Applause for Tobacco – If Tepid

It matters both that you’re smoking and what you’re smoking.

Remember when Herman Cain’s chief of staff casually smoked a cigarette near the end of one his candidate’s ads? Comedian Bill Maher made mention of it on his “Real Time with Me” HBO show Friday the 13th as he interviewed … Continue reading

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Too Bad We Can’t Clean the Air

It’s easier for them to compromise when they’re not coughing

I have a musician friend with years of experience playing in bars. Her present gig is a smoke-filled venue with poor ventilation. Throaty-sounding after a weekend of singing and swallowing smoke, she fondly reminisced about the much cleaner air in … Continue reading

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A Good Movie & Excellent Litmus Test

Test the sense of proportion in your non-smoking friends

The movie is Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams, a 2006 present-day drama of the Balkans that shows films can be searing and bleak at the same time. A winner of the prestigious Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film … Continue reading

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Poor, Poor Anti-Smoking Zealots

Like Afghanistan, getting in was the easy part

At first, a lot of people smoked because someone had told them to smoke (Marlboro Man, WWII, 9 out of 10 doctors, etc.) So, when the anti-smoking zealots told them to stop, they stopped. Then a bunch of other people … Continue reading

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