Academic Anti-Smoking Authoritarianism

I just received this e-mail from an anti-anti-smoking activist named Mike McFadden. According to his biography on the Smoker's Club site, over the past 20 years McFadden has:

"battled with Antismokers on computer bulletin boards, at public meetings, and in private conversations while building up his knowledge base to be able to combat the Antismokers' ever-slicker claims. Finally, just after the turn of the century (hey, c'mon, I can say that!) he settled down to write "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" and began working with all the Free-Choice groups he could connect with.

"He continues his efforts to help people who find themselves a target of a powerful lobby against which they feel they have no defense and he continues in his belief that spreading truthful information and standing up against social injustice will win out in the end."

McFadden's e-mail is as follows:

Dear Prof. Langbert,

I am a Free-Choice activist fighting the well-funded and highly coordinated SmokeFreeCampuses (SFC) campaign. I have no connection to Big Tobacco or other such commercial interests. See my bio at: http://encyclopedia.smokersclub.com/130.html


SFC promotes total college campus smoking bans, inside, outside, and eventually even on nearby streets. Their underlying goal is to stigmatize student smokers while making smoking as difficult and uncomfortable as possible: behavioral modification. College administrators are pressured by anti-smoking groups who play the bandwagon argument ("Campuses everywhere are going smoke-free!") while making it appear that there's a strong student demand for total bans. Additionally, while I have no solid documentation to back this up, I believe that in at least some cases administrators have been "bribed" to push campus bans with promises of lucrative grants from groups such as the Robert Wood Johnson and American Legacy Foundations.

I'm writing you, as representing your campus's Libertarians, in the hope that you will see the importance of the issue in a wider framework and will be willing to help those opposed to such bans communicate and coordinate with each other. Free Choice students and faculty are often deliberately made to feel that they are all alone in their opposition and should keep quiet or suffer the consequences of the iron fist hiding within the velvet glove. The "softly, softly" approach to enforcement can quickly morph into hard rules involving suspensions, expulsions, firings, or even the invitation of police enforcement on campus. To those of us who went to college in the 60s and 70s this is nothing short of unbelievable.

I would like to see several things happen:

1) For college Libertarian groups to find at least one representative per campus who is concerned about this issue and willing to communicate with those concerned at other campuses. This sort of sharing of experience/thinking/expertise exists on the antismoking side, but campuses under attack by antismoking forces usually feel totally isolated. I'd like to see that change.

2) For college Libertarian groups to aid in education on this issue. I strongly believe in the benefit of fully informing students on the issues surrounding smoking bans. Ban-promoting sound bites and statements are based largely on lies, and when students are exposed to the facts they will be angry about how they're being manipulated. They'll also gain a better understanding of how the powers controlling the flow of information can manipulate wider political opinion and beliefs. The trick lies in getting material out to them, and that's where I hope you can help. I am attaching a .pdf document I call "The Stiletto.” It is ideal for binding in clear plastic slide-bar-grip term paper covers for reading and distribution. If your campus is presently engaged in a ban dispute and you would like to customize the Stiletto (particularly some of its beginning/ending pages) to your own situation please let me know and I'll send you a copy in .doc format.

3) For college Libertarian groups to develop policies regarding smoking bans as well as a body of educational literature about the issue. The Stiletto's facts are accurate and their presentation is honest, but it is a fairly superficial piece on its own: there is a lot more out there. I'd also be happy to work with any professor developing a course segment dealing with smoking bans: their history, their scientific/medical basis, their psychology, their economics, medical/political ethics, or the simple politics of behavioral/attitudinal manipulation. I could offer my own "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" at discounted bulk rates, and might also be able to arrange a discount for several other books in the same area: Snowdon's "Velvet Glove, Iron Fist," King's "The War On Smokers," and White's "Smoke Screens."

"Brains" and "Glove" are both solid 400 page presentations, each with over 600 specific references backing up their material and arguments; Brains from a psychological and propaganda-analysis perspective and Glove from a historical base. "War" and "Smoke Screens" are shorter works, but also well backed with references. "War" presents sound arguments against the "Nanny State" and "Smoke Screens" presents arguments critical of the medical condemnation of smoking itself.

Please let me know if this email reached you and if there are others on your campus I should send it to. Feel free to forward it as you wish.

Many thanks and best of luck. I have been greatly distressed to see the hard-fought freedoms of students so lightly surrendered in the name of political correctness. I believe that by working together we can fight this while reminding students that allowing authorities to infringe on the liberties of some opens the door to allowing them to infringe on the liberties of all.

As Supreme Court Justice William Douglas said, “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of darkness”.

My response:

I certainly will. As a minor point of disclosure, I served as a consultant to the Tobacco Institute concerning a labor union case against them in the late 1990s. I have a degree in labor relations and co-authored a book on Wellness Programs in Taft Hartley Plans. That said, I would be delighted to help you in any way as I agree whole heartedly that the public health people have gone overboard on this. They are authoritarians who fit a fascist mindset well. I am on Sabbatical and so not on campus this year but would be glad to help you with students' needs in the future. I am unaware of any programs at Brooklyn College although I think that there are smoking designated areas. That seems fair to me as second hand smoke does have a health effect.

There's a very good book by Stanton Peale entitled "Diseasing of America" about the nonsensical claims that things like gambling addiction are diseases. That is related to this issue as well. Let me know what I can do for you. I will put this correspondence up on my blog at http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com.

Governor Gary Johnson

Governor Gary Earl Johnson is a candidate who might represent the Tea Party and libertarian movements in the Republican Party in 2012. Currently, the Tea Party out-polls the Republican Party, so Johnson may be nominated. Because President Obama's popularity has been waning while the Tea Party's has been waxing, Johnson may be elected president. He has had an outstanding record with respect to fiscal conservatism as governor of New Mexico.

Concerning his personal background, Wikipedia writes that "Johnson has advocated libertarian ideals of limited government and non-interventionism." He attended the University of New Mexico, where he worked as a handyman to make ends meet. After graduation, he built a construction firm, Big J Enterprises, which he sold in 1999. According to its website, Big J fabricates, installs and maintains piping, air handling systems and is a specialty mechanical contractor. Its clients include General Mills, Sandia Labs and Los Alamos National Laborartory.

In 1994 Johnson was elected governor of New Mexico at a time when New Mexico was 2 to 1 Democratic. In its 2002 ranking of governors' fiscal performances, the Cato Institute gave Johnson a "B" which means that his score was in the top 15% of the nation's governors (the report is embedded below). The report gave only two governors A's. There were 11 B's, 9 C's, 15 D's and four F's. The score is based on a numerical ranking, but the numerical ranking is likely unfair because Johnson was saddled with a left-wing legislature that he had to aggressively fight. In its qualitative discussion of Johnson's record, the Cato report says that Johnson was part of a "thin crop" of fiscal conservatives in 2002 and:

"On such issues as school vouchers and the right to bear arms, Johnson has shown two strong tendencies: a commitment to individual freedom and a willingness to take a hard look at the evidence. Looking at the facts, he concluded that crime is reduced when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry guns and that kids would get a better education if their families had a choice of schools...Gary Johnson held off a big spending legislature with three budget votes in 2002."

While governor, Johnson vetoed 750 bills.

Politco.com says:

"Johnson is starting to sound like a mad-as-hell populist with an eye cast on 2012 and the building fury aimed at Washington."

Politico describes Johnson as "the next Ron Paul".

United Liberty.org says that Johnson "takes a far less restrictive view" on immigration than many on the populist right." The site quotes Joe Wierzbicki of the Tea Party Express:

“He championed personal liberty and a smaller, less intrusive government, and we applaud both his record and his efforts to continue his fight at the national level,”...(Johnson has)“generated a lot of excitement in the Ron Paul constitutionalist and libertarian sect, which is furious about the policies of both Bush and Obama and the Congress of the last three sessions.”

David Boaz of the Cato Institute notes that:

"On such issues as school vouchers and the right to bear arms, Johnson has shown two strong tendencies: a commitment to individual freedom and a willingness to take a hard look at the evidence. Looking at the facts, he concluded that crime is reduced when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry guns and that kids would get a better education if their families had a choice of schools."

The Gary Johnson 2012 site notes these accomplishments:

* He didn't raise taxes as Governor once.
* He vetoed over 1,000 spending items.
* He cut taxes 14 times.
* In a state dominated 2 to 1 by Democrats he served two terms.
* He left New Mexico with a balanced budget.

The site describes the following as Johnson's "Seven Principles of Good Government":

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others. Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions on that.
2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are willing to tell the truth–regardless of the consequences.
3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become. You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to maintain your integrity.
4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.
5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.
6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always time to salvage things. There is always time to fix things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.
7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and get one that you do love, and then make a difference.

Some questions I have for Governor Johnson are as follows:

1. What are three things he learned from his company that could be applied to the federal government?

2. To what degree does he see it possible to cut the federal budget? How will he go about cutting?

3. What is his position on the bailout and TARP?

4. What is his position on health reform? On how to control health care costs?

5. What is his position on the Fed? On the gold standard?

6. What is his position on the Middle East?

7. What is his position on (a) Afghanistan, (b) Iraq, (c) terrorism?

8. What is his position on states' rights and state sovereignty?

9. What is his position on Social Security?

Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002, Cato Policy Analysis No. 454 ...

Genetics and the Jews

My father sent me this JLTV video about John Entine's book "Abraham's Children". Geneticists' findings include the following:

-Arthur Koestler's claim that Ashkenazie (eastern European) Jews are descended from the Khazarian Empire is probably false.
-75-80% of Jews on the father's line have Middle Eastern genes and 50% of Jews on the mother's line have them. The difference is due to intermarriage when Jewish males settled in foreign areas, for instance, during the Roman era.
-70-80% percent of people named "Cohen" and so claim to be descended from Moses's brother Aaron have six genetic markers that trace back 3300 years, consistent with this claim.
-the African Lemba tribe in remote southern Africa that practice a variant of ancient Judaism have the same genes. More than 50% of the Lemba priests have the same Cohen markers that trace back 3300 years. Plus, the chief of the tribe is named Hymie Horowitz (just kidding).
-Jews have IQs that average between 7 and 17 points above the world average. If looking at verbal-only, Jews average an IQ 23 points higher than average.
-Into the 1400s Ashkenazie Jewry numbered between 15,000 and 25,000 people. Today, they are 80% of world Jewry despite a large percentage having been killed in the holocaust (most American Jews are Ashkenazie).
-The same gene that causes 40 Jewish-specific diseases may also cause higher IQs. If someone has two then it can result in disease, but if someone has one then it can result in higher IQs.

I can't help but wonder if the most virulent kinds of anti-Semitism that appeared in eastern Europe and Germany are related to the rapid growth of Ashkenazie Jewery between 1400 and 1900. In 1400 there were at most 25,000 Ashkenazie Jews in eastern Europe. In 1900 there were many millions.

200th Blog on New National Association of Scholars Site

Ashley Thorne, the coordinator of the National Association of Scholars blog, to which I have been contributing, just sent this message:

>Hi Professor Langbert,

>Hope your semester is off to a good start. I just wanted to let you know that your blog entry on “The Price of Academic Integrity” was the 200th post of the NAS blog. Thanks for all your good blogging!

- Ashley

Ashley adds that:

>Since creating the blog in late September, we have posted over 200 entries and received nearly 10,000 views. We’ve been linked by Joanne Jacobs, the History News Network, Campus Reform, and Minding the Campus.

>We have touched on many different themes, from student learning outcomes to online education to Climategate. Our most frequently used categories are Diversity, Political Correctness, Sustainability, and Academic Standards. There are now 27 of us signed up as authors, with 8 or 9 contributing regularly.

If you haven't seen the NAS blog yet, please take a look. They've got a great list of contributors, including Candace de Russy. NAS is a wonderful organization.

I've reproduced my blog on "The Price of Academic Integrity".

The Price of Academic Integrity

>News Busters, the blog of the Media Research Center, reports that the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) has stated that Michael Mann, a Penn State climatological researcher involved in the recent e-mail scandal, received “$541,184 in economic stimulus funds last June to conduct climate change research.”

NCPPR has issued a press release criticizing the Obama administration “for awarding a half million dollar grant from the economic stimulus package to Penn State professor Michael Mann, a key figure in the Climategate controversy.” The release states that Professor Mann is currently under investigation by Penn State Univesity “because of activities related to a closed circle of climate scientists who appear to have been engaged in agenda-driven science.”