The dichotomy of it all..

I wonder how the average Sun reader is reacting to the latest news to travel in from Europe this morning?

Seeing as that paper has been famously anti-Europe in the past, carrying scare stories about how Cadbury's Chocolate would be banned under EU law and how Brussels was stopping certain shapes of bananas getting to our shops (their xenophobia is second only in fact to the Daily Mail, whose daily "Argh! Foreigners and Immigrants Will Get You!" headlines never seem to bore the aging readership in Conservative clubs up and down the country).

So how is the paper reacting to the news?

That news, of course, being that a ruling in an EU court could mean that taxes on alcohol and cigarettes only need to be paid in the country in which the products were bought, and the UK could not slap their usual excise duty on such products when they arrive here.

The EU court must decide whether someone who buys alcohol or tobacco from another country, and arranges for it to be delivered to their door, can avoid paying excise duty in his or her home country. This could potentially lose the Treasury a shit load of cash, of course, as if you were to order your cigarettes from some of the cheaper EU countries they could cost you just over seven quid for 200 (not including postage, of course).

So I wonder how The Sun is telling it's "white man van" readership today that the EVIL people in Brussels are going to give them an opportunity to get their 20 Bensons seven times cheaper than they would be able to buy them in the UK. Damn those pesky foreigners and their cheaper taxes, damn them all..

Oh, and talking of Europe - top of the group, baby,

Lung butter

Did the normal blurry, half-awake walk to the bathroom this morning after the alarm clock had rudely dragged me from my slumber.  Turned on the shower, stared blearily at the fuzzy reflection in the bathroom mirror. 

And suddenly, with no warning, I coughed. 

And it did catch me by surprise, as coughing is not something I do that often anymore..

So it would appear that I may well be getting the first of the winter colds that I seem to get around this time of year, usually about five minutes after the hay fever naffs off.  I'm very curious, however, to see how severe this bout of winter colds are going to be, as this will be my first winter without cigarettes (for about 17 years).  Winter colds used to head straight for my chest, which would mean a good five minutes of hacking coughing fits every morning before I could do anything, and these coughing fits brought up shocking amounts of "lung butter" that nearly cracked the toilet bowl on their explosive exit from my mouth.  Smokers amongst you will, no doubt, know exactly what I am talking about here.

So what will it be like without ciggies?  I'm curious to find out.