Sunday 8 February 2015

"Walking Smoking"

It's all kicking off in Korea.
The Korean government is in the midst of revising a policy to ban “walking smoking,” or smoking on sidewalks across Seoul. The reasoning is that secondhand smoking is encountered most frequently on the streets, and many citizens have complained about walking behind smokers and inhaling the fumes of the cigarettes. 
Yes, that's right. On sidewalks. Next to streets. In an incredibly busy capital city. With cars. And buses. And lorries.

Sometimes the superlative absurdity of anti-smokers surprises even me.
In response to smoker’s opposition, Congressman Nam said, “I think it’s obvious they will object.” “We need a law to guarantee their smoking rights too.”
Now there's a thought. But I don't reckon Kim Jong Un will go for that. What's that? The wrong Korea, you say?

Well you live and learn, eh?


21 comments:

HKW said...

The same rule applies in Tokyo where I live, it's not as stupid as you suppose. Broadly speaking there is no smoking in public places but in private places such as cafes, bars, restaurants etc the owners are free to set their own rules. In my opinion the balance is about right.

Dick_Puddlecote said...

Thanks, that's very interesting.


It seems similar to the debate about drink driving limits. In much of the EU the level is lower but the punishments are graded, whereas in the UK the limit is higher but results in zero tolerance. Scotland has just adopted the lower limit but not copied the rest of Europe in watering down the punishments at the lower threshold.


Of course, in the UK there is now not any option for private businesses to allow smoking, so if we ever copy this kind of thing, we will again have the suffer from the worst of both worlds.

Tom said...

Private bars and restaurants cannot permit smoking outdoors, even in their own areas, in San Francisco, California, USA, by law. Smoking on the sidewalk is also banned and the only place remaining to legally smoke while outdoors is along the curb next to traffic, unless the parking spaces have been fenced off and redeveloped into a city owned "parklette" - in which case then the citywide ban on outdoor smoking in parks, squares and plazas applies - which is a $500 fine for punishment. The sidewalk smoking ban also carries a fine as penalty but I do not know how high that one goes. It has been this way in progressive, liberal San Francisco for several years now.

Vinny Gracchus said...

The"walking ban" is a variation of the patio, park, beach, and public square ban. All of these variations need to be resisted. Korea is also in the midst of prohibiting smoking in bars and restaurants so this is part of a comprehensive ban scenario,

This is not a grassroots response to individuals irritated by smoke--although that's how the Antismokers want it to appear. It is part of the global, synchronized tobacco prohibition led by the FCTC through WHO and the World Bank. The goal is total prohibition. Active resistance is the only way to stem the tide.

JLTrader said...

So let's ban everything that annoys us, even if it's for 3 seconds. What's the world coming to ?

nisakiman said...

Yes, I think you're right about the FCTC influence. It seems to be particularly strong in Asia, for some reason. Perhaps because the Asian countries are more dependent on keeping in the good books with the IMF, or World Bank, as I believe it's called now. They certainly seem to kowtow to the WHO with alacrity where the FCTC is concerned.

Daniel Hammond said...

A few Nazis in Tokyo got Mcdonalds to ban smoking something about olympics comming up they wanted...........

I posted on the English Tokyo paper when they an that story about 8-9months ago then it sorta just died out...........

They stated in the Tokyo story that Mcd's serves

Mcdonalds Serves up 75 hamburgers a second worldwide that's the same as serving up 18,750 cigarettes a second worldwide smoke and chemicals released indoors and out,yet they ban a few smokers from smoking inside when a lousy hamburger creates as much as 250 cigarettes worth of equivalent smoke and chemicals..................ROFLMAO!

Of you Tokyo Councilmen who go to cookouts you survived 10s of Millions of cigarettes in comparable smoke and chemicals yet you now want to ban smokers from the parks and other outdoor spaces! Then by the same context you must also ban RESTARAUNTS,MOMS HOME COOKING,YOUR OWN EXHALED HUMAN BREATH!

Daniel Hammond said...

Tom I read somewhere no fine has ever been levied for those infractions. Could be wrong But I did read it in the san fracisco paper sometime ago.

Daniel Hammond said...

Remember Greece wouldn't get any IMF or worldbank loans if they didn't pass another ban and enforce it. So the WHO sent the Bostone school of public health to Athens to ensure the government complied and no money was turned over until they got the all clear from Harvard............They did the same thing to a dozen other countries like Lebanon. But then those loans were used as blackmale to get all the countries to sign the FCTC to start with.............

Daniel Hammond said...

Tobacco Industry attempts to counter the World Bank Report ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
Similar
National Center for Biotechnology Information
Loading...
by S Glantz - ‎2008 - ‎Cited by 39 - ‎Related articlesOct 22, 2008 - In 1999 the World Bank published a landmark study on the economics .... The FCTC negotiation rules made states the only formal participants, with .... a World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) lobbying program with the ...

Daniel Hammond said...

Tobacco: Science, Policy and Public Health
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0199566658
Peter Boyle - 2010 - ‎MedicalThe FCTC specifically highlights the importance of women and tobacco. ... such as UNICEF, IMF, World Bank, and others to form partnerships to reduce the ...
Globalization and Health - Page 57 - Google Books Result
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0199748144
Ichiro Kawachi Professor of Health and Social Behavior Harvard School of Public Health, ‎Stockholm Sarah Wamala Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences Swedish National Institute of Public Health - 2006 - ‎MedicalAlthough the World Health assembly endorsed the idea of the FCTC in 1996, ... organizations as well as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and ...

Daniel Hammond said...

BLACKMALE aint it sweet!

Daniel Hammond said...

FCTC GAG ORDERS TO KEEP THE PEOPLE QUIET and have no debate the same as banning commenters............

fctc gag order guidelines

11. The broad array of strategies and tactics used
by the tobacco industry to interfere with
the setting and implementing of tobacco control mea
sures, such as those that Parties to the
Convention are required to implement, is documented
by a vast body of evidence. The
measures recommended in these guidelines aim at pro
tecting against interference not only by
the tobacco industry but also, as appropriate, by o
rganizations and individuals that work to
further the interests of the tobacco industry.
12. While the measures recommended in these guideli
nes should be applied by Parties as
broadly as necessary, in order best to achieve the
objectives of Article 5.3 of the Convention,
Parties are strongly urged to implement measures be
yond those recommended in these
guidelines when adapting them to their specific cir
cumstances.

nisakiman said...

Or to summarise, Article 5.3 means that no dissenting voices or facts from any source whatsoever can be admitted to any discussion on Tobacco Control, regardless of how factually correct they may be.

Sewn up as tight as a duck's arse.

It's no wonder their arrogance knows no bounds.

Daniel Hammond said...

Edward Bernays’ “Propaganda” Theory Has Been Perfected
.

Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

When six mega-corporations who depend upon other mega-corporations, Wall Street banks and political parties for their revenue, control all of the news and information flowing to the masses, you have all the ingredients needed to control, influence and mold the opinions, tastes and ideas of the people. We are being manipulated by men who constitute the real government, hiding in the shadows and pulling the strings. Nothing reported by these six mega-corporation media mouthpieces for the oligarchs can be trusted. Their job is to coverup, subvert, and obscure the truth. And best of all, they have succeeded in convincing the people we are free and informed. Edward Bernays would be so proud.

h/t flash

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

Edward Bernays – Propaganda – 1928

truckerlyn said...

Absolutely! I hate the smell of Tea, Beer and Aniseed (such as in Pernod)! Why should I have to put up with that? I also hate the smell of BO! I also hate the smell of the muck/manure that farmers spread on their fields and that fill the car for a while!


I could go on, but will resist. There are things that everyone dislikes, but the role of a tolerant society is that we put up with it or avoid the places where it is most likely to occur, if we can, which is our own choice!


We are forever being told we must be tolerant of the overbearing number of immigrants coming here, so why shouldn't we ALL be tolerant of everyday smells?

Lisabelle said...

I think so.

lordsid said...

North Korea announced that they had a cure for cancer decade or so ago.(some herb that only grew there) "Obviously" they are world leaders in health care as they have "cured" TB & heart disease as well! One should assume that most deaths there are caused by starvation then.


South Korea has cancer treating nanobots & has found that magnets cure cancer! (no need for the nanobots then-besides they could pose a heath risk if they had a break down or accident-especially in a major artery)


In either case,there is even less reason (if that's possible) to fear secondhand smoke that everyone has a great deal of difficulty even showing exposure to.

Tom said...

Fines have been levied. It shows up every so often on local news broadcasts, they call it "crackdowns" and they send out the police in force, after someone complains about seeing or smelling too much smoke in any one particular locale. Chinatown has been hit a few times, Portsmouth Square, lots of 80 and 90 y/o Chinese smokers, which one of the local Asian newspapers there once put for an editorial article, calling them "filthy smokers" and denigrating them for their habit. Fines are levied. It's been on the local news there many a time, every so often, just to keep people aware and in line. The SF Chronicle is no smoking outside of its building, has bronze plaques on the walls announcing it. They're not going to want to alarm anyone outside of SF to just how draconian they've become and yes, they are enforced, maybe not at all times, people can sneak and get away with it, but you never know what citizen-comrade-informant might take a photo and then contact police, raising complaints, after which a "crackdown" is announced. I've seen local news, with my own two eyes, so yes, it has been announced, it not just a joke - and I've watched citizen-comrades threaten violence upon smokers who were too close them on the sidewalks, also with my own two eyes, what the anti-smoking environment is that's been whipped up into a fury at this point and "normalized".

Edward Treen said...

Why not?
Banning things annoys me, so here goes:-
Prohibiting prohibited!
Verboten verboten!
Défense à défendre!
...and so on.

nisakiman said...

...lots of 80 and 90 y/o Chinese smokers...

They obviously didn't read the reports warning them that smoking kills. Maybe someone should tell them so that they can worry themselves into an early grave.