Libertarian Paternalism

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The Flickering Ash

by Blad Tolstoy

Some of you may have come across ASH's flickr site before, but if not, well here it is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashuk/

One thing that particularly struck me was the meeting of the All-party parliamentary group on Smoking and Health at Palace of Westminster, undertaken in June 2010.

See: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashuk/sets/72157624317284053/

and note well here the heading under the photograph of Martin Dockrell:

"ASH - All-party parliamentary group on Smoking and Health - Palace of Westminster, 06 June 2010"

You know, I thought these all-party parliamentary groups were supposed to be neutral and bound to set aside their personal prejudices in favour of objective analysis.  But ASH seem to have colonised this one in no uncertain terms.  Well, what's new?  Parliamentary democracy is frequently a load of crap.

I am nevertheless struck by the picture of Stephen Williams, New Chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Smoking and Health. Strewth! Hi there chubby chops!

Why do so many of these people look so unfit?  They also swing between extremes.  You will all remember Liam Donaldson's bulimic lifestyle when, in a sweat of guilt he went from this:

to this:

(Yuck!  Still not a pretty sight!)

Now we have Stephen Williams also going the way of all flesh.  Er... So why doesn't he take a leaf from the book of old Skull 'ead, namely Professor john Britton?

Or perhaps Professor Robert West - he''s approaching the "skull 'ead" phenomenon too?

Nope, it doesn't look too good - from one extreme to the other, but maybe you'd prefer an equally unattractive variation, namely, the pockie, nobly skin look aka the Mole 'ead Dockrell touch also shared by Liam D.  See:

These people just don't look healthy - don't you think they'd be better off with a pack of Woodbines?

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Taking The Bull By The Horns

Blad has worked hard on a this useful resource, which is a paper on Charitable Status.  It outlines clearly in very accessible language just what makes up a charity, how they may obtain funding and hints at what might be the best strategy to examine and question their activities.  I commend this work to all proponents of Smokers' Rights.  Despite the apparently dry subject matter, it really does make easy reading and sets the scene for a more effective battle!

Please see:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bxr6qiY8ZfzyZGU3MWE5M2QtYzU3Ni00Y2ViLWJkYjAtMmMwOWM3MGU2NmMx&hl=en

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EU Smoking Habits - Prevalences

The European Commissions Special Eurobarometer Report of May 2010 contains information on smoking prevalences from Oct 2009.  The UK's prevalence was 28% more than two years into the enaction of the smoking ban in The Health Act 2006.

See:

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_332_en.pdf

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Roy Rogers - Norton Buffalo "Down in Mississippi"

A little musical light relief.

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