Clearing The Air

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The case against smoking bans, part 2

Politicians based smoking ban justifications on epidemiological data supplied by pharmaceutical nicotine funded lobbyists. (pharmaceutical nicotine = Nicoderm, Nicoderm CQ, Nicorette, Chantix) Specifically the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a division of the Johnson & Johnson Company, provided the funding to non-profits to push the smoking ban agenda on all areas of local government.

Epidemiolgy: educated guess after the fact. Epidemiologists compiled anecdotal stories ie. How many cigarettes do you think uncle Charlie smoked in the house for 40 years before aunt Mary contracted cancer?

These studies were ruled in court, as statistically flawed because researchers used a 90% confidence interval instead of the standard which is 95% confidence interval. ie.They lowered the bar to make the findings seem significant. Even at that lowered bar the relative risk ratio was only 1.2, a no risk ratio result is 1.0, a significant risk ratio is 3.0 to 4.0. Note, studies that show cell phones cause cancer have a relative risk ratio of 3.0, yet we have not banned cell phones as a health hazard. And in fact Walter E. Williams discussed the EPA flawed scientific testing with an official of the FDA:

During the late `90s, at a Washington affair, I had the occasion to be in the presence of an FDA official. I asked him whether he would approve of pharmaceutical companies employing EPA’s statistical techniques in their testing of drug effectiveness and safety. He answered no. I ask my fellow Americans who are nonsmokers: Do you support the use of fraudulent science in your efforts to eliminate tobacco smoke nuisance in bars, restaurants, workplaces and hotels?

On the other hand, we have actual secondhand smoke air quality test results conducted today in the very places which would be affected by the smoking bans…….bars and restaurants; not in aunt Mary or uncle Charlie’s home 20-30 years ago. Every one of these numerous test results around the world prove secondhand smoke is 2.6 -25,000 times safer than Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limits (pel). OSHA air quality analysis of secondhand smoke AQ testing is appropriate because smoking bans are justified per lawmakers and lobbyists alike as helping protect the health of workers. OSHA is the federal agency charged with protecting the health of workers.

The methodology of all of these secondhand smoke air quality tests was to measure for the trace or marker chemical nicotine, for reasons outlined below*. And it just so happens that OSHA does have a permissible exposure limit for the measured airborne chemical nicotine, it is 0.5 mg (milligram)/ cu. M. = 500 ug (microgram) = 500,000 nanograms. OSHA has permissible exposure limits for thousands of airborne chemicals, so not only can OSHA measure nicotine levels in secondhand smoke, they can measure all the individual chemical components. It is worthwhile to note that all of these AQ secondhand smoke test results were conducted by pro-smoking ban groups.

Thus, the fact that federal workplace air quality standards (OSHA), finds that secondhand smoke concentrations are multiple times safer than necessary; calls into question the validity of any and all smoking bans. If challenged on the science none of these bans would hold up. In fact the World Health Organization (WHO) quietly buried a study it conducted that found "Passive smoking doesn't cause cancer".Further, the pharmaceutical nicotine special interests which funded and lobbied for these financially benefiting laws have culpability in as much as they knew the AQ test results and OSHA permissible exposure limits, yet failed to provide the correct analysis to lawmakers.

So in repealing these smoking bans, based on science, it would be prudent remember to hold the special interests responsible for the financial damage they've inflicted from these rent seeking laws.

*Nicotine is the only unique or "trace" chemical in secondhand smoke. If you measured for formaldehyde, the carpet and other interior sources of formaldehyde would corrupt the test result, formaldehyde is formed naturally in our atmosphere due to photochemical oxidation. Benzene is given off from burning foods in the kitchen or diesel exhaust outdoors so again a false reading would be obtained. Therefore, nicotine is the ideal chemical to measure to determine secondhand smoke concentrations in the air.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The same lobbyists which pushed local governments toward smoking bans are now pushing the federal government to impose a $10 tax per cigar

The very same Robert Wood Johnson Foundation / Johnson & Johnson Company (Nicoderm, Nicorette manufacturer) interests which funded local smoking ban efforts are now (rent) seeking efforts to get anti-business members in the U.S. Senate and House to impose a $10 per cigar tax.

I hope everybody out there (are you listening Rush Limbaugh?) knows what to do.

What the lobbyists fail to recognize is that those of us who enjoy a good cigar will do is to simply purchase our product from cigar makers who set up headquarters outside the U.S.

By the way my brand is the Partagas Black, and I have no problem purchasing from a wholesaler who sets up shop off the shores of the U.S.

The anti-business smoking ban and tobacco tax pharmacuetical nicotine interests have pushed far too many people into the unemployment lines.........it's time to push back.

Update: Here is Rush's take on the whole issue.......also mentioned in this article is Bush's vow to veto this 20,000% increased cigar tax legislation. It's nice to have a guy in the White House who remembers what free market means.

God help us if the Democrats get back into office. Not only would we be surrendering to Islamic terrorists under a Democrat regime, but Democratic socialist legislation would make China look like the free world.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Selective outrage

Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman is outraged that hospitality workers at the state capitol have lost their jobs, outraged enough to devote a column to the issue.

Nick Coleman's outrage though is strangely silent on the issue of many more Twin Cities hospitality workers who lost thousands of jobs at the hands of liberal lawmakers.......who saved us all from "deadly" * secondhand smoke. When in reality, what they really did was eliminate 118+ bars and restaurants and countless jobs in the Twin Cities. Minnesota unemployment information by industry confirms this trend.

So it's seems hypocritical to me that Mr. Coleman would seem so upset about 18 workers who lost their jobs at the capitol versus the 2,100 + who've lost their jobs at Twin Cities bars and restaurants since implementation of the smoking bans.

Perhaps Coleman is upset because the 18 laid off workers were union members, or because the administration which oversaw the new kitchen contract is Republican. Or perhaps Nick and a lot of selectively outraged liberals are so happy that their clothes don't smell of smoke that they can overlook the plight of 2,100+ non-union individuals who paid so dearly for their (non-smokers) narcissistic preference.

Oh well......I guess when the pro-smoking ban, unionized paper of record controls the print media......outrage over hospitality lay offs is expected to be selective. Local media has made a concious decision not to report the record number of hospitality closings and job layoffs so that Twin Cities residents will never know the true cost of their clean air preference on the community.

The Star Tribune & Nick Coleman are on the job to report the social injustices of our time..........as long as those injustices fit in with their agenda.

Footnote:

* Just how "deadly" is secondhand smoke? Apparently not at all, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published air quality testing which clearly shows that the levels are 2.6 - 5,000 times SAFER than OSHA workplace permissible exposure limits. Closer to home, the St. Louis Park Environmental Health Department testing found that secondhand smoke levels are 15.4 - 500 times SAFER than OSHA workplace permissible exposure limits.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Some companies make money the old fashioned way, they earn it in fair, free market competition.

Unethical companies on the other hand use the force of government to eliminate their competitor's products......and guarantee a virtual government endorsed monopoly.

One such company, Johnson and Johnson is enjoying record sales of their pharmaceutical nicotine product line such as Nicorette. Another of Johnson & Johnson's subsidiaries ALZA, manufactures Nicoderm and Nicoderm CQ; making Johnson & Johnson the primary manufacturer and seller of over the counter pharmaceutical nicotine products.

Nor is it a coincidence that Johnson & Johnson's private foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is the principle sponsor and funding source for smoking ban lobbying efforts around the globe.

Fabricating false and misleading information about secondhand smoke in order to sell pharmaceutical nicotine products, while eliminating tobacco nicotine use, makes RWJF / Johnson & Johnson company and the non-profits they bankroll the new Enron scandal.

Proof of their lack of ethics and intentional rent seeking agenda is exemplified in their lack of concern for the financial damage they exact on the entire hospitality industry.

Warren Buffet, shame on you for getting into bed with this sleazy, rent seeking company.

Keeping in mind that roughly 70 million Americans enjoy the use of tobacco products and millions more are employed in the smoking ban ravaged hospitality industry.......I would encourage each and every one of these individuals not to do business with Johnson & Johnson Company or their subsidiaries.

For a complete list of J & J products to avoid, click here.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

64% of British pub owners polled say business has decreased since the smoking ban has taken effect

That article can be found here.

An online poll on this website has found 64% of licensees said their pub was quieter following the introduction of the smoking ban.....In total 229 out of 357 people agreed that the ban has left their pubs quieter.

British lawmakers are now decimating their hospitality industry, just as U.S. lawmakers have.

The unfortunate thing is that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has proven that the war on secondhand smoke is not only overblown, but completely fabricated. BMJ published air quality test results prove that secondhand smoke levels are 2.6 - 5,000 times SAFER than Occupational Safety & Health regulations.

British lawmakers have become the latest politicians to destroy an entire industry.......meanwhile the pharmaceutical nicotine lobby is laughing all the way to the bank.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

So how did that global warming concert turn out?

Not so good, it seems attendance was a little low in places like Johannesburg where the cold and snow kept attendees away.

.....We had snow in Jo'burg last week for the first time in 25 years."

It seems Al Gore and company should have held a "global warming /cooling / normal temperature fluctuations" concert.

It sort lacks that sense of urgency and hype that these doomsday alarmists are trying capture though.......oh well better luck next time.

Somebody wrote a comment that was thoroughly hilarious .....hey look it worked, they saved the planet.....we're still here!

If you haven't checked lately, the Twin Cities smoking bans have closed down 118 establishments so far.

We update both links regularly with the latest closings, if you know of any we've missed send us an email to cleanairquality-at-gmail.com.

http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2007/01/100-bars-and-restaurants-put-out-of.html

http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2005/11/updated-hennepin-ramsey-hospitality.html

If tobacco control activists would like to send us their speculations on why smoking bans don't increase business as you claimed in testimony before lawmakers.......we'll gladly reprint your lies......er, I mean excuses.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and his anti-business city council members regret their smoking ban now.....

Wanted: Clubs to light up the nightlife
Downtown needs some new blood and a good spit-shine for the '08 GOP confab

BY LAURA YUEN
Pioneer PressArticle Launched: 04/15/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT

With encouragement from city officials, various entrepreneurs are sniffing around downtown St. Paul, aiming to open a rock-music venue, four nightclubs, a pair of comedy clubs and an upscale cabaret.

"I'm out there, hustling," said Joe Spencer, arts and culture policy associate for Mayor Chris Coleman.....Spencer has been trying to entice nightlife operators to think of downtown St. Paul as a place to rock out. The city's efforts come as St. Paul tries to jazz itself up in advance of the 2008 Republican National Convention, anchored at Xcel Energy Center.....

...The storefront of the Lowry Building remains boarded up, despite promises of new entertainment venues there for years. Trendy eatery LoTo, which civic boosters once believed would jump-start Lowertown, hasn't sustained the crowd it seemed destined to attract. ......Lowertown jazz club French Press closed in December.

The push to invigorate nightlife coincides with a lengthy list of chores in advance of next year's convention. But bringing the bustle back to downtown has always been a top goal for (Mayor Chris) Coleman, Spencer said.

I am not sure how Clearing the Air missed this 4/07 Pioneer Press article (Pioneer Press has already removed this story from its server) when it first appeared, but it is apparent that City of St. Paul officials are up in arms over the hospitality closings in their fair city..... Especially since the GOP convention is headed to town and will no doubt take notice of the Democratic anti-business policy (smoking ban) which left many parts of St. Paul's business community a socialist ghost town.

The Pioneer Press article is aptly titled:

Wanted: Clubs to light up the nightlife

Downtown needs some new blood and a good spit-shine for the '08 GOP confab

The title indicates an air of desparation that a city council without a clue is destroying St. Paul's business community.........it couldn't happen to a nicer group of socialists.

Don't expect St. Paul city council officials to admit they were wrong in their decision to impose a smoking ban though, these social engineers are very proud........and their anti-business agenda is beyond reproach.

Like most DFL'ers, St. Paul's city council hates business.....capitalism is the antithesis to socialism and must be curbed at every opportunity........except when company's coming.

Now that the pro-business GOP is coming to town, look for St. Paul tax dollars to prop up local small businesses like never before.......and tax incentives will be handed out to hospitality developers like cigarettes in a late night pre-smoking ban bar.

Filed under: Duh.....where'd all the smoking customers go?

Friday, July 06, 2007

Tobacco control activists force me into a new career.......Lord of War?

Whether readers have noticed it or not Clearing the Air has a new advertiser Impact Guns.

Truth be told we are not just an advertiser, but an affiliate; meaning that we earn a commission on any items ordered at Impact from our website link......similar to the manner in which I used to make a living before the smoking bans, ie. selling Smokeeter air cleaners to bars and restaurants.

I recall seeing Lord of War in the theater 2 years ago and joked with the little woman that since my job had been eliminated thanks to the local smoking bans, maybe I should become a weapons dealer like Yuri Orlov.....the money looked as good as selling Smokeeters back in the days of free market America.

I had forgotten all about that nefarious career decision until we moved out to the country. Country living on a ten acre heavily wooded rental home got me to thinking about personal security, so I started shopping for the perfect 2nd Amendment accessory...Impact seemed to have it all, and in a variety of price ranges. From the Desert Eagle .50 at $1,539.99 to the Hi-Point .380 at $109.99.

Doing some internet research I chose the .45 caliber based on information provided by law enforcement officials. I soon found that owning a handgun for protection is only a very minor justification. After joining a local sportsmen's club I've found that I thoroughly enjoy the sport of shooting.....though the cost of .45 caliber ammo makes it one of the more expensive rounds to target practice........but every hobby has it's price.

So I hope regular readers will forgive the seemingly incongruent relationship between my new found hobby and that of Clearing the Air's primary writings.......exposing the junk science of smoking bans.

Thank you tobacco control, I think I'll enjoy this new career.

Now if you'll excuse me I have several hundred rounds of .45 caliber ammo to put down range.....

Also visit one of Front Sight’s links in the right column, what could be more fun than firing a fully automatic Uzi in the desert at their facility outside Las Vegas?

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Smoking ban claims another victim in St. Paul

Smoking bans eliminate smoking patrons from establishments. The few smoking patrons who still frequent the mandated non-smoking bars and restaurants are forced outside to enjoy their habit........that's when many smoker's are victimized.

Local media reports the story of a woman who was forced outside, due to the smoking ban, and then was violently attacked.

Huh, seems to me that if smoking bans weren't initiated by "politically correct" activist groups and the ever powerful pharmaceutical nicotine interests, an astute lawyer would have a field day with a lawsuit against those who enacted laws which forced Margaret Dean into harm's way.