Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Thoughts

Rush is on vacation.

Michael Savage is on vacation (or just not doing his own show at the moment).

Talk radio: the next best thing to paying attention to the road. Though, I must say, I'm getting sick of hearing about the Swift Boat Vets. The Swift Boat Vets are heroes. They're tools of the Bush campaign. They're telling the truth about Kerry. They're liars intent on destroying a brave and competent man. Whatever story you accept...

I NO LONGER CARE.

All that can be said about them has been said. Naturally this means we'll hear it all over again, just in case.

Nicotine is a wonderful drug. You won't hear many people admit that openly, because cigarettes are Evil. Lung cancer is a small price to pay for increased mental acuity, though. I get more done in less time when I have that burning chemical in my blood. Too bad about the whole "causes death" thing. Shame, really.

Actually, this brings up an important issue. If anyone were to say what I said, he'd be shouted down with knee-jerk anti-tobacco platitudes. But, really, why are cigarettes smoked if they have no beneficial properties? Beyond the pleasure of it, cigarette smoking does produce some nifty results. It's a stimulant that relaxes the nerves, it seems to help one focus better, and it just...gives your hands something to do. Smoking two packs a day and killing yourself at fifty is a terrible tradeoff for those meager benefits, really, but that's not the point. Were I to suggest that someone have a cigarette every once in a while to relax, I'd get the same raving denunciation.

Alcohol is lovely as well. Give it a chance. Some people, shockingly, understand and practice moderation.

1 Comments:

At 1:33 AM, August 29, 2004 , Blogger Vernunft said...

Well, smoking after a particularly nasty craving is certainly relaxing, and those nasty cravings only occur when a sufficient nicotine addiction has been created; thus, I suppose the physical satisfaction of an intense craving can only occur in a regular smoker. However, I can attest to the fact that smoking a cigarette can have a calming effect even when there is little or no physical need for the nicotine. I sometimes leave off smoking for weeks and find that the first cigarette is quite calming in itself. Maybe this is a largely psychologically-based effect different from the effect on a regular smoker.

 

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