NFL Week Four - The Results

Week Four Byes: DET (0-3), IND (1-2), MIA (1-2), NYG (3-0), SEA (1-2)

Sunday:
ATL (2-1) @ CAR (2-1): L - ATL; M - CAR
CLE (0-3) @ CIN (0-3): L - CLE; M - CIN
HOU (0-2) @ JAC (1-2) : L - JAC; M - JAC
DEN (3-0) @ KC (0-3): L - DEN; M - DEN
SF (2-1) @ NO (1-2): L - SF; M - NO
ARI (2-1) @ NYJ (1-2): L - NYJ; M - NYJ
GB (2-1) @ TB (2-1): L - TB; M - GB
MIN (1-2) @ TEN (3-0): L - TEN; M - TEN
SD (1-2) @ OAK (1-2): L - OAK; M - SD
BUF (3-0) @ STL (0-3): L - BUF; M - BUF
WAS (2-1) @ DAL (3-0): L - DAL; M - DAL

Sunday night:
PHI (2-1) @ CHI (1-2): L - CHI; M - PHI

Monday night:
BAL (2-0) @ PIT (2-1): L - BAL; M - PIT


Week Four Results:
Lauren - 7 - 6
Mark - 8 - 5

Adoption

NFL Week Four

Week Four Byes: DET (0-3), IND (1-2), MIA (1-2), NYG (3-0), SEA (1-2)

Sunday:
ATL (2-1) @ CAR (2-1): L - ATL; M - CAR
CLE (0-3) @ CIN (0-3): L - CLE; M - CIN
HOU (0-2) @ JAC (1-2) : L - JAC; M - JAC
DEN (3-0) @ KC (0-3): L - DEN; M - DEN
SF (2-1) @ NO (1-2): L - SF; M - NO
ARI (2-1) @ NYJ (1-2): L - NYJ; M - NYJ
GB (2-1) @ TB (2-1): L - TB; M - GB
MIN (1-2) @ TEN (3-0): L - TEN; M - TEN
SD (1-2) @ OAK (1-2): L - OAK; M - SD
BUF (3-0) @ STL (0-3): L - BUF; M - BUF
WAS (2-1) @ DAL (3-0): L - DAL; M - DAL

Sunday night:
PHI (2-1) @ CHI (1-2): L - CHI; M - PHI

Monday night:
BAL (2-0) @ PIT (2-1): L - BAL; M - PIT

I would walk 1,446 miles, and I would walk 1,446 more... (or, The Tale of a Daddy's Girl)

Hm, not quite as catchy... Mom sent out the official "Texas Jim" email earlier today, meaning that everyone within the family now has Dad's new work email, phone number, and address. Because I'm a visual person, and because I'm curious about Daddy living in a state in which I've only ever laid-over, I Google-mapped it. The result was staggering.

He now lives in Grapevine, Texas. I'll put aside my shock at a town being called "Grapevine" for a moment to inform the general public that upon writing that first sentence, I put quotations around "living." Ah, hope springs eternal. Now, what was I saying? Yes, yes... GRAPEVINE!?

Okay, whatever. It's Texas. (Disclaimer: I've met quite a few nice people from Texas, and yes I do want to visit there someday, but... there's something about it that New Yorkers/northerners/East Coasters were just taught to dislike. Sorry.) So I mapped it, and upon zooming in a half-dozen times, I found out that it looks like every other apartment community in the U.S.: parking spaces, dull grey roofs, woods strategically placed around the perimeter, winding roads... blah.

Then, out of what can only be described as sheer self-loathing (hindsight is 20/20!), I mapped the directions from my humble abode to my father's spankin-new abode.

The total trip is 1,446 miles.

With the exception of two, er, THREE vacations totaling 4 weeks of my 22 years as his daughter, I have never been more than 400 miles away from Dad. Four hundred! Not one thousand four hundred and forty six! That's an extra one thousand and forty six! Not! Cool!

After my initial shock, I perused the directions... 95 to 495 to 66 to 81 to... oy vey. If I decided (out of more sheer self-loathing, apparently) to drive, this trip would take me from Delaware through Maryland through Virginia through Tennessee through Arkansas to Texas. I could also, or alternately, drive through West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and/or Oklahoma. I would be on I-40 for 374 miles, and I-30 for 309. I would be driving for 22 hours and 16 minutes.

My Dad is now that far away.

I <3 Drew.

http://www.superpoop.com/092508/american-financial-system.jpg

NFL Week Three - The Results

Sunday:
KC @ ATL: L- ATL; M- ATL
OAK @ BUF: L-BUF; M- BUF
TB @ CHI: L- CHI; M- CHI
CAR @ MIN: L- MIN; M- CAR
MIA @ NE: L- NE; M- NE
CIN @ NYG: L- NYG; M- NYG
HOU @ TEN: L- TEN; M- TEN
ARI @ WAS: L- ARI; M- ARI
NO @ DEN: L- DEN; M- NO
DET @ SF: L- SF; M- DET
STL @ SEA: L- STL; M- SEA
CLE @ BAL: L- BAL; M- BAL
JAC @ IND: L- IND; M- IND
PIT @ PHI: L- PIT; M- PIT

Sunday night:
DAL @ GB: L- GB; M- DAL

Monday night:
NYJ @ SD: L- NYJ; M- SD

Yikes. Very heavily yikes. See, this is what picking at random because you haven't gone over the matches yet does to you...
Week Three Results:
Lauren - 8-8
Mark - 8-8

Welcome back.

It's no secret that I love The West Wing. Like, love love. So Mark sent me this link, and my heart be stilled... I think Obama's parts could have been a little bit better (more WW-esque), but overall, the effect is "wow." Linked here, and copied below.

From The New York Times OpEd pages
By Maureen Dowd

Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet

Now that he’s finally fired up on the soup-line economy, Barack Obama knows he can’t fade out again. He was eager to talk privately to a Democratic ex-president who could offer more fatherly wisdom — not to mention a surreptitious smoke — and less fraternal rivalry. I called the “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin (yes, truly) to get a read-out of the meeting. This is what he wrote:

BARACK OBAMA knocks on the front door of a 300-year-old New Hampshire farmhouse while his Secret Service detail waits in the driveway. The door opens and OBAMA is standing face to face with former President JED BARTLET.

BARTLET Senator.

OBAMA Mr. President.

BARTLET You seem startled.

OBAMA I didn’t expect you to answer the door yourself.

BARTLET I didn’t expect you to be getting beat by John McCain and a Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story, so let’s call it even.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET Come on in.

BARTLET leads OBAMA into his study.

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

OBAMA Look —

BARTLET — and selling Air Force Two on eBay?

OBAMA Joke all you want, Mr. President, but it worked.

BARTLET Imagine my surprise. What can I do for you, kid?

OBAMA I’m interested in your advice.

BARTLET I can’t give it to you.

OBAMA Why not?

BARTLET I’m supporting McCain.

OBAMA Why?

BARTLET He’s promised to eradicate evil and that was always on my “to do” list.

OBAMA O.K. —

BARTLET And he’s surrounded himself, I think, with the best possible team to get us out of an economic crisis. Why, Sarah Palin just said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” Can you spot the error in that statement?

OBAMA Yes, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t funded by taxpayers.

BARTLET Well, at least they are now. Kind of reminds you of the time Bush said that Social Security wasn’t a government program. He was only off by a little — Social Security is the largest government program.

OBAMA I appreciate your sense of humor, sir, but I really could use your advice.

BARTLET Well, it seems to me your problem is a lot like the problem I had twice.

OBAMA Which was?

BARTLET A huge number of Americans thought I thought I was superior to them.

OBAMA And?

BARTLET I was.

OBAMA I mean, how did you overcome that?

BARTLET I won’t lie to you, being fictional was a big advantage.

OBAMA What do you mean?

BARTLET I’m a fictional president. You’re dreaming right now, Senator.

OBAMA I’m asleep?

BARTLET Yes, and you’re losing a ton of white women.

OBAMA Yes, sir.

BARTLET I mean tons.

OBAMA I understand.

BARTLET I didn’t even think there were that many white women.

OBAMA I see the numbers, sir. What do they want from me?

BARTLET I’ve been married to a white woman for 40 years and I still don’t know what she wants from me.

OBAMA How did you do it?

BARTLET Well, I say I’m sorry a lot.

OBAMA I don’t mean your marriage, sir. I mean how did you get America on your side?

BARTLET There again, I didn’t have to be president of America, I just had to be president of the people who watched “The West Wing.”

OBAMA That would make it easier.

BARTLET You’d do very well on NBC. Thursday nights in the old “ER” time slot with “30 Rock” as your lead-in, you’d get seven, seven-five in the demo with a 20, 22 share — you’d be selling $450,000 minutes.

OBAMA What the hell does that mean?

BARTLET TV talk. I thought you’d be interested.

OBAMA I’m not. They pivoted off the argument that I was inexperienced to the criticism that I’m — wait for it — the Messiah, who, by the way, was a community organizer. When I speak I try to lead with inspiration and aptitude. How is that a liability?

BARTLET Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

OBAMA You’re saying race doesn’t have anything to do with it?

BARTLET I wouldn’t go that far. Brains made me look arrogant but they make you look uppity. Plus, if you had a black daughter —

OBAMA I have two.

BARTLET — who was 17 and pregnant and unmarried and the father was a teenager hoping to launch a rap career with “Thug Life” inked across his chest, you’d come in fifth behind Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and a ficus.

OBAMA You’re not cheering me up.

BARTLET Is that what you came here for?

OBAMA No, but it wouldn’t kill you.

BARTLET Have you tried doing a two-hour special or a really good Christmas show?

OBAMA Sir —

BARTLET Hang on. Home run. Right here. Is there any chance you could get Michelle pregnant before the fall sweeps?

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well ... let me think. ...We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know ... I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?

BARTLET Am I keeping you from something?

OBAMA Well, it’s not as if I didn’t know all of that and it took you like 20 minutes to say.

BARTLET I know, I have a problem, but admitting it is the first step.

OBAMA What’s the second step?

BARTLET I don’t care.

OBAMA So what about hope? Chuck it for outrage and put-downs?

BARTLET No. You’re elite, you can do both. Four weeks ago you had the best week of your campaign, followed — granted, inexplicably — by the worst week of your campaign. And you’re still in a statistical dead heat. You’re a 47-year-old black man with a foreign-sounding name who went to Harvard and thinks devotion to your country and lapel pins aren’t the same thing and you’re in a statistical tie with a war hero and a Cinemax heroine. To these aged eyes, Senator, that’s what progress looks like. You guys got four debates. Get out of my house and go back to work.

OBAMA Wait, what is it you always used to say? When you hit a bump on the show and your people were down and frustrated? You’d give them a pep talk and then you’d always end it with something. What was it ...?

BARTLET “Break’s over.”

Daddy

Part of my heart is on his way to Texas... I miss him already.

NFL Week Three

Posting from my parents' house (soon to be simply Mom's house) in Northern Virginia... leaving to take Dad to the airport at 15:00, so I'll miss most of the action. I am definitely not as prepared this week as I normally am, but here we go anyway...

KC @ ATL: L- ATL; M- ATL
OAK @ BUF: L-BUF; M- BUF
TB @ CHI: L- CHI; M- CHI
CAR @ MIN: L- MIN; M- CAR
MIA @ NE: L- NE; M- NE
CIN @ NYG: L- NYG; M- NYG
HOU @ TEN: L- TEN; M- TEN
ARI @ WAS: L- ARI; M- ARI
NO @ DEN: L- DEN; M- NO
DET @ SF: L- SF; M- DET
STL @ SEA: L- STL; M- SEA
CLE @ BAL: L- BAL; M- BAL
JAC @ IND: L- IND; M- IND
PIT @ PHI: L- PIT; M- PIT
DAL @ GB: L- GB; M- DAL
NYJ @ SD: L- NYJ; M- SD

NFL Week Two - The Results

New York Giants at St. Louis
Mark - Giants
Lauren - Giants

New Orleans at Washington, D.C.
Mark - No'lans
Lauren - New Orleans

Chicago at Carolina
Mark - Chi-town
Lauren - Chicago

Tennessee at Cincinnati
Mark - Cincy
Lauren - Tennessee

Indianapolis at Minnesota
Mark - Indy
Lauren - Indy

Oakland at Kansas City
Mark - KC
Lauren - Oakland

Buffalo at Jacksonville
Mark - Jax
Lauren - Buffalo

Green Bay at Detroit
Mark - Green Bay
Lauren - Green Bay

San Francisco at Seattle
Mark - Seattle
Lauren - San Fran

Atlanta at Tampa Bay
Mark - Hotlanta
Lauren - Tampa Bay

Miami at Arizona
Mark - Miami
Lauren - Arizona

San Diego at Denver
Mark - San Diego
Lauren - Denver

New England at New York Jets
Mark - Jets
Lauren - Jets

Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Mark - Blitzburgh
Lauren - Pittsburgh

Philadelphia at Dallas
Mark - conscientiously objecting to both (Dallas, but ideally I'd like to see a tie)
Lauren - Dallas

Baltimore-Houston game has been postponed.

Complete NFL Week Two Results
Mark - 5 - 10
Lauren - 12 - 3

NFL Week Two

Mark attempts to redeem himself by essentially picking the exact opposite of me this week...

New York Giants at St. Louis
Mark - Giants
Lauren - Giants

New Orleans at Washington, D.C.
Mark - No'lans
Lauren - New Orleans

Chicago at Carolina
Mark - Chi-town
Lauren - Chicago

Tennessee at Cincinnati
Mark - Cincy
Lauren - Tennessee

Indianapolis at Minnesota
Mark - Indy
Lauren - Indy

Oakland at Kansas City
Mark - KC
Lauren - Oakland

Buffalo at Jacksonville
Mark - Jax
Lauren - Buffalo

Green Bay at Detroit
Mark - Green Bay
Lauren - Green Bay

San Francisco at Seattle
Mark - Seattle
Lauren - San Fran

Atlanta at Tampa Bay
Mark - Hotlanta
Lauren - Tampa Bay

Miami at Arizona
Mark - Miami
Lauren - Arizona

San Diego at Denver
Mark - San Diego
Lauren - Denver

New England at New York Jets
Mark - Jets
Lauren - Jets

Pittsburgh at Cleveland
Mark - Blitzburgh
Lauren - Pittsburgh

Philadelphia at Dallas
Mark - conscientiously objecting to both (Dallas, but ideally I'd like to see a tie)
Lauren - Dallas

Baltimore at Houston (if it's played)
Mark - Baltimore (Go Joe Flacco!)
Lauren - Balt'mo

NFL Week One - The Results

Thursday Night
Obviously, we both picked the Giants over the stupid Redskins, because we're both Giants fans. So that's done.

Sunday Afternoon
Seattle at Buffalo
Mark - Seattle
Lauren - Seattle

Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Mark - New Orleans
Lauren - New Orleans

New York Jets at Miami
Mark - Miami
Lauren - New York

Houston at Pittsburgh
Mark - Pittsburgh
Lauren - Pittsburgh

Jacksonville at Tennessee
Mark - Jacksonville
Lauren - Tennessee

Detroit at Atlanta
Mark - Detroit
Lauren - Detroit

Kansas City at New England
Mark - New England
Lauren - New England

Cincinnati at Baltimore
Mark - Baltimore
Lauren - Baltimore

St. Louis at Philadelphia
Mark - Philly (he says begrudgingly)
Lauren - St. Louis (only because I cannot pick the Eagles, on principle)

Arizona at San Francisco
Mark - 'Zona
Lauren - SF

Carolina at San Diego
Mark - San Diego
Lauren - Carolina

Dallas at Cleveland
Mark - Dallas
Lauren - Dallas

Sunday Night
Chicago at Indianapolis
Mark - Indianapolis
Lauren - Indy
(Who saw that coming!?)

Monday Night
Minnesota at Green Bay
Mark - Minnesota
Lauren - Green Bay

Denver at Oakland
Mark - Denver
Lauren - Denver


Week One Results...
Mark - 9-7, Lauren - 11-5

An Ode to Sunday

I love Sundays in autumn. I don't care that it's not technically autumn yet - Football = Nice Autumn Sundays. Like today: beautiful blue sky, comfortable weather, football on TV, sitting around in pajamas, cleaning up a little bit, and doing random things to waste time. Like this:


















It's awesome.

NFL Week One

Our football picks for week one! I'll update at the end of it all to see who was right and who was wrong. :)
Oh, btw, I <3 Michael Strahan. Seriously, he's awesome. (And wtf did Jillian Barberie do to herself? Ugh.)
Ok... FOOTBALL!!

Thursday Night
Obviously, we both picked the Giants over the stupid Redskins, because we're both Giants fans. So that's done.

Sunday Afternoon
Seattle at Buffalo
Mark - Seattle
Lauren - Seattle

Tampa Bay at New Orleans
Mark - New Orleans
Lauren - New Orleans

New York Jets at Miami
Mark - Miami
Lauren - New York

Houston at Pittsburgh
Mark - Pittsburgh
Lauren - Pittsburgh

Jacksonville at Tennessee
Mark - Jacksonville
Lauren - Tennessee

Detroit at Atlanta
Mark - Detroit
Lauren - Detroit

Kansas City at New England
Mark - New England
Lauren - New England

Cincinnati at Baltimore
Mark - Baltimore
Lauren - Baltimore

St. Louis at Philadelphia
Mark - Philly (he says begrudgingly)
Lauren - St. Louis (only because I cannot pick the Eagles, on principle)

Arizona at San Francisco
Mark - 'Zona
Lauren - SF

Carolina at San Diego
Mark - San Diego
Lauren - Carolina

Dallas at Cleveland
Mark - Dallas
Lauren - Dallas

Sunday Night
Chicago at Indianapolis
Mark - Indianapolis
Lauren - Indy

Monday Night
Minnesota at Green Bay
Mark - Minnesota
Lauren - Green Bay

Denver at Oakland
Mark - Denver
Lauren - Denver

don't think it makes you a hero.

It's been a gloriously productive week. We bought a lot of stuff that we needed - printer, wireless router, painting supplies, flowers, candles - and we got most of it set up. So why are the bedroom and the living room still such a mess!? Ack.

I've talked to Dad three times today. During the first call, I found out that Kathy was apparently throwing a birthday party for Stevie this weekend and invited Mom and Dad. Of course they couldn't make it, but Dad told me to call Kathy and invite myself. Second call was to find out Kathy's number, which is on my old phone. She didn't answer, but texted me about an hour later saying that the party was today, but it was short because of the tornadoes and floods in the area. She said that we would get together next weekend.

Then I tried to call Grandma at St Johnsland, but somehow got the wrong Grandma on the phone. Luckily that phone call only lasted for a minute, because I realised that this Grandma was, in fact, not my Grandma when she dismally answered "Normal" to the usual "How are you feeling?" Third call was to find out why the hell I'm last on the information totem pole in this family - not really, but that's how I felt. Mom gave me Grandma's new direct line, told me that there was a "mass text message," and also that Boo was going to call me. Funny how none of that happened. I called Grandma, and Aunt Doreen answered and told me that Grandma was not feeling well, and could I please call back later.

The single thing that I hate most about "growing up" is that no one seems to care about anyone else anymore. I'm slightly guilty of it, too: I get too caught up in accounting homework or cleaning the apartment, I forget to call. But I can't really remember the last time that anyone but Dad or Grandma actually cared about what I was telling them. Now Dad's all caught up in the Texas deal and Grandma's worried about her rehab - both completely understandable, justifiable reasons to be busy.

I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not great at keeping in touch.

All I know is that I miss them.

The Smoke-Free Argument : a position paper

For this semester's Macroeconomics class, we have a "discussion board" assignment. We're to use the discussion (message) board on BlackBoard to participate in debates of various economic stripes. Of the twenty-three threads, seven were about high gas prices, and three caught my eye. One was on tuition prices, one on health care, and one on smoke-free dining.

This particular question read: "With the economy problems recently: gas prices rising, food prices bouncing up and down, people are trying everything they can to save a little money. This has been leading to people staying away from spending money by eating out in restaurants. So with the drop of customers as is...why have a lot of counties, and even whole states, made all restaurants non-smoking, leading to even fewer customers in some cases? "

I can't honestly say why I got so heated by the smoke-free debate, but something caught on and I immediately pulled up my trusty friend, Google, to start in on some research. What I found was astounding. Not only is second-hand smoke bad, it's really, really, really bad. Like, lions and tigers and bears bad. Like, the nightmare where the laws have changed and somehow W got into office for a third time bad. Like, hide your wives and children bad.

And somehow my wonderfully young classmates remain blissfully unaware of these facts, all because they don't see the harm in smoking indoors, and they don't want to be forced to go outside - what a freakin' nightmare!

I'm not going to re-post the three posts before mine, mostly because they're horrendous in every way possible and I don't want to look at them again. Suffice it to say that only one person had made a sort-of good argument, in that constant smoking breaks take away from productivity. What that had to do with the original question, I'm not sure. Every other post had something to do with personal preference and a complete disregard for public health.

Below is my answer to this particular debate. Please note when reading that this is an online discussion, not a paper (despite its length), and therefore go easy on me about proper citations and whatnot - all links are included in the bottom. Please comment if you have anything to say!

The original question asked why “a lot of counties, even whole states, made a lot of restaurants non-smoking, leading to even fewer customers in some cases?”

Well, the short answer is this: Smoking hurts people. Not only does it hurt the people who choose to light up their cigarettes, but it hurts the people around those people, and the children of those people, and the husbands, wives, friends, and lovers of those people. Everyone in this country is exposed to second-hand smoke. There is no “safe” level of exposure to second-hand smoke, and there is no existing ventilation system that can effectively “clean” second-hand smoke. It is completely unfair to force people to be around smoke if they don’t specifically choose to be. "The debate is over. The science is clear: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance, but a serious health hazard," said former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona.

The effects of second-hand smoke have been heavily researched and are well-documented. According to Surgeon General Carmona, "The toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere the blood flows.” Diseases caused by smoking can strike anywhere from the lungs and heart to the bladder, kidneys, pancreas, and stomach. Second-hand smoke is especially harmful to children under eight years old, and being trapped in a room (such as a restaurant) with second-hand smoke is far more harmful than passing a puff on a street corner. People in the restaurant industry care very much about bringing in customers, but in many cases, those people (owners, hosts, waiters, cooks, etc.) are at risk themselves for second-hand smoke exposure.

One of the arguments is that “smokers are people too.” I agree with this argument, and I do not vote to diminish the rights of any smokers – as long as they do not infringe on the rights of any non-smoker. This is because smoking hurts people. Say a person is in a restaurant that allows smoking. This person decides that they can’t sit through their 60- or 90-minute meal without a cigarette, so they light up. Immediately, the smoke from that cigarette filters through the smoking section, up to the ceiling, into the ventilation system, through the vents, and through the entire restaurant. Imagine every smoker in that section lighting up. On the other side of the restaurant is a girl who is asthmatic, or a couple with their two-year-old daughter, or a pregnant woman, or a college guy – should any of them have to suffer the proven, researched, documented effects of second-hand smoke just because someone else wants to sit there and smoke? Absolutely not. They are free to their right to a healthy public environment – more free than any smoker is to their right to smoke, for this simple fact: the non-smoker's right does not harm a single person, whereas the smoker’s does. If a smoker decides to take part in this particular “addiction of choice,” they can go ahead, and harm themselves. But they need to go outside so that they don’t harm others.

In reality, the question itself does not have a sound base. Besides the reasoning for the smoke-free argument, which began over a decade ago and therefore has little to do with the country's recent economy, it relies on the argument that restaurants are losing customers and losing revenue because of smoking bans. When smoking bans were first introduced, the laws had many critics. First and foremost of the critics were those in the tobacco industry, and I’m sure I don’t need to review their reasons for opposing a smoking ban. The restaurant industry also had concerns at the beginning, namely with the possibility of lost revenue.

There have been countless studies done of the effects of smoking bans – any elementary Google search with the keywords “smoking ban” or “smoke-free” would turn up the research. Everything has been covered: the health effects of second-hand smoke; the economic effect of sicknesses developed from second-hand smoke; the differences in revenue of the hospitality industry (including restaurants, bars, and hotels) both before and after smoking bans were enacted; the differences in revenue of alcoholic beverage tax both before and after smoking bans were enacted; the community response to smoking bans; the efficiency of various ventilation systems; and many, many other points. There have even been studies to determine the validity of other studies. All-told, this is what the research says:

• second-hand smoke is extremely harmful to everyone, and there is no “safe” level of exposure;
• most studies came to the same conclusion: that enacting smoking bans had no adverse economic effect on the hospitality industry; and
• the few studies that came to the conclusion that smoking bans did have an adverse economic effect on the hospitality industry were commissioned and funded by tobacco companies.

In my research on this topic, I came across information stating that NYC’s hospitality industry actually benefited from the bans, because tourism went up! A gentleman by the name of Michael O’Neal, who was president of the New York Restaurant Association and worked in the restaurant industry for 35 years, has said “I feel strongly that it is pro-business and pro-health to eliminate smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants. Smoke-free workplace legislation does not hurt business.” I lived in New York City for four years, and I never saw any adverse effect of smoking bans on the hospitality industry. Friends of mine would gladly step out of restaurants and bars, off to the sidewalk, to have their cigarettes. Other friends who worked in restaurants and bars mentioned that they benefited from the cleaner air they were breathing.

Smoking bans have been enacted in many counties and states – and they should continue to be enacted until the entire U.S. is clean – because of the simple fact that smoking hurts people. Every medical study done on the subject enforces that fact. According to the Medical College of Wisconsin, quoting the Surgeon General’s 2006 report on smoking and health, “The economic toll [of smoking] exceeds $157 billion each year in the United States - $75 billion in direct medical costs and $82 billion in lost productivity.”

It sure seems to me that the adverse economic effects of smoking far outweigh any perceived adverse economic effects of laws banning smoking in public places.

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For anyone who is interested in my sources, here are some links:

This collection of links, maintained by Michigan's Center for Social Gerontology, offers many U.S. issues, as well as an international look at the smoke-free debate. http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/economic.htm

This study reviews many other studies done on smoking bans, their validity and results, and the overall findings. http://www.tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/pdf/hyland.ppt

This Discovery Channel article features some interesting findings of second-hand smoke research, as backed up by a former U.S. Surgeon General. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/28/secondhandsmoke_hea.html?category=health