the taliban at belmont city council?
Meera is 26 and escaped with her parents from northern India when Taliban types in positions of power threatened their lifestyle. She was shocked to read that California's Belmont City Council had voted unanimously to pursue a law prohibiting smoking anywhere in the city except for single-family detached residences.
"This is the sort of nonsense my family escaped from," says Meera, "and I can't believe that it's happening here in the Land of the Free."
"Amazingly, while we're willing to put the lives of America's sons and daughters on the line in places likes Afghanistan and Iraq ostensibly to free people from repressive regimes, we're voting in the Taliban at home in places like Belmont, California!"
"Tell me, is giving Afghanis the right to play music in the street more important than giving Californians the right to smoke in the street?"
"Think about it. What is the difference?"
"Apparently, the Belmont decision was initiated by some guy objecting to the smell of cigarette smoke from a neighbor," adds Meera. "I hope our neighbors don't complain to council about the smell of curry from our place otherwise curry eating might be banned too!"
"If it wasn't so serious, this whole issue would be funny," says Meera, "and that's why I'm going in to bat for the smokers. I can see how this sort of law, if it gets legs, can affect all of us."
"Councilman Dave Warden was reported as saying he wants to make smoking illegal and justified his stand by believing doing so would save lives."
"Hello? Since when has it been city council's business to save lives and make laws that impinge on people's private lives?" says Meera. "They should stick to what they were elected to do -- take care of rubbish and roads and that sort of stuff -- and butt out of our private lives!"
"As far as I know from my reading, Belmont City has a population of 25,000 people and this law was supported by just 15 people at the council meeting."
"Did the elected members of Belmont City Council run on the issue of smoking, or did they keep their real agenda under wraps?"
"I can't believe that the majority of Belmont's citizens go along with the council's decision," muses Meera, "but if they do then that's democracy in action and the smokers are going to have to sell up and move on just like my family had to flee northern India."
"If the decision of the council men and women does not represent the majority view of Belmont residents then are they serving the wishes of bigger masters -- you know, the unelected back room boys with agendas to push who are entrenched in jobs from which they cannot be sacked, or the pharmaceutical companies pushing their nicotine patches?"
"You know, when a similar situation arose in India a few years back, relating to a law offending minorities, a group of students tailed the officials and caught them doing all manner of naughty things -- drink driving, prostitution, pedophilia, fraud, you name it, they did it! -- and when presented with evidence of their hypocrisy and duplicity the offending law was dropped like a hot potato."
"The smokers of Belmont should follow suit and see what Councilman Dave Warden and his colleagues get up to!"
"Day after day, pillars of society all over the world are being exposed as hypocrites and criminals," says Meera, "and when someone in a position of power sits in judgement of others we should turn that pointing finger right back at them."
"Today it's smoking, tomorrow it may be something that you enjoy doing," adds Meera, "so a law banning smoking in the street is an issue that everyone, especially non-smokers like me, should treat very seriously."
"If you're Jewish, black, disabled, a drinker, a woman or gay, just remember how the Taliban types once treated you and how the rest of the community got together to support your rights," says Meera.
"And if you're not, then before you support Belmont City Council's decision I beg you to think about the food you eat, the films you watch, the music you play, the God you pray to, the make-up, perfume or clothes you wear and imagine them being banned -- for your good, of course -- and if you wouldn't like that, then you're already walking in the shoes of a smoker."
"This is the sort of nonsense my family escaped from," says Meera, "and I can't believe that it's happening here in the Land of the Free."
"Amazingly, while we're willing to put the lives of America's sons and daughters on the line in places likes Afghanistan and Iraq ostensibly to free people from repressive regimes, we're voting in the Taliban at home in places like Belmont, California!"
"Tell me, is giving Afghanis the right to play music in the street more important than giving Californians the right to smoke in the street?"
"Think about it. What is the difference?"
"Apparently, the Belmont decision was initiated by some guy objecting to the smell of cigarette smoke from a neighbor," adds Meera. "I hope our neighbors don't complain to council about the smell of curry from our place otherwise curry eating might be banned too!"
"If it wasn't so serious, this whole issue would be funny," says Meera, "and that's why I'm going in to bat for the smokers. I can see how this sort of law, if it gets legs, can affect all of us."
"Councilman Dave Warden was reported as saying he wants to make smoking illegal and justified his stand by believing doing so would save lives."
"Hello? Since when has it been city council's business to save lives and make laws that impinge on people's private lives?" says Meera. "They should stick to what they were elected to do -- take care of rubbish and roads and that sort of stuff -- and butt out of our private lives!"
"As far as I know from my reading, Belmont City has a population of 25,000 people and this law was supported by just 15 people at the council meeting."
"Did the elected members of Belmont City Council run on the issue of smoking, or did they keep their real agenda under wraps?"
"I can't believe that the majority of Belmont's citizens go along with the council's decision," muses Meera, "but if they do then that's democracy in action and the smokers are going to have to sell up and move on just like my family had to flee northern India."
"If the decision of the council men and women does not represent the majority view of Belmont residents then are they serving the wishes of bigger masters -- you know, the unelected back room boys with agendas to push who are entrenched in jobs from which they cannot be sacked, or the pharmaceutical companies pushing their nicotine patches?"
"You know, when a similar situation arose in India a few years back, relating to a law offending minorities, a group of students tailed the officials and caught them doing all manner of naughty things -- drink driving, prostitution, pedophilia, fraud, you name it, they did it! -- and when presented with evidence of their hypocrisy and duplicity the offending law was dropped like a hot potato."
"The smokers of Belmont should follow suit and see what Councilman Dave Warden and his colleagues get up to!"
"Day after day, pillars of society all over the world are being exposed as hypocrites and criminals," says Meera, "and when someone in a position of power sits in judgement of others we should turn that pointing finger right back at them."
"Today it's smoking, tomorrow it may be something that you enjoy doing," adds Meera, "so a law banning smoking in the street is an issue that everyone, especially non-smokers like me, should treat very seriously."
"If you're Jewish, black, disabled, a drinker, a woman or gay, just remember how the Taliban types once treated you and how the rest of the community got together to support your rights," says Meera.
"And if you're not, then before you support Belmont City Council's decision I beg you to think about the food you eat, the films you watch, the music you play, the God you pray to, the make-up, perfume or clothes you wear and imagine them being banned -- for your good, of course -- and if you wouldn't like that, then you're already walking in the shoes of a smoker."
Labels: city councils, civil liberties, smoking bans, taliban
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