I'm really choked that Barack Obama has quit smoking - Telegraph

Quote:

I take the sad news that Barack Obama has given up smoking with a long and tapering exhale of resignation. It's a shame to lose a brother from the union, to see another chuffer stub out one of life's little treats and step back inside the mirrored office-building of conformity. But while it is clearly a blow to the smokers' club to have lost the Leader of the Free World, membership remains buoyant, not least in the political wing. Nick Clegg is a regular at the tobacconist's, and I've no doubt he keeps a little tucked away for his boss: David Cameron too enjoys a crafty smoke. Non-smokers may pour scorn on the habit, but you will note that the above gentlemen are not also-rans, or faceless minions, but leaders of entire countries, the people in charge. Of course they are – because you have to have real chutzpah to smoke these days. The obstacles are so massive, the public disapproval so overwhelming, that you need true strength of character to exercise your free will. Yet despite our pariah status, we will never die out. There will be no Last of the Smohicans. For man is a sybaritic creature, and the pleasures offered by tobacco are rich and sensual. At less than five a day, I'm not a heavy smoker, and I have consciously tried to cut out the "bad" fags – those cigarettes smoked at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. What remains are a few delicious interludes to mark out the day: in the early morning with a cup of fresh coffee; after lunch on a seat outside a favourite café; the six o'clock special that is the perfect dry counterpoint to the wetness of the evening's first drink. And what an international brotherhood I'm a part of. Barack may have quit the American branch, but all around the world, the gesture that says "Do you have a light?" is one that opens doors and sparks new friendships. The Greeks, for example, are passionate smokers. Arriving at a hotel in Athens to cover the 2004 Olympics, I was impressed to find an ashtray in the shower. When I rather timidly asked the female taxi driver on the way to the stadium whether I could smoke, she pulled over to the side of the road. "Come – sit in front with me!" she said. "We will smoke together." That welcome did not surprise me. A fellow smoker is someone with whom you share a philosophy. Above all, you are not afraid. You are not afraid of life: you are not living solely for tomorrow, for some nebulous immortal future that will be yours just as long as you're not naughty and do as you're told. You are living for now. In fact, right now you are going to seize life, take it tenderly between your moistened lips, set it on fire, draw it deep into your lungs and then whistle it back out again in a glorious plume of defiance. What about cancer, heart disease, emphysema? If you smoke, won't you die? Of course you will. The great American stand-up Bill Hicks used to ask: "Any non-smokers in the room? I got some bad news for you guys – you're gonna die too!" Smoking is ultimately about confronting death and defying it. The smoker looks death in the eye, and makes the universal gesture that says: "Do you have a light?" I cannot deny that Hicks was cut down in his prime, by cancer at the age of 31. As much as it has a heroic quality, smoking is also undeniably stupid. But the contradiction is integral to the appeal. As F Scott Fitzgerald put it: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time."

__________________
Standard disclaimer: the disgusting statements contained in this post are the views of the poster, and unless specified do not represent the views of the moderators or the site's owners.

If I was going to risk my life in a individualistic-libertarian-affirming activity, I think I'd try extreme sports or, even better but less individualistic, I'd be joining the US army (probabilities of getting into a conflict are way higher with the US military than with any other...). Killing people and stuff.

Dying slowly and miserably of lung cancer ain't my idea of fun...

__________________
Unless otherwise specified, I am posting as a regular poster. When I will act as a mod, I'll make sure you're in no doubt.

Quote:

If I was going to risk my life in a individualistic-libertarian-affirming activity, I think I'd try extreme sports

Hardly risking your life, all the same. You're at more risk crossing the road.

Quote:

or, even better but less individualistic, I'd be joining the US army (probabilities of getting into a conflict are way higher with the US military than with any other...). Killing people and stuff.

I considered that, but apparently they make you get up really early and do work and other unpleasant things like that...

__________________
Standard disclaimer: the disgusting statements contained in this post are the views of the poster, and unless specified do not represent the views of the moderators or the site's owners.

Originally Posted by Gilles de Rais

Dying slowly and miserably of lung cancer ain't my idea of fun...

Maybe not, but a slow miserably death is the fate of most people who live to an advanced age anyway.

I'm a bit surprised you'd mention a military career when a life of terrorism/freedom fighting would be so much more in line. Or are you just worried about government spooks trolling the internets?

__________________
Righteousness will always be the trap at the gates of hell

Originally Posted by AnonymousIdiotSavant

Maybe not, but a slow miserably death is the fate of most people who live to an advanced age anyway.

Yep. They say the last year is the real bad one, whether you're 75 or 85... I'll see how I feel if/when I get there but I might decide to skip that one...

Quote:

I'm a bit surprised you'd mention a military career when a life of terrorism/freedom fighting would be so much more in line. Or are you just worried about government spooks trolling the internets?

Funny you mention that. As soon as I posted, I realised that "mercenary" was more in line with the concept. Or maybe elite soldier units operating with very loose parameters.

I don't agree with the choice of 'terrorist'. Terrorism, apart from suicide ones - which is a one-off lifetime experience - is often about attacking soft, unprotected targets. There is no real excitement in that. Even attacking well protected ones via explosives is relatively cushy. The challenge is entirely cerebral and technical.

No, for adrenaline rushes, I think down-nd-dirty fire fights are going to be hard to beat...

__________________
Unless otherwise specified, I am posting as a regular poster. When I will act as a mod, I'll make sure you're in no doubt.

Originally Posted by Zichao

Hardly risking your life, all the same. You're at more risk crossing the road...

Huh.... YouTube - Extreme Base Jumping in Wingsuits
You want to increase your chances of dying? Just get closer to the mountain or try getting closer the the road turn (end of the video...). That ought to do the trick...

__________________
Unless otherwise specified, I am posting as a regular poster. When I will act as a mod, I'll make sure you're in no doubt.

Yeah, i've seen wingsuits before, it looks pretty sick.

You know what else would be sick? Becoming a serial killer. You get to set your own hours, your own agenda, which means whatever you choose to do is bound to get you off. Clearly though its only for the highly self-motivated.

__________________
Righteousness will always be the trap at the gates of hell