tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post8257859608891053617..comments2023-10-17T15:56:22.827+01:00Comments on Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: You can't rip people off, that's our job!Christopher Snowdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-66139099557074607992010-09-29T17:26:30.575+01:002010-09-29T17:26:30.575+01:00Sorry for this off-topic message, but I've got...Sorry for this off-topic message, but I've got excellent news from the continent. I just heard on the Flemish radio here in Belgium that a small part of the coalition agreement of the (probably) new centre-right government in the Netherlands, which has found its way to the press, has revealed that the current smoking ban in the Netherlands (in which also small bars and cafés without employees are currently affected)) will be amended, allowing (again!) those small bars to choose for themselves whether or not they'll cater for smokers. <br /><br />As far as I know, the Netherlands will be finally the first country in Europe to repeal (slightly) the bully state, in favor of freedom to choose! (see e.g. http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3228473.ece/_Nieuw_kabinet_wil_af_van_rookverbod_kleine_cafes_.html , in Dutch, for more details ) <br /><br />Best regards from Belgium,<br /><br />Mr Anonymous (my apologies that I don't want to reveal my identity, but Google is watching me too much...) <br /><br /><br />P.S.: I follow quite regularly this blog, since I became already aware that most of the current anti-smoking legislation across Europe, in fact has its "intellectual" (sic) roots in the Anglosaxon World.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-12149254347069165142010-09-29T04:45:22.644+01:002010-09-29T04:45:22.644+01:00"...support for anti-smoking is always 80%.&q..."...support for anti-smoking is always 80%."<br /><br />The latest Gallup poll (from July) on American attitudes on smoking bans may have escaped your notice, Chris. It demonstrates why we know better. <br /><br />Gallup ran the results under the headline "Americans Want Smoking Off the Menu at Restaurants". (They could just as well have called it, "Most Americans Favor Smoking Bans in Restaurants, but Hardly Anywhere Else.")<br /><br />http://www.gallup.com/poll/141809/americans-smoking-off-menu-restaurants.aspx<br /><br />Only 59% want smoking banned in, specifically, restaurants. Only 31% explicitly favor smoking bans in bars.<br /><br />The 80% claimed by anti-smoking groups is, as you point out, far off the mark. <br /><br />Gallup also published some of their historical data. While most are probably more interested in what people are thinking today, I found myself fascinated to find that a <i>mere 17% of the population supported comprehensive smoking bans in any kind of public place in 1987.</i><br /><br />In 1987, where were all the people who felt they needed to take showers? Or the people complaining about the smell? Why didn't people use such justifications for bans as "it makes my clothes stink" in 1987?<br /><br />I'll lay off that topic for now. I have many thoughts on it.<br /><br />-WSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-4592386728499094622010-09-28T18:53:44.112+01:002010-09-28T18:53:44.112+01:00"Prof. Anna Gilmore, the world's greatest...<i>"Prof. Anna Gilmore, the world's greatest scientific mind and a woman of unimpeachable integrity"</i><br /><br />Mind if I just leave <a href="http://dickpuddlecote.blogspot.com/2010/02/he-who-pays-piper.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> here for a bit? ;)Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.com