Having banned fags, Nanny is now intent on banning life's other little pleasures.Don't believe me?
Well, doctors are calling for the nationwide adoption of bylaws banning people from drinking in the streets.
The British Medical Association (BMA) wants to see them used much more widely.
Given the fact that many doctors are prolific boozers, smokers and substance abusers I find their attitude to be somewhat hypocritical.
I would also note that not everyone in the "street" is a drunken bum.
Some, for instance, are pub drinkers merely standing outside the pub.
What about picnics?
Want to bet our "beloved" interfering local councils ban those as well?
I warned you this would happen...thin end of a very large wedge is being inserted (I won't say where).
And then there is the other call from 'doctors' to tax 'fat foods' - like Cheese and milk.
ReplyDeleteCould 'save' 3000 lives apparently. One has to wonder for how long of course ... and whether there is any real evidence to back up the claims.
On the other hand if we ignore health claims I would still support some forms of control over what is allowed on the streets. I happened to be in one of my local cities on Tuesday morning and some of the sights wobbling about the streets were quite offensive. Not so much the sheer size as the volume of unconstrained and uncovered flesh wobbling about in all directions. It really was not warm enough for such unpleasantness to be excusable.
As for the rush of proposed bans - well, we should encourage them in my view. That way we get a mass of proposals that together might open the eyes of 'the public' to what is really going on. The response is likely to be more concerted then compared to the constant drip drip we have had recently.
Grant
Well, they're starting on banning meat, and now they've got a new threat: cow farts cause global warning.
ReplyDeleteThe list goes:
ReplyDelete1st cigs
2nd booze
3rd food
4th sex*
* I think you forgot this one
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,,2123539,00.html
Ah but that's not proposing to ban sex, just procreative sex. So you can only do it recreationally.
ReplyDelete(BTW, you can't honestly foresee the Guardian reporting that gay sex should be banned can you?!)
Hang on a minute.
ReplyDeleteNo booze or cigs and severe restrictions on what is allowed as food (though maybe not the same as the ones proposed in the UK)
This sounds familiar. Is there a religious bent to it?
Lets see, no sex other than procreative version ... hmm, well it's back to front (so to speak) so the principle sounds familiar.
So what next then? Public stonings for smokers and fat people. Public lashings for drinkers and fornicators?
I have a solution for those who seek such advances.
Either they leave the island and head for those countries who more or less fulfil their desires already OR they invite the denizens of those controleed paradises here and tthe rest of us leave. A sort of country swap.
Or is that happening already but nobody told us?
grant,
ReplyDeleteas it seemed to me that the second part of your solution (they invited the denizens here) was
already under way, I followed the second part of your second part (if you see what I mean) and legged it out of the country.
Strangely, I am now very happily living in a Muslim country and am surrounded by equally happy fat, smoking boozers who seem to chat all night about little else but fornication while they munch their super-calorific snacks.
Could it be that they are able to enjoy all this because they have exported all their zealots to the UK?
Incidentally, here in Turkey, nobody is allowed into ANY public building if they are wearing any sort of headcovering; I'd love to hear the screams from the 'liberals' if the British government tried that one.
grumpy,
ReplyDeletethe key to all of this expatriatism, at a personal level, seems to be picking the right place at the right time.
A bit like playing the property market game in the UK until it got silly with prizes for all. (I do wonder when that will come to a crashing end ...)
So where are the maximum future gains to be made.
There are a few things against it on the climate front but Kabul might offer some opportunities as a long shot. Or Zimbabwe, post Mugabe, if the feeling is that the Taleban derived moral influence in Afghanistan might stick around too long.
I suppose for my generation the development time for some of these places to re-form themselves might well be restictive of choice. But at least they have the option to be coming out of oppressive regime scenarios rather than heading into them.
Grant
"Some, for instance, are pub drinkers merely standing outside the pub."
ReplyDeleteSomewhat ironic that having banned smoking in pubs, they're now banning drinking just outside pubs. I wonder if quite so many smokers would have supported the ban if they'd known this would happen...
Why are the BMA calling for drinking to be banned in the streets?? I would understand if it was the police, but why doctors?
"Given the fact that many doctors are prolific boozers, smokers and substance abusers I find their attitude to be somewhat hypocritical."
Is that true, or is it just a common perception?
Grumpy said "Incidentally, here in Turkey, nobody is allowed into ANY public building if they are wearing any sort of headcovering; I'd love to hear the screams from the 'liberals' if the British government tried that one."
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea. Why should people be allowed to obscure their identities simply to uphold a few people's misogynistic interpretation of their religion?