The proposed statewide smoking ban in most public places was killed in committee on Wednesday. In a close vote, the House Commerce and Financial Institutions Committee voted to stop the bill.

I have to admit that I'm surprised and encouraged. Minnesota has justifiably gained a reputation as a nanny state, meaning that those who make the rules believe they know how ALL of us should live, and they've had little hesitation in forcing us to comply. Not adding a destructive statewide smoking ban is a gain for individual choice and tolerance.

I've worked with a group fighting against the ban: Minnesotans Against Smoking Bans that will continue the battle as needed. MASB is naturally privately-funded and all-volunteer, seeking only that bar and restaurant owners each be allowed to make their own decision to allow or disallow smoking on their own property. That should be a gimme in a nation that calls itself free, but anti-smokers are the sort of people who want their way wherever they choose to go. Many of the activists in MASB are non-smokers who understand that this issue is about truth and liberty, not about smoking.

I passed a city bus yesterday with a banner on the side proclaiming that thousands of people are killed by secondhand smoke. As I've pointed out before, there is NO evidence of even one death, or even any health risk, but that doesn't keep the nannies from pushing outrageous lies publicly. If you or I promoted such deception, we would find ourselves quickly fined and imprisoned.

If you wish to make up your own mind as to the supposed dangers of secondhand smoke, take a close look at the long list of scientific studies posted on the MASB site. You'll have to read and think, but if you can handle that, the truth will be obvious. 

Let me take this occasion to invite the residents of Bloomington and Minneapolis, who soon won't have a choice, to move their restaurant and bar business to Richfield and other suburbs where a little liberty still exists. There are a lot of restaurants that have been coerced into becoming completely non-smoking. That's their right, and it's my right to patronize other establishments, like a couple of my favorites... Currans, at 42nd and Nicollet S., Bridgemans near 66th and Lyndale, and the original Perkins at 60th and Nicollet. Some of my former favorites have bitten the dust and lost my business. Pearson's in Edina was one, that had smoking only in the counter area, a separate room next to the kitchen. Even that separation evidently wasn't enough for some rabid control freaks.

While I'm on the subject of favorite restaurants... it seems that the Fujuya restaurant building will finally be torn down. The Fujiya, once a superb dining experience, overlooking the river, was killed in the 80's when the Park Board took their parking lot, effectively shutting them down. Sadly, the building has sat there ever since, as an ugly reminder of a tragic loss to "progress" and waste.

I wonder whether the riverfront "redevelopment" would have even taken place if the Fujiya hadn't been there. It was the sole attraction in that part of town, and was probably responsible for getting many people to explore the riverfront.