England Goes Fascist
Today is the day when the English Nanny State went Fascist. Millions of innocent smokers - the backbone of English taxpayers - will be persecuted in the name of Intolerance. It's for everybody's health, the New Labour Fascists tell us. Oh yeah? That's what Hitler told the German people: get rid of "subhumans" to make the Master Race strong and healthy. Look where that led! Two people have already died as a result of smoking bans in hospitals. How many more will catch pneumonia as a result of being forced to stand in the rain to smoke? And while the police are catching smokers illegally puffing in bus shelters, the real criminals and terrorists are free to commit whatever atrocities they fancy.
posted by Unknown @ 1.7.07
8 comments
8 Comments:
I like the art topics in your blog, but this rant is rubbish. For too long I has nt been possible to gor for a pint without coming home stinking of other peoples cigarettes. Whether or not it damages my health it is the most selfish habit I know. few smokers care about how offensive there smoke is or how untidy the dog-ends on the ground are. The ssoner everone littering withs cigarette butts is fined the better!
It's the smell of stale beer in pubs I don't like. That's why I don't visit them. I used to share a nice cosy smoking room where I work. An extractor fan took all the smoke out of the room and the building. It didn't harm anyone, apart from us smokers. It was closed a couple of years ago in preparation for the ban. Now I have to walk the streets at lunchtime and stand in a carpark during teabreaks. Last winter I had three colds (2 more than usual) and took more time off from work than I normally do, thanks to walking cold, damp streets. I also smoke more than I used to, because there's nothing else to do when you're walking the streets. I used to read in the smoking room and got through 80 to 100 books a year. Last year my reading dropped to 30 books, because you can't read when you're walking the streets. And I do stub my cigars out on litter bins. Have you noticed how many calls the fire brigade are getting, thanks to badly designed litter bins catching fire? Most of them weren't designed as ashtrays for stubbing cigarettes, but I do my best.
So, I was already feeling persecuted and pissed off long before the recent act came into force and made sure I couldn't even use a bus shelter to smoke!
And I didn't ask to become addicted to smoking. I was addicted in my mother's womb. She chain-smoked. My father was a heavy smoker too. Most of their generation were smokers. I used to get withdrawal symptoms at school!
And two people have died as a result of smoking bans in hospitals. One of them was a patient who'd been coated with something inflamable (as treatment). Because it was a non-smoking hospital, nobody thought to warn him. So he stepped outside, lit his fag and went up in a sheet of flame!
Your email is exactly the sort of interolerance I was "ranting" about. Let's see how long your favourite boozer lasts when the smokers desert it. They're closing pubs all over Ireland and Scotland, thanks to the smoking bans brought in there. Still, not my problem. It's yours.
Why do people comment as "anonymous", especially on an Art blog? Why can't they engage their imagination for a few seconds and think of a pseudonym to hide behind like everyone else?
Anyway Coxsoft, don't get mad...
see http://weggis66.blogspot.com/2007/07/alternatively.html
Hi, Weggis
I bet Anon doesn't have the guts to come back and read my reply. I've had one email fully agreeing with this blog and complaining about the havoc drunkards cause, but it wasn't a "postable" comment.
Remember that Harlequin Ladybird you posted back in January? They're in my back garden! Read my latest post (link to Barkingside 21).
"there's nothing else to do when you're walking the streets."
Oh no ???
;-)
Apparently also, noise and nuisance complaints are up, because people go outside (pubs) more, and guess what, they're drunk.
Some people also mentioned the smell of stale farts (here I go again, just no self-control) that predominates once smoking is removed, but I haven't noticed that yet.
I sympathise very much with your point about your parents smoking. I'm fortunate, I guess, because whatever else I could say about my parents, they didn't smoke.
You clearly have a formidable obstacle. But is there not a barrage of "help" out there at the moment that you could draw on?
Hi, Dorothea
I suppose I could try drumming up a few clients, but I don't think my white beard would attract much trade from either sex.
Smoking: there's lots of help to get you over the short-term cravings, but there's nothing to get you over the psychological dependency.
I've given up 3 times over the years, but within a few months I was smoking again. The problem is that I actually enjoy smoking! Without this major pleasure, life seems bleak. Why trade smoking for anti-depressants? What's so hot about them?
The last time I gave up smoking, I was forced to, because I was suffering from mycoplasma pneumonia. I could hardly breathe, let alone smoke. Believe me, if your lungs aren't working properly, it's a waste of time trying to light up.
But I got healthy again. So I went back to smoking. It keeps me trim.
Coxsoft said;
"Smoking: there's lots of help to get you over the short-term cravings, but there's nothing to get you over the psychological dependency."
That is the problem, I agree. I've been given up about 7 weeks, at the behest of the "bigger half" (BH). I still haven't got used to it yet, but I do feel better for it and one lovely neighbour said she thought she saw the BH out with a fancy woman when she saw us together - so it obviously has other benefits.
There's chubby-chasers and all sorts of others that decency forbears from mentioning here, so why not white-beard-chasers too?
:-)
All the best
When my beard was grey it didn't deter the weirdos, but now it's white...
I didn't want the weirdoes anyway. So what have I lost?
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