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April 13, 2006
a childish state?
Good news, from New Jersey? Is such a thing possible? Well, in a twisted sort of way (the way I like to look at the news), it is. New Jersey is one of those places where the democratic process is polluted by people who have a penchant for voting to get rid of their own rights, and the state makes me very nervous. Anyway, the state government (elected, of course, by these same voters) recently decided to ban smoking nearly everywhere. But stupidly, they exempted casinos and not restaurants. This means that my hero today is the New Jersey Restaurant Association! Who'd have ever known I could fall in love with a powerful lobby, but I have, because they've sued the state, and asked a court to overturn the smoking ban as unconstitutional. Much to my delight, the Bloomberg writeup mentions my favorite New Jersey restaurant, Lorenzo's: April 13 (Bloomberg) -- An anti-smoking law that New Jersey starts enforcing Saturday is causing tempers to rise at Lorenzo's, a Trenton landmark where politicians and the well- connected gather for cigars and steaks.I hope they win. I hate bureaucrats and I hate laws restricting business owners. If you don't like smoke-filled places like Lorenzo's (which I love even though I'm a non-smoker), you can go elsewhere. The problem is, non-smokers now outnumber smokers, and all too often people who don't do something are happy to get rid of their right to do what they don't do. I'm not. Just because I don't smoke does not mean I want to lose the right to smoke, any more than I'd want to lose any other right I fail exercise. The people behind the smoking ban won't stop there, either. The next target is the home, and (as I've pointed out before; hey, so has Dennis!) the Achilles heel is "the children." The latter must always be saved. From evil or something; don't ask me what, because I remember being a child, and it was anything but an innocent experience. (I can't remember an innocent child, but I'll never forget the lectures about how innocent they were.) Well, at least bars and casinos aren't frequented by children! Ah the good old days . . . Not that it's any of my business, but I'll stick my neck out here and venture that the kid above might be a bit too young to smoke. As a moral conservative, I'm inclined to go with H.L. Mencken: I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine.(Often attributed to W.C. Fields, who obviously had a similar view of personal morality.) posted by Eric on 04.13.06 at 08:48 AM
Comments
Personally, I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, and I prefer to patrtonize restaraunts that do not have smoking. Since I live in California, that's all of them, but really, the point is that's MY choice. And banning smoking in bars is just plain stupid. And yes, I will go into a smoky bar and endure the stench in my clothes if I find a compelling reason. People freak out about the strangest things, like smokers a hundred yards away, and then look at you funny when you complain about them blowing through a stop sign. (I have justifiable cause on that one; two accidents in the last *six months* caused by people who didn't stop when they were supposed to. I am, you might say, a touch unhappy on that score.) B. Durbin · April 13, 2006 09:14 PM |
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Aw, smoking never hurt Huck or Tom none, and they come out heroes and rich in the end.
'Fore long I reckon kids won't be allowed to read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer much any more, on account of it's a might threatenin' to their morals.