NICK O'TEEN

My post yesterday about the sometimes benign effects of nicotine drew a few responses. Here are the two most interesting:

"Nicotine blocks re-uptake of dopamine in the brainstem. It is also a powerful respiratory stimulant and bronco-dialtor. If you were'nt inhaling a mess of other junk along with it, it might be helpful for asthma and emphysema. I have a friend who treats only Parkinsons Disease. He maintains that cigar smokers delay the onset of parkinsonism until they've died of something else. He himself smokes three Churchills a day."

Blocking dopamine re-uptake is how some antidepressants work, of course. High levels of dopamine make you feel cheerful.

"Prof. Rodu (see here and here) reports the low risks of smokeless tobacco products: "The results of our analysis reveal that the average remaining life expectancy of a 35 year old nonuser of tobacco is 45.96 years, which is 0.04 year more than that of an smokeless tobacco user. The reduction in life expectancy of a smokeless user amounts to 15 days and is in sharp contrast to a reduction of 7.8 years experienced by the smoker. Thus, the 35 year old tobacco abstainer and smokeless tobacco user will both live on average to be 80.9 years of age compared with 73.1 years of age for the smoker. Only 67% of smokers will be alive at age 70 compared with over 87% of smokeless tobacco users and nonusers of tobacco.""

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FROM BROOKES NEWS

Whoopi Goldberg: obscenities, Chevy Chase, Hollywood and moral stupidity The pathological behaviour of Hollywood celebrities, particularly Whoopi Goldberg, at Radio City Music Hall was like an Orwellian hate session
John Edwards - will the real one please stand up What the partisan media is not telling the public about John Edwards
Iraq War: The New York Times slimes President Bush The New York Times' Maureen Dowd maliciously lied about President Bush and the Iraq war
Rupert Murdoch: the Bush Presidency & a leftist myth One leftwing myth has it that Rupert Murdoch is in the pocket of President Bush. The alleged evidence for this is the way 'Fox' reports the news

Details here

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