Intro to the Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain, Being an Expat, Brexit, European cultures, Language, Cigars, Poland, and more. SHOWNOTES: The Good, the Bad, and Brexit: The United Kingdom Never Fit in the EU in the First Place Nigel Farage: 20 years ago you laughed at me, you are not laughing now Christian Amanpour interviews MEP Dan Hannan Music: Shane Ó Fearghail – Gael (Stand Up and…
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The Good, the Bad, and Brexit: The United Kingdom Never Fit in the EU in the First Place – 4Liberty.eu
The Good, the Bad, and Brexit
The United Kingdom Never Fit in the EU in the First Place On the fate of Great Britain in the European Union and Brexit, the people have spoken. A good number of them. Now, The Mob has been set loose. It’s more vociferous than ever before. But it’s not the gang of thieves you may imagine. Not The Mob of club-wielding south Englanders looking to…
Canada Libertarians Say No to Nanny State on World No Tobacco Day
Prompted by World Tobacco Day, members of the international grassroots activist group Students For Liberty took to Parliament Hill on Tuesday to hand out their “No Nanny” plain-packaged chocolate bars to legislators and federal employees. Plain packaged chocolate bars handed out by Students For Liberty on World No Tobacco Day. The chocolate bar labels warn that chocolate “severely raises the risk of obesity” and therefore…
S’attaquer enfin aux racines de la tuberculose
En étendant leur action à la prévention de la tuberculose, les responsables de la santé publique peuvent faire baisser le nombre d’infections, permettre aux gens de prendre leur santé en main, et progresser encore dans l’élimination de la tuberculose en France. La tuberculose est devenue la maladie infectieuse la plus meurtrière du monde, selon l’OMS (l’Organisation mondiale de la santé). Cette maladie bactérienne transmise par…
Who is watching WHO’s watch towers?
Who is watching WHO’s watch towers?
The WHO is pulling out all the stops with its monitoring centres to counteract the ‘darkness’ of sin industries, writes Yaël Ossowski
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) is pulling out all the stops in its effort to turn public opinion against the tobacco industry. This reminds me of an oft-used trope in modern conspiracy theories: that of the puppet-master behind the scenes controlling world affairs, or in this case popular opinion.
The WHO’s launch of monitoring centres in cities worldwide, tasked with unmasking the tobacco industry’s attempts to “interfere” with public health policy, uses an image of a puppet-master as its promotional material. “These units are the watchtowers of the public health movement, helping us see the tobacco-control landscape in greater detail,” said Dr Vera da Costa e Silva of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Secretariat.
She announced the monitoring centres in Rio de Janeiro to much pomp and circumstance in March, foreshadowing the opening of dozens more in the coming months — and those that will focus on much more than just the tobacco industry. “They will communicate with professionals at the national level, but they also have an international function in communicating with one another to create a global tapestry describing the behaviour of the tobacco industry across continents,” she proclaimed.
The Brazilian Observatory at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, the first of these centres, has set its sights on the tobacco industry in that country. “The tobacco industry requires constant monitoring of its power and restrictive legal treatment because it brings no social or economic benefit to the country,” said Silvana Turci, a researcher at the centre. The tobacco industry is not the only target, as this first monitoring centre will also focus on the sugar and fat industries.
The observatory’s website says other industries, including soft drinks, will be monitored, as “there are undeniable similarities” in how they “undermine public policies”.
The WHO is making this a top priority in its aim to monitor international public health. “We must understand the ways in which the industry does this. How does it operate — what is its strategy and what are its tactics? How far is it willing to go? And does it operate different approaches in different parts of the world?” asked Da Costa e Silva.
The monitoring centres aim to create “wiki” systems to track and disseminate the information gathered from their campaigns. An example was put together by the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, calling attention to individuals and institutions “promoting a pro-tobacco agenda”.
Such efforts are being funded to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, agreed by the conference of the parties (COP) held in Moscow in October 2014. Practically all countries were represented, and it remains closed only to participating parties and select governmental and nongovernmental organisations.
The next COP is set to take place in New Delhi in November, where the next level of global tobacco regulation is due to be agreed on. The goal of the conference is to advance the “work of the WHO framework convention, strengthening the global battle against the devastating consequences of tobacco use”, according to the website. Actions taken within this forum are not subject to democratic appraisal, and have generally bypassed national legislatures. There is no mechanism by which to challenge the outcomes of the COP’s agreement. That is a troubling trend for democracy and the rule of law.
In the meantime, the WHO will continue investing in monitoring centres to counteract the “darkness” of sin industries such as tobacco, sugar, alcohol and processed foods.
“Brazil’s observatory exists to help us better understand what the industry is doing,” added Da Costa e Silva. “It’s an important link in our new global chain, and helps us see into areas that were covered by darkness, the darkness that the tobacco industry prefers and embraces.”
• Ossowski is a Canadian journalist living in Vienna. He is a programme director for Students For Liberty.
Published in South African business newspaper Business Daily.
Tobacco Monitoring First Step To Increased Sin Industry Scrutiny
The World Health Organization is pulling out all the stops in its effort to turn public opinion against the tobacco industry. Its campaign will launch “monitoring centres” in cities across the world, tasked with unmasking the tactics of the tobacco industry and its attempts to “interfere” with public health policy. Using the image of a puppet pulled by strings from above by a mysterious figure,…
Tobacco Monitoring First Step To Increased Sin Industry Scrutiny
By Yaël Ossowski | Huffington Post Canada Using the image of a puppet pulled by strings from above by a mysterious figure, the World Health Organization is pulling out all the stops in its effort to turn public opinion against the tobacco industry. The oft-used trope is a popular one in modern conspiracy theories, that of the puppet master behind the scenes controlling world affairs…
Austria Leagues Beyond Its Past: So Stop Invoking It – 4Liberty.eu
Austria Leagues Beyond Its Past: So Stop Invoking It – 4Liberty.eu
My article published on 4Liberty.eu.
Austria is leagues beyond its past: So stop invoking it
A modern visitor to the vibrant Alpine Republic of Austria can be forgiven for succumbing to its charm, beauty, and permanent sense of order. From the stunning Alps in the west to the cobblestoned streets of the Imperial City of Vienna in the east, it’s a majestic country which boasts great pride from its 8.5 million inhabitants. It’s delightful in spirit, neutral in foreign affairs,…