Share and Voice: Park Smoking Ban

I recently just heard in the news that Duluth is in the works of implementing a smoking ban in all of its parks, including the boardwalk (Yay!!!!!!) I really enjoy taking walks down on the boardwalk and cannot stand when I smell second hand smoke from people especially when I'm trying to get some sort of exercise. I found the following information regarding the possible smoking ban from the Northland's News Center website: The Duluth city council is still working out the kinks on a smoking ban in city parks and playgrounds. Currently the proposed ordinance says smokers won't be able to light–up within 100 feet of any city sponsored, organized or scheduled youth event in a park where most of participants are under 18. This comes along with a ban on smoking in all playgrounds. The American Lung Association is working alongside the two councilors proposing this ban, and they are still figuring out how to notify park goers so it can be enforced properly. One of the ideas is placing signs near the perimeters of playgrounds and events. This wouldn't be the first smoking ban of its nature in the area. There is already a smoking ban policy in parks in place in Duluth, but this ordinance would give the policy more enforcement and more specifics. There could still be more changes coming for the proposal. The councilors have talked about tightening up the wording and possibly expanding the ordinance to cover more ground. This idea/proposal makes a lot of sense to me and I hope that it gets past. The link also takes you to the video of the article if you would like to see that as well (Smoking Ban).

Read 'n' Seed 1: Man vs. Wild: Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth

1. Hello everyone the title of the book that I chose for the Read 'n' Seed is called Man vs. Wild: Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth.
2. In this book Bear Grylls demonstrates all manner of survival techniques when faced with nature's extremes. From crossing piranha infested rivers to fighting off grizzly bears. He shows us how, armed with the correct know-how and a determination to stay alive, all of us have the potential to beat the elements in even the bleakest of situations. In this book Bear shows his fans worldwide how to do what he does in an utterly entertaining crash course in surviving every kind of hard ecosystem; mountain, sub-zero terrain, jungle, desert, and the sea. I want to throw this quote by Bear Grylls in here because I think it's an awesome statement. "When disaster strikes and we find ourselves alone in an unknown and hostile environment, why do some people survive and others perish? Almost all of the most extraordinary tales of survival seem to involve an indefinable Ingredient X, which can only be understood as having its source in that mysterious entity, the human spirit." 
3. I chose this book because I've had the once in a lifetime experience of being lost in the wilderness in the friendly confines of the B.W.C.A. (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) for three days without adequate clothing, food, or water. I could go on for days about this story but long story short; my older brother, cousin, nephew, and I were on a fishing trip for a day and we got blown off the lake due to a severe thunderstorm that swept through the area. My brother thought he knew an alternate route out of the woods from where we were at, but apparently he didn't because we ended up getting lost for three days in September of 1995. I wanted to give a brief overview of this story because we used some interesting survival techniques while we were lost. My brother used our flashlight that we had as a water canteen and he boiled rocks in the fire and put them into the flashlight which contained the water to kill off any bacteria that may have been in the water. We also slept on pine bows which are pine branches off of trees so that we were up off the ground while we slept at night. So as you can see I can relate and have a passion for the contents and survival techniques that are offered in this book. I also chose this book because I really enjoy the outdoors and have hunted and fished in the wilderness since as long as I can remember. This book provides a lot of interesting information regarding nature and not to take mother nature for granted.
4. The following links are places where you can get some information on Bear Grylls and his literature: http://www.amazon.com/Man-vs-Wild-Techniques-Dangerous/dp/140132293X/ref=sr_1_2?s=STORE&ie=UTF8&qid=1285778143&sr=1-2, http://www.beargrylls.com, and http://beargrylls.blogspot.com/
5. There are 6 Chapters in this book and 256 pages total. I plan to read 64 pages in this book per quarter.