Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum - Law & Ethics

Leftist "law"

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:50:52 +0000

...
Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-olds. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.
...
At a sentencing hearing for the boys on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Rowland said he wanted to "avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily".

Instead, the boys were given Youth Rehabilitation Orders (YROs) - community sentences given to children, which can include unpaid work, curfews or a requirement to undertake treatment.

But one of their victims told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the decision was like a "rock straight in my face".

The girl, now 16, said it "almost made it seem as if what the boys did was not OK, but it was OK in the eyes of the law because they were still children".
...
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c332ljdkd81o

Sounds like Sharia law.

Trump's 1.8 billion dollar slush fund to defend MAGA criminals

Sun, 24 May 2026 22:58:36 +0000

The Republicans in Congress reacted strongly to this latest crap. "No slush fund to defend criminals!" Here's another pov on it:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYm3NI8m69G/

"So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former majority leader, said in a statement.

Who was Nasire Best? A "Jesus Christ" who wanted to 86 Trump? (Saturday's shooter)

Sun, 24 May 2026 17:54:39 +0000

The guy was apparently part of Jesus identity politics (some men are women, some men are sons of God, etc). So it's possible that Trump's own "Christ meme" back on April 12 triggered envy and competitive outrage in him. But his fixation with the White House and Trump long preceded that -- at best, it would have just been an additional stimulus.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Who is Nasire Best?
https://wjla.com/news/instagram/who-is-n...et-service

EXCERPTS: The man who opened fire near the White House Saturday evening before being killed in a shootout with the Secret Service has been identified as Nasire Best, 21, according to a law enforcement official speaking with the Associated Press.

[...] Court records show that the 21-year-old was arrested in July 2025 after attempting to enter a different white house checkpoint. During that encounter, investigators said Best claimed he was Jesus Christ and said he wanted to be arrested.

[...] That was not the only occassion Best was encountered near the White House, according to a report from CNN. Records show Best was “known to the Secret Service” for “walking around the White House complex inquiring how to gain access at various entry points,” the report reads. He was involuntarily committed on June 26, 2025, for “obstructing vehicle entry” to part of the White House complex, records show.

CNN found social media belonging to Best, that appeared to threaten violence against President Donald Trump and another post where he wrote, “I’m actually the son of God.”

Why fascism is closer to Marxism

Fri, 22 May 2026 19:47:15 +0000

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/U-pX_vLnUq4

US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts

Fri, 22 May 2026 18:36:25 +0000

US is ‘simply choosing not to stop’ Ebola outbreak after massive public health cuts, experts say
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...SApp_Other

INTRO: A previously undetected outbreak of Ebola is coursing through parts of central Africa, and the US appears to be doing little to help stop it, after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts.

There is no cure and no vaccine for the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. Health leaders and scientists are now racing to understand where the virus is spreading and attempting to stop it – but the US is notably absent in these efforts.

In the past year, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been dismantled, thousands of staff at US health agencies were laid off, communications stalled and key scientific research canceled.

There are 482 suspected cases and about 116 deaths reported since April in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with two cases and one death in Uganda and potential spread to neighboring South Sudan. The outbreak “might have been going on for a few months”, said Kristian Andersen, a professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research.

The outbreak was immediately declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), before even convening the committee that usually makes that determination. Officials say it may last for months.

“The DRC is one of the most vulnerable health systems in the world, and was the second-biggest recipient of USAID funding,” said Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at Georgetown University. The US withdrawal of funding with “zero notice” has been “disruptive to the country’s basic activities”, he said... (MORE - details)

Trump holds public prayer rally on National Mall

Sun, 17 May 2026 22:53:04 +0000

"WASHINGTON — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.”

Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus.

Arched stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal building, depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross.

Most speakers celebrated Christianity’s ties to American history, a blending of ideas that critics flagged ahead of the prayer gathering as supporting Christian nationalism.

From the stage, the Rev. Robert Jeffress embraced the term, which is often taken as a pejorative. “If being a Christian nationalist means loving Jesus Christ and loving America, count me in,” said the prominent Southern Baptist pastor..."---https://www.chicagotribune.com/.../america-themed-prayer.../
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmm..I wonder what Jesus would say?

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."---Matthew 5: 5-8

Deconstructing meritocracy..

Wed, 13 May 2026 17:40:42 +0000

“Meritocracy is a false and not very salutary belief. As with any ideology, part of its draw is that it justifies the status quo, explaining why people belong where they happen to be in the social order. It is a well-established psychological principle that people prefer to believe that the world is just.

However, in addition to legitimization, meritocracy also offers flattery. Where success is determined by merit, each win can be viewed as a reflection of one’s own virtue and worth. Meritocracy is the most self-congratulatory of distribution principles. Its ideological alchemy transmutes property into praise, material inequality into personal superiority. It licenses the rich and powerful to view themselves as productive geniuses. While this effect is most spectacular among the elite, nearly any accomplishment can be viewed through meritocratic eyes. Graduating from high school, artistic success or simply having money can all be seen as evidence of talent and effort. By the same token, worldly failures becomes signs of personal defects, providing a reason why those at the bottom of the social hierarchy deserve to remain there. ("A Belief in Meritocracy Is Not Only False: It’s Bad for You", Aeon)”
― Clifton Mark

When you really think about it, this ideology or pseudo-ethic of only acquiring things and privileges because you have earned them is essentially flawed for several reason. One reason is because it is simply not true. Most all wealth and status is conferred upon oneself and not won as some sort of prize or reward. Rich families invariably inherit most their wealth and entrepreneur billionaires play the system in ways that maximize their profits. Secondly, even the whole conception of ownership has its origins in being provided for as kids until we reach the age of 20. All the things one claims as one's own up to the age of 20 are literally handed to us without having to deserve it. And thirdly, to use the metaphor of running in and winning a race, the field is never level from the get-go. While many have been gifted a headstart in the race, others are way behind the starting line--a disadvantage that continues to exert its undermining influence or burden thruout the duration of the race.

So where does this ideology of merited ownership come from? It comes from our capitalist system, which operates on the premise that opportunity is an equally distributed commodity accessible to all people as long as you prove yourself deserving of it. So everybody unquestioningly goes out and finds jobs/careers that raise their status/reputation as successful achievers of the materialist dream. Like hamsters in a wheel cage we are always striving for the prize--the promise of not having to struggle for it anymore! Even going to college imposes this notion of merit on students, rewarding them with degrees that evidently they worked hard for and so deserve.

So when conservatives cite merit as the true standard of value of individuals in a society, they are only parroting an unrealistic ideal or false narrative they have been taught by the system. In the meantime true ownership and privilege was never something you could earn or win. It is something inherently to being a human being--the inalienable right to to life, liberty, and the unhindered pursuit of one's own happiness.

The history of the concept of human rights and equality of all people

Wed, 13 May 2026 05:05:52 +0000

“Human rights” are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of our nationality, residence, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination.

This is the modern concept of our fundamental rights but it was not always this way. The belief that everyone, by virtue of her or his humanity, is entitled to certain human rights is fairly new and is something stemming from an evolution of the consideration of human dignity over the last centuries. Its roots lie in earlier tradition and documents of many cultures.

The origins of Human Rights are ideally pinpointed to the year 539 BC. When the troops of Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. Cyrus freed the slaves, declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and established racial equality. These and other principles were recorded on a baked-clay cylinder known as the Cyrus Cylinder, whose provisions served as inspiration for the first four Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Another cornerstone in Human Rights History is represented by the promulgation of the Magna Charta in 1215 which introduced a raw concept of “Rule of Law” and the basic idea of defined rights and liberties to all persons, which offers protection from arbitrary prosecution and incarceration. Before the Magna Charta, the rule of law, now considered as a key principle for good governance in any modern democratic society, was perceived as a divine justice, solely distributed by the monarch or the king or, in this case, King John of England.

An evolution of the concepts expressed by the Magna Carta is represented by the English Bill of Rights. It was an act signed into law in 1689 by William III and Mary II, who became co-rulers in England after the overthrow of King James II. The bill outlined specific constitutional and civil rights and ultimately gave Parliament power over the monarchy. Many experts regard the English Bill of Rights as the primary law that set the stage for a constitutional monarchy in England. It’s also credited as being an inspiration for the U.S. Bill of Rights (1791).

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted in 1789, by France’s National Assembly , represents one of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution.

The basic value introduced by the Declaration was that all “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”, which were specified as the rights of liberty, private property, the inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression. All citizens were equal before the law and were to have the right to participate in legislation directly or indirectly; no one was to be arrested without a judicial order. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech were safeguarded within the bounds of public “order” and “law”. Private property was given the status of an inviolable right, which could be taken by the state only if an indemnity were given and offices and positions were opened to all citizens.

It is in this historical period that the concept, mostly based on political concerns, of Civil and Political Rights was defined. These rights, also known as first generation rights, recognise the existence of certain things that the all-powerful rulers should not be able to do and that people should have some influence over the policies affecting them. The two central ideas were those of personal liberty, and of protecting the individuals against violations by the State. They serve negatively to protect the individual from excesses of the State.

The steps forward made since the time of Cyrus were impressive, yet still many of these concepts, when originally translated into policies, excluded women, people of color, and members of certain social, religious, economic, and political groups.

Prime examples to overcome this situation are represented by the efforts in the 19th and early 20th centuries to prohibit the slave trade and to limit the horrors of war.

Significant is the adoption of the first three Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions expressing the deep concern of the public opinion to promote a respect of a basic level of Human dignity of individuals even in wartime and posing the foundations of modern International Humanitarian Law. The concerns over the protection of certain minority groups, which were raised by the League of Nations at the end of the First World War, and the establishment of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to oversee treaties protecting workers with respect to their rights, including their health and safety, manifest the increased positive attitude toward the recognition of the importance of Human Rights as we know them today.

The time for a revolution and a deep progress in the protection and promotion of human dignity was ripe. Eventually, it took the catalyst of World War II to propel human rights onto the global stage and into the global conscience. The unprecedented cruelties perpetrated during the conflict and outside it such as the extermination by Nazi Germany of over six million Jews, Sinti and Romani (gypsies), homosexuals, and persons with disabilities horrified the world. The idea of human rights thus emerged even stronger than ever after World War II. The Trials held in Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II, introduced the rather new concepts of "crimes against peace," and "crimes against humanity."

Governments then committed themselves to establishing the United Nations, with the primary goal of bolstering international peace and preventing conflict. People wanted to ensure that never again would anyone be unjustly denied life, freedom, food, shelter, and nationality.

It was the 1945 and the fifty founding members of the United Nations stated, in the preamble of the UN Charter, that they were determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained in order to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.

In the first article of the same Charter, Member states pledged “to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”

A strong political commitment was set and to advance on these goals, a Commission on Human Rights was immediately established and charged with the task of drafting a document spelling out the meaning of the fundamental rights and freedoms proclaimed in the Charter. Three years later, The Commission, guided by Eleanor Roosevelt’s forceful leadership, captured the world’s attention, drafting the 30 articles that now make up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Declaration was presented to the world, acting for the first time as a recognized and internationally accepted charter, whose first article states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

The UDHR, although not legally binding, introduces the concept that how a government treats its own citizens is now a matter of legitimate international concern, and not simply a domestic issue, and that the exercise of a person's rights and freedoms may be subject to certain limitations, which must be determined by law, solely for the purpose of securing due recognition of the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

Its Preamble eloquently asserts that: recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. It restates the already identified civil and political rights and introduces the so-called second generation rights, fundamentally economic, social, and cultural in nature, furthermore claiming that all rights are interdependent and indivisible.

The message was clear and powerful, the realization of one Right is linked to the realization of the others. All human rights are indivisible, whether they are civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to work, social security and education, or collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination, are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. The improvement of one right facilitates advancement of the others. Similarly, the deprivation of one right hampers the improvement and enjoyment of the others.

The influence of the UDHR has been substantial and together with the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights it constitutes the so defined “International Bill of Rights” that lays down the obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from specific acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

Its principles, by now, have been incorporated into the Constitutions of almost all the UN members and has achieved the status of customary international law regarded as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations.

Human Rights have continued to evolve and, since its foundation, the United Nations has adopted more than 20 principal treaties including conventions to prevent and prohibit specific abuses like torture and genocide and to protect particularly vulnerable populations, such as refugees (Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951), women (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979), and children (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).

A multitude of other treaties and documents have clarified and further developed some of the basic concepts that were laid down in the original UDHR, thus envisaging new generations of rights. These additions have been a result of a number of factors, partly as a response to progressively modified ideas about human dignity, and partly as a result of new emerging threats and opportunities. As far as for the specific new category of rights, that have been proposed as third generation rights, these have been the consequence of a deeper understanding of the different types of obstacles that may stand in the way of realizing the first and second-generation rights. The idea at the base of the third generation of rights is that of solidarity and collective rights of society or peoples, such as the right to sustainable development, to peace or to a healthy environment.

In much of the world, conditions such as extreme poverty, war, ecological and natural disasters have meant that there has been only very limited progress in respect of human rights. For that reason, people have felt necessary the recognition of a new category of human rights.

Following emerging threats and opportunities, the so-called 4th generation rights, linked to the recent fast technology development, represent the last discussed frontier of Human Rights. A fusion of material, biological and digital technologies raises existential questions about what it means to be human and how to protect human dignity. Digitalization and “datification” of almost all human activities create new opportunities of development but also new possibilities for human rights violations.

Fortunately, it is nowadays clear that what human dignity means, how to protect and promote it, is a concept that, albeit rooted within the principles of the UDHR, is in constant evolution in accordance with the new necessities. There is a need for a comprehensive response and whilst the international community is still discussing about 4th generation rights it is my belief that there will be room, in the future, for the fifth and, hopefully, for further generations of Human Rights."--- https://www.coespu.org/articles/human-ri...ef-history

The history of the concept of human rights and equality of all people

Wed, 13 May 2026 05:04:48 +0000

Reform UK savages Labour in local elections, Starmer doomed to exit

Fri, 08 May 2026 17:28:07 +0000

This is what Farage prematurely crowed about early in the vote counting. Maybe it was not quite that degree of Earth shift in the end, but was still massively devastating for Labour. Starmer is absolutely going to be replaced, and Labour is predictably misdiagnosing what the problem is and will return to its hard left roots.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nigel Farage hails 'historic change' as Reform UK sweeps seats at 2026 local elections
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/...e-33909023

EXCERPTS: Nigel Farage is celebrating a 'historic change' in politics after Reform UK gains a swathe of council seats across the country after the 2026 local elections.

[...] As of around 3:30am on Friday, May 8, full results were in from 13 of the 136 councils. Reform UK had gained 103 seats, with Labour losing 80. The Conservatives had lost 11 seats, independents 22 and Your Party one, with the Greens gaining eight and the Liberal Democrats three.

[...] A jubilant Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told reporters at the party’s Millbank headquarters: “I think what you’re witnessing is an historic change in British politics. Forget left-right, there is no more left-right. It is gone, it is out of the window, it’s finished. As you can see, we are scoring stunning percentages in traditional old Labour areas. We’re currently averaging about 39% of the vote, of the seats that are in already, we’re currently on 145 seats won. We are way exceeding anything that I thought.”

Starmer told to go after disastrous election results
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/...ll-starmer

EXCERPTS: Quit now or Labour will die, Sir Keir Starmer was told by his own MPs today as disastrous local election results rolled in from across Britain. Leading figures on the left called for swift change in Downing Street as Labour lost votes in all directions after two years of failed government with hundreds of council seats falling to Reform, the Greens and even the Tories.

Labour was on course to lose around 1,300 seats and control of dozens of councils, as well as being crushed in the Welsh Senedd and Scottish parliament elections. Vote-counting continues tomorrow in many areas.

[...] The biggest winner was the hard-right Reform UK, which had gained nearly 900 seats by early evening. Leader-owner Nigel Farage said the results showed his party could win in Tory and Labour areas alike and was on course for government.

“What has happened is a truly historic shift in British politics,” he said. However, polling expert Peter Kellner said that Reform had underperformed as against last year and that its support had “peaked.”

With around half results declared, Labour had lost 672 seats and the Tories 423, with the Greens gaining 175.

To avert the Farage menace, trade union leaders and Labour MPs were exploring ways to prise Sir Keir out of office, with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham favoured to take over — a process that would take months at least since he is not presently an MP and thus unavailable.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and a number of MPs on the party’s “soft left” are pushing for the Prime Minister to set a timetable for departing.

One such told the New Statesman: “Rejected by the public. Increasingly rejected by his own party. If Keir truly listens to these results he will set out a date for his departure. If he doesn’t, he’ll go down in history as the man whose hubris killed the Labour Party.”

Another warned that “the party has been dominated by a small clique who have brought us to the edge of extinction.”

Dem admits to treasonous behavior

Wed, 06 May 2026 22:43:35 +0000

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/zGemQtZbf-c

Comey indicted by DOJ for instagram pic of seashells

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 23:28:39 +0000

This is getting ridiculous. They've really got too much time on their hands. Hey guys! Here's something for ya: "Fuck Trump!" Will they now come after me for sexual assault? Hell I'll even spell it out in seashells if you want. Bring it bitches!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Justice Department secured an indictment Tuesday charging former FBI Director James Comey with threatening the life of President Donald Trump by posting a photo of seashells on Instagram.

The two-count indictment, posted Tuesday afternoon, alleges that a reasonable person would interpret the image of the shells, arranged to spell out “86 47,” as “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States."

Justice Department attorneys sought the indictment in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Comey has a beach house and where he posted the beach scene photo. The Department of Homeland Security previously investigated Comey, who has long been a Trump target, over the May Instagram post, even subjecting him to questioning by the Secret Service.

Comey had deleted the post, saying it never occurred to him that it would be interpreted as being violent. "Eighty-six" is a term commonly used in restaurants when an item is sold out, and it's also informally used to mean "cancel" or "get rid of."

In a subsequent Instagram post in May, Comey said that he assumed the shells he saw on a beach walk were "a political message" and that he "didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence," adding that he opposed violence "of any kind."

Comey said in a video posted after his indictment that he was innocent, that he was not afraid and that he still believed in the independent judiciary.

"They're back," he said of the Trump administration. "This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago. And this won't be the end of it."

Comey said it was very important to remember that "this is not who we are as a country, this is not how the Department of Justice is supposed to be."---- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice...rcna247022

The Ethical vs the Aesthetic

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:00:20 +0000

I've recently observed that the difference between a conservative and a liberal is not so much that of values vs no values as it is a difference in the KIND of values. Conservatives as a general rule are driven to see their world and their lives in terms of ethical values like right vs wrong, heroic vs villainous, and good vs evil.

Liberals otoh tend to base their worldview on aesthetic values like beauty vs ugliness, creativity vs banality, and love vs hate. Two different value systems molding how they think and experience their world.

Can we really say one is better than the other? That a person should strive above all things to be good and diligent and upstanding? Or that they should only strive to find joy and peace and contentment in their lives? Not really. Both outlooks shape our society and work together to form who we are as a culture and a nation.

Fortunately for us, we are NOT destined to be so permanently divided. We have much to learn from each other. Despite our seemingly irreconcilable differences, there IS in my view a middle ground where we can agree and meet. And it is beautifully expressed in this poem excerpt by Naomi Shihab Nye:

"Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend."

UK voted for law that bans cigarettes for anyone born after 2008

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:48:34 +0000

https://www.novinite.com/articles/238166...After+2008

INTRO: The British Parliament has approved landmark legislation that will permanently prevent younger generations from legally buying cigarettes, marking one of the toughest anti-smoking measures introduced anywhere in the world.

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, anyone born after the end of 2008 will never be allowed to purchase cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products. The law works by gradually increasing the legal age for tobacco sales by one year every year, meaning today’s younger teenagers will remain permanently excluded from legal access to smoking products.

The bill now only requires formal approval from King Charles III before becoming law, a step widely seen as procedural. Once enacted, the new rules are expected to take effect from January 2027 and will apply across all four parts of the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the measure as a major step toward ending smoking-related harm in the country. “Children in the U.K. will be part of the first smoke-free generation, protected from a lifetime of addiction and harm,” he said.

At present, the legal age for purchasing cigarettes, tobacco products, and vaping devices is 18. The new legislation does not ban smoking itself, but instead removes the possibility of legal tobacco purchases for future generations.

The law also gives the government broader powers to regulate tobacco, nicotine, and vaping products, including control over flavors, packaging, and product presentation. .. (MORE - missing details)

Dumb quote of the week award

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:13:47 +0000

This one goes to J. D. Vance:

"I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."

Uh...that's pretty much his one field of expertise moron...lol

Here's some deep theology for ya JD!

"He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword."---Jesus Christ