E.U. legalises hypocricy
It is hard to practice what you preach.
For years now the E.U. has been telling us what is good for us.
They told us that carrots had to be straight, and eggs had to be a certain size. Then they started getting bolder, and began messing with our laws.
That’s fair enough. If a country has bad laws and is out of line with the rest of Europe, than it should be asked to change.
Now they are entering into the anti-smoking thing. They want to introduce a continent-wide ban.
So far, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Malta, Belgium and Sweden have signed up. England is about to join the Happy Gang. Even France – that great bastion of smokers – has thrown in the towel.
So the E.U. decided that they should lead the way and introduce a smoking ban in their buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg from the 1st of January. They should set an example. They should show how easy it is. The rest of the E.U. will look to them as a shining beacon of health.
The ban lasted 43 days.
They couldn’t take it. They revolted in their masses.
“It is right for the Plebs and The Great Unwashed, but it is not right for us” they cried.
“It is grand in theory, but we cannot take it” they screamed.
In protest, they all lit up. Even non-smokers were lighting up. Several were reported to have died from asphyxiation, and dozens more non-smokers became addicted for life. The plume of smoke could be seen for miles.
They repealed the ruling. The E.U. buildings are once more a smoker’s haven.
“The rule was not achievable,” a spokeswoman for Hans-Gert Poettering, the parliament’s new president, was quoted as saying.
The rest of us must do as they say, not as they do.
How on earth will employees sue the EU in later years for passive smoking and cancer if people are not allowed to smoke in the office?
In fairness, the average bureaucrat probably has to walk about half a mile to get to the outside; it’s quite a big building. It’s certainly ironic though. Wasn’t there some fuss about a TD lighting up shortly after the ban here, in Leinster house?
Rob – my heart bleeds custard [as my daughter says]. Tough on them if they have to walk half a mile. They are merely experiencing what I [and a good proportion of the public] have had to put up with for the last years. I have no sympathy.
BAN THE SMOKING BAN!!!!!
And yes. I can’t remember who, but one of them was done for lighting up in the bar. Fair play to him.
Flirty – you might have a point there. The law removes the constitutional right for people to sue. That is an infringement of basic human rights.
Wasn’t it John Deasy that lit up in the Dail bar?
Yes. That sounds right.
JOHN DEASY FOR TAOISEACH!!
[or Minister for Health]
I can smoke in my office in Vienna. It is really weird and I still cannot get used to it! There might be a knock on the door and someone will come in the door with a fag sticking out of their gob.
I imagine there would be an uproar in Austria if they tried to implement a ban there. Of course they are relatively new in the EU having only become an official member in 1995 but they are fiercely nationalistic.
People seem to smoke everywhere over there although you would be hard pushed to find a butt on the street.
They said that France would never accept the ban, but it is on its way in [in stages].
I was over there in the summer and it was great. Except that the b*st*rds in Irish Ferries enforced the ban right up until we docked in France.
There’s some validity to the smoking ban, in terms of public health, but it’s the over-the-top stuff like banning people smoking in cars and such, that’s just going one step too far.
As for that whole hypocrisy thing, it reminds me of Animal Farm, when the pigs take over and at the start one of their commandments is “All animals are equal”. By the end of the book it becomes “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.
I always maintained that the ban should have been at the discretion of the pub/office/whatever owner, or that separate facilities should have been made available.
What always irritated me was the “we know what’s good for you” attitude. I know smoking is unhealthy. But criminalising something that has been accepted for generations without any real consultation was, in my opinion a bit high handed.
And I hate hypocracy. It is one thing that really gets me going. You are on the nail with Animal Farm.
I hate Europe!
They’re the most pointless bureaucracy in the world! Now that we’ve milked them for money, in an act of ingratitude, we should leave before they force us to adopt a load of rules dreamt up by Germans and French.
Oh wait, that’s happened already …
Well congratulations. This blog seems to be a place of refuge for drug adicts. And such a refuge may be a good thing, especially if it encourages the adicts to cluster, thereby freeing up the rest of the space for others who are not so afflicted.
One of the reasons I’m in favour of banning drug adicts from smoking in public places is in order to make such places a bit cleaner. But I must admit that the Irish experience of the ban shows an increase in clustered butts: look outside any restaurant or pub and you’ll find that adicts have littered the pavement. Somehow I can’t bring myself to argue that the clustering of butts in such places is a positive contribution in the face of an alternative random distribution of fag ends.
For me, the most interesting comment in the discussion so far is the revelation that in Austria… “People seem to smoke everywhere over there although you would be hard pushed to find a butt on the street…”
What is it about Austrian drug addicts? How come that scoop their butts away? Do they do it on sexy containers? Perhaps some enterprising Austrian has invented and marketed an object fit for taking your half smoked cigarettes away?
More information please.
Until I read this post, I didn’t know that the EU Brussels headquarters is run by drug addicts.
I think it’s as true to say that as to say that the EU proposed straightening our carrots.
I sign off wondering what can be done to improve things, given that the drug in question is so hard to kick.
Drug addicts??
You’d swear they were going aroung mugging people looking for the cash to get their next fix!
‘Dude, I just need a euro for … a hostel, man. I needs somewhere to stay!’
‘You filthy smoker … get away from me!’
‘Not cool, man! I just need some smokes!’
If that guy thinks smokers are drug addicts, then obviously he’s never been down the Liffey Boardwalk. They got shit I’ve never even heard of down there!
I guess it’s OK to post here now. I think the smoking police have left the building. I’m glad to see the EU gub’mint has finally developed a sense of hypocrisy like the US gub’mint. One can not smoke in any federal gub’mint building, anywhere. That is, except in the Capitol building itself and in the legislative offices.
Someone once told me to learn politics and join a party. I wish they had told me to learn parlor tricks and go to a party.
Hey Brian, you better hope you never meet Rob O’Brien.
He’ll try to recruit/brainwash you into joining Fine Gael.
“If that guy thinks smokers are drug addicts, then obviously he’s never been down the Liffey Boardwalk. They got shit I’ve never even heard of down there!”
So that’s where to go? Do they have a website where I can order on line?
Em, yeah. I think http://www.storee-bud.ie is their main supply line.
If not, you can always ring Paul Williams of the Sunday World and ask him. He knows all the top boys: Jonner, Anto, Packy …
Rumour has it that all staff in the E.U. offices get a free supply of cocaine every day. It would explain a lot.
Smokers who can’t see that they are drug adicts are in denial.
Most drug adicts are not muggers.
Most muggers are drug adicts.
How come all the adicts on here have gone quiet? A little logic would ease their guilt.
I think we should be kind to drug adicts, even those who smoke cigarettes and litter the pavement with their butts.
We shouldn’t be prejudiced against people who need re-hab. We might need re-hab one day ourselves.
It’s a pity we had to meet over what I’d call purile repetition of prejudice against the EU. Superficial stories push my buttons.
I’m sorry I’ve been so provocative but I’m adicted to fun.
“How come all the addicts on here have gone quiet?
I was sleeping.
OK, I’m a drug addict by your definition, but I have never held up the Post Office or mugged anyone for the price of a pack of baccy!
Strangely, as a smoker, I hate cigarettes. I hate the smell, and I hate the mess they make – butts and ash all over the place. We pipe smokers create pleasant aromas, and don’t leave any trace behind, apart from the odd dottle which is easily tapped into the nearest litter bin.
As for the E.U., I can take them or leave them. They have done some good things and some bad things. I do have a dislike of unnecessary bureaucracy as it tend to wrap itself in knots and to forget what it’s supposed to be doing in the first place.
What I am shouting about is not smoking or the E.U. I am shouting about hypocrisy. They say one thing, and do another. They tell us to do something, but don’t do it themselves because it is ‘too hard’. They scream about Global Warming and then drive around in their flash [big] cars and fly everywhere.
Incidentally, Omani – do you drink tea or coffee? Yes? GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY ADDICT!!
P.S. I have just written all about my ‘drug addiction’ [How words can damage] which was partly inspired by your comment 😉
Grand dad,
You’d be a very unusual drug addict if you ever
“held up the Post Office or mugged anyone for the price of a pack of baccy!”
Almost all drug addicts are peaceful law-abiding citizens.
Without an admission of addiction, there is no hope for the addict. You have taken the first step in coming out of the closet. And a pipe-smoker to boot! My father was one. But he died before he had time to change.
Thank goodness you dislike “unnecessary bureaucracy”: if you liked it, I’d have worried.
Joking apart, I’d love to hear more about what happened in Brussels over the smoking ban. I bet the inside story would be interesting.
In my culture we don’t drink tea or coffee. We are a watery people, and we wash our filth away, rather than inhaling it.
Ah, now, in my tired state, I finally twig what you meant by reference to your ‘drug addiction’ post. I’m glad some good came by accident. Every time I try to design good, it fails to materialise.
That was a powerful, well-put piece. Well worth saying and further proof that there is something rotten in the heart of the Irish health service.
Take care.