@Sean - Dray horses are the best. You light the tail [that's what it's for] and then suck on the nostrils. We flog the horseshoes to tourists as lucky symbols. And to get the ash off, just kick the horse in the nuts.

which end do you light?

How do you knock the ash off a 800 pound horse?

Do you smoke palominos or quarter horses?

what do you do with their shoes when you are done?

All smokers in this information age must be aware of the dangers and hazards and expense of smoking by now, but it still doesn’t stop us! Telling us that we can’t smoke in certain areas makes us want to spark up. Telling us that it causes cancer makes us want to spark up. Putting the prices up pisses us off, but we can make allowances in our budget. At least we’re not on heroin, right?

It’s the tobacco companies that are giggling into their cuffs now, because they KNOW all of this. The government is just trying to do anything it can to get us to stop, but if they ARE going about it the wrong way, it’s only because they can’t stop the problem at source.

I don’t know how to stop the availablity of cigarettes. If they were made illegal, then crime rates would obviously soar. You can’t get cigarette companies to put some godawful repellant taste in their smokes, and even if they did, we’d still smoke them.

I’m happy to smoke outside pubs, and really like the way you can breathe easily in bars late at night. The fart issue really only applies in stuffy enclosed sweaty places like nightclubs but I don’t go to those anymore.

As for artificial smellies, I also hate air fresheners and body sprays that smell like windowlene. I LOVE incense, expensive perfumes, and Farenheit on men. So pooh (or manure, then) to that idea.

This path to self destruction is self inflicted.. we’re giving ourselves emphysema (sp?), reducing our son’s sperm count by drinking milk and eating beef full of growth hormones, we’re washing dirt off our bodies with abrasive chemicals, we’re drinking water that’s been through other people’s bodies 7 times. SO WHAT? It’s the age we live in, and we can do nowt about it except worry about what life will be like for our great great grandchildren.

Life is here to be laughed at, and the government is providing great material, so there is a silver lining!

i actually love the smell of clove cigarettes, too. i used to buy them for my ex-boyfriend (before he was my ex), thereby thwarting all of his attempts to quit smoking.

We’ll ban all cigarettes outright. I’d be very happy with that.

And anyone who wants a smoke, has to smoke a pipe. Not healthy, but a lot healthier. I’d be even happier with that.

Of course you are right in all you say. Including the ‘light hearted’ bit!!

Invariably, when I post I’m “stirring the sh*t” a bit. I don’t necessarily believe all I write. But I write it to provoke a bit of debate. I have learned a lot from blogging, and one thing I have learned to my surprise is how many people seem to agree with my sometimes outrageous views.

And you are not being a downer. Without people commenting on my posts, I’d have probably given up long ago. And I enjoy a bit of a scrap, because I learn [sometimes]. So KEEP ‘EM COMING….!!!

but to argue that we should not worry about second-hand smoke because there are so many OTHER toxins in our lives seems an odd argument. shoudln’t we be trying to avoid as many toxins as possible, rather than shrugging and saying, ah well, what’s one more?

the other thing about restaurants and bars is that it’s essentially low-income and blue-collar workers who are endangered. folks who work at home, or in nice air conditioned offices and banks don’t have to put up with this.

so it’s another way of shrugging off the problems of the poor, which are already myriad.

as for what dangers second-hand smoke carry, the mayo clinic website says that secondhand smoke carries these cancer-causing chemicals:

* Formaldehyde
* Arsenic
* Cadmium
* Benzene
* Ethylene oxide

as well as these chemicals:

* Ammonia — irritates your lungs
* Carbon monoxide — hampers breathing by reducing oxygen in your blood
* Methanol — toxic when inhaled or swallowed
* Hydrogen cyanide — interferes with proper respiratory function

The dangerous particles given off in secondhand smoke can linger in the air for hours. Even breathing them in for a short time — as little as 20 or 30 minutes — can harm your health in a variety ways. And breathing in secondhand smoke over years can be all the more dangerous.

Some of the known or suspected health risks include:

Cancer
In 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency placed environmental tobacco smoke in the most dangerous category of cancer-causing agents, and subsequent research has upheld that status.

Secondhand smoke is a known risk factor for lung cancer. Experts believe that secondhand smoke is to blame for roughly 3,000 deaths from lung cancer in adult nonsmokers each year in the United States. Secondhand smoke is also linked to cancer of the nasal sinuses. It’s also been linked to cancers of the cervix, breast and bladder, but the evidence hasn’t been as compelling as the link to lung cancer.

Heart disease
Secondhand smoke harms the cardiovascular system of nonsmokers in many ways. For one thing, it causes coronary heart disease, such as a heart attack. It also damages blood vessels, interferes with circulation and increases the risk of blood clots. It’s estimated that some 35,000 nonsmokers die of smoking-related heart disease in the United States every year.

Lung disease
Chronic lung ailments, such as bronchitis and asthma, have been associated with secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also associated with chest tightness at night and feelings of breathlessness after physical activity.