China's ultimatum: smoke or be fined

News.com.au ^ | May 04, 2009 | From correspondents in Beijing

[Daffynition]

OFFICIALS in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reports.

The Gong'an county government in Hubei province has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, the Global Times said.

Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined, according to the report.

[SunkenCiv]

Officials in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined... 230,000 packs... Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined...

Planned economies always look so unplanned, it's almost as if the underlying rules haven't changed at all... ;')

[T Minus Four]

"The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," said Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong'an cigarette market supervision team"

Why haven't we thought of this?

[Slings and Arrows]

Methinks some editor got punk’d but good.

[Daffynition]

But ...but .............the precedent has already been set....

[Daffynition]

Did you lie to me?

[JoeProBono]

[Daffynition]

LOL ...I thought you thought the thread was deleted?

[JoeProBono]

Dereted? You say dereted? No, say toughthreadtoposton.

[Daffynition]