Tuesday with Paulie New Year's Edition

Happy New Year!
May your 2008 be filled with health, happiness and peace.

What do you want for yourself and your family in 2008? Have you made any resolutions and if so are they the same ones as last year and the year before? I have made the same resolution every year since I was a teenager, which was when Ronald Reagan occupied the White House.

Ah yes, the good old days. The Rolling Stones performed without needing a walker. Republican didn't mean Democrat Lite. Democrat didn't mean Socialist. You can say Christmas without the ACLU crawling up your ass and God wasn't a four letter word. But I digress.

Most people make their resolutions between midnight and 4am on January 1st. This usually involves large quantities of liquor and a depressed mental state because you just realized you failed at fulfilling last years resolutions. This year don't set yourself up for failure, but instead use realistic and common sense goals.

Most people fall into the category of wanting to loose weight, quit smoking, start exercising, quit drinking or something health related. The key word is health. This year how about an outcome of getting healthier. You may not accomplish your main resolution this year, but we all know we can do a few simple things to become healthier in a matter of weeks.

If you don't have health, you don't have anything. If you have your health, you have everything.

As for your brilliant blogger, my goal is always health. I don't smoke, I rarely drink, my cholesterol is good and I see a doctor every few months for a check up. However after decades of battling weight issues and very slowly loosing weight consistently for a few years, I have decided that I must take a more drastic approach.

After many months of research, seminars, consulting with medical professionals and finally insurance approval, not to mention my wife's blessing, I have decided to take a drastic measure in achieving my health goals. By months end I will undergo the Lap band procedure.

more will follow...



Big Brother in Illinois
Government bans smoking in all public places

So why does a 20-year Cancer survivor with two young children not celebrate the fact that as of today he can take his family anywhere in Illinois and not have to worry about smoking? The answer is simple. I don't want the government telling business owners what they can or cannot do at their establishments.

As a man with the freewill given to me by the grace of God, I can decide what businesses to patron due to their self-imposed smoking policies. And as a matter of fact I do not give my hard-earned money to places that will not grant my family and I a smoke free environment. That is my right. However, I respect the right of a business owner to decide for themselves if smoking should be permitted in their establishment. The government has no right to tell them what they can and cannot do and I sure as hell don't need bureaucrats making choices for my family.

For the past few weeks my tax dollars have been paying for an ad campaign reminding the citizens of Illinois of the new law that went into effect a few hours ago. In the television spots, people are taking ash trays and using them as Christmas ornaments and hockey pucks. I wonder what advertising agency who gave the Governor a big campaign contribution got that lucrative contract?

The point is a simple one. What right does the government have to force a privately owned business not to permit a legal activity from occurring in their establishment? Nobody hates smoking and cigarettes more than your brilliant blogger. But even more so I despise big government enforcing their bureaucratic incompetence on the private sector and telling me how to live my life.

Paulie