Recent content by spyglass

Er, how does it lessen the legal liability of a restaurant to ban smoking in a stand alone bar across the street?

durn, didn't mean to post that twice.

Since a private business is now a "public place" I am just wondering where the nanny state is going to stop. Foe example, the Alderman who pushed through a smoking ban and a ban on foie gras in Chicago and is pushing for a ban on trans fats, has also pushed for uniforms for cabbies...

The nanny state is not going to stop with smoking. Since a private business is now a "public place" I have to wonder where it's going to stop. For example, the Chicago Alderman who pushed through the Chicago smoking ban, as well as a ban on foie gras, and who is pushing through a ban on trans...

Sheesh, it's a wonder that small business survives at all. I sometimes wonder if smoking bans are favored by the big chains as just another way to eliminate the competition. It was the independently owned clubs in Austin who were hit hardest by the smoking ban. In Houston, the smoking ban was...

But the Horse and Buggy trade disappeared because of the free market. Some special interest group did not use government to eliminate the Horse and Buggy trade. I think that is the most dangerous part of these smoking bans. The anti-drinkers and anti-fat special interest groups are fairly...

"The concept of private property is only that, a concept." But I bet you lock you lock your doors to keep people away from your private property.

I appreciate that you do not want to give away too much info to your competition. But why not consider some kind of compromise for your customers? No smoking before 10pm for example. (The health conscious should be at home in bed by that time anyway.) Or no-smoking nights. Why wait for the...

What should the limitations be then, if any? Can a government dictate uniforms for employees of a private business. Should a government decide what music shall be played on the jukebox?

The business owners ARE still providing a safe environment for it's customers. The second hand smoke issue is based on false information. The studies purporting to say SHS is harmful are politicized. The studies that found no issues with SHS were suppressed. It's hysteria. Just like marajuana...

Have you ever considered banning smoking in your establishment voluntarily? I would find your comments on this topic very interesting. Clearly there is a market for a non-smoking pool hall.

Governments are nuts, my friend. There are special interest groups who push these smoking bans generally with the cooperation of the government. In Houston, the anti-smokers got the city restaurant association to back a smoking ban in the bars. Probably the restaurants figured a smoking ban...

The anti-smokers are wise to that trick. Model anti-smoking ordinances close that loophole by specifying any "work place." If a private club employs a bartender, then the law would apply to them. The idea is to force people to quit smoking by incrementaly eliminating places to smoke. Smoking...

I do not know the name of the pool hall. I would have to respond privately if I knew, this being a public forum. I got that from a letter that Marc Levin, the lawyer who is fighting the smoking ban, wrote to the Houston City Council. You can download it from this page, it's very enlightening as...

In Austin, the pool halls were among the biggest losers when the smoking ban took effect. There is one pool hall that is close to bankruptcy. This is depite the huge enforcement problem the ban created. Funny, just like during Prohibition, "Smoke-easies" have appeared all over the city...