Planck's Constant

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I have written a number of articles in favor of smoking bans. My company will not hire smokers and I mean not just smoking on the job, I mean even if they smoke while on vacation in DisneyWorld (although smoking there is getting harder to do) or at home; see my Employment Manual. Just so you know, I believe the government has no right to interfere in your private life, except... if you abuse your wife, children, or even your own body or property if it harms others.

I know there are Muslims who say that Islam gives them permission to beat their wives and it is none of the government's business to interfere in a purely religious matter. I know there are Africans who mutilate the vaginas of their daughters and say it is none of the government's business to interfere in a purely cultural matter. I know there are Christian sects who allow old men to deflower prepubescent young girls and assert it is none of the government's business to interfere in a purely religious matter. I personally know a pyromaniac who would love to burn down his home, not for insurance, but for the sheer pleasure of seeing it in flames; and thinks it is none of the government's business to interfere in a purely personal matter.

But you may object to the last: his pleasure may in fact endanger others. But isn't that exactly the objection of non-smokers? As to the others, I'm sure there are many in this country who will defend the abuse of women and children on the grounds that if we let the government interfere in those matters then it's only a matter of time that we'll lose all of our freedoms. I don't buy that argument. The government interfered in the right to own slaves and the result of that interference was certainly not less freedom but more since that was the basis for extending suffrage to women. According to the slippery-slope crowd we should have experienced a curtailment of all of our freedoms after taking away the right to own slaves. Didn't happen, although at the time that was precisely the argument used.

Full Story: "Whirlpool: Fired for Lying About Smoking Habit" »

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If you want to know what eventually happens when you have a national health scheme, wonder no more, read this from the National Health Service of the UK:

Patients could be denied treatment because they smoke or are overweight, Patricia Hewitt said yesterday.

The Health Secretary insisted it was right for those whose lifestyle choices could make treatment ineffective to be refused care in some circumstances.¹

Since the poor and less educated have the highest prevalence of smokers² and obese³ among them, the very people who were supposed to be most in need of health services will end up not getting them.

Full Story: "UK Health Services: No to Smokers and Fatties" »

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French smokers say c’est la vie to ban, PARIS - A ban on smoking in public spaces came into effect Thursday, a change that may alter the image of a country defined in part by its smoky cafes and cigarette-puffing intellectuals.

I have been to Paris a dozen or more times. There were two incidences that have stuck in my mind all these years.

The first time I went there was in 1967 to study French in the Alliance Francaise at the Sorbonne. I stayed in a University Dormitory for 50 cents a night in an area called the Place Pigalle which was a red light district with some very attractive hookers. On the way back to the dorms from class I would always have to pass a gauntlet of propositioning harlots.

After a few months of intensive French language instruction I thought it would be interesting to see if one of them would be able to tell if I were an American or not (I worked harder on accent than on grammar). So I sidled up to a pretty young thing and asked her "How much?" in French. I was 22 at the time , so she had to eyeball me a bit to make sure I wasn't underage, and she answered in French, "Forty Francs," which was about 10 US dollars. I then said in English, "I'm sorry, how much did you say?" I did this hoping to impress her that my French accent fooled her, but instead of commenting on my fantastic language skills, without missing a beat she quickly replied in English, "I said fifty francs." "Whoa, you said forty francs!" I retorted. Shamelessly, she said, "That was before I knew you were an American." I stop the story here because I am a different person than that youth of long ago.

Full Story: "Paris may be Burning but it ain`t Smoking" »

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We should ban smoking on Cruises. A fire broke out aboard the cruise ship Star Princess Thursday as it sailed through the Caribbean sea, leaving one passenger dead and 11 others injured.

Although a number of bloggers reported on the fire [SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE , (a South Park Republican, BTW)] and the Cruise ship's own Press Release fail to mention that it was most likely started by a lit cigarette, although there were a few [dieselduck, The Life And Times Of A Habitual Line-stepper™ and the travel bloggers] that did mention smoking as the culprit.

Full Story: "Star Princess burns - time to ban smoking on cruise ships" »

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British lawmakers voted by a huge margin on Tuesday to ban smoking in every pub, club and indoor public space in England, adding it to the growing list of countries taking a tough stand against smoking.

The bill, passed by 384 votes to 184, followed months of heated debate that divided the Labour government and incensed health groups.

Ireland banned smoking in restaurants, pubs and workplaces in 2004, and six countries imposed bans on smoking of varying severity in 2005.

It certainly is easy to predict that in another few years parents with young children at home will not be permitted to smoke. Hopefully this will happen soon.

Let me say at the outset that Government has no right to interfere into the private lives and desires of its citizens. If two people want to urinate on each other that's their business, not government's . On the other hand, if you are working someplace and your workmates constantly come over and drench you in their urine, it is most fitting and proper that the Government come in to say, "Urinating on your fellow workers is prohibited."

Now one will always hear the fatuous argument that if you don't like being urinated on you should work someplace else. That if you don't like yellow drops of pee splattering into your soup, well go to a restaurant that has a no-urinating policy. But why should we suffer?

Full Story: "No more puffs with your pint in England" »

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