List Manager, thank you for reeling that in. Though I appreciate the logical extremes to which that discussion is going, and would love to eavesdrop on it, it's a little beyond this reach.
There has been no one that has persuaded me that smoking should be banned. I think there is plenty of argument to ban this activity in restaurants. Certainly the health question has been answered. Smoking is a bad thing, and barring a few rare examples, will shorten your life. There are plenty of folks who don't care, and there are others who are strictly social smokers and want a place to smoke. How someone can argue that smoking should be banned in all bars for health reasons while they're sucking down a vodka tonic and destroying their liver, both with the booze and the aspirin popped for hang over relief, is beyond me. There is just no credibility there. So, I would like to see a discussion opened about a compromise where some smoking availability is permitted. Running red lights is universally dangerous, but we make exemptions for right turns. We have building codes intended to protect the public, yet exemptions are often granted. Don't think of limiting smoking as a pox on existence. Think of it a rationale exemption to an otherwise universal rule. As for any legal liabilities around select bars permitting smoking, these dens of ill-repute are already so "on the hook" for all manner of sins that one more just doesn't seem to have any meaning. Running with the ban will have its consequences, though they are admittedly unknown. Cali just pushed everyone onto patios, unless you have a movie credit. Then smoking is still permitted. In New York the law just isn't universally enforced. They permit "red light" bars. I would love to see dis-interested people actually take this up before a rush to judgment is made. I don't see that happening here or at the City Council. Jeremy Wieland Northeast -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of List manager Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 2:17 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Re: Smoking Ban & Public/Private Hi guys - we've drifted completely away from Mpls on this one. Please continue off list, if you want to continue it. David Brauer List manager On May 21, 2004, at 3:03 PM, Michael Atherton wrote: > Andy Driscoll wrote: > >> How truly sad it must be to be so alienated from one's own >> country, one's own city, to hate government as something >> other than a creature of the people. > > My children have ancestors who were Native Americans, > should I teach them to blindly trust their government? > > My children have ancestors who were Chinese, > should I teach them to blindly trust governments? REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
