Hezbollah, terrorist financing, and Venezuela: Don't panic

Ayman Joumaa was indicted in Virginia this week for laundering Hezbollah money and helping smuggle drugs out of Latin America.? Blogger James Bosworth argues this is not a reason to worry.

The New York Times and ProPublica have details on the indictment of Ayman Joumaa, a Lebanese citizen who has laundered millions of dollars for Hezbollah while assisting with cocaine-trafficking routes out of Colombia and Venezuela. It appears his focus was routes through Europe, but he has also moved drugs through Mexico in coordination with the Zetas.

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The case is notable for having all the key words that people get excited about: Hezbollah! Terrorist-financing! Cocaine! Zetas! Venezuela! And all of that appears to be true.

At the same time, in spite of all the red flag key words, the details within these articles and the indictment show how the US government can deal with the issue of Hezbollah in the hemisphere without panic and over-reaction.

It's important to take down the hemisphere's Hezbollah money laundering networks because they do finance terrorism in the Middle East and violent criminal organizations like the Zetas in this hemisphere. However, in some ways, it's just one more criminal network to take down. As one official told ProPublica, "It?s not like there?s a sit-down between the leaders of Hezbollah and the Zetas." Nor is this about Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran plotting together. It should not be portrayed as such.

Hezbollah has been laundering drug money in the hemisphere for well over a decade, which is an intelligence and law enforcement issue. The US and other governments have used civilian investigators to track down the money routes and build a case to indict top personnel and seize funds. The US Congress, which has often expressed concern over Hezbollah's activities, should see this indictment as a sign of success by the US government and an argument to fully fund and support US civilian law enforcement efforts by DEA, ATF, Treasury, and others to track and halt money laundering and other criminal activity in this hemisphere.

--- James Bosworth is a freelance writer and consultant who runs Bloggings by Boz.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of Latin America bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/suH60BuyJcE/Hezbollah-terrorist-financing-and-Venezuela-Don-t-panic

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Adele Is Evanescence's Artist Of The Year, 'Big Time'

'It's been cool to watch her succeed, because it's just someone who's truly talented, no gimmicks involved,' Amy Lee tells MTV News.
By James Montgomery


Adele
Photo: Dave Hogan/ Getty Images

In 2011, Evanescence rose again, ending a four-year hiatus with a chart-topping new album, a pair of booming singles and a triumphant tour.

So as the year draws to a close and MTV reveals our picks for the Best of 2011, we're reaching out to a host of acts who dominated and defined the past 12 months to get their take on the year in music. And, really, there are few that both dominated and defined quite like Evanescence did.

That's why we had to ask frontwoman Amy Lee who she'd name as the year's best artist. And her answer is sort of shocking, given that she fronts one of the loudest bands in rock. Then again, her pick did have, without question, one of the biggest years of any artist, in any genre.

"My artist of the year? Adele. I think this was, big time, her year, [and] I'm just so happy to see her succeed the way she has," Lee said. "I know she got a bunch of Grammy nominations ... and it's awesome. It's been cool to watch her succeed, because it's just someone who's truly talented, no gimmicks involved."

Lee didn't stop her praise for the British singer there. She also chose Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" as her song of the year (hey, so did we!), proving that, though she's spent most of 2011 resurrecting her band and reclaiming the rock throne, she also found time to listen to the radio.

All this week, watch "AMTV" on MTV every day at 8 a.m. ET for our Best of 2011 lists. Then, come to MTVNews.com at 5 p.m. as we reveal our top picks of the year!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676085/adele-evanescence-amy-lee-artist-of-the-year.jhtml

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Can't raise taxes? Hike Medicare premiums instead (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Raising taxes on millionaires may be a non-starter for Republicans, but they seem to have no problem hiking Medicare premiums for retirees making a lot less.

The House is expected to vote Tuesday on a year-end economic package that includes a provision raising premiums for "high-income" Medicare beneficiaries, now defined as those making $85,000 and above for individuals, or $170,000 for families.

Some would pay as much as several hundred dollars a month additional for Medicare outpatient and prescription coverage. Millions who don't consider themselves wealthy would also end up paying more.

Just the top 5 percent of Medicare recipients currently pay higher premiums, a change that took effect a few years ago. The new GOP proposal would expand that over time to include the highest-earning one-fourth of seniors.

On Monday the White House was mum on the Republican Medicare proposal, while AARP said it's tantamount to a new tax. In the Democratic-led Senate, there's not much enthusiasm.

The plan is modeled on a proposal that President Barack Obama submitted earlier this year to congressional debt negotiators, when he was seeking a "big deal" to cut federal deficits. Continuing pressure to curb spending means the proposal eventually could become the law of the land, even if there's no consensus now.

"This is an idea that seems to have some traction," said Tricia Neuman, a Medicare expert for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

It's also creating a lot of confusion about who is wealthy and who is not.

For example, when Obama talks about raising taxes on the rich, he means individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families above $250,000.

But his health care law fixed the level for paying "high-income" Medicare premiums at the current $85,000 and above for an individual, $170,000 for families.

And the new Republican plan would drop the thresholds to $80,000 for an individual and $160,000 for families.

"If we're considering raising taxes on those with incomes above $250,000, then it seems to me very awkward to raise Medicare premiums on those with much lower incomes," said John Rother, head of the National Coalition on Health Care, an advocacy group.

Baby boomers just signing up for Medicare are more likely to be affected than long-term retirees, since incomes tend to be higher for the newly retired.

AARP calls the proposed premium increases a tax hike. "Most of the time, when you have a payment due to the government because of your income, we call it a tax," said lobbyist David Certner. "It's a form of a tax." High-earning workers already pay more in Medicare payroll taxes, he pointed out.

No way it's a tax, say Republicans. Taxpayers subsidize three-quarters of the cost of Medicare's outpatient and prescription coverage for the typical retiree. Reducing a subsidy for those who can afford to pay more is not the same thing as raising taxes, they contend.

"The proposal doesn't raise taxes," said Michelle Dimarob, spokeswoman for House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich. "The provision simply adjusts the subsidy they receive."

To back their argument, Republicans are circulating a letter from anti-tax activist Grover Norquist in support of the broader bill containing the Medicare provision.

The premium hikes are to help pay for legislation that would prevent the Jan. 1 expiration of payroll tax cuts for workers and extra benefits for the long-term unemployed, while also staving off a steep cut in Medicare payments to doctors. With time running short, lawmakers of both parties are still far apart on key aspects of the package.

Tax or not, higher Medicare premiums mean less money in the pockets of those who have to pay. Currently the high-income premiums start at 35 percent of the cost of Medicare's outpatient and drug coverage for individuals making $85,000 year, and rise to 80 percent of the cost at the very top income brackets.

Next year, a typical Medicare recipient will pay $131 a month for outpatient and drug coverage combined, according to Kaiser. Those paying the high-income premiums will pay from $183 to $417. That means beneficiaries at the highest income levels would pay nearly $300 a month more.

The House GOP plan would increase the high-income premium by 15 percent in 2017 and lower the thresholds at which the higher fees kick in.

Most significantly, it freezes those income thresholds indefinitely, until one-fourth of Medicare recipients are paying "high-income" premiums. It's unclear how long that would take, but currently only about 2 million out of 47 million Medicare beneficiaries pay higher premiums. Eventually that number would easily surpass 10 million.

The GOP proposal would reduce taxpayer spending on Medicare by $31 billion over 10 years; Obama's version saved about $20 billion.

"There's a lot of interest in asking higher-income people on Medicare to contribute more," said Neuman.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111213/ap_on_go_co/us_medicare_soaking_the_rich

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Sanchez, Jets come back again, beat Redskins

QB connects with WR Holmes late in the 4th quarter as NY stays alive in the playoff hunt

Image: Mark Sanchez, Santonio HolmesAP

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and receiver Santonio Holmes celebrate a touchdown in the second half.

updated 4:41 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2011

LANDOVER, Md. - With the New York Jets trying to close out another too-close-for-comfort fourth-quarter comeback, coach Rex Ryan walked up to the player known as "Mayhem."

"Fourth-quarter sacks win games," Ryan said.

Linebacker Aaron Maybin then took his spot on the field and did one better. He not only sacked Rex Grossman, but also dislodged the ball from the Washington Redskins quarterback. The Jets recovered, setting up the first of two insurance touchdown runs by Shonn Greene that closed out Sunday's 34-19 win.

"Fourth-quarter fumbles," Ryan said, "are even better. ... I think we need to get some jerseys out there with 'Mayhem' on their back."

The Jets needed big plays in the waning minutes because, for the second straight game, their first three quarters were so-so. Yet, when the game was on the line, Mark Sanchez was able to lead his 10th career fourth-quarter or overtime comeback victory ? and his second in two weeks ? highlighted by his 30-yard pass to Santonio Holmes for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:49 to play.

The victory kept New York (7-5) in the realistic hunt for an AFC playoff berth. The Jets scraped by the Buffalo Bills in similar fashion last Sunday, the first step in the team's stated mission to win out and make the postseason for a third straight year.

"It tells us we have to get better," Ryan said. "Sometimes, you don't like it to come down to that."

The Jets had only 168 total yards after three quarters, committed untimely penalties and had another special teams turnover against the Redskins (4-8), who have lost seven of eight and are expected to lose two starters ? tight end Fred Davis and left tackle Trent Williams ? for the remainder of the season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Sanchez completed 19 of 32 passes for only 165 yards, but avoided throwing an interception after having at least one in five straight games. He also didn't get sacked for the second straight week.

Greene ran for three touchdowns and finished with 88 yards on 22 carries. He again carried the load despite the return of LaDainian Tomlinson, who had missed the two previous games with an ailing left knee. Tomlinson appeared to reinjure the knee in the first quarter but later came back into the game.

"It was rough the first half," Greene said. "But we just kept together and kept plugging away."

Grossman completed 19 of 46 passes for 221 yards and one interception, and the sack-and-fumble by Maybin deep in Washington territory with the score 20-16 thwarted the Redskins' chance for a fourth-quarter comeback. Calvin Pace recovered, and Greene took a direct snap and scored on a 9-yard run two plays later to give the Jets an 11-point lead.

"That was just one of those situations where we knew as a defense it was crunch time," said Maybin, who has six sacks on the season and wore a black T-shirt that read, "Duh, winning" in the locker room. "We've been in those situations."

Graham Gano's fourth field goal, a 43-yarder with 1:59 to play, pulled the Redskins within eight. Washington then failed to recover an onside kick, and Greene scooted in from 25 yards with 1:47 remaining.

The Jets trailed 16-13 after Gano's 46-yard field goal with 7:52 to go, but a mis-hit kickoff was returned by Josh Baker near midfield. Sanchez and the New York offense then came back to life, with the quarterback scrambling to avoid pressure before completing a 10-yard pass to Greene on a third-and-4 two plays before the big throw to Holmes down the left sideline.

A tough Redskins season took another blow with the news about Davis and Williams. A person with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made, told The Associated Press that the players are expected to be suspended by the NFL for four games.

Davis had one of his best games of the season, catching six passes for 99 yards.

The Redskins didn't comment on the suspensions, so most of the public thoughts expressed after the game concerned an offense that produced a touchdown on the game's opening drive ? then didn't find the end zone again. The score came on a 2-yard run by rookie Roy Helu, who rushed for 100 yards for the second straight week.

"The first half was all right," said Grossman, who needed a shot for his sore left shoulder before the game. "The second half, it was always something. ... It's just frustrating. I don't really have an answer for you."

The Jets responded with a real clock-eater: 17 plays, 74 yards over 9:06, including three wildcat plays and a fourth-and-1 conversion.

After the teams traded field goals, rookie Jeremy Kerley muffed a punt deep in New York territory and the Redskins recovered ? the NFL-high sixth special teams turnover committed by the Jets this season. It set up another field goal by Gano to give Washington a 13-10 lead at the half.

But it was another late surge that left Ryan confident that the Jets are playoff-bound.

"We know where we think we're going," he said. "More confident than 100 percent."

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Packers still unbeaten, barely

??Aaron Rodgers engineered a last minute drive to set up a 30-yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final play of regulation and the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated and clinched a playoff berth with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

Cowboys ice their own kicker, lose to Cards

??LaRod Stephens-Howling caught a short pass from Kevin Kolb and zipped 52 yards for a touchdown in overtime to give the Arizona Cardinals a 19-13 victory over Dallas on Sunday, snapping the Cowboys' four-game winning streak.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45543600/ns/sports-nfl/

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85-year-old says she was strip searched at JFK

In this undated family photo provided by Bruce Zimmerman, Lenore Zimmerman is shown. Zimmerman, 85, who arrived in a wheelchair for a flight at New York?s Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, said that she was required to go through a strip search after she asked to be patted down instead. She was concerned that passing through the airport?s body scanner would interfere with her defibrillator. (AP Photo/Zimmerman Family Photo)

In this undated family photo provided by Bruce Zimmerman, Lenore Zimmerman is shown. Zimmerman, 85, who arrived in a wheelchair for a flight at New York?s Kennedy Airport on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, said that she was required to go through a strip search after she asked to be patted down instead. She was concerned that passing through the airport?s body scanner would interfere with her defibrillator. (AP Photo/Zimmerman Family Photo)

(AP) ? An 85-year-old woman said Saturday that she was injured and humiliated when she was strip searched at an airport after she asked to be patted down instead of going through a body scanner, allegations that transportation security officials denied.

Lenore Zimmerman said she was taken to a private room and made to take off her pants and other clothes after she asked to forgo the screening because she worried it would interfere with her defibrillator. She missed her flight and had to take one 2 1/2 hours later, she said.

"I'm hunched over. I'm in a wheelchair. I weigh under 110 pounds (50 kilograms)," she said from her winter home at a seniors community in Coconut Creek, Florida. "Do I look like a terrorist?"

But the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement Saturday that no strip search was conducted.

"While we regret that the passenger feels she had an unpleasant screening experience, TSA does not include strip searches as part of our security protocols and one was not conducted in this case," the statement read.

Zimmerman was dropped off by her son at Kennedy Airport for a 1 p.m. flight Tuesday to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on JetBlue, she said. She arrived at the ticket counter around 12:20 p.m. and headed for security in a wheelchair, her small, metal walker in her lap.

She's been traveling to Florida for at least a decade and has never had a problem being patted down until now, she said. "I worry about my heart, so I don't want to go through those things," she said, referring to the advanced image technology screening machines now in place at the airport.

As a result, she said, she was taken into the private screening room by a female agent and made to strip.

"Private screening was requested by the passenger, it was granted and lasted approximately 11 minutes," the TSA statement read. "TSA screening procedures are conducted in a manner designed to treat all passengers with dignity, respect and courtesy and that occurred in this instance."

The private screening was not recorded.

A review of closed-circuit television at the airport showed that proper procedures before and after the screening were followed, Jonathan Allen, a TSA spokesman, said in a statement.

Zimmerman, who spends half the year in Long Beach, New York, said she banged her shin during the process and it bled "like a pig," partly because she is on blood-thinning medication. She said an emergency medical technician patched her up, but she was told to see a doctor when she arrived in Florida to make sure the wound didn't get infected. There are no records indicating medical attention was called on her behalf.

"I don't know what triggered this. I don't know why they singled me out," she said.

Her son Bruce Zimmerman said he'd like to see someone fired and screeners re-trained after his mother's ordeal.

"My mother is a little old woman. She's not disruptive or uncooperative," he said Saturday. "I don't understand how this happened."

He said she's had an increasingly difficult time traveling, especially since her husband died a few years ago. She has two grandchildren, and her older son, a doctor, died in 2007.

Meanwhile, Lenore Zimmerman said she was healing, planned to go to the grocery store on Saturday and take it easy. She does not plan to head back to an airport until April when she returns to New York.

"Thank goodness," she said. "It will give me some time to brace myself for the return flight."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-03-Elderly%20Woman%20Strip%20Search/id-5cbeebdd464c4770a1cea283b2534a9f

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Fleet of Ferraris ruined in Japan sportscar pileup (AP)

TOKYO ? An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup ? smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

Police say they believe the accident Sunday was touched off when the driver of one of the Ferraris tried to change lanes and hit the median barrier. He spun across the freeway, and the other cars collided while trying to avoid hitting his car.

Video of the crash aired by NTV, a major national network, showed several smashed, bright red Ferraris cluttering the freeway.

Even a used Ferrari in Japan can fetch $100,000 or more, meaning the total damage may be $1 million or more.

Police declined to comment on the total amount of damage, but said some of the vehicles were beyond repair.

NTV quoted the driver of one of the tow trucks brought in to clear the scene as saying it was the most expensive crash site he had ever seen.

No one was seriously injured, but police in Yamaguchi prefecture said 10 people were treated for bruises and cuts. Police say 14 cars were involved altogether.

The luxury cars were all in one place because they were being driven by a group of automobile enthusiasts on their way to nearby Hiroshima.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_pricey_pileup

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Russia's ruling party wary as nation votes (AP)

MOSCOW ? Russians cast their ballots with muted enthusiasm in parliamentary elections Sunday, a vote opinion polls suggest could reduce the strength of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party. Rival parties and election monitors, which have suffered from government crackdowns, alleged significant violations at the polls.

Although Putin and his United Russia party have dominated Russian politics for more than a decade, popular discontent appears to be growing with Putin's strongman style, widespread official corruption and the gap between ordinary Russians and the country's floridly super-rich.

United Russia holds a two-thirds majority in the outgoing State Duma. But a survey last month by the independent Levada Center polling agency indicated the party could get only about 53 percent of the vote in this election, depriving it of the number of seats necessary to change the constitution unchallenged.

Putin wants United Russia ? which many critics now deride as the "party of crooks and thieves" ? to do well in the parliamentary election to help pave the way for his return to the presidency in a vote now three months away. He previously served as president in 2000-2008.

He has warned that a parliament with a wide array of parties would lead to political instability and claimed that Western governments want to undermine the election. A Western-funded election-monitoring group has come under strong official pressure and its Web site was incapacitated by hackers on Sunday.

Only seven parties have been allowed to field candidates for parliament this year, while the most vocal opposition groups have been denied registration and barred from campaigning.

Several parties complained Sunday of extensive election violations aimed at boosting United Russia's vote count, including party observers being hindered in their work.

Communist chief Gennady Zyuganov said his party monitors thwarted an attempt to stuff a ballot box at a Moscow polling station where they found 300 ballots already in the box before the start of the vote.

He said incidents of ballot-stuffing were reported at several other stations in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and other areas. In the southern city of Krasnodar, unidentified people posing as Communist monitors had shown up at polling stations and the real observers from the party weren't allowed in, Zyuganov said.

In Vladivostok, voters complained to police that United Russia was offering free food in exchange for promises to vote for the party. In St. Petersburg, an Associated Press photographer saw a United Russia emblem affixed to the curtains on a voting booth.

Golos, the country's only independent election-monitoring group, said that in the Volga River city of Samara observers and election commission members from opposition parties had been barred from verifying that the ballot boxes were properly sealed at all polling stations.

Many violations involve absentee ballots, Golos director Liliya Shibanova said. People with absentee certificates were being bused to cast ballots at multiple polling stations in so-called "cruise voting."

Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister during Putin's first presidential term, said he and other opposition activists who voted Sunday are under no illusion that their votes will be counted fairly.

"It is absolutely clear there will be no real count," he said. "The authorities created an imitation of a very important institution whose name is free election, that is not free and is not elections."

An interim report from an elections-monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted that "most parties have expressed a lack of trust in the fairness of the electoral process."

United Russia's dominance of politics has induced a grudging sense of impotence among many in the country of 143 million. In Vladivostok, voter Artysh Munzuk noted the contrast between the desire to do one's civic duty and the feeling that it doesn't matter.

"It's very important to come to the polling stations and vote, but many say that it's useless," said the 20-year-old university student.

There are around 110 million eligible voters in Russia and turnout in many areas was lower Sunday compared to the previous election. In several far eastern regions and in Siberia turnout varied between 40 to 48 percent with two hours to go until the polls closed.

A few dozen activists of the Left Front opposition group tried to stage an unsanctioned protest just outside Moscow's Red Square on Sunday, but were quickly dispersed by police, who detained about a dozen of them. Later in the evening, police said they arrested more than 100 other opposition demonstrators in the capital and about 70 in St. Petersburg when they attempted to hold an unauthorized rally.

The websites of Golos and Ekho Moskvy, a prominent, independent-minded radio station were down on Sunday. Both claimed the failures were due to denial-of-service hacker attacks.

"The attack on the site on election day is obviously connected to attempts to interfere with publication of information about violations," Ekho Moskvy editor Alexey Venediktov said in a Twitter post.

Golos, which is funded by U.S. and European grants, has come under massive official pressure in the past week after Putin accused Western governments of trying to influence the election and likened recipients of Western aid to Judas.

Shibanova, the Golos leader, said its hotline was flooded Sunday with autonomically made calls that effectively blocked it. Prior to the vote, many of the group's activists were visited by secret police, while Shibanova was held for 12 hours at an airport and forced to hand over her laptop.

On Friday, the group was fined the equivalent of $1,000 by a Moscow court for violating a law that prohibits publication of election opinion research for five days before a vote.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle said in his blog that he called the Golos head Saturday "to express my support for the work they have been doing, and convey the concern of the White House about the pressure they have been experiencing over the last week."

The group has compiled some 5,300 complaints of election-law violations ahead of the vote, most of which are linked to United Russia. Roughly a third of the complainants ? mostly government employees and students ? say employers and professors are pressuring them to vote for the party.

____

Lynn Berry, Nataliya Vasilyeva and Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_election

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Baseball's new anti-tobacco policy is 'progress'

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Baseball's new labor agreement does not include the prohibition on smokeless tobacco they wanted, but its new policy still marks an important step, said Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land and other advocates of a ban.

The agreement between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) included the following stipulations regarding smokeless tobacco:

-- Players, managers and coaches may not have tobacco tins or packages in their uniforms during games or any other time spectators are in the stadium.

-- They may not use tobacco during televised interviews or at appearances on behalf of their team.

Baseball and the players union agreed to establish an education and outreach campaign regarding the dangers of smokeless tobacco. The union also said it will inaugurate a center for helping players cease their use of smokeless tobacco, ESPN reported.

"While not a complete victory, this is tremendous progress in the right direction," said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "I want to express my appreciation to all of those who contacted [the MLBPA] and urged them to take this very positive step, which will help to protect the health not only of major league players but the millions of young men who idolize them, as major league players have always been idolized by young men in America."

The Knock Tobacco Out of the Park Coalition -- which includes medical and public health groups, as well as religious leaders -- said it, like Land, continues to back "a complete prohibition on tobacco use at games and on camera."

"Still, this is significant progress.... This agreement marks the first time that the league and the players have recognized it is time to break this unhealthy addiction," the coalition said in a written release.

"We urge individual players to go further than the agreement, and completely eliminate their use of smokeless tobacco at games."

The five-year labor agreement, which was announced Nov. 22, will take effect in 2012.

In May, Land and 24 other religious leaders urged the MLBPA to agree with baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's backing of a ban on smokeless tobacco on the field and in the dugout. They made the appeal in a May 30 letter to Michael Weiner, the union's executive director.

Land also encouraged ERLC constituents to write the players union to ask that it support such a prohibition.

Smokeless tobacco -- in the form of dip or chewing tobacco -- has long been a part of professional baseball. A 1999 survey of major league rookies found 31 percent were using smokeless tobacco. There has been a 36 percent increase in the use of such tobacco by high school males since 2003, according to the letter from Land and the other religious leaders.

Such tobacco use has been found to cause oral cancer, gum disease, tooth decay and mouth lesions.

Tony Gwynn, who played for the San Diego Padres and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, underwent treatment last year for salivary gland cancer that he attributes to smokeless tobacco use throughout his professional career.

Major League Baseball prohibits smoking by players in view of fans and cameras, and minor league teams have had a complete ban on tobacco use since 1993.
--30--
Tom Strode is Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.

Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

Source: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=36705&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed1202

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