Text 17462, 80 rader
Skriven 2011-04-26 15:29:47 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
  Kommentar till text 17388 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Equal Air For All
=========================
24 Apr 11 18:25, Robert Bashe wrote to Mark Hofmann:

 MH>> Once again, the government gets involved where it shouldn't.

 RB> All I can do is agree.

In this case, I don't agree.

 MH>> If there is a demand for a non-smoking bar, someone will open it up
 MH>> and cash in. I never saw that happen.

 RB> You won't in future, either. Nowadays, people are working out legal
 RB> schemes to retain "smoking bars" instead.

Once the no-smoking law is in effect, that opens the bar up to the 85-90%
of those who don't smoke...the bar actually becomes a pleasant place where
you can take a sip without choking on tobacco smoke.

 RB> In Germany, the trick is to declare the bar a "private club" for
 RB> persons over 18. No membership fee or registration required, smoking
 RB> permitted...

And thus, lowering the bottom line figures.

 MH>> Just give it a few more years and they will ban soda, burgers, or
 MH>> anything else they see fit by the powers that be.

 RB> Of course - that's the direction we're taking and everyone has his
 RB> own pet hate.

Well, the chemicals they put in sodas these days makes them a health
hazard. Which is why soda made in Mexico with real sugar for a sweetner is
making a comeback.

 RB> Just let me note that I haven't smoked for around 25 years (and
 RB> before that only for a couple of periods of maybe 3-4 years),
 RB> meanwhile have part of a lung gone (no relation to smoking) and
 RB> chronic bronchitis that sometimes cuts of my air for a minute or so.
 RB> Still, I hate it like poison that a government tries to dictate the
 RB> personal behavior of citizens and the no smoking legislation that
 RB> meanwhile exists is, in my eyes, a gross infringement of personal
 RB> freedom.

The altnerative is to do your smoking outside or at home.

 RB> If I don't like smoking, I don't have to go to places where people
 RB> smoke.

That was the mentality before the 'no smoking in public places' law was
passed in California. Afterwards, bars became a nicer place to be and many
people began going there. Meanwhile, the establishment's overhead became
less of a burden, not having to continously clean the HVAC system from
tobacco stains.

 RB> It's as simple as that. The hate campaigns against smokers you
 RB> see nowadays are about as lowdown as any other discrimination -
 RB> except that they are supported by so many people who could, but don't
 RB> want to, take the trouble to avoid being in the same room as a
 RB> smoker.

Since the smoker is becoming more and more a minority these days, the
choice is no longer incumbant upon the non smoker to leave the room; it's
now the smoker who must leave.

 RB> The sad and simultaneously amusing part of all this is that
 RB> governments throughout the globe rake in enormous tax revenues from
 RB> smokers, while simultaneously paying lip service to the "non-smoking"
 RB> mantra. Heaven help such governments if people ever take all the hype
 RB> seriously and really stop smoking - there'll be a _big_ hole in tax
 RB> revenues.

That would, no doubt, be offset by the amount of money government spends
on a smoker's health care each year.

                R\%/itt

  Fox News was not used as a source for information in this message!

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