Sheila: Theater Night Update 8-5-08

Hello Everyone -

Things didn't go so well for Iowa. Again, the supposedly "health" issue of SHS trumps everything else. Just as the "health" issue of obesity will "trump" all of our rights, espeically parents. Before long, social services will be knocking on your door and saying your a bad parent if your child's weight doesn't fall within THEIR guidelines and who knows what consequences you will face when they come knocking. It needs to stop! This is election year...lets make a difference!

Mark Benjamin is writing up his brief for the appellate court. He has 60 days to submit. I am still working on "theater nights" but unable to publish details at this point.

From Shawn (http://banthebanminnesota.com/default.aspx)
I've posted another district scorecard for District 7A, which covers part of Duluth. It's also Tom Huntley's District, who is one of the reps we can all thank for the smoking ban. Ryan Stauber is running against him, and he could use help. So, remember the PCR contributions, and let's help Ryan to win. Click here to go to the blog and the scorecard.


Have a Great Day!
Sheila



Iowa News on Smoking Ban Trial

Judge won't overturn smoking ban
By Rod Boshart
The Gazetterod.boshart@gazettecommunications.com
DES MOINES - A district judge ruled today that a coalition of bar owners failed to provide a convincing claim that a new law banning smoking in most public places should be stopped from being enforced.Polk County District Judge Douglas Staskal refused to issue a temporary injunction to halt the implementation of Iowa's "smoke-free air act," which has been in place since July 1.Disgruntled bar owners argued the new state law is "bizarre," burdensome and unconstitutional in its application and enforcement.However, the district judge ruled the bar owners failed to show the smoking ban is causing irreparable harm to Iowa businesses, and that the overarching goal of improving health for the general public and employees in establishments where smoking had been permitted outweigh other concerns.The attorney who represented the bar owners nor members of the Iowa Bar Owners' Coalition could not be reached for comment on today's ruling denying the request for a temporary restraining order to block the smoking ban.
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080804/NEWS/134936664/1006/news



From Our Friends in Hawaii
Pro-smoking campaign gains power against Goliath
In recent months it has been reported that Hawaii visitor arrivals have fallen 7 to 10 percent during the last year alone. This translates into hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for the state, affecting every one of us in some way.
On the Net:» thesmokevote.com
» hawaiismokersalliance.com In December 2006, less than one month after the Hawaii's smoking ban went into effect, we predicted that tourism numbers would dramatically drop, especially from the Japan market. Gov. Linda Lingle and her administration, as well as many lawmakers laughed at us. They chose instead to believe the anti-smoking fanatics and their mantra, "the smoking ban will be good for our economy."
In January 2007, just one month later, the slide began, way before today's convenient excuses of airline closures, fuel charges, mortgage meltdowns, exploding gas prices and the plummeting dollar, just to name a few. Sadly, we are now nearing the 24th month of consecutive decline in Japan numbers. Isn't it odd that Japan outbound tourism is up more than 5 percent? They're going somewhere. Hello! The painting rosy of a bad picture by the Hawaii Tourism Authority is laughable. Do we look that stupid? It's like spray painting a pile of poo with pink paint hoping nobody recognizes what it really is.
Lawmakers will pay for ignoring our efforts this last session. All we asked for was a reasonable compromise, allowing for exemptions for bars that request one (with fees for the exemption license going towards a statewide organ donor awareness campaign). Lawmakers pass unjust laws for one reason ... they do not fear a particular voting block. That will soon change.
Our Web sites now feature "The Red List," showing every lawmaker and how each stood on this issue of freedom of choice. A thumbs-up or a thumbs-down emblem is next to every picture. Smoker voters can now have the last say; they will vote with appreciation or with vengeance. The sleeping smoking giant is finally awakening.
At the beginning of our campaign two years ago, we were the laughingstock of the Capitol. Our opposition brushed us off publicly as nothing but a handful of scofflaws. Today, the Hawaii movement has become a story in USA Today, CNN and the BBC, just to name a few. Every day across the nation, bars are joining the national resistance in "defiant-compliance" against smoking bans. Much mahalos to the more than three dozen lawmakers who have supported our cause. And to our Goliath opposition ... never ever under estimate the power of many little Davids ... poke eye.
David Kawika Crowley and Jolyn Tenn are Oahu residents.


Visit www.freedomtoact.com to view the entire articles listed below:

British "fat police" now "going to the dogs".
"When the RSPCA discovered Rusty, a 161-pound Labrador, it took his owners to court. The judge likened poor old Rusty to a walrus, and fined his feeders $2,000." (read entire article at www.freedomtoact.com)

Montgomery, Attorney In Tobacco Lawsuit, Dies
PALM BEACH (CBS4) ― Florida's lead attorney in an $11-billion lawsuit against US tobacco companies died Sunday night at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. Robert Montgomery Jr. of Palm Beach, who helped win the landmark case, was 78. (read entire article at www.freedomtoact.com)


Anti-tobacco lawyer Scruggs reports to Ky. prison
(read entire article at www.freedomtoact.com)

Health: Official letters to warn parents if their child is obese or overweight
· Initiative forms part of plan to tackle epidemic · Ministers say words 'fat' or 'obese' should be avoided
Parents in England will for the first time be routinely informed if a child is clinically overweight under controversial plans to tackle an epidemic of obesity that were announced yesterday by the Department of Health.
Ministers have ruled that letters to parents should not use the words "fat" or "obese" for fear they might stigmatise overweight children and cause families to ignore the results.
But the government has decided that parents ought to know if a child's weight is well above the healthy norm, carrying a greater risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer in later life, so that they can change the child's diet or lifestyle.
The move was welcomed by public health campaigners, but it attracted criticism from the National Obesity Forum, which said the government's decision to avoid using the word obese was "prissy and namby-pamby". (read entire article at www.freedomtoact.com)