“I am writing on behalf of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. I don’t know if you saw it recently, but the Bush Administration is trying to let Big Tobacco off the hook to the tune of $120 billion! That’s right, in the final days of its ongoing lawsuit against Big Tobacco, the US Department of Justice reduced the amount of money they were seeking from the industry to pay for quit-smoking programs – from $130 billion to $10 billion! A $120 billion sellout – contradicting a government expert’s testimony in the very same trial.

Now, under pressure from Congress, the Justice Department is investigating whether political appointees ordered government lawyers to cave in a blatant political favor to the industry. But the story is clear: Big Tobacco has made millions in campaign contributions. And now they’re calling in a favor!

We’re planning a virtual protest on June 23 to show the Bush Administration that selling out the public health will not stand!

Would you consider providing a link to www.DontPardonBigTobacco.org and encourage your readers to join the campaign? You can also obtain more information on the lawsuit at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/doj/.

Activists can send a letter to the Administration, write a letter to the editor, or sign up for the Virtual Protest that we’re holding on Thursday, June 23. We need your help to generate enough calls and letters to make them listen and not let Big Tobacco off the hook once again.”

“StayInvisible.com is a regulary updated source of information about Internet privacy, security, anonymous surfing, proxy servers (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS) and related tools and programs. StayInvisible.com provides you with a wide range of links to third-party sites where you can find free proxy server lists.”

“Ever since the first Jew arrived on American shores 350 years ago, one question has persistently been asked but never definitively answered. Should Jews accommodate themselves to the culture of the United States, even if so doing carries the risk of serious, sometimes fatal revisions to the traditions that have long defined Judaism? Or should preservation of the traditions come first, even if that means never really fitting into American culture as other groups, primarily Christian, have done?” (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

A talk with novelist and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein: “Godel mistrusted our ability to communicate. Natural language, he thought, was imprecise, and we usually don’t understand each other. Godel wanted to prove a mathematical theorem that would have all the precision of mathematics—the only language with any claims to precision—but with the sweep of philosophy. He wanted a mathematical theorem that would speak to the issues of meta-mathematics. And two extraordinary things happened. One is that he actually did produce such a theorem. The other is that it was interpreted by the jazzier parts of the intellectual culture as saying, philosophically exactly the opposite of what he had been intending to say with it.” (The Edge)

…Peeling Away the Years: “This month the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences awarded its annual Webby (the online equivalent of an Oscar) for the best art site to Graffiti Archaeology, grafarc.org, a pictorial study of graffiti-covered walls as they evolve. At first entry, the site looks like Batman’s cave bathed in blue light. You go spelunking along a railroad track until you reach the heart of Graffiti Archaeology. There you will find a list of eight locations in California (most in San Francisco) where graffiti grows, gets erased and grows again.

The creator of the site, Cassidy Curtis, a San Francisco animator in his 30’s, isn’t just being cute when he calls it ‘graffiti archaeology.’ It really is archaeology. You start at the surface and then peel away layers to look into the past. When you choose one of the locales and pick which wall you want to see, you are shown a recent photograph first. Then you can move backward in time or hop around, using a timeline at the bottom of the page. You can also zoom in to see details and navigate around the surface of the walls.

In effect, Mr. Curtis has made antigraffiti. He uncovers the layers that each successive graffiti artist has covered up.” (New York Times )

“…(T)he central challenge of treating any addiction is that the treatment is almost never as pleasurable as the addiction itself.

Like opiates and cocaine, nicotine is known to stimulate the release of dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain. This explains its pleasurable and powerfully self-reinforcing effects. Nicotine also releases an array of other neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine and vasopressin that mediate its other effects, like arousal, alertness and relaxation.”

Justices Overturn a Death Sentence, Citing an Inadequate Defense Counsel: “As a result of the 5-to-4 decision, Pennsylvania must now either give the defendant, Ronald Rompilla, a new capital sentencing hearing or sentence him to life in prison for the 1988 murder of the owner of a bar in Allentown, Pa.

The decision was the second in eight days in which the Supreme Court overturned a death sentence. Last Monday, in a case from Texas, the court overturned a 20-year-old murder conviction as well as the death sentence on the ground that the jury selection had been infected by racism.

The court also ruled in March that the Constitution barred capital punishment for those who committed crimes before the age of 18.

…Eric M. Freedman, a professor at Hofstra University School of Law who is a specialist in the death penalty and habeas corpus, said the trend indicated that the court was increasingly troubled by problems of adequate representation for capital defendants. “They are starting to put some teeth in their scrutiny” of these cases, Professor Freedman said in an interview. “The basis themes of fundamental fairness in the administration of the death penalty have penetrated the Supreme Court as well as the general public.” ” (New York Times )