Smoking and Lebanon

This is definitely a step in the right direction.

Sayegh bans smoking at Social Affairs Ministry.

I'm all for the right of smokers to light up, I was an avid smoker myself. Although I stopped months ago, I still from time to time light up.

However, I believe that the cigarette does not belong in, at the very least, government places if not all public places.

Kudos for the minister in charge. Bravo.

BG

Continuing the Chain(of thought)- Smoking

To continue on Baba's line of thought, I was on a bus trip to Barcelona recently organized by a French university. On the way to Barca we took one hour breaks every 2 hours so that all the students could smoke. On the way back, we stopped off in Spain near the French border not so that we could buy dinner (mind you it was 8pm and we wouldnt be stopping again for another 2.5 hours) but so that everyone could buy cigarettes which are cheaper in Spain than in France. I kid you not. Sorry, but coming from the USA this is absolutely ridiculous.


It made me wonder about the rest of the world, and Lebanon in particular. We are a small country, but I am proud to say we hold many acheivements, records and prizes. Sadly, amongst those are the following:

World Female Smoking Percentage
World Male Smoking Percentage

Yes, that's right. Lebanese women hold the world record with 57.1% of them smoking. Lebanese men, on the otherhand, come in 6th, with 61% of them smoking.

Can this possibly be true??? More than half of all women and men in Lebanon smoke?? What happened? How did it get so bad?? Is anything being done about it?

~LZ

PS: I'll have everyone know that BG recently quick smoking for several months before, sadly and much to my disappointment, picking it up again

Stupid of the Day Award

So, people in Lebanon are celebrating the release of the 4 generals after years of imprisonment.
If you ask me, the release is a good thing in a way. If these generals were imprisoned unjustly then it's good that they are released.

But I'm not actually gonna get into that right now.

I'm here to present to you the Stupid of the Day straight from Beirut, the city I've learned to have a love/hate relationship with.

The absolute Lebanese requirement for any celebration, is gunfire followed with some baklava mixed in with some fireworks.

Usually people take precautions with these kinds of things, but eh, we have hospitals, don't we???



Holding an ENTIRE box of fireworks with his BARE hands.


My absolute favorite: when you incorporate the essential cigarette into the mix!

most probably a Marlboro!

BG