One of the greatest movie satires you almost never saw, Norman Lear's first stab at film making sat for two years before its 1971 release. Shot on location in Greenfield, Iowa, it featured a who's who cast of television comedy, [more inside]
posted by timsteil on Nov 12, 2010 - 25 comments

A handful of US scientists have made names for themselves by casting doubt on global warming research. In the past, the same people have also downplayed the dangers of passive smoking, acid rain and the ozone hole. In all cases, the tactics are the same: Spread doubt and claim it's too soon to take action.
posted by gerryblog on Oct 8, 2010 - 31 comments

Michelle Cottle takes a look at the rise of Betsy "Death Panels" McCaughey - No Exit: The never-ending lunacy of Betsy McCaughey: Since her earliest days in the spotlight, McCaughey has presented herself as a just-the-facts-please, above-the-fray political outsider. In reality, she has proved devastatingly adept at manipulating charts and stats to suit her ideological (and personal) ambitions. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor on Oct 7, 2009 - 48 comments

Caught smuggling, tobacco firms pay $1-billion in penalties. Two of Canada's big three tobacco companies will pay more than $1-billion in criminal and civil penalties for orchestrating the wholesale shipment to the United States of cigarettes that were smuggled back into Canada and resold at bargain prices. Tax-free cigarettes poured south (from Canada to the US) by the truckload, most commonly through the porous St. Regis Mohawk Akwesasne reserve, near Cornwall, Ont., which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. From there they were distributed to smugglers who brought them back to Canada to be resold on the street and in convenience stores (tax free). [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Aug 2, 2008 - 52 comments

Bush is soft on tobacco Just say No! Unless you are in cahoots with Big Tobacco. On issues such as this, I do not hold Bush or his party solely guilty but instead view it as The American Way--lobby groups, gifts, elections handouts--all of which blur party lines.
posted by Postroad on Nov 27, 2002 - 15 comments

Why the tobacco industry feared The Patriot Act. Rep. Michael Oxley removed a provision involving money laundering from the bill at the behest of the White House and GOP whip Tom DeLay, under pressure from Big Tobacco.
posted by o2b on Jun 13, 2002 - 6 comments

Big Tobacco is buying exclusive rights to lung cancer drugs. I can't begin to count the ways that this is just wrong.
posted by skechada on Nov 13, 2001 - 33 comments