SAnParis

SDA - I am so with you on this...People seem to have the "...can't see the forest for the trees syndrome". It is unfortunate, but until it impacts them directly (Government intervention) & eventually it will. I am sure many will continue to blindly support the elimination of personal rights/choices.

Mucky

PalenqueBob, I don't think binge drinking in the sense you say is anything new, hell I was doing that in the early 70's and others long before that, wow and the 60's I was a little muck then but I have read all about it..I suspect it was equally as bad if not worse.

SD your comment "It seems to me that governments have always -- or frequently -- pushed around minorities." doesn't apply here in the UK its the minorities who win as they claim any resistance is an infringement of their human rights.
Its then the majority that suffer.

Europeanism and Blairism Grrrrrr

Muck

Eric_S

SAnParis, thanks for illuminating us. Now, if you could post anything substantive for a change.

ggreen

I am not convinced that smoking bans really help us non-smokers whatsoever. What about the fact that, as a non-smoker, I used to be able to make a *choice* about entering a smoky bar or not - and now I have to walk through clouds of cigarette smoke at the entrance to every one of these establishments? (Not to mention the increased noise pollution this creates in my quiet residential neighborhood and elsewhere.) Or that all outdoor seating at restaurants and bars have been taken over by smokers as this is the only place they are allowed?