FDA NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Sept. 15, 2009

Media Inquiries: Pat El-Hinnawy, 301-796-4763, patricia.el-hinnawy@fda.hhs.gov; Peper Long, 301-796-4671, mary.long@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 1-888-INFO-FDA

FDA Approves Vaccines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus
Approval Provides Important Tool to Fight Pandemic

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The vaccines will be distributed nationally after the initial lots become available, which is expected within the next four weeks.

“Today's approval is good news for our nation's response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus,” said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “This vaccine will help protect individuals from serious illness and death from influenza.”

The vaccines are made by CSL Limited, MedImmune LLC, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited, and sanofi pasteur Inc. All four firms manufacture the H1N1 vaccines using the same processes, which have a long record of producing safe seasonal influenza vaccines.

”The H1N1 vaccines approved today undergo the same rigorous FDA manufacturing oversight, product quality testing and lot release procedures that apply to seasonal influenza vaccines,” said Jesse Goodman, M.D., FDA acting chief scientist.

Based on preliminary data from adults participating in multiple clinical studies, the 2009 H1N1 vaccines induce a robust immune response in most healthy adults eight to 10 days after a single dose, as occurs with the seasonal influenza vaccine.

Clinical studies under way will provide additional information about the optimal dose in children. The recommendations for dosing will be updated if indicated by findings from those studies. The findings are expected in the near future.

As with the seasonal influenza vaccines, the 2009 H1N1 vaccines are being produced in formulations that contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, and in formulations that do not contain thimerosal.

People with severe or life-threatening allergies to chicken eggs, or to any other substance in the vaccine, should not be vaccinated.

In the ongoing clinical studies, the vaccines have been well tolerated. Potential side effects of the H1N1 vaccines are expected to be similar to those of seasonal flu vaccines.

For the injected vaccine, the most common side effect is soreness at the injection site. Other side effects may include mild fever, body aches, and fatigue for a few days after the inoculation. For the nasal spray vaccine, the most common side effects include runny nose or nasal congestion for all ages, sore throats in adults, and -- in children 2 to 6 years old -- fever.

As with any medical product, unexpected or rare serious adverse events may occur. The FDA is working closely with governmental and nongovernmental organizations to enhance the capacity for adverse event monitoring, information sharing and analysis during and after the 2009 H1N1 vaccination program. In the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaccines against three seasonal virus strains are already available and should be used (see information on the seasonal flu). However, they do not protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus (see information on H1N1 flu).

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Additional Information
Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent

In this episode, our heroes James and Hannah travel to California to bust the west coast division of ACORN. I am thinking that these 'community organizers' have received their last federal dollar. Not sure how they are going to afford all those defense lawyers with no money in the till. Then again, that is not my problem.

The big takeaway here is not even that ACORN is a bunch of criminals, it is that it took two conservative investigative journalists to do the job of the entire main stream media. Looks like a Pulitzer might be in order.

Animal Instincts

Zoophiles love and have sex with animals. Will the world ever accept them?

From LPAC

(LPAC) -- Although several Presidents have had "czars" - a special advisor to the President on a particular issue - President Obama, in a mere 8 months, has far exceeded the use of czars by any previous Administration, having appointed at least 32, the latest being Lazard's Ron Bloom as "manufacturing" czar. 25 new czar positions were created by Obama. A "czar" is not subject to the Appointments Clause of the federal Constitution, under which officers of the United States are subject to Senate confirmation ("advice and consent"), and which applies to all Cabinet secretaries and many subordinate positions. The Constitution allows "inferior officers" to be appointed by the President or Department heads - but a czar who is more powerful that a Cabinet secretary, or who has more access to the President than a Cabinet secretary, hardly qualifies as an "inferior" officer. As Fox News has pointed out, one of the early czars was President Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, who often bypassed both the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State. Czars also enable a President to evade Congressional oversight, since a President can assert "executive privilege" in the face of a request, or even a subpoena, for testimony from his advisors. As such, the use of czars is a threat to the system of checks & balances enshrined in the federal Constitution, and is thus a step toward the tyranny which our Founding Fathers sought to prevent. And it is also a direct repudiation of Obama's own campaign promises for a more transparent and accountable government. PRESIDENTIAL "CZARS" * = position newly-created by Obama * Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke * AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley * Auto recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery * Border Czar: Alan Bersin * California Water Czar: David J. Hayes * Car Czar: Ron Bloom (now Manufacturing Czar) * Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross * Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal * Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske * Economic Czar: Paul Volcker * Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Browner * Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois * Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis * Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones (resigned 9/6) * Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried * Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle * Information Czar: Vivek Kundra * International Climate Czar: Todd Stern * Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair * Manufacturing Czar: Ron Bloom * Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell * Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg * Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein * Science Czar: John Holdren * Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney * Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration * TARP Czar: Herb Allison * Terrorism Czar: John Brennan * Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra * Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr. * Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter * WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore RELEVANT QUOTATIONS: U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 2: "He (the President) shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consults, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments." Rep. Mike Pence: "The Constitution of the United States vests Congress with the responsibility to advise and consent in the appointment of high ranking officials by the President. To date, President Obama has appointed more than thirty individuals to czar positions within his Administration without permitting the Congress or the American people to properly examine their backgrounds or public records." Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV): "The rapid and easy accumulation of power by White House staff can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances," wrote Byrd. "At the worst, White House staff have taken direction and control of programmatic areas that are the statutory responsibility of Senate confirmed officials."

Dead Guys Tell No Tales
From Catherine Austin Fitts
Solari.com/blog
9-16-9

Rockefeller & Co. CEO Dies From Gunshot Wound Catherine and News & Commentary, September 15, 2009 at 10:09 pm By Charles Stein James McDonald, chief executive officer of New York investment firm Rockefeller & Co., died Sunday, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Bristol County district attorney's office in New Bedford, Massachusetts. McDonald was found in a car behind an auto dealership in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the district attorney's office. He appeared to have shot himself, though the matter is still under investigation, Miliote said. Financier Finn Casperson Dead in "Apparent" Suicide Catherine and News & Commentary, September 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm By Kim LaCapria Ex-CEO of Beneficial Corp. Finn H.W. Casperson was found dead in an apparent suicide behind an office building in Westerly, Rhode Island. Casperson, 67, was discovered dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound on September 7th, after police were asked to "check on" him. Casperson came from a wealthy family and moved with powerful people, and he was known for his political influence, fundraising and philanthropy. Blagojevich Fundraiser Found Dead Catherine and News & Commentary, September 15, 2009 at 8:09 pm By Jesse Solomon and Justin Lear Police are investigating the death of the former chief fundraiser for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as a "death-suicide," an Illinois mayor said Sunday. Financier Christopher Kelly told police shortly before he died Saturday that he took an "overdose of drugs," said Dwight Welch, mayor of Country Club Hills, Illinois. Country Club Hills police found several drugs in Kelly's black 2007 Cadillac Escalade, but they were not sure yet whether they were prescribed, Welch said. Country Club Hills is about 27 miles south of Chicago. Kelly had recently undergone surgery and was taking drugs following the operation, Welch said. Welch said he did not know which drugs Kelly was taking. Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge, Illinois, was pronounced dead at Stroger hospital in Cook County at 10:46 a.m. Saturday, hospital spokesman Marcel Bright told CNN. Newport Beach Financier Danny Pang Dies at 42 Catherine and News & Commentary, September 15, 2009 at 6:09 pm By Ruben Vives and Louis Sahagun Newport Beach financier Danny Pang died early Saturday at a local hospital, according to the Orange County coroner's office. The cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy is planned for Sunday, said Larry Esslinger, supervising deputy coroner. Police officers were dispatched to Pang's home in the 2600 block of Crestview Drive about 3:30 p.m. Friday on a "medical assistance call," said Sgt. Doug Jones of the Newport Beach Police Department. Pang was pronounced dead at Hoag Memorial Hospital at 5:12 a.m. Saturday, Esslinger said. He had no further details. The 42-year-old Pang has been accused by the government of operating a Ponzi scheme and of taking at least $83 million in inflated fees, salary and loans from his investment firm before it was seized by federal regulators in April. He had denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutor Concerned About Consent In ACORN Video

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Anne Kramer

Baltimore City's State's Attorney Pat Jessamy reiterated her concerns about the video recording involving ACORN workers in Baltimore.

Jessamy appeared on WBAL's Shari Elliker Show where said her first priority is to uphold the law.

Four employees of ACORN in the Baltimore office were fired after a video surfaced showing a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute asking the employees for advice about skirting the law.

Jessamy tells WBAL that she is required under the law to introduce evidence that is legally obtained. She says if the evidence is obtained illegally it can not be introduced into court.

Her concern is that the video tape might have been recorded without two party consent. In Maryland the law states that audio can not be recorded without both parties giving their consent. The voices of the workers and the man and woman posing as the pimp and prostitute in the ACORN video can be heard.

"I now and in the future will uphold the law of the State of Maryland. That is the oath I took. I am not going to do anything otherwise because of threats, intimidation or anything else. The law is the law," Jessamy told Elliker.

Here is State's Attorney Pat Jessamy's statement following the release of the ACORN video

STATEMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR BALTIMORE CITY RELATIVE TO THE ALLEGED BALTIMORE ACORN INCIDENT

Baltimore, MD – September 11, 2009 – We have received inquiries from citizens and the media asking whether the Baltimore City State’s Attorneys Office would initiate a criminal investigation for acts allegedly committed at ACORN offices located in Baltimore. The only information received in reference to this alleged criminal behavior was a YouTube video. Upon review by this office, the video appears to be incomplete. In addition, the audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.

If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.

House guidelines for presidential put-downs

House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has released a helpful, updated primer for members regarding their conduct on the floor and in committees.

Especially useful: The section on how to properly insult the executive branch in the in the chamber.

"Disgrace" and "nitwits" -- okay.

"Liar" or "sexual misconduct" -- ixnay.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

• call the president a “liar.”
• call the president a “hypocrite.”
• describe the president’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
• charge that the president has been “intellectually dishonest.”
• refer to the president as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the president’s part.”

>> Continue reading House guidelines for Presidential put-downs

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One million heart attacks, 700,000 strokes and 900,000 miscarriages -- U.S. public health officials want Americans to know these will happen every single year with or without a swine flu vaccine campaign.

Yet this year, they know a significant number will be blamed on the H1N1 vaccine, which will roll out within weeks, and they are struggling to be ready.

They expect an avalanche of so-called adverse event reports, which are reports of death, illness or other health trauma that occur within two weeks after receiving treatment -- in this case, the swine flu vaccine.

"We are going to be overwhelmed with potential events," said Mike Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota.

"Anything that happens to anybody in the period of seven to 14 days after vaccination will be reported."

And not just to U.S. officials. The World Health Organization is trying to reassure a global audience that vaccines being made by 25 different companies, with various formulations, are all safe.

"If we have a safety signal in one country it could stop vaccination efforts in others," WHO's top flu expert Dr Keiji Fukuda told a meeting of infectious disease specialists organized by the U.S. Institute of Medicine this week.

Flu experts themselves have little doubt the vaccine being made against H1N1 is safe. It is made using precisely the same technology as the annual seasonal flu vaccine, which is given to hundreds of millions of people every year.

But because H1N1 is new, vaccine makers have been testing it to learn what the right dose is.

SPIRIT OF '76

Memories linger of the 1976 swine flu debacle, when 43 million Americans were vaccinated against a virus that never spread, and newspapers filled with reports of a rare and crippling neurological disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Guillain-Barre was never definitively linked with the vaccine, but many Americans have viewed immunizations with suspicion ever since.

"We have anticipated that there will be a need for enhanced surveillance for Guillain-Barre as well as other adverse events," Dr Nancy Cox of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the meeting.

And there will be more to contend with than critical newspaper and television reports. The Internet did not exist in 1976. Nor did blogs, Facebook, Twitter or dozens of other ways for people to communicate globally and instantly.

"Information is the most globalized product of all," Fukuda said. "The ability of blog sites to influence countries' decision-makers and so on -- coming to grips with how we deal with this is going to be a priority." Continued...

Rupert Murdoch, a proprietor known for having ink in his veins, has hailed the day when electronic reading devices will do away with the need for newsprint and the costs that go with it.

Devices such as Amazon.com’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader could take 20 years to displace newspapers, the News Corp chairman told Goldman Sachs’ annual media conference, “but I do certainly see the day when more people will be buying their newspapers on portable reading panels than on crushed trees”.

“Then we’re going to have no paper, no printing plants, no unions,” said Mr Murdoch, who battled printing unions at his Wapping plant in London more than 20 years ago. “It’s going to be great.”

His comments came as he and Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal, gave the most bullish appraisal of advertising spending yet seen in the US media industry.

“Almost in every property at the moment [there is] a slight lift,” Mr Murdoch said. “It’s very much better than it was a couple of months ago. It’s everywhere,” he added, highlighting an 8 per cent fall in revenues at News Corp’s television stations in September, compared with an expected 20 per cent decline for the year to date.

Mr Zucker was more cautious, but said: “There’s no question – advertising feels better.”

Spending in the “scatter” market – advertising space sold once the broadcast season is already underway – was “a little healthier” while NBC Universal’s local TV business had stabilised, he said.

full article

"The meteorological conditions observed so far could indicate that the 2009 ozone hole will be smaller than those of 2006 and 2008 and close to that of 2007," said the UN agency in a statement.

The hole in the layer over the Antarctic was discovered in the 1980s. It regularly tends to form in August, reaching a maximum size late September or early October before it fills again in December.

The size is dependent on weather conditions.

This year, the hole began forming "earlier than before," said WMO's expert on the ozone Geir Braathen.

On September 16, it stood at 24 million square kilometers, he said.

In 2008, the maximum reached was 27 million square km while in 2007, the maximum was 25 million square km.

Experts have warned that the damage to the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from harmful ultra-violet rays, is so bad that it will only attain full recovery in 2075.

Ozone provides a natural protective filter against harmful ultra-violet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn, cataracts and skin cancer as well as damage vegetation.

Its depletion is caused by extreme cold at high altitude and a particular type of pollution, from chemicals often used in refrigeration, some plastic foams, or aerosol sprays, which have accumulated in the atmosphere.

Most of these chemicals, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are being phased out under the 1987 Montreal Protocol,

Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the White House signaled that it would insist on open dealings with Internet users and, in fact, should feel obliged to disclose that it is collecting such information.

"The White House has not been adequately transparent, particularly on how it makes use of new social media techniques, such as this example," he said.

Defenders of the White House actions said the Presidential Records Act requires that the administration gather the information and that it was justified in taking the additional step of asking a private contractor to "crawl and archive" all such material. Nicholas Shapiro, a White House spokesman, declined to say when the practice began or how much the new contract would cost.

Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for National Archives and Records Administration, said the presidential records law applies to "social media" and to public comments "received by the president or immediate staff."

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A plea by California Representative Laura Richardson that House Democrats respond after Republican Joe Wilson shouted “you lie” at President Barack Obama last week helped spur her party’s leaders to action.

The “careful but passionate” words delivered at a House Democratic caucus the morning after Wilson’s outburst by a black lawmaker who rarely speaks at such meetings carried such an impact that “you couldn’t ignore that message and that input,” Representative John Larson, the Democratic caucus chairman recalled yesterday.

Larson, of Connecticut, made his comment after the House voted 240-179 to admonish Wilson for his interruption of Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress. The vote was largely along party lines, with 12 Democrats opposing the resolution while seven Republicans supported it. Five Democrats voted “present.”

After Obama’s Sept. 9 speech on his push for an overhaul of the U.S. health-care, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California tried to shift the focus the next day from the attention Wilson’s outburst was garnering. Noting that the South Carolina lawmaker had apologized, Pelosi told reporters Sept. 10 that “it’s time for us to talk about health care.’’

Not all of her fellow Democrats agreed with Pelosi’s assessment, including Richardson, 47. The second-term member who represents Long Beach said she spoke up at the weekly caucus meeting that same day because “leadership didn’t say something strong” about “what they were going to do” in response to Wilson’s outburst.

Not OK

It was “the elephant in the room that we had not dealt with,” and “I didn’t think it was OK to think it would go away,” she said yesterday in a telephone interview after the House vote.

During her behind-closed-doors speech to House colleagues, Richardson recalls saying that “this country has taken on a display of hate, a display of rage a display of unwillingness to even consider and be open to change.”

Richardson said she was concerned that Wilson’s outburst showed “we have crossed the line of it becoming dangerous if we as members are going to scream at one another.”

She didn’t ascribe any racial motivation to Wilson’s comment, though other black lawmakers who pushed for a rebuke of Wilson said they believed that Obama wouldn’t have been heckled during his speech if he were white.

“No other president in history has been called out in a joint session,” Diane Watson, a California Democrat, said yesterday before the House vote.

full article

In Wake Of 'Preventative' Terror Raid On NYC Apartments; Police Advised To Search For Specific Indicators

Carter Claims There Is "Racist" Tone Against ObamaIn an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, former President Jimmy Carter said he has been extremely bothered by the heightened climate of racial and other hate speech since the election of President Barack Obama

President Obama can't outsource matters of war and peace to another state.

Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. Or it could succeed at the price of oil at $300 a barrel, a Middle East war, and American servicemen caught in between. So why is the Obama administration doing everything it can to speed the war process along?

At July's G-8 summit in Italy, Iran was given a September deadline to start negotiations over its nuclear programs. Last week, Iran gave its answer: No.

Instead, what Tehran offered was a five-page document that was the diplomatic equivalent of a giant kiss-off. It begins by lamenting the "ungodly ways of thinking prevailing in global relations" and proceeds to offer comprehensive talks on a variety of subjects: democracy, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, "respect for the rights of nations," and other areas where Iran is a paragon. Conspicuously absent from the document is any mention of Iran's nuclear program, now at the so-called breakout point, which both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his boss Ali Khamenei insist is not up for discussion.

What's an American president to do in the face of this nonstarter of a document? What else, but pretend it isn't a nonstarter. Talks begin Oct. 1.

All this only helps persuade Israel's skittish leadership that when President Obama calls a nuclear-armed Iran "unacceptable," he means it approximately in the same way a parent does when fecklessly reprimanding his misbehaving teenager. That impression is strengthened by Mr. Obama's decision to drop Iran from the agenda when he chairs a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24; by Defense Secretary Robert Gates publicly opposing military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities; and by Russia's announcement that it will not support any further sanctions on Iran.

In sum, the conclusion among Israelis is that the Obama administration won't lift a finger to stop Iran, much less will the "international community." So Israel has pursued a different strategy, in effect seeking to goad the U.S. into stopping, or at least delaying, an Israeli attack by imposing stiff sanctions and perhaps even launching military strikes of its own.

Thus, unlike Israel's air strike against Iraq's reactor in 1981 or Syria's in 2007, both of which were planned in the utmost secrecy, the Israelis have gone out of their way to advertise their fears, purposes and capabilities. They have sent warships through the Suez Canal in broad daylight and conducted widely publicized air-combat exercises at long range. They have also been unusually forthcoming in their briefings with reporters, expressing confidence at every turn that Israel can get the job done.

The problem, however, is that the administration isn't taking the bait, and one has to wonder why. Perhaps it thinks its diplomacy will work, or that it has the luxury of time, or that it can talk the Israelis out of attacking. Alternatively, it might actually want Israel to attack without inviting the perception that it has colluded with it. Or maybe it isn't really paying attention.

But Israel is paying attention. And the longer the U.S. delays playing hardball with Iran, the sooner Israel is likely to strike. A report published today by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and signed by Democrat Chuck Robb, Republican Dan Coats, and retired Gen. Charles Ward, notes that by next year Iran will "be able to produce a weapon's worth of highly enriched uranium . . . in less than two months." No less critical in determining Israel's timetable is the anticipated delivery to Iran of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft batteries: Israel will almost certainly strike before those deliveries are made, no matter whether an Iranian bomb is two months or two years away.

Such a strike may well be in Israel's best interests, though that depends entirely on whether the strike succeeds. It is certainly in America's supreme interest that Iran not acquire a genuine nuclear capability, whether of the actual or break-out variety. That goes also for the Middle East generally, which doesn't need the nuclear arms race an Iranian capability would inevitably provoke.

Then again, it is not in the U.S. interest that Israel be the instrument of Iran's disarmament. For starters, its ability to do so is iffy: Israeli strategists are quietly putting it about that even a successful attack may have to be repeated a few years down the road as Iran reconstitutes its capacity. For another thing, Iran could respond to such a strike not only against Israel itself, but also U.S targets in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

But most importantly, it is an abdication of a superpower's responsibility to outsource matters of war and peace to another state, however closely allied. President Obama has now ceded the driver's seat on Iran policy to Prime Minister Netanyahu. He would do better to take the wheel again, keeping in mind that Iran is beyond the reach of his eloquence, and keeping in mind, too, that very useful Roman adage, Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Write to bstephens@wsj.com

BY Adam Lisberg
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

No puffing in the the parks? No lighting up on the lawn? No butts on the beach?

"We don't think it's too far to say that people shouldn't be smoking in parks," Health Commissioner Tom Farley said Monday.

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the plan in the morning but later backed away in the face of criticism.

He said Monday night, "It may not be logistically possible to enforce a ban across thousands of acres, but there may be areas within parks where restricting smoking can protect health."

But smokers in city parks fumed at the idea.

"It's really ridiculous," said retired bar owner Ronald Carey, 63, who was smoking on a bench in Cadman Plaza Park in downtown Brooklyn.

"I'm not going to support smoking, but things have gotten out of hand," Carey said. "What's next?"

At Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, John Villani of Mendham, N.J., puffed a cigar on a bench near the Unisphere.

"If I'm not bothering anyone, I should be able to smoke," said Villani, 48, who came to the city for the U.S. Open.

Bloomberg earned his cigarette-hunter image by banning smoking in city bars and restaurants in 2002, an initially unpopular move that was later copied around the world.

"We have not decided on a single strategy for reducing secondhand smoke in our parks," said mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser.