crazy local news highlights...

[acroyear]

1. the VA House actually passed the smoking in restaurants ban, carried mostly by northern virginia and hampton roads area.  the south, the west, and richmond all voted no.  We'll see how the Senate does, since that's supposed to equalize the regions a bit more and weaken NoVA's influence.
2. the senate passed a ban on teenagers driving with cell phones.  the AP doesn't say whether or not hands-free is permitted.
   
3. Gee, Marion Barry's in legal trouble again over his taxes, where he's accused of not filing his taxes for several more years after his last probation agreement required him to do so.  unrepentant bastard, it seems, and that's what jail is for.
4. more metro construction on v-day weekend - check wtop for details if your plans including heading into town
   
5. MD is considering raising the alcohol tax.  i say go for it.  in this economy, nobody would even try to notice.
6. Loudoun's talking layoffs for staff
7. fairfax is still mulling the idea of moving the high school start time.  i'm of mixed minds here
• i'm one of those whose 8am classes were consistently poorer performing than any other, BUT
• I'm also a band guy who knows that marching band REALLY needs the time after school to practice and will lose it

Comments

[pharmtoxgirl.livejournal.com]

Of course Richmond will vote No. Philip Morris is here and in Petersburg.

But I'm still hoping the damn thing passes.

Oh and I bet Charlottesville voted yes as it is its own little corner of liberal paradise - LOL. I'm joking but not as my co-workers who live here say they get ragged on for that all the time.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

All of Richmond's delegates voted no, including its Democrats.

[pharmtoxgirl.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm not surprised. Philip Morris's offices and labs are here - they aren't going to vote to enact the ban.

[petricat666.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Fairfax, okay, really speaking of Prince William, I'm stunned that we're not jumping on all their bandwagons of late. Our high schools start at 7:20 a.m. Our grade point scale starts an A at 93 (Fairfax was 94 and just lowered to at 90).

Oh, wait. I forgot, our county is all about Math Investigations, an elementary program that teaches math in conceptionalization right now.

Oh yeah, and you gotta love Virginia. A standard high school diploma is 22 credits, a advanced diploma is 24 credits including 3 foreign language requirements and 4 different sciences. If you are an IB diploma candidate....you earn the standard diploma. Why? Because they only take "2" different sciences at the most 3. They have to take the IBMYP Chemistry or Biology as a 9th or 10th grader and then take the two year IB Biology or IB Chemistry class where they will take the 5 hour IB exam (and possibly the AP exam as well).

Patrick gets the Advanced diploma because he bowed out of the full IB diploma and has already taken 4 different sciences because he took an extra science this year as an elective.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

I took my biology and chemistry as get-ahead summer school classes to free up space for both Band and Psychology (back then there were only 6 credits in a day - I hear there are more now). Others in my grade were taking Geometry in order to get back on a Calculus by Senior Year track in math.

Of course, I also took them in the summer 'cause I wanted to get out of GT science, not 'cause i couldn't hack it, but 'cause I was sick of all the work that went into the science fair project (which was required). 4 years of mostly winning something and I was pretty much done with it.

[petricat666.livejournal.com]

Patrick lives for science fair. This is the first year that Stonewall Jackson has not required all IBMYP Biology students to participate in science fair, it is completely elective. Therefore there are 10 to 15 students in the entire school doing the fair. The head of the fair basically told Patrick that he and his friend who went to state last year are pretty much guaranteed that they'll be going to regionals. (she knows the quality of their work). Compare that to evil Battlefield that usually sweeps the first place categories (or most of them) where the student doesn't compete until they've worked on their projects for at least two years. Patrick's project is a continuation of his IBMYP personal project (took a break from science fair last year so the judges will not have seen it) so he's got a two year project this year. We shall see.

[dawntreader]

2. "Gee, Marion Barry's in legal trouble again"
in my best Hilby voice, "no way! no way!"

5. "alcohol tax" i'm shocked it's taken this long for someone to go for it. apparently it hasn't been raised in 30 years. whereas gas tax and cigarette tax jumps by leaps and bounds. (cigarettes $2 at a time.) so 2 cents for akkohols in thirty years is not a big deal. according to WJZ it's going "to support drug and alcohol treatment programs, provide services to more people with disabilities, increase state payments for people who work with the disabled and bolster the general fund." well! i can support that.

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

but the cigarette tax is supposed to discourage smoking and help cover the cancer-stick users medical bills and rehab.

[dawntreader]

i realize that and that wasn't my point. it was only a comparison. my point was it's time they tax akkohol also and 2 cents is not a big deal.

[dawntreader]

tax also doesn't discourage smoking. they could be $10 a pack and it would not discourage smoking. price does not make a difference to those with addictions.

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

ummm...actually, no. the cig tax hike wasn't used for cancer medical bills or rehab. It's for uninsured residents. It's got nothing to do with cigarette-related treatment or medical.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020702131.html

I find it highly amusing that it was supposed to keep kids off of them but kids today have the highest amount of disposible income. The reason more don't smoke is because they know it's unhealthy and it's uncool... not because of the tax hike.

The reality of the situation is that it's putting money in the coffers of the state. When they first announced the hike, I was annoyed. Now PM just sends me coupons off a carton. *shrug*

I do find it extremely assinine that the alcohol tax (roughly 5 cents per six pack) wasn't raised in 30 years and yet alcohol kills more people in this country than second-hand smoke does. Especially teenagers and young children. Kinda makes me think that we should have raised the alcohol tax instead of demonizing smokers.

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

Drunk drivers kill people, irresponsible drinking kills the drinker. Smoking can (and does) cause problems for the nearby people. If you sit next to me and have a beer, the worst that is likely to happen is that I'll get a little sick to my stomach (depending on the beer and the proximity) or get some beer on me (which while gross isn't that big a deal ... I know you aren't going to get drunk enough to hit on me). If you sit next to me and smoke, it is likely to affect my sinuses, settle in my throat, and make me cough; at certain times of the year, I will end up coughing for hours afterwards (even after I shower, wash my hair, and wash every stich of clothes I'm wearing).

If you sit next to my mother and drink a beer, no fuss, no muss (she doesn't find the smell of beer sickening the way I do). If you sit next to my Mom and smoke, she could end up in the hospital.

2nd hand smoke kills people. It also has a HUGE impact on the quality of life of the populace (asthma in children is linked to 2nd hand smoke for example). Things like COPD while not necessarily killing you can make you wish you were dead (I've had walking pneumonia, I know how bad it can feel to not be able to breathe without coughing so hard you are gagging and fear that your throat will start bleeding).

Oh, these sites show tobacco causing more deaths than alcohol (heck more than alcohol and car crashes together)

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30 - Tobacco 435,000; Alcohol 85,000, Motor Vehicle crashes 26,347 (not all are alcohol related I'm sure but even so the total of the two is 111,347 much less than 435,000

http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html - 29,500 driving deaths; some of which probably include the drinker

http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35422 - 50,000 2nd hand smoke deaths each year

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

I never said that smoking wasn't a bad or dangerous addiction ... only that alcohol kills a very large number of people and yet doesn't have a fraction of the tax applied that tobacco does.

I'm always skeptical of statistics like those you've referred to - I know of quite a few accidents that were alcohol-related that never got reported as such. I also tend to believe that *if* those stats are correct, more people are still injured because of alcohol than tobacco... perhaps I should have clarified that.

I tend to think of myself as a very polite smoker - I smoke outside, try to keep my smoking away from non-smokers and try to be mindful of those around me. How many people who drink heavily can state the same thing?

And as far as deaths related to smoking? I also believe that those figures are drastically inflated; there are heart attacks and cancers that have been labelled 'smoking-related' when it's not neccessarily a proven direct connection. Simply because someone smokes doesn't mean they're going to get cancer or have a heart attack - it might increase the risk but it's not always the 'absolute direct cause'. Likewise, just because someone smokes and has a heart attack doesn't mean it's not because they weren't watching their diet or exercising. It's acceptable nowadays to pin everything on tobacco when in reality that might be a factor but not the leading one.

*shrug* Just my $.02

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

I'm all for the smoking ban. It would make Jaxx a tolerable option for my wife to see music. Until it is non-smoking, she refuses to go.

The funny thing is, it is probably one of the few music venues in the area that still allows smoking. (Jammin Java, The Birchmere and The State Theatre are smoke free and DC has an indoor smoking band)

[thewhitedragon.livejournal.com]

I'm all for a venue-by-venue option to ban smoking but that's my personal opinion. I don't think the government should *mandate* the ban.