Still, Lorillard said it would provide “appropriate information” to the FDA report on menthol.

“We hope the FDA will solicit and consider input and comments from industry participants,” said Lorillard spokesman Michael Robinson. “We look forward to a process that is grounded in the sound scientific information available today.”

Around 20 percent of adult black Americans smoke, the same rate as the rest of the population, according to 2007 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Black smokers suffer more from smoking-related illnesses and death than their white counterparts, possibly because of inferior access to good medical care. There is little evidence that smoking menthol cigarettes is itself more dangerous than non-flavored brands, public health experts said.

But anti-smoking activists say menthol’s mild anesthetic property masks the harshness of tobacco making it easier to start smoking and harder to quit.

U.S. tobacco bill puts focus on menthol cigarettes | Health | Reuters.

Obama Healthcare

CNN did a little thing today … they invited everyone to call
in and suggest ways to fund ObamaHealth.

Interesting results ….

Seems the drinkers wanted to super-tax the smokers.

The smokers wanted to super-tax the drinkers.

The cheeseburger fanatics wanted to super-tax anyone
who wasn’t a cheeseburger fanatic.

The vegetarians wanted to super-tax the ‘carnivores’.

The carnivores wanted to super-tax the vegans and
their e-coli infested borage.

The puritans wanted to super-tax everybody who
wasn’t a puritan.

The poor wanted the ‘rich’ to be super-taxed.

The ‘rich’ wanted the cost to be ‘distributed’ so
the poor would have to carry their own weight.

OK … there’s a word for this … “cannibalism”.

Obama is creating a situation where every micro-group
will turn against the others in hopes that THEY will
somehow fund his multi-terabuck endeavour.

You know where this leads, don’t you ?

I have two references for you … one is called
“Demolition Man” and the other is called “GATTICA”.

It’s divide and conquer … with the ultimate aim of
using EVERY micro-groups prejudices to justify screwing
everybody else.

This must not stand.

Time to clean house before everything ‘America’, “Land
of the Free”, stood for is totally destroyed.

KNOW you’re being manipupilated.

The real enemy is NOT the guy next door.

Conyers was expected to appear at a court hearing Friday morning in Detroit, and was not immediately available for comment.

She is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery for allegedly accepting two payments from a Synagro Technologies official in late 2007 in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with the Houston company.

The government says Conyers received envelopes containing cash on Nov. 20, 2007 in the parking lot of a Detroit community center and on Dec. 4 of that year in a McDonald’s parking lot.

The charge is outlined in a legal document called a “criminal information,” which only can be filed with the defendant’s consent and typically signals a plea deal.

Conyers is the most prominent person snagged in an investigation of corruption in a sludge-recycling deal with Synagro. Two people who worked for the company have pleaded guilty.

Her husband is John Conyers, the powerful Detroit congressman who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. He has no role in the case.

A spokesman for John Conyers, Jonathan Godfrey, said the congressman may issue a statement later Friday.

City Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. told WJBK-TV that according to the City Charter, any elected official found guilty of a felony would have to step down from the council.

Cockrel said he would speak with city lawyers about the council’s next steps.

The Synagro sludge contract was rescinded in January.

The council voted 5-4 in November 2007 to award a $47-million-a-year contract to Synagro to recycle wastewater sludge and build a state-of-the-art incinerator to replace one that belches yellow plumes over a poor neighborhood.

In January, Synagro’s Michigan representative, Jim Rosendall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. His plea agreement described how he distributed cash and other gifts to officials.

On June 15, Rayford Jackson, a Synagro contractor, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.