Proposed smoking ban a sticky issue for gay bars.

Redrant: Umm! I don't have any reason to frequent gay bars but my urban Minneapolis Longfellow neighborhood has a significant number of gays and lesbians. Good neighbors but they mostly older GLBT's do tend to disproportionately smoke. One reason might be the bar culture and another is the low number of children they have.

My district's former state representative Alan Spear was was the first openly gay state level elected official in Minnesota, perhaps one of the first in the US. Spear retired a few years ago but I remember him as a strong supporter of the bar culture, and not just gay bars.

I talk mostly with "baby boomer" age gays and lesbians who are appalled by the "Nanny state" tactics in places like San Francisco with it "vanguard" smoking bans. I always thought that the gay rights movement was, to a high degree high jacked in a stealth manner by the far left Marxist/Socialist/prohibitionist types. BTW: I find that most of these older gays very easily take the "hint" that you are not gay. This might be an extreme case of the old maxim "politics makes for strange bedfellows". Greg Lang

http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_9591.php


From DallasVoice.com
TexasProposed smoking ban a sticky issue for gay barsBy John Wright - News EditorAug 14, 2008 - 8:27:08 PM
Dallas Tavern Guild forms committee to study pros and cons of prohibiting smoking


The bar at Throckmorton and Maple is the only Dallas Tavern Guild member club without a patio. - BEN BRISCOE/Dallas Voice

Gays are 40 to 70 percent more likely to smoke cigarettes than straight people, studies have shown. However, the LGBT community is also disproportionately affected by HIV, meaning it’s more vulnerable to the negative health impacts of secondhand smoke. At the same time, bars and clubs traditionally have played a huge role in gay culture.Given all this, it’s no surprise that a proposed ban on smoking inside their businesses is an extra-sticky issue for members of the Dallas Tavern Guild. “We don’t have one single club where either every customer smokes or no customer smokes,” said Michael Doughman, executive director of the Tavern Guild, an association of 20 local gay and lesbian bars. “It’s money out of their cash register either way they go, and that’s why they don’t want to be the one to make the statement.”

Although Tavern Guild members are reluctant to take a position on the proposed ban, they did decide Aug. 7 to set up a three-person committee charged with drafting a list of the association’s concerns. After it’s finalized in the next few weeks, Doughman said members will submit the list individually to their representatives on the Dallas City Council. Although the full council is expected to take up the proposed ban by the end of the year, it has yet to be publicly discussed by the quality of life and government services committee. “There are just a myriad of things that have no focus at this point, and we have no idea what the committee is writing, but we’re going to submit the issues that we think are important to us and would definitely impact our business,” Doughman said. “There’s just a laundry list of things we discussed.”

At the top of the Tavern Guild’s list is ensuring that outdoor patios are exempt from the ordinance. Only one bar that’s a member of the Tavern Guild, Illusions, is known to lack a patio. Other concerns include minimizing the distance from entrances and exits within which smoking is prohibited, allowing the sale of cigarettes by bars, and ensuring that the ordinance is uniformly enforced. Doughman said it’s likely that if all of the Tavern Guild’s issues are addressed, a majority of members will support the proposed ban. Still, despite pressure from city officials to do so, the Tavern Guild may not make a formal endorsement. It’s an issue of semantics that stems at least partly from the Tavern Guild’s decision to back a similar proposal five years ago.

The decision angered members who opposed the ban — which was eventually scaled back to include only restaurants — causing a rift within the association. “It’s not appropriate for me to lump all of my members into a blanket statement,” Doughman said, adding that he doesn’t plan to identify which members support the proposal. Alan Pierce, co-owner of the Round-Up Saloon and treasurer of the Tavern Guild, is heading up the committee formed by the association last week. Asked whether he supports the ban, Pierce would only say that he’s “open to it.”

However, he added that he believes the ban is inevitable because a majority of council members have expressed their support. “I think we’re all convinced that it’s probably going to happen,” Pierce said. “If it has to happen, we want to be on the inside track and have some say in the writing of the laws to help protect our smoking customers.”

Eddie Bonner, the owner of Illusions, is fighting the ban because he fears it would put him out of business. Bonner said there’s no room to add a patio at his four-year-old establishment on Maple Avenue, where he estimates that 90 percent of customers smoke. Nevertheless, Bonner said he plans to work with the Tavern Guild.

“My position really hasn’t changed any as far as being adamantly opposed to the whole thing, but this will at least give me an opportunity to have my concerns presented through an organization of other bars,” Bonner said. “It may carry a little bit more weight than speaking on my own behalf.”

Get informedFor more information on groups that are fighting the proposed ban on smoking in bars, go to www.myrightstexas.com. For information on the health impacts of smoking on the LGBT community, go to www.lgbthealth.net.
E-mail wright@dallasvoice.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 15, 2008

LETTER: Smoking bans a sign of a lazy politician

http://www.onalaskalife.com/articles/2008/08/14/opinion/evanslte.txt

Published - Thursday, August 14, 2008
LETTER: Smoking bans a sign of a lazy politician
By RYAN EVANS St. Croix Falls, Wis.

.This past weekend I found myself pondering the current surge in smoking bans, and more importantly the nature of the people who push so hard for them around the state. After all, this has become a very nonpartisan issue, yet the people involved all seemed to have something in common. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

And then I had an epiphany. They are lazy. All the pieces fit and it makes perfect sense. The groundwork for tobacco is already all laid out. It’s been public enemy No. 1 for so long that all one has to do is hitch one’s wagon to it and ride the wave.

With absolutely no effort whatsoever, a politician can make their mark by going after smokers and “big tobacco” and come out smelling like a rose. After all, now said politician can look like Mr. Compassion (it’s for the children), Mr. Community (it’s for public health), Mr. Labor (it’s for the workers), and Mr. Do Good (tobacco is bad, I’m good). And all this can come just from jumping on the great anti-tobacco movement.

Whatever happened to politicians actually working for the people who elected them? Is it too much to ask for our elected officials to do actual work and make a real difference in our state (or cities)?

Sure, we have got some serious problems to address in Wisconsin — and admittedly those problems will take hard work to shore up — but last time I checked we elected people to work for us, not for their own glory.

So the next time I hear an elected politician — whether in Madison or in a town hall — take up the smoking ban cause, the first thing that will come to mind is “lazy politician.”

British recycling leaflets show wrong Birmingham

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=333&sid=4011539
Redrant: The Nanny State at work. The local British authorities obviously have their "eyes in the gutter" looking for things like smoking ban violations so they failed o notice their cities own skyline. 430 venues have broken smoking ban. Greg Lang http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/07/02/430-indoor-venues-have-broken-smoking-ban-97319-21214391/

Wikepedia of Birmingham, UK with real skyline. click here

British recycling leaflets show wrong Birmingham August 14, 2008
By DAVID STRINGER Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) - Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham, has a new skyline _ only it belongs to its Alabama namesake. Birmingham City Council distributed 720,000 leaflets that praised residents for exceeding recycling targets, carrying a message that read: "Thank You Birmingham." The message appeared stamped across a photograph of the city's skyline. But the photo was not of Birmingham, England, but of Birmingham, Alabama.
It's the second time British officials have mistakenly used images of Birmingham, Alabama. Three lawmakers who represent Birmingham at the European Parliament accidentally used a picture of the U.S. city on their Internet site in January.
"I would have thought the council would take more care," said Birmingham resident Jon Cooper. "I can't believe no one at the town hall noticed."
Britain's Birmingham is famed for its modernist Bullring shopping mall, with its distinctive metallic curved exterior and an extensive network of canals, churches and historical buildings.
The Alabama city's skyline includes the Wachovia Tower, University of Alabama buildings and skyscrapers.
Officials said the wrong image was selected from an Internet photo archive.
"It's human error," said Birmingham City Council spokesman Kris Kowalewski. "We accept that the wrong photo was used, but the text and detail contained in the leaflet is wholly correct."
While the cities have wildly different skylines, there are many similarities between the two _ not least a proud industrial heritage.
Birmingham, Alabama _ known as the Magic City because of its rapid 20th century growth _ was founded on its steel industry. It took its name from the British manufacturing city known for making Jaguar cars and Cadburys chocolate. Both now have growing financial services sectors.
Both cities also share a history of racial tension. In Alabama, Birmingham was a center of 1960s civil rights protests by black Americans.
In Britain, Birmingham has struggled with divisions between black and South Asian communities, which led to violent riots in the 1980s and in 2005.
The British city _ whose sister city is Chicago _ has a population of 1 million. The Alabama city's population is roughly 230,000.
In Alabama, the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce didn't immediately respond to calls for comment Thursday.(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Nanny Nation from the NYT

August 6, 2008, 6:50 pm
Nanny Nation
SEATTLE — Here on the West Coast, we sort our garbage — or else. We rummage through our food scraps, just ahead of the worms. We take our little canvas bags to the grocery store lest we get caught with the embarrassment of a dreaded paper-or-plastic denouement, and the scorn of neighbors.

If we smoke cigarettes, we do it in the alley — huddled with the other losers. We’ve banned junk food from our school vending machines and soon — in 32 square miles of Los Angeles where a moratorium on new fast food restaurants will be in place — it will be treated like tobacco: the cheeseburger as death-wich.

We do this because we’re so-o-o-o virtuous, and our self-regard is tied to the size of our curbside proclamations. Mostly, we do it for others — the poor, the fat, the ill-informed. Of course, we would never smoke, or get caught finger-licking the extra-crispy runoff from KFC, or tossing a foil wrap in the trash.

Nearly every week brings news of another act of forced high-mindedness. Last week it was San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with a plan to start inspecting people’s garbage, on the lookout to find someone who may have let a banana peel slip into the trash. Before that it was Seattle, which will soon charge people 20 cents a bag in the grocery checkout line.

It’s not just us Left Coasters. New York has begun enforcing an ordinance that requires fast-food chains to post the caloric content of food on menus — in type as big as the menu item itself. How enticing: a fistful of calories on a bed of cholesterol, to go. Chicago, that city of deep-dish pizza and tailgate brats, has just been named the most meddlesome and restrictive in the country by the libertarian magazine Reason. Red states are more restrictive on sex and liquor; blue state prohibitionists tend to aim at garbage and tobacco. But as Reason noted, “Chicago gets moral prudery and public health fanaticism — the worst of both worlds.”

Seattle was only number two. We’ll show them in my fair city, once we have to start sorting our food scraps next year. And, playing catch-up, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels tried to ban lap dancers from moving within four feet of their customers, unleashing police with tape measures. The voters, mercifully, turned him down.

In Portland, Ore., which has somehow escaped excess civic nosiness, strip clubs proliferate in family-friendly neighborhoods, as commonplace as a burger hut. What’s more, you can drink and gamble in the clubs. The city is said to have more strip clubs per capita than any other in the country — including Las Vegas — in part because of Oregon’s liberal free speech provisions in the state constitution.And yet, the city, has low crime, uber-fit citizens, and it’s clean. They do it all by example, not mayoral fiat.

At a time when so many people are losing homes and jobs, and making tough decisions about whether to fill a gas tank or pay health insurance, city governments should avoid counting calories and dispatching garbage police.

Government should empower us — to use the word so favored by activists. Make sure our food is safe. When products kill, make companies pay. Show us the way to a cleaner garbage stream. Lead by example.

But then, leave us alone. These dictates and fines and inspectors — they only undermine larger efforts and encourage ridicule. Conservative talk radio on the West Coast would have to go silent without the fodder of strong-armed earnestness from city halls in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle this summer.

San Francisco already has one of the highest recycling rates in the country. Do they really need city inspectors out poking through the trash can? Besides, if you make a fruit forbidden, it only becomes more enticing. After Oakland schools banned junk food from vending machines, I went there to have a look at lunch hour. Lo and behold, students walked more than half-a-mile — a sprint, almost — to make it to the nearest mini-mart for their sugar highs and empty calories. At least the ban encouraged exercise.

If blades of grass or apple cores find their way into my garbage, I’m in trouble. But, ever thoughtful, Seattle officials have given me a way out. It’s now legal for city residents to own pygmy goats, which — we are told — can be used to process yard waste in an eco-friendly way.
Ba-a-a-ah.
http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/nanny-nation/?ex=1218859200&en=5ec1035f25ee8b20&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Tavern League of Minnesota Update.

Redrant: Last I heard the average actual BAC in Minnesota DUI arrest is 0.16. Statistically very few fatalities and serious accident involve BAB between .08 and .10 Minnesota was the lat state to pass the .08 limit and this was due to the treat of cutoff of federal funding. Greg Lang

From: kennrock@hotmail.comSubject: TLM Update August 8 2008Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2008 – WEEK OF AUGUST 4, 2008
ALCOHOL

Law Enforcement Officers Warn that Intoxication Begins Below .08%
In New Mexico, home to some of the strictest drunk driving laws in the country, there is no such thing as responsible consumption prior to driving. Here, (and in many other states) drivers can be convicted of DUI at levels far below the legal limit of .08% blood alcohol content (BAC). (Albuquerque Journal, NM) The trend toward stricter and stricter laws targeting responsible social drinkers means that some states are close to imposing a de facto zero tolerance policy towards any drinking before driving – or a beer while bowling.

Illinois’ Prosecutors Doubt New First Offender Interlock Law Will Have Much Effect
Illinois’ low-BAC first offender interlock law, which takes effect January 1, 2009, probably won’t do much to curb drunk driving, according to county prosecutors. (Jacksonville Journal-Courier, IL) The law will do more to create a market for interlocks than to address the state’s highway safety issues. Prior to the law’s passage, interlocks were required only for repeat offenders, who cause the majority of alcohol-related highway deaths.
FOOD

NYC Menu Labeling Law Exposes Restaurants to Lawsuits over Calorie Miscounts
New York City’s new menu labeling law doesn’t specify a margin of error for restaurant calorie counts. Those counts can change dramatically for a standard menu item; slight variances in the amount of ingredients used in meals can significantly change calorie counts. And that difference could put food retailers in the crosshairs of trial lawyers, like those suing Applebee’s and Chili’s for inaccurate nutrition information on their healthy options menus. (Gotham Gazette, NY)


Santa Clara Menu Labeling Law Challenged in Court
Santa Clara County’s (Silicon Valley, CA) new menu labeling ordinance, scheduled to go into effect September 1st, is being challenged in federal court by the California Restaurant Association (CRA). (Mercury News, CA) According to the CRA complaint, the measure (which applies only to chain foodservice outlets in unincorporated areas of the county) should be preempted by existing state and federal laws.
GAMING

Ohio Group Gathers Enough Signatures to Place Casino Proposal on November Ballot
MyOhioNow, a group working to bring a new casino to Southwest Ohio, has submitted twice the number of signatures necessary to place the proposal on the ballot. (Dayton Daily News, OH) The bid would restrict casino gambling to the proposed 5,000-slot and 150-table site in Clinton County. The Secretary of State’s office must now verify all the signatures before the issue can reach voters.

Massachusetts Legislature Adjourns, Governor Still Indecisive on Casino Plan
Commending this year’s “productive” legislative session, Gov. Deval Patrick (D) remains vague on whether he will reintroduce a casino proposal next year. (Boston Globe, MA) Though Gov. Patrick’s plan was killed in the state legislature earlier this year, he has spoken of another attempt to bring casinos into the state. He commissioned a study, released today, showing that three new casinos in the state would bring in about $700 million in revenue from gamblers in the Bay Area . (Capital 9 News)
LABOR/WAGE

Committee Kills California Paid Sick Leave Bill
The California Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected Assemblywoman Fiona Ma’s (D-San Francisco) paid sick leave mandate because of the high proposed costs. Both the costs of enforcement and state compensation to in-home workers were too expensive, especially with the state currently in a $15.2 billion budget deficit. (Los Angeles Times, CA)


SMOKING

Iowa Bar Owners Unsuccessful in Lawsuit to Stop Smoking Ban
A county judge has denied a coalition of bar owners a temporary restraining order on the statewide smoking ban that went into effect on July 1st. The judge did note, however, that the group has a “reasonable chance of succeeding” on the claim that the ban is not equally enforced on all types of businesses. (Associated Press) The group plans to continue pursuing the lawsuit.
Kenn Rockler, Executive DirectorBowling Proprietors Association of MN & The Tavern League of Minnesota235 Roselawn Avenue East Suite #17Maplewood, MN 55117On the web http://www.bpam.org/ or http://www.tavernleaguemn.org/BPAM Phone: 651-487-2141 or 1-800-622-7769Tavern League of Minnesota 651-487-2149 or 1-877-332-9257 Cell phone: 612-205-0110

Cigarette Tax Burnout August 11, 2008

Greg - Very interesting but not surprising. Can we post.
Thanks Sheila


Cigarette Tax BurnoutAugust 11, 2008

Politicians in Annapolis are scratching their heads wondering what happened to all those chain smokers who were supposed to help balance Maryland's budget. Last year the legislature doubled the cigarette tax to $2 a pack to pay for expanded health-care coverage. Eight months later, cigarette sales have plunged 25% and the state is in fiscal distress again.

A few pols are pretending to be happy that 30 million fewer cigarette packs have been bought in the state so far this year. As House Majority Leader Kumar Barve put it, fewer people smoking is "a good thing." Yes, except that Maryland may be losing retail sales more than smokers. Residents of Maryland's Washington suburbs can shop in nearby Virginia, where the tax is only 30 cents a pack, and save at least $15 per carton.

The Maryland pols are so afraid this is true that they've made it a crime for residents to carry two packs of cigarettes that weren't purchased in the state. In other words, the state says it's legal to smoke, so long as you use cigarettes that the government can tax and thus become a financial partner in your bad habit. But if you dare to buy smokes across state lines, you can be fined.

Maryland is only the latest state to prove the folly of trying to finance government with a tax on a shrinking pool of smokers. In New York City and State, tobacco taxes have been raised so many times that the retail cost can exceed $9 a pack -- about double the national average. Few budget-savvy smokers in the Big Apple pay that tax. Patrick Fleenor, an expert on tobacco taxes at the Tax Foundation, estimates that there is "now a 75% gap between cigarette sales in the city and cigarette consumption." In other words, three out of four cigarettes are bought elsewhere or are contraband. Out-of-state purchases, tax-free Internet sales and a cigarette black market are booming.

In New Jersey, about 40% of the Marlboros and Virginia Slims that are lit up escape the $2.57-a-pack tax. In Washington State, evasion was so rampant that the legislature decided in 2005 to lower the 75% tax on cigars and other tobacco products as a way to raise revenue and help state retailers.

Members of Congress, please take note. Democrats are planning one more pre-election go at a $35 billion children's health program expansion (S-chip) funded by a 61-cent per pack tobacco tax increase. They justify the new levy as a "sin tax." OK, but if Americans don't start sinning a whole lot more, states and Uncle Sam are going to go broke.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121841215866128319.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

Update on my $50 refundable campaign donation.

After a week I didn't hear back from Dave Shegstad but it could have been an email glitch. I sent a $50 check instead to the campaign for Adam Steele who is a very strong opponent of the bar smoking ban. I mailed the $50 check on Monday and received a reply with the forms needed to get a response in the Friday mail. This is a prompt response. It included personal response. I am using a new computer without OCR software but the letter reaffirmed Adam Steele's very strong support for changing the bar smoking ban.

Here are web pages I found with information on Adam Steele and his candidacy. http://northernherald.finalhost.net/campsite.pdf
http://northernherald.finalhost.net/
http://northernherald.com

Here is the Tavern League's page on the Campaign Donation refund. http://www.tavernleaguemn.org/PCR.htm
Here is the official State of Minnesota page.
http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/individ/other_supporting_content/political_contrib_refund.shtml

To reiterate the basics. You must be a resident of Minnesota but you do not have to donate to a candidate (or political group) in your district. I once donated to a Democratic challenger in Burnsville, and got my refund. On off years in the past I have made this donation to the state Republican party but I have had second thoughts about this. Not matter how explicitly you tell them that this will be the only contribution that year they will still call seeking more. I've had people tell it's the same with the Democratic donations. Besides, it seems more effective to give to an individual candidate, especially one who shares your views. Adam Steele is running for district 4A in Bemidji and I live in Minneapolis. This is a perfectly legal and acceptable way to give the refundable donation.

Some ground rules and caveats. The candidate has to agree to campaign spending limits to be eligible and must be running for a Minnesota constitutional office or be a Minnesota political party. What this means is that you won't be eligible for a refund if you donate to the "Paris Hilton for President" campaign http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d . The National congressional campaigns are not eligible either.

Basically local is better. Adam Steele is eligible. If you send a check to any candidate for this write "refundable MN political contribution" on the check. If the candidate did not agree they are required to send the check back. Again, Adam Steele sent me the refund material back promptly so he is definitely eligible.

Send a note with your concerns to the candidate. This is why it is better to donate to an individual candidate. Adam Steele sent me a personalised reply. $50/$100 means a lot to these candidates and raising basic money will make them eligible for further campaign financing.

One important caveat is that if you owe municipalities in Minnesota or the State of Minnesota debts, fines and penalties the $50/100 refund can be seized for this. This could conceivably include unpaid first half property taxes and other taxes in arrears. The second half property taxes are not due until (I think) October 15 so these are non in arrears. Basically, if you got your state and federal tax refunds and economic stimulus checks intact and haven't received arrears notices since then you should be OK. They cross check for arrears child support but again if you got your refunds you should be OK.

The donations must be monetary, not goods or services. That a technical point but it makes sense.

That said, it is a very good program and I highly recommend donations to Adam Steele. He has a long history of aggressively fighting the bar smoking bans so he could be a valuable asset if elected.

Basically your "cost" for this donation is two stamps. One is to mail the check and the other is to mail in the application for the refund. The Sate of Minnesota will refund your $50 to $100 within six weeks if you meek the criteria. It is not difficult.

The refundable limit is $50 for and individual and $100 for a married couple. This can only be done once per calendar year. It is designed to increase citizen influence in government. $50/100 won't "buy" much influence but it helps support the candidates who support your beliefs.

The bar/tavern culture is under assault from the same "global warming" politicians and bureaucrats who believe that if they can drive energy prices up high enough we will all embrace their "Potekem Village" alternative energy fantasies. (MY father ran an electric power plant so I know energy realities, see my http://fourfiftygas.com/) A good way to fight back is with the $50/100 refundable MN campaign contribution.

Note to other candidate favoring a MN bar smoking ban revision. Email me through the http://freedomtoact.com/ email link or snail mail me at the address on the far right of http://freedomtoact.com/ and I will publish you comments upon verification.

Again, this is a very good program. If people want to help save our American bar/tavern culture they have to do more than gripe. We can all afford two stamps.