Orwell would be rolling in his grave

Classic ultra-liberal nonsense here

As an ex-smoker, I sympathize with smokers and non-smokers alike. If someone doesn't want to breathe in second hand smoke, that person shouldn't have to, although most people are unduly paranoid about second hand smoke, which, by the way, has not been conclusively linked to cancer or other ailments.

I do, however, have a problem with draconian/babysitter governments that impose these hypocritical measures. Tobacco is legally grown and sold North America, and the government makes a very hefty profit from it. In the province of Ontario, more than 60 tp 70 percent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes is tax.

So, the government makes a killing from this legal product, and now that same government is telling people they can't use it even in their own homes. If that isn't idiotic hypocrisy, I don't know what is. Either shut the hell up and let people use this product, or shut the hell up and simply ban it; you can't do both!

Update

All two of you may be wondering where I've been and what I've been up to. To be completely honest, teaching and thesis work keeps me more than busy, with hardly any energy or care to spare for something like blogging (that, and my life isn't that interesting).

I did, however, return from two weeks in Europe, which marked my first trip to that continent I'd read and heard so much about. I went to a conference on Adam Smith @ Oxford (yes, that one), which was fantastic--so much so, that the organizers want to include my piece in an upcoming collection of essays. Needless to say I felt vindicated after months of ball-busting labour, and I didn't refuse their kind offer. The piece will appear in the upcoming special edition of The Adam Smith Review, which should be coming out near the end of this year. More on that as details become available.

I used my mostly university funded trip to visit relatives in England and Germany. I stayed with my English relatives, who lived in the middle of nowhere (near Seaton/Exeter), for 3 days, and 5 days in Frankfurt, Germany, with my other ones. I also took a trip with my cousin to Berlin for 2 days, which was probably not as fun as it should be since I got a nasty European cold that lasted nearly a week.

For the first time in my life, I had a digital camera with me. Now it's just a matter of uploading all those photos, which I will do eventually (probably on Facebook and or Google Photos). Stay tuned.

For now, it's back to teaching 1st year Drama and Poetry, a fun yet very time-consuming assignment, and trying to finish a first chapter of the thesis, which so far is progressing fairly well. I hope to have this current chapter done by the end of the term, which would be right on schedule.