is there a law against smoking near a neighbors window forcing them to breathe in the toxic? (Los Angeles: rental, homes)

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I remember watching old movies, black and white, and when someone in the movie wanted to smoke they would ask whoever was standing next to them if they mind if they smoke. What ever happened to that kind of courtesy?

That was then, this is now. In the modern world you have the right to do anything that is legal irrespective of whether you are annoying the hell out of people and being totally impolite. In other words you now have the legal right to be an AH as long as you don't violate any law.

Politeness has gone out the window, along with the smoke.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Of course, I must mention that the smoking nazis, just like the food nazis and eco nazis, are symptomatic to me of the tightening fist of government interference and the take over of this state by carpetbaggers who want to turn it into some sort of cross between Ernest Callanbach's "Ecotopia" and 1970s Sweden.

[Lovehound]

I don't know what you mean about the state getting taken over by carpetbaggers. The state didn't get taken over at all. The majority of voters in California are Democrats, the official party of the liberals. California is the way it is because the liberals want it that way. The majority of people in this state want it to be even more liberal.

If you are a conservative or a Republican then you're the one who is out of place. If it will make you feel any better, I'm out of place here too. That's why I want to get the hell out, because I think California is far too broken to get fixed any time soon. But I recognize that from the liberal or Democrat (i.e. majority) perspective, the only thing that's wrong with the state is the conservatives and the Republicans.

If the state gets just a teensy bit more liberal the Democrats will have two-thirds majority in the state legislature and Republicans might as well not even vote any more.

The state is the way it is because the majority of voters want it that way, and since they're the majority it's certainly their right to make it so. Anybody who doesn't like it can leave. Bye!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

I don't know what you mean about the state getting taken over by carpetbaggers. The state didn't get taken over at all. The majority of voters in California are Democrats, the official party of the liberals. California is the way it is because the liberals want it that way. The majority of people in this state want it to be even more liberal.

If you are a conservative or a Republican then you're the one who is out of place. If it will make you feel any better, I'm out of place here too. That's why I want to get the hell out, because I think California is far too broken to get fixed any time soon. But I recognize that from the liberal or Democrat (i.e. majority) perspective, the only thing that's wrong with the state is the conservatives and the Republicans.

If the state gets just a teensy bit more liberal the Democrats will have two-thirds majority in the state legislature and Republicans might as well not even vote any more.

The state is the way it is because the majority of voters want it that way, and since they're the majority it's certainly their right to make it so. Anybody who doesn't like it can leave. Bye!

California has long been known as a different kind of place than the rest of the country but at what point did it hit a critical mass of liberalism? As it is now, many people move to California because of it's liberalism and vote for even more of it. Many conservatives, especially older ones, are leaving because the state's gone from moderately liberal to far-left in it's governmental policies. This of course only accelerates the process.

[Lovehound]

You could be right Escape. I was born in Los Angeles, grew up here and attended college during the Vietnam War, had my career here and now it's time for me to enjoy life. I don't recall when California first started getting "this way." Perhaps I started out liberal although I think my attitude was more like libertarian. The government seemed to stay out of my life mostly and most of the time, except the draft of course, but let's not get into that. My taxes didn't seem that bad at the beginning but little by little they just got more and more. So I spent some time off on my little cloud just living my life, and then just recently, about the time my career started ending (due to the "recession") it just hit me in the face how involved the government was in my life (both California and US), reading my email, listening to my phone calls, telling me what to do and what not to do, and taxing me to death! As far as I'm concerned California is just as bad as the federal government, and vice versa. Now I don't want to leave the US, but I do see other states that seem to mess with individuals just a bit less and seem to tax their citizens somewhat less. I think there's a lot of people in my age group (Baby Boomer generation) who feel this way.

Well I guess this turned into a rant. Let's just say that California changed and I changed. I once loved California and I feel that the state looked upon me kind of favorably, but we grew apart. This is not the California that I remember and I want a divorce!!!! Well... Er... Let's just say that I want out.

I'm not blaming California and I'm not blaming the Democrats or the liberals. (Heck, I'm a registered Democrat!) The majority of people want the state this way or it wouldn't be this way. The minority are leaving and I guess that makes the state more "this way." If I thought I could stay and get together with people who feel similarly and vote the state back to the way I think it should be then maybe I would stay. But I think that's just California dreaming. The only way California is going to change is that it's going to become more liberal, more intrusive, more expensive and more heavily taxed. That is the way that California's voters want it, and who am I to question the majority? They are right because they are the majority. It's their state and they can do whatever they want with it. My only choices are to love it or leave it.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Have you heard of a book called "The Big Sort"? I heard a brief interview with the author a few months ago and the premise is that people are moving to be around others like themselves The result is that the country is getting more polarized as people increasingly live in politically homogeneous cities, counties, or even states if you take it far enough.

[Lovehound]

I'm not moving to be around others like myself. I'm moving to get away from people who are like the majority of the voters in this state!

I think there could be some truth in that statement that the country is getting more polarized. A few decades ago it seemed like the Democrats and Republicans were both working towards a better America. These days both parties play "sack the quarterback" (the most points are awarded if you can smear the president or catch him red handed doing some naughty). Once either party gets a majority they proceed to ignore the other side and enact their party agenda. It happened in California and now it's happening at the federal level.

I just want to get a quiet house away from people and spend the rest of my life watching the birds and the bees fornicate.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Things really hit an inflection point in the 1980s. I was reading someone's blog a while back, and they perfectly described it. My own experience with it was within high tech. Sometime during the 1980s, in order to seem more mature, worldly and robust, the techs hired a bunch of bean counters, lawyers and even certain tech folks, who were specifically from the Ivys, and had "that pedigree." Up until then, high tech was still perceived as fairly cowboy, with many people with only a BS or even no degree. That worked fine when it was still somewhat a cottage industry but I suppose in order to please The Street, the techs saw this need to staff up with Easterners. This is not to say Easterners had not been arriving prior to that. But prior to that they were not coming in an overwhelming wave, and furthermore, the ones arriving were from a more modest background and did not have "the pedigree."

This same process was happening in other industries. To be fair, in the entertainment biz, it had been going on longer, probably since the 40s.

At some point, newcomers (as well as natives who were greatly influenced by newcomers) outnumbered natives.

The Old West culture was driven out. Again, to be fair, that process had been occurring throughout the Western US for some time, but it was more extreme in California, especially in and near the coastal heavier populated areas.

This is what I mean by the carpetbaggers taking over. Look at the views expressed on this forum and the other big city forums for California. The place has become a northeastern blue state albeit with palm trees.

[marleneb]

shs vs. wood smoke


http://www.yolocleanair.org/mythfacts.htm

Myth No. 1 -Secondary cigarette smoke is far more harmful to human health than fireplace emissions. That is why public smoking is widely banned but unrestricted fireplace use should be allowed.
Fact– Burning one cigarette (which is a misdemeanor in most cities if done within 20 ft of an entrance of a public building or other specified public locations) produces about 0.04 grams of PM10 particulate matter pollution. A 24-hour fire in an open hearth fireplace (which is legal even if within 20 ft of a school, senior home, or private residence) produces up to 1,416 grams of PM10 particulate matter (over 3 pounds!) - about 36,000 times the amount in a single cigarette!

[LuckyGem]

Originally Posted by Fantasm

Hi,

I'm trying to find out if there is a law in Los Angeles county that some how restricts or bans smoking in an apartment building when that smoke makes its away into neighbors homes through the windows, forcing them to breathe in that second hand smoke!

No there isn't any law restricting someone from smoking in their apartment unit.

My neighbor recently tried unsuccessfully to sue me in court over it and the judge threw the case out and dismissed it.

What you could do is close your window, ask your neighbor to smoke in another part of their unit and/or close their window, or get an air filter.