July 2004
Issue No. 369
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Smoke gets in your eyes
Hemmed in by restrictions in many parts of the world, the tobacco empire nevertheless continues to expand. Dinyar Godrej explores the contradictions.
Body blow
Tobacco’s trail of disease.
No cash in this crop
Growing the weed has brought no relief from poverty for Kenyan farmers, says Joe Asila.
Carve up
Malaysia’s smoking culture has the big tobacco companies drooling. Mary Assunta reports.
Big mouth
They really said that!
Lost in transit
Duncan Campbell reveals the shadowy connections between cigarette smuggling and the tobacco industry.
Between a rock and a hard place
A survey of legal action against Big Tobacco by Dinyar Godrej.
Pushing & peddling
A guided tour of tobacco promotion around the world – conducted by David Simpson and Stan Shatenstein.
Battling the BATmen
Bob Burton on a global initiative to dampen tobacco’s slow burn.
Kick the habit
Ideas for action.
News, views, and & voices
Letter from Lebanon
How Beirut has learned to love liposuction and tummy tucks, by Reem Haddad.
Southern Exposure
The exiled Chilean photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo amid the horror of occupied Iraq.
View from the South
Following Sonia Gandhi's refusal of the Indian premiership, Urvashi Butalia delves into the meaning of ‘nationality'.
Currents
The bilateral bypass
Bilateral trade agreements are doing corporations' dirty work
Grave concerns - Aboriginal deaths in custody
Aboriginal deaths in custody
Big Brother online
Big Brother is watching you on the internet
Worldbeaters
A Pontius Pilate for our age: Samuel P Huntington.
Big Bad World
Stuffing the ballot box.
The NI Prize Crossword
88 by Axe
Mixed Media
Books
The Shadow of Imana by Véronique Tadjo; Mema by Daniel Mengara; The Cry of Winnie Mandela by Njabulo S Ndebele; Conversing with Africa by Mukoma wa Ngugi
Film
The Corporation directed by Achbar, Abbott and Bakan
Film
Undercurrents News Network produced by Paul O'Connor and Zoe Broughton
Music
Aïwa by Aïwa
Music
Trampin' by Patti Smith
Making Waves
Environmental trailblazer Wangari Maathai explains why she has joined the Kenyan Government.
Essay
Greed is good, they say – it is the motor that drives economic growth and human progress. John F Schumaker begs to differ.
Country Profile
Colombia
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
Neither I nor Ian Nixon, the designer of this issue, smoke. We know little first hand of its avowed satisfactions – or the agonies of trying to quit. But does one have to do it to know it? We have witnessed the distressing addictions of loved ones. And it’s not as if we didn’t give it a shot.
As a child, smoking a cigarette seemed the epitome of sophistication. So what if my father, who claimed never to inhale, kept coughing up gobs of phlegm. Worn down by my pestering, he let me take a drag. We were on holiday in the foothills of the Himalayas and I must have been no more than ten. One second my lungs were full of fresh mountain air and the next it was as if I had swallowed something that kicked from within and had me fighting for breath. I never gave it a second try.
Ian’s father took up the habit during World War Two when cigarettes were a part of his RAF rations. At the time it was felt that cigarettes helped conscripts relieve the tedium of wartime waiting and gave them a quick burst of courage when needed. One wonders how many converts to nicotine this policy ensured.
Ian smoked desultorily for a while in his teens – it seemed like the done thing. But he never really liked it; he was one of the fortunate few who was able to give it up just like that.
In retrospect we had lucky escapes. The true global toll of tobacco is becoming clearer every day. You don’t have to be a smoker to know that – or to talk about it.
Dinyar Godrej for the New Internationalist Co-operative dinyar@antenna.nl
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
