I just have to draw your attention to this most magnificent piece of writing that The International Smokers Rights Newsletter has drawn to my attention. It is written by John Brignell of the Numberwatch website. I will complete some links tomorrow in this post. But for now I implore you to visit the article using the link below. It is in my opinion, seminal, and will take some time for us all to fully digest. He even covers the fuss over plastic bags. To tempt you, here is the introduction:
Here is the link: READ THIS!"Every age has its dominant caste. This is the age of the zealot. Twenty years ago they were dismissed as cranks and fanatics, but now they are licensed to interfere in the every day lives of ordinary people to an unprecedented degree. When Bernard Levin first identified the new phenomenon of the SIFs (Single Issue Fanatics) many of us thought it was a bit of a joke or at most an annoyance. Now the joke is on us. In that short time they have progressed from being an ignorable nuisance to what is effectively a branch of government. They initiate legislation and prescribe taxation. They form a large and amorphous collection of groups of overlapping membership, united and defined by the objects of their hatred (industry, tobacco, alcohol, adiposity, carbon, meat, salt, chemicals in general, radio waves, field sports etc.) Their success in such a short time has been one of the most remarkable phenomena in the whole of human history."
