(MG) In the interests of full disclosure, I had quit smoking for 15 of the last 16 years, lighting up again only just last August, the result of a life-changing event that created in me a new heart, led to my conversion to Islam, to stop taking "my meds" (for bipolar prophylaxis) and inspired me to want to re-engage with life as a functional, competent, self-sufficient adult. Minor matters which I had never before given any thought to whatsoever. That's what the power of love can do. God bless you, Natalie Jean.
(MG) Ceasing the meds REALLY was a change. All of a sudden, I had appetites. My thoughts focused my fully, and rather than taking 3 hours to write a 3 paragraph commentary in response to one of Steve Gilliard's blogs, I could whip those suckers out in 10 minutes. When one has the techinical training to type 90 wpm, (thanks to Louise Castelli, Max Balzer and Tony DiBona - the first two my classical piano teachers, and the last, my freshman HS bastketball coach, and jr/sr HS varsity golf coach, AND typing teacher) cranking out a 750 word essay is a snap.
(MG) Oops - I started drinking alcohol again too. Not so smart. I quit for good on Easter Sunday, as a result of a talk a sister gave at the Mosque. She had converted to Islam from Southern Baptist tradition, in a tiny town in Arkansas. Speaking of what Muslims must do to present ourselves to the GAP (great American public) she said we must learn to smile, to be open, and to L I - L I. Love Islam, Live Islam.
(MG) THAT hit me like a baseball bat across the forehead. Allah does NOT want me to be a sloppy drunk, and since I took my first sip at age 14, I have always and only been a sloppy drunk, albeit charming, suave, debonair, intelligent and kind (used to be cute, thank heavens, don't have THAT burden to carry around any more).
(MG) But, as a poor man in America, with little income, I find that tobacco smoking offers me some solace and some comfort. Yes, it might very well offer me an early death. My freaking choice, thank you very much.
(MG) And since most of the few places I can find adult, white males with whom I can be my fully actualized, caring, sensitive, provactive, talkative self are taverns, (not one bartender or bar owner has criticized me for giving up booze ... au contraire ... they are all MOST supportive), it just pisses me off to be told I can't consume a legally produced, legally purchassed product, whose consumption would be condoned by said tavern owners, becasue some holier than me micromanaging ASS HOLES, who don't frequent my places (the poorer quarters where the ragged people go) in places that I consider to be truly holy.
(MG) As if their own lives are going so well they have nothing better to do than to tell me and my smoking kind what we can't do, and where we can't do it.
(MG) I have a dream -- vote their silly candy asses the fuck out of office. I mean, the 7 1/2% solution worked quite well during the Texas Takeover of the rethuglican party by the fundies. Here's how the 7 1/2% solution plays out:
(MG) About 60% of eligible citizens are registered to vote.
About 25% of registered voters come out to vote in off presidential election year voting.
Thus, only about 15% of any population votes in a local election.
If half of that 15% -- the 7 1/2% solution, can get out to vote, they will own the party; they will own the ticket.
(MG) SO ... my vision has a bunch of smokers making sure they find out just who their elected officials who find time to so micro-manage MY life in the smoking matter, that smoking bunch starts a letter-writing campaign and just votes the micro-magaging yuppie pond scum out the fuck of office.
(MG) Stranger things have happened.
(MG) Oh, and I won't blow somke in their faces, nor in yours. And if you don't like 2nd hand bar smoke, then find a damn bar that bans smoking. Just stay the fuck out of the bars I like to go to.
Going smoke-free at last
May 4, 2007
Not too long ago, Chicago and the rest of the state seemed stuck in a continuous loop of bickering on the subject of a restaurant smoking ban. The restaurant association vehemently opposed a ban, as did some restaurateurs who feared the loss of smoking customers would doom their businesses. The American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and other advocates fought just as hard to illuminate the public health risks of secondhand smoke in public places, including bars and restaurants.Both sides wielded powerful arguments. Both were dug in.
No longer. On Tuesday, the Illinois House joined the Senate in approving a statewide smoking ban in most public places. As in the earlier Senate vote, this one was shockingly lopsided, 73-42, signaling the dramatic momentum shift on this issue since Chicago passed its smoke-free law in December 2005.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he most likely will sign it. He should.
This law would be a triumph not only for public health, but for fairness. The new law would eliminate a confusing patchwork of local laws that some restaurant owners complained had hurt business. Starting Jan. 1, smokers who want to light up in most public places, including restaurants with bars and taverns, will have to take it outside. In a measure of how long and fierce this battle has been, cheers erupted in the House chambers after the vote. Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood), the bill's sponsor, embraced colleagues and slapped high-fives.
We'll join in the cheering. This is a great moment for the health of the people of Illinois. Most of all, it's a great moment for all those who work in bars and other places where secondhand smoke hangs in the air. The vote underscores a basic scientific tenet, as the U.S. surgeon general has asserted: There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
The smoking ban didn't come quickly or easily. It took years of political skirmishes in towns like Skokie, Wilmette, Arlington Heights and Orland Park, where local officials stood up for public health at risk to their political careers and their communities' tax coffers. It took years in which advocates marshaled medical studies and lobbied legislators and other opinion-makers. It took a cultural change on smoking that is evident not only in America but in many foreign countries.
Illinois now becomes the 19th state to pass a sweeping smoking ban. It will not be the last.
It's our guess that years from now people won't understand all the fuss. Just as it would seem strange to Americans now if people lit up in an airplane, or at the office -- as they once did -- it will seem strange to future generations that a ban on indoor smoking would kindle such fierce arguments. But it did. And, thankfully, for Illinois that argument is now just about over.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
