Reblogged from endangerment
(via mercycorps)
Dr. Alison Colbert has a lovely post on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Blog today, where she discusses something I’ve always suspected, but couldn’t express quite so well: All nurses are public health nurses.
![publichealthrn:
As a nurse, a non-smoker, and a public health advocate, I applauded the FDA announcement this past June that introduced new graphic warning labels for cigarettes. [I wondered what took us so long, too - many countries already feature very graphic and/or harshly realistic labels on their tobacco products, including Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, and my personal favorite, Uruguay.]
Last month, a federal judge responded to a request from 5 large US tobacco companies and blocked the labels from going into effect, on the grounds that it violated the companies’ First Amendment rights of free speech (yes, really.)
The good news is that, this past Friday, Attorneys General from 24 US states filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals in support of the FDA. The brief stated, “Over forty years’ experience with small, obscurely placed text-only warning labels on cigarette packs has demonstrated that they simply do not work.” The current warnings on US cigarette packages have been in place for 25 years.
I hope that the labels are not delayed past their September 2012 roll-out date, although Michael Felberbaum wrote for CBS News that, “while the tobacco industry’s latest legal challenge may not hold up, it could delay the new warning labels for years.”
The FDA has predicted that these warning labels will be far more effective in deterring smokers, thus saving $220-$630 million dollars a year in medical costs and productivity losses. And in our current economic climate, who can afford say “no” to that?
[Image via the FDA’s Cigarette Health Warnings page.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwumjklM7q1r5fxfvo1_400.gif)
As a nurse, a non-smoker, and a public health advocate, I applauded the FDA announcement this past June that introduced new graphic warning labels for cigarettes. [I wondered what took us so long, too - many countries already feature very graphic and/or harshly realistic labels on their tobacco products, including Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, and my personal favorite, Uruguay.]
Last month, a federal judge responded to a request from 5 large US tobacco companies and blocked the labels from going into effect, on the grounds that it violated the companies’ First Amendment rights of free speech (yes, really.)
The good news is that, this past Friday, Attorneys General from 24 US states filed a brief with the US Court of Appeals in support of the FDA. The brief stated, “Over forty years’ experience with small, obscurely placed text-only warning labels on cigarette packs has demonstrated that they simply do not work.” The current warnings on US cigarette packages have been in place for 25 years.
I hope that the labels are not delayed past their September 2012 roll-out date, although Michael Felberbaum wrote for CBS News that, “while the tobacco industry’s latest legal challenge may not hold up, it could delay the new warning labels for years.”
The FDA has predicted that these warning labels will be far more effective in deterring smokers, thus saving $220-$630 million dollars a year in medical costs and productivity losses. And in our current economic climate, who can afford say “no” to that?
[Image via the FDA’s Cigarette Health Warnings page.]
(Source: quote-book)
(Source: davesingh, via quote-book)
For me, the journey outside is reflection of the journey within
for the journey within is journey with God
For me, falling in my eyes if falling in the eyes of God
for falling in God’s eyes is not being true to myself
There will always be two roads diverged on a yellow path
as Robert Frost would say
but if I do not take the road less traveled by
despite it being the true path within
then I will have fallen
and yet that is not the worst crime
for God is forgiving
and ever loving
the real crime is not getting back up
and realizing the potential
not stumbling upon the pebbles or even walls in my path
but learning to move pick up the pebbles or build a door through the walls.
It is not about destruction
Rather is is about building
Learning about other religions is enriching my mind. Essentially, I like to believe that it is all interrelated. We are all children of God. Known through many faiths by different means. I respect them all. I like to envision God in everyone I meet. I love diversity. It is beautiful, but I love unity even more. They are not antonyms, but unity seems to be so pleasant. I believe in all religions. I can say that from the faith in my heart and mind. My unwavering faith is my citation. I don’t need to prove it. I know it and believe it.
As Gandhiji famously once said when asked if he was a Hindu, “Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.”
