TICAP, The Hague, March 15th 2010

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Nonsense on the High Seas

The government now intends to introduce smoking regulations at sea. To be precise the ban will be inflicted on all vessels with crews and passengers sailing up to 12 miles off the coast and on inland waterways and will not just apply to UK registered ships but to ships of all flags.

See:
http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED11%20Jul%202007%2007%3A05%3A43%3A097

Now, it would be untrue to say that the government has finally gone completely nuts because it reached that point some time ago where smoking bans are concerned. However, unable to enforce its ban on land properly with resistance growing daily, HMG spreads its idiocy even further.

This ban at sea will yet another law which will be flouted regularly and easily in many cases by both passengers and sailors. Imagine too, the crazy picture of the Royal Navy having to board foreign ships just to see if someone is smoking in an off limits area. Well, oh yes I can. The Royal Navy is in a terrible state with Gordon Brown just having mothballed half the fleet. What better role for our hard pressed matelots (many of whom smoke themselves) than to play nanny on the high seas? Did someone say: "Rule Britannia"?

Blad Tolstoy

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The Dutch are exploding in Amsterdam. Solidarity Rules!

A message from Forces Netherlands, with several worthwhile links. Looks like they are on our side!

Hi folks,

We had a wonderfull surprise action against the smoking ban plans in Amsterdam last sunday. It was the main event during our crusader trip against the smoking ban'. On boats we have been driving through the Amsterdam canals ('grachten') while playing an anti-smoking ban song loudly from two boats and producing clouds of smoke. We got a tremendous media coverage and even were invited to start a weblog on one of the Dutch main TV media's websites.

Pictures can be found on our site:

http://www.forces-nl.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1516

A TV report can be found here:

http://www.at5.nl/speler_at5nieuws.asp?newsid=27948

The song that was played from the boat:

http://www.antirookverbod.nl/downloads/antirookverbod.mp3 (anti-smoking ban song)

As a result of our crusade action, an enormous petition action has been started that tries to gather 300.000 signatures against the smoking ban plans.

We are back on the map again!

Wiel

Message received from Blad

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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Parkinsons & Smoking

passive smoking, smoking bansThe Times yesterday demonstrated a fairly high standard of journalism yesterday when reporting on the latest puplication into the association between Parkinson's Disease and smoking. Using words like "may reduce risk" and "research suggests", Joanna Carpenter managed to present the facts rather than the hysteria.


However, the fact that it was reported is the issue. As usual the publication was an epidemiological study but not only that it was a study that simply pooled the available past data. By doing this the authors managed to satisfy the God of statistics and produced their Nirvana, statistical significance. Of course it still has no real significance and certainly doesn't mean that smoking reduces your chances of developing Parkinson's Disease.

The statistically significant risk ratio produced was 0.13 to 0.32. This was of course referred to as 13% to 32% as these are bigger numbers and no-one understands decimals. Hang on, does anyone underststand percentages. However, the God of epidemiology is not satisfied as such small relative risks are not supposedly reliable. Nevermind, so long as the God, Statistics is happy!

This report and the academic publication is an example of the level of science reporting we are exposed to today. It has an exact parallel with "Passive Smoking" reports and puplications as they too glorify the God of Statistics and fail to prove anything at all at exactly the same spurious or irrelevant relative risk ratios.
Put another way...
If the anti-smoking lobby is right about the passive smoking risk studies then I am definitely 32% less likely to develop Parkinson's disease! Hurray!

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Saturday, July 07, 2007

Hawaii Support


Here is Hawaii news report on the phenomenal pacific support for our Day of Defiance. It's very good reading. Read more...


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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Day of Defiance in Hawaii

From Dave Crowley in Hawaii:

The TV stations here treated us well! One of the stories opened up showing me light up a cigar close up...the big banner "WORLD DEFIANCE DAY ... AMERICANS FOR FREEDOM OF CHOICE" was an awesome site...will send pics...we had about 200 people show up during the event at O'Tooles...no police confrontation...WHICH IS A PRIME EXAMPLE THAT THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS...

Sen. Sam Slom showed up, a big supporter of small business and our cause of freedom of choice...big whip in the minority party...REPUBLICAN OF COURSE...HA!...but i guess the biggest moment of the affair was when my cell phone rang and lo and behold it was NICK HOGAN calling from england, about lam his time...and it was about 2pm our time...the place was packed...so i stopped the entire party and told them our brit brother was on the phone and shall we give him a scream and yell of support...boy, you could hear it for miles i bet..."go brits go" over and over again! He was so overwhelmed with our support from hawaii...as he states "from you mates across the pond"...that was an awesome feeling...to be connected with someone halfway around the world TOGETHER celebrating an act of defiance against an intrusive unfair government entity...

I DO BELIEVE THAT WHAT THIS EVENT DID WAS GIVE ALL OF US ON OUR SIDE OF THE MOVEMENT A SENSE OF UNITY AND SOLIDARITY THAT WE HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED IN SUCH A LEVEL BEFORE...FOR THE FIRST TIME I FELT THAT I WAS PART OF A HUGE MOVEMENT...IT WASN'T JUST US LIL OL FOLKS WAY OUT HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN...NO...THIS TIME IT WAS LIKE WE WERE ALL HOLDING HANDS IN SOLIDARITY ALL THE WAY AROUND THE PLANET!

WHAT THIS EVENT DID ALSO WAS TO SHOW IN A STRIKING MANNER TO OUR GESTAPO OPPOSITION THAT WE ARE NO LONGER, YES NO LONGER, A SCARED STIFF WIMP ASS PUSSY WUSSY THAT CAN BE JUST SHOVED UNDER THE RUG WITHOUT A FIGHT GOING DOWN! THEY ARE NOW LOOKING AT US WITH A DIFFERENT SET OF GLASSES... AND BELIEVE ME THERE WILL BE MANY COMMITTEE MEETINGS ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE THIS WEEK..."OH SHIT...THIS WAS WORLDWIDE...WHAT DO WE DO NOW"?

WELL...WE WILL BE PREPARED FOR WHATEVER THEY COME UP WITH...AND WE NOW HAVE ONE FULL YEAR TO PREPARE FOR WORLD DEFIANCE DAY 2008 WITH MILLIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE PARTICIPATING...THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN, FULL STEAM, WORLDWIDE!!!

We were all a part of history in the making, as every July l will live on for generations to come!

aloha, dave

Received by Blad

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Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Smoking Bans by Prof J Brignell!

Black Sunday!

Today in England we have a smoking ban.

  • Innocent children are being stabbed to death by feral gangs who chase them down the street screaming “Kill! kill!” – but we have a smoking ban.
  • Child gangs fight deadly pre-arranged battles with clubs and chains – but we have a smoking ban
  • Over a quarter of children have taken illegal and dangerous drugs – but we have a smoking ban.
  • Gun crime is rife in our inner cities – but we have a smoking ban.
  • You are far more likely to be mugged or burgled in London than in New York – but we have a smoking ban.
  • People are being killed in their thousands by filthy Government run hospitals – real people with real autopsies, real tissue samples and real grieving families, not imaginary people produced by fake statistics – but we have a smoking ban.
  • The entire population are seized with a new fear, acairasthenephobia , the fear of being taken ill out of hours, which has already resulted in death – but we have a smoking ban.
  • Police in crime and drug infested Scotland spend their time looking out for smoking van drivers – for we have a smoking ban.

An excerpt from a most agreable article on TheNumberwatch Site of the great and good Professor John Brignell. All Hail! Read the whole thing...

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Gordon Brown – One Term Prime Minister

Whether you like it or not, what happened on Sunday 1st July when thousands of smokers the length and breadth of Britain defied the smoking ban was democracy at work.

Indeed, when adults decide how they want to live their lives as opposed to allowing themselves to be dictated to by others is freedom of choice and that is the very essence of democracy. Moreover, although most of us who read and contribute to the sites of pro-choice movements would all have found absurd, even a week ago, the notion that the humble and controversial cigarette would become a symbol of freedom, that is nevertheless what it has now become.

However, we must look forward to a new prime minister – Gordon Brown – and ask ourselves whether or not this man will have a better sense of justice and fair play than the previous incumbent of his office.

As we contemplate life under this overweight man not only must we consider that he is a poor example for healthy living, but also that his most natural inclination when things need to be achieved is to be a bully: an overweight bully with a clunking fist who demands that we all comply in accepting collective responsibility.

Collective responsibility on what terms we may ask ourselves because such concepts are normative and hence largely subjective in their detail.

The answer to this is probably pretty obvious. Brown, the rather boring and ponderous son of the kirk, operating without the people’s mandate, will impose his heavy handed nonconformist ideals upon us in order to create a more moral Britain. He is a joyless bore and his choice of health minister speaks volumes. This is Alan Johnson, a man who erroneously and lazily believes that “all the evidence is in” with regard to the issue of second hand smoke. Johnson is another herbert, another brick in the wall, who has allowed himself to be seduced by the words of corrupt and senior members of the medical establishment who have sold science down river in order to promote a health cause either for fanatical reasons or for pharmaceutical money.

Under Gordon Brown then, we can look forward to the further erosion of democracy as freedom is subjugated in the name of health and population control. This charge neither he nor his coterie of sycophants and career politicians would accept for they are so afflicted by the blindness of their own conceit that they no longer consider it necessary to listen to what the people of Britain have to say, except in the pseudo sense whereby we are consulted and then completely ignored.

However, I have a warning for Gordon Brown. Many people in Britain are waking up and we shall assist this process. A general election will inevitably come and it is my bet that the boring bully boy fist clunker will not be very popular.

Subsequently, I stick my neck out, although I think the odds are greatly in my favour. I therefore place the wager of £100 that Brown will be a one term prime minister. If I loose, and I am confident that I shall not, then I shall pay my £100 to a charity or charities chosen by the members of Freedom to Choose.

Blad Tolstoy

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Monday, July 02, 2007

Day of Defiance at Bolton on 1/7/09

I attended Freedom to Choose’s second Day of Defiance at The Swan pub, Churchgate, Bolton, Lancashire, UK on 1st July 2007 and what a great event it was. Well, I say what a great event it was, but in fact it’s due to continue until 4 am tomorrow morning (July 2nd).

Nick Hogan, the landlord, reported that on the evening and night of 30th June his establishment was almost completely packed with about 700 attending and following on from a briefing provided earlier in the day for other pub landlords and the press.

To-day’s event commenced at about 12 midday and by about 2 pm the Swan was pleasantly filled with a fluctuating crowd of about 300 people from all over the UK. Freedom to Choose members were drawn from Scotland (quite a few) and Wales with one even turning up from Northern Ireland. English locations represented were: Nottingham, Leicester, Cambridge, Peterborough, Bolton and Manchester.

There were also a lot of non Freedom to Choose members too (and of course) and some had come specially from Manchester and other towns and cities surrounding Bolton to attend the event.

There was a superb traditional jazz band which played throughout most of the afternoon and a particularly colourful performance was given by the Accrington Scottish Pipe Band which was most stirring for the soul.

The press appeared to be there in abundance as well although this writer studiously avoided them preferring instead to leave the task of speaking to them to others more gifted in that department. Some of the “defiers” even wore imaginative rigouts with a cowboy flavour which provided excellent material for press photographs. It was good too to hear people on mobile phones telling their friends to “come on over as everyone is smoking”.

Furthermore, on more than one occasion I heard non-smoking attendees stating: “everyone should have freedom to choose”.
Nick Hogan also reported that his phone had been ringing continuously with messages of support coming in from all over the world including our colleagues from Hawaii.

The police were great and did not interfere, as promised, and the afternoon proceeded in an orderly fashion (no loutish behaviour at all and everyone friendly). However, just in case anyone thinks this means the event was dull would be wrong. It was a good old fashioned type pub event and nothing whatsoever similar to the rather crummy soulless atmospheres of pubs and bars which have been polluted by the policies of antismokerism.

With antismokers in mind, the highlight of the afternoon resulted from the actions of three of them who turned up to try and push their message. One particularly bold woman of uncertain age informed Nick Hogan that she had a right to choose too and that his pub was not, by permitting smoking, allowing her, her choice. Nick explained that despite the fact The Swan is called a “public house” it is, nevertheless, still private property in addition to being his home and that he may choose the conditions that prevail there and, moreover, that she was able to choose whether to enter or not. The antismoker started to become enraged and a little aggressive, in fact she reminded me of an irate turkey with a knitting needle stuck in its bottom. Nick’s response was to give her a practical lesson in what it means to have one’s freedom of choice truly taken away. He physically removed her from his premises and told her she was barred!

I haven’t laughed so much for quite some time…

Bladimir Tolstoy.

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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Day of Defiance

Today, the 1st of July 2007, I am no longer permitted to smoke in The Post Office. This is me looking over at The Post Office from my local hostelry on 30th June at about midnight.

Official no-smoking signs adorn many shop fronts and estate agencies windows. This is the law, the businesses will be breaking the law if they do not display these signs.

The prime minister has been on the television and says that it his duty to protect the "British way of life". He was referring to the threat of terrorism. The terror alert status of the country is now at critical. How apt that this should coincide with the end of the world as I new it.

How terrifying that the improvised car bombs of Tiger Tiger and Glasgow airport should drown out coverage of my Day of Defiance on the British media. The news however still manages to cover the smoking ban as its second headline. An illustration of just how important todays date is in the history of social change.

My wife does not know what she will do tomorrow. Her day had usually started with an hour in a local cafe drinking tea and smoking with her friends, preparing her body and mind for the days work. That is what she had chosen to do for years and now she doesn't even know how she will spend her lunchbreak. Catching up with her daughter was her usual habit over a tea and a fag, they had previously met every day at lunch in a local hotel close to work. Instead all that she can come up with is sitting in her car in the council car park where she works. She is resigned to doing this alone and to flouting the council rule that says there is no smoking allowed in cars in the carpark.

I am quite disturbed by this turn of events despite it being foretold for sometime. The only thing I can do is write on my blog. My working day is unaffected as, working in a hospital, I have for some time now been walking to the boundary to have a cigarrette.

Our weekly marital treat of an evening meal out together can no longer happen as before. We could have our meal and leave the table to go outside when we wish to smoke. This does not however seem quite the same.

I'm told that I've been killing people, so I am a terrorist presumably, and no longer part of the British way of life.

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