Category Archives: English

In this category you will find contributions in English.++++ In dieser Kategorie finden sie Beiträge in englischer Sprache.++++Dans cette catégorie, vous trouverez des contributions en anglais.++++

Villains and cigars

smokingbandits Posted on by

Among the indispensable attributes in caricatures of the ruthless capitalist was – next to top hat and pinstripe suit – always a cigar. Although the greedy bloodsuckers and their political accomplices in reality no longer resemble this, you can still find this type in current cartoons, for example, here and here. A fact that is conveniently brushed under the table is that even inconsiderate communists relished the cigar. Who does not immediately think of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara? Even their forefather Karl Marx was known to be smoking like a chimney, indeed, so many cigars, that he, by his … Continue reading →

Just talking is not enough anymore

smokingbandits Posted on by

Very few people have heard of an international smoker’s conference in Moscow way back in autumn of 2014. Maybe it’s because its results were weak, even though representation was strong. Represented were 21 international organizations, defending smoker’s rights, mostly from Europe. Absent were the Brits (they could not get their visas in time) and Americans. Present were several South Americans and one very vocal Indonesian. The Russian Movement for Smoker’s Rights was the host; the hotel was Kempinski, the ambiance perfect. There has never been such an event before [there were TICAP conferences in 2009 and 2010, though; ed.], and … Continue reading →

Tribes, Smoking and the Enlightenment

smokingbandits Posted on by

Thank you for welcoming me to this august group of free-thinkers. The ideas propounded in this blog are important far beyond the specific issue of tobacco use. They address the broader issue of personal sovereignty, of the right of individuals to choose their own thoughts and actions, their own means of personal enjoyment, free from the censure of self-appointed philosopher-kings. I will expand on this line of thinking in subsequent posts, as it relates to the metastasizing influence of cultural Marxism, post-modernism, and political correctness. So then, please allow me to introduce myself. I’m a man of wealth and taste.  … Continue reading →

Kingdom Environmental Services – Another Attack on Smokers?

smokingbandits Posted on by

In October last year, Blackburn and Darwen council announced they were hiring a private company, Kingdom Environmental Services, to ‘target litter louts and dog fouling’ with £75 fines for offenders. I’ll reserve judgement on such penalties being proportionate to the crime, but Darwen, lovely little town that it is, does have a serious problem with litter. Just down the road in Blackburn, some areas look like a regular rubbish dump. So the idea of someone finally doing something about this, was largely welcomed. It was deemed a serious problem and bringing Kingdom on board a good response. (My emphasis throughout) … Continue reading →

Privacy in the home legal fund

smokingbandits Posted on by

Privacy in the home against intrusive government is entitled to an unparalleled level of protection. ” ‘Big Brother’ cannot, in the name of Public health, dictate to anyone what he can eat or drink or smoke in the privacy of his own home.” [emphasis theirs] — People v. Sinclair, 387 Mich. 91 (1972)24 The U.S. Supreme Court essentially echoed that when it wrote: “The Constitution extends special safeguards to the privacy of the home… It is hardly necessary to catalog the myriad activities that may be lawfully conducted within the privacy and confines of the home, but may be prohibited in public.” — United … Continue reading →

HS patients of all countries, unite!

smokingbandits Posted on by

German communist philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) would have turned 200 earlier this month. More than a decade ago, Marx was posthumously ‘diagnosed’ with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a skin disease consisting of “’furuncles, boils and carbuncles’”. Historical research by British dermatologist Sam Shuster revealed that Marx complained about them developing on his “posterior and near the penis”. Well, let’s not dig too deep into the hypothesis that this illness may have influenced Marx’s scholarly works and political thinking. Like it or not, Marx continues to be an inspiration for economists, sociologists, philosophers, political scientists and historians. Nowadays, with junk science being … Continue reading →

Ten Years Smoking Ban in Bavaria

smokingbandits Posted on by

A good ten years have passed since smoking bans were introduced in Germany. Using the example of Bavaria, I would like to review these ten years. On January 1st 2008, smoking bans should have been come into force in Bavaria, a Bundesland (state) in the South of Germany. In a quiet backroom politicians and the DEHOGA Bayern, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, decided on a legislative proposal.  One has to know that the DEHOGA’s member base consists largely of major  hotels and restaurants and that the DEHOGA saw in smoking bans an opportunity to significantly reduce cleaning expenditures of … Continue reading →

Brazil and the lost tolerance

smokingbandits Posted on by

This text is written in the House Stile, with some pinches of RITE (Redusing Iregularitys in Tradicional English) and Axentus, a system that uses diacritics for english. After more than a decade outside my country, Brazil, i decided to visit it with my partner in the 90s. I told her how brazilians are tolerant – this word has become a loanword for europeans. In Brazil smokers dont have problems, the guest is the king, and if he’s a smoker, he should be allowed to smoke in his house. But i realized that the country had changed when we took a … Continue reading →

Will They Ban Smoking In The Smoky Drinky Bar?

smokingbandits Posted on by

Smoking bans have driven smokers to the margins of society. And as smoking bans extend to more and more places (e.g. parks, beaches), many smokers are increasingly confined to their own homes (where increasingly they are also being banned from smoking). But thanks to the internet, confinement to one’s own home may be opening up some rather astonishing new social opportunities. Internet social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have already created new kinds of online communities. Facebook and Twitter are essentially text-based social media. But with the rapidly increasing use of fast broadband internet connections, another form of social … Continue reading →

Smoking outside hospitals

smokingbandits Posted on by

For quite a few years I have been a subscriber to Google Alert for the Dutch word for “smoking ban”.  In recent years there was an average of five reports per month. Lately, these reports increased to more than two per day. The anti-smoking hounding is in full swing again: In medical circles those who hold themselves in high esteem, be it individuals or organizations, apparently are only considered part of it if loudly protesting against the tobacco industry. Organizations are now pressing for the prosecution of the tobacco industry, and hospitals can hardly wait to announce that they are … Continue reading →