Happy 2nd birthday, Keith Nalu

Happy 2nd Birthday to my third son, Keith 'Baby' Nalu Jr, who turns two years old today, Monday, June 01, 2009.

That is sadly without Mum, Hula, who left us so tragically in Easter 2008.
I love you son, and God Bless You as Your prepare to take your place in this wide, wide world.
Love from Dad, as well as big brothers Malum Nalu Jr, Gedi, and sister Moasing, plus family and friends in Daru, Lae, Goroka, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the world.

World Environment Day 2009 (please click on images to enlarge)

Today at the farm

Captions: 1. Green Grevillea 2. Grevillea 3. Grevillea 4. Honey Gem Grevillea 5. Pink Grevillea 6. Lorikeet 7. Wobbly 8. Lorikeet 9. Lorikeet 10 Lorikeet

 

From Paul Oates in Queensland, Australia

We've just had a little rain and the Grevilleas are bursting into flower. AsI try to photograph the flowers, Rainbow Lorikeets screech at me for interrupting their evening meal and at their screeching, a furry head pops up from behind the rock wall to see what's going on.

Implement work place policy on smoking

By ELIZABETH MIAE in The National

 

THE PNG Medical Society (PNGMS) has called on Government and private institutions to implement the tobacco legislation into work place policies at their work places.

PNGMS president Dr Mathias Sapuri said the tobacco legislation was already in place but was not being enforced because many institutions were not taking it seriously.

He urged the Health Department to revive the legislation and tighten it up to give the department power to penalise people who smoke in smoke-free zones.

Dr Sapuri’s comments were timely as PNG observes the World No Tobacco Day today with the theme “Tobacco Health Warnings”.

“We need to have a penalty that is instituted by a legislation.

“It is our responsibility, as the medical society, to advise the public that smoking causes cancer.

“The more you smoke, the more you damage your lungs,” Dr Sapuri stressed.

He said all health facilities and public places (including work places) should be free from smoking and the chewing of betelnut.

Dr Sapuri added that places such as restaurants, pubs and night clubs could create a smoke room or corridor where smokers could go to smoke as being done in Asia, Europe and America.

“It is entirely up to pubs to impose a ban on smoking but some people may argue that it is discriminatory.

“But passive smoking is more dangerous because the non-smoker is inhaling more smoke than the smoker who is blowing it out,” he said.

Dr Sapuri also called on parents to be responsible and not send their children to buy cigarettes and betelnut for them because that was where they picked up the bad habits.

He highlighted that as one of the biggest problems in the country where children were being educated “indirectly” by parents on how to smoke and chew.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated annually on May 31.

 

World No Tobacco Day

On May 31 each year, the World Health Organisation celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption.
Tobacco use is the second cause of death globally and is currently responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide.
The WHO has "Tobacco Health Warnings" as the theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day.
Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco.
WHO particularly approves of tobacco health warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit. Such pictorial warnings appear in more than a dozen countries.
On World No Tobacco Day 2009, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to adopt tobacco health warnings that meet all the criteria for maximal effectiveness, including that they cover more than half of the pack, appear on both the front and back of the pack and contain pictures.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control obligates its more than 160 countries parties to require "health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use" on packs of tobacco and their outside packaging and recommends that the warnings contain pictures. WHO works through its Tobacco Free Initiative department to help the parties to meet their obligation, providing technical and other assistance.
As WHO Director General Margaret Chan says, "We hold in our hands the solution to the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of one billion men, women and children during this century."

Kalibobo Spirit is the perfect way to see Papua New Guinea

The Kalibobo Spirit provides the perfect way to see the coastal ports, islands and Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. 
The 30m vessel was built in Picton, New Zealand,   and is owned and operated by Melanesian Tourist Services based in Madang. 
The ship is fully-stabilised, carries the latest navigation equipment including sonar and provide luxurious accommodation for up to 16 guests in four queen, three singles and a state room, all with ensuites, air conditioning, television and telephone. 
 There is a dining room, lounge, cocktail bar and three covered decks to observe and relax.
Facilities aboard the vessel include two zodiac tenders, a fast aluminium river boat that can carry 20 passengers at 50mph along the Sepik and tributaries and on selected cruises a helicopter. 
 The ship is equipped with a dive shop which enables guests to dive some of the most-pristine waters in the world.
Whilst the Kalibobo Spirit is primarily for charter, in August, several cruises to the Sepik are scheduled.
Since the Kalibobo Spirit arrived it has had cruises throughout the Bismarck Sea including Manus, New Ireland, Rabaul, West New Britain, Siassi, Madang, Port Moresby, Milne Bay and to the Sepik River.
For more information, call Wesley at MTS on 852 2766 or e-mail mtsoperations@mtspng.com  

The Winston Man dies of lung cancer... just one month before he was due to testify against big tobacco company

Captions: 1. Alan Landers in the Winston advert. 2. Malboro Man David McLean died of cancer that started in his lungs 3. Former professional rodeo rider Wayne McLaren posed for Malboro and died of lung cancer

As World No Tobacco Day falls on Sunday, May 31, we look back to March this year when the Winston Man died of lung cancer.

A male model who became the iconic face of Winston cigarettes has died of lung cancer, the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1158932/The-Winston-Man-dies-lung-cancer--just-month-testify-big-tobacco-company.html) reports.Alan Landers, who was known as the Winston Man, lost his battle with the disease just one month before he was due to testify in court against cigarette manufacturer RJ Reynolds.
The 68-year-old had led a multi-million dollar crusade against the tobacco industry, four decades after he first appeared on billboards and in magazine adverts across the U.S. to promote cigarettes as cool.
He was lined up as one of 9,000 tobacco victims in Florida suing cigarette manufacturers for failing to warn back in the 1960s and 1970s that smoking carried major health risks and could be deadly.
“Looking back on my career, I am ashamed that I helped promote such a lethal and addictive product to the children and adults of this country,” he explained before his death.
“Had I understood then what I now understand - that cigarettes are an addictive poison that kills almost 50% of their users - I would never have participated in their mass marketing.”
He added: “I was expected to portray smoking as stylish, pleasurable and attractive....at no time was I ever told cigarettes could be dangerous to my health.
“I knew some people believed them to be unhealthy but the cigarette manufacturers denied that their product is harmful.”
In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court threw out an unprecedented $145billion class-action lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers - but handed Mr Landers and his fellow victims a fresh opportunity for justice by recommending that each should bring an individual case.
The court agreed that cigarette-makers had lied to cover up the harmful and addictive properties of tobacco and that all each plaintiff had to prove was that they had been individually harmed by an addiction to smoking.
A jury found in favour of the first of the 9,000 Florida cases - brought by the widow of a smoking victim - last month, and awarded her $8million compensation.
Landers' case against RJ Reynolds, the maker of Winston cigarettes, was due in court in April.
“I am unwilling to give the defendants their wish - to postpone the date of my trial - so much that I would die first. I want and intend to beat this latest challenge,” he insisted just two weeks ago.
Landers, who died at his home in Lauderhill, Florida, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987 and received a new diagnosis of throat cancer earlier this year.
Up until his death he was on weekly chemotherapy, daily radiotherapy, also suffered with emphysema and struggled to breathe and talk.
He is not the first 'poster-boy' for the tobacco industry to lose his life to the very habit he promoted.
Two of the so-called 'Marlboro Men', actors Wayne McLaren, David McLean and Dick Hammer, all died of lung cancer, years after modelling for Marlboro cigarettes.
At the height of the smoking trend, when cigarettes were perceived as fashionable, Landers was in demand for his suave looks and James Bond-style features, posing for Winston advertisements in a variety of shots including one in a tuxedo and another pouring a bottle of bubbly for a glamorous blonde.
Posters bore slogans such as 'Winston's Down Home Taste! So real, so rich so good.'
“I was required to smoke on the set; constant smoking was required to achieve the correct appearance of the cigarette, ash and butt length,” he recalled.
Then a hard-core smoker, he later tried to kick the habit with nicotine patches and gum, but without success.
In 1992, doctors told the actor and model that the lung cancer diagnosed five years earlier had spread to a second lung, requiring radical surgery that involved severing a nerve to his vocal cords.
In 1996, he also underwent open heart surgery and a double bypass operation, necessitated - he says – “by the residual effects of smoking”.
He spent his final months living close to the poverty line and having to appeal for public donations to help pay his medical bills.
“I am extremely short-winded because sections of both lungs have been removed,” he explained two weeks ago.
“Scars from the surgery wrap around my back, permanently disfiguring me, but I feel lucky to be alive... I have fought too long and hard to give up now.”
He added: “The industry put profits over people, stonewalled criticism and concealed scientific evidence from the public and its customers.
“I call upon the lawmakers of this country to protect our children from this dangerous substance. Tobacco products should be regulated as the addictive products they are.
“I call upon the tobacco industry to compensate its victims, its former customers, who are suffering and dying from its products.'
His lawyer Tim Howard said: “He fought a good fight. Alan was an example of light, energy and courage.”