An Irrational Anger Rant

[Mark W]

Formerly John Prescott's pair o' Jags, surely?

I agree that tax breaks would probably be good, but you'd have to have a big ol' break to offset the potential of having your entire clientelle f**k off elsewhere. The reason that isn't completely cunting businesses in the f**k now is that it's a blanket ban, so there's no real other place to go, apart from places with areas where you're allowed to smoke.

[Christophe']

Hey Rich the fox hunters and still hunting ,ban or not, and good luck to them.

One mans misfortune is another mans source of hilarity.

We are all guilty of it.

Know what you mean though the bloke and his stick were probaly f**ktards, but so are 50 percent of pub goers anyway.

[Simpson]

I read all of that and i thought 95% of it was just such total bull, I dont know if you have had any person experince but one of my mates dad's died through smoking related cancer, its not a sharp end to life its a painfull prolonged death at a high expence to the NHS, im not even talking about the physical pain he was in, I'm talking about my mate, she would often cry and have to walk away from many lessons if people were talking about dads and stuff like that as he was an "ill dad" thought much of her childhood

I think your stupid if you think people really think "hey lets take smoking out of pubs and clubs to have more government control" becuase thats total bullshit!!! I mean I'm not even one of these "smokings going to kill you" type of person Ive smoked but just given it up totally its just pointless, I cant understand smoking what-so-ever anymore and i cant imagaine what posessed me to ever do it

I just think your being selfish by not thinking about anyone else and there health, just give the shit up and stop bitch whining about it, your 1st paragraph was the only one you actually mentioned any of your positive contructive reasons why smoking good, and they were only good for you not considate of anyone else! then the rest of your 2500 words were just doing a whole kinda day after tommorow, controlling state, bullshit..... smoke in your house or outside by all means kill your self regardless of your family and people who love you.... its such utter bull and i didnt really find it "thought prevoking" or whatever people have said, it was just a deep rant about your life

I think its bullshit that you cant smoke at work in smoking rooms, because its not like non smokers are exposed to places like that unless they chose to. but if a non smoker goes down any pub he has no opion but to be in a smokey enviroment

[Tomm]

Just for what it's worth, I'm going to say I'm well pleased that this ban has come in. I used to work in a pub and it was horrible, I couldn't help thinking every time I did a shift that my lungs died a little bit. But now it just smells nice and clean in pubs, it's awesome.

You say they are taking away our civil liberties, but I look at it like this: The government are doing what the people want them to do. The majority of people are in favour of the ban, so the government is simply doing what the people want. Plus it'll save the NHS money, prevent millions of days off work (people diagnosed with COPD are ten times more likely to take sick days, apparently). Same with fox hunting - It just happens that you were on the receiving end of both the bans. I'm in support of both bans really, I think they're two of the best things this government has done.

[Luke Rainbird]

If anyone quotes Rich's post I will kill them!

Personally, I'm glad of the ban - I'm a non-smoker and HATE the smell/taste of smoke, and think it should be banned from all public places, other than places with a license or designated areas

-OR-

The whole place should be do-what-you-like land

Nanny state = biggest pile of wank ever, there should be far more freedom of choice, but also there is an element of people thinking of others etc, and how their actions will affect everyone else. There's clearly been a MASSIVE social decline over the last 50 years (well, longer...) though, and today's society is officially f**kED

Balls...

[Boswell]

got sent this earlier:

So much for the cigarette ban, 2 Asians already caught smoking at Glasgow airport "

not that funny now i read it out

Yes it is put it in the joke topic .

[Tomm]

On a completely different note, they announced the ban about a year ago, right?

Well, in December this guy opens a Shisha bar in Manchester, with a promise from the council that the ban wouldn't apply. Except now they've changed the law so there are no exceptions, and Shisha bars are included in it. So basically he's f**ked. He's probably even more annoyed than Rich

[Rich Pearson]

If I'm happy about one thing that essay has done (which I'm almost starting to regret writing now) is it has provoked a lot of people to think beyond their normal state and take some intelligent, deciseive action either supporting what I've said or arguing against it.

Simpson, first of all I'm sorry for you and your friends loss I really am, cancer and smoking related illnessess have taken more than my fair share of loved ones and my sympathy for you is beyond deep, but I think you and several others are rather missing my point here and appear to have read into the first 600 words or so a little too much. I am against the smoking ban, or course I am, I'M A SMOKER, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it and by god I wish I was addicted to somthing less dangerous to myself and others. I don't understand smoking either, hell, I really don't particularly enjoy it but thats addiction for you.

But that ISN'T what I was talking about.

For a long time I have been what most people would describe as anarchic. I'm a very angry person but my anger is not fuelled by greed or self-centred lust, its fuelled for a desire for chaos and disorder, and it scares the hell out of me every damn day I have to wake up and do something I DON'T want to do.

And here in lies my point, the fact that for centuries humans have striven to do whatever the individual wants and have squabbled over petty little things like this without realising that the very ground beneath their feet is what they are ultimately losing.

50 years ago the gist of that essay would have been to tell people to stop worrying about legislation, laws, valued added tax, tax returns, university, gap years, 0.5% apr, childs fares, NHS fees, promotional prospects, marriage, god, themselves and STOP DESTROYING THE DAMN PLANET.

But in 50 years a hell of a lot has changed and we can't get those 50 years back and unless I walk out of my front door tomorrow and a law against driving and using electiricity and construction and microwaves and evey great little thing which makes our lives more convienient but kills the planet in return has all come into play... we are f**ked. And that is simply not going to happen.

So the thing about smoking is partly my own self-centred frustraton at not getting my own way (I'll grant you that) and partly my way of saying why are people even bothering anymore.

If the enviroment and the planet were on the up and up and everything was just honkey dorey, I would be singing a very different tune.

I swear I have done more typing in the last 6 hours than in my entire 4 year a-level course put together...

Rich

[dave85]

What exactly, if anything, do you want us to do about it?

Short of the whole population thinking "f**k this" and dissolving government, we'll never get to total freedom. Even if half of us think "f**k this" and stage a coup de ta, we would be enforcing our "no rules" rule on the other half, which would rather miss the point (On that note, I had a chuckle today reading a poster on a lamp post that proclaimed some kind of organisation for anarchists was to be set up....)

Perhaps your life grates on the inequalitites in our society, which is in no sense your own fault, you were just born as Rich and that's how you are. Still, avoiding insoluble problems is a damn sight better than banging your head against them.

[Simpson]

Well i don't really understand how you feel, i think weve had times when you end up thinking, "why are things like they are?" but personally i like being able to walk out my house in saftey and in comfort. I think all the stuff you said on interest rates and stuff is all misguided infomation. We all live very privilaged lives now, we all have money to "waste" on bikes, we proably have of least 1 square meal a day and have good job opportunitys for everyone. So i dont really know how anyone can have too much beef with the governmet. We all have

* housing

* food

* NHS

You know. I dont think anochism (sp) or anything can solve anything...... it would demolish the comforts that we all just take for granted....

this is just a kinda post for nothing i guess......

[JonMack]

On a completely different note, they announced the ban about a year ago, right?

Well, in December this guy opens a Shisha bar in Manchester, with a promise from the council that the ban wouldn't apply. Except now they've changed the law so there are no exceptions, and Shisha bars are included in it. So basically he's f**ked. He's probably even more annoyed than Rich

That's f**king rediculous. I understand the smoking ban, non smokers don't want to breath in other peoples smoke, but in a Shisha bar, it's pretty much a given that you're going to breathe in other people smoke, after all, its somewhere to go, to smoke.

Put your hands up for Great Britain, I love this country...

[Sneakers O'Toole]

I've just come back from the pub and as usual it was full of people smoking which doesn't really bother me, i accept that if i go to a pub its gunna have smoke in the air.

As for the essay in the first post i don't think it is taking away any freedoms, it's just placing a restriction on something that can harm other people. You can still smoke to your hearts content.

As for me i think i'll take up chewing tobacco or that stuff you sniff, i havent had a cig in a few months now.

[Luke Rainbird]

...that stuff you sniff...

Cocaine?

[Sneakers O'Toole]

Haha nah that tobacco you wack up your snozzer. Is it called snuff??? I saw it on that Long Way Round programme with Ewan McGregor.

[modman]

DUDE!!!!!! Seriously you are sooooooo damn right about the way people in modern society think. They are absolutely clueless and all they care is about is whinging and moaning about petty little to make their that much more barable.

I've noticed this working in halfords for the past 2 years and the amount of people that all they care is about is themselves and don't give a shit who they're talking to.

Most of society has any form of common sense and the duty to your fellow man, its about me me me and that if they don't get their own way they'll sue the motherf**ker.

I do strongly believe that the nation as a whole is becoming far more retarded but yet more people nowadays are holding more degrees than ever! I honestly don't understand that.

I'm gunna write out a statement from what the 14th dalai lama wrote about 4-5 years ago and i believe in it sooo whole heartedly

Paradox of our age

We have bigger houses, but smaller families.

We have more degrees, but less sense.

More knowledge, but less judgement.

More experts, but more problems.

More medicines, but less healthiness.

We've been all the way to the moon and back.

But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever.

But have less communication.

We have become long on quantity.

But short on quality.

These are times of fast foods.

But slow digestion.

Tall man, but short character.

Steep profits, but shallow relationships.

It is time when there is much in the window,

but nothing in the room.

[N.Wood]

Yeah snuff.

[Fixed Pants™]

f**k me.

Anyway, i agree with you on the bit about the government being f**king c**ts and stuff, which also teams with political correctness, WHICH I f**kING HATE SO f**kING MUCH, including the gov. But, i have to strongly disagree with the anti anti smoking, smoking is bad, it gives you lung cancer n stuff, it's for the better that it's been banned.

Bollocks, I'm sorry, I've let everyone and myself down by not being bothered to type loads, it'd be better if i was saying it, then we can have some intellectual sex.

[Tomm]

That's f**king rediculous. I understand the smoking ban, non smokers don't want to breath in other peoples smoke, but in a Shisha bar, it's pretty much a given that you're going to breathe in other people smoke, after all, its somewhere to go, to smoke.

Put your hands up for Great Britain, I love this country...

The thing is, people would just skirt around the prohibition by opening a pub that was a "shisha bar". To enforce any kind of ban it's got to be universal, otherwise people will complain and cheat the system.

[modman]

but shisha's have very little if not any tobacco in them whatsoever. its mainly fruit and herbs etc. my guitarist from my banf had his honeymoon in dubai a few months ago and brought back a shisha and the stuff that u burn had pretty much no tobacco in it at all and when you toke on it, it tastes really good so its abit shit that unfortunately has now got to shutdown his shisha bar, that would of been of been great to go to, and im a non smoker too.

[Tomm]

I'm not sure where the jury lies on it being as bad for you as smoking. Some say yes, some say no. It's all HERE.

Apparently he can still provide shisha to be used outside, but in Manchester (even in July) it's probably a bit wet for that.

[nmt_oli]

2. As you said yourself, youre young, you have no major responsabilities right now, and are determined to have a f*cking good time this summer. you've passed your first year, so have nothing to worry about till october the first. You have no job, and only have 3 free weekends between now and october.

You seem to be focused on having fun, and enjoying yourself, which is the way to be really. KarsonLevoret should feel this way too.

I really dont want to sound like a willy, but nothing in this whole rant will really affect anyone we know.

I say have fun and enjoy life as it is.

You still don't get it do you? Yes this stuff WILL affect us, not now, not next year, but in a couple of decades we will be feeling the begining of that- just look at what has been planned, identity cards, pay as you go road tax with gps trackers in the car (that means NO speeding AT ALL as your speed will be monitered at all times) ect. This does detract from our freedom, and the capability of us to enjoy life.

I am determined to have fun now, as i may not be able to in the future! Just talk to your parents, theyl tell you abotu stuff you cant do now and you could in the good ol' days, and what they regret not doing.

Health and safety is a joke

Polititcal correctness is a joke

this 'Nanny State' stuff is a joke.

How i see it is there was no terrorism when things were less capitalised. If theres nothing to terrorise, you wont get terrorists!

the more we try to stop them, the harder they will try to get noticed IMO. Its a bit like computer hackers, there relentless, cracking the toughest security just to prove it can be done.

[Tommy d]

Wow what an interesting topic. I'll be honest I was only drawn in by the promise of 2800 words of irrational anger. I wrote that much in a weekend for an assignment, and it nearly killed me. I love the diversity of stuff you find on Trials Forum, it's a bit of a shame more people don't

The first post was quite thought provoking so it worked on me if that was part of the point. The only bit I didn't really follow was where we went from global warming to the end of the world, that's an ending I genuinely haven't come across before. I believe the environment is pretty screwed but that people will sort it out and salvage most of it after they see some bigger consequences. All the floods happening right now, I wonder if that will make some people think? Could be a normal weather pattern... maybe not...

I know it's not really the point but I was pleased about the smoking ban. I just find it really unpleasant. I can kind of see how it looks as though alcohol etc could follow, I just don't reckon it ever will. The whole thing does get a bit 1984 especially when you think about ID cards as well and plenty of other issues, but I tend to believe that most of this stuff will turn out alright eventually cos I'm an optimist.

The post is too big for me to comment on all the little things that occurred to me when reading it, I do need some sleep tonight at some point! Now for the rest of the topic:

If Poopipe ruled the world and the smoking tax thing was in, I think I'd hate life if my friends decided they liked the taxed smoking pubs or if they were where I could get work...

And the phrase 'intellectual sex' tickled my funny bone. So do a lot of the things people come out with, hooray for tangents!

Sorry my brain is throwing in the towel, it's bed time now.

[Mark W]

Pay-as-you-go road tax and ID cards would have to have a pretty significant change of fortune for either to get implemented, and if either of them did, I can imagine that the already waning public support for the government could finally go over the tipping point and really come back to bite Gordon Brown and his Labour Party.

In fairness with the speeding thing, you're saying it's restricting freedom, but that's only because they aren't as effective now at catching people breaking the law. You've still got a law in place, it's up to you to decide whether you think you can get away with it. As a result, it's not like you really have a state-given freedom to do it anyway, so from their point of view they aren't restricting any sort of freedom. Being tracked constantly is a f**ker though, and the spy satellite they wanted to install to monitor London's streets would be a downer for those of a BMX/trials persuasion. The amount of CCTV cameras at the mo' is a joke, and so having one massive over-looking one would be a full-on pisstake.

There was that promo on Myspace for the film "Taking Liberties" which goes into quite a lot of detail about all this sorta shit, just going through all the stuff we've lost since the Labour government came in, e.g. the right to protest, whereas now you have to ask the police for permission to protest, which is a pretty massive change which has sorta slipped under the majority's radar. Hopefully more films like that one delivered in a more realist manner instead of a Michael Moore sensationalist way might turn a few more heads and make a positive impact.

[F-Stop Junkie]

f**k me.

Anyway, i agree with you on the bit about the government being f**king c**ts and stuff, which also teams with political correctness, WHICH I f**kING HATE SO f**kING MUCH

Oh crikey, here come the political correctness brigade...

Right, why can't I drink three bottles of sherry and drive past a school at 3 in the afternoon doing 120mph? Why can't I strip to my god-given skin and run through the middle of town? Why can't I sit in my local pub and start freebasing heroin? It's all political correctness gone mad, and an infringement of my civil liberties.

Is it bollocks.

The ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces is a right and just thing to do. It improves quality of life for those in that space, has long term health benefits, and if it encourages a few people to give up, all the better. But what about my right to choose? Why should people be allowed to do something which is scientifically proven to be harmful not just to themselves, but to those around them to? Employers don't have spaces where alcoholics can nip out for ten minutes to have a pint, or mandated mirrors for those with a taste for columbian marching powder.

I've seen people clamour to be the first off a train, just so they can light up 30 seconds earlier. What kind of life is that?

But smoking relaxes me Nope, it's taking deep breathes that relaxes you. Try it now, six deep breathes. Feel more relaxed?

Ah, but if everyone gave up smoking, the government would LOSE money! We smokers give more than we take out in medical care But the increase in quality of life for everyone - not to mention the possibility of longer working lives - would improve productivity and decrease the number of days absence from work, helping the economy. Anyway, are you really going to put the thousands of pounds you'd save from not smoking into your mortgage? Nah, a new telly (with VAT and import duty) would be much cooler, and put more money into the government's coffers.

If more people - smokers and non-smokers - live longer, healthier lives because of the smoking ban, is that not a good thing?

As for global warming, could it be a problem? Certainly. Has the earth had proven to fluctuate in temperature in the past? Identifiably. In the 1970s, people were worried about global cooling. I'm sure they were extrapolating their data and showing in a 1000 years we'd all be ice cube. Now just 30 years later, we're worrying about the opposite. The problem we have isn't our government, or even the US - for a change - but instead all the countries listed by, and therefore exempt from, the Kyoto agreement. Both China and India are members of - but exempt from emissions reductions - under the Kyoto agreeement because of their status as developing countries. Can you guess which countries have lots of heavy industry? Can you guess which countries arn't bound by strict emissions regulations meaning they can smelt and weld and not worry? Can you guess which countries have some of the biggest economies in the world? China and India.

I think we're entering a completely new era, unlike any other in history. Mass automisation, a increasingly derestricted flow of information, and the ability to converse with anyone in the world easily. Want to know about something quickly? It's there. I can't imagine life without the Internet these days. The idea of looking in a road map seems crazy, yellow pages? Old school. We have needs for ever increasing bandwidth and power. In turn we can reduce our requirements for travel through teleworking and Internet shopping. This will bring it's own problems, but also it's own advantages.

[basher]

i started to read it all and got about 1/5 of way thinking i was near end scrolled down abit and f**king hell theres enuff there to publish a book so stopped lol If you was trying to say the smoking ban was wrong then i disagree.