I read the news today oh boy! Page 1,566

Quote: roscoff @ 13th May 2014, 8:52 PM BST

Lets not. In Room 101 are people who think the UK begins and ends in it's capital. Plus do you have stats for that? No obviously. Believe it or not there are bar staff and pubs and bars outside our fine capital who have both foreign and non-foreign workers. Just in case you were wondering.

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I wasn't wondering and I don't care. I live in London, a massively cosmopolitan city of 8.3 million people. A place where there is so much cocaine use, that it's infected our water supply. Where you can get any vice you want 24 hours a day - but you can't smoke in a single pub.

What's worse is that unlike the bucolic bumpkins with their acres of green belt land, finding a pub with a decent and heated beer garden that isn't any bigger than a postage stamp and chocked to capacity is impossible.

Again, all I ask for is a choice, it doesn't even have to be a big choice or the majority choice, say 1 in 5 pubs that allow smoking. That's it, doesn't sound too outrageous does it? Unless you're a mad ideological zealot that hates freedom or seeing people enjoy themselves.

I'll go one better, how about if they only allow smoking for six months of the year, October to March, that would be okay wouldn't it? Or do you have a desire to see people suffer, that they must be somehow punished for enjoying a legal activity, like drinking? And that is why I hate British people.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 8:43 PM BST

But if you want to have a little fun and want to know whether you are indeed liberal or not, go to a pro-public breast feeding website and replace the words 'breast feeding' with the words 'cigarette smoking' and you'll soon discover if you're open minded or a disgusting prejudicial hypocritical bigot.

It's amazing what people find socially acceptable.

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Yes, because they are totally the same thing.

One is a necessary act to feed a child that has no impact on the wellbeing of any other individual.

The other is a recreational activity that interferes with the smell and taste of other people. It also causes eyes to water, coughs to develop and your hair to stink for days afterwards.

In my bar job, I had to wash my hair every single evening after work. I would get back at 1am and immediately have to get in the shower. It takes an hour to wash and dry my hair. So I was up until the small hours - all because of the rights of someone else.

Quote: Jennie @ 13th May 2014, 9:02 PM BST

Yes, because they are totally the same thing.

In my bar job, I had to wash my hair every single evening after work. I would get back at 1am and immediately have to get in the shower. It takes an hour to wash and dry my hair. So I was up until the small hours - all because of the rights of someone else.

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They are totally the same thing in terms of idiots overreacting, expressing prejudice and attempting to limit their freedoms.

Your hair washing story applies to anyone who works in the fast food industry or any other job where there are pungent fumes. I'm sure sewer workers wash their hair every night.

(I wash my hair everyday, what's the big deal? Chicks 'ey?)

As mentioned earlier, isn't smoking also banned in enclosed places in loads of American states? I suppose I could Google that, but I'm lazy.

As for drinking alcohol on the tube, don't a lot of states, perhaps even all, say it's illegal to even drink, for example, in the street? Or in public generally? American movies wouldn't lie to me. You could point at those and say the same things that you have been about the UK.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 9:05 PM BST

They are totally the same thing in terms of idiots overreacting, expressing prejudice and attempting to limit their freedoms.

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Not really. Arguments can be nuanced. We can't permit everything or ban everything.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 9:05 PM BST

(I wash my hair everyday, what's the big deal? Chicks 'ey?)

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Such vanity, RC

You clearly lack Greek-Cypriot heritage. As a teenager in the cinema I was asked if I could "move my hair out of the way as it is blocking the screen".

Then on the seventh day God invented industrial strength GHDs.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ 13th May 2014, 9:09 PM BST

As mentioned earlier, isn't smoking also banned in enclosed places in loads of American states? I suppose I could Google that, but I'm lazy.

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Yes, but not all and that is the point, there is a choice.

And yes, there is a ban on drinking in public in the US. It's not a popular law and was invented to crack down on homeless alkies. However, loads of Americans flout that law, especially when they have picnics and tailgate parties.

To rephrase an old version . .

'The result of your smoking makes my hair stink, my clothes stink, my eyes sting and can affect my breathing.

My drinking does none of this to you but the residue is urine.

I take it therefore that you would have no objection to me standing on the bar and pissing on you?'

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 9:16 PM BST

Yes, but not all and that is the point, there is a choice.

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Well, not in those states there isn't. What about all the poor smoking buggers trapped in the non-smoking states? I suppose you just think they should uproot their lives and move to another state? What about their jobs? their friends and family? Monster.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ 13th May 2014, 9:09 PM BST

As mentioned earlier, isn't smoking also banned in enclosed places in loads of American states? I suppose I could Google that, but I'm lazy.

As for drinking alcohol on the tube, don't a lot of states, perhaps even all, say it's illegal to even drink, for example, in the street? Or in public generally? American movies wouldn't lie to me. You could point at those and say the same things that you have been about the UK.

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Yeah, Americans (actually, most foreigners) are pretty amazed that it's legal to drink on public transport in the UK (outside of London).

And yes the US is slowly moving towards banning smoking in enclosed public places. Besides the dangers of second hand smoking some people are allergic to cigarette smoke and can't be in a room with it. An indoor public place smoking ban allows those people to be able to go to restaurants, pubs, etc and the smokers still get to smoke before and after going to the same places (and can nip outside if they can't go more than a few hours). Clearly the work of a malevolent tyrannical dictatorship.

Quote: Jennie @ 13th May 2014, 9:13 PM BST

Not really. Arguments can be nuanced. We can't permit everything or ban everything.

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Know your rights. You shouldn't ever be made to feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public. In fact, the Equality Act 2010 has made it illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to leave a public place such as a cafe, shop or public transport.

Chicks squirting boob juice every where with their tits out have more rights than I do. I just want to smoke in a particular pub between March - October.

Not true - you have every right to breastfeed if you so wish.

I am less militant about breastfeeding than others. I don't believe you should have to go to the loo to do it or anything, but there are ways of keeping it discreet.

Flopping out a boob just to make a point is a little crass in my eyes.

Quote: Raymond Terrific @ 13th May 2014, 9:20 PM BST

Clearly the work of a malevolent tyrannical dictatorship.

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Yes, it is. Bizarrely, the countries that are considered to be tyrannical dictatorships have more relaxed smoking laws.

The fact that there is no compromise, no choice and that these governments are allowed to discriminate negatively towards 20% of their populations with arbitrary and unfair laws is a tyrannical dictatorship.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 9:23 PM BST

Yes, it is. Bizarrely, the countries that are considered to be tyrannical dictatorships have more relaxed smoking laws.

The fact that there is no compromise, no choice and that these governments are allowed to discriminate negatively towards 20% of their populations with arbitrary and unfair laws is a tyrannical dictatorship.

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Except it isn't arbitary or unfair. It *would* be unfair to everyone else not to have those laws protecting them.

Laws protecting everyone else from the behaviour of a group of people is not a tyrannical dictatorship.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ 13th May 2014, 8:59 PM BST

. A place where there is so much cocaine use, that it's infected our water supply. Where you can get any vice you want 24 hours a day - but you can't smoke in a single pub.

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This makes no sense. Just reverse the argument. If you couldn't get any vice you liked 24/7 then you can smoke in any pub. Illogical Jim.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ 13th May 2014, 9:19 PM BST

Well, not in those states there isn't. What about all the poor smoking buggers trapped in the non-smoking states?

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If the state in question enjoys warm weather and sunshine for most of the year and has plenty of outdoor bars, than it mitigates the suffering somewhat.

When you live in a country with weather that is mostly freezing drizzle, forcing an old man to leave a warm pub so he can enjoy his Woodbine is beyond cruel. You monster!