Smoking segregation?: Yerevan enforces tobacco control norms at public catering facilities

Smoking segregation?: Yerevan enforces tobacco control norms at public catering facilities - Health | ArmeniaNow.com:

(As in the case with other legal provisions, smoking-related norms have been only laxly enforced or not enforced at all in Armenia. The latest rigor reflects the attitude of Yerevan’s new administration formed after Karen Karapetyan was elected mayor last December).

The 2004 legislation on the sale, consumption and use of tobacco suggests that facilities like restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, and others designate some of their premises for smoking customers, while the rest should remain smoke-free. 

Wow,just wow.
I can honestly say I have never read an article quite like this before.
I do think this is pretty much all many smokers in The U.K.,USA and many other countries are asking for.Not to be thrown out entirely into the cold.
(Yes I know the news isn't entirely good because once you give them an inch they take a mile,but this wasn't the worst anti-smoking piece I have ever read.)

$500 for tobacco in prison - National - NZ

$500 for tobacco in prison - National - NZ Herald News:

 Corrections spent nearly $236,000 on staff training, books and smoke-free signage, documents released under the Official Information Act show. Nearly $5000 was spent on quit smoking books.

 The amount spent annually on nicotine replacement therapy for prisoners increased from $100,000 to nearly $1 million in the year leading up to the ban.

If you ever wanted to know what not to do with a legal substance this is like the blueprint for it. The pharma companies seem to be the only ones doing well under this scheme.The end figures for NRT's seem like they took an amazing leap in a single year's time.

Gallagher wants to 'light up' in public

Gallagher wants to 'light up' in public - NewsChannel 9 WSYR:

Rocker Noel Gallagher has called on British authorities to axe the country's ban on smoking in public places.
Politicians in the former Oasis star's native England outlawed smoking in public places in 2007, and bars and gig venues now have outdoor zones where customers can puff cigarettes.
But Gallagher is urging the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to overturn the ban.

Nice,at least the man is famous.
Famous people's words usually carry at least some weight,
Too bad no one has been paying attention to other similar efforts.

FDA says judge shouldn't stop cigarette warnings

The Associated Press: FDA says judge shouldn't stop cigarette warnings:

In response, the FDA said Friday that the public interest in conveying the dangers of smoking outweighs the companies' free speech rights. And it said the financial costs to the companies of switching to incorporate the new graphics equals about one-tenth of their annual net sales, which the FDA said is not sufficient to justify the injunction.

Well if it's about health then it's o.k. to expose people to some of the most disgusting warning labels ever.
Can't wait to see pictures of clogged arteries on stuff I buy at the grocery store next.

Supplements: A battle over regulating vitamins and energy drinks

Supplements: A battle over regulating vitamins and energy drinks - chicagotribune.com:

"People want to have some modicum of autonomy when it comes to the question of what they can put into their body and what they can do for their own health," said attorney Marc Ullman, chairman of the legal advisory council for the Natural Products Foundation. "They really resent intervention by the nanny state and want to be allowed to make judgments for themselves."

I knew this was coming too.
Oh it's not all done yet,but I never assume the best anymore.Life has taught me better than that.
I wonder why this always seems to happen when we have so many liberal's in positions of political power.
When you go from one form of government to another do you suddenly lose the ability to think and decide for yourself?
Right now I'm only talking about America,but this issue is much,much bigger than  that.

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.)