Today at the White House...

     The Smoker-in-Chief disses tobacco. President Barack Obama has had almost as much press for sneaking cigarettes as he has had for his jump shots. One would assume that he's finally kicked the habit and that he's able to get up and down the court a little faster, but we don't really know for sure.
    We do know for sure that earlier today he signed the toughest anti-smoking bill ever. In a ceremony to mark the signing, he said nine out of ten new smokers are under the age of 18, and he mentioned that he was one of those kids, and he knows how tough it is to quit.
    The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act bans candy and fruit flavors in tobacco products, and limits advertising targeting teenagers. The law also empowers the FDA to lower the amount of addiction-causing nicotine in tobacco products and block what it sees as misleading labels such as "low tar" and "light." Tobacco companies also will be required to cover their cartons with large graphic warnings.
    Opponents of the law said the FDA has failed in so many of its regulatory duties that there's no realistic hope for it to get smokers to quit. It should, instead, try to make sure that nicotine users have options to smoking, such as smokeless tobacco products.
    If you'd like to watch the president use 10 Cross pens to sign the legislation (10 Cross pens? Hasn't anybody in Washington heard about the fiscal crisis?) you can do so here: http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14105515&ch=4226716&src=news

     Clayton Smith is 75 years old and still milking cows twice a day. Plus, the farm he's working has been in the family since 1915, and shipping milk to the Washington, D.C. market since about 1917. Clayton and Shirley Smith love their family, their community and their cows. They're a good, solid couple and they're featured in a story by correspondent Laurie Savage in the current edition of Eastern Dairy Reporter, a monthly Lancaster Farming supplement. There's also a neat story about the comeback of home delivery in the town of Mountain Top, Pa. Check it out.

     Wait until they all want to go to college. Then tell us how much fun it was to have quadruplets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FYtNq_k2UE