NO DOUBT THE BIG STORY HERE IN THE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" UNITED STATES THIS MORNING is the early-morning bombing attack upon a military recruitment centre in New York's Times Square district, causing property damage but no injuries thanks to its occuring @ an early hour when few would likely be in "the Crossroads of the World."

How do we know, readers, that the "real" bomber wasn't really some agent provocateur recruited by Fox Noise to cook up some sort of a "news story" to distract attention from The Real Issues such as the ur-RAHOWA's failings and the unstable electoral picture--and a mentally-unstable (and easily-led) agent provocateur @ that who can quickly be sent off to Canada (with substantial "hush money" on the side) while the "hue and cry" gets all the intense?

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SPEAKING OF THE EVER-WORSENING UR-RAHOWA'S IRAQI THEATER OF OPERATIONS, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's state visit to Iraq is winding up with a well-calculated potshot @ our "morally superior" troops, blaming same for "bringing terrorism" into the Middle East.

In other words, suggesting that His Fraudulency's Great Within sees out troops as nothing but agents provocateur to provoke sectarian violence between Shi'a and Sunni Muslims through the agency of supporting militias.

Anyone care to discuss this likelihood?

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IT'S NO WONDER THE UR-RAHOWA'S IRAQI FRONT WAS REALLY ABOUT MAINTAINING AMERICAN DEPENDENCY UPON IMPORTED OIL, notwithstanding repeated requests from His Fraudulency about energy self-sufficency being one with National Cohesion and Identity:

It's emerged that Iraqi criminal gangs are recruiting vulnerable and easily-influenced young men to assist in stealing crude oil ex-wellhead and selling it on the black market.

No wonder His Fraudulency's energy policies are based as they are on doublethink....

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A BRITISH HUMANITARIAN AID GROUP IS TAKING ISRAEL TO TASK FOR MAKING THE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN PALESTINIAN GAZA ALL THE WORSE following the implementation of an outright blockade amounting to sealing off Palestinian Gaza from the world @ large, in turn worsening poverty and human misery.

To which Israel blames the Palestinians for bringing on their own unfortunate situation, forcing Israel's hand with numerous rocket attacks from Palestinian Gaza into Israel with ensuing casualties and injuries.

Ye who see "the enemy of my enemy [as] a friend of mine" (illogical as it seems) in supporting the Palestinian Arab cause over that of a Jewish State in Israel must probably be wondering how to show "solidarity with our oppressed brethren in Palestinian Gaza" without getting the idea that they're unwittingly giving aid and comfort to terrorists, thus risking FBI enquiries.

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THERE WAS A TIME WHEN BOXING MATCHES IN NEW YORK STATE HAD TO BE ADVERTISED AS "THEATRICAL AMUSEMENTS" under the laws then prevailing.

In any case, Your Correspondent took note previously of a loophole in Minnesota anti-smoking laws which allowed bars to use "theatrical performances" as a way to allow smoking on premises.

Now, it looks as if the loophole is about to be closed.

From TwinCities.com (the online edition of the Pioneer Press from St. Paul, know):

Facing increasing criticism for a series of smoking "performances" that have allowed bar patrons to light up across the state, the Minnesota Department of Health took steps Wednesday to draw the curtain on a practice that many see as a loophole in the statewide smoking ban.

The ban, which took effect Oct. 1, 2007, contains an exception for theatrical productions intended to allow actors to smoke as part of a role. But the law does not define a theatrical production, and bar owners have justified allowing smoking by printing up playbills and arguing their patrons are really actors.

Since the first performance in a Lake Mille Lacs bar a month ago, the Health Department has taken no action, saying it was seeking legal advice on whether theater nights violate the law.

On Wednesday, the state decided they do.

"These bars are attempting to circumvent the Freedom to Breathe Act," said Dr. Sanne Magnan, state health commissioner. "We expect all establishments to comply with the law."

Before the announcement, the American Cancer Society called on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's administration to take tougher action in enforcing the ban. The group has been instrumental in passing smoking bans across the country.

Some communities did not wait for the state to act. On Tuesday, the Vadnais Heights City Council passed a unanimous resolution requiring a permit to host theatrical productions. Though the language is not aimed specifically at smoking, the practical effect is to ban the performances.

"The decision's been made. There's not going to be any smoking. The theater stunt to go around the law was obviously against the spirit of the law. There wasn't much discussion. The law's the law," said Vadnais Heights City Council Member Joe Murphy, who added that regular theatrical productions still would be granted a license.

That surprised Dan Mundt, owner of the Vadnais Heights bar Old Clover Inn, who hadn't heard of the city's action early Wednesday but later was paid a visit by local officials to notify him. The new law was not part of the council's regular agenda.

"I don't know how they can actually do that," Mundt said. "... I think it is very poor."

He said he lost customers after the smoking ban took effect. Mundt said the performances, which run seven days a week, have brought revenue back to the bar he has owned for nearly two decades.

"I like it because it brings some money back into my pocket," Mundt said.

Mark Benjamin, a criminal defense lawyer who hatched the idea, argues that the ban has disproportionately harmed smaller, blue-collar bars and local VFWs. He was surprised at the Vadnais Heights decision, too, and suggested it could violate open government laws.

"You would think the local government would want to talk to the bar owner or people like me ... before they make such a rash decision," he said.

Wearing a medieval costume, Benjamin staged his first smoking performance Feb. 9 at Barnacle's Resort, a winter redoubt for ice fishermen and snowmobilers on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs. That was soon followed by bars throughout the state.

At first, the Health Department seemed cautious. It said it was seeking legal advice but that smoking ban violations are misdemeanors that are up to local city or county attorneys to enforce. As the number of performances grew, however, so did the frustration of smoking ban proponents. This week, the American Cancer Society called on someone—be it state agencies or the Legislature—to stop them.

Clay County Attorney Brian Melton, who has debated Benjamin on talk radio, agreed with the state's decision. He said the ban is clear.

"Just because they say they're actors doesn't mean they're actors," Melton said. "If they don't like the law, the proper way to change it is not to go out and break it, but to go through the Legislature."

How effective Wednesday's announcement is remains to be seen. Health Department spokesman John Steiger said the ban will still be enforced by complaints, which can lead to fines of up to $10,000.

Steiger said the Health Department would not release the legal opinion on which it decided the smoking performances violated the ban.

In any case, using "theatrical performances" as a way to allow smoking among bars in traditional culturally-deprived environments was nothing but a farce and joke appealing mostly to the Peter Griffin element. Anyway:

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