4 Reasons Why Some E-Cigs Are a Safer
Alternative to Traditional Smoking
CEO Applauds FDA's Proposed Regulations

The Food and Drug Administration is trying to get a handle on new smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, with newly proposed regulations that include banning sales to minors and requiring manufacturers to register all of their products and ingredients with the FDA.

"I like these proposals; the public needs clarity on smoking alternatives because we have 42.1 million adult tobacco smokers [CDC, 2012] who may be able to benefit from them," says Anthony Sarvucci, CEO of American Heritage International, (www.americanheritageonline.com), a company that develops e-cigarettes expressly for adult tobacco smokers who want to quit but have not succeeded.

"The bottom line is that we know how terrible traditional cigarettes are for people, but there has been a vacuum of information about e-cigs, which leads to a great deal of misinformation, some fear-mongering, and even simply making stuff up."

Sarvucci gives four reasons why some e-cigarettes are easily a better alternative.

•  According to the American Lung Association, the average cigarette contains acetone, found in nail polish remover; acetic acid, an ingredient in hair dye; ammonia, a common household cleaner; arsenic, used in rat poison; benzene, found in rubber cement; butane, used in lighter fluid; cadmium, active component in battery acid; carbon monoxide, released in car exhaust fumes; formaldehyde, embalming fluid; hexamine, found in barbecue lighter fluid; lead, used in batteries; naphthalene, an ingredient in moth balls; methanol, a main component in rocket fuel; nicotine, used as insecticide; tar, material for paving roads; and toluene, used to manufacture paint.

•  "Adult consumers of e-cigarettes deserve to know what they're smoking," says Sarvucci, who adds that minors "absolutely should not be smoking or vaping, period." American Heritage's vapor fluid contains water and three food-grade quality ingredients - kosher vegetable glycerin and vegetable propylene and natural flavoring, and the nicotine is derived naturally. "We're the only e-cigarette company for which all of the e-juice ingredients are sourced and mixed in the United States," he says. "Fluid for most other e-cigarettes is sourced and mixed in China and it often contains dozens of ingredients."

•  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarettes harm nearly every organ in your body and cause dozens of diseases. Cigarette smoke causes more deaths - combined - than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol consumption, motor vehicle injuries and gun incidents. "We've made significant progress against cigarette smoke in recent decades, but it's not only a problem of the past," he says. Almost half a million Americans will continue to die each year, even though they know the statistics as well as anyone, because they are severely addicted. "Mimicking an authentic smoking experience, like my company tries to do, at least gives these people a better option that's also healthier for the people around them," Sarvucci says.

•  Smokers deserve hope ... In American culture, we have a can-do attitude that is unique to the world, which largely accounts for our influence. We often have a tough time, however, admitting that an individual has a problem that's beyond his or her control. Smoking cigarettes is that problem for more than 40 million of our friends, family and neighbors.

"Look – I wouldn't have gotten into this business if it were to create new smokers," Sarvucci says. "I went this route because, yes, it's a highly profitable space, but it's also an extremely helpful alternative for traditional smokers. If you're a nonsmoker, ask yourself: What would you rather have in your body, a few edible compounds, water and naturally sourced nicotine, or nicotine accompanied by the chemical used to exterminate rats?"

About Anthony Sarvucci

Anthony Sarvucci is the CEO of American Heritage International, (www.americanheritageonline.com), a publicly traded company that manufactures, distributes and sells disposable premium electronic cigarettes. The product uses ingredients that are exclusively sourced and mixed in America, and is designed strictly as an alternative for tobacco smokers and chewers. Sarvucci is past president and co-founder of Prairie West Oil and Gas Ltd. and serves as an investment banking consultant.

Bass throws perfect inning in rehab, Thurman goes four shutout in relief in 5-2 win

CLINTON, Iowa (June 24, 2014) - Anthony Bass threw a perfect inning in his first rehab outing, Andrew Thurman tossed four shutout frames out of the bullpen and Quad Cities pitchers combined to fan nine Clinton LumberKings with no walks in the River Bandits' 5-2 victory Tuesday at Ashford University Field.

Bass struck out Clinton's Zach Shank before getting Marcus Littlewood to fly out to center field and Jack Reinheimer to line to third in his inning of work. The Houston Astros right-hander threw 13 pitches, eight for strikes.

Thurman (4-4) took over in the next inning and dominated the Clinton hitters, ultimately allowing only two hits with three strikeouts.

While the Bandits pitching overpowered the Clinton order, the Quad Cities offense was able to get its pitchers some breathing room. Jose Fernandez, who went 2-for-3, singled with two outs in a scoreless game in the second and then stole second base. A few pitches later, Brett Booth crushed his second home run of the season to give Quad Cities a 2-0 lead.

Thomas Lindauer walked to leadoff the third before James Ramsay fouled out to the catcher Littlewood on a bunt attempt. Austin Elkins then ripped a double to left to put runners on second and third. Brett Phillips, who finished 2-for-4, launched a sacrifice fly to the left-center field wall to score Lindauer from third and make it 3-0. The next batter, Chase McDonald, who was 2-for-5, drilled a double off the center field wall to score Elkins, giving Quad Cities a 4-0 advantage.

After a two-run Littlewood home run in the eighth cut the Quad Cities lead in half, the River Bandits added an insurance run on a Phillips RBI triple in the ninth to make the score 5-2.

Andrew Walter struck out three in the ninth while yielding a double to pick up his sixth save of the season and first since June 1 as the River Bandits improved to 2-2 in the second half and 37-36 overall.

Clinton starter Edwin Diaz (2-4) surrendered four runs on five hits in five innings with two walks and six strikeouts to suffer the loss as Clinton fell to 2-3 and 32-41.

Quad Cities will start Jandel Gustave (5-3, 3.81 ERA) tomorrow night as the River Bandits look to win the series in their first road set of the second half.

UP NEXT: Back-to-back fireworks nights kick of the Fourth of July weekend at Modern Woodmen Park. The ballpark will open Thursday, July 3, for the annual Red, White and Boom Fireworks, and the River Bandits will have Fourth of July Fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD following the 7 p.m. game on Friday, July 4. Game tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

Great people throughout history often fail, quite miserably, before finally reaching their goals, says international business strategist Dan Waldschmidt.

"Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime; Winston Churchill lost every public election until becoming prime minister at age 62; Henry Ford went bankrupt five times; Albert Einstein was a terrible student and was expelled from school; Sigmund Freud was booed from a stage," says Waldschmidt, author of "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success," (www.EdgyConversations.com).

"Ideas, brilliance, genius - they all mean nothing without the guts, passion and tenacity necessary to make your dream a reality. But often, people fall back on excuses and give up on trying to reach their goals."

Most of us have dreams, and many of us have big ones, but few of us actually see them through, he says.

He offers six tricks for jumping off the excuse train and forge the path to your goals.

•  Avoid the need to blame others for anything. Mean, small-minded people know that they suck. That's why they are so cranky and eager to point out others' mistakes. They hope that by causing others to feel inadequate, everyone will forget about how woefully off the mark their own performance is. Don't blame anyone, for any reason, ever. It's a bad habit.

•  Stop working on things that just don't matter. Not everything needs to be done in place of sleep. If you work for a boss, then you owe them solid time. You can't cut that out. You can, however, cut out television time, meetings and anything else that gets in the way of achieving your goals. Replace entertainment with activity toward your goal.

•  Refuse to let yourself wallow in self-doubt. You're alive to succeed. Stop comparing your current problems to your last 18 failures. They are not the same. You are not the same. Here's something to remember: Your entire life has been a training ground for you to capture your destiny right now. Why would you doubt that? Stop whining. Go conquer.

•  Ask yourself, "What can I do better next time?" And then do it next time. If you spend a decade or two earnestly trying to be better, that's exactly what will happen. The next best thing to doing something amazing is not doing something stupid. So learn from your mistakes and use the lessons to dominate.

•  Proactively take time to do things that fuel your passion. Exercise is a great example. Living in the moment requires you to live at peak performance. A huge part of mental fitness is physical fitness. A sparring or running partner is a great way to refresh physical competition. Physical activity accelerates mental motivation.

•  Apologize to yourself and those around you for having a bad attitude. Do this once or twice and you'll snap out of your funk pretty fast. When you start genuinely apologizing for being a bad influence on those around you, you learn to stop whining and start winning.

About Dan Waldschmidt

Dan Waldschmidt is the author of "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success," (www.EdgyConversations.com). He is an international business strategist, speaker, author and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world.

Ends Free Parking for Many State Officials to Save Taxpayers $100,000

CHICAGO - As part of his ongoing budget review, Governor Pat Quinn today directed state agencies to cut 80 paid parking spaces for state employees in downtown garages - more than 30 percent of the total spots reserved. The move will save taxpayers more than $100,000 annually and follows yesterday's announcement that the state will save taxpayers an additional $55 million this year in reduced lease costs for state buildings. The cuts are part of Governor Quinn's agenda to make state government efficient and accountable to taxpayers.

"As part of my budget review this year, we will reduce paid parking spaces in downtown Chicago by more than 30 percent," Governor Quinn said. "By eliminating these parking spots for many state officials, we will save taxpayers another $100,000 annually and continue our work to make state government more efficient than ever before."

Governor Quinn has directed department heads to cut back on spots for employees in positions that do not require frequent fieldwork or involve public safety. While taxpayer-financed parking spots are appropriate for state employees whose posts require them to travel frequently to state prisons, juvenile detention centers or social service offices, they are not necessary for employees who spend the majority of their time in the office.

Unless their job involves frequent fieldwork or public safety, most agency directors, chiefs of staff and other high-level officials will now lose their free parking spots. Today's announcement also includes a reduction in the number of shared "pool" cars that are stationed in downtown Chicago garages and available to state employees.

Yesterday Governor Quinn announced that the state of Illinois had again cut property leases. The state will save an additional $55 million by continuing to downsize the space it leases in the upcoming fiscal year. Since taking office the Governor has saved taxpayers more than $220 million by consolidating or eliminating more than 2.5 million square feet - roughly equivalent to emptying out Chicago's Trump Tower.

Since taking office and inheriting decades of mismanagement, Governor Quinn has enacted major reforms that are saving taxpayers billions of dollars. The Governor has saved taxpayers more than $3 billion by overhauling Illinois' Medicaid system, cutting Medicaid spending and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. He also passed comprehensive pension reform that will save taxpayers more than $140 billion over the next 30 years.

Additionally, the Governor negotiated a historic contract with Illinois' employee unions that includes $900 million in savings for Illinois taxpayers. The Governor also enacted comprehensive worker's compensation reform that has saved state taxpayers more than $40 million to date. The state workforce is the smallest it has been in decades, with 4,000 fewer state employees than we had five years ago. All things included, over the last five years, Governor Quinn has cut state spending by more than $5.7 billion.

To build on this progress, Governor Quinn is proposing a five-year blueprint to secure the state's finances for the long-term and invest like never before in education and early childhood. The blueprint includes a historic $6 billion increase in classroom spending over the next five years, doubling the investment in college scholarships for students in need and increasing access to higher education through dual enrollment and early college programs. The Governor's plan was lauded by all three bond-rating agencies for its comprehensive approach to paying down bills, stabilizing the state's finances and enacting spending restraints.

For more information on Governor's Quinn's budget cuts please visit: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/budget/Documents/Cuts_to_Budget_FY09-FY15.pdf