Smoke Nazis: DBKP Library of Stories

“Government never takes freedom in one swift move. It regulates and legislates it away, a little at a time– mostly in the name of “protecting” you.”
–R. E. Bierce March 19, 2008

DBKP stories and videos on Smoke Nazis, those mostly unelected officials on a No-Smoking Jihad against personal choice and liberty. UPDATED: July 15, 2008 * German Nazis, Smoke Nazis: Anti-Smokers Use Hitler’s Blueprint * Nanny State: Personal Freedom Ends Where the Smoke Nazis Rule * Smoke Nazis Roll Over Pipe Smokers Convention, Individual Rights * Smoke Nazis: Man Arrested for Dropping Ash onto Pavement * Smoke Nazis Hit Jackpot in Colorado Casinos * New California Law: No Freedom from Smoke-Free Health Nazis * Health Nazis’ Next Target: Obesity Requires Global Action Like Climate Change * Smoke Regulators Go After Apartments : At What Point Will They Stop? * Smoke and Health Nazis: The Tyranny of the Minority * Virginia Supreme Court Rules Legislature Cannot Delegate Taxing Power to Non-elected Bodies

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Source: DBKP.com and DBKP@Blogger archives

Smoke Nazis or 1930s Nazi: Little Difference in Tactics

Present-day anti-smoking forces are following the same blueprint that Adolph Hitler used in his hopes for a smoke-free Nazi Germany. Smoke Nazis' quest for control and regulatory power closely mirror the original National Socialists of 1930s Germany.

We list the Nazi anti-smoking accomplishments alongside of those of the Smoke Nazis.

It reveals where the Health Nazis are headed.




* The Nazis banned tobacco advertising and financed huge public relations campaigns to propagandize people into giving up smoking.

In April 1970, Congress passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act banning the advertising of cigarettes on television and radio starting on January 2, 1971. The Virginia Slims brand was in the last commercial shown, with "a 60-second revue from flapper to Female Lib", shown at 11:59 p.m. on January 1 during a break on The Tonight Show.

* The first modern, nationwide tobacco ban was imposed by the Nazi Party in every German university, post office, military hospital and Nazi Party office, under the auspices of Karl Astel's Institute for Tobacco Hazards Research, created in 1941 under direct orders from Adolf Hitler himself. Major anti-tobacco campaigns were widely broadcast by the Nazis until the demise of the regime in 1945.

In 1975, the U.S. state of Minnesota enacted the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act, making it the first state to ban smoking in most public spaces. To begin with, restaurants were required to have No Smoking sections, and bars were exempt from the Act. As of 1 October 2007, Minnesota signed into law a ban on smoking completely from all restaurants and bars throughout the state. This is the Freedom to Breathe Act of 2007. In 1990, the city of San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.A. became the first city in the world to ban indoor smoking at all public places, including bars and restaurants.

There are now 35 states with some form of smoking ban on the books.

* A ban on smoking in private vehicles was called for.

Gain for anti-smoking movement: No puffs allowed in private vehicles
BERKELEY, CAL--Some hospitals have banned smoking inside a person's own vehicle if it's on hospital property, a step viewed as logical by the anti-smoking movement but repugnant to its critics.

* The term "passive smoking" (Passivrauchen) was coined by the Nazi Anti-Tobacco League. Its author, Fritz Lickint, offered no supporting evidence to claim that smokers poisoned everyone around them, while also stating that drinking coffee caused cancer.

Fact: In 1995 The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a review of the EPA report [on second-hand smoke.] The CRS was highly critical of both the EPA's methods and conclusions.

Fact: According to the CRS "The studies relied primarily on questionnaires to the case and control members, or their surrogates, to determine EST [Environmental Tobacco Smoke] exposure and other information pertinent to the studies.

"


* The Nazi anti-smoking crusade was unleashed with the help of manufactured junk science on behalf of the medical and health establishment, one such example being that smoking caused "spontaneous abortions" in pregnant women.

Cherry-picked Science on Secondhand Smoke
In a recent paper entitled “Sorting Out Junk Science,” published by the American Council on Science and Health, a toxicologist notes that she most often sees junk science when a regulatory agency “puts political objectives ahead of scientific integrity.” It occurs, for example, when an agency adopts a political position and then “selectively seeks data that support and further that position, even to the point of actively excluding any results which are inconsistent with that position.”
Results that are inconsistent with the desired position (banning smoking) are simply excluded.

* Hitler attempted to price out smoking for Germans, levying huge taxes on cigarettes.

"On June 3, the state cigarette tax increased by $1.25, to $2.75. With the $1.50 city tax, the total retail price for a pack is now the highest in the country—around $9."
--NY Magazine: The Unsmokables

"More states that haven't (raised taxes) should do so. This will stop tax-skirting smuggling of cigarettes from low-tax to high-tax states and discourage youth smoking," Todd said.
--American Cancer Society: How to Fight Teen Smoking

Despite the Nazi propaganda crusade against smoking, tobacco sales increased in Germany, leading some history professors to hypothesize that smoking was an act of cultural resistance against fascism, until the late 1930's after smoking was banned in most public buildings and tobacco sales rapidly declined.

This war against smoking is being waged by the same types who were responsible for Prohibition. Smoke Nazis come in different flavors.

For some, it's a misguided attempt to remake society into a "better place"--and, of course, they get to define "better". The urge to feel morally superior to evil smokers is practically overwhelming for this breed of Smoke Nazi.

For others, it's all about control: nothing can quite duplicate the feeling of telling others what to do for this brand of Smoke Nazi. They are most like the Nazis of the 1930s: it was also about control for them as well.




If you smoke, then it's open season on your personal freedom of choice. Smoke Nazis had good teachers: the original Nazis had no use for choice; they wanted smoking gone at any price. However,smokers can take heart: they won't be the last to be singled out by the Health Nazis.

Sadly, many non-smokers stand on the sidelines, while their neighbors, friends and family are systematically demonized. They wrongly think that they have no side in this fight. They don't smoke, but smoking doesn't bother them, so they don't care who wins.

These non-smoking bystanders are dead wrong: it will affect them, sooner or later.

If smoking were outlawed (as happened to marijuana in the 1930s) completely, the Smoke Nazis won't stop their crusades to remake the world in their image. The overweight, the too-heavily perfumed, the junk-food eaters, the wearers of leather shoes and coats: these are next on the list of behaviors that some people find offensive. It's in the nature of the people calling the shots.

Once a Smoke Nazi tastes blood, they become insatiable.

by Mondoreb
Sources/images:
* Tobacco advertising
* Today's Anti-Smoking Purge Is Borrowed From The Nazis, Smoking is healthier than fascism
* infowars
* tommcmahon
*free-vegetarian.thumbnail.jpg"> myconfinedspace
* Smoking ban
* davehitt/facts
* Junk Science
* How to Fight Teen Smoking
* Higher cigarette taxes have smokers gasping

Nanny State: Personal Freedom Ends Where The Smoke Nazis Rule

Second-hand Smoke Caution Signs on WV Bars

Latest evidence of the Smoke Nazis

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, secure the Blessings of Liberty, and to protect us from all risks and especially from ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
--Preamble, U.S. Constitution

The Preamble to the Constitution really does not contain the words above in red. There is a segment of government and society, however, that is confused on this issue: those boosters of Big Government and the Nanny State.

Wikipedia defines The Nanny State as "a derogatory term that refers to state protectionism, economic interventionism, or regulatory policies, and the perception that these policies are becoming institutionalized as common practice."

It's a sign of how far down the road to Nannyism the U.S. has traveled that the Wiki definition includes the qualifier, "the perception that these policies are becoming institutionalized as common practice." Anyone who is older than 21-years-old can remember a time when their lives weren't bound by a steady stream of laws, regulations, edicts and criminal penalties churned out by the Nanny State's most recognizable stormtroopers: the Smoke and Health Nazis.

Anyone older than 30 can even remember when the words "A man's home is his castle" actually meant something in a court of law. And anyone older than 40 can recall when those five words--sure to a rile any Nannyist--were commonplace: "Ain't none of your business".

The incident that sparked these reminiscences was the appearance, on the door of the neighborhood tavern, of the sign pictured at the beginning of this post. It's a sign that has been ordered to be placed on every bar and tavern in the state of West Virginia.

It's merely the latest salvo in the on-going war against personal habits and behavior among consenting adults. On one typical evening at this same tavern, a count of the establishment's 22 patrons showed 18 of them participating in the cautionary act of smoking. The Smoke Nazis may not realize it, but the "CAUTION" sign had its expected effect: when warning signs proliferate and appear on the most mundane activities, there's a inclination to ignore all of them.

Smoking is not the only front in the war for a Euro-style Nanny State in America, but it's only the hottest one.

We won't delve into the dishonesty of anti-smoking officials and their manipulation of statistics and studies to further their agenda: that would occupy a roomful of researchers--working around the clock--for years.



Or, the fact that looking to the Lung Association and other anti-smoking groups for reliable, non-biased statistics and information is akin to depending on the Democratic National Committee for information and news about conservative causes.

As Reason's Jacob Sullum wrote in 2006:

According to Surgeon General Richard Carmona, secondhand smoke is so dangerous that you'd be better off if you stopped going to smoky bars and started smoking instead. "Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke," claims the press release that accompanied his new report on the subject, "has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer."

Among smokers, these diseases take many years to develop. So if you got your health tips from the surgeon general, you'd start smoking a pack a day as a protective measure.

But you may want to look elsewhere for medical advice. Carmona is so intent on promoting smoking bans—a key element of the government's campaign to reduce cigarette consumption—that he absurdly exaggerates the hazards of secondhand smoke, hoping to generate enough public alarm to banish smokers from every location outside the home.

As the report itself makes clear, there is no evidence that brief, transient exposure to secondhand smoke has any effect on your chance of developing heart disease or lung cancer.

So the report admits that, as far as bar patrons go, second-hand smoke is essentially what it always has been to the non-smoker in a social setting: a nuisance.

However, if second-hand smoke was merely a nuisance, there wouldn't be much need for the government to step in and regulate it. Citizens don't mind staying home if there's a quarantine. If a dire public health hazard threatens, most people don't mind giving up a little personal freedoms for a short while to combat it.

That's explains the never-ending, dishonest campaign against second-hand smoke. One would hope that there would be a great outcry if the government was seen as stripping people of personal freedoms in the name of a nuisance.

Hence, the "CAUTION" sign that's been slapped on bars and taverns all over the state of West Virginia: it softens up the populace for the next Smoke Nazi bid for more control. We have a real problem: the state wouldn't mandate "CAUTION" signs for a nuisance.

Would they?

The studies that link secondhand smoke to these illnesses involve intense, long-term exposure, typically among people who have lived with smokers for decades.

Even in these studies, it's difficult to demonstrate an effect, precisely because the doses of toxins and carcinogens bystanders passively absorb are much smaller than the doses absorbed by smokers, probably amounting to a fraction of a cigarette a day. Not surprisingly, the epidemiological studies cited by the surgeon general's report find that the increases in lung cancer and heart disease risks associated with long-term exposure to secondhand smoke are small, on the order of 20 to 30 percent.

It only takes two things for a focused campaign to strip people's freedoms to succeed: a over-zealous cabal who stand to profit by the changes (the Lung Association, American Cancer Society and other anti-smoking groups depend on donations of anti-smokers); and, an apathetic, ignorant or uninformed general public.

One day soon, there may be those too young to remember when people routinely went to bars and taverns to unwind with a beer and a smoke. That would be too bad; because the day the Smoke Nazis gain total victory and outlaw smoking completely--does anyone doubt that is where they are taking us?--is the day that they turn their undivided attention to another personal habit, another personal choice, another freedom.

The real hazard is not bar patrons unwinding--some choosing to smoke, other declining the opportunity.

The real threat to public safety and welfare are the dedicated minions of the Nanny State: the Smoke Nazis who KNOW what's better for you than you yourself do.

Some Americans live for the day when the only warning labels mandated by government would be those required for Smoke Nazis: that obnoxious, arrogant clique that spends their lives instructing everyone else on how to live theirs.



by Mondoreb




Sources:
* usconstitution.net
* Nanny State
* A Pack of Lies
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
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Chicago Smoke Nazis Roll Over Pipe Smokers and Rights

SMOKE NAZIS
On the March in: Chicago



Smoke Nazis in the Chicago area rolled over the right of free association, when they forced attendees to the Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show to go outside to smoke.

At the Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show in St. Charles, IL, attendees have been told that, due to a statewide smoking ban that went into effect in January, they may not light up even though theirs is a private gathering of only willing participants. This, despite the fact that the conventioneers bent over backwards to try to reach an accommodation.

There was a time--years in the past--when one could volunteer for the American Cancer Society fund raisers without feeling like a fascist. Now, the ACS is one of the leading components of the Nanny State.

Mike Grady, the ACS's Illinois director of public policy, illustrated the Cancer Society's belief that they are on the side of right--and your rights be damned.

"This is the first time we've seen such a blatant attempt . . . to actually undermine the law through legal sophistry. We're very happy with the outcome. This is the perfect example that the law is being enforced."

Some officials are more insufferable than--cancer?

At least in Illinois, the smoking ban was passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. They can be held accountable for their actions in the next election.

In many locales, smoking bans are administered by Health Departments and Health Boards: groups of unelected officials who can write citations, levy fines and, in some cases, order jail time for offenders. In these cases, voters have no recourse.



Fascist Tactics

Writing on a different topic, Doan Boal did a paper that compared the tactics of the Nazis in Germany and the anti-gun movement in America. His paper examined the "comparison of Nazi propaganda techniques and those used by the powerful anti-firearms-ownership movement in America..."

Boal found more than a few similarities in tactics. He might well have been comparing the Smoke Nazis to the original ones.

Among the articles of faith for the Smoke Nazis are:

1- The belief that they are smarter than you.
2- They know what's best for each individual.
3- The free market of ideas and minds is too messy. Better that laws and regulations are passed and the punitive power of the state is applied to unbelievers.
4- They believe in the power of re-education.
5- They are frightened that people may make the wrong decisions if left to their own devices.

These were also some of the tactics used in Germany in the 1930s.

Anti-smoking officials and agents are part of the larger Politically Correct crowd: both are concerned with regulating behavior and thought.

People standing on the sideline lose whenever they allow the Smoke and Health Nazis to take away their neighbors' freedoms. They lose because their freedoms will likely be next.

Count on it. Ask yourself three simple question:

1 "If every last smoker in the USA quit today and never smoked again, would all of the overzealous public health officials harassing smokers, suddenly find meaning to their lives?"

2 "Or would they find another behavior to demonize, repress and regulate?"

3 "What are the next personal activities to be targeted by the Smoke/Health Nazis?"

Smoking, by some estimates, kills 434,000 people a year in the USA.

To paraphrase Emiliano Zapata, "I'd rather die--smoking, wheezing, coughing--on my feet than live on my knees."




Smoke Nazis are all about control.

If you're in doubt about the validity of the above statement, ask the convention goers at the Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show.

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Sources:
* Tobacco, Tolerance and Truth
* Pipe Smokers Huff and puff over smoking ban
* The Anti-Tobacco Nazis
* HCI Tactics and Nazi Tactics
* blackrosebooks
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
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Smoke Nazis: Man Arrested for Dropping Ash onto Pavement

Smoke Nazis never declare victory.

Not content with making it an offense to puff at work or in public--and in some places, private cars and apartments--one man went to court for dropping his cigarette ash on a pavement.

Smoker Daniel Slaney ended up in court after the computer programmer, 37, was having a quick smoke as he walked to work.

In the U.K., not one, but two council wardens accused him of throwing his cigarette end away and handed him a £40 fine for littering in Sandiacre, near Nottingham.

Daniel refused to pay and told Southern Derbyshire Magistrates he always carried an old packet for his butts as he was against littering.

Magistrate Geoffrey Dennis threw out the case. He said: “This would seem to be an example of overzealous officialdom.”

Saved by the judge--this time.

But here's a prediction: it won't be the last time this happens.

Mark it down.

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Source: Well Ash just ridiculous, buddy
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP's Today in Weird History: February 6, 2008

WAR, DISASTERS, CREEPY, WHISKERS, BOO, RECORDS, PAGE TWO, BANDITS, GAMES, HOBBIES, NANNY STATE, POLITICS, CIVIL RIGHTS, SMOKE NAZIS, PRO WRESTLING, GOLF, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, POPULATION, PIRATES, SPERM CONTROL, JEWS, GEEZERS, CLINTONS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH


1911 Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born in Tampico, Ill.

WAR!

1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; 1st US treaty. England declares war on France.

1862 Victory for General Ulysses S Grant in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson; Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

1899 A peace treaty between the United States and Spain was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

2003 Edging closer to war, President Bush declared "the game is over" for Saddam Hussein and urged skeptical allies to join in disarming Iraq.

DISASTERS

1911 Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey.

1951 "Broker Special" train crashes in Woodbridge NJ, killing 84

1958 7 soccer players of Manchester United die in an air crash at Munich.

1992 16 people were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Evansville, Ind.

1996 A Turkish-owned Boeing 757 jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from the Dominican Republic, killing 189 people, mostly German tourists.

CREEPY

2003 ABC's "20/20" aired a British documentary on Michael Jackson in which the singer revealed he sometimes let children sleep in his bed.

WHISKERS

1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers.

BOO!

1956 French premier Guy Mollet pelted with tomatoes in Algiers.

PAGE TWO

1951 Radio commentator Paul Harvey arrested for trying to sneak into the Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago IL.

RECORDS

1990 Steve Briers of Wales recited the entire lyrics of Queen's album "A Night At The Opera" in 9 minutes & 58.44 seconds backwards!

BANDITS

1891 1st great train robbery by Dalton Gang (Southern Pacific #17).

GAMES

1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the 1st time.

PRO WRESTLING

1977 Harley Race beats Terry Funk in Toronto, to become NWA wrestling champion.

HOBBIES

1948 1st radio-controlled airplane flown.

GOLF

1968 Former President Dwight Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one.

1971 1st time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard).

NANNY STATE

1953 US controls on wages & some consumer goods were lifted.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1956 University of Alabama refuses admission to Autherine Lucy (because he's black).

SMOKE NAZIS



1987 No-smoking rules take effect in federal buildings.

POLITICS

1788 Massachusetts became the sixth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1933 the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called "lame duck" amendment, was proclaimed in effect by Secretary of State Henry Stimson.

SPERM CONTROL

1997 Diane Blood, 32, in England, won right to use her dead husbands sperm.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1959 Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow.

POPULATION

1820 US population announced at 9,638,453 (1,771,656 blacks (18.4%)).

PIRATES!

1832 US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy.

JEWS

1902 Young Women's Hebrew Association organized in New York NY.

GEEZERS

1911 1st old-age home opened in Prescott AZ.

CLINTONS

1998 President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair redoubled their pledge to use military force against Iraq if necessary; during a joint news conference in which the subject of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky came up, Clinton said he would "never" resign. President Clinton signed a bill changing the name of Washington National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

BORN

1756 America's third vice president, Aaron Burr, was born in Newark, N.J.

1833 James Ewell Brown "JEB" Stuart Major General (Commander of Cavalry, Confederate Army).

1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth Baltimore MD, baseball great (Yankees).

1912 Eva Braun mistress of Adolf Hitler.

BIRTHDAYS

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is 91. Actor Patrick Macnee is 86. Actor Rip Torn is 77. Actress Mamie Van Doren is 77. Actor Mike Farrell is 69. Former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw is 68. Singer Fabian is 65. Actress Gayle Hunnicutt is 65. Actor Michael Tucker is 64. Producer-director-writer Jim Sheridan is 59. Singer Natalie Cole is 58. Actor Jon Walmsley is 52. Actress Kathy Najimy is 51. Rock musician Simon Phillips (Toto) is 51. Actor-director Robert Townsend is 51. Actor Barry Miller is 50. Actress Megan Gallagher is 48. Rock singer Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses) is 46. Country singer Richie McDonald is 46. Singer Rick Astley is 42. Rock musician Tim Brown (Boo Radleys) is 39. Actor Brandon Hammond is 24.

DEATH

1804 Joseph Priestley England/US theologist/philosopher/chemist, dies at 70.

1952 Britain's King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.

2007 Singer Frankie Laine died in San Diego at age 93.

February 6, the 37th day of 2008. There are 329 days left in the year. Today is Ash Wednesday.

compiled by Mondoreb
images: redstateleader; RidesAPaleHorse
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today in History: January 6, 2008

Drama, WAR!, SCANDAL, POLITICS, JEWS, CITIES, MARRIAGE, SMOKE NAZIS, DISASTER, SPORTS, CIVIL RIGHTS, INVENTIONS, PATENTS, POPES, CLIMATE, PROGRESS, EDUCATION, FINANCE, DICTATORS, WOMEN, SCIENCE, MUSIC, POETS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, LABOR, CROWNS, LOTTERIES, BORN, DEATH


DRAMA

1994 Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding's bodyguard.

WAR!

1496 Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christi.

1842 4,500 British & Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India.

1861 Florida troops seize Federal arsenal at Apalachicola.

1900 Boers attack at Ladysmith, about 1,000 killed or injured.

1967, U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Deckhouse Five, an offensive in the Mekong River delta.

SCANDAL

1987, the U.S. Senate voted 88-4 to establish a panel to hold hearings on the Iran-Contra affair.

POLITICS

1896 Cecil Rhodes resigns as premier of Cape colony.

1912 New Mexico becomes 47th state.

1941 FDR's "4 Freedoms" speech (speech, worship, from want & from fear).

1980 Indira Gandhi's Congress Party wins elections in India.

1987 100th US Congress convenes.

JEWS

1497 Jews are expelled from Graz (Syria).

CITIES

1535 City of Lima Peru founded by Francisco Pizarro.

MARRIAGE

1540 King Henry VIII of England married his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves.

1759 George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Curtis.

1945 Future President George Bush marries Barbara Pierce in Rye NY.

SMOKE NAZIS

1639 Virginia is 1st colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed.

DISASTER

1663 Great earthquake in New England.

1839 2 day storm off Irish & English coast immortalized as "The Big Wind".

1967 2 homemade buses collided on a mountain road in Terpate, Philippines plunging off a cliff, killing 84, injuring 140.

SPORTS

1681 1st recorded boxing match (Duke of Albemarle's butler vs his butcher).

1964 Charlie Finlay announces he wants to move Kansas City A's to Louisville.

1976 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million.

1980 Philadelphia Flyers set NHL record of 35 straight games without a defeat.

1995 Atlanta Hawks' Lenny Wilkens becomes NBA's winningest coach (939).

1998 Barry Switzer resigns as Dallas Cowboy coach.

1998 Don Sutton selected to Baseball Hall of Fame.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1773 Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom.

1832 New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston).

INVENTIONS

1838 Samuel Morse made 1st public demonstration of telegraph.

PATENTS

1857 Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Pennsylvania.

POPES

1873 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On the Church in Armenia".

1928 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Mortalium animos (against oecumene).

1946 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Quemadmodum.

CLIMATE

1880 Record snow cover in Seattle-120cm.

PROGRESS

1893 Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with east coast.

1898 1st telephone message from a submerged submarine, by Simon Lake.

1930 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed.

1942 1st around world flight (Pan Am "Pacific Clipper").

EDUCATION

1907 Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome).

FINANCE

1914 Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded.

1994 Dow-Jones hits record 3803.88.

DICTATORS

1929 Alexander I establishes a royal dictatorship in Yugoslavia.

WOMEN

1936 Barbara Hanley became Canada's 1st woman mayor (Webbwood, Ontario).

1938 Bronze memorial statue of Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx.

SCIENCE

1968 Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon.

1987 Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy.

1993 Jean Mueller discovers comet Mueller/1993a.

MUSIC

1957 Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show.

1958 Gibson patents the Flying V Guitar.

1964 Rolling Stones' 1st tour as headline act (with Ronettes).

1968 Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 8 weeks.

1977 EMI records drop punk rock group Sex Pistols.

1993 Bill Wyman announces he will leave Rolling Stones.

POETS

1958 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to ee cummings.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1963 "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC.

1967 "Milton Berle Show" last airs on ABC-TV.

1973 "Schoolhouse Rock" premieres on ABC-TV with Multiplication Rock.

1974 "CBS Mystery Theater" premieres on radio.

1975 "Wheel Of Fortune" debuts on NBC-TV.

MEDICINE

1968 Dr N E Shumway performs 1st US adult cardiac transplant operation.

1971 Berkeley chemists announces 1st synthetic growth hormones.

LABOR

1974 England begins 3 day work week during mine strike.

1986 Impala Platinum fires 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg.

CROWNS

1978 US hand over St Stephan crown to Hungary.

LOTTERIES

1990 New York Lotto pays $35 million to one winner (#s are 18-25-26-32-42-44).

1996 Record $65.2 million British lottery won by 3 people (2-3-4-13-42-44).

BORN

1412 Joan of Arc Domremy, martyr
1745 Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier Annonay France, aeronaut (1st pioneer balloonist/brother of Joseph-Michel/co-inventor of calorimeter, hydraulic ram, and process for producing vellum)
1822 Heinrich Schliemann German polyglot/archeologist (Troje)
1854 Sherlock Holmes Mycroft, fictional detective (via Arthur Conan Doyle)
1864 Ban Johnson Norwalk CT, baseball founder (American League)
1878 Carl Sandburg US, poet/biographer of Lincoln (The People, Yes)
1880 Tom Mix Mix Run PA, silent screen cowboy actor (Dick Turpin)
1882 Samuel Rayburn Tennessee, (Representative-D-TX), speaker of the House (1940-57)
1883 Khalil Gibran Lebanon, mystic poet (The Prophet, Broken Wings)
1913 Loretta Young Salt Lake City UT, actress (Farmer's Daughter, Stranger)
1914 Danny Thomas Deerfield MI, comedian (Danny Thomas Show)
1920 Early Wynn Hartford AL, baseball Hall of famer (pitcher)
1920 Reverand Sun Myung Moon evangelist (Unification Church-Moonies)
1921 Lou Harris pollster (Lou Harris Poll)
1924 Earl Scruggs NC, bluegrass musician (Flatt & Scruggs-Ballad of Jed Clampett, Rocky Top)
1925 John Z DeLorean former automaker (DeLorean)
1930 Vic Tayback Brooklyn NY, actor (Mel-Alice, Khan, Portrait of a Stripper)
1931 E[dgar] L[aurence] Doctorow New York City NY, novelist (World's Fair)
1937 Lou Holtz US, football coach (New Jersey Jets)
1944 Bonnie Franklin Santa Monica CA, TV actress (Ann-1 Day at a Time)
1946 Roger Keith (Syd) Barrett Cambridge England, lead guitarist (Pink Floyd-The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
1949 Robert Englund Glendale CA, actor (V, Nightmare on Elm Street)
1957 Nancy Lopez Knight Torrance CA, pro golfer (1988 Mazda, 1981 Dinah Shore)
1961 Howie Long former NFL tackle/actor/broadcaster (Broken Arrow)
1975 James Farrior linebacker (New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers)
1989 Baby lion-tailed macaques at Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle)

DEATH

1884 Gregor Mendel Augustine monk/heredity pioneer, dies at 61
1919 Theodore Roosevelt 26th President (1901-09), dies at his home in Oyster Bay NY at 60
1988 Brent Collins soap actor (Another World), dies of heart attack at 46
1993 John B "Dizzy" Gillespe blues trumpeter, dies of cancer at 75
1993 Rudolph Nureyev Russian ballet dancer (Kirov), dies of AIDS at 54
1994 Morty the Moose (Northern Exposure), dies at 6
1994 Tip O'Neill speaker of the house, dies of cancer
1994 Virginia Kelley Clinton Mother of President Clinton, dies at 70
1997 Vince Williams actor (Hamp-Guiding Light), dies of cancer at 39

January 6, the 6th day of 2008. There are 360 days left in the year. This is the 12th day of Christmas, also known as the Epiphany (12th Night of Christmas), (England) 3 Kings/Adoration of Magi.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image:
Source:
* Today in History
* Today in History





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today In History: January 1, 2008

WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTER, LABOR, SMOKE NAZIS, CIVIL RIGHTS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, WATERGATE, PRISONS, POPULATION, SPORTS, NANNY STATE, TAXES, MUSIC, COMICS, COMPUTERS, MONEY, VITAMINS, DAREDEVILS, BORN, DEATH



1922 Vancouver BC starts driving on the right side of road

WAR!

1944 General Clark replaces General Patton as commander of 7th Army.

1950 Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indo-China.

1951 Massive Chinese/North Korean assault on UN-lines.

1959 Castro leads Cuba to victory as Fulgencio Batista flees to Dominican Republic.

DISASTER

1926 Rhine flood strikes Cologne.

1978 Air India B747 explodes near Bombay killing 213.

1987 60 bodies recovered in Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico.

LABOR

1911 Belgian Mining law introduces 9�-hour work day.

1966 12 day transit worker strike shuts down New York City NY subway.

SMOKE NAZIS

1966 All US cigarette packs have to carry "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health".

1971 Cigarette advertisements banned on TV.

1993 Cigarette advertisements are banned in New York City NY's MTA.

1998 All California bars, clubs & card rooms must be smoke-free

2008 Colorado bans smoking in casinos. Anti-smoking advocates argue that any tents or enclosures to make it more comfortable to smoke outdoors are illegal also.

TERRORISM

1965 Palestinian al-Fatah organization forms.

1980 Mob storms Russian embassy in Teheran.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1916 1st issue of "Journal of Negro History" published.

1990 David Dinkins sworn in as 1st black mayor of New York City NY.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1935 Associated Press inaugurates Wirephoto.

1936 1st newspaper to microfilm its current issues, New York Herald Tribune.

1974 NBC radio begins on the hour news 24 hours a day (following CBS lead).

1976 NBC replaces the peacock logo.

WATERGATE

1975 Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell & Mardian convicted of Watergate crime.

PRISONS

1934 Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison.

POPULATION

1960 US census at 179,245,000.

1998 US Census Bureau estimates population at 268,921,733.

NANNY STATE

1985 US's 1st manadatory seat belt law goes into effect (NY).

SPORTS

1916 1st football game in Rose Bowl (Washington State-Brown).

1929 Roy Riegels runs 60 yards the wrong way with Rose Bowl fumble recovery.

1935 1st Sugar Bowl & 1st Orange Bowl.

1942 Rose Bowl played in North Carolina due to Japanese threat-Oregon 20, Duke 16.

1944 Army defeats Navy 10-7 in football "Arab Bowl", Oran, North Africa.

1954 Rose & Cotton Bowl are 1st sport colorcasts.

1969 Jack Kent Cooke, owner of NHL's Los Angeles Kings, fines each player $100 for "NOT" arguing with the referee.

POPE

1982 Pope John Paul II prays for an end to martial law in Poland.

TAXES

1862 1st US income tax (3% of incomes > $600, 5% of incomes > $10,000).

1941 Netherlands begins taxing wages.

MUSIC

1956 Elvis Presley records Heartbreak Hotel for RCA in Nashville.

1960 Johnny Cash plays 1st of many free concerts behind bars.

1962 Beatles' Decca audition is unsuccessful.

1966 Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" reaches #1.

1985 VH-1 made its broadcasting debut.

COMICS

1995 Last "Far Side" by cartoonist Gary Larson (started 1980)

COMPUTERS

1946 ENIAC, US 1st computer finished by Mauchly/Eckert.

MONEY

1961 Largest check issued, National Bank of Chicago to Sears ($960.242 billion).

FIRSTS

1914 1st scheduled airline flight, St Petersburg-Tampa (Tony Jannus pilot).

1928 1st US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio.

1944 1st feature-length foreign movie, African Journey, shown on TV, New York City NY.

VITAMINS

1996 After 27 years, Betty Rubble debuts as a Flintstone vitamin.

SCIENCE

1957 International Geophysical Year begins; ends 6/30/1958 (18-month year).

DAREDEVILS

1968 Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump Caesar's Palace Fountain

BORN

1449 Lorenzo de' Medici [The Magnificent] of Florence
1729 Edmund Burke British author/famous Whig (Philosophy & Inquiry, Reflections on the Revolution)
1735 Paul Revere silversmith/US patriot (British are coming)
1745 "Mad" Anthony Wayne General
1854 Sir James Frazer Britain, anthropologist/author (The Golden Bough)
1863 Pierre de Coubertin France, baron (revived Olympic games)
1867 Charles Edward Montague English author/critic (Fiery Particles)
1879 E[dward] M Forster London England, novelist (Howard's End, Passage to India)
1895 J Edgar Hoover Washington DC, Director of US Fedreal Bureau of Investigation
1900 Xavier Cugat [Francisco de As�s Javier Cugat Mingall de Brue y Deulofeo] Tirona Catalonia Spain, bandleader (married Abbe Lane, Charo)
1909 Barry Goldwater (Senator-R-AZ, 1953-65, 69- )/Presidential candidate (R) 1964)
1911 Hammerin' Hank Greenberg Hall-of-Fame 1st baseman (Detroit Tiger)
1912 Kim Philby British spy/Soviet mole
1912 Victor Reuther Wheeling WV, labor leader
1919 J[erome] D[avid] Salinger New York City, NY, novelist (Catcher in the Rye)
1938 Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard Queen of Netherlands (1980- )
1943 Don Novello [Father Guido Sarducci], Ashtabula OH, comedian (SNL)
1958 Grandmaster Flash [Joseph Saddler], New York City, NY, rocker (Message)
1967 Derrick Thomas NFL linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs)
1986 Alexa Ray Joel daughter of Billy Joel & Christie Brinkley

DEATH

1557 Jacques Cartier French explorer (Canada), dies at 65
1782 Johann Christian Bach German composer/Mozart's tutor, dies at 46
1787 Arthur Middleton US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 44
1953 Hank Williams country singer (Cold Cold Heart), dies at 29
1972 Maurice A Chevalier French actor (Can Can, Gigi), dies at 83

January 1, 2008, the first day of the year. New Years Day, there are 365 days left in the Year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image: hatrickpatrick]
Source: Today in History





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Smoke Nazis Hit Jackpot in Colorado Casinos

Another group of smokers, this time in Colorado, attempts to accommodate a group that seeks no accommodating: Smoke Nazis.

We're a little wary of tales warning of the U.S. turning into a police state. But the following story is another depressing one in the march of a free society along the road to one where personal habits are highly-regulated.

Smoke Nazis hit the jackpot in Colorado.

Time is burning up for smokers to light up in Colorado casinos. A new law that bans smoking inside the gaming halls starts New Year’s Day. “We’re expecting the first three months to see a decline a little bit,” said Scott Porter, assistant managing director of the Triple Crown Casinos.

Porter says he and other casino operators have been working with the city of Cripple Creek on marketing projects to draw customers to town, including a new community-wide ice festival planned for this coming February.

But, even if the ban doesn’t stop the smokers from gabling, the casinos say they are still expecting at least a 10 to 20 percent drop in revenue. “That’s created by the customer who normally would be playing the machine and having a cigarette having to leave the machine and go have a smoke then come back in,” explains Bronco Billy’s co-owner Marc Murphy.

So, before they take away the ashtrays, the casinos have been busy finding ways to keep smokers from feeling left out in the cold. Bronco Billy’s has added heaters beneath their awnings to help warm up the sidewalks. Slot machines at the Triple Crown Casinos; the Brass Ass, the Midnight Rose, and J.P. McGill’s, as well as at the Gold Rush and Bronco Billy’s will soon have removable signs that reserve a machine for 10 minutes while a smoker steps out for a break. “It’s a uniform sign …and it just eliminates some of the confusion,” says Murphy.

Around town, some people say the ban is a breath of fresh air. Kelly Cain of Colorado Springs says, “I love the idea of not coming here and having to sit and breathe somebody else’s smoke, and go home and have my hair smell like smoke.”

Kelly Cain could exercise her right of any American citizen: stay home or find a casino that chooses to accommodate non-smoking customers or any number of other novel ideas.

Instead, Kelly, like most of the Smoke Nazis, seems comfortable with the idea of dictating to businesses and their customers what they are and are not allowed to do in a free society.

The Bauers are a bit more accommodating.

Cripple Creek residents John and Melody Bauer say they too welcome the smoke-free laws. “We’d rather see the casinos smoke-free as long (there was) some place for the customers to smoke,” John Bauer said..

Others in the area do speak up.

However, others in town think the government should butt out of their business. “Who’s it hurting?” questioned resident Dave Ragulsky. “I don’t think it’s right.” Laura Miller agreed saying the ban will likely to send more smokers looking to friendlier casinos like Las Vegas. “You know, the saloons have been around since the 1800’s and I don’t think it’s right,” said Miller.

Imitating the forces of Prohibition, smoking foes reveal that, as far as they are concerned, there will be no accommodation.

It's either their way or the highway.

A potential legal battle is shaping up about how far the casinos can go in accommodating smoking customers. In Central City, the town government has cleared the way for casinos there to build covered smoking areas outside. But groups like Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado say the patios count as enclosed areas and thus violate the law.

Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado?

Like the original National Socialists, the Smoke Nazis exhibit a tightly-organized structure.

One only hopes they will meet the same end.

by Mondoreb
[image: RidesAPaleHorse]
Source:
* Casino Smoking Ban is Fast Approaching





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.