Mideast Assembly Thread

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

The Pornography and Marijuana bills have been vetoed.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I ask that the Assembly attempt a veto override on the marijuana taxation bill.

They can attempt it, but Dan voted no the 1st time.

I would have discussed more about the bill before it went to a vote, but I got caught up in other things.

I will sign the bill if the Assembly lowers the tax to 10% and uses that tax to pay for the Mideast Victim Compensation Act and repeals the 1% gun sales tax increase in the MVCA.

Again, my apologies for not working through this before it actually came to a vote.  If you guys find the terms above unreasonable, let me know, and I'd be willing to compromise with you to try to pass this.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

That is acceptable.

Yes it is. I can vote for this because I know that the money would go to help someone in need.

You still may want to keep clauses 1 and 3 from the vetoed bill.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Does that mean I have to reintroduce The Mideast Marijuana Taxation Act? Or is the vote for that still going on?

It will have to be reintroduced.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

The Mideast Soldier Memorial Act has been signed.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

tmthforu94 has been appointed.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

There needs to be something that makes it clear that hunting is excluded from this.  Hunting for sport could be considered "needlessly killing," since most people don't HAVE to hunt for food.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Grammar needs fixing up.

And you can't have a law where the punishment is "at least __________" - you need a maximum, not a minimum.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Does this mean I can't kill ants for fun anymore? And is the sentence per ant I kill or do I get 6 months no matter how many of the little buggers I squish?

Perhaps a definition of the word "animal" is in order.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Wait a minute - rodents includes hamsters and stuff like that.  So if somebody kills somebody's pet hamster, they'd be exempt.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Aye.
The Ayes have it. The Ayes have it.
The bill is submitted to the Governor for his signature or veto.

The legislation has been signed.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I don't support any such ban.  I think people should have the right to decide if they want to smoke.  It's up to the restaurants or other establishments to make their own decisions otherwise.

What are we defining as public place?  Restaurants? city sidewalks? anywhere outside of your own home?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

There are now 2 vacancies in the Mideast Assembly.

I urge the Governor to fill these vacancies. I would simply state that I can pass bills, have them vetoed, and then override vetoes on my own at the moment

I know - I'm working on that now.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just to let you all know.  Swedish cheese has been appointed - make sure to swear yourself in.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

There is no bill on the floor of this Assembly.

(For those not adept with Parliamentary Procedure, because tmthforu94 left the Assembly, his bill died. You are of course welcome to introduce exactly the same bill with whatever amendments you like already made.)

Oh I see

I'd like to introduce the following bill to the Assembly:

1. It shall be illegal for any citizen of the Mideast to smoke inside buildings and establishments open to the public, such as restaurants, bars, public transporting, cinemas, and libraries.
2. If a person is found guilty of smoking in public areas, then that person shall be fined no less than a hundred dollars and no more than five hundred dollars.
3. Smoking in private areas shall not be affected by the passage of this Act.

First, a couple of things:

1. I have a problem with clause 1.  The wording makes it illegal for a Mideasterner to smoke in a public place, so technically, if I were to smoke in California, I could be prosecuted back home under this law.  Furthermore, somebody from the Pacific could smoke here in the Mideast.
2. What are we defining as "private areas"?  Are restaurants and businesses public or private?

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just to comment on the amendment - yall need to address the fact that voting can open anywhere between 0000 hours Thursday and 0001 Friday.  So if somebody who the Governor didn't like declared his/her candidacy at 10:58 P.M. Tuesday, the Governor could just open the booth at noon on Thursday and keep the candidate off the ballot.  You need to set a definitive time as to when candidacy declaration ends (I would suggest 48 hours before the 0000 hours Thursday).

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just FYI, here's my thoughts - going into a restaurant is somebody's choice.  You can choose to eat somewhere where smoking isn't allowed.  Having to walk around in the city really isn't a choice - if you have to walk - you have to walk.

I'd rather see smoking banned on government owned property than in businesses.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just FYI, here's my thoughts - going into a restaurant is somebody's choice.  You can choose to eat somewhere where smoking isn't allowed.  Having to walk around in the city really isn't a choice - if you have to walk - you have to walk.

I'd rather see smoking banned on government owned property than in businesses.

But the reality is that unless all businesses are made smoking-free zones by legislative fiat, most will allow smoking so as to compete with other businesses that also allow it. The 'wisdom' of the invisible hand of the market thus turns most public facilities into smoking-permitted zones with the negative health and nu science effects of smoking customers inflicted on everybody. Government intrusion in this case can actually make the market more efficient. Consider my own example of a restaurant & bar I usually avoided before due to heavy smoke I frequent now that it's smoke free.

One could argue health department certifications should be optional for restaurants as the free market dictates customers will go to those places they know to be safe to eat, but in reality most establishments would dump the cost and oversight of such requirements making uninspected restaurants the norm, thus depriving consumers of any true options. This is essentially what the market has resulted in regarding public smoking.

The health effects of secondhand smoking are well-documented enough to warrant banning smoking in public facilities as discussed, particularly when the lassiz-faire market approach clearly results in most places allowing their customers and employees to be exposed to carcinogenic smoke.

Just curious, Gov: As the proposal clearly goes well beyond your postition of only banning smoking in government owned property, are you indicating you may veto this bill?

I have not made my decision yet.  But I will say that if smoking were banned in both restaurants and on government property (open spaces), I would be more likely to sign it than if it just banned it in businesses and other closed spaces.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Aye
This Session ends on Friday at noon per Article IV, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Mideast Constitution.
The Ayes have it. The Ayes have it. The Governor is directed to arrange a public poll for ratification of this Amendment.

Said poll will open on Thursday at noon.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Aye
This Session ends on Friday at noon per Article IV, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Mideast Constitution.
The Ayes have it. The Ayes have it. The Governor is directed to arrange a public poll for ratification of this Amendment.

Said poll will open on Thursday at noon.

The vote has obviously been delayed. Any idea when we can expect the polls to open, Governor?

My apologies - some personal stuff came up, and I completely forgot about this until last night, but I was unable to get on the computer because we had guests sleeping in the basement where the computer is.  It'll be up for a vote next Thursday at noon.  Again, my apologies.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Just to give my input - I'm not comfortable forcing this on people - I don't plan on signing it.  If you want to make this something voluntary, go right ahead, but I think this is a violation of private property.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I don't think we have a Gypsy problem in the Mideast.

Clearly you've never met Al.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I don't think we have a Gypsy problem in the Mideast.

Clearly you've never met Al.

You mean "Al Widdershins", aka Realpolitik?

Yeah that was the joke.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

I don't see a way that I'm going to ever support this bill unless it's made to be a voluntary program.

Although upon rereading the bill after it was passed by the Assembly, I noticed something I overlooked before:

The wording in Clause 10 seems to be slightly problematic:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

According to a literal interpretation, a person would have to polute, vandalize, and ruin the surroundings in order to be fined.  The proper conjunction between "vandalising," and "ruining the surroundings" would be "or" not "and"; however, this is simply a minor point in a bill that I overall strongly oppose.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Make it a regional program.  Include incentives that would encourage people to enlist in such a program.  If a person does not want people on his/her land, he (as the owner of that land) has the right to deny them access.  It's the way I feel, and I don't see any way of changing this bill that will convince me otherwise.