Lifestyle Hub

FDA gains power to regulate Big Tobacco

In front page news today is a story about a landmark victory over the tobacco industry. The article “Senate grants FDA power to regulate Big Tobacco”, published by the Honolulu Advertiser, tells of how the federal government will likely soon have the power to regulate the manufacturing and marketing of cigarettes, and will gain the power to stop the addition of things like “cherry” flavoring to cigarettes, and the use of marketing targeted towards young people, such as the infamous Joe Camel. Quoting from the article:

Obesity may be linked to obese people not feeling full

An interesting article was published yesterday (June 10, 2009) in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/health/10eating.html?_r=1&hpw. The article discusses a study conducted by Dale S. Bond, assistant professor of research at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I. Key findings were as follows:

More about the peacock!

Pamela Burns of the Hawaiian Humane Society stated in her letter to the Honolulu Advertiser editor published on June 2, 2009 “Our staff has worked closely for years…to educate about the proven link between animal cruelty that can quickly escalate to violence against people.”

More about brutal peacock bashing – “is it ok to kill innocent animals in any circumstance?”

Another letter to the editor about the vicious peacock bashing attributes the outcry to the “barbaric behavior” and the “viciousness” of the attack, but then paradoxically says it is ok to “go hunting legitimately with the right gun”. In other words it is ok to kill innocent animals so long as it is done quickly with the minimum amount of pain to the animal. And of course, we agree, if you are going to kill an innocent animal please do it as quickly and painlessly as possible, as causing the poor creature unnecessary pain and suffering is abominable and the result of hard heartedness.

On Cruelty to Peacocks and Other Animals...

A recent local news item that caught our attention was about a peacock in Makaha that was bashed with a baseball bat and left to die a painful death.

According to the report, a condo resident was kept awake at night by crowing peacocks in the condomium complexes grounds, she said the incessant noise drove her "cuckoo". Not being able to take it anymore she grabbed a peackok by the tail and "whacked him in the head" and then threw it away in the bushes. The peacock took an hour to die, all the while crying in pain. The police were called and the woman was charged for animal cruelty, and has made appearances in court.

Obesity Epidemic: Overeating is to Blame

Those who are loathe to exercise can take heart. Blame the refrigerator—rather than not going to the gym—for your ever-expanding waistlines. This is according to a new United Nations study released at an international obesity conference in Amsterdam this past May.