Are you shy? Then you have a mental disorder | Tim Black | spiked

Are you shy? Then you have a mental disorder | Tim Black | spiked:

While it is easy to make fun of the silliness of the psychiatric industry for giving our most banal behaviours a jargonised sheen, there is a serious point here, too. When everyday subjective states, such as shyness or distractedness, are turned into clinical objects, they become ripe for external, clinical intervention. We cease to be capable of overcoming a bout of anxiety, perhaps brought about by job worries; instead we are encouraged to see ourselves as in need of professional, expert help. And any practical problems at the root of, say, ‘depression’ or ‘anxiety’ - like unemployment or marital problems, for instance - are transformed into mental problems in need of psychiatric solutions. 

Brave New World eh?

Sydney council considers total smoking ban

Sydney council considers total smoking ban - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

Sydney's third largest central business district is to consider a blanket ban on smoking within its city limits.

Liverpool City Council will vote on the proposal in November.

Deputy Mayor Ned Mannoun says the law will continue the push to encourage healthy behaviour.

Sad,this just makes me feel sad.
Why not just make it illegal?Seems like it would be much more in accordance with what they really want to do.
(I tend to post in a reactionary manner,not really thinking before I write.I am bad that way and things I say in a questioning manner come across as asking for something worse.That isn't the case.)

ICTSD • WTO Disputes Roundup: Rulings Issued on Spirits, Tobacco

ICTSD • WTO Disputes Roundup: Rulings Issued on Spirits, Tobacco:

“These reasons which the United States has presented as constituting a legitimate objective by themselves, appear to us as relating in one way or another to the costs that might be incurred by the United States were it to ban menthol cigarettes”.

“Indeed, the United States [continues to allow the sale of] menthol cigarettes not because it is not a type of cigarette with a characterizing flavour that appeals to youth, but rather because of the costs that might be incurred as a result of such a ban,” the panel concluded.

If the US stands true to its 2009 Family Smoking Prevention Act, it will have to widen the ban to also include menthol flavoured cigarettes. The ruling could thus turn out to be a welcome argument in favour of the stricter legislation proposed by FDA.

Unreal.
Nothing like the WTO giving the government more reasons to butt into our lives eh?

Brighton hospital boss gives up smoking again

Brighton hospital boss gives up smoking again | Brighton and Hove News:

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “We have attempted to go smoke-free before but it is fair to say it didn’t work and not least because we were inconsistent in applying the policy.

“As a compromise we tried introducing smoking shelters but I think most would agree these have not worked either as our grounds look like an ashtray.

“All or nothing has to be the way forward, so all it is, and this time we mean it.

“This absolutely applies to staff, and to the relatives and visitors of those in our care, under any and all circumstances.

“It also applies, other than in exceptional circumstances, to patients though of course discretion will be needed.”

Sadly I mostly put this story here for the comments.
Some of them are great reading,some are of course the usual anti propaganda.

Smoking snuffed by county NewsSun.com

Smoking snuffed by county NewsSun.com

Commissioners Don Elwell and Jack Richie made it clear that they would not approve the policy as it stood, Elwell going to individual rights and Richie supporting individual rights and questioning enforcement.

"For me, this issue touches on individual rights," Elwell said. "We are legislating morality, if you will. We are looking at saying something is bad for you, and you can't take care of yourself, so we will do that for you.

"We are telling people that they are not able to take care of themselves, so we will do it for them.

"I know that one of the arguments is that smoking cuts into productivity. Now employees are going to walk outside past the area that is currently designated for smoking, walk another 50 yards past the area we could have designated for smoking, get into their car, but since they cannot even smoke there they will drive across the road to smoke. And that is going to help productivity how?" Elwell asked.

I love common sense.
Sad how I see so little of it these days.

Be happy, no butts, Bhutan's smokers told

AFP: Be happy, no butts, Bhutan's smokers told:

But sending small-time users to jail, particularly those in apparent ignorance of the law, has caused an outcry and proved a test for Bhutan's fledgling democracy.

"We don't question the good intention. Tobacco kills people, but smoking has been there for centuries. Overnight people cannot stop," says 39-year-old Tashi Gyeltshen, who has spearheaded protests on Facebook.

"Everyone agrees that the prison term is a mistake," he told AFP.

Parliamentary opposition leader Tshering Tobgay has also been a vociferous critic.

Faced with hostile media coverage and public dissent -- unheard of in Bhutan during the days of absolute monarchy which came to an end in 2008 -- new guidelines have been brought in recommending fines for small-time users.

Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley admitted to AFP in an interview that the law imposed "excessive punishment" on those caught in possession of small quantities of tobacco and this would be reviewed later this year.

I am still sort of suspicious about this.
Maybe I'm just jaded but from the way this article is written I have my doubts on there being any sort of real amendment on the whole issue.
But than again if this story is accurate then this democracy has done some real trampling of people's personal freedoms.
This just depresses me.

Tobacco ban tramples on student rights | University Star

Tobacco ban tramples on student rights | University Star:

The blatant violation of civil liberties is not the only issue with this ban. Texas carbon dioxide emissions are the highest in the nation, said Professor Decker, and if the true motive for this policy is to improve the health of the university community, there are bigger fish to fry than an individual smoking a cigarette. This ban represents the desires of university officials, not the students, even with the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Too many of us are unwilling to get our feet wet for fear of a backlash, but until we stand together, this pattern of control will not end with tobacco. This ban is unacceptable and impractical. Smokers will continue to use tobacco on campus. To those standing in the way of my civil liberties, catch me if you can, but don’t bat an eye when I scream and kick for the rights of my fellow tobacco users. 

Well written.
Makes me proud to see that somewhere there are people who think that society doesn't need to be divided up into smoker/non-smoker to have an arrangement that works for everyone.
Bravo.....