Mini-Rants Thread

Passive smoke does harm other people.

And if they politely asked you to stop? I don't know about where you come from, but I find it hard to imagine someone responding to seeing someone smoking in a "No Smoking" zone by pulling the cigarette out of their hand. I'm going to skip over the part about you stabbing someone over a cigarette and put it down to attempted humour.

Limiting the places in which people may smoke is about preventing other peoples' choices (specifically, the choice to smoke and the decision to accept the negative health consequences) being imposed on others. If everyone just did whatever they liked regardless of how other people would be affected, most people would have their personal freedoms destroyed by the actions of others; there have to be compromises in society that prevent people from doing certain things for certain reasons so that most people can enjoy personal liberties without being abused by the wills of others.

 

You are correct, and I don't smoke with people who mind around me.

I respond politely to politeness, so if I were asked I would stop. It happens, non-smokers can be batshit fucking stupid these days. And if a stranger aggressively put a hand in my face and physically interfered with me I would consider it, obviously, an act of aggression. And I respond to aggression by bringing it to a new plateau and topping it. That's how I roll.

Holy god damn fuck, smoking a cigarette isn't synonymous with raping a person - it's not the greatest fucking threat to society that's ever existed. I understand what you're saying but I fail to see how it remotely relates to this. Me smoking a cigarette in private has never stopped anyone from pursuing any of their personal liberties and you are a silly for suggesting such a thing (but I'm sure you knew this considering your ambiguity and lack of real-life citation).

Edit:

On a very related note, I met up with and smoked with two Romulationers a couple of years ago (no stabbing occurred).

 

I'm not talking about you smoking a cigarette in private, as I've said repeatedly, it's nobody's business but your own what you choose to do on your own or with consenting people.

 

This. There's no reason why everyone is so damn hard on smoking. I don't do much myself anymore, but everyone else in my house does...
I can't remember once in my life coughing from the stuff secondhand...and I have never been prone to Illness.
Sure smoking is unhealthy, but so is fast food.

 

I'd like to mention that I probably would in fact not stab somebody, I was just taking things to an extreme measure to illustrate my opinion about aggression against smokers being little different from unprovoked aggression. But it could happen. Probably depends on the day. And I want to experience a knife fight before I die, sue me.

 

Yeah, he's polite enough to only light up with other friends of his that do it, or when watching Carl Sagan at his place. I don't mind him smoking pot, as it's a great source of "high" jokes. I'd probably never flat/room with a pot smoker though, having that stuff in the house and getting caught with it means that everyone who lives there is tarred with the same brush. Just something I'd like to avoid. I don't really give too much of a shit about people smoking it though, as long as it doesn't affect me.

Personal observation though, the vast majority of people who I know smoke regularly seem to have come down with chronic laziness and disinterest. The aforementioned friend is a rare exception. Not saying that correlation implies causation, just an interesting thing.

 

Ah that sucks. Getting caught just means a $50 fine for me and nothing for my room mates so that's never been an issue luckily. And since everyone seems to have a vice, they typically have UNDERAGED alcohol in the place which carries the same sentence. Sort of a trade-off.

I usually chalk this up to idea that demotivated people are more likely to smoke because they are comfortable disregarding their responsibilities, but honestly where I live everybody smokes so my frame of reference may be distorted. But I could be wrong. Maybe it does demotivate you. But the increased empathy, reduced anxiety, and general comfort it provides makes it a trade-off I'm willing to make because I'm not consciously aware of any inhibiting motivational consequences.

But sitting at my computer wanking and talking on IRC doesn't really require much in the way of motivation anyway.

 

I'm chronically lazy and disinterested, but I don't smoke. Then again, I am 15.

 

Also:

"They tell you pot makes you unmotivated - lie. When you're high you can do everything you normally do just as well, you just realize it's not worth the fucking effort. Sure, I could get up at dawn, get in traffic and go to a job I hate that does not inspire me creatively whatsoever for the rest of my life. I could do that, sure... or... I could sleep til noon, get up and learn how to play the sitar." - Bill Hicks

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pvKrGNO9o&feature=related

 

S'all about that indole man, Joe knows what's up.

 

There are several videos like that one...totally can't wait to see the new Fear Factor this fall.

 

Number 1 commercial/tv show I hate now that makes me rant is:
"OMG I'm addicted to food, I wanna stop eating but I cant" *sob sob*

Then the family goes:
"I hate to see her/him eat so much but I dont know how I can help" *sob sob*

I have a very simple solution to this issue that doesnt require wasting brain cells on a commercial/tv show...Ready for it? Here it comes...

Put down the damn fork and shut the hell up.
_______________________________________________________________________
Sound about right?

 

Yeah, the best way to stop addiction is to just stop being addicted.

>_>

 

Addicted to FOOD. thats a stupid concept, I get it if the food was laced with drugs or if it was just drugs in general, but all this is rediculous. Its just a way for them to go about eating all they want and staying on tv without taking responsibility for thier fat selves eating too much. the families are worse cause they just sob about it into a camera. They could just take away the food and if the "addict" tries to eat more than they're given, SLAP THEM. Simple

 

I like reading your opinions. Seriously, great stuff. Tell me more.

 

^ curious to know what you edited out

 

I inserted too much praise, it kinda sounded like I was being sarcastic.

 

Thats sarcastic sounding

 

Sure, but I really did need to tone the praise down.