If you've got 'em

Seriously, people, let's have a quick chat about smoking. Sure, we're smokers ourselves, but that doesn't really mean we condone the practice. After all, it's got so darned many downsides.

But wait, what's that, China? You're encouraging people to smoke? You think it might help turn around your economy? And you'll fine companies that don't smoke enough? At the same time, you're trying to get your doctors to become non-smokers, so that they can provide a good example to people?

Can't you just pick one?

Besides, the amount of cigarettes you're asking companies to go through is just ridiculous. 230,000 packs per year? You'd better hope that you're either going after companies with a lot of smokers, or that you've got people puffing through dozens of packs per day, just to keep from getting fines. Meanwhile, you'll have doctors working on freshening up their own lungs, telling people to avoid the dangers of cigarettes. And let's not even get into the medical expenses that such an initiative is bound to provoke.

Although, some might say that China's population is such that they could easily embrace such a plan from the government. Harsh and cynical people might even go so far as to say that this could be a clever plan by the Chinese to not only pad their coffers but to thin their herd. Still, the fact that they're trying to have the cigarette problem both ways just smacks of being disingenuous.

To us, it's kind of like when GDub was trying to spur on education initiatives, while also promoting his own ignorance.