Hello Everyone -
Just another quick update. Below are articles (with their respective links) about yesterday's court case. Sometime later today Mark Benjamin's summary of the court proceedings will be posted on www.freedomtoact.com
Ready on the set.....
Act One ...Take 2!
Enjoy!!
Minnesota Court Hearing (Forces Website with comments from Robert in the article)7th May 2008http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1097
Smokers Exercise Their Rights in Minnesota (Forces Website)
6th May 2008
http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1092
Smoking ban drama gets a new actor: District judge (Star & Tribune)
Scott County judge will give one of the first court interpretations of law that bars skirt with "theater nights."
By MARY LYNN SMITH, Star Tribune
Last update: May 6, 2008 - 8:19 PM
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/18710494.html
Scott County bar's 'theatrical' smoking case goes to court (Pioneer Press)
Proprietors statewide eyeing Elko case; judge to rule within days on state's request for injunction
By Jason Hoppin jhoppin@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 05/06/2008 11:28:51 PM CDT
http://www.twincities.com/ci_9174672?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Theater Night Update 5-6-08 Court Case
Hello Everyone -
Everything went well in court today. The judge will rule on the injunction in 7-10 days but has requested a trial with testimony before he will rule on the "legality" issue. Mark Benjamin will be writing up a small summary tomorrow and have it posted on the www.freedomtoact.com website. The judge wants to expedite this case and asked each attorney what a reasonable date for them would be....so it appears that sometime in June it will be re-scheduled for trial. Reporters from both the Pioneer Press and Star & Tribune were there....so watch for their articles in tomorrow's papers.
Sheila
Everything went well in court today. The judge will rule on the injunction in 7-10 days but has requested a trial with testimony before he will rule on the "legality" issue. Mark Benjamin will be writing up a small summary tomorrow and have it posted on the www.freedomtoact.com website. The judge wants to expedite this case and asked each attorney what a reasonable date for them would be....so it appears that sometime in June it will be re-scheduled for trial. Reporters from both the Pioneer Press and Star & Tribune were there....so watch for their articles in tomorrow's papers.
Sheila
Smoke Shack provision removed from budget bill. Bills to ammend FOB still technically alive.
Note: "Smoke Shack" provision is separate from bills to change the so called "Freedom to Breath"act. Greg Lang
Hello Everyone -
Just a quick update. In case you hadn't heard, the "smoke shack" amendment was stripped out of the bill last week. Only a short time remains of the legislative session and if nothing happens there it will surely happen in November....election time to be exact! You know, things are heating up around the country and across the pond. People are getting pretty tired of the "nanny" laws. I have copied a few articles below from the Forces website. We are now joining hands all across the world to combat this assault on our personal freedoms....Germany is doing a great job against the anti's and in the UK they are taking their battle to the polls. All is not lost...it has only just begun!!! Enough is enough and I hope you legislators are listening. The American Cancer Society and American Lung Association may have oodles of money but all of us have the power of our votes. Come this November we will put them to good use and it doesn't cost us anything!!
Article One with link:
http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1087
SUNDAY EXTRA - The Aldebaran TreatyJohn Gray4th May 2008
A landmark agreement amongst anti-prohibition advocates has been established at a summit meeting in Holland.
During the last few days covering the 1st to the 3rd May a group of people gathered for a Summit meeting on board the Aldebaran, an old sailing ship docked at the small port of Hoorn, in Holland. (Hoorn is fairly close to Amsterdam.) The purpose of this Summit was twofold: firstly to establish the existence of the International Coalition Against Prohibition (ICAP), and secondly, to plan for the 1st International Conference Against Prohibition intended to take place either in mid-autumn of this year or early next year.We are pleased to announce that the Memorandum and Articles for ICAP were successfully agreed and signed by an international body of subscribers and the document will now move forward to Companies House (UK) where ICAP will be registered as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. This has been a significant agreement between national representatives, many of whom had never met before, which will be known from now on as The Aldebaran Treaty.Planning for the International Conference will also go ahead although there is an enormous amount of careful and painstaking work necessary to that planning.As representatives of European and transatlantic nations and organisations we are now bound in solidarity against smoking bans and the many other damaging prohibitions that are lucrative to special interests and crassly fashionable amongst followers of "political correctness" in today's world of scientific fraud and political stupidity, where adults are treated as children, and freedom of choice is under threat. Furthermore, although all our strategies and objectives have not been fully agreed or aligned, as much of this will be decided at the coming International Conference, we now have the vehicle with which to coöperate, nation with nation, and this coöperation has already started. Also, as a result of the Summit, one of the participants — the well-known British publican and freedom fighter Nick Hogan — has already been invited to Brussels by a British MEP in order to lobby and network.Countries represented by the signatories of ICAP's governing document include: England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Italy, America and Canada.Organisations represented at the Summit were:Freedom to Choose (UK)Freedom to Choose (Scotland)Forces InternationalForces ItalyForces HollandForces GermanyDaRy (Denmark)The Danish Smokers' PartyThe Party Against Nannyism (Holland)Smokers' Interest (Holland)The Association of Dutch Coffee ShopsThe Hungarian Association of Smokers' SocietiesWe are on the march and will not stop now!
Article Two with link:
http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1058
What Pub Landlords Say30th April 2008
Freedom 2 Choose of England has asked British pub owners what they think of the smoking ban.
The British pub industry has been devastated by the smoking ban. Thousands of pubs have closed since last July and the toll keeps increasing by dozens every week. Poll results are interesting. The landlords (pub operators, also referred to in Britain as publicans) by a margin of ninety-eight to two put the blame squarely on the ban. Although the “hazards of secondhand smoke” touted by prohibitionists are an absolute fraud the propaganda has managed to scare more than half of the publicans, who nevertheless tended to believe risks had been exaggerated, and that alternative solutions such as ventilation had been impudently dismissed by prohibitionist legislators.
Fully 97% of publicans feel that government is contemptuous of their industry (Link 1) (Link 2) while 96% expect still more restrictions. In result, according to the Morning Advertiser, support for the shrinking Labour party is down to a microscopic 3% amongst pub operators, while an imposing 65% of the publicans have by now come to align themselves with the expanding United Kingdom Independence Party, the only party in Britain supporting reversal of the smoking ban. One publican explained: “I would vote for whichever party reassessed the smoking ban.”The strikingly dramatic change in voting patterns is more than understandable and likely to spread as awareness of the horrific consequences of eugenic technocracy reaches ever more sectors of the populace. Real change will further require more organization, communication within and beyond our movement, massive resistance, defiance, and demonstrations leading to social disruption that cannot be ignored. We are up against the devil himself in this.
The Labour Party Mayor of London was just defeated. Greg Lang
Article Three with link:
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=16&storycode=59575&c=2
Pete Robinson: German ban goes up in smoke
29 April, 2008
By Pete Robinson
There's a war going on in Germany, and this time they're winning.I'm talking about the German smoking ban, currently jammed firmly in reverse gear. Angela Merkel's government has faithfully copied the tactics employed by our own beloved Nu-Labour - lies, propaganda and junk science - yet they've failed miserably in theface of people-power.Remember when we were being told our pubs had nothing to fear from the smoking ban? How commercially successful it had been in Ireland and the USA, where bars were teeming with 'new' customers?In my discussions with German landlords and their customers, when I inform them of the damage it's doing to our own licenced trade I'm always met with gobsmacked, shocked surprise. "No-oooo! You Englishers WANTED your smoking ban! Your pubs are all very busy now, we know this. Ya?"They're being spoon-fed the same diet of State-sponsored bull***t that we were. They are told we Brits have all 'embraced' our ban, that our pubs and clubs have never been so busy, and that most smokers are giving up the weed as a direct result.Amazingly they have all heard of the "Scottish Miracle", where heart attacks were virtually wiped out within one year of Scotland's smoking ban. I always said that lie would run and run - now we're exporting it.The Germans blame you and me for their smoking ban, believing it's us Brits who are arrogantly imposing our current obsession with health matters on the rest of Europe. If only they knew the truth. All I could do was bleat on about... yes, we have meekly accepted the ban without putting up a fight but under our elected dictatorship we had little choice. "Ve vere only following orders. For us ze var ist over".But the Germans are made of sterner stuff and their smoking ban has a troubled history. In 2006 Angela Merkel's government introduced a nationwide blanket smoking ban. Within days it was humiliatingly repealed following massive public outcry and a series of legal challenges. You see the German people are constitutionally protected from State-imposed unpopular laws, originally to protect them from any Nazi resurgence. So the ban was passed on for decision at local level in Germany's 16 different states.The end result has been a patchwork quilt of watered-down restrictions which has thrown up all sorts of daft anomalies. In a small town near Trier, for example, I found a Shisha Cafe next door to a large, traditional tavern where smoking was banned. The owner told me his wet sales had plummeted by 50% as customers had simply moved to the town's smaller bars where smoking was permitted. In fact most states have opted for 'soft' smoking restrictions, where larger premises need merely to provide separate smoking and non-smoking rooms.Bavaria had introduced the harshest bans, with smoking even banned inside the vast drinking tents of the annual Oktoberfest. Hardly surprising as the state is governed by the sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.However last month Bavarian voters gave them an absolute roasting in the local elections, barely two months after the ban was introduced. Now those same, previously 'anti' politicians are back-pedalling furiously having decided they now hate smoking bans. Indoor smoking is already back on at the Oktoberfest, also in Munich and Nuremberg's historical brauhouses. Exemptions still in the pipeline will include fairer rules for most bars and even some restaurants.This bizarre spectacle has been nervously scrutinised by other hard-line states who are moving heaven and earth to soften their restrictions. In Berlin enforcement of their ban has been deferred until August while, following court action by a consortium of bar owners, small bars are to be exempt provided they display signs to warn customers they are entering a smoking venue.Similar court cases are being heard all over Germany, much to the chagrin of German antis. Otmar Wiestler, leader of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, their equivalent of our CRUK) is enraged at this turn of events. "We are miles away from implementing comprehensive protection for non-smokers," said Wiestler. Despite the positive news there are a great many German landlords losing out through this uncertainty. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), which actively rallies against the ban, has released a report claiming that 58 percent of their member establishments have seen a sharp drop in business in 2008.Uli Stegmaier, a Berlin barkeeper and father of five children, hanged himself last month having left a suicide note blaming the new public smoking ban for his decision.Significantly ASH-uk highlighted this in their daily bulletin, as if it were something to gloat about.But in general the anti-ban lobby are tipping the scales. There are regular demonstrations where thousands of bar owners march to raise awareness of their fears.What I can't help but notice is a sense of unity about what they are doing. There are very few pubcos in Germany so representative bodies reflect the bar owner's interests, not the misguided greed of men-in-suits.German 'community bar' owners have mobilised their customers who are only too willing to support them. Petitions abound everywhere and they are quite prepared to "fight them on the beaches". Plus Germany has no equivalent of ASH, the obsessive, powerful state-sponsored 'charity' with a vested interest in the decimation of our pubs. Antis have far linfluence in Germany where the words 'majority opinion' aren't considered offensive.Which begs the question we must all ask ourselves: if the Germans can fight to successfully gain a fair interpretation of anti-smoking laws at what point will we follow suit?When we've lost half of our pubs? Two-thirds? Or never?
Hello Everyone -
Just a quick update. In case you hadn't heard, the "smoke shack" amendment was stripped out of the bill last week. Only a short time remains of the legislative session and if nothing happens there it will surely happen in November....election time to be exact! You know, things are heating up around the country and across the pond. People are getting pretty tired of the "nanny" laws. I have copied a few articles below from the Forces website. We are now joining hands all across the world to combat this assault on our personal freedoms....Germany is doing a great job against the anti's and in the UK they are taking their battle to the polls. All is not lost...it has only just begun!!! Enough is enough and I hope you legislators are listening. The American Cancer Society and American Lung Association may have oodles of money but all of us have the power of our votes. Come this November we will put them to good use and it doesn't cost us anything!!
Article One with link:
http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1087
SUNDAY EXTRA - The Aldebaran TreatyJohn Gray4th May 2008
A landmark agreement amongst anti-prohibition advocates has been established at a summit meeting in Holland.
During the last few days covering the 1st to the 3rd May a group of people gathered for a Summit meeting on board the Aldebaran, an old sailing ship docked at the small port of Hoorn, in Holland. (Hoorn is fairly close to Amsterdam.) The purpose of this Summit was twofold: firstly to establish the existence of the International Coalition Against Prohibition (ICAP), and secondly, to plan for the 1st International Conference Against Prohibition intended to take place either in mid-autumn of this year or early next year.We are pleased to announce that the Memorandum and Articles for ICAP were successfully agreed and signed by an international body of subscribers and the document will now move forward to Companies House (UK) where ICAP will be registered as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. This has been a significant agreement between national representatives, many of whom had never met before, which will be known from now on as The Aldebaran Treaty.Planning for the International Conference will also go ahead although there is an enormous amount of careful and painstaking work necessary to that planning.As representatives of European and transatlantic nations and organisations we are now bound in solidarity against smoking bans and the many other damaging prohibitions that are lucrative to special interests and crassly fashionable amongst followers of "political correctness" in today's world of scientific fraud and political stupidity, where adults are treated as children, and freedom of choice is under threat. Furthermore, although all our strategies and objectives have not been fully agreed or aligned, as much of this will be decided at the coming International Conference, we now have the vehicle with which to coöperate, nation with nation, and this coöperation has already started. Also, as a result of the Summit, one of the participants — the well-known British publican and freedom fighter Nick Hogan — has already been invited to Brussels by a British MEP in order to lobby and network.Countries represented by the signatories of ICAP's governing document include: England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Italy, America and Canada.Organisations represented at the Summit were:Freedom to Choose (UK)Freedom to Choose (Scotland)Forces InternationalForces ItalyForces HollandForces GermanyDaRy (Denmark)The Danish Smokers' PartyThe Party Against Nannyism (Holland)Smokers' Interest (Holland)The Association of Dutch Coffee ShopsThe Hungarian Association of Smokers' SocietiesWe are on the march and will not stop now!
Article Two with link:
http://forces.org/News_Portal/news_viewer.php?id=1058
What Pub Landlords Say30th April 2008
Freedom 2 Choose of England has asked British pub owners what they think of the smoking ban.
The British pub industry has been devastated by the smoking ban. Thousands of pubs have closed since last July and the toll keeps increasing by dozens every week. Poll results are interesting. The landlords (pub operators, also referred to in Britain as publicans) by a margin of ninety-eight to two put the blame squarely on the ban. Although the “hazards of secondhand smoke” touted by prohibitionists are an absolute fraud the propaganda has managed to scare more than half of the publicans, who nevertheless tended to believe risks had been exaggerated, and that alternative solutions such as ventilation had been impudently dismissed by prohibitionist legislators.
Fully 97% of publicans feel that government is contemptuous of their industry (Link 1) (Link 2) while 96% expect still more restrictions. In result, according to the Morning Advertiser, support for the shrinking Labour party is down to a microscopic 3% amongst pub operators, while an imposing 65% of the publicans have by now come to align themselves with the expanding United Kingdom Independence Party, the only party in Britain supporting reversal of the smoking ban. One publican explained: “I would vote for whichever party reassessed the smoking ban.”The strikingly dramatic change in voting patterns is more than understandable and likely to spread as awareness of the horrific consequences of eugenic technocracy reaches ever more sectors of the populace. Real change will further require more organization, communication within and beyond our movement, massive resistance, defiance, and demonstrations leading to social disruption that cannot be ignored. We are up against the devil himself in this.
The Labour Party Mayor of London was just defeated. Greg Lang
Article Three with link:
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=16&storycode=59575&c=2
Pete Robinson: German ban goes up in smoke
29 April, 2008
By Pete Robinson
There's a war going on in Germany, and this time they're winning.I'm talking about the German smoking ban, currently jammed firmly in reverse gear. Angela Merkel's government has faithfully copied the tactics employed by our own beloved Nu-Labour - lies, propaganda and junk science - yet they've failed miserably in theface of people-power.Remember when we were being told our pubs had nothing to fear from the smoking ban? How commercially successful it had been in Ireland and the USA, where bars were teeming with 'new' customers?In my discussions with German landlords and their customers, when I inform them of the damage it's doing to our own licenced trade I'm always met with gobsmacked, shocked surprise. "No-oooo! You Englishers WANTED your smoking ban! Your pubs are all very busy now, we know this. Ya?"They're being spoon-fed the same diet of State-sponsored bull***t that we were. They are told we Brits have all 'embraced' our ban, that our pubs and clubs have never been so busy, and that most smokers are giving up the weed as a direct result.Amazingly they have all heard of the "Scottish Miracle", where heart attacks were virtually wiped out within one year of Scotland's smoking ban. I always said that lie would run and run - now we're exporting it.The Germans blame you and me for their smoking ban, believing it's us Brits who are arrogantly imposing our current obsession with health matters on the rest of Europe. If only they knew the truth. All I could do was bleat on about... yes, we have meekly accepted the ban without putting up a fight but under our elected dictatorship we had little choice. "Ve vere only following orders. For us ze var ist over".But the Germans are made of sterner stuff and their smoking ban has a troubled history. In 2006 Angela Merkel's government introduced a nationwide blanket smoking ban. Within days it was humiliatingly repealed following massive public outcry and a series of legal challenges. You see the German people are constitutionally protected from State-imposed unpopular laws, originally to protect them from any Nazi resurgence. So the ban was passed on for decision at local level in Germany's 16 different states.The end result has been a patchwork quilt of watered-down restrictions which has thrown up all sorts of daft anomalies. In a small town near Trier, for example, I found a Shisha Cafe next door to a large, traditional tavern where smoking was banned. The owner told me his wet sales had plummeted by 50% as customers had simply moved to the town's smaller bars where smoking was permitted. In fact most states have opted for 'soft' smoking restrictions, where larger premises need merely to provide separate smoking and non-smoking rooms.Bavaria had introduced the harshest bans, with smoking even banned inside the vast drinking tents of the annual Oktoberfest. Hardly surprising as the state is governed by the sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.However last month Bavarian voters gave them an absolute roasting in the local elections, barely two months after the ban was introduced. Now those same, previously 'anti' politicians are back-pedalling furiously having decided they now hate smoking bans. Indoor smoking is already back on at the Oktoberfest, also in Munich and Nuremberg's historical brauhouses. Exemptions still in the pipeline will include fairer rules for most bars and even some restaurants.This bizarre spectacle has been nervously scrutinised by other hard-line states who are moving heaven and earth to soften their restrictions. In Berlin enforcement of their ban has been deferred until August while, following court action by a consortium of bar owners, small bars are to be exempt provided they display signs to warn customers they are entering a smoking venue.Similar court cases are being heard all over Germany, much to the chagrin of German antis. Otmar Wiestler, leader of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, their equivalent of our CRUK) is enraged at this turn of events. "We are miles away from implementing comprehensive protection for non-smokers," said Wiestler. Despite the positive news there are a great many German landlords losing out through this uncertainty. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), which actively rallies against the ban, has released a report claiming that 58 percent of their member establishments have seen a sharp drop in business in 2008.Uli Stegmaier, a Berlin barkeeper and father of five children, hanged himself last month having left a suicide note blaming the new public smoking ban for his decision.Significantly ASH-uk highlighted this in their daily bulletin, as if it were something to gloat about.But in general the anti-ban lobby are tipping the scales. There are regular demonstrations where thousands of bar owners march to raise awareness of their fears.What I can't help but notice is a sense of unity about what they are doing. There are very few pubcos in Germany so representative bodies reflect the bar owner's interests, not the misguided greed of men-in-suits.German 'community bar' owners have mobilised their customers who are only too willing to support them. Petitions abound everywhere and they are quite prepared to "fight them on the beaches". Plus Germany has no equivalent of ASH, the obsessive, powerful state-sponsored 'charity' with a vested interest in the decimation of our pubs. Antis have far linfluence in Germany where the words 'majority opinion' aren't considered offensive.Which begs the question we must all ask ourselves: if the Germans can fight to successfully gain a fair interpretation of anti-smoking laws at what point will we follow suit?When we've lost half of our pubs? Two-thirds? Or never?
Monday, May 5, 2008
Shiela Kromer: Re: Theater Night Update 5-5-08
Also, first BullsEye/Robert Ripley court action tomorrow, Tuesday. 9:00 AM at the Scott County Courthouse. Phone: (952) 496-8200 (Good Idea to call ahead) Greg Lang
Hello Everyone -
It was a great time at the Bullseye Saloon fund raiser on Saturday. The weather was wonderful and the performance was great by all who participated. Sue from Polish Palace (Sobieski), Buggs from Bugg's Place (So. St.Paul), and Birdie from Bird's Nest (Garrison) were present and a big thank-you for coming! Thanks to all the performers (smoking and non-smoking) that participated and donated to the Defense Fund. We are getting closer to our goal (75%) but not quite there yet. A special thanks to the band "4-On-The-Floor" and Shawn & Jessie for all there help!
- Video of the Bullseye Event can be viewed on Shawn's website (donations can also be made here):
http://www.freedomfight08.com/
- Speech written by Mark Benjamin.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS
Four score and four nights ago Minnesota’s bar owners brought forth on this state a new art form, Theater Night, conceived in creativity and dedicated to the proposition that all smokers are created free and equal.
Now we are engaged in a great legal war, testing whether that art form, or any art form, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, Bullseye Saloon. We have come to dedicate this bar, as a freedom-loving place of patriotism for those who lit up so that others might smoke. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this bar. The brave people, smokers and non-smokers, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget that we smoked here. It is for us, the smokers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who smoked here before have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored smokers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these smokers shall not have smoked in vain – that Theater Night in Minnesota shall have a new birth of freedom – and that Theater Night of the smokers, by the smokers, for the smokers shall not perish from this state.
- Comments from the MinnPost Article (In case you haven't read these. Also, Mr. Moffit...you should consider using spell check - you spelled "lousey" wrong....it should be lousy. And your a big time Communications Director..tsk..tsk..)
Link to article:
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/comments_stories/?blog_post_id=1585#comments_section
Comments to article:
1) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse....
(2) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Robert Moffitt says:
http://lungmn.org/
"People are under economic stress and they don't have their regular watering hole to go to." Actually, they do. They are all smoke free now. In spite of the lousey weather this weekend, Spring is coming, and all smokers need do is move to the exit and enjoy their cigarette al fresco, providing a safer and healthier environment inside for the hospitality workers, musicians and patrons who work there.We have seen these type of cheap theatrics before, and as Judith mentioned, they always fail.I'm a Minnesotan -- a veteran and a regular Joe (well, a regular Bob) who enjoys the VFW AND the Guthrie. See my counter to Mr. Benjamin's points on this KSTP-TV story:http://kstp.com/article/stories/S368429.shtml?cat=206Bob MoffittCommunications DirectorAmerican Lung Association of Minnesota
(3) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Rik Lynn says:
Judy and Bob seem to think this theater night scheme is just a way for business owners to get around the smoking ban for the short term and then, assuming the courts rule against them, they will just shut up, take their financial losses like good little citizens, and bow down to the state.None of these proprieters harbor illusions about continuing this scheme indefinitely. They know something will have to give.I can assure you that the theater exemption is just the crack in the door that they now have their foot firmly wedged into. It has opened the door for a ton of favorable publicity and some pretty impressive fund raising.This isn't gonna just go away if the courts rule against them, or even if they rule in their favor for that matter.A favorable (for the bars) theater exemption ruling will force the legislature to re-open the FTBA to get rid of the exemption and all sorts of havoc could result from that.I think the fun is just beginning.
(4) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gregory Lang says:
http://freedomtoact.com/
(1) On April 28, 2008, Gerald Abrahamson says: If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse...."Actually, there is no such thing as a as a "city-issued licence as a live production playhouse."If you have events open to the public a city can enforce reasonable fire and safety ordinances. This is reasonable in light of the history of fire deaths in public placed (an example being the Rhode Island bar where flammable foam ignited and killed 100 people a few years back.) As an example a former local "actress" Kathleen Ann Soliah/Sara Jane Olson wanted to have a fundraiser "Ungagged Two" in the summer of 2000 to try to raise money for her legal defense for charges she claimed were "all political". The event had a $10 charge and was advertised on her website. The original location was an artist "warehouse space" in Northeast Minneapolis that did not have a commercial occupancy permit. This was stopped but the event occurred at a church hall in the Tanglewood neighborhood, also in Minneapolis. They reportedly had a play (with political commentaries), speeches and music. No "live-production playhouse" permit was needed, just the fire code occupancy permit. A second example in my Longfellow neighborhood is Patrick's Cabaret. http://www.patrickscabaret.org/ It was originally in an old storefront near Franklin and 35W and had no public occupancy permit. It is now located in the old firehouse near Minnehaha and Lake Street. The building was brought up to code and it has a public occupancy permit. It does not to get a permit for a "play". (IE:Wicked Sister Dance Theatre on 04-30)I recall musical events at the old Gurthrie.
(5) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Peter Swanson says:
http://swanblog2.blogspot.com/
I am waiting for the "What is art?" debate to begin. The players are different than in the NEA funding context, but the question remains.
(6) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor John Olson says:
For the vast majority of us, this is old news. The law was passed, took effect, and is now subject to enforcement. Its clear that neither side is happy--which means that the law is probably just about right.Most of us enjoy the clean air in the bars and restaurants. (Side Comment: Now, if something could be done about men and women who insist on marinading themselves in cologne and asphyxiating the rest of us in the elevator, THAT would be an accomplishment!)Like any other issue, the three or four percent at opposing ends will continue to try and turn this into an ongoing media circus. I have no doubt that there will be court challenges coming up, but one has to wonder if that money might not be better spent elsewhere.For instance:Minnesota taxpayers are going to spend $5 million to study why some miners on the Iron Range are contracting mesothelioma--a worthwhile expenditure. Why couldn't tobacco settlement funds have been used to pay for that study instead of spending more for lawyers and lobbyists? THAT is the sort of thing that should be funded out of those tobacco settlement funds.Both sides have legitimate arguments that will never be resolved.
(7) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
(4) On April 28, 2008, Gregory Lang says:Actually, there is no such thing as a as a "city-issued licence as a live production playhouse."Not according to the City of Minneapolis. See the following link, where they require a license to be an ongoing "theatre", which would include plays, etc.http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/business-licensing/what-we-license.aspTherefore, other cities would/could also have similar types of laws for zoning and licensing. Perhaps not identical--but similar enough to be enforceable.
(8) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Mark Benjamin says:
I've researched the law and can assure all of you that Theater Night will not pass into ... the night. The Legislature provided no limiting definition to the term "theatrical productions" -- like they did for Native American ceremonies, farms and tobacco shops, all exceptions to the smoking ban. The Judicial Branch interprets the law but does not re-write it. Thus, one court correctly interpreted what most people understand to be an ashtray (an object) but would have enormous problems interpreting "theatrical productions" (an art form). It necessarily would require a court to review each bar's Theater Night on a case-by-case basis - something the U.S. Supreme Court used to do in the '50's and '60's with pornography before giving up. Our approach to the defense of Theater Night is to remind the court that it need not define the term "theatrical productions". That is the province of the Legislature and they need to take a second look at the exception and clarify it. When they do, we will be there to remind them that public health is more than just physical health (clean air.) It is also mental health (having a job and a place to socialize.) If we're going to have a smoking ban, let's have one that takes into account the physical AND mental health components of a comprehensive public health policy.
(9) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Barry Homan says:
Oh this is fun. Enjoy the show all you antis, and watch how these bans s-l-o-w-l-y disintegrate in the coming years.Now why didn't we smokers just toss out our cigarettes, buy Pharma cessation products and become your friend, sitting there for hours in clean bars, talking to you and making your life more and more interesting?Antis ARE destined to be a short paragraph in the history books - not smokers!Hey, we're not going anywhere. You thought it was gonna be so easy, that smokers would love you, and you wouldn't have to lift a finger - SUCKER!We ARE still here, we're fighting back now. We'll find a way, and time is on our side - because you don't want to keep fighting us the rest of your life, do you? No way! Because you actually got better things to worry about besides some guy smoking in a bar, or about some gal in your office wearing perfume.You're hoping the next generation will grow up to be feebs, ninnies and liars just like you?So here's a clap on the shoulder, and a fake grin of support and understanding, the kind we see antis make all the time - smokers aren't gonna go away, we'll just keep fighting, and why?Because now we have nothing left. YOU did that. Which means we have nothing left to lose, and that's when a person becomes dangerous. You wanted to take away everything! Not smart at all, but then I never met an anti who could think rationally; they can only tell great lies, they're good at that.Oh this is fun.This IS fun!Watch it all change!
(10) On May 2, 2008, Author Editor Jim Smrekar says:
Mr Moffit,Thank you for your service to our country. Soldiers have fought for our freedoms since the beginning of this great country. One of those freedoms is the freedom of choice. This law has effectively eliminated that for these small business owners, employees and customers.Our country was built on a free enterprise system. Any business owner who thinks it’s in their best interest to be smoke free should do just that. Any employee who thinks it’s in their best interest to work in a smoke free environment should do just that. And any customer who wants to have a beer in a smoke free environment should frequent that type of establishment. The anti smoking lobby blew it on this one. By not allowing exemptions were they obviously should be, this whole thing is going to blow up. That’s a good thing. Our legislators wrote a bad law and are afraid to reopen the debate. Seeing that cigarettes are a legal product, I’d say your money would better spent making the sale of cigarettes illegal vs putting your agenda on the backs on small business owners. But that will never happen. How would the politicians attempt to replace the tax revenue that would be lost as a result? Plus we all know how well prohibition has worked in the past. Thank you Mr. Benjamin for fighting for the right to choose and showing the obvious hypocrisy of the anti smoking movement here and across the country.
Hello Everyone -
It was a great time at the Bullseye Saloon fund raiser on Saturday. The weather was wonderful and the performance was great by all who participated. Sue from Polish Palace (Sobieski), Buggs from Bugg's Place (So. St.Paul), and Birdie from Bird's Nest (Garrison) were present and a big thank-you for coming! Thanks to all the performers (smoking and non-smoking) that participated and donated to the Defense Fund. We are getting closer to our goal (75%) but not quite there yet. A special thanks to the band "4-On-The-Floor" and Shawn & Jessie for all there help!
- Video of the Bullseye Event can be viewed on Shawn's website (donations can also be made here):
http://www.freedomfight08.com/
- Speech written by Mark Benjamin.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS
Four score and four nights ago Minnesota’s bar owners brought forth on this state a new art form, Theater Night, conceived in creativity and dedicated to the proposition that all smokers are created free and equal.
Now we are engaged in a great legal war, testing whether that art form, or any art form, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, Bullseye Saloon. We have come to dedicate this bar, as a freedom-loving place of patriotism for those who lit up so that others might smoke. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this bar. The brave people, smokers and non-smokers, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget that we smoked here. It is for us, the smokers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who smoked here before have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored smokers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these smokers shall not have smoked in vain – that Theater Night in Minnesota shall have a new birth of freedom – and that Theater Night of the smokers, by the smokers, for the smokers shall not perish from this state.
- Comments from the MinnPost Article (In case you haven't read these. Also, Mr. Moffit...you should consider using spell check - you spelled "lousey" wrong....it should be lousy. And your a big time Communications Director..tsk..tsk..)
Link to article:
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/comments_stories/?blog_post_id=1585#comments_section
Comments to article:
1) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse....
(2) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Robert Moffitt says:
http://lungmn.org/
"People are under economic stress and they don't have their regular watering hole to go to." Actually, they do. They are all smoke free now. In spite of the lousey weather this weekend, Spring is coming, and all smokers need do is move to the exit and enjoy their cigarette al fresco, providing a safer and healthier environment inside for the hospitality workers, musicians and patrons who work there.We have seen these type of cheap theatrics before, and as Judith mentioned, they always fail.I'm a Minnesotan -- a veteran and a regular Joe (well, a regular Bob) who enjoys the VFW AND the Guthrie. See my counter to Mr. Benjamin's points on this KSTP-TV story:http://kstp.com/article/stories/S368429.shtml?cat=206Bob MoffittCommunications DirectorAmerican Lung Association of Minnesota
(3) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Rik Lynn says:
Judy and Bob seem to think this theater night scheme is just a way for business owners to get around the smoking ban for the short term and then, assuming the courts rule against them, they will just shut up, take their financial losses like good little citizens, and bow down to the state.None of these proprieters harbor illusions about continuing this scheme indefinitely. They know something will have to give.I can assure you that the theater exemption is just the crack in the door that they now have their foot firmly wedged into. It has opened the door for a ton of favorable publicity and some pretty impressive fund raising.This isn't gonna just go away if the courts rule against them, or even if they rule in their favor for that matter.A favorable (for the bars) theater exemption ruling will force the legislature to re-open the FTBA to get rid of the exemption and all sorts of havoc could result from that.I think the fun is just beginning.
(4) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gregory Lang says:
http://freedomtoact.com/
(1) On April 28, 2008, Gerald Abrahamson says: If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse...."
(5) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Peter Swanson says:
http://swanblog2.blogspot.com/
I am waiting for the "What is art?" debate to begin. The players are different than in the NEA funding context, but the question remains.
(6) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor John Olson says:
For the vast majority of us, this is old news. The law was passed, took effect, and is now subject to enforcement. Its clear that neither side is happy--which means that the law is probably just about right.Most of us enjoy the clean air in the bars and restaurants. (Side Comment: Now, if something could be done about men and women who insist on marinading themselves in cologne and asphyxiating the rest of us in the elevator, THAT would be an accomplishment!)Like any other issue, the three or four percent at opposing ends will continue to try and turn this into an ongoing media circus. I have no doubt that there will be court challenges coming up, but one has to wonder if that money might not be better spent elsewhere.For instance:Minnesota taxpayers are going to spend $5 million to study why some miners on the Iron Range are contracting mesothelioma--a worthwhile expenditure. Why couldn't tobacco settlement funds have been used to pay for that study instead of spending more for lawyers and lobbyists? THAT is the sort of thing that should be funded out of those tobacco settlement funds.Both sides have legitimate arguments that will never be resolved.
(7) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
(4) On April 28, 2008, Gregory Lang says:Actually, there is no such thing as a as a "city-issued licence as a live production playhouse."Not according to the City of Minneapolis. See the following link, where they require a license to be an ongoing "theatre", which would include plays, etc.http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/business-licensing/what-we-license.aspTherefore, other cities would/could also have similar types of laws for zoning and licensing. Perhaps not identical--but similar enough to be enforceable.
(8) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Mark Benjamin says:
I've researched the law and can assure all of you that Theater Night will not pass into ... the night. The Legislature provided no limiting definition to the term "theatrical productions" -- like they did for Native American ceremonies, farms and tobacco shops, all exceptions to the smoking ban. The Judicial Branch interprets the law but does not re-write it. Thus, one court correctly interpreted what most people understand to be an ashtray (an object) but would have enormous problems interpreting "theatrical productions" (an art form). It necessarily would require a court to review each bar's Theater Night on a case-by-case basis - something the U.S. Supreme Court used to do in the '50's and '60's with pornography before giving up. Our approach to the defense of Theater Night is to remind the court that it need not define the term "theatrical productions". That is the province of the Legislature and they need to take a second look at the exception and clarify it. When they do, we will be there to remind them that public health is more than just physical health (clean air.) It is also mental health (having a job and a place to socialize.) If we're going to have a smoking ban, let's have one that takes into account the physical AND mental health components of a comprehensive public health policy.
(9) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Barry Homan says:
Oh this is fun. Enjoy the show all you antis, and watch how these bans s-l-o-w-l-y disintegrate in the coming years.Now why didn't we smokers just toss out our cigarettes, buy Pharma cessation products and become your friend, sitting there for hours in clean bars, talking to you and making your life more and more interesting?Antis ARE destined to be a short paragraph in the history books - not smokers!Hey, we're not going anywhere. You thought it was gonna be so easy, that smokers would love you, and you wouldn't have to lift a finger - SUCKER!We ARE still here, we're fighting back now. We'll find a way, and time is on our side - because you don't want to keep fighting us the rest of your life, do you? No way! Because you actually got better things to worry about besides some guy smoking in a bar, or about some gal in your office wearing perfume.You're hoping the next generation will grow up to be feebs, ninnies and liars just like you?So here's a clap on the shoulder, and a fake grin of support and understanding, the kind we see antis make all the time - smokers aren't gonna go away, we'll just keep fighting, and why?Because now we have nothing left. YOU did that. Which means we have nothing left to lose, and that's when a person becomes dangerous. You wanted to take away everything! Not smart at all, but then I never met an anti who could think rationally; they can only tell great lies, they're good at that.Oh this is fun.This IS fun!Watch it all change!
(10) On May 2, 2008, Author Editor Jim Smrekar says:
Mr Moffit,Thank you for your service to our country. Soldiers have fought for our freedoms since the beginning of this great country. One of those freedoms is the freedom of choice. This law has effectively eliminated that for these small business owners, employees and customers.Our country was built on a free enterprise system. Any business owner who thinks it’s in their best interest to be smoke free should do just that. Any employee who thinks it’s in their best interest to work in a smoke free environment should do just that. And any customer who wants to have a beer in a smoke free environment should frequent that type of establishment. The anti smoking lobby blew it on this one. By not allowing exemptions were they obviously should be, this whole thing is going to blow up. That’s a good thing. Our legislators wrote a bad law and are afraid to reopen the debate. Seeing that cigarettes are a legal product, I’d say your money would better spent making the sale of cigarettes illegal vs putting your agenda on the backs on small business owners. But that will never happen. How would the politicians attempt to replace the tax revenue that would be lost as a result? Plus we all know how well prohibition has worked in the past. Thank you Mr. Benjamin for fighting for the right to choose and showing the obvious hypocrisy of the anti smoking movement here and across the country.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS - Speech written by Mark Benjamin.
- Speech written by Mark Benjamin.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS
Four score and four nights ago Minnesota’s bar owners brought forth on this state a new art form, Theater Night, conceived in creativity and dedicated to the proposition that all smokers are created free and equal.
Now we are engaged in a great legal war, testing whether that art form, or any art form, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, Bullseye Saloon. We have come to dedicate this bar, as a freedom-loving place of patriotism for those who lit up so that others might smoke. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this bar. The brave people, smokers and non-smokers, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget that we smoked here. It is for us, the smokers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who smoked here before have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored smokers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these smokers shall not have smoked in vain – that Theater Night in Minnesota shall have a new birth of freedom – and that Theater Night of the smokers, by the smokers, for the smokers shall not perish from this state.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS
Four score and four nights ago Minnesota’s bar owners brought forth on this state a new art form, Theater Night, conceived in creativity and dedicated to the proposition that all smokers are created free and equal.
Now we are engaged in a great legal war, testing whether that art form, or any art form, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, Bullseye Saloon. We have come to dedicate this bar, as a freedom-loving place of patriotism for those who lit up so that others might smoke. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this bar. The brave people, smokers and non-smokers, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget that we smoked here. It is for us, the smokers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who smoked here before have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored smokers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these smokers shall not have smoked in vain – that Theater Night in Minnesota shall have a new birth of freedom – and that Theater Night of the smokers, by the smokers, for the smokers shall not perish from this state.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Fw: Theater Night First and Second updates Update 5-2-08
Hello Everyone -
Just a little informational material that you may find interesting.
- Conference Committee Report to the House (Friday May 11, 2007 at 11:14 PM)
(This is the video of the actual House Session last year on the Conference Committee Report FTBA. I recommend you watch it if you can. It will probably make some of you very
angry. I was there last year at the conference committee hearing and boy what a joke it was. What Rep. Rukavina says in this video about what the conference committee did is
exactly right and I can testify to that! About 9 minutes and 20 seconds into the video, the session actually starts so you can fast forward it to that point and then sit back and watch
our legislators at work.) Eight minutes procedural so the smoking part starts at 17 minutes in. Try listening while doing other computer work. Greg Lang
Added 05-05-08 I reorganised some drawers watching/listening to the 2007 FTB debate and vote 1 hour and a half hour after they got going at 17 minutes. I kept note paper handy with time and quick note of the "interesting" parts. I'll to do a write up tonight, basically a one page with a printable link so someone can hit the high/low points quickly and get through it in maybe 20 minutes. The "bar theater" was brought up and supporters said they expected it to apply to reservations. According to my notes "theater is 42 minutes in, $$$$$ is 01:22 and "tribal" is at 1:50
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/programa.asp?ls_year=85&event_id=1379
- Minnesota Majority E-mail (Below is an e-mail from the organization Minnesota Majority. What I find so interesting about this e-mail are the comments about the MDH. Apparently, the MDH has a problem with laws.)
Are you aware that the state of Minnesota has been amassing newborn baby blood samples for over 10 years? It's true. Unbeknownst to most parents, the Minnesota Department of Health has warehoused DNA information on over 780,000 infants since 1997. In 2006, the state legislature passed a genetic privacy law requiring expressed written patient consent prior to gathering genetic information. But instead of complying with the law, the Department of Health continued its practice collecting newborn DNA without a parent's written authorization. Last year, a Minnesota judge ordered the Department of Health to cease its illegal activity. But the Health Department ignored the judges' ruling and instead vigorously worked to change the law in order to exempt infants from Minnesota's genetic privacy law. The state legislature has caved in to the demands of the Department of Health and passed bill number SF3138 which eliminates the requirement for a parent to opt-in to the collection process. Under the new law, the Department of Health will be able to collect an infant's DNA unless a parent expressly opts-out of the process within 24 hours. While the law require a parental disclosure, reading a disclosure and signing an opt-out form will be the last thing on the mind of the parents the first 24 hours after the birth of a child. Bottom line, this bill reduces a patients right to privacy by changing the law from an opt-in to a opt-out process. It puts thousands of individuals at risk of having their private genetic information inappropriately used by the state without their knowledge or consent.
Governor Pawlenty is the now the only person that can prevent this bill from becoming law.
TAKE ACTION
1. Click on the link below to watch two videos on the infant genetic privacy issue: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/78/Default.aspx2. Click on the link below to send a message to Governor Pawlenty urging him to veto HF3138: http://capwiz.com/mnmajority/issues/alert/?alertid=11327671&type=SW3. Forward this message to your friends and ask them to take action as well.
Thanks for doing your part to protect the privacy of children in Minnesota.
Regards,
Jeff DavisPresident, Minnesota Majority
- Sheila's Comments about the Minnesota Majority E-mail
Just want to let you know that this "opt out" option is becoming more and more prevalent. I have had my own experience with this just recently. This year my health insurance changed and it was not obvious how the deductible worked....so I actually picked up the health insurance booklet to see what I could find. Lo and behold, I went through the entire booklet and what did I find on the last page but an "opt out" form. I looked at this and couldn't believe what I was reading...it appears that my family and I were all automatically enrolled in 2 different research type organizations that could access our medical records unless I sent in this "opt out" form. I cannot tell you how shocked I was...if I hadn't actually read the booklet I would have never known. This is a very "sneaky" way of getting people's personal information and is just plain WRONG! If I want someone else to have my information then they need to ask my permission up front and then I will decide if they can have it. So needless to say, I sent in the forms to "opt out". The Health Insurance Policy was Health Partners. In addition, I have also heard some discussions that some states are trying to make "donor organs" an "opt out" option. This is just getting plain ridiculous!! (I also have HP, I've never read the contract. Greg Lang)
######2###Hello Everyone - Another quick update. ##########
- Thanks to those bar owners that will remain un-named.
Thanks guys for continuing to educate the public and other bar owners about the legal exemption for theater performances. Thanks for handing out those packets of information
so other bars can particpate. I appreciate your updates and the stories you tell. I know it has become a mode of survival now for many bars across the state.
- A Reminder & Thanks to Bob for his Support!
"Grab your Nitetimes Magazine at your local establishment!" If not there, please e-mail nitetimebob@comcast.net and we can get papers to you!!
- Another Reminder
Check out the http://www.freedomtoact.com/ website and catch the "Mario and Luigi help celebrate 6000 hits" link!
- People in Duluth
You guys once repealed your local smoking ban ordinance. Any possibility of "repealing" your Mr. Huntley come this November? Give it some thought since he is not finished yet
with the smoking ban. He currently has a bill that would take away the smoking exemption for psychiatric wards. What is up with this guy? Once he is finished with the smoking
ban, what will he turn to next? Based on what he has already done....I would speculate that "liquor" and probably "obesity" is next. He is the chair of the Health Care and Human
Services Finance Division Committee and in my opinion needs to retire!
- Comment to Bugg's Place
Buggs - We are there for you and support you 100% !
- Pioneer Press Article 5-2-08
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_9130488
Health Department asks court to stop South St. Paul bar's 'theater night'
Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/02/2008 06:39:26 AM CDT
The Minnesota Department of Health said a South St. Paul bar is violating the state's smoking ban and wants Dakota County to make it stop.
Buggs Place is holding bogus "theater nights" to get around the ban, which has an exception for theatrical productions, the agency said.
Several bars have staged mock plays in which patrons and employees are deemed actors so they can smoke, but the Health Department ruled in March that the theater exemption was being abused. They agency sent out 17,000 notices detailing its position.
The Health Department asked a court for an injunction against the Bullseye Saloon in Elko on April 11.
- Wisconsin is fighting the good fight. Let's support our neighbor in any way we can. There is a great article on the American Cancer Society...see excerpt below and visit their website for the full article. (WE must BAN together!)
http://banthebanwis%20consin.com/%20acs.aspx
The American Cancer Society: Up in smoke?
2006 Lobbying Efforts
1- $18,498,663
2- $12,810,000
3- $767,360
Can you guess who spent what in 2006?
3 is RJ Reynolds Tobacco (per opensecrets.org), 2 is Phillip Morris (per opensecrets.org) and 1 is the American Cancer Society (per their 2006 from 990). Big tobacco indeed...
When it comes to the American Cancer Society, you really need to read between the lines and understand who and what they are. You are dealing with an organization that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars every year, has over a billion dollars in assets (that includes investments and cash in the bank), and has a CEO that makes over seven figures in total annual compensation. Does this sound like the neighborhood charity that you can be proud of?
Dr. Epstein of the Cancer Prevention Coalition has called for a boycott of the ACS in order to force them to clean up their act - and for good reason. In a paper that he has written, he points out things like for every $1 spent on direct cancer services, $6.40 is spent on compensation and overhead costs. He also points out that even with over a billion dollars in reserve, the ACS continues to fund raise under the guise of a "lack of available funds for cancer research."
A quick look at charitynavigator.org has the ACS as a 2-star charity with a 1-star efficiency rating, and that isn't even using the latest numbers. Their 2007 990 form reveals an even worse mess (including a bigger salary for their CEO) than the Charity Navigator page presents.
Before blindly accepting the American Cancer Society as a legitimate and benign force for good, we need to take a hard look at who and what the ACS really is.
Just a little informational material that you may find interesting.
- Conference Committee Report to the House (Friday May 11, 2007 at 11:14 PM)
(This is the video of the actual House Session last year on the Conference Committee Report FTBA. I recommend you watch it if you can. It will probably make some of you very
angry. I was there last year at the conference committee hearing and boy what a joke it was. What Rep. Rukavina says in this video about what the conference committee did is
exactly right and I can testify to that! About 9 minutes and 20 seconds into the video, the session actually starts so you can fast forward it to that point and then sit back and watch
our legislators at work.) Eight minutes procedural so the smoking part starts at 17 minutes in. Try listening while doing other computer work. Greg Lang
Added 05-05-08 I reorganised some drawers watching/listening to the 2007 FTB debate and vote 1 hour and a half hour after they got going at 17 minutes. I kept note paper handy with time and quick note of the "interesting" parts. I'll to do a write up tonight, basically a one page with a printable link so someone can hit the high/low points quickly and get through it in maybe 20 minutes. The "bar theater" was brought up and supporters said they expected it to apply to reservations. According to my notes "theater is 42 minutes in, $$$$$ is 01:22 and "tribal" is at 1:50
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/htv/programa.asp?ls_year=85&event_id=1379
- Minnesota Majority E-mail (Below is an e-mail from the organization Minnesota Majority. What I find so interesting about this e-mail are the comments about the MDH. Apparently, the MDH has a problem with laws.)
Are you aware that the state of Minnesota has been amassing newborn baby blood samples for over 10 years? It's true. Unbeknownst to most parents, the Minnesota Department of Health has warehoused DNA information on over 780,000 infants since 1997. In 2006, the state legislature passed a genetic privacy law requiring expressed written patient consent prior to gathering genetic information. But instead of complying with the law, the Department of Health continued its practice collecting newborn DNA without a parent's written authorization. Last year, a Minnesota judge ordered the Department of Health to cease its illegal activity. But the Health Department ignored the judges' ruling and instead vigorously worked to change the law in order to exempt infants from Minnesota's genetic privacy law. The state legislature has caved in to the demands of the Department of Health and passed bill number SF3138 which eliminates the requirement for a parent to opt-in to the collection process. Under the new law, the Department of Health will be able to collect an infant's DNA unless a parent expressly opts-out of the process within 24 hours. While the law require a parental disclosure, reading a disclosure and signing an opt-out form will be the last thing on the mind of the parents the first 24 hours after the birth of a child. Bottom line, this bill reduces a patients right to privacy by changing the law from an opt-in to a opt-out process. It puts thousands of individuals at risk of having their private genetic information inappropriately used by the state without their knowledge or consent.
Governor Pawlenty is the now the only person that can prevent this bill from becoming law.
TAKE ACTION
1. Click on the link below to watch two videos on the infant genetic privacy issue: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/78/Default.aspx2. Click on the link below to send a message to Governor Pawlenty urging him to veto HF3138: http://capwiz.com/mnmajority/issues/alert/?alertid=11327671&type=SW3. Forward this message to your friends and ask them to take action as well.
Thanks for doing your part to protect the privacy of children in Minnesota.
Regards,
Jeff DavisPresident, Minnesota Majority
- Sheila's Comments about the Minnesota Majority E-mail
Just want to let you know that this "opt out" option is becoming more and more prevalent. I have had my own experience with this just recently. This year my health insurance changed and it was not obvious how the deductible worked....so I actually picked up the health insurance booklet to see what I could find. Lo and behold, I went through the entire booklet and what did I find on the last page but an "opt out" form. I looked at this and couldn't believe what I was reading...it appears that my family and I were all automatically enrolled in 2 different research type organizations that could access our medical records unless I sent in this "opt out" form. I cannot tell you how shocked I was...if I hadn't actually read the booklet I would have never known. This is a very "sneaky" way of getting people's personal information and is just plain WRONG! If I want someone else to have my information then they need to ask my permission up front and then I will decide if they can have it. So needless to say, I sent in the forms to "opt out". The Health Insurance Policy was Health Partners. In addition, I have also heard some discussions that some states are trying to make "donor organs" an "opt out" option. This is just getting plain ridiculous!! (I also have HP, I've never read the contract. Greg Lang)
######2###Hello Everyone - Another quick update. ##########
- Thanks to those bar owners that will remain un-named.
Thanks guys for continuing to educate the public and other bar owners about the legal exemption for theater performances. Thanks for handing out those packets of information
so other bars can particpate. I appreciate your updates and the stories you tell. I know it has become a mode of survival now for many bars across the state.
- A Reminder & Thanks to Bob for his Support!
"Grab your Nitetimes Magazine at your local establishment!" If not there, please e-mail nitetimebob@comcast.net and we can get papers to you!!
- Another Reminder
Check out the http://www.freedomtoact.com/ website and catch the "Mario and Luigi help celebrate 6000 hits" link!
- People in Duluth
You guys once repealed your local smoking ban ordinance. Any possibility of "repealing" your Mr. Huntley come this November? Give it some thought since he is not finished yet
with the smoking ban. He currently has a bill that would take away the smoking exemption for psychiatric wards. What is up with this guy? Once he is finished with the smoking
ban, what will he turn to next? Based on what he has already done....I would speculate that "liquor" and probably "obesity" is next. He is the chair of the Health Care and Human
Services Finance Division Committee and in my opinion needs to retire!
- Comment to Bugg's Place
Buggs - We are there for you and support you 100% !
- Pioneer Press Article 5-2-08
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_9130488
Health Department asks court to stop South St. Paul bar's 'theater night'
Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/02/2008 06:39:26 AM CDT
The Minnesota Department of Health said a South St. Paul bar is violating the state's smoking ban and wants Dakota County to make it stop.
Buggs Place is holding bogus "theater nights" to get around the ban, which has an exception for theatrical productions, the agency said.
Several bars have staged mock plays in which patrons and employees are deemed actors so they can smoke, but the Health Department ruled in March that the theater exemption was being abused. They agency sent out 17,000 notices detailing its position.
The Health Department asked a court for an injunction against the Bullseye Saloon in Elko on April 11.
- Wisconsin is fighting the good fight. Let's support our neighbor in any way we can. There is a great article on the American Cancer Society...see excerpt below and visit their website for the full article. (WE must BAN together!)
http://banthebanwis%20consin.com/%20acs.aspx
The American Cancer Society: Up in smoke?
2006 Lobbying Efforts
1- $18,498,663
2- $12,810,000
3- $767,360
Can you guess who spent what in 2006?
3 is RJ Reynolds Tobacco (per opensecrets.org), 2 is Phillip Morris (per opensecrets.org) and 1 is the American Cancer Society (per their 2006 from 990). Big tobacco indeed...
When it comes to the American Cancer Society, you really need to read between the lines and understand who and what they are. You are dealing with an organization that brings in hundreds of millions of dollars every year, has over a billion dollars in assets (that includes investments and cash in the bank), and has a CEO that makes over seven figures in total annual compensation. Does this sound like the neighborhood charity that you can be proud of?
Dr. Epstein of the Cancer Prevention Coalition has called for a boycott of the ACS in order to force them to clean up their act - and for good reason. In a paper that he has written, he points out things like for every $1 spent on direct cancer services, $6.40 is spent on compensation and overhead costs. He also points out that even with over a billion dollars in reserve, the ACS continues to fund raise under the guise of a "lack of available funds for cancer research."
A quick look at charitynavigator.org has the ACS as a 2-star charity with a 1-star efficiency rating, and that isn't even using the latest numbers. Their 2007 990 form reveals an even worse mess (including a bigger salary for their CEO) than the Charity Navigator page presents.
Before blindly accepting the American Cancer Society as a legitimate and benign force for good, we need to take a hard look at who and what the ACS really is.
Subject: Smoking and Marxism
My "Red-rant" comments in red at end. Greg Lang
Subject: Smoking and Marxism
Sheila,
I appreciate all that you are doing to organize, coordinate, inform and fight for the basic federal and state inalienable constitutional rights that are steadily being ignored and overridden.
Two years ago I invested the fruits of my life's work in a property and business that included a restaurant and lounge. Through the unrelenting anti-business, anti-individual and anti-property rights mindset of County and State Government and some elected representatives, I have been driven to the edge of bankruptcy. I first closed the restaurant. Then the smoking ban, which eliminated 90% of my customers, drove me to closing the facility completely.
This is particularly frustrating to me personally. In addition to working twice as hard and taking extraordinary risks as an entrepreneur for 40 years, I managed to donate over 20 years of public service to our society. I served our nation in war, I served our state and several communities in a variety of appointed and elected positions. I no longer recognize or understand the society in which we live. One cannot help but think the majority of Minnesota citizens, elected officials and governmental agencies have agreed that socialist Marxism is the preferable way of life. That the government is in fact "Our Mother" and we can just sit at home and be satisfied with what our "Mother" grants us. Life is so much easier that way, until all the producers are gone and the government has no one left to tax or control. Then what?
I reject that !
I do think the "Theater Performance" loophole is the wrong approach. Fighting the elimination of personal and property rights is the battle. Fight the war to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court, demanding the clear and final acknowledgement that our constitutional right of personal choice and the right to allow legal conduct on our private property cannot be usurped.
I wish I could contribute financially, but am unable at the moment. I will continue to support the fight. As Jason Lewis states in his promo, "At what point do the citizens of Minnesota rise up and revolt ?" It is now!
David Gageby
Harbor Village
St. Paul Park, MN
Start of "Red Rant". The author has some good points. According to my googling he took a course to the MN Court of appeals in the late 1990's and won (an out state estate jurisdiction case) so he has knowledge of how the appeals process works. I also have this type of knowledge. I read both books on the landmark first amendment case Cowles versus Cohen (http://stillbornrevolution.com/ (scroll down) Cowles (Media) was the the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Elliot Rothenburg was the lawyer, working out of his basement who took the case to the US Supreme Court and won. Dan Cohen was the plaintiff. Both wrote books which I read well before this started this. The first lesson of the books is that the appeals process is long and difficult. The second is that grand philosophical points don't work well in appeals. Basically you have to "figuratively" catch them "with their pants down" and focus on this. In Cowles v Cohen our two daily newspapers "outed" Dan Cohen as a source of information that was negative to a democrat. It was done in a ham handed manner worthy of "Citizen Kane". When our two dailies had to do some "explaining" then then got in trouble. Same here. the "theater exemption" is horribly written in many ways. My humble website http://freedomtoact.com/ mainstream media news stories going back almost three months while the legislature was in session. (they have two weeks more) My editorial stance, which is mine is that, if the MN legislature wants to reopen the law and rewrite or eliminate the theater provision this is fine. I support obeying the "letter" of the law. As Clint Eastwood said "Go ahead, make my day!". Reopening the law opens it up for debate and a publicly recorded vote.
Minnpost.com recently had an article that seemed to disparage our chances in court (does anyone know if George Soros smokes?). In Cohen versus Cowles the two local dailies "just happened" to publish stories disparaging Dan Cohen's chances everytime the case came up for appeals court review. Hmm!, is Minnpost.com with it's many alumni from our two newspapers carrying on the tradition? Does George Soros have the appearance characteristics we tend to associate with a "smokers face"? Greg Lang
Subject: Smoking and Marxism
Sheila,
I appreciate all that you are doing to organize, coordinate, inform and fight for the basic federal and state inalienable constitutional rights that are steadily being ignored and overridden.
Two years ago I invested the fruits of my life's work in a property and business that included a restaurant and lounge. Through the unrelenting anti-business, anti-individual and anti-property rights mindset of County and State Government and some elected representatives, I have been driven to the edge of bankruptcy. I first closed the restaurant. Then the smoking ban, which eliminated 90% of my customers, drove me to closing the facility completely.
This is particularly frustrating to me personally. In addition to working twice as hard and taking extraordinary risks as an entrepreneur for 40 years, I managed to donate over 20 years of public service to our society. I served our nation in war, I served our state and several communities in a variety of appointed and elected positions. I no longer recognize or understand the society in which we live. One cannot help but think the majority of Minnesota citizens, elected officials and governmental agencies have agreed that socialist Marxism is the preferable way of life. That the government is in fact "Our Mother" and we can just sit at home and be satisfied with what our "Mother" grants us. Life is so much easier that way, until all the producers are gone and the government has no one left to tax or control. Then what?
I reject that !
I do think the "Theater Performance" loophole is the wrong approach. Fighting the elimination of personal and property rights is the battle. Fight the war to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court, demanding the clear and final acknowledgement that our constitutional right of personal choice and the right to allow legal conduct on our private property cannot be usurped.
I wish I could contribute financially, but am unable at the moment. I will continue to support the fight. As Jason Lewis states in his promo, "At what point do the citizens of Minnesota rise up and revolt ?" It is now!
David Gageby
Harbor Village
St. Paul Park, MN
Start of "Red Rant". The author has some good points. According to my googling he took a course to the MN Court of appeals in the late 1990's and won (an out state estate jurisdiction case) so he has knowledge of how the appeals process works. I also have this type of knowledge. I read both books on the landmark first amendment case Cowles versus Cohen (http://stillbornrevolution.com/ (scroll down) Cowles (Media) was the the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Elliot Rothenburg was the lawyer, working out of his basement who took the case to the US Supreme Court and won. Dan Cohen was the plaintiff. Both wrote books which I read well before this started this. The first lesson of the books is that the appeals process is long and difficult. The second is that grand philosophical points don't work well in appeals. Basically you have to "figuratively" catch them "with their pants down" and focus on this. In Cowles v Cohen our two daily newspapers "outed" Dan Cohen as a source of information that was negative to a democrat. It was done in a ham handed manner worthy of "Citizen Kane". When our two dailies had to do some "explaining" then then got in trouble. Same here. the "theater exemption" is horribly written in many ways. My humble website http://freedomtoact.com/ mainstream media news stories going back almost three months while the legislature was in session. (they have two weeks more) My editorial stance, which is mine is that, if the MN legislature wants to reopen the law and rewrite or eliminate the theater provision this is fine. I support obeying the "letter" of the law. As Clint Eastwood said "Go ahead, make my day!". Reopening the law opens it up for debate and a publicly recorded vote.
Minnpost.com recently had an article that seemed to disparage our chances in court (does anyone know if George Soros smokes?). In Cohen versus Cowles the two local dailies "just happened" to publish stories disparaging Dan Cohen's chances everytime the case came up for appeals court review. Hmm!, is Minnpost.com with it's many alumni from our two newspapers carrying on the tradition? Does George Soros have the appearance characteristics we tend to associate with a "smokers face"? Greg Lang
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