Prof: Racist 'Hate Speech' Causes Cigarette Smoking

Your tax dollars paying for the cushy lifestyles of Behaviorist, Blithering Idiots.

campus reform
Nikita Vladimirov Investigative Reporter @nikvofficial Today at 8:25 AM EDT

A Northwestern University professor argued Wednesday that "hate speech" should be a form of expression that is subject to legal limitation.

Laura Beth Nielsen claims that "racist hate speech" causes negative outcomes like cigarette smoking and PTSD, and should therefore be banned just like incitement to violence.

A Northwestern University professor argued Wednesday that "hate speech" should be a form of expression that is subject to legal limitation.

In an op-ed for The Los Angeles Times, sociology professor Laura Beth Nielsen contends that “members of traditionally marginalized groups suffer” when Americans are granted the freedom “to be hateful.”


"Racist hate speech has been linked to cigarette smoking...and post-traumatic stress disorder."

[RELATED: Volokh demolishes Feinstein in campus free speech hearing]

“Perhaps it’s nonsense to characterize the nature of the harm as nothing more than an emotional scratch,” Nielsen postulates. “That’s a reflection of the deep inequalities in our society, and one that demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of how hate speech affects its targets.”

The professor maintains that free speech is already a limited right, mentioning numerous restrictions on panhandling, protesting veteran’s funerals, advertising, inciting lawless action, and more.

“So soldiers’ families, shoppers, and workers are protected from troubling speech," she deduces. "People of color, women walking down public streets or just living in their dorm on a college campus are not."

To support her argument, Nielsen cites "empirical data" suggesting that “frequent verbal harassment can lead to various negative consequences.” According to the professor, the negative consequences of “racist hate speech” include high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Instead of characterizing racist and sexist hate speech as ‘just speech,’ courts and legislatures need to account for this research and, perhaps, allow the restriction of hate speech as do all of the other economically advanced democracies in the world,” she argues.

While Nielsen briefly considers basic objections that could be raised by “free-speech absolutists,” she reiterated her view that freedom of speech is already “far from absolute.”

[RELATED: UMich paper defends silencing speakers who 'outrage' students]

“But these free-speech absolutists must at least acknowledge two facts," she declares. "First, the right to speak already is far from absolute. Second, they are asking disadvantaged members of our society to shoulder a heavy burden with serious consequences. Because we are 'free' to be hateful, members of traditionally marginalized groups suffer."

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government may not prohibit hate speech in a case involving an all-Asian American rock band called The Slants, whose name is also a derogatory term for Asians.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing an opinion for four justices, argued that the ability of the government to restrict offensive speech “strikes at the heart of the First Amendment."

“Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful," Alito acknowledged, "but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’”

[RELATED: Evergreen students: 'F*** free speech' that 'validates' hate]

In an interview with Campus Reform, Nielsen said that her main criticism of the legal system is its failure to “recognize some harms even as they recognize others," adding that "those that are recognized tend to be the ones endured by those who already enjoy privilege in our society.”

Zachary Greenberg, Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), agreed that freedom of speech is not "absolute," but warned that there is no clear definition of the term “hate speech.”

“You can ask a hundred people what hate speech is and you get a thousand different answers,” Greenberg told Campus Reform, later adding that “there is really no ending point” once you start punishing offensive expression.

“When you have these very vague, ambiguous terms for punishing speech, you end up suppressing and punishing a wide variety of speech, much more speech than what is intended to be punished to begin with,” he pointed out.

Greenberg also noted that certain “buffer zones” that restrict protests around funerals have been struck down by the Supreme Court, and maintained that even they are not necessarily a “permissible restriction” under the constitutional law.



Thank You Mr Vladimirov and Campus Reform,

Feds Spend $402,721 on Underwear That Senses Cigarette Smoke

CNSNews has;

Feds Spend $402,721 on Underwear That Senses Cigarette Smoke

May 7, 2013

---

By Elizabeth Harrington

The Personal Automatic Cigarette Tracker, being developed with taxpayer money, aims to put a breathing sensor in conventional underwear and a "hand gesture" sensor in a bracelet to detect and record when a person smokes. (Photo from University of Alabama website)

(CNSNews.com) – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded more than $400,000 to a research project involving underwear that can detect when a person smokes cigarettes.

The University of Alabama has received two grants totaling $402,721 for the project, which so far has produced a “very early prototype” of the monitoring system, which -- in its current state -- fits like a vest.

The goal of the three-year study is to “develop a wearable sensor system comprised of a breathing sensor integrated into conventional underwear.”

The Personal Automatic Cigarette Tracker (PACT for short) is intended to accurately measure when and how often people smoke as well as how deeply they inhale. The real-time information would be used to design strategies for smoking cessation.

“The modern methods of monitoring smoking, primarily you rely on self-report,” said Dr. Edward Sazonov, an associate professor at the University of Alabama who is leading the project. “There are few devices which actually allow a more computerized health report,” he told CNSNews.com.

“We are trying to eliminate the need for self-report from people about how much they smoke, when they smoke, how many puffs they take from the cigarette,” he said.

Sazonov has created two wearable sensors: a small bracelet worn on the arm that monitors a smoker’s hand-to-mouth motion; and the underwear sensor that monitors breathing.

“The combination of these two sensors, hopefully, will allow us to monitor cigarette smoking without asking people when and how much they smoke,” he said.

The PACT Sazonov created is a “very early prototype,” that fits like a vest with multiple straps and wires, far from the “non-invasive, wearable” underwear the project developers had in mind.

“It’s not very user friendly,” Sazonov said. “Right now we’re actually in the process of integrating this whole system just so it’s in an elastic band, pretty much like a heart rate monitor.”

The project began in March 2010, with the University receiving $187,368 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  That grant was followed by an additional $215,353 in 2011, though the project will not end until August of this year.

The grants have yielded two studies. In one of them, people were brought into a lab and fitted with the sensors, which tracked normal activities such as eating and physical activity. The goal was to see if the monitor would also detect cigarette smoking, differentiating it immediately from other activities.  Sazonov said this study was successful.

A second study had people wearing the PACT for a full day. Those results are still being analyzed.

“The results can be used in support of cessation because potentially in the future we should be able to detect smoking in real time,” Sazonov said.

When asked if he will be applying for more grants in the future when the current funding ends this summer, Sazonov said, “We definitely want to continue with this research, yes.”

CNSNews.com is not funded by the government like NPR. 

CNSNews.com is not funded by the government like PBS. 

CNSNews.com relies on individuals like you to help us report the news the liberal media distort and ignore. Please make a tax-deductible gift to CNSNews.com today. Your continued support will ensure that CNSNews.com is here reporting THE TRUTH, for a long time to come. It'sfast, easy and secure.

Thank You CNS and Ms Harrington

We are $16.8 Trillion in Debt, and some faceless Bureaucrat at NIH has authorized the American Citizenry to BORROW another $402,721 on Top of that to Research Cigarette Smoke Sensing Underwear.

This, is Exactly what politicians mean when they use the phrase, "Investing In The Future."

So ask Your Children, and Their Children, and their Children's Children How they like what our National Institutes of Health just Fed Them.

Pfizer Settles 2,000-Plus Chantix Suits, Takes $273M Charge

Fierce Pharma has;
Pfizer Settles 2,000-Plus Chantix Suits, Takes $273M Charge
March 4, 2013 | By Tracy Staton

About 80% of Pfizer's Chantix litigation is finito. The drugmaker has settled or agreed to settle about four-fifths of 2,700 state and federal lawsuits, and took a $273 million charge to cover the costs, a securities filing notes. Pfizer ($PFE) has set aside another $15 million toward wrapping up the rest of the claims.

The batch of settlements follows two deals in individual cases chosen for "bellwether" trials in U.S. Judge Inge P. Johnson's Alabama court. Last October, the company came to an agreement with the wife of Mark Whitely, a Chantix user who committed suicide. In January, it settled with plaintiff Billy G. Bedsole, Jr., who claimed that Chantix triggered suicidal thoughts and other psychiatric problems. The terms of both settlements weren't disclosed.

Chantix drew fire after reports of suicide, suicide attempts and other psychiatric disturbances. FDA required a "black box" warning on the drug, to alert patients and doctors to the risk of psychiatric side effects. Critics said Pfizer's Chantix trials had improperly excluded patients with a history of depression or other mental disturbances.

In answer, the company sponsored a trial of Chantix in patients who were either depressed or had a history of depression. It beat placebo at helping patients quit smoking, the study found. The trial also assessed participants' psychiatric health and found no differences between the two arms, Pfizer said at the time. Pfizer tried--and failed--to persuade Johnson to postpone one trial to allow for admission of the study data.

Now, the FDA has determined that Chantix is probably associated with a higher heart attack risk. But the agency also emphasizes that smoking comes with enormous risks to the heart, and quitting can change that. Pfizer has disputed the research that informed the FDA's opinion on the subject, and continues to stand by the drug's risk-benefit balance.

"Chantix is an important, FDA-approved medication and effective treatment option for adult smokers who want to quit," Pfizer said in a statement on the settlements (as quoted by Alabama Live). "Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, and the health benefits of quitting smoking are immediate and substantial. We are confident in the benefit-risk profile of this medication and are committed to defending it."

- see the Pfizer SEC filing (PDF, see page 107)
- get more from AL.com

Related Articles:
Pfizer keeps CEO off the stand with another Chantix settlement
FDA risk finding adds fuel to fire around Pfizer's Chantix
Pfizer's bid to forestall Chantix trial fails

Thank You Fierce Pharma and Ms Staton


"Chantix drew fire after reports of suicide, suicide attempts and other psychiatric disturbances. FDA required a "black box" warning on the drug, to alert patients and doctors to the risk of psychiatric side effects."

Behavioral 'medicine'

Hell of a trade ain't it?

"you may commit suicide, but at least, . . you Tried to quit smoking those awful, Horrible, 'Mentally Ill', . . . cigarettes."

DSM BILLING CODE 292.0 Nicotine Dependence

AND, if you need to Buy Chantix, you're Also, Incurably Insane. Yeah, quitting smoking isn't an act of trying to improve your health. It's a Psychiatric 'Mental Disorder'.

DSM BILLING CODE 305.10 Nicotine Withdrawal

RWJF & Anti Tobacco Groups Profit From Bloated, Wasteful Obama Stimulus Money

Clearing The Air has;
 RWJF & Anti Tobacco Groups Profit From Bloated, Wasteful Obama Stimulus Money


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

RWJF & anti-tobacco groups profit from bloated, wasteful taxpayer funded Obama 'stimulus' money

http://www.cspnet.com/news/tobacco/articles/stimulus-grants-used-lobby-tobacco-taxes

http://www.recovery.gov/espsearch/Pages/default.aspx?k=NRT&start1=1#Results
Related:
Applebee's and Papa John's warns Obamacare will lead to reduced hours / job cuts:
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Applebee-s-and-Papa-John-s-have-joined-the-growing-chorus-of-employers-who-warn-the-upcoming-implementation-of-Obamacare-will-lead-to-damaging-cuts-in-its-workforces-/2012/11/12/id/463822 

Significant numbers of businesses across country plan mass job cuts thanks to Obamacare and Obama's promise of tax hikes:

http://www.rightwingnews.com/economy/welcome-to-obamaworld-large-number-of-companies-announce-layoffs-post-election/

http://johnpaulus.com/heres-a-list-of-businesses-announcing-layoffs-since-the-obama-reelection/

Thank You CTA

And remember, Smoking and Quitting Smoking are Both, Official APA Incurable Mental Illnesses treatable with completely worthless drugs which are in fact, a very profitable, time release chemical lobotomy. 

Evidence For The Neurotoxicity Of Antipsychotic Drugs, Dr Grace Jackson

And you can Bet your Life (and you are) that the Ideate prescribing those drugs to you and your children isn't going to "Disclose" Dr. Jackson's research to you.

https://www.google.com/search?q=therapeutic+privilege&hl=en&gbv=2&gs_l=heirloom-hp.1.1.5j0l6j0i5.994.8174.0.14158.21.17.0.4.4.0.358.2616.0j2j5j3.10.0...0.0...1c.1.LrEP4OuSGzc&oq=therapeutic+privilege

State-Funded Study: Cigarette Tax Hurts New York's Poor The Most

The Daily Caller has;
State-Funded Study: Cigarette Tax Hurts New York's Poor The Most

By Jessica Stanton

Archive | Email Jessica Stanton

 Follow Jessica Stanton Get Jessica Stanton Feed

A study conducted on behalf of the New York State Department of Health has revealed that cigarette taxes hurt the poorest New Yorkers the most.

Low-income smokers, defined as individuals in households making less than $30,000 a year, spent an average of 23.6 percent of the annual household income on cigarettes. That number is up from 11.6 percent in 2003-2004 and in spite of increasing cigarette taxes imposed by the state and city governments.

By comparison, smokers in households making over $60,000 a year, spent an average of 2.2 percent of their household income on cigarettes.

At $4.35 per pack of 20, New York has the highest state cigarette tax in the country. But the tax on a pack can cost up to $6.46 in the state, when combined with the $0.61 state sales tax and additional city excise tax. New York City, for instance, tacks on $1.50 per pack.

The prevalence of smoking is directly correlated with income level, the study found. 24.3 percent of low-income New Yorkers smoke some days or most days. The study shows no decline in smoking among low-income smokers, despite tax increases since 2003, meaning that the poor bear a disproportionate tax burden.

“This is such a shockingly high proportionate of their income,” said Dr. Matthew Farrelly, the study’s author, in a phone interview with The Daily Caller. “And yet at the same time, New York has cut funding for tobacco control programs by half.”

Farrelly firmly believes that tobacco control programs are effective in helping smokers quit, and he reiterated the study’s conclusion that more revenue from excise taxes should be used to fund these programs.

But Farrelly conceded, “It may be that raising [cigarette] taxes does not work well for low-income smokers.”

And while he also believes the state should continue to look at efforts to curve tax evasion, it is notable that Farrelly believes study findings “support that they [individuals surveyed] were not evading the tax.”

Conducted by the independent, nonprofit RTI International, researchers surveyed more than 13,000 individuals to demonstrate the effect of high cigarette excise taxes on income levels.

Thank You Daily Caller and Ms Stanton.

Right. And both Smoking cigarettes and Quitting cigarettes are incurable, Life Long "Mental Illnesses'.

DSM-IV-TR Billing Code: 305.10: Nicotine Dependence

DSM-IV-TR Billing Code: 292.0: Nicotine Withdrawal

It's not just the Economic hammer that the Social Engineers pound the Poorest with. Any contact with a cigarette, coming or going, Psychiatrically relieves the Poorest among us of their Civil Rights too. But then who needs Civil Rights anyway, when an addiction to brain eating, suicide and murder inducing, completely defective pharmaceuticals is available from your nearest, junk medicine, prescription scribbling Quack. 

Mr Patrick Fleenor - via the CATO Institute - has an eye-opening analysis of just how much More these money grubbing, "Let's Punish the Poor Some More" cigarette taxers are costing New Yorkers, and have been for years.

Cigarette Taxes, Black Markets and Crime: Lessons From New York's 50 Year Losing Battle

2003. 9 years, and the Taxocrats have learned What? Aren't they the people who are always tearing at their hair and droning on about "Helping the Poor"? Isn't all that Wonderful Revenue they're forever Gouging everyone for going to birth the Utopia of every man's dreams, ..... someday, ...... if we'll just stop being so selfish and let them Spend even more?

Hmmm. Experience slays yet Another Lie. But then, the Betterment of Society has never been what Socialist/Behaviorist Engineering is all about Anyway.

Have you read this expose on John Maynard Keynes?

http://www.keynesatharvard.org/

The Guru of the Taxocracy sucking up 23.6% of the annual income of New Yorkers making $30K a year?

Keynes is the economic junk scientist behind the Taxocracy disseminated misapprehension that we can Tax, Borrow, and Fed Reserve Counterfeit our way to Utopia.

Get a good look at who and what Keynes actually was, ...... . 

And remember that he Remains the Deity/Excuse of those who've Engineered the economic Disaster we're mired in.

$9.00 and more for a pack of cigarettes. 23.6% of household income under $30K.

If 23.6% of every dollar in hasn't broken the poor of their cigarette habit, what makes Anyone think that 23.7% is going to break them?


BECAUSE, it's not about Health. It's about Theft, and Control.