(Heads Up VA Business Owners) Virginia Senate passes indoor smoking ban

United Pro Smoker's Newsletter ^ | Feb. 14, 2006 | Rosalind S. Helderman

[SheLion]

Don't forget, my FRiend, the chain restaurants are actively pushing for these bans. They are seeking to rid them selves of the mom & pop local competition.

It's funny thing though, how these bans work.  We had a gorgeous Red Lobster down in Bangor where we loved to eat when we went down that way.

It wasn't long after the forced Maine smoking ban that they folded.  We could not believe it.  Red Lobster is a pretty big chain, too!  And fresh Maine lobster?  And no place to serve it?  Very strange.

And the building was HUGE with plenty of high ceilings, smoke eaters and smoking sections.  Yet.........they are gone. :(

[Gabz]

No apology needed, my Friend, I appreciate you getting it up. I've been on the phone and the emails since yesterday. In fact I'm back here now only because I'm taking a break from the phone and the emails :)

[Gabz]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh about a Red Lobster in Maine. Red Lobster buys little, if any, of their seafood from the local market. Most of what they serve is from foreign commercial fishing fleets.

For that reason I have not set foot in a Red Lobster in more than 10 years.

[Brytani]

Growing up I used to go to Strawberry Street Cafe with my Grandparents a few times a month. Always loved it. Do they still have the salad bar in a bathtub?

Geeeeeze, thinking about Richmond always reminds me of Bills BBQ, I'd kill for one of their limeaids right now!!!!

[Just A Nobody]

I e-mailed the few VA people and FReepers that I know. Some have advised that they made the calls to their delegate, as have I.

Who/what else can I do?

[SheLion]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh about a Red Lobster in Maine. Red Lobster buys little, if any, of their seafood from the local market. Most of what they serve is from foreign commercial fishing fleets.

Not true in this case.  We have a fleet of fishing boats off of the coast of Maine and Red Lobster had daily delivery's fresh from our own ocean. 

[Sunnyflorida]

"Do you think WE have any respect for Big T? Hell no!"

I just KNEW we could agree on something.

[Gabz]

Not true in this case. We have a fleet of fishing boats off of the coast of Maine and Red Lobster had daily delivery's fresh from our own ocean.

That's good to hear. I do know that in Delaware they bought absolutely NOTHING from the local commercial fishermen, even though they served fish that was fished by the locals.

[Gabz]

You have FReepmail

[Sunnyflorida]

"I was quoting a guy who actually LIVES in Florida."

But if you knew diddly about economics or Florida you would have tossed out that quote instead of used it to support your thesis, because it does the opposite.

Plus I am not disputing your friends statement. I agree with your friend. Plenty of places in Florida had the opportunity to raise prices right after the ban to keep up with cost increases in Florida and because customers (most do not smoke) showed up. What I find curious is your analysis.

In fact I love the huge burgers at Outback. Ours was too smokey for me to go to before the ban. Now several times a month we go there. I asked the manager and he said business has never been better.

Warning Off topic: We don't eat steaks at the Outback. My spouse likes mine better; use only top-top prime filet cut (no fat; at Publics the top prime brand is so tender you can pull them apart with your fingers. A little brick of pure joy). Get them cut 2 inches thick. Soak them in pure virgin olive oil for about an hour. Then coat them in crushed garlic and pepper. Get the grill white hot. Put the grate about an inch from the coals. Carefully drop the filets on the grill so as not to shake off the garlic but not so slow as to get set your self afire when the oil catches caramelizing the garlic, oil and pepper. Pour any excess oil on the meat when you turn the. After a few seconds the fire goes down and cook to doneness of choice. I like 'em rare. Use the best meat you can find. Serve with fresh spinach marine-joe's style and a good chilled sake. Oh man. Works every time its tried.

Your other quote was that bars that cater to smokers did not raise price, while the non-smoking places did. What does that statement say to you.

One of the main props of your pro-smoking thesis is that it hurts business. I'm just disputing that using your own evidence.

[SheLion]

That's good to hear. I do know that in Delaware they bought absolutely NOTHING from the local commercial fishermen, even though they served fish that was fished by the locals.

We have restaurants even this far north that truck up Maine lobster and fish.  Even our local supermarkets sell fish from off of our coast.  So it's all good.  :)

The crazy thing is though, we have all these farmers that grow potatoes and not many places in Maine will sell them.  So, McCain trucks them out across the rest of the United States.  Doesn't make any sense to me.

[Gabz]

I agree with that post..........but I didn't make it.

[Sunnyflorida]

I had a fried yellowtail fish sandwich at this place about a two minute boat ride from my house in the Keys about once a week for about two years. From this restaurant you can look out over the water and see on the horizon three of four of the best yellow tail spots in North America.

One day I went there to have one and the manager said, "no yellowtail, Sysco is late coming down from Miami". That was that for that place!!

[The Foolkiller]

I wonder how many of the anti's are obese?

---

MANY. The ones who aren't are the runners/joggers/health/fitness club yuppie crowd who think they're going to live forever.

[The Foolkiller]

You both need to put a sign atop your monitors (as I have):

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

[SheLion]

You both need to put a sign atop your monitors (as I have):

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

Yes Daddy!

 

You both need to put a sign atop your monitors (as I have):

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS

Yes Daddy!

 

[TheForceOfOne]

I just found this article, passing it along. More than likely you have already seen this, but just in case you haven't. :)

http://www.junkscience.com/news/mirrors.html

Secondhand Smoke-and-Mirrors
(How the Pros Tamper with Jury Pools)
Ichiro Kawachi, Graham A. Colditz, Frank E. Speizer, JoAnn E. Manson,
Meir J. Stampfer, Walter C. Willet, Charles H. Hennekens
Circulation 1997;95:2374-239

Excerpt:
On June 2, 1997, jury selection starts in the Florida trial involving flight attendants suing tobacco companies for various health effects allegedly caused by secondhand smoke.

But Harvard University's Ichiro Kawachi et al. (funded by the U.S. Government which is at "war" with the tobacco industry), the (fiercely anti-tobacco) American Heart Association and Miami trial lawyer Stanley Rosenblatt (who stands to make a bundle representing tens of thousands nonsmoking flight attendants) are making sure prospective jurors make up their minds before hearing any evidence.

A scant two weeks before the trial begins, the American Heart Association published in its journal Circulation Kawachi et al.'s study of 32,000 nurses. The researchers claim that secondhand smoke increased the risk of heart attack by 91 percent. How convenient. And in the understatement of the year, attorney Rosenblatt said "...it's very helpful to us."

But is it the substance of the study that's "very helpful"? Or just its timing and publicity?

[Madame Dufarge]

Especially the trolls who berate other people for posting to smoking threads because the subject is so "unimportant," and then repeatedly make obnoxious asses of themselves on such threads.

[Madame Dufarge]

Great link!

First, the study relies on statistics, not science. Kawachi et al. claim to identify a 91 percent increase in risk of heart attack among those "regularly" exposed to secondhand smoke. But even the National Cancer Institute views such statistics with suspicion:

In epidemiologic research, [increases in risk of less than 100 percent] are considered small and are usually difficult to interpret. Such increases may be due to chance, statistical bias, or the effects of confounding factors that are sometimes not evident.[Source: National Cancer Institute, Press Release, October 26, 1994.]

[lastfreeamerican]

"Go to California some time. It's amazing to get home after a night at the bars and not smell like an ash tray. Unless you've been out there to experience it, you don't realize how nice it is."

I guess it depends on what kind of bars you go to. Unfortunately for me, I've always been partial to old darkwood basement pubs, and after going to smoke-free pubs in both New York and Ireland, I was surprised by how much worse those places smelled WITHOUT the smoke. With the smoke gone, the only remaining odor was a combination of body odor, beer swill, and piss. Slàinte!