Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Search / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

TERRY’S TIDBITS

By Terry Gray

ELECTION

In last week’s Review under notices you’ll find my announcement of candidacy.  I am running for the Kentucky House of Representatives, 38^th District.  Please check out my website at www.terrygray.net for more information.  If you are interested in helping with my campaign please feel free to send an email to gray4rep@insightbb.com and I’ll contact you.

This should prove to be an interesting election year.  Bush versus Kerry should be a hoot.  Watch for premium mud up until the first week in October; that’s when the campaign finance reform law says that mud slinging must end for November’s election.  Or is it 60 days before the election, I forget?  I don’t sling mud.

As for the election in the 38^th district, it should prove interesting as well.  My opponent in the primary has a couple of big-name politicians pulling for him.  I have a number of big-name patriots with political savvy rooting for me.  I guess it comes down to whether or not the people of the 38^th district are looking to elect a politician or elect someone they can count on.  The buzz these days is that citizens are fed up with being lied to and want people with whom they can relate to represent them.

You folks in the 38^th district might want to do some checking on who you want to represent you in Frankfort.  By the way, when was the last time your representative called you?  Do you even know who he is?  You’ll have to notice me; I will make you work with me.  This ain’t no free ride.

AFRICAN AMERICAN OF THE MONTH

Question:  Why can’t a white person born in Africa and now a U.S. citizen be African-American of the month?  Talk about discrimination based on color.

YOU – MEDICINE JAR

If you have lost contact with the real you, now you’re available by prescription.  I saw it on television, so it must be true.  You will need to ask your doctor and be sure that he knows exactly who you are before he writes the prescription.  It would be terrible to seek yourself and find someone else.

IGNORANT CITIZENS

The Kentucky Assembly is considering a bill that would allow local referendums on smoking bans.  Tobacco Free Kids doesn’t like the idea of allowing citizens to vote in referendums.  They think it undermines democracy.  Their stance is that we elect our government to think for us and at that point we should give up all of our thinking and go along with what we are told.  Our elected representatives don’t know everything about everything.  When I hire a plumber, I don’t expect him to fix my car.  Our elected officials are just middlemen and cannot represent all of us.

 Amy Barkley, a Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids lobbyist, told the panel that elected officials are better equipped to deal with the issue than voters.
"There are certainly some issues that should be decided by the citizens and the voters, but public health and safety standards are not one of them," Barkley said. "The public doesn't have the expertise or the information."

As far as I’m concerned, Barkley just called the citizens of Louisville ignorant.  The amazing part of the whole fiasco is that there isn’t one shred of evidence anywhere that confirms that second hand smoke is dangerous.  But the antis use the technique of tossing propaganda around like it is truth and doing it so often that people finally start to believe it.

I was in a debate on KET Monday night with Mike Kuntz – President of Smoke Free Louisville, and Ellen Hahn – PHD.  You know the kids that you stayed clear of in school because it would ruin your reputation to associate with them?  This is how they turned out as adults. 

John Dant – President of the Louisville Hospitality Coalition did a good job representing business owners and the rights associated with property owners.

Ellen Hahn supports many oppressive laws and many of those are associated with our basic rights, alcohol being one of her “interests”.  She also believes in prohibition through economics.  She likes the idea of raising the price of cigarettes because it would put them out of reach of the lower class.  Her justification for this is that those in lower income brackets smoke more by that demographic.  So if we raise the price of cigarettes then “those people” will have to quit smoking.  If they quit smoking they will be better able to afford medical care, among other things.

She also wants a level playing field when it comes to business.  I’ve had it with the “level playing field” scenario.  As I’ve stated before, there is no such thing as a level playing field in business.  If that were the case, all businesses would be painted the same, sell the same products, have the same clerks, same business hours, etc.  This isn’t the 4^th grade playground where everybody gets a turn.

Mike Kuntz even went on to say that smoking bans are good for business.  If that is the case Kuntz, why aren’t all businesses voluntarily smoke-free?  Do businesses stay in business by practicing bad business?  Why are business owners fighting for their survival in other areas that have initiated bans?  Why are business owners fighting against bans all over the country?  The presumption that smoking bans are good for business can easily be tested.  Rescind all bans.  The antis should be confident that removing bans would not result in businesses reverting to allowing smoking.  Why would business owners revert to a losing business practice?  Because allowing smoking is not a losing business practice; smoking bans are killing businesses all over the country.

Lexington’s Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon wants a smoking ban.  Scanlon owns many Applebee’s restaurants, spread out across the country.  He allows smoking in his restaurants in areas where there are no bans.  His stance is that he has to allow smoking because the competition allows smoking.  Does he not understand how that logic works against him?  If the competition allows smoking and he doesn’t, he believes he will lose money.  Why wouldn’t the public flock to his non-smoking facility?   

Use some sense Kuntz, Scanlon, and Hahn, even if you have to borrow some.

Then there is OSHA’s stance on the issue.  OSHA made an appearance at a recent Metro Ad Hoc meeting in which they clearly stated that toxins from tobacco smoke, in enclosed areas, fall within acceptable OSHA limits.

Mr. Kuntz and Ms. Hahn cite the CDC, AHA, ACS, and the EPA studies as the definitive sources of information.  The EPA study has been rendered worthless.  The rest of these great American institutions of oppression and non-truths have been tainted with donations from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  RWJF has a major stake in the eradication of tobacco.  Their parent company, Johnson and Johnson, is a big player in alternative nicotine delivery systems, thus the RWJF has their eye on making billions with the demise of tobacco.  (Ellen Hahn received a fellowship grant from RWJF for research in 2000-2003.)  OSHA on the other hand is a step-child in the department of free money and stands to gain nothing.  Antis would argue that OSHA is funded by “Big Tobacco.”  So what else is new?  Everyone that disagrees with the antis is involved in a conspiracy and funded by “Big Tobacco” don’t you know?  The truth is, I know of no one on the side of freedom that is supported in any way by “Big Tobacco”.  I still buy my cigarettes and pay a premium tax on them to help the antis rid me of my addiction.

Okay, one last thing and then I’ll let you go for now.  Here is a quote from Representative Steve Riggs (D) Louisville:  “Many would like for this to go away," he said. "It's not an issue people would use to galvanize a race for office."  He is talking about our legislators.  So he believes that our legislators shouldn’t worry so much about doing their jobs with the issues but instead should worry about being reelected.  This creep needs to be unemployed.

The link for the KET video of the debate is: http://www.ket.org/cgi/db/ket/dmps/Programs?id=KYTO.

Real Player to watch it.  You can watch 5 minutes or the whole hour.

Thanks for your time.    

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest / Search / White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN