Monthly Archives: June 2013

Decline and Fall

Following on from last night’s look at institutional decay, via ZeroHedge I came across a couple of essays on the Rise and Fall of Great Powers. … it’s not the absolute wealth and power of any one nation or empire that … Continue reading

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Rotten To The Core

H/T Margo for pointing out an article by Rob Lyons in Spiked: Last Tuesday, members of the American Medical Association (AMA), the body that represents US doctors, voted to recognise obesity as a disease in its own right. The notion … Continue reading

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An Unlikely Antismoker

H/T Harley, for Smoking Bans Kill Freedom. It would be unremarkable, except that it’s written by an antismoker. I’m writing as someone who hates smoking and often walks out of restaurants and bars at the first whiff of smoke. He … Continue reading

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One Of Us

I was sitting outside in my favourite pub garden this afternoon. A couple of other people were also sat outside, eating. I wondered if they were smokers or not. Eventually, after they’d finished eating, one of them lit a cigarette. … Continue reading

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Where’s Eddie?

The Edward Snowden affair continues to attract headlines. And now Where’s Eddie? cartoons and photoshops. Here’s one from the Guardian: It’s all getting to be just like an old Cold War spat. Snowden is still in the transit lounge of … Continue reading

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Dolled-up Wussbags

Came across this a few days back. Life Was Better With Cigarettes. When I first turned 21, Wisconsin was still fending off bordering states and their push against cigarettes by still allowing smoking in bars. What developed was smoke-filled dens called … Continue reading

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Spy vs. Spy

I haven’t paid much attention to the Edward Snowden affair. His revelations – that the NSA reads everyone’s emails while they’re typing them – weren’t in the least bit surprising to me, because I’ve always thought that’s exactly what they … Continue reading

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Buy Some Right Now

I’ve mentioned this before. Leonard Cohen plans to take up smoking again when he turns 80. “I’m really looking forward to this moment,” the man in the black suit and rakish fedora says, slowly and conspiratorially, the same way that … Continue reading

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Bad

A day or so back, in respect of claims that smoking causes lung cancer, MikeF commented: The battle against Tobacco Control is a two front war. Fighting ONLY about secondhand smoke concedes the LARGER battle – and that, I submit, … Continue reading

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Downgrade

H/T A.C. for an article in The Freeman:  Students are equipping dorm rooms with rolling machines. Kids carry pouches and filters. They are only occasional smokers but they are serious about the art and technique of rolling. It strikes me … Continue reading

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