Conrad in Chicago

Two follow up stories from blogs of last two days:

1. Today family members fly into Chicago as the former owner of my daily newspaper goes on trial there.


Conrad Black girds for U.S. trial Wednesday March 14, 05:30 AM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Conrad Black, who once presided over one of the world's largest media empires, goes to court on Wednesday to determine if he and his associates stole millions of dollars as his conglomerate crumbled.
In what is expected to be a four-month trial in federal court in Chicago, the Canadian-born Black faces charges of fraud, racketeering, tax violations, obstruction of justice, and
money laundering.
Three former associates of Black's at Chicago-based Hollinger International Inc. and its Canadian holding companies face fewer counts. Black, 62, could receive a 101-year prison sentence and more than $50 million (26 million pounds) in fines if convicted.
Black, who once controlled a holding company with $2 billion in annual revenue, has branded the charges "a massive smear job" and pronounced himself ready for battle: "I want to face these accusers and expose this case for what it is," he said after one pre-trial hearing.
The defendants are collectively accused of siphoning off $84 million from the sales of newspapers and magazines that prosecutors say belonged to shareholders of Hollinger International, the media giant once controlled by Black.
The company, since renamed Sun-Times Media Group, has sold off hundreds of Canadian and U.S. newspapers as well as London's Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post.

LAVISH LIFESTYLE
Black, a member of Britain's House of Lords since 2001, is also accused of misusing the company's money to finance a lavish lifestyle that included extravagant parties attended by celebrities at his homes in London, New York and Florida.
He is also charged with using a company plane to go to the South Seas for a vacation and company funds to throw a birthday party for his wife, conservative columnist Barbara Amiel Black.
Each of the four defendants has at least two lawyers, ready to rebut the prosecution's key witness, former Black partner David Radler, who has pleaded guilty.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve scheduled opening arguments for Monday, but attorneys not involved in the case said the two sides are likely to be polarized in the type of juror they want.
"Because (Black) is such a flamboyant character there will be some jurors that will be totally intrigued by him," said Rebekah Poston, an attorney who has defended executives in complex cases.
"I also think because he represents corporate America and life in the excess lane, there will also be a reaction ... by the conventional juror (who is) conservative, law and order, trusting in government, and damaged by prior corporate cases," she said.

WITNESSES
Mentioned as potential witnesses for or against Black are former Pentagon official and fellow neoconservative Richard Perle, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Illinois Republican powerhouse James Thompson, and real estate mogul Donald Trump.
The first three were members of Hollinger's board of directors who may have been aware of the payments to Black and his associates. The case grew out of institutional shareholders' objections to payments pocketed by Black and his co-defendants that precluded them from competing with media properties that they were selling off.
Trump may appear as a defence witness to say he discussed his pending purchase of the Sun-Times building at Lady Black's surprise birthday party at La Grenouille restaurant in New York -- paid for in part by $40,000 in company funds.

2. Today is Non Smoking Day

Make a fresh start with better health
The health benefits of stopping smoking start almost immediately:
After...
20 minutes: Blood pressure and pulse return to normal
8 hours: Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are halved, oxygen levels in the blood return to normal
24 hours: Carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body and the lungs start to clear out the build up of tar
48 hours: There is no nicotine left in the body. Taste and smell are greatly improved
72 hours: Breathing becomes easier, bronchial tubes begin to relax, energy levels increase
2 - 12 weeks: Circulation improves, making walking and running a lot easier
3 - 9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as the lungs have room for up to 10% more oxygen
1 year: Risk of heart attack is halved
10 years: Risk of lung cancer is halved
10 years: Risk of heart attack is at the same level as non-smokers
Medium to long-term: Risk of developing lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease is reduced - the sooner you stop smoking, the sooner your risk starts going down
Medium to long-term: Stopping smoking at any age increases your life expectancy, provided that you stop before the onset of serious disease. Even if you have developed a disease, you can benefit from stopping as your body will be under less strain and be able to fight it more easily
Medium to long-term: A smoker who has suffered from a heart attack can halve the risk of a second heart attack by stopping smoking
Medium to long-term: Ten years after quitting smoking an ex-smoker's risk of lung cancer is reduced by 30 - 50% compared with that of a continuing smoker
Medium to long-term: Smokers who stop before the age of 35 have a life expectancy not significantly different from that of a non-smoker
Medium to long-term: Smokers who give up smoking between 65 and 74 years of age have a better life expectancy beyond 75 than those who continue to smoke
For life:
Reduce stress
Any physical activity is easier
Don't tire as quickly
Improve sense of taste and smell
Improved skin

No Smoking

From this week's 'Church Times'.

Churches are told to display no-smoking signs
by Rachel Harden

The Department of Health confirmed this week that churches would have to display no-smoking posters near their entrances after 1 July, and that clergy will be responsible for implementing the new ban on smoking in public places. But it stressed that churches would be not be targeted by officials checking on implementation, and they would be free to create their own notice.
“We are not specifically sending religious buildings packs of information,” a spokesman said. “Any public place will receive one of our information packs around Easter time, and one of the instructions is that a no-smoking sign must be put up near any entrance. But this can be done discreetly, and it will only be A5 size.”
The spokesman acknowledged that smoking in church had always been a rare event. But he said that the new ban meant that the incumbent would be responsible for the place of worship, and the individual smoker would not be fined.
“Basically, if there is smoking in a public building, like a church, over a continued period of time, then the person responsible for that building might incur a fine.”
A Church of England spokesman said that discussions were still going on with the Department of Health about precisely how and where the signs would have to be sited. But he did not see it as a big problem. “It may be more relevant to church halls, but, generally speaking, smoking is not a big issue in churches and cathedrals, although of course we would not want the signs to be obtrusive.”
Churches in Wales have already been sent information, as the ban comes into force there on 2 April.

Comment

I have never really smoked or even wanted to but my daughter has been hooked since a teenager and is once again struggling to stop. I hope she makes it this time. Her incentive is a family trip to America commencing this Wednesday when she would be the only smoker travelling with three former smokers.

As a teenager myself I recall an incident in which on the chapel steps immediately after the Sunday morning service a number of my pals lit up. A bible thumping relative on his way home from the local gospel hall, black bible firmly tucked under his arm, crossed the road and came up the chapel steps to confront my pals about the un-christian nature of their habit. "If the Lord had intended you to smoke" he said "he would have provided you with a chimney out of the top of your heads". Retracing his steps he left us with that profound gem of wisdom to ponder at our leisure.

My father had a pit accident in which a piece of hot steel entered his eye. As he was brought up from underground and transported to the nearest city hospital a nurse offered him a cigarette.
He lost the eye but always remembered the angel who sort to ease his pain.

Smoking is clearly an addiction which most people will want to conquer but I hope we shall not become over sanctimonious or legalistic in our attempts to stamp it out. After all we are happy for the government to benefit through the large sums of tax revenue it provides. We must be tolerant with the weaknesses of others. I suspect we all will have some of our own about which we are less than proud.