brecht@sask.UUCP (Tim Brecht) (10/17/86)
As the campaign for the 1986 Saskatchewan election draws to a close, what is on the minds of the typical voter? A relative of mine, who is running for office, reports the following incident: CANDIDATE: What is concerning you most in this election? VOTER: I'm tired of those buggers who won't let you smoke! CANDIDATE: [Warily:] Oh? VOTER: When I buy cigarettes, I pay taxes on them. That tax is my license to smoke anywhere I damn well please! CANDIDATE: Well, that's certainly an interesting point of view. I've never heard that before. Do you think we'll get this crop off? Jim Tubman (From the account of Tim Brecht.) University of Saskatchewan
chapman@fornax.uucp (John Chapman) (10/19/86)
> As the campaign for the 1986 Saskatchewan election draws to a close, what is > on the minds of the typical voter? A relative of mine, who is running for > office, reports the following incident: > > CANDIDATE: What is concerning you most in this election? > > VOTER: I'm tired of those buggers who won't let you smoke! > > CANDIDATE: [Warily:] Oh? > > VOTER: When I buy cigarettes, I pay taxes on them. That tax is my > license to smoke anywhere I damn well please! > > CANDIDATE: Well, that's certainly an interesting point of view. I've > never heard that before. Do you think we'll get this crop > off? > > > Jim Tubman > (From the account of > Tim Brecht.) > University of Saskatchewan Well the election here in BC has some interesting moments too! The media here are doing a real hard sell on the candidates personal appearances. Apparently they feel that the size and duration of the candidates smiles are the most important criteria in deciding for whom to vote. It has gotten to the point where one local columnist spent his entire column on one of the candidates for premier (who has been pilloried by the media because of occasional nervousness in public), and after telling the reader what a nice, honest, thoughtful, intelligent, dedicated guy the candidate is concludes that he's a nice guy he's "obviously" not a good choice for a leader. As far as I could tell he wasn't even trying to be facetious. Another triumph of form over content. sigh
acton@mprvaxa.UUCP (Don Acton) (10/19/86)
In article <465@sask.UUCP> brecht@sask.UUCP (Tim Brecht) writes: ... >VOTER: When I buy cigarettes, I pay taxes on them. That tax is my > license to smoke anywhere I damn well please! > >CANDIDATE: Well, that's certainly an interesting point of view. I've > never heard that before. ... I don't know whether or not Tim supports this voter's viewpoint but I will just point out that even if a tax were a license, that wouldn't entitle one to do whatever they please. For example even if you have a hunting license you are still not allowed to hunt eagles or people. Likewise obtaining a driver's license doesn't give one free reign to do what they please on the roads. (Although by the way some people drive you would think it does.) However, one could also adopt the position that the taxes on cigarettes are just extra health insurance premiums. Donald Acton
brecht@sask.UUCP (Tim Brecht) (10/21/86)
> In article <465@sask.UUCP> brecht@sask.UUCP (Tim Brecht) writes: > ... > >VOTER: When I buy cigarettes, I pay taxes on them. That tax is my > > license to smoke anywhere I damn well please! > > > >CANDIDATE: Well, that's certainly an interesting point of view. I've > > never heard that before. ... > > I don't know whether or not Tim supports this voter's viewpoint but I > will just point out that even if a tax were a license, that wouldn't > entitle one to do whatever they please. ... > > Donald Acton No, I don't support this point of view, and neither did the candidate (who was/is the Health Minister!), but we both thought it was rather amusing. Let's face it, he was talking to some old guy from the boonies who had smoked all his life. Nobody ever said anything about it for decades; now when he goes to the city, there are "No Smoking" signs all over the place, and people are daring to tell him to extinguish his smokes. Times are changing, and he doesn't like it. (Me, I like it.) [By the way, the subject line should have said "News" rather than "New". Sorry for the bad spelling.] Jim Tubman (From the account of Tim Brecht) University of Saskatchewan