Brad Warbiany is surprised that smoking bans contribute to drunk driving deaths.
My readers are not, although my reasoning was a little different.
I’ll Bet A Leather Loveseat Memphis Won’t Win It
HT to SayUncle on this one.
It is officially gambling for a furniture store to run a promotion that relieves customers of their obligation to pay for furniture purchased at their store if Memphis wins the NCAA Championship.
First of all, I can’t see how this promotion is actually gambling since the furniture would have the same market value the customer paid whether Memphis wins or not.
However, I can also see how anything like this would be considered gambling/wagering, since the State has not found a way to monopolize these type promotions (yet).
Oh, and even if Memphis wins, feel free to come pick up the love seat any time.
Racist Graffiti And A Paper Noose
This not only appears on the KNS, it’s on the AP Wire.
The Sumner County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a possible hate crime after racist graffiti defaming a black school administrator were found with a paper-towel noose.
Graffiti in a restroom? *gasp*
A noose made out of paper towells? *oh no!*
Congratulations news outlets. The juvenile morons who did this just got way more attention than they could’ve ever hoped. This is nothing more than some immature, ignorant kids expressing their ignorance and stupidity while they take a dump.
We may not like the fact that they are immature and ignorant, but a hate crime? Let’s hope these dangerous criminals are apprehended before Halloween. If not they may graduate to stealing pumpkins or maybe even TPing a yard or two.
Good Lesson From a Newspaper Guy
From Michael Silence:Â
Here’s a rule of thumb: It is not incumbent upon you to prove a document is public. It is incumbent upon a government employee to prove it is not.
*Read the story which prompted that nugget. Interesting:
Ms. Long again stated that they were not public and would not be public until today. After I insisted that they were public, she finally said she just didn’t care and handed me the bids to review.
*Not Knox County–YAY!
My (sort of) Smoke Free Workplace
The company I work for removed all smoking areas upon our return on Wednesday as the second part of their plan to eliminate smoking on our campus completely. The State of Tennessee is eventually going to make us do it anyway, right? As of January 2, employees are only allowed to smoke in their cars.
I bet on the under (2 days) and was unpleasantly pleased to find I’d won with plenty of breathing room when I walked into the restroom yesterday and smelled cigarette smoke less than 12 hours after the ban had been implemented.
Isn’t it funny that treating people like children almost guarantees they will act like children?
The next bet is how long it will take for the company to require management to take turns patroling the restrooms to catch outlaw smokers.
SAFE Bill Makes Me Feel Vulnerable
I’ve read a lot of bellyaching today about the SAFE Act. Mostly people are worried that free WiFi access will disappear from Starbucks, hotels, bars, bike shops, and airports.
But Ars Technica says:
the bill doesn’t require any active surveillance of user behavior, and it won’t affect your local coffee shop’s WiFi, despite what you may have read.
I think this bill is bad, but not just because I’m worried that free WiFi is going away.  I think it’s bad because it is, well, bad. If strictly enforced, as some fear it will be, it is invasive. If not strictly enforced, it is worthless. Why? Because it doesn’t actually fix anything.
Proponents of the bill say that it is an effort to curb child pornography. What a noble cause. The problem is, that this doesn’t actually address that problem. It only increases the responsibility of providers to report this activity and increases the penalty on them for not reporting it. I see this all too often at my job, where this type of thing is called a “countermeasure”. Very telling. It doesn’t move towards a solution to a problem, only a reaction to it.
No, this bill doesn’t mention coffee shops and restaurants. But it doesn’t give them exemption either. One of the sponsors says the intent of the bill is not to punish mom and pop shops offering WiFi.Â
It is NOT the intent of the SAFE Act to target Wi-Fi providers but rather the entities that provide the internet to those conduits.Â
Then I’m confused. Why wasn’t it written clearly enough to express its intent? And if passed into law, who will decide how should be applied? My guess is the courts–yet another opportunity for judges to legislate from the bench.
By the way, only two members of the House voted against this Bill. Guess who was one of them.
Isn’t This Rich?
And by rich I mean the lobbies that are successful in getting governors to propose prison time and heavy fines for online gamblers and poker players in the same bill that makes the way for licensing for casinos.
Patrick’s casino legislation, which has been introduced at the State House but is not expected to get a hearing until next year, would license three casinos in three regions of the state. Casino developers would bid on the licenses, and Patrick expects they would attract 10-year licensing fees of $200 million to $300 million for each casino.
Oh, never mind. It’s the State that will get rich. My bad. Don’t you wish you could use the legal system to set up a monopoly for yourself and your buddies?
I don’t.
Thanks to Reason for pointing this one out.
There Should Be A Law
For those of you who are not yet convinced of the dangers of smoking and have not yet written your state representative a letter of thanks for deciding on your behalf which private businesses can allow smoking, this story should change your mind.
In the vehicle they inhaled fumes from a can of compressed air normally used to blow dust from computers or photographs.
…
When one of the women lit a cigarette in the vehicle, the fumes ignited, burning the couple, DeBusk said.
This could have been avoided. All we need to do is outlaw smoking in private vehicles. That way people will be forced to either step outside of the vehicle to smoke after huffing, or will be compelled to huff outside so that they can smoke immediately.
We must do everything within our legislative power to make huffing safe….for the children!
Loving The New Smoking Ban
[sarcasm]
Today is such a great day. This new smoking ban is absolutely amazing and has enriched my life in ways I never thought possible.
Water tastes sweeter, the air smells cleaner, and my wallet is fat the sun is shining bright, but not so bright that it is causing unnatural warming–that’s coming from somewhere else.
It’s not that I’ve changed my dining, shopping, or work habits that makes today so great. It’s the fact that thousands of businesses across our great state have been forced to bend to my personal wishes.
Finally, popular opinion has won out over individual property rights, and people no longer have the power to decide what types of otherwise legal activities they will allow on their own property. What a great day for individual liberty!!!
And how lucky are we that we no longer have the right responsibility to choose what business we want to patronize based on their smoking policy. The State made this decision for us. One less thing to worry about. What a relief!
[/sarcasm]
I have to ask again, how will this affect the number of DUI arrests?
Cigarette Smuggling Surveillance Starts in Tennessee
Starting today, state Department of Revenue agents will begin stopping Tennessee motorists spotted buying large quantities of cigarettes in border states, then charging them with a crime and, in some cases, seizing their cars.
I can go so many different directions with this one…
Do I make the comparison to the Dukes of Hazzard with revenuers, crooked local authorities, and free wheeling Robin Hood types whose lawless behavior we cheer on?
Do I draw a conclusion that more state authorities in Tennessee are trying to get into pulling people over so they can take advantage of the fringe benefits that have become associated with traffic stops in our state? (That one is for all of you who voted for it in the last poll).
Or do I say nothing, since I don’t consume cigarettes?
First they came for the smokers, and I didn’t speak up because I don’t smoke.
Then they came for the Sunday beer sales, and I didn’t speak up because I’m usually too hung over to drink on Sundays.
And when they came for the people who play home poker games, there was no one who was interested in playing poker on Sundays, the only day I have time to play, left to speak for me.
