Fellow list members: I've reviewed parts of two books I've read in the past couple of years related to the topic, and highly recommend both.
Both are written by the team of John C. Stauber (Center for Media and Democracy) and Sheldon Rampton (PR Watch). you can check out their websites online: www.prwatch.org The first book is entitled "Toxic Sludge Is Good for you:Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry" while the second is entitled"Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With Your Future." Both books are fascinating reading, and summarize an enourmous amount of information, well-documented and with deep bibliographies for additional research. The smoking ban issue is not about "get your smoke out of my face" or "get your face out of my smoke." Rather, it is about an industry which calculates its losses in revenue from any restriction on smoking, and which hires the most expensive PR/Lobbyist/Law firms -- spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year -- to manipulate the political process and to decieve the public about every aspect of smoking. Ireland and Norway have successfully banned smoking in bars and pubs ***nationwide*** and Scotland and England are considering the same. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3765071.stm Big Tobacco funds The Cato Institute and a multitude of shifting pseudo-libertarian and phony "astroturf" grassroots groups, "think tanks" and "public policy" and "junk science" institutes with many millions of dollars a year -- all to weave a web of lies to support the tyranny of selling a toxic, addictive substance. Warren Buffet, once RJ Reynolds largest shareholder, said this: "I'll tell you why I like the cigarrette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty." Free market, indeed! Smokers rights, indeed! Try a market created and manipulated by killers in high places who kill the poor and dark-skinned first -- both as employees and as addicted victims, and then who kill the dumbed-down pro-sumers they cultivate like a cash-crop. Tyranny of a smoking ban, indeed! Try a tyranny of wealth and power which subverts and destroys the very fabric of democracy along with our physical health and well-being. The Mayors of St Paul and Minneapolis have caved in to Big Tobacco already. They are not afraid of democracy -- that has been subverted already. They fear only an industry that embodies the characteristics of an aggressive sociopath, and demands the same in our political leadership. -- pedaling off with my 7-year-old son on my trike -- off to the hardware store -- in Kingfield -- Gary Hoover 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
