My problem with the no-smoking ban is once again the chipping away of personal individual freedoms. I'm an asthmatic nonsmoker - always have been - but I take exception with this city regulating smoking in privately owned (albeit public) businesses. If I were a business owner of a small pub or bar, I sure wouldn't want the government telling me that my customers couldn't smoke there. I agree with Michael that if one doesn't want to inhale second hand smoke then don't go there.
I'm also agree that we can't be comparing the murder of ~6 million people to municipal problems, however there are some similarities in the mentality of officials here in Minneapolis and mid-century Germany. About 25 years ago I worked for a wonderful German Jewish man who escaped from Nazi Germany in 1939. The only times I saw him lose his cool was when he was up against the IRS (he was a CPA) - then he would go crazy about "The Rules, The Rules, The Rules". He couldn't stand bureaucratic control - I guess he lived a bit of it trying to navigate for his life. I have lived all over the United States and have been here about ten years. I find this town to be inflexible and exceptionally "rule oriented." I have often used the analogy of this town's officials as being "a bunch of Nazis" when I hear about some new plan to limit or regulate. I find it ironic that some of our European puritanistic ancestors fled to the "New World" to escape inflexible rules & regs back in England and France - I guess their descendants are making up for it now. Elizabeth Cohen --- http://USFamily.Net/dialup.html - $8.25/mo! -- http://www.usfamily.net/dsl.html - $19.99/mo! --- REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
