Big Brother And Its Champion

      Well, this bloke's decided he's never buying a Toronto Star again after reading this turgid piece of pap that missed its place in an Orwell novel by 56 years, particularly this quote:

The legislation, introduced by Health Minister George Smitherman, will mean no more playing fast with the rules. Smokers will no longer be able to cross a municipal line to find a bar in a neighbouring city with less stringent smoking laws. Nor will bars and other businesses be able to circumvent local bylaws by opening "private" clubs, enclosing outdoor patios or setting up designated smoking rooms.

Gawd forbid people smoking in designated places where they're not hurting anyone, or on patios in the dissipating open air, or in private clubs in which non-participants would not want to go, anyway; Gawd forbid, too, people finding places that, even over municipal lines, that tolerate them and their behaviour. And you have to savour the New Puritanism of the last sentence, one so 'smart' in its putrefying piety that's it the high-and-mighty version of "who gives a shit": "But if a law can make life so difficult that they quit out of frustration, few will shed a tear. On the contrary, millions of Ontarians — smokers and non-smokers — will be healthier for it." I'm so glad the province is going to make me healthier, whether I want to be or not. The Star is never getting a cent from me again.

      (For those not aware of it, The Star is the principle mouthpiece of the Liberal Party in Canada and the provinces, the party now in power in Ontario.)

      And, by the way, that bit in the article food and cars having the same effects-- let's get real, they'd never touch those things. Ever. I'm waiting for those significant taxes on Big Macs that'll even the score. No? Gee, I wonder why not....