
"If somebody wants to smoke, they're going to smoke," he said.
Similar legislation to raise the purchasing age is expected to come to a vote in Hawaii this December. The tobacco-buying age is 21 in Needham, Mass., and is poised to rise to 21 in January in nearby Canton, Mass. The state of New Jersey also is considering a similar proposal.
"It just makes it harder for young people to smoke," said Stephen McGorry, 25, who started smoking at 19. He added that had the age been 21 when he took up the habit, "I guarantee I wouldn't be smoking today."
The City Council's vote Wednesday makes New York the biggest city to bar cigarette sales to 19- and 20-year-olds, and one of only a few places throughout the United States that have tried to stymie smoking among young people by raising the purchasing age. The council also approved a bill that sets a minimum $10.50-a-pack price for tobacco cigarettes and steps up law enforcement on illegal tobacco sales.
"We know that tobacco dependence can begin very soon after a young person first tries smoking so it's critical that we stop young people from smoking before they ever start," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement after the council's vote.
Bloomberg, a strong supporter of tough smoking restrictions, has 30 days to sign the bills into law. The minimum age bill will take effect 180 days after enactment. Bomond cigarettes.
The city's current age limit is 18, a federal minimum that's standard in many places. Smoking in city parks and beaches already is prohibited as it is in restaurants.
Advocates say higher age limits help prevent, or at least delay, young people from taking up a habit that remains the leading cause of preventable deaths nationwide.
But cigarette manufacturers have suggested young adult smokers may just turn to black-market merchants. And some smokers say it's unfair and patronizing to tell people considered mature enough to vote and serve in the military that they're not old enough to decide whether to smoke.
"New York City already has the highest cigarette tax rate and the highest cigarette smuggling rate in the country," said Bryan D. Hatchell , a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which makes Camel and other brands. "Those go hand in hand and this new law will only make the problem worse."
Another anti-smoking initiative pushed by the Bloomberg administration was previously shelved ahead of Wednesday's vote: forcing stores to keep cigarettes out of public view until a customer asks for them.
Newsstand clerk Ali Hassen, who sells cigarettes daily to a steady stream of customers from nearby office buildings, said he didn't know if the new age restrictions would do any good.
While he wouldn't stop vigilantly checking identification to verify customers' age, Hassen doubted the new rules would thwart determined smokers.
"If somebody wants to smoke, they're going to smoke," he said.
Similar legislation to raise the purchasing age is expected to come to a vote in Hawaii this December. The tobacco-buying age is 21 in Needham, Mass., and is poised to rise to 21 in January in nearby Canton, Mass. The state of New Jersey also is considering a similar proposal.
"It just makes it harder for young people to smoke," said Stephen McGorry, 25, who started smoking at 19. He added that had the age been 21 when he took up the habit, "I guarantee I wouldn't be smoking today."
Top 10 states that are addicted to smoking
Antismoking efforts are hard to avoid nowadays. Cigarette packaging
got graphic new warning labels in 2012 (though they'll soon be replaced
thanks to a big-tobacco lawsuit), and 38 states have at least some
restrictions as to where a person can light up. (New York State has even
banned smoking in public parks.) But despite this increased regulation,
plenty of Americans continue to smoke—like chimneys.
Using government data on smoking (and quit rates) rates, smoking bans and restrictions, cigarette taxes and sales, and deaths attributable to smoking, Health.com identified the 10 states where people are most likely to literally smoke themselves to death. Here they are, in alphabetical order.
Alabama
The Heart of Dixie has one of the highest youth smoking rates in America. The CDC reports that in 2011, nearly 23% of kids in grades 9-12 were smokers. To curb this alarming trend, several colleges have restricted tobacco use on campus, including Troy University, Miles College, and Auburn University.
Smoking culture continues off college campuses, however. Residents are still allowed to light up in workplaces, restaurants, and bars, and cigarette taxes are among the lowest in the nation.
Arkansas
Roughly 27 percent of adults in Arkansas smoke (compared to just over 20 percent nationwide), and in the most recent government surveys, less than 3% of smokers had managed to quit within the previous 12 months.
The tobacco smoke hangs so thick over the Natural State that Governor Mike Beebe has made secondhand smoke a statewide priority. In July 2011, for instance, a law went into effect prohibiting an adult from smoking in a car with children under the age of 14, broadening a 2006 law that banned smoking in the car with kids under 6. Only six other states—California, Louisiana, Illinois, Oregon, Utah, and Maine—have similar laws.
Kentucky
States, not just people, can be addicted to tobacco. Tobacco production is an important industry in Kentucky, which along with North Carolina generates two-thirds of the nation's tobacco harvest. (In 2012 Kentucky farmers grew about 150 million pounds.)
People aren't necessarily more likely to smoke if they live in a tobacco-growing state, but Kentuckians are certainly doing their part to help the local economy. The state has the nation's second-highest adult smoking rate, as well the highest rate of smoking-related deaths. Most alarming of all, Kentucky is encouraging more smokers: The smoking rate among high schoolers is the highest in the U.S.
Louisiana
Alcohol use and smoking are closely linked, so in a state known for its love of partying and drive-through liquor stores, it's not surprising that more than one in four Louisiana adults also smokes.
Like many people, Louisiana residents apparently love to light up when they have a drink in hand. Despite multiple attempts, State Senator Rob Marionneaux has been unable to win support for his proposed ban on smoking in Louisiana bars. The state currently prohibits smoking in restaurants, public buildings, and most work sites, but opponents worry the ban would hurt bars' profits.
Mississippi
Mississippi is one of only two states nationwide without any restrictions on smoking at child-care facilities. The state has banned smoking in government buildings and on college campuses, but proposals for a broader ruling haven't been met with much approval.
Supporters were looking to ban smoking in restaurants and nongovernment buildings, but the proposal fell apart in March of 2011. Opponents argued that the government shouldn't tell private businesses how to operate. But it may be even more simple: Some residents told local newscasters they wouldn't want to stop lighting up when they're out and about.
Missouri
The federal government slaps a $1.01 tax on every pack of cigarettes sold in the U.S., but taxes—and therefore prices—still vary widely from state to state. The average pack of cigarettes costs more than $10 in New York, thanks to the country's heftiest per-pack tax ($4.35)—three times higher than the national average. In Missouri, meanwhile, the average pack retails for just $4.50 because the state taxes a mere $0.17 per pack.
The Show-Me State is passing up a proven way to reduce smoking, especially among young people. A 10% price hike can reduce the amount of cigarettes consumed by about 4%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Oklahoma
The rates of smoking and smoking-related deaths in Oklahoma rank high nationally, and very few smokers are quitting. But there may be change on the horizon: In April 2013, a new state law gave communities local control over smoking in public parks and municipal facilities. The measure also banned use of all tobacco products in all state-owned buildings.
As the birthplace of the original Marlboro Man, Oklahoma has made a small but lasting contribution to the smoking scourge. Darrell Winfield, the child of farmers, was discovered by Marlboro in 1968 and was featured in the majority of the brand's advertisements over the next two decades.
South Carolina
South Carolina has the nation's lowest smoking-cessation rate. In the most recent government survey, only about 2 percent of smokers had successfully quit for at least a year (compared to a high of 7% in Vermont), which isn't surprising given that South Carolina has a measly $0.57 cigarette tax and no smoking restrictions in restaurants, bars, private work sites, and retail stores.
These factors can discourage quitting. Fewer than 1 in 10 smokers successfully kick the habit without medicine or other aids. Roadblocks to quitting can include cravings, nicotine withdrawal symptoms, weight gain, depression, lack of support, stress, alcohol, and living with a smoker.
Tennessee
The Great Smoky Mountains couldn't have a better home. Although Tennessee's smoking rate isn't exceptionally high by national standards, the Volunteer State ranks among the worst in the number of packs sold per capita and the rate of smoking-related deaths. And in 2007, state spending for smoking cessation and other control programs was the third lowest, at only 3 percent of the CDC's recommended amount.
As in many southern states, tobacco is a lucrative crop in Tennessee. Twenty-one states produce tobacco in the U.S., and many farmers depend on it to make a living, despite growing additional crops.
Using government data on smoking (and quit rates) rates, smoking bans and restrictions, cigarette taxes and sales, and deaths attributable to smoking, Health.com identified the 10 states where people are most likely to literally smoke themselves to death. Here they are, in alphabetical order.
Alabama
The Heart of Dixie has one of the highest youth smoking rates in America. The CDC reports that in 2011, nearly 23% of kids in grades 9-12 were smokers. To curb this alarming trend, several colleges have restricted tobacco use on campus, including Troy University, Miles College, and Auburn University.
Smoking culture continues off college campuses, however. Residents are still allowed to light up in workplaces, restaurants, and bars, and cigarette taxes are among the lowest in the nation.
Arkansas
Roughly 27 percent of adults in Arkansas smoke (compared to just over 20 percent nationwide), and in the most recent government surveys, less than 3% of smokers had managed to quit within the previous 12 months.
The tobacco smoke hangs so thick over the Natural State that Governor Mike Beebe has made secondhand smoke a statewide priority. In July 2011, for instance, a law went into effect prohibiting an adult from smoking in a car with children under the age of 14, broadening a 2006 law that banned smoking in the car with kids under 6. Only six other states—California, Louisiana, Illinois, Oregon, Utah, and Maine—have similar laws.
Kentucky
States, not just people, can be addicted to tobacco. Tobacco production is an important industry in Kentucky, which along with North Carolina generates two-thirds of the nation's tobacco harvest. (In 2012 Kentucky farmers grew about 150 million pounds.)
People aren't necessarily more likely to smoke if they live in a tobacco-growing state, but Kentuckians are certainly doing their part to help the local economy. The state has the nation's second-highest adult smoking rate, as well the highest rate of smoking-related deaths. Most alarming of all, Kentucky is encouraging more smokers: The smoking rate among high schoolers is the highest in the U.S.
Louisiana
Alcohol use and smoking are closely linked, so in a state known for its love of partying and drive-through liquor stores, it's not surprising that more than one in four Louisiana adults also smokes.
Like many people, Louisiana residents apparently love to light up when they have a drink in hand. Despite multiple attempts, State Senator Rob Marionneaux has been unable to win support for his proposed ban on smoking in Louisiana bars. The state currently prohibits smoking in restaurants, public buildings, and most work sites, but opponents worry the ban would hurt bars' profits.
Mississippi
Mississippi is one of only two states nationwide without any restrictions on smoking at child-care facilities. The state has banned smoking in government buildings and on college campuses, but proposals for a broader ruling haven't been met with much approval.
Supporters were looking to ban smoking in restaurants and nongovernment buildings, but the proposal fell apart in March of 2011. Opponents argued that the government shouldn't tell private businesses how to operate. But it may be even more simple: Some residents told local newscasters they wouldn't want to stop lighting up when they're out and about.
Missouri
The federal government slaps a $1.01 tax on every pack of cigarettes sold in the U.S., but taxes—and therefore prices—still vary widely from state to state. The average pack of cigarettes costs more than $10 in New York, thanks to the country's heftiest per-pack tax ($4.35)—three times higher than the national average. In Missouri, meanwhile, the average pack retails for just $4.50 because the state taxes a mere $0.17 per pack.
The Show-Me State is passing up a proven way to reduce smoking, especially among young people. A 10% price hike can reduce the amount of cigarettes consumed by about 4%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Oklahoma
The rates of smoking and smoking-related deaths in Oklahoma rank high nationally, and very few smokers are quitting. But there may be change on the horizon: In April 2013, a new state law gave communities local control over smoking in public parks and municipal facilities. The measure also banned use of all tobacco products in all state-owned buildings.
As the birthplace of the original Marlboro Man, Oklahoma has made a small but lasting contribution to the smoking scourge. Darrell Winfield, the child of farmers, was discovered by Marlboro in 1968 and was featured in the majority of the brand's advertisements over the next two decades.
South Carolina
South Carolina has the nation's lowest smoking-cessation rate. In the most recent government survey, only about 2 percent of smokers had successfully quit for at least a year (compared to a high of 7% in Vermont), which isn't surprising given that South Carolina has a measly $0.57 cigarette tax and no smoking restrictions in restaurants, bars, private work sites, and retail stores.
These factors can discourage quitting. Fewer than 1 in 10 smokers successfully kick the habit without medicine or other aids. Roadblocks to quitting can include cravings, nicotine withdrawal symptoms, weight gain, depression, lack of support, stress, alcohol, and living with a smoker.
Tennessee
The Great Smoky Mountains couldn't have a better home. Although Tennessee's smoking rate isn't exceptionally high by national standards, the Volunteer State ranks among the worst in the number of packs sold per capita and the rate of smoking-related deaths. And in 2007, state spending for smoking cessation and other control programs was the third lowest, at only 3 percent of the CDC's recommended amount.
As in many southern states, tobacco is a lucrative crop in Tennessee. Twenty-one states produce tobacco in the U.S., and many farmers depend on it to make a living, despite growing additional crops.
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