Second hand stupidity

LA Times:

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved sweeping new regulations that would treat e-cigarettes like conventional cigarettes, after one of the most personal debates to be heard on the council floor in years.

On a 14-0 vote, lawmakers outlawed "vaping" -- the practice of inhaling the vapors produced by e-cigarettes -- in most work sites and many public places, including parks and certain beaches.

The Nanny State strikes again.

As far as I'm aware, e-cigarettes are completely harmless. They pose no health risk to the people using them or to anyone around them. Those who smoke actual cigarettes find e-cigarettes a helpful aid when trying to quit. Yet they are now banned, even in many outdoor spaces, in the city of Los Angeles.

Much like the gun-Nazis in government schools who are suspending kids for wielding fingers and pastries because they resemble guns, the tobacco-Nazis must purge the Earth of anything that resembles a cigarette -- even if it actually benefits those who wish to quit the very malady they oppose.

That this law war passed on a 14-0 vote is perhaps the most disturbing of all. Apparently, not one of the city council members was willing to stand and defend individual freedom, which should include the freedom to make poor personal choices, but now doesn't even extend to the freedom to make good personal choices which might indirectly encourage others to make poor personal choices. This is a trend that will not end well.

Apparently, one of the members did make a gesture toward minimizing the council's usurpation of personal freedom, but when his amendment failed, he voted for the measure anyway. An admirable display of courage, that.

Buscaino introduced an amendment to allow bars and nightclubs to be removed from the new regulations. But his measure received only six votes -- two shy of the amount needed for passage.

E-cigarettes “are not tobacco,” he said. “And I don’t think they should be regulated exactly the same way.”

Here's a thought. How about they shouldn't be regulated at all?

Any suggestions for a new line to close out the national anthem?

Considerable quote

Freeman Hrabowski:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes destiny.

"Mind Hacks" by John Hawkins

John Hawkins shares 5 Simple Mind Hacks that changed his life:

1. 1. "A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me." (Frederick Douglas)
2. “When you have to make a decision, think carefully about it, pick the best option, and then don’t revisit it again unless you receive new information.” (Richard Branson)
3. “You always do the best you can right now.”
4. “Will this matter in five years?”
5. “If you have to choose between two roughly equal options, always take the one that leads to you doing something.”