More smoke

I was about to talk about the show Top Chef and the guy from Florida who works at the Dildo Beach Club (ok, it is the Dilido Beach Club but every time I see it on the screen it first looks like Dildo until I see the "i"), but there was an article on JSOnline that caught my eye and annoyed me. Report blames secondhand smoke for hazardous air quality in bars. Really, you think that some bars may be too smoky? I was about to dismiss the article as one of the same stories with people whining about banning smoking in taverns and taking away the rights of the owners and patrons but there were two things that bothered me.

First this line: "The debate is over and the science is clear. Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease," said Sheri Johnson, Wisconsin's former health officer and now an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Where have I see that before The debate is over and the science is clear. Oh yeah, those nutballs who believe global warming is going to kills us all. This time she just may be right. I don't know of many studies that show secondhand smoking isn't bad. I probably could find something that says it isn't as bad as people claim but I am feeling lazy.

It is that one sentence that annoys me. The debate is over and the science is clear. It screams "We don't want to hear you and will not debate. I will mention science to make me sound smart." It has been proven in global warming that the debate was far from over- hell, it really hadn't begun- and the science wasn't close to clear. Wasn't some of the science clearly wrong? I don't have to be a meteorologist to understand that man has been on Earth only a fraction of the time that the planet has and the Earth knows what it is doing. Man sure doesn't. She tries to her case as being an end all fact when those who may agree haven't even had a chance to do so.

The second sentence that kills me is this one: "I had to stop. Dec. 20 was my last show," said singer Cheri Modrow, 41, of Greenfield. "My asthma had become so severe that I had to make a choice between my health and my profession." A singer with asthma? Just like a sax player I know who has asthma and complains about the smokiness in the bars. Shouldn't your choice of profession take into account your health? It is like a one legged man complaining about not winning a butt kicking contest.

I would assume the point is to make it sound like people are being harmed all the time in these deadly, hazardously smokey bars. Logic tells me if these places are that filled with smoke it is because..........TA DAAA! Smokers go in there to drink. And those who don't smoke but go in these places to drink don't care about the smoke. If they did they wouldn't go in the bar to begin with. If they do they have made a choice to be subject to the conditions. No one is forcing anyone to eat at a specific restaurant or drink at certain bars. It is a choice.

The solution is simple. Let the market decide. There is a bar that is smoke free in Milwaukee, the City Lounge and they do good business because it is smoke free. More establishments should follow their model.