June 2007 - Page 6 of 7 - Forces International

Modernity is to blame

First the problem must be identified, then dealt with, then finally explained.  Obesity is the problem and all "advanced" countries are currently on board the effort to end the "epidemic."  Grant junkies are expanding their anti-fat racket by postulating reasons why everyone is now so damn fat.  Once the causes have been identified they can be eliminated.

By webmaster, 17 years ago

New Hampshire: LIve Free then die!

The smoking ban has passed the House again, however, and is tipped to go all the way.) One of the Republicans who killed the smoking ban gave a sorrowful quote to the New York Times: "I’m surprised that a lot of the ‘Live Free or Diers’ who usually confront us with statements like ‘stay out of our life’ or ‘we don’t need more legislation’ were the ones asking us to ban smoking."

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Anti-tobacco’s assumptions

This piece concerns the ban (what else?) of cigarette displays in convenience stores.  Logical and legitimate points such as “Putting cigarettes under the counter removes the distinction between legitimate tax-paid tobacco products and contraband, and that could make contraband more easy to move … the displays are unlikely to induce anyone to take up smoking because they have made the choice to smoke by the time they get to the counter” must be disregarded because made by the tobacco industry.

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Death of property rights

Readers of this site will have notice that for the past few years we have waxed pessimistic on the value of invoking property rights as an argument against smoking bans.  While we certainly revere property rights as an essential component of just societies we recognize that we no longer live in a just society, an observation that is neither original nor confined to those who have deplored the pathology of anti-tobacco.  Two years ago we released our position on <a target="_blank" href="../../../evidence/papers/paper2/forces_international_1105.htm">property rights and health</a>.  In brief we assert that in any conflict between property rights and health, health will always prevail.  Arguing against smoking bans based on the sanctity of private property is a futile exercise because health trumps all other values.

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Who cares about tuberculosis?

The fact that "public health" has its priorities skewed is as given as its thirst for power and control.  Its  real and ONLY mandate — control and possibly eliminate contagious disease – is now secondary to playing God with the lifestyle of citizens.  This article by Reason Magazine is our recommended reading for this week.
<blockquote>
'…But at least in dealing with potentially deadly microorganisms that move from person to person, the rationale for government action is to prevent people from harming each other. By contrast, much of what passes for "public health" today is aimed at preventing people from harming themselves” – when they actually do that and when “public health” does not make up those risks with junk science and false information, we should add. “Activists and politicians use the language of public health to legitimize government efforts to discourage a wide range of risky habits, including smoking, drinking, overeating, underexercising, gambling, driving a car without a seat belt, and riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Unlike typhoid fever and tuberculosis, the risks associated with these activities are not imposed on people; they are voluntarily assumed.'
<a href="http://www.reason.com/news/show/120576.html">Link to original article</a>
<a href="http://www.data-yard.net/10b3/sullum_reason_tb.pdf">Link to stored article</a>
</blockquote>

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Afraid of the paper tiger

“Defiant MPs at the House of Commons are planning to ignore the national smoking ban being imposed on the rest of the country next month. From July 1, anyone lighting up in pubs, clubs, restaurants and offices in England faces a £50 fine. And authorities have decided to extend the ban to Westminster – which has traditionally been exempt from many laws because of its status as a palace – to avoid charges of ‘hypocrisy’. But politicians are plotting to continue smoking in their own offices, which they usually share with just an assistant. … One veteran MP, who does not wish to be named, said: ‘I don’t see why I can’t continue to smoke in the privacy of my own office?“

By webmaster, 17 years ago

How far will they go?

Belmont California is a suburb south of San Francisco.  To the glee of its mayor and a few of its city councilmembers the town has attracted international attention as the first to propose banning smoking in private homes.  That the attention has been overwhelmingly negative outside of California adds icing to the prohibitionists’ cake.  We’re soooo progressive, they coo to themselves and soooo brave.

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Contradiction trips up global warming hysterics

"Thick Arctic ice may be the reason for a precipitous drop in this spring’s two-month gray whale count at Point Piedras Blancas."

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Microwaves to blame for obesity

<o:p><!–webbot bot="PurpleText" PREVIEW="http://www.data-yard.net/10b3/uk_microwaves_fat.pdf" –></o:p> For a long time establishing “causality” no longer requires science but just junk epidemiology.  However, let no one stop “progress” and further simplify the process. The pretence of a junk study is no longer needed: all it takes is the “expert” opinion of junk scientists, and the junk media (such as BBC has become) will rush to report the latest and greatest nonsense.  A few more opinions like these, and it will become a “scientific consensus” — thus hard scientific evidence at the basis of some new prohibition.  Yes, today it’s that simple!  But what are we talking about?… The reason why we are (statistically) fat: the invention of the microwave oven!! Read the rest of the article and have fun – but also get the dark, deep and retrograde message of  these “public health” representatives.

By webmaster, 17 years ago

Revolt in style? You can’t do that?!!

Let’s just say at the outset that we really don’t want to spoil the party.  We hope and trust that everyone who attends the FOREST UK’s smoking ban protest event “Revolt In Style: A Freedom Dinner” at London’s Savoy Hotel at the end of June will have a wonderful time, and that the event will stimulate all in attendance to think about how to actively fight Britain’s smoking ban — and, indeed, the whole repressive suite of government controls that are seeping into so many aspects of daily life in the UK.

By webmaster, 17 years ago