Writing Shotgun

NEW CIGARETTE TAX IN LB

Will SwaimThu. February 14
 

The City Council has approved a new annual tax on tobacco-sellers, with proceeds to to support police stings on underage smoking, the P-T reports. I’m sure they mean well, our councillors, but, damn, really: nothing else police could be doing? This is the biggest scourge in the city? Kids with tobacco sticks?

We recommend the City Council read (or, sure, re-read) Plato’s Republic, especially the part in which we learn that most legislating is like “cutting off the heads of a hydra”: each new law produces six new forms of evil behavior designed to circumvent the law.  And so you write laws to criminalize that behavior, and so on, and so on, until, well, you end up with campus speech codes, high-school abstinence-only campaigns, and the Kansas Board of Education declaring that you’re not related to a monkey.

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    To be fair, despite having more than a healthy amount of Huckabee voters, Kansas is once again pro-Evolution. Darwin is back in the high schools, and Jesus has left the science classes and returned to more appropriate settings such as comparative religion (and, possibly, wood shop).

    And please, please, please-- do not encourage politicians to read Plato’s Republic. I know it’s officially a Great Book, and there are some worthwhile insights sandwiched between the “Yes, Socrates” ’s and the “Of course, you’re right Socrates” ’s, but really it’s a compendium of bad ideas. The myth of the metals, with its you-were-born-with-the-soul-of-a-simple-laborer so shut up and pick up that broom like god wants you to? Removing children from their families? (OK, some days that might have a certain appeal.) Banishing poets? Long Beach’s solons have enough bad ideas of their own-- as you demonstrate-- so there's no need to add any that belonged to an Athenian aristocrat with a big forehead.
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    Re: Smoking, check out WHAT IF on ThePrimeSpot.TV

    Whaddaya Think?!
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    I searched your site and couldn't find a link to email you, so I'm just gonna leave you this information here. A spokeswoman for Councilmember Suja Lowenthal's office came by my cafe today and dropped off some flyers. It turns out that Ms. Lowenthal is having a sit-down-and-chat-over-coffee session here next Saturday at 10:00am to discuss any concerns we might have about the neighborhood. She's even buying the coffee. The first thing I thought to myself was, "I hope someone from the District comes." The second thing I thought to myself was, "Someone from the District NEEDS to come." Hence, why I'm contacting you.

    The cafe I work at is La Muse Cafe, a distributor for your magazine for the past year. Needless to say, I love your mag. This is the kind of journalism I got in trouble for during my stint on the college newspaper and it's vindicating knowing the spirit of Long Beach has a voice again. I've transcribed the flyer in its entirety below.

    I encourage everyone to come and congratulate Ms. Lowenthal on the loss of two more art galleries in our East "Arts" District this year.

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    SAVE THE DATE AND HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE ON COUNCILMEMBER SUJA LOWENTHAL

    Join Councilmember Suja Lowenthal at La Muse East Village Cafe to share your questions and concerns about the issues in our neighborhood.

    Saturday, February 23
    10:00 am - Noon

    La Muse East Village Cafe
    455 East Ocean Boulevard
    Long Beach, CA 90802

    Please RSVP at (562) 570-6684
    For more information, please go to www.longbeach.gov/district2 or www.myspace.com/lbcd2
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    Thanks for the heads-up, Paul. I am very interested in talking with and getting some feed-back from my City Councilmember, Suja Lowenthal, regarding the thirty-thousand-dollar bribe -- ooophs, I mean campaign contribution -- she took from a labor union and then later voted in support of the ''hotel peace agreement.'' I'm definitely up for this one. I'll do anything for a free cup of coffee.
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    I'd rather the ciggy tax money go toward cleaning up all the cig packs that the nicotene addicts toss on my lawn, street, sidewalks (thanks, neighborhood smoke shop!).

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