Image from here
One would think that the historical Welsh fight against oppression would still be raw enough in the Walian mindset to avoid them sleepwalking into becoming slaves once again to English directives. Sadly, however, it would seem that the modern masters of the Principality have forgotten their proud roots and are hurtling towards the oppression of a significant minority of people in their country and setting out on the road to kill off their tourist industry.
Yes, the Welsh are stupidly gearing up towards being the first to cement the denormaliation, dehumanisation, and stigmatisation of people they clearly dislike in their own country and the rest of the world by working out how quickly they can ban smoking in cars and therefore smokers from Wales
One by one the bought and paid for junk scientists and self interest academics are crawling out of the woodwork to fire off separate but orchestrated press releases declaring smokers to be such child abusers that Govt needs to step in and stop them from doing what they often don't do in front of their kids in cars - smoking.
Yet they never produce this so called "research" and think that Govts should just listen to what they say without needing to see the proof of their bigoted lies which have simply one ideological aim - a smoke free world at any price because that is what they are being paid to achieve.
Of course if it could be demonstrably proved that smoking with the window open in a car will kill a child stone dead within a week, then Wales and the rest of the world would ban it now while making tobacco illegal, and not in three years time when they have had the chance to run their hate campaign against smokers to get the general public onside in further securing their marginalisation and criminalisation.
It's why it's against the law to stick a child in a car with the exhaust pipe running into it from a hose because that child will die within five minutes and that has been demonstrably proved without any doubts or need to wait. I know this is true because of sitting through one tragic court case of a "if I can't have them no will will" estranged father who meant to kill himself as well as his kids after splitting with his wife but he was found too early to finish the job.
He survived - just - they died and he was prosecuted for murder. Never have I seen anyone prosecuted for killing a child because of smoking a cigarette in their presence. Despite the made up figures, manipulated studies, probably carried out on the back of a health food packet, and science by maths instead of biology, generation after generation after generation after generation of children have survived the experience of smoking parents even in those days when almost everyone smoked.
What I find so offensive about this proposal is along the same lines that I found the Stony Stratford idea to ban smoking outside. It takes what is a minor problem and instead of working with smokers to allay the fears of smokerphobics, it jumps straight to legislation to further marginalise the smoker to put a smile on the faces of those who despise us.
It would seem that our protest in SS has had some effect as bigoted Bartlett has withdrawn his proposal for now. My guess is that he is to take instruction from the fraudulent and corrupt Pharma front group ASH before coming back with a stronger argument. They will probably buy off yet more junk scientists to make up some study to "prove" that walking past a smoker smoking or not is like being exposed to a nuclear fall out and then it will be all systems go. I am, however, encouraged by Gawain Towler's assessment of why Bartlett backed off.
We collection of individuals and groups that value liberty above prejudicial and unfounded fears of smokers have moved from being blog and keyboard warriors to real life activists. First there was my own humble small protest in Lincoln to highlight the issue of smokerphobia and why this issue is no longer about health but hate and then there was the great showing in our victorious stance in Stony.
We all agree that the line in the sand has been drawn and the car ban proposal for Wales described as the "next logical step" in the ideological war to eradicate tobacco and criminalise its consumers, is yet another step too far. We must make another stand.
The Fuel Injected Moose raised the idea of hiring a mini-bus for future peaceful demonstrations and it seemed a great idea to get us all over to Wales. Individually, many of us are too skint to travel around the UK for these things but perhaps as a collection of people in one unit we can chip in, get organised, and get over to the Welsh Assembly to deliver to its leaders the truth as researched in books like Velvet Glove, Iron Fist and Smokescreens. We can also make sure they hear our messages : Enough is Enough! and It's Not About Health! and We Deserve to Be Heard!
Perhaps we can remind this inward looking bunch, who think they are doing something great but are sleepwalking into fascist ideology, of the historical Welsh fight against oppression and remove the wool pulled over their eyes by the anti-smoker industry that relies on smoker persecution for its vastly wealthy living.
Let's not forget that the man who invented Smokerphobia Stanton Glanz has bragged continuously of how we smokers have paid for his big house, big car, and personalised number plate that reads along the lines of "Sue The Bastards".
Anyone who is serious about this fight must come along to Wales Next even though I accept that with our limited budgets, job commitments, and logistical difficulties, it's probably too soon to go along yet but we can get organised, we can pull something similar off from both the demos at Lincoln and Stony and we must make ourselves heard.
If this ban goes ahead in Wales it will come to the rest of the UK immediately afterwards and then it will come to our homes. Govts have no business telling anyone what to do with their own property or their own children and false concern for children's health is misplaced when it comes to the smoking issue. These resources should be used for very real issues that put children in danger and not to bolster an ideology that comes from a standpoint of hate.
I have no idea if I have any Welsh readers but if so, perhaps you could make yourselves known and also those who would be interested to come along and be involved with the organisation of such an event. All of that would a start and this is something that we really MUST do.
One final point is that the smokerphobics are also pushing the idea to Govts that smoking in cars causes non-existent traffic accidents. During 12 years of court reporting I only heard one case of a minor one car traffic accident which involved one stupid woman reaching down into the footwell of her car to reach for her cigs when she hit a lamp post. She was, however, over the drink drive limit as well.
I have never known of any other smoker involved in a car accident because of smoking. What the smokerphobics can't know is smoking while driving is more akin to breathing than reading, talking on a mobile phone, drinking or eating.
I have said many times that Govts who want the truth on smoking and ideas on how to address issues of concern around smoking should talk to smokers. We have far more knowledge than the smokerphobics and after decades of smoking we know more far more about it then they do. That is probably why the smokerphobics deny us a voice. We speak far too much common sense for their hateful tastes.
* One final point on the Stony Stratford Stand Off that I found interesting is that if the Police raised objections to the idea of denormalising Bartlett then why is the public health program to denormalise a minority group of people in this country legal?
My guess as always is that when it comes to smokers there is one rule for them and another for everyone else.