Wednesday
Sep072011
Why do governments think they know best?
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 13:29 Further to yesterday's post about Scotland's environment minister Stewart Stevenson, my colleague Tom Miers has contributed a great piece for the Edinburgh Evening News.
The full article is featured in a report entitled Smokers in firing line with drive to stub it out in cars.
PS. The paper is asking readers: 'Should Scotland legislate to stop kids being exposed to second-hand smoke in cars?'. Vote here. (Update: no longer available.)
Reader Comments (6)
I have just enjoyed posting in that paper.
Note that the poll is very much agaiinst a smoking ban in cars.
No mention of this story here? An article about cancer rising and no mention of smoking. However they do mention increasing urbanisation, which I was pleased to see as I've always felt that city pollution is the most major factor.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14819396
The question now posed on the 'Vote here' link is:
Will Saturday’s far-right demo make you steer clear of the city centre?
An excellent response from Tom Miers.
My thoughts a week or so ago when our government, amongst others, said how much they had helped the Libyan rebels towards a democratic future were, that is great, but how hypocritical when they are happy to help countries previously run by dictators to move forward toward democracy whilst doing the exact opposite in the countries they are supposed to be running!
Tom says what many are thinking, especially in terms of his final commnet about getting their own house in order first!
(hope this makes sense, am not properly awake as working long night shift hours this week!)
Lyn -
Re:
"when our government, amongst others, said how much they had helped the Libyan rebels towards a democratic future....................."
Of course, the 'Government' (ie the Anglo-American Oil and Banking Interest) SAID it - but you didn't actually BELIEVE it. Did you ?
When pseudo-democratic leaders of pseudo-democratic nations embark upon the rape of another nation, its assets, and its people, the first thing they do is seduce their own 'electorate'. It's only when INDIVIDUALS rape that it becomes a CRIMINAL offence (when the 'democracy' argument tends to sound somewhat implausible, and declarations of altruism wholly incredible).
2 + 2 = ?
No Martin, I didn't believe it, but it still irks me that so many of the blind 'sheeples' in this country do!
Lots of time to think on long night drives, so just had to get it off my chest. Hubby and other family are so a part of the sheeples in their attitudes of 'yes, you are probably right but what can we do about it? Might as well just get on with things as best we can!'
Ohhhhh how I could just SCREAM at times!
Lyn -
I sympathise - as a fellow sufferer.
'Sun'-readers I can ( almost) forgive. Even I didn't stop reading the 'Beano' until well into my twelfth year.
It's the giggling, laptop-wielding (and now mostly smoke-free) Intelligentsia that tends to make ME go all vernacular and uncontrolled. But I've found that you simply can't teach such folk anything. Especially those working for the Big Brother Corporation. After all, if it was worth knowing, they'd have learnt it already - wouldn't they ?
Or so they tell me.
Scream away, Lyn. It's good therapy. And on a quiet night, you may even catch a distant echo of your own anguish on the wind blowing from here in the Beautiful South.
It'll be coming from either myself - or Boris Johnson, as I try to kick some semblance of sense and humanity into that oafish Harrovian head (especially on THIS day) !