The right to choose, the right to smoke, the right to clean air and the right to have someone wipe my backside are  claimed with great frequency. Okay maybe we don't hear real people whining about clean air very frequently but there are many ridiculous things people claim to have "as a right". The subject of rights can be a firecracker. It doesn't seem to strike many as odd that there is so little agreement on the subject. A discussion of types of beer or tobacco or the merits...

Read More "Whats wrong with rights?"

freedom2choose are taking on the government in the courts regarding the smoking ban. I think they have the right idea in challenging it on the basis of the ban being a violation of property rights. Unfortunately the law their legal people are using is the Human Rights Act of 1998. This states; "Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided...

Read More "Property Rights Please"

Our great rulers are caring beyond the call of duty.

People like Jasmin Alibhai-Brown appear to believe white English people would be assaulting and killing members of ethnic minorities were it not for the restraining power of race relations law.

Groups like ASH believe the only reason British pubs did not go smoke free before July 1st is because there hadn't been a law to "enable" them. They also help poor addicted smokers quit the habit they themselves despise by requesting that government increase tobacco taxes.

I'm sure you could think of other sterling examples. Let me know in the comments.

Doesn't it make you feel all warm inside?

Show some appreciation this weekend.

Go here then spread the word.

If you'd like to publish an article on this blog you can. Use the contact button at the top right of the page and let me know who you are and what you'd like to write about.

I have re-discovered something important to do with morale. Morale has nothing to do with morals by the way. It is about how you feel about what you are doing or what is going on around you.

I have found that my own morale can be influenced by me. That is good. It certainly isn't good to have your whole day ruined by watching the news or reading a newspaper. So not doing those things is helpful.

But the main thing I have been discovering in recent weeks is that finding out just how bad it all is and doing nothing about it is a pretty sure way to end up feeling suicidal. That isn't how we win life's battles. The secret to high personal morale under an ever more repressive state is fighting back. No matter how you fight back any effort in that direction will make you feel better. The more that effort is well thought out and well targetted the better. But the basic thing is to fight back.

Nick Hogan, landlord of The Swan in Churchgate (Bolton), has the audacity to claim that only he has the right to dictate what the smoking policy should be on his premises. And on July 1st he is putting his neck on the line to defend that right.

"If people don't like my smoking policy then they have the chance to go somewhere else. This is our act of defiance.

"I have respect for the law, but I have no respect for an unfair law. I don't want to break the law, but I feel I've been pushed into it.

"At the end of the day it's my pub, not the Government's.

"Cigarettes are a legal product. If the council wants to ban smoking in its buildings or it is banned in the hospital, then that's fine because they are publicly-owned buildings, but my pub is not."

Finally a man who understands the issues.

Simon Clark, director of FOREST said in a speech last night, "We have lost the battle but we haven't lost the war. The smoking ban is out of all proportion to the risk from second-hand smoke. We urge the government to amend the legislation to allow designated smoking rooms in some pubs and allow private clubs to devise a policy on smoking in accordance with their member's wishes. "Britain is developing into a nanny state. When you leave school you are considered to be an adult. You...

Read More "FOREST Friend or Foe?"

There is a lot of understandable anger amongst smokers, owners of pubs and many other kinds of premises, and others who are not in the least connected with smoking or the hospitality industry over the coming ban on smoking in "public" places due to start on July 1st. Some very few have made it into the news; David Hockney, Joe Jackson, Bill Wyman, Anthony Worrall-Thompson and a few others. I support their anger but not all their arguments. They claim to be losing something they never...

Read More "Losing the plot, never mind the war"

The US presidential elections are quite a long time away but the nominees for the parties are campaigning now. There are always outsiders. Right now there is an outsider that is creating a lot of excitement. His name is Ron Paul and he says he is a champion of the constitution. And I believe him.

I've known of him and what he thinks for about 4 years but he was pretty much unknown, even in America, until recently. What is the appeal? He believes that the role of the American military is strictly and only defense. He wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and the IRS.

He is a man of principle and as a man of principle we can predict what he would do in any situation because we know what his principles are. I agree with most of his principles and could certainly live with those I don't see completely eye to eye with. I do believe that if he actually became president the world would become a much safer place in a very short time. There was a time, more than a century ago, when America really was a beacon of freedom in an unfree world. American politicians have long since abandoned that in exchange for personal power, prestige and probably wealth too. Ron Paul could return America to that. We don't have anyone remotely like him here but if he were to win I would have a lot more hope for this country.

Find out more here

This has been updated with the following simpler design. The image shown is not as clear and crisp as the original. That is the price of making it small enough to show here.







What do you think?

I can make these available if wanted @ £10 each plus £2 p&p.

To order state size and quantity via diversity at icanhelpit dot co dot uk

If you work from home, via the internet for instance, then your home is a "workplace" and as from July 1st you will need to display a "no smoking" sign outside your front door and you must not smoke in your workplace.

You might wonder how the government will know if you are smoking in your workplace. Well that is where the new government smoke detectors will come in - possibly linked with a webcam. These will come at a cost to the "workplace" owner of around £80+VAT.

This isn't overly intrusive because if you aren't doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide.

Okay I made it up. But give it a year or so.

Fundamental to what I am about to say is the concept of a free market. Governments and special interest groups hate free markets and do everything they can to make them seem evil in the "public" mind. Why are free markets hated so much by such people? I'll answer that at the end of this piece but there is a good chance you will have guessed it before then. The propaganda against free markets has been churned out by the ton for more than a hundred years so it would be surprising to find...

Read More "Why the Smoking Ban Will Hurt Hospitality"

Several people sent emails asking about the image size on the t-shirt. It seems most of us prefer that it were not quite so "in your face" as the poster picture suggested it would be. So this is what I came up with.

If you want bigger you can have it. The size shown would invite people to come closer to find out what the message is. A larger size and they could see it across the room.

This picture corrupts the image but the real thing looks clean and crisp.

The shirt is a nice quality "Fruit of the Loom". Price is £10 including p&p. Please state size required. To order send email to shirt @ icanhelpit dot co dot uk

I've got some t-shirts and posters coming soon.

In Nazi Germany the jews were forced to wear armbands proclaiming they were jews. In the UK, and several other countries in the "free" world, smokers are being "de normalized" and there are some smokers who feel guilty about smoking. Well I for one do not feel guilty about smoking. So I thought an armband might be a good idea.

As you can see by the poster in the post below the Nazis were no friends of smoking nor of the property rights of business owners.

Prices will be £10 per t-shirt, £1.00 per A5 laminated poster and £2 per A4 laminated poster. P&P will be p&p too.



The least we can do is show our displeasure.
If you are interested send an email to antifascist @ icanhelpit dot co dot uk