"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences." -- C. S. Lewis
4/30/2009 7:33:24 AM
4/30/2009 7:34:08 AM
4/30/2009 7:38:43 AM
I think we should go back to the days before minimum wage and labor laws when capitalism's gears were oiled by the blood of the workers.
4/30/2009 7:40:03 AM
My mind is blown by how self important the smoking defenders get about this shit. It's black and white and fuck every shade in between. Take your bitch ass outside and smoke, come back in and enjoy a drink and conversation with everyone else not wanting to play the lung cancer game.
4/30/2009 7:41:48 AM
WAIT. WOMEN CAN VOTE NOW?
4/30/2009 7:43:16 AM
My mind is blown by how self important the non-smoking defenders get about this shit. It's black and white and fuck every shade in between. Take your bitch ass to one of the many non-smoking establishments and quit trying to enact laws that we don't need.
4/30/2009 7:49:11 AM
^Exactly.
4/30/2009 7:53:58 AM
4/30/2009 7:57:08 AM
^Thanks for the Ayn Rand publicity.
4/30/2009 7:59:54 AM
the point here should be that it is the OWNERS bar, not the representatives and their constituents...they should be able to decide what happens there. If there is smoke and you don't like, GTFOI don't go to a bar and tell them to turn off their shitty music if that is how I perceive itI don't go to a restaurant and tell them how to decorate the place or cook their foodyou can bitch and moan till your red in the face about health concerns... that doesn't change a damn thing about the fact that it is THE OWNERS BAR, not yours... if you don't like it, then don't go. When you open your own bar, you can make it a nonsmoking pirate bar for all I care- you know why? IT'S YOUR BAR
4/30/2009 8:16:22 AM
Owners rights is just a convenient argument for self important smokers in lieu of actually recognizing the health concern issue and the infringing on someone else's rights issue.
4/30/2009 8:24:44 AM
I'm gonna love the lack of smoke..but I still don't agree the gov't should be telling bar owners what to do.
4/30/2009 8:26:46 AM
THEY ALREADY DO TELL THEM WHAT THEY CAN AND CAN'T DOTHEY CAN'T SERVE ALCOHOL WITHOUT A PERMITTHEY CAN'T SERVE IT AFTER 2AM IN NORTH CAROLINATHEY CAN'T LEAVE FOOD THAT SHOULD BE COLD OUT TO BECOME LEUKWARM AND A HAVEN FOR BACTERIATHEY CAN'T POUR GREASE DOWN A PUBLIC SEWER DRAIN[Edited on April 30, 2009 at 8:28 AM. Reason : .]
4/30/2009 8:28:46 AM
you mad?[Edited on April 30, 2009 at 8:30 AM. Reason : ]
4/30/2009 8:29:38 AM
^^your last argument has already been adressedyou can't see your food being made/know where it is coming from- you know walking into a bar if it is smoking or notand if you don't like it, then leave- that decision is totally up to you
4/30/2009 8:30:27 AM
4/30/2009 8:33:44 AM
is there a list of raleigh bars that are smoke-free? (i don't google/search)
4/30/2009 8:38:00 AM
4/30/2009 8:40:09 AM
^^There are many.Which brings up an issue that makes my blood boil:The private sector has successfully addressed the issue of people wanting smoke-free establishments. There are many, many non-smoking restaurants and bars to choose from. If this weren't the case -- if nearly every restaurant and bar allowed smoking, and most people don't smoke or want to be around smoking, then an authoritarian government ban on smoking, while still immoral, would be perhaps reasonable -- a necessary evil -- because most people wouldn't have the choice to eat or drink out. But, there are plenty of non-smoking options -- so do we all view this as "problem solved"? No. Some of you see this and think, "Well, most places disallow smoking, so let's go ahead and force everyone to." This is so fucking backwards it makes me scream.^Could you possibly miss the point any worse?
4/30/2009 8:44:31 AM
Question for all, which bars in the downtown area ban smoking? Which restaurants?
4/30/2009 8:46:59 AM
so, using your logic, people should have the right to do heroin and meth and whatnot without fear of legal repercussions, right?
4/30/2009 9:03:25 AM
4/30/2009 9:08:21 AM
4/30/2009 9:17:53 AM
4/30/2009 9:19:41 AM
^I agree. Of course that should be legal. Is evan trying to make a point?
4/30/2009 9:23:36 AM
I love the "I'm all for legislation if it's what I want" crowd.how hard is it to not go to a place if you don't want to be around smoke? Instead of personal choice, you need the gov to do it for you.
4/30/2009 9:30:28 AM
4/30/2009 9:33:23 AM
4/30/2009 9:35:51 AM
4/30/2009 9:45:33 AM
salisburyboy addressed specific points brought up to refute his arguments more than these libertarian ideologues do. its fine to attach yourself and support the platform of a political movement but once you cross the zone from reality and rationalism you become a radical and it makes nutso libertarians just as bad as nutso republicans or utlra liberal democrats. Once someone reaches that point they erode their own credibility, and can never regain it because no matter how much you speak with them, at the end of the day, you'll be frustrated and they'll still be crazy.
4/30/2009 9:45:40 AM
^ That is all this boils down to. If the fear of or the perceived fear of a right being eroded trumps idea of the common good dear to all libertarians, even if that fear is unfounded or misappropriated, then they complete forget the other half of their ideology and construct the biggest soap box imaginable, load up on the bull horns, and start shouting until they are blue in the face.I really can't get over how these folks turn a complete blind eye to the abject health issue that smoking causes, not to mention the nuisance, to innocent third parties to trumpet the private property talking point, conveniently ignoring existing excellent rules and regulations that helped make this country the wonder that it is.
4/30/2009 9:51:12 AM
Cigarettes are a legal commodity.So there are two clear markets: cigarette smokers and non-smokers.Bars and restaurants choose to cater to either one market, the other market, or both.Why do we need a law to say that they must only be able to cater to one legal market?
4/30/2009 9:51:36 AM
4/30/2009 9:54:40 AM
4/30/2009 9:57:46 AM
i like when people use the smoking = unsanitary foods strawman...shows how out of touch they are with reality^let the business owner decide what he wants the policy to be in his business]
4/30/2009 9:57:50 AM
4/30/2009 9:58:16 AM
4/30/2009 9:59:26 AM
^^^ i completely agree. i was just asking how he felt smokers have the right to a place before non-smokers, as he basically stated, if you don't want to be around smoke, don't go. a "we were here first" type sentiment.[Edited on April 30, 2009 at 10:02 AM. Reason : k]
4/30/2009 9:59:32 AM
word
4/30/2009 10:03:34 AM
4/30/2009 10:05:26 AM
^ ok. i agree with you there. i must have misinterpreted your post.
4/30/2009 10:06:44 AM
4/30/2009 10:07:01 AM
there are plenty of people who like smoking and who want to go to bars that allow smokingi've never once heard of a group of people who want to go somewhere with unsanitary food
4/30/2009 10:09:02 AM
4/30/2009 10:14:07 AM
4/30/2009 10:15:12 AM
4/30/2009 10:18:06 AM
4/30/2009 10:18:32 AM
i tried to clue you in to the stark difference in allowing smoking, versus allowing unsanitary foods, but you're clueless]
4/30/2009 10:19:17 AM
should bar owners have the right to deny blacks from their establishment?Its private property, isn't it.
4/30/2009 10:19:36 AM