On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:24:07 -0800, "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:

"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
Lobby Dosser wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:

When your liver rots out and you have no health insurance, then
what?
Then you die. Sounds harsh, but really, why should others have to
pay the consequences of your bad choices?


Who Decides? You? Me?

The new Death Panels.

Sounds about right.

As if any Actuary had -ever- given us a choice...

--
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy
simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
-- Storm Jameson

"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
...
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Upscale" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
When your liver rots out and you have no health insurance, then what?

Then you die. Sounds harsh, but really, why should others have to pay
the
consequences of your bad choices?

Really ignorant response Doug. What if it's not the result of a bad
choice?

Really ignorant comment Upscale. The question about livers rotting out
was
in
the context of discussing the effects of alcohol abuse -- which is
indeed
a
bad choice.

Do try to pay attention.

What if it's the result of not being able to afford sufficient
insurance?

Perhaps if the hypothetical owner of the hypothetical rotted liver had
not
spent all his money on booze, he would have been able to affort
insurance.
I
think you'd agree that choosing to spend your money on liquor instead
of
health insurance is a poor choice.


For some people, after the first drink there is no longer a choice.

There is always a choice.


You ever been addicted?

Yes.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

On Feb 18, 1:15*pm, Larry Blanchard wrote:

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60. *
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. *When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. *I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. *That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. *He reluctantly agreed. *I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. *When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. *Been doing that for 4 years. *Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. *But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

I do sense an increasing trend - you've quadrupled your smoking in
only 4 years.

Check back in periodically so we can monitor your
addic...sorry...habi...oops...relaxation? Say every 5 years for the
next 30 year. That should give us enough data to draw some meaningful
answers.

Don't think of pulling out of the study early - this is a scientific
experiment and we need your cooperation.

R

On Feb 18, 8:12*am, "HeyBub" wrote:

Now you would probably argue that the money going to his dealer is put BACK
into the community when the dealer blings up his teeth, but this sort of
"broken window" economics, so beloved by Keynesians and Democrats, is a flaw
of gigantic proportions.

Did you read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell? There was some
interesting stuff in there about the broken window premise, but not
directly about drug dealers and their teeth.

R

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...

Is the concept of "irony" in your lexicon, Robotboy?

I see it bothers you to be called Devvy.

A) What connection is there between what I posted and your response? B) Why
would anyone by upset to be called names by an angry imbecile?

I was waiting for a tray of stuffed peppers to bake, so I had a little
time to waste.
So I did a little Googling and lo and behold DGDevin is an asshole in
LOTS of other newsgroups too.

English translation: your nose is so out of joint that you did a search on
me in hopes of finding something to use as a stick with which to beat me,
you're *that* angry. Sad, or what?

You're an asshole, Devvy... to the core.

Another *devastating* blow, it's a miracle I haven't thrown myself sobbing
onto the floor, isn't it.

Ooopps.. the oven just beeped... have a nice day, Devvy, I shall not
waste any more time today dealing with your transparent weak-ass
trolling. ( I said today.. I may decide to tickle you under your chin
at a later date.)

Let's see, *you* are the guy who jumped into a thread you otherwise had no
interest in just to **** and whine about what a ******* I am, but you
maintain that *I'm* the troll. So now we know that you're as ignorant of
logic as you are of irony.

Hey, you know what's really funny, I don't even remember what it was that we
were arguing about that has clearly left such bruises on your ego. Whatever
it was, you obviously haven't forgotten, have you.

"HeyBub" wrote in message
news

People whose only crime is possession of a banned drug for their own
consumption don't belong in prison in the first place. If they're
holding up liquor stores that is another matter, but if all they're
doing is using a street drug then prison is a waste of public money. If
you have a couple of shots of Old Overcoat in the evening while
watching The Good Guys it doesn't cause society any problems, ditto
if you smoked a joint instead. Let's save prison for those who
actually harm others.

How do you think someone in possession GOT to be in possession? Did the
stuff miracle itself into his pocket?

He bought it from an entrepreneur, which according to you means a
Republican.

In all likelihood, he bought it. With money stolen from somebody else.

It's a safe bet that the vast majority of street drugs purchased in this
country are not bought with stolen money, unless you count Wall St. stuffed
suits buying nose candy with money from looted pension funds. If memory
serves over half the people in this country have tried cannabis, for
example, and it doesn't make sense that they all stole the money they used
to buy their weed. Even addicts to really crippling drugs like meth and
crack first have to drain their own resources before turning to crime.
Don't you ever watch COPS, there is always some guy getting busted for dope
crying that he's going to lose his job. In the past couple of decades I've
had several friends who used various street drugs, and every one of them has
been gainfully employed, so I have to think there are many millions more
like that. Heroin or meth addicts are another matter of course.

That stolen money or property is wealth taken out of the community.

Now you would probably argue that the money going to his dealer is put
BACK into the community when the dealer blings up his teeth, but this sort
of "broken window" economics, so beloved by Keynesians and Democrats, is a
flaw of gigantic proportions.

It's no more taken out of the community than money that buys some Made In
China product at Wal-Mart. The dealer is going to go buy himself a Big Mac
and a sweater for his mom. Because as you know, most low-level dope dealers
still live with their mothers. The boss will buy a big plasma screen and
some spinner wheels for his Escalade--money is always moving.

http://freakonomicsbook.com/freakono...pts/chapter-3/

"HeyBub" wrote in message
news
Now you would probably argue that the money going to his dealer is put
BACK into the community when the dealer blings up his teeth, but this sort
of "broken window" economics, so beloved by Keynesians and Democrats, is a
flaw of gigantic proportions.

You have to watch out for those do-gooder Democrats like that leading
proponent of the Broken Window Theory, Rudy Giuliani.

On Feb 18, 3:30*pm, "DGDevin" wrote:

Why would anyone by upset to be called names by an angry imbecile?

I'm not upset about you calling me names. Stop giving yourself so much
credit!


I was waiting for a tray of stuffed peppers to bake, so I had a little
time to waste.
So I did a little Googling and lo and behold DGDevin is an asshole in
LOTS of other newsgroups too.

English translation: your nose is so out of joint that you did a search on
me


That translation of yours is incorrect. Making up stuff again, eh?

Uhhmm, nope. I googled other news groups because I was curious to find
out if it was normal for you to get so upset.
Obviously, you get all excited if anybody talks to you. You do this
all the time. Streeeetching out discussions just to feel wanted.
Unfortunately, you are just not interesting enough for me to do any
further searches.


Devvy, if lowly lill' ol' me gets you all this excited, you must live
a very boring life.

You are correct about one thing. You did demonstrate in a previous
exchange how screwed up you are, I just butted in to see if your
condition was chronic.
It seems to be.

Bottom line? I'm bored with you. How about something creative?

Nighty night! Don't stay up too long thinking of ways to get to this
Big Bad Robatoy... because regardless of what gurgles out of your
limited mind, I will always consider that it is just Devvy spouting
off again.

And now I fart in your general direction!

In article , says...

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

Same here. Every now and again I get the urge and chain-smoke a pack of
Sobranies or smoke my pipe for a couple or three days. Then the urge
passes and usually several years go by before I get the urge again.

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...


So I did a little Googling and lo and behold DGDevin is an asshole in
LOTS of other newsgroups too.

English translation: your nose is so out of joint that you did a search
on
me

That translation of yours is incorrect. Making up stuff again, eh?

So in your universe "I did a little Googling" and doing a search are not the
same thing huh? You're not thinking this through, are you.

Uhhmm, nope. I googled other news groups because I was curious to find
out if it was normal for you to get so upset.

Let me get this straight. You jumped into this thread just to whine and
snivel about how what a swine I am, and you did a Google search on me, but
you maintain that *I* am the one who is upset?

At some level even you must understand why this is laughably unconvincing.

Obviously, you get all excited if anybody talks to you. You do this
all the time. Streeeetching out discussions just to feel wanted.
Unfortunately, you are just not interesting enough for me to do any
further searches.

I haven't done *any* searches on you, sunshine, I couldn't care less where
you post or who you argue with or anything else about you. All I need to
know is you get kind of childish when someone mocks you online, and that's
not something most grownups would want said about them, is it.

Devvy, if lowly lill' ol' me gets you all this excited, you must live
a very boring life.

Again, Boytoy, you followed me to this thread, remember? So *logically* the
guy who does web searches on people is probably the one with emotional
issues, isn't he.

You are correct about one thing. You did demonstrate in a previous
exchange how screwed up you are, I just butted in to see if your
condition was chronic.

*Very* believable, you could probably fool almost any five-year-old with
that line. But at least you've admitted that you're still ****ed off over
whatever it was I disagree with you about, that's progress of a sort.

Bottom line? I'm bored with you. How about something creative?

You guys almost follow a script, don't you. You know, you guys who like to
get into little flame wars online and who then react badly when it doesn't
go like they wanted. You all do Google searches looking for something to
use as a weapon, you all claim to be bored at some point (but you always
come back again and again). Maybe it's a franchise and you have corporate
rules to follow.

Nighty night! Don't stay up too long thinking of ways to get to this
Big Bad Robatoy...

Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee back
in the old days of Usenet. Seriously, to get as cranky as you are over some
petty disrespect in a newsgroup, that's really odd. Ways to get you? What
is this, Grade Five?

And now I fart in your general direction!

Best thing you've come up with so far.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

I smoked a pack a day from 26-25 years of age. One day I said to myself that
I was tired of the bad taste in my mouth, the sore, dry throat and the
smelly nicotain stained fingures and just quit without any cravings at all
after that. Wasn't difficult at all and some people have told me that if I
quit that easily, then I wasn't addicted. Maybe I wasn't. The only way I can
explain my ease with quitting is that I experience a paradigm shift in
thinking and then it was easy after that. I suspect that even partially,
heavily addicted addicts on other drugs need to experience some type of
similar change in thinking before they have a chance of quitting and staying
quit.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:31:41 -0800, RicodJour wrote:

I do sense an increasing trend - you've quadrupled your smoking in only
4 years.


Either I can't write or you can't read. My consumption was steady at 1 a
month for 10 years - no increase. I then decided to "quadruple" it 4
years ago and it has been steady at that level for 4 years.

Check back in periodically so we can monitor your
addic...sorry...habi...oops...relaxation? Say every 5 years for the
next 30 year. That should give us enough data to draw some meaningful
answers.

If I'm around in 30 years I'll be 104. Living proof that 1 cigar a week
isn't harmful :-).

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

"DGDevin" wrote in message
interest in just to **** and whine about what a ******* I am, but you
maintain that *I'm* the troll. So now we know that you're as ignorant of
logic as you are of irony.

No, you're not a troll. It's quite obvious that you suffer from a severe
form of Last-word-itis. Last-word-itis sufferers have to have the final word
either by typing online or in a spoken venue. Normally, Last-word-itis
victims suffer from an excess of ego. That's certainly not true in your
case. Your ego is so fragile that the only way you can bolster it is to have
the last word everywhere. This assumed victory on your part is the only
reason you haven't yet experienced a complete and total mental breakdown.

I commiserate with you. I too suffered from Last-word-itis, but my illness
wasn't nearly as severe as yours. With the aid of a good woman, I was
instructed in better uses for my fingers and my tongue. I approached this
education with great zeal and shortly after she started teaching me, she
pronounced me cured. I've since gone on to a Masters and then a Ph.D.

"Upscale" wrote in message
news
No, you're not a troll. It's quite obvious that you suffer from a severe
form of Last-word-itis.

There's another Irony Meter shot to hell.

I commiserate with you. I too suffered from Last-word-itis, but my illness
wasn't nearly as severe as yours. With the aid of a good woman, I was
instructed in better uses for my fingers and my tongue.

Yikes.

I approached this education with great zeal and shortly after she started
teaching me, she pronounced me cured. I've since gone on to a Masters and
then a Ph.D.

And yet here you are, after informing the world just days ago that you were
done with me, here you are again, and with the added comic bonus of a
lecture on how you no longer want to have the last word. Where else can one
get this sort of entertainment for free?

"DGDevin" wrote in message
You guys almost follow a script, don't you. You know, you guys who like
to get into little flame wars online and who then react badly when it
doesn't go like they wanted.

Funny how his few lines of comments has you writing whole paragraphs in
response. Looks like your Last-word-itis affliction is approaching terminal.

On Feb 18, 7:22*pm, "DGDevin" wrote:


Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee back
in the old days of Usenet. *

I was not aware that I was standing in the shadow of an experienced
Usenet flamer.

What a claim to fame.

Now explain to me how that makes you less of an asshole.

"DGDevin" wrote in message
And yet here you are, after informing the world just days ago that you
were done with me, here you are again, and with the added comic bonus of a
lecture on how you no longer want to have the last word.

Thanks for making my point.

On Feb 18, 7:37*pm, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:31:41 -0800, RicodJour wrote:

I do sense an increasing trend - you've quadrupled your smoking in only
4 years.

Either I can't write or you can't read. *My consumption was steady at 1 a
month for 10 years - no increase. *I then decided to "quadruple" it 4
years ago and it has been steady at that level for 4 years.

Of there may be a third choice - I could be just teasing you.

Check back in periodically so we can monitor your
addic...sorry...habi...oops...relaxation? *Say every 5 years for the
next 30 year. *That should give us enough data to draw some meaningful
answers.

If I'm around in 30 years I'll be 104. *Living proof that 1 cigar a week
isn't harmful :-).

No matter how confident you are of the results, you are still required
to complete the entire study or you will not get the incentive paid
our test subjects. It's a box of Te Amo cigars marked "It's A Boy" if
you're wondering. We got a deal on them.

R

On Feb 18, 8:00*pm, "Upscale" wrote:
"DGDevin" wrote in message
And yet here you are, after informing the world just days ago that you
were done with me, here you are again, and with the added comic bonus of a
lecture on how you no longer want to have the last word.

Thanks for making my point.

LOL.. Devvy is looking for respect. He wants to be admired.
Problem is, that the only way he seems to be able to elevate himself,
is by standing on somebody..IOW, he tries and tries.
NOW he's trying to pull rank by claiming to be the NON-PLUS-ULTRA
Newsgroup dawg!

How insecure can one be?

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:53:35 -0800, "DGDevin"
wrote:

Where else can one
get this sort of entertainment for free?

alt.usenet.kooks

Perhaps you should mosey on over there, you could get mominated for an
award!

Mark

"Markem" wrote in message
news

Perhaps you should mosey on over there, you could get mominated for an
award!

Advice from anonymous g-mail accounts--sorry--not worth much.

in 1492032 20110218 181537 Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

Smoking is a habit, not an addiction.
I stopped dead at the end of 1975, after 20 years of 30-40 per day, and haven't
had one since.

"Bob Martin" wrote in message
...
in 1492032 20110218 181537 Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

Smoking is a habit, not an addiction.
I stopped dead at the end of 1975, after 20 years of 30-40 per day, and
haven't
had one since.


Some, like anything else, don't get addicted but those are in the minority.
I smoked for many years then switched to Copenhagen for about ten years.
Chewed at work and always found those that walked around spitting in a can
disgusting. I swallowed it. When I quit, I had serious withdrawal symptoms.

DGDevin wrote:

I assume you see your doctor once a year even if you're in good
health, so it's not like you'd need to make a special trip.

Not necessarily.

When you're young, you go to the doctor when you get sick.

When you become old and decrepit, drooling and incontinent, you go to the
doctor to keep from getting sick.

On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 07:55:29 GMT, Bob Martin
wrote:

in 1492032 20110218 181537 Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

Smoking is a habit, not an addiction.
I stopped dead at the end of 1975, after 20 years of 30-40 per day, and haven't
had one since.

Smoking is a habit while nicotine is an extremely addicting substance.
I quit in '88 and haven't ever been stinky again.

--
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy
simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
-- Storm Jameson

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...

Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee
back
in the old days of Usenet.

I was not aware that I was standing in the shadow of an experienced
Usenet flamer.

Oh hardly, but I was around to see the really serious trolls do their work,
so I developed a thick enough skin not to get all teary over someone flaming
me. It's just pixels on a screen, to take it as personally as you are is,
well, a bit odd. Maybe you were teased a lot at school when you were a kid
or something and you never got over that.

Now explain to me how that makes you less of an asshole.

Again, you're following me around calling me names, but you insist I'm the
one who qualifies as an asshole--perhaps at some some the irony of that
situation will occur to you.

On Feb 19, 3:16*am, "CW" wrote:

*Some, like anything else, don't get addicted but those are in the minority.
I smoked for many years then switched to Copenhagen for about ten years.
Chewed at work and always found those that walked around spitting in a can
disgusting. I swallowed it. When I quit, I had serious withdrawal symptoms.

I'm experiencing a serious gag reflex just thinking about swallowing
chew/snuff fluid.

R

On Feb 19, 11:05*am, "DGDevin" wrote:
"Robatoy" *wrote in message

...

Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee
back
in the old days of Usenet.
I was not aware that I was standing in the shadow of an experienced
Usenet flamer.

Oh hardly, but I was around to see the really serious trolls do their work,
so I developed a thick enough skin not to get all teary over someone flaming
me. *It's just pixels on a screen, to take it as personally as you are is,
well, a bit odd. *Maybe you were teased a lot at school when you were a kid
or something and you never got over that.

Now explain to me how that makes you less of an asshole.

Again, you're following me around calling me names, but you insist I'm the
one who qualifies as an asshole--perhaps at some some the irony of that
situation will occur to you.

There.. you had the last word. Happy ****face?

On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:15:22 -0800 (PST), Robatoy
wrote:

On Feb 19, 11:05*am, "DGDevin" wrote:
"Robatoy" *wrote in message

...

Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee
back
in the old days of Usenet.
I was not aware that I was standing in the shadow of an experienced
Usenet flamer.

Oh hardly, but I was around to see the really serious trolls do their work,
so I developed a thick enough skin not to get all teary over someone flaming
me. *It's just pixels on a screen, to take it as personally as you are is,
well, a bit odd. *Maybe you were teased a lot at school when you were a kid
or something and you never got over that.

Now explain to me how that makes you less of an asshole.

Again, you're following me around calling me names, but you insist I'm the
one who qualifies as an asshole--perhaps at some some the irony of that
situation will occur to you.

There.. you had the last word. Happy ****face?

Grow up and stop feeding the trolls.

--
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy
simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
-- Storm Jameson

On Feb 19, 1:48*pm, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:15:22 -0800 (PST), Robatoy





wrote:
On Feb 19, 11:05 am, "DGDevin" wrote:
"Robatoy" wrote in message

....

Neither big nor bad, Boytoy, you wouldn't have made a 3rd class trainee
back
in the old days of Usenet.
I was not aware that I was standing in the shadow of an experienced
Usenet flamer.

Oh hardly, but I was around to see the really serious trolls do their work,
so I developed a thick enough skin not to get all teary over someone flaming
me. It's just pixels on a screen, to take it as personally as you are is,
well, a bit odd. Maybe you were teased a lot at school when you were a kid
or something and you never got over that.

Now explain to me how that makes you less of an asshole.

Again, you're following me around calling me names, but you insist I'm the
one who qualifies as an asshole--perhaps at some some the irony of that
situation will occur to you.

There.. you had the last word. Happy ****face?

Grow up and stop feeding the trolls.

--
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy
simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -- Storm Jameson

Ya tinks heza troll?

"Bob Martin" wrote in message ...


Smoking is a habit, not an addiction.

There is massive medical evidence that it is indeed an addiction, with clear
bio-chemical impact on the brain.

I stopped dead at the end of 1975, after 20 years of 30-40 per day, and
haven't
had one since.

Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others, just as some
people are more likely to have heart attacks or get cancer or lose their
hair. I can think of a couple of friends who kicked addictions like
drinking for a decade or more and then were drawn back into that
self-destructive spiral, so it sure looks to me like for some people it
isn't just a matter of willpower.

On Feb 19, 4:14*pm, "DGDevin" wrote:
*I can think of a couple of friends who kicked addictions like
drinking for a decade or more and then were drawn back into that
self-destructive spiral, so it sure looks to me like for some people it
isn't just a matter of willpower.

Lemme guess.... they were hanging with you at that time?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:
"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Upscale" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
When your liver rots out and you have no health insurance, then
what?

Then you die. Sounds harsh, but really, why should others have to
pay
the
consequences of your bad choices?

Really ignorant response Doug. What if it's not the result of a bad
choice?

Really ignorant comment Upscale. The question about livers rotting out
was
in
the context of discussing the effects of alcohol abuse -- which is
indeed
a
bad choice.

Do try to pay attention.

What if it's the result of not being able to afford sufficient
insurance?

Perhaps if the hypothetical owner of the hypothetical rotted liver had
not
spent all his money on booze, he would have been able to affort
insurance.
I
think you'd agree that choosing to spend your money on liquor instead
of
health insurance is a poor choice.


For some people, after the first drink there is no longer a choice.

There is always a choice.

You ever been addicted?


My wife was, to cigarettes. She quit. She made the choice to quit. If
there
truly was "no choice" then no one would ever be able to break an
addiction.


If there was Choice, no one would ever GET addicted.

--
Ever wonder why doctors, dentists and lawyers have to Practice so much? Ever
wonder why you let them Practice on You?

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:
I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not.

It is.


--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw



--
Ever wonder why doctors, dentists and lawyers have to Practice so much? Ever
wonder why you let them Practice on You?

"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message
I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

I smoked a pack a day from 26-25 years of age. One day I said to myself
that I was tired of the bad taste in my mouth, the sore, dry throat and
the smelly nicotain stained fingures and just quit without any cravings at
all after that. Wasn't difficult at all and some people have told me that
if I quit that easily, then I wasn't addicted. Maybe I wasn't. The only
way I can explain my ease with quitting is that I experience a paradigm
shift in thinking and then it was easy after that. I suspect that even
partially, heavily addicted addicts on other drugs need to experience some
type of similar change in thinking before they have a chance of quitting
and staying quit.


In general, the required change is the admission that you are an Addict. I
drank heavily from 18 to 23 and from 42 to 43 and had no problems either
time. I can take a drink any time I want and have no problems refusing the
second. If I smoke ONE cigarette, I NEED a carton.

--
Ever wonder why doctors, dentists and lawyers have to Practice so much? Ever
wonder why you let them Practice on You?

"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
In general, the required change is the admission that you are an Addict. I
drank heavily from 18 to 23

So did I at the same age for several years. Every weekend, I'd have some
friends over and I'd drink two bottles of cheap wine during a card game.
After I moved out and was on my own with most of us going our different
ways, I drank very little after that. I think it was just the social aspect
of it that brought on the drinking.

time. I can take a drink any time I want and have no problems refusing the
second. If I smoke ONE cigarette, I NEED a carton.

Fortunately, I never had that problem. The ten years I smoked and then quit
had no noticeable addictive properties attached at all. Ten years later when
I was in the hospital for three months, I held the cigarette for a
quadraplegic acquaintence and the smell of the nicotine on my fingers
afterwards almost made me gag.

On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:01:10 -0800, Lobby Dosser wrote:

If there was Choice, no one would ever GET addicted.

Sigh - once again someone posts a 66 line message to add one line.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

"Upscale" wrote in message
...

"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
In general, the required change is the admission that you are an Addict.
I drank heavily from 18 to 23

So did I at the same age for several years. Every weekend, I'd have some
friends over and I'd drink two bottles of cheap wine during a card game.
After I moved out and was on my own with most of us going our different
ways, I drank very little after that. I think it was just the social
aspect of it that brought on the drinking.

time. I can take a drink any time I want and have no problems refusing
the second. If I smoke ONE cigarette, I NEED a carton.

Fortunately, I never had that problem. The ten years I smoked and then
quit had no noticeable addictive properties attached at all. Ten years
later when I was in the hospital for three months, I held the cigarette
for a quadraplegic acquaintence and the smell of the nicotine on my
fingers afterwards almost made me gag.



I can smell it when somebody lights up half a block away or even if a smoker
preceded me into a store. If I get in the actual second hand smoke, I start
having allergy symptoms.
--
Ever wonder why doctors, dentists and lawyers have to Practice so much? Ever
wonder why you let them Practice on You?

"Bob Martin" wrote in message
...
in 1492032 20110218 181537 Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 07:41:58 -0500, Upscale wrote:

Not good enough. We all know someone who has quit something somewhere
sometime, even someone as close as your wife. Perhaps if you had more
than a vague second hand experience with being seriously addicted, then
you might just possibly be a little more understanding.

OK, how about some personal experience.

I smoked almost a carton a week from the time I was 18 until almost 60.
I did switch from unfiltered to filtered about the middle of that.

Just before my 60th birthday I had a heart attack - luckily not a massive
one. When I got out of intensive care I went outside, pushing my IV
holder, and had my last cigarette. I noticed no physical withdrawal
symptoms, just my hand having a reflex action of reaching for my shirt
pocket every now and then. That went away in a week or two.

I did tell my cardiologist that I missed it and wondered if one cigar a
month was admissible. He reluctantly agreed. I adhered to that regimen
for 10 years. When I reached 70 I unilaterally decided to let myself
have one a week. Been doing that for 4 years. Surely if smoking was
addictive to me I would have been rapidly increasing my cigar smoking
until it was a constant thing.

I don't know if smoking is addictive to other people or not. But it does
not seem to be addictive to me.

Smoking is a habit, not an addiction.

For YOU.

I stopped dead at the end of 1975, after 20 years of 30-40 per day, and
haven't
had one since.

Lucky you.