Ramblin' with Roger

Tobacco treaty wrestles with new nicotine products

Global Report on Trends in Tobacco Use

In honor of the Great American Smokeout, I am linking to a Lancet article from 1 November 2025: Tobacco treaty wrestles with new nicotine products.

“When the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) convenes from Nov 17–22, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland, delegates from 182 countries and the EU will mark the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of WHO’s first global health treaty.

“The FCTC is credited with driving down tobacco use worldwide, and the COP is intended to oversee its implementation, but the emergence of new nicotine products has renewed disagreements over how best to end the epidemic of tobacco use.

The WHO Global Report on Trends in Tobacco Use 2000–2024 and Projections 2025–2030 shows that the proportion of adults using tobacco decreased from 33% in 2000 to 19.5% in 2024. Although the total number of 1.2 billion adult tobacco users is 120 million fewer than in 2010, this decrease is still short of the 30% reduction target set for 2025 …

“According to WHO, more than 100 million people now vape, including 86 million adults and at least 15 million adolescents aged 13–15 years, with children nine times more likely than adults to vape. ‘E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction… They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.’

“Tobacco use has fallen to historic lows, yet one in five adults still consumes tobacco or nicotine products.”

Why is the Great American Smokeout important?

Although cigarette smoking rates have been declining for decades in the United States, cigarette smoking remains the most preventable cause of serious illness and death.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke cause more than 480,000 deaths in the US every year.
Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of at least 12 different cancers.
In the US, cigarette smoking causes about 3 of every 10 cancer deaths.

I’ve mentioned this before, but there is definitely a demographic component. When you see enough people at bus stops pick up cigarettes to smoke, you believe it. “Some groups of people smoke more heavily or at higher rates.” These populations face healthcare barriers and inequities in multiple areas.

My paternal grandmother, Agatha Helen (Walker) Green, died from cigarette smoking at the age of 62. Though he eventually quit after many years of smoking, I expect that smoking shortened my father’s life, as he died at 73.

Here is a commercial with Yogi Bear and Boo Boo urging folks not to smoke.

Baseball Hall of Fame for 2026

Carlos Beltrán, Andy Petitte, Ryan Braun

“The Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s 2026 Hall of Fame ballot features 27 candidates, including 15 returnees and 12 newcomers. Results of the election will be announced Jan. 20 live on MLB Network.”

Unlike in most years, I’m not seeing 10 people I would have voted for in the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2026. Based solely on the stats, I would have picked ARod (5th year on the ballot, 37.1% of the votes when 75% are needed) and Manny Ramirez (10th and final year, 34.3%). But both were egregiously using Performance-Enhancing Drugs after 2004. In Manny’s case, I’d let some future panel decide.

I’m also not picking SS/3B Omar Vizquel because of stuff.

I would vote for CF Carlos Beltrán (4th year, 70.3%) for sure, a solid player on several teams. His increasing number of votes suggests that the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal is not as much of a factor as before.

SP Andy Petitte (8th year, 27.9%) was PED-adjacent, which I’m sure has hurt his chances. But I supported him before.

RP Francisco Rodríguez (4th year, 10.2%) was known as K-Rod for his prolific strikeout rate. He might fare better on the ballot with weaker competition, although a domestic violence allegation may factor in. IDK.

Of all of the first-timers on the ballot, the only one that I would vote for LF/3B Ryan Braun, a six-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger.

I’m on the fence regarding SS Jimmy Rollins (5th year, 18%), even with four Gold Gloves—a possible yes.

CF Andruw Jones (9th year, 66.2%) was a near-lock early in his career, both as a hitter and a fielder (10 Gold Gloves), but his career trailed off substantially—a probable YES.

Contemporary Era

Earlier in November, the National Baseball Hall of Fame released the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot for 2026 induction. The list includes LF Barry Bonds (340), Roger Clemens (332), 1B Carlos Delgado (110), 2B/3B/1B Jeff Kent (123), 1B/OF Don Mattingly (134), OF/3B/C Dale Murphy (116), RF/3B/SS Gary Sheffield (158), and the late SP Fernando Valenzuela (63). The players need 12 of the 16 votes on December 7.

Three players show up on the BALCO investigation of steroids: Bonds, Clemens, and Sheffield. However, “in 2005, Major League Baseball (MLB) introduced a new policy regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) wherein the league would not only suspend but also publicly name any player who tested positive for banned PEDs.” I believe that NONE of them were implicated after 2004, compared with A-Rod and Ramirez. I’d vote for all three of them.

Over 17 seasons, Jeff Kent posted a .290 batting average and .500 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .978 fielding percentage. Kent hit 351 HR as a second baseman, the most in MLB history in either league. Other than being surly with the press, I don’t know why he didn’t get elected by the writers.

I always liked Mattingly. He also had a decent run as the Dodgers manager, but a weak one with the Miami Marlins. Murphy was pretty consistent. Fernandomania was rampant in the early 1980s, but his career stats are so-so.

U.S. Bishops’ “Special Message” on Immigration

The priority of the Lord is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10).

I noticed that “as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for their Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years that the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops.”

I understand that this is a very big deal. “The last one issued in 2013 was in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate.| Specifically, their position was that the Obama Administration mandate violated the First Amendment freedoms of religious organizations and others. While I disagreed, I would have to acknowledge that their position was consistent with their stated theology.

So is their immigration position, which passed 216 to 5 with three abstentions. This was covered in the New York Times.

The statement

In part:

“As pastors, we, the bishops of the United States, are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are

-disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement

– saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants

-concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care.

-troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools.

– grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school, and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.

“Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled, in this environment, to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.”

It’s followed by Biblical citations supporting their view.

Moral counterweight

From Axios in October: A diverse coalition of moderate and progressive Christians has opted to jump off the pulpit and challenge the regime around immigration, civil rights, and poverty.

The big picture: Moderate faith leaders are escorting immigrants to court hearings, blasting “rapid response” text alerts on sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and leading vigils to try to prevent protest clashes.

They pray with ICE agents and National Guard troops to try to ease tension while also giving “know your rights” workshops to immigrants.

The intrigue: From the pulpit, they frame their actions as a moral stand outlined by Jesus in the Gospels to help “the stranger” and “the least of these,” as they call on their members to speak out.

“We don’t just pray for peace. We bring peace,” the Rev. Brendan Busse, pastor of Dolores Mission Catholic Church in Los Angeles, tells Axios.

Evangelicals

While many evangelicals are taking an opposing view, lots of them also support the immigrant. In June, “on World Refugee Day, scores of evangelical pastors and ministry leaders from across the State of California are speaking up on the contentious topic of immigration. After weeks of unrest over increased immigration enforcement in the state that is home to more immigrants than any other, evangelical leaders are affirming a ‘California Evangelical Statement on Refugees & Immigration.’

“As evangelical Christians in California, our perspective on immigration is grounded in the authority of Scripture. While immigration is a political issue, we see it first as a biblical one—deeply connected to the mission of the Church both locally and globally. We affirm the need to clearly express the biblical principles that guide our views, so that immigrants—many of whom are fellow members of the same Body of Christ and all of whom are our neighbors (Luke 10:27)—know we stand with them.”

News

11/7: USCIS announced that it is complying with the district court order in ASAP v. USCIS on 10/30/25 and has paused the issuance of Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) notices. Applicants may disregard previously issued AAF notices while the stay is in place. USCIS will not refund previously paid AAFs.

Racial Profiling Is ICE’s New Norm. Activists Are Mobilizing in Response.

Hamilton: “We get the job done.”

Immigration Man – Graham Nash

My mom’s bells

Jean Nate

I was talking to my sisters recently about my mom’s bells, our mom’s porcelain bells. She used to collect these souvenir items, which were easy to come by. It was great because when traveling for the SBDC in the 1990s, I would get one from Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, or wherever the ASBDC annual meeting took place.

My sisters gave me some context of the whole thing. My father returned from a trip somewhere and brought her a bell. Knowing her, she would have said, “Oh, that’s very nice.” So he would get her another bell and another. Suddenly, she had a collection of them.

This went on for several years until one day, I heard that she didn’t want those “dust collectors” anymore, and I thought, “Oh, what a bummer.”

The more accurate story was that she was dusting them. The bells resided on this semi-wall between the dining room and the living room of their house in Charlotte, NC. She got up on a step ladder or a stoop, fell, and hurt herself. That was the end of her collecting the bells. I did not know the why of the story until recently.

It makes me wonder if she ever really wanted that collection of bells or if she saw that it gave my father, me, and maybe others joy at getting her something that she didn’t have. It saddened me to think that perhaps she never really wanted the bells. Once she experienced physical pain as a direct result of having them, that was that.

Toilet Water

When I was growing up, the go-to present for our mom was JEAN NATÉ. “The perfume was first launched back in 1935 for the Jean Nate Company, which was later bought by Revlon. This timeless classic possesses citrus, floral, and spicy notes, such as lavender, jasmine, rose, carnation, lily of the valley, cedar, tonka bean, musk, and sandalwood.” But it’s described here as Eau de Toilette.

It was often a bust when I tried to go off script in gift giving. In 1981, I bought her an LP, Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, based on my understanding that she liked some of the original Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway songs. She was a tactful woman, but it was pretty evident that she did not particularly enjoy my selection. I went back to the bells.

My mom, Gertrude Elizabeth (Trudy) Green, nee Williams, would have been 98 today.

Sunday Stealing is Working Through It

the most pleasure

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Jackie K. at Working Through It found 20 questions on Quora that can “tell you the most about a person.” By using the 10 best, we’re going to learn more about you.

What 10 Questions Can Tell You the Most about a Person

1. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

An indoor house cat. What a life!

2. Are you generous?

I think so – generous with my time and, to the degree I can afford it, with my treasure.

3. Of the following, which consistently gives you the most pleasure: a) music, b) money, c) books, d) science, e) spirituality, f) food and wine, g) movies?

In order, music (please don’t tell me you are surprised), spirituality, movies, books, money, food and wine, and science.

4. Describe your dancing ability.

Minimal.

I have a worst enemy?

5. What do you think your worst enemy really thinks of you?

I have no idea who that could be. That said, he is self-absorbed, with his mind filled with obscure and useless information.

6. Can you tell when someone is lying to you?

Sometimes. It depends on the nature of the lie versus the likelihood that it could be true.

7. Describe how it feels to fall in love.

“It’s like trying to explain to a stranger ’bout rock and roll.” In other words, I have no idea.

8. In deadly peril, what three people would you want in a foxhole with you?

I talked with two of them on the telephone this week for more than 90 minutes each. The other is an OLD friend.

9. What is your greatest weakness?

I don’t know if it’s a weakness. But my late buddy Dustbury (Charles Hill) described both of us as magpies, always looking for the next shiny object. This is why I have a low tolerance for doing anything for too long. Some people can binge-watch television programs, but I cannot. I was working on a blog post, but it was taking too long, so I wrote another post, then this one; I’ll get back to the first one eventually.

10. If you were to live out the rest of your life as your favorite fictional character, which would you choose?

Columbo. “Just one more thing.”

Work Song – The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

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