tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post5601400582906936101..comments2023-10-17T15:56:22.827+01:00Comments on Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: Obesity, smoking, class and everything elseChristopher Snowdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-15795932927354876642011-05-06T10:10:49.440+01:002011-05-06T10:10:49.440+01:00'It is, I think, indisputable that the same ta...'It is, I think, indisputable that the same tactics that were once used only against smokers are being deployed against the general population.'<br /><br />GOOD... because the more people who don't smoke and didn't think anyone was going to pick on 'them' are targeted, the better chance of a backlash.dunhillbabenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-3090492049849366292011-05-06T03:47:23.200+01:002011-05-06T03:47:23.200+01:00"I don't expect it to close in my lifetim..."I don't expect it to close in my lifetime."<br /><br />The Berlin Wall was in good health and accepted by everyone - compliance was complete. Woopst!<br /><br />Communism in Poland was in good health. Compliance was complete. Everyone loved it. Woopst!<br /><br />Communism in Russia was loved by all. Compliance was complete. Woopst!<br /><br />Prohibition in the US was the greatest contribution to public health and morals ever! Compliance was complete. Woopst!<br /><br />Prohibition in the US only lasted for 13 years, and that was without the Internet capability for communication. <br /><br />Actually, when I saw that infamous video of Clegg saying that 'of course, we will not amend the smoking ban or restore capital punishment', I knew that it was only a matter of time. <br /><br />It may be that the amendment to the ban will come from a surprising direction. It seems to me to be likely that communities which have lost their local pub (and that does not necessarily mean only in the countryside) will start to agitate for a replacement. But the replacement envisaged would not be 'a magnificent edifice' - perhaps a small bar on the Spanish model - small, lock up, low overheads, sufficient to provide a decent living for the owner - but UTTERLY POINTLESS unless clients can relax and enjoy. Relax and enjoy must mean drink, eat, smoke, watch footie on TV, etc. Relax and enjoy without government interference. In other words, a re-awaking of the idea of 'the public house'.<br /><br />We shall see.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-63485315245110025502011-05-06T02:32:52.678+01:002011-05-06T02:32:52.678+01:00There's another almost-possible thermodynamic ...There's another almost-possible thermodynamic explanation for obesity 'epidemic'. And that is that it's both convenient and fashionable to wear a lot fewer clothes these days than it was 50 or 100 years ago. Particularly in the case of women.<br /><br />The consequence of this is that, given a stable body core temperature of 37 degrees C, heat is lost more rapidly, and more food has to be eaten to compensate the increased energy expenditure. At the same time, the increased food consumption results in the deposition of layers of insulating fat which increase for the body's external insulation back to an optimum level.<br /><br />You either wear lots of clothes, or you get fat. It's simple physics.Frank Davishttp://cfrankdavis.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-83123612461553223052011-05-05T23:18:21.354+01:002011-05-05T23:18:21.354+01:00Also, so I'm told, encouraging cannabis smokin...Also, so I'm told, encouraging cannabis smoking in pub gardens.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-54374924433127064242011-05-05T23:16:09.630+01:002011-05-05T23:16:09.630+01:00Adding to Mr. A's comment.
Now that the 'a...Adding to Mr. A's comment.<br />Now that the 'action' is outside the pub where the smokers gather, it is also the place where the Landlord has NO control over the age group of the people standing around in the street and garden.<br />Therefore any young kid doesn't have to be 18 to be with the crowd drinking whatever he/she decided to bring along from the supermarket in their bag or pocket flask etc.<br />Before the ban when everyone was in the pub, the Landlord could keep an eye on very young kids inside the pub drinking.<br />So the smoking ban is encouraging under age drinking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-4651514553146806882011-05-05T18:11:04.628+01:002011-05-05T18:11:04.628+01:00All the evidence here points to the inescapable co...All the evidence here points to the inescapable conclusion that banning things simply doesn't work, especially not if they're pleasurable or addictive (or both). Banning drugs of all varieties has to have been the most ineffective public health measure ever enacted; regressive taxes of various things aren't far behind (ever wonder why tobacco smuggling is so rife?).<br /><br />The main problem is that the bansturbation crowd think that a ban means a problem goes away; they really need their noses rubbing in the fact that satisfying as it was to declare a ban, the ban DID NOT WORK. Make their utter failure public knowledge, humiliate them, decry their stupidity and with a bit of luck they'll simply bugger off and sulk somewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-43501846527440373632011-05-05T13:47:38.539+01:002011-05-05T13:47:38.539+01:00Chris, I alas agree with you that there is little ...Chris, I alas agree with you that there is little hope the tide will turn. I think the other reason why people are fat is that it has lost its social stigma, but some are keen for it to return.<br /><br />However as they turn the heat up on probably the sizable minority/majority of the population they may have overreached themselves. I hope a back lash begins.DaveAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249090980650806030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-72985098181990843572011-05-05T09:55:32.171+01:002011-05-05T09:55:32.171+01:00I agree with you. I'll even add a (d) to the r...I agree with you. I'll even add a (d) to the reasons for more obese people - that they have given up smoking!<br />When I stopped smoking 10+ years ago I added a stone in weight almost immediately, and no I wasn't stuffing Polo mints as an alternative. After years of reduced calories, regular gym sessions etc which made no real difference I decided to restart smoking. Guess what? I have lost a stone in 3 months.Woodsy42https://www.blogger.com/profile/12355671210161625647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-52377592920227801602011-05-05T09:48:55.720+01:002011-05-05T09:48:55.720+01:00Excellent post, Chris, especially the bit about th...Excellent post, Chris, especially the bit about things never becoming a problem until the proles started doing them. There's plenty of evidence that measures against non politically correct activities often disappoint their proponents by failing to have the desired effect, but it's hard not to share your pessimism that it is difficult to see any change in officially expressed attitudes in the coming decades.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-4485139357798581712011-05-05T08:48:37.506+01:002011-05-05T08:48:37.506+01:00That's a great post, Chris. And from the heart...That's a great post, Chris. And from the heart it seems.<br /><br />I'll add a short note about class and prominence. <br /><br />Many on the Left give praise to the idea of an inclusive society. I don't think that they're lying. Yes, they actually want you to be included, but you also must be behaving properly.<br /><br />So, the individual thinks, "Well, if those are the conditions, I'm not interested in being included."<br /><br />That's not an option in the minds of such people. Like the song says, "you can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave". The options aren't choosing between attending the party and following the rules, and leaving if you don't want to follow the rules. Rather, you both MUST attend and MUST follow the rules, and any other thinking is just aberrant, wrong, unthinkable, distorted, and meaningless for consideration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-26549799730622203452011-05-05T06:53:21.745+01:002011-05-05T06:53:21.745+01:00I don't know why you now have to be thin to be...I don't know why you now have to be thin to be good looking, while the opposite used to be more or less true, and still is in many places (some Afghans told me they like fat women over there).<br />Does it have something to do with class warfare too? The fat capitalist with a cigar against the thin but fit proletarian, as the fat aristocrat is no longer respected as he used to be?Jean Granvillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12863378650172171963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-42209080279344455072011-05-05T04:12:11.528+01:002011-05-05T04:12:11.528+01:00"I don't expect it to close in my lifetim...<i>"I don't expect it to close in my lifetime."</i><br /><br />Wow, Chris! That's very depressing. I really, really hope that you're wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com