IS IT TRUE? February 17, 2012

1. As the C&P reports, Fulkerson’s stepfather suspects foul play. Body found in the bed of a truck! I think he has every reason to suspect that.

   • The City Council going to the Main Gate for years? It’s only been in operation for a little over two years.

     • paul,

       They just meant “going out”–it would have been to other bars prior to Main Gate’s opening.

2. It makes no sense that Mr. Schaefer would work for the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, the Terre Haute area caused almost as much trouble as has the Bloomington area fighting against I69. Terre Haute fought against the “New terrain” I69, but we know they wanted to keep our traffic running through the area for the business. Mr. Schaefer butted heads many times with the folks that are recruiting him now. At least they gave up the fight years ago, now if only Bloomington realizes the fight is over!

   • What if Terra Haute sees his abilities and offers him twice his salary? How can he not go? Would you go? They are going to hurt a little when I-69 is completed. They could use his expertise. Maybe Matt will go instead?

     • Well since I live in Rancho Mirage, CA and am paid way more than I need to live any way I please, no I would not move to Terre Haute if they doubled my salary.

       • When did you start going by Matt?

         • Joe, have you been tasting the CA wine? If you are making to much money in CA, send it back to Evansville. The Mayor needs it.☺

           • The point was that I am doing anything that I want with what I earn so why disrupt that bliss to move to dark dreary Terre Haute for more money. Moves should come with an upgrade of place as much as an upgrade of pay. For me, that place shall never be Terre Haute. For others it may be.

         • Our readers aren’t going to see this often but here goes…..Tim agrees with Joe! You could triple my yearly income and I wouldn’t move to Terre Haute. And I’m not making great money in 70 degree weather 365 days/yr, I’m broke and living in Evansville! If Terre Haute is anything like it was last time I drove through, Steve would definitely have his work cut out for him at the chamber.

3. “IS IT TRUE that in some of the private club circles that the passing of a smoking ban by the Evansville City Council is the equivalent of living under a dictator?…that statements like this just make one scratch their head in disbelief?…that to compare a smoking ban indoors to life under the jackboot of Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Josef Stalin, or Pol Pot is just astonishing?…that if one is to be taken seriously that one needs to make serious statements?…that this is something that needs to be accepted and learned to live with?…that in this particular case the majority has ruled?”

   ——————-

   To be objective you have to look at both points of view, in this case a private club is just that, not open to the general public, members pay dues to belong and being a private club I’m sure that they believe the club should be exempt from rules that govern public establishments same as your home would be. When we cook at home we don’t have to contend with the board of health making sure our food is cooked at a certain temperature for a certain length of time or that the wash water is at a certain temperature….we won’t even mention bugs.

   The question everyone should ask themselves is how much of this type of intrusion into personal freedoms is tolerable? granted when public health is the question we all are happy to oblige but there is a tipping point where it becomes more like a dictatorship and less of a free country, the question is where will most people draw the line? it wasn’t seat belts and it wasn’t smoking, perhaps it’ll be the food/obesity issue that folks won’t like being told what or when they can eat, or maybe the amount of electricity they use to heat or cool their homes, or could it be what you say on the internet?

   JMHO

   • Oh,but is this not a new dawning for Evansville?
     Now that the glitterati can freely roam the confines of the neighborhood bars they can finally (finally!)experience what they only dreamed of.

     Come April 1, hordes of new customers will be descending upon The Duck,Ginny’s,Rick’s, The Corner Pocket,etc.
     All those poor souls trapped on the Aztar gaming floor will have so many other opportunities.

     Of course the authorities HAD to exclude Aztar. It provides so much money for things we need. Like education.
     After all, it’s “for the children”.
     Why, just the education the kids will get learning about hypocrisy is worth this movement.

     There is that old statement by someone long ago where it was something like-give up some freedom for safety or such.
     But,myeh, what do people from a long time ago know?

     Things are just super-sunny from this perch!
     That pesky old Constitution getting in the way of progress is becoming a thing of the past.
     Our Dear Leaders know what’s best for us.
     (Hey,if they gotta blow off some steam at a bar to discuss stuff they deserve it)
     Happy days are here folks!

   • I think the private clubs are subject to the resolution because they have hired workers.

     • And Aztar does not?

       The simple fact is that many many workplaces/jobs have hazards associated with them, most are covered under OSHA or some federal agency already to insure that the workers are protected to the best of the employer/company ability given the type of work being performed, but lets face it there is danger all around us in many forms…..as people lose more and more common sense (something in the water? lol) it is shifting personal responsibility (the ability to judge for yourself the risk vs reward) from the individual to the state (government agencies)which is why you have the mindset that folks like the private clubs have of living under a dictatorship.

       It not had to see if you stop and take a objective point of view and look at both sides of any issue, majority rule is ok but isn’t even close to always being 100% correct for everyone involved.

       But hey…it’s JMHO

   • Blanger, I like your approach to this: “to be objective you have to look at both points of view.” After debating with people on this topic for several months, I may change your word “both” to “all” as “both” implies only 2 sides. In reality there must be as many sides of this issue as there are cigarettes in a carton.

     I tried explaining to one of my friends why it was difficult to come to an opinion on the smoking issue when on the surface it seems like a simple black and white, yes or no, kind of issue. I tried to explain that is not that simple. One thing leads to another, and another and another, etc. If you’re not careful and deliberate in your discussions and reasoning, you end up debating a topic that is so far from your original point that you can’t find your way back and you must start over.

     I wanted an opinion that was backed by solid premises and would therefore lead to a logical conclusion. Not necessarily a RIGHT conclusion but one that would be easily dismantled if it were incorrect. My problem arriving to an opinion came down to the fact that as a community we had never defined our terms. The more I became involved in the public debate with different groups the more I found that not everyone had the same definition of the common words we were all using. This made it difficult to explain and defend my point of view.

     The smoking ordinance is a topic we can discuss and debate for days as it opens the door to so many additional related topics. Blanger, where you asked the question, “where do we draw the line” I think you are hitting on this point. I tend to get long winded so let me cut to the chase of how I came to my view. I would appreciate the readers’ constructive criticisms.

     When I met with the Group Smokefree Community (Martha Caine’s group) I told them that I was prepared to vote for an ordinance that removed smoking from everything public excluding the Casino and Private Clubs. My reasoning for leaving out the Casino was exclusively because of the potential revenue disruptions both direct and indirect. My reasoning for including anything “public” was because second hand smoke infringes on the rights of life and liberty of people sharing the common air. My reasoning for leaving out private clubs was because of what I was trying to touch on above. I was unsure what EXACTLY it means to be “private.” I understand the basics structure of a private club. They charge a fee for membership and only members and signed-in guests of members are allowed in, but in terms of what it legally means to be a “private” club I was unsure of. As I told the Smokefree Community group, the smoking ordinance was not a top priority for the immediate future should I have been elected. For that reason, I had not spent much time researching the definition of private clubs or research how other states had managed to go smoke-free with their clubs. My intuition told me that a private club is legally closer to a being a private home than it is to being a public bar or restaurant. For that reason, I thought it was better to exclude private clubs if they insisted on a vote right away. I also didn’t want to put the city into a situation where there may subject to a potential costly lawsuit by the clubs.

     And for full disclosure, I am a member of Riverbend, a private club on Franklin Street.

4. There is no argument that smoking causes serious expensive health problems. Guess who pays the additional health care cost because my friend smokes. You and me.

   • There is no argument that eating too much and not exercising also cause people to require expensive additional health care. Are you planning to tell folks what they can or cannot eat or standing over their shoulders to make sure they finish 50 pushups a day?

     Being a firefighter (my profession) almost guarantees an earlier death than my peers in part due to chronic and acute exposure to toxins found in the products of combustion. You will also be paying the societal costs for any additional healthcare if I get cancer or early dementia. Plan to ban firefighting as a career?

     Falls at home account for a tremendous number of emergency room visits per year. The healthcare and societal costs are significant. Any plan to ban ladders or rugs?

     A free society allows individuals to make stupid decisions. Smoking is a stupid decision. That said, OSHA has the power to require employers to provide appropriate protective equipment for workers who operate in a hazardous environment (e.g. second hand smoke). I wonder if it would deter any smokers if their servers and bartenders suddenly began sporting full mask respirators or SCBA while they were working?

5. OK I give.
   The poor shmuck who just wants to have an hour after work and go to a bar and have a cig and a beer and a few laughs with his buddies is the worst person on earth.

   Don’t even think that this idiot knows what harmful toxins he/she is releasing into the communal air.
   Why, there could be a person “Of Greater Stature” there in that very bar.

   No, No, No, little people of Evansville.
   Do not value that little working man.
   That little toiler of simple little tasks.

   The Grand-Wonderful-All Knowing
   All Seeing Force

   Will make All Things Wonderful

   Relax

   Enjoy

   We Own You

   • Best post Today!!!!!!!!

6. Sounds like we will all be going to warrick county for smokes and drinks. Go Bostons!

Comments are closed.