Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Smoking hurts on Saudi airline
For a smoker, nothing is more miserable than staring down a long flight without being able to light up. As if air travel isn't enough of a chore, various regulations and health nuts have taken away our preferred coping mechanism. A Sudanese man fought back ... and paid dearly. According to the Daily Mail, the passenger lit a cigarette on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Qurayyat to Jeddah. The cabin crew repeatedly asked that he put out the coffin nail, and he refused. So, when the plane touched down, he was arrested.
Saying sorry wasn't enough.
Though he apologized in court and presented evidence that he was in a smoking cessation program, the perp was sentenced to 30 lashes. Hey, the judge wanted to prove a point. And, it could have been worse. Last April, another in-flight smoker was sentenced to 50.
Not only does smoking kill ... it hurts like hell.
Though many human rights organizations condemn this form of punishment, it is quite common for a number of offenses, from adultery to being alone with a non-relative of the opposite sex. Some crimes can lead to thousands of lashes, but they are meted out in batches of 50 over a period of months.
What gets you 1,000 lashes? I don't know, but I suspect a post-coital cig after joining the mile-high club would put you in the running.
[Via Daily Mail]
What strange things have been found on planes?
Filed under: Activism, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Airlines, News
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 15)
EL NOSMOKEO Feb 5th 2009 9:30AM
Jerry said...
I think there should be an airline for smokers, we have rights too. The main reason I won't take an out of the country trip is because of the time, and not being able to lite up. Maybe micro-waves, and cell phones, etc,,,, are worse than cigarettes.
HEY JERRY, THERE USED TO BE AN AIRLINE FOR SMOKERS, IT WA CALLED THE HINDENBURG.
Scott Feb 5th 2009 9:30AM
30 lashes. What else would you suspect of a society where thier religion is their law and vice-versa. they Treat thier women like livestock and they still punish with the whip, it's a wonder more muslim fuck heads don't just get shot at random.
John Feb 5th 2009 9:30AM
To you so-called informed non-smokers and ex-smokers:
Of the many hundreds and thousands of scientific studies conducted on second-hand smoke, whereby a person was locked in a sealed room for 30 years with a smoker who smoked three packs a day, zero evidence was ever found that this caused any more than 1/5 the chance that a woman having a legal abortion would die immediately. That's 30 years and five times less risk than instant death. Of course if you want to take another approach - I likely won't like your perfume, overall smell, fatness, looks, clothing, conversation, etc. either. In these cases you should be fined or whipped as well. Don't like it. Too bad.
silly Feb 5th 2009 9:30AM
Now this is nutty. I am an ex-smoker. My mom smokes more than she breathes air. But look, smoking causes cancer. Why can't smokers understand, that people don't want to be around that? When we didn't know it could KILL you, we were all around smoke. But, knowing it could harm people, children or people who choose not to smoke, why wouldn't you have compassion for your addiction? I don't care if people smoke, but I wish they would smoke in the BACK of stores. Why in the front? When someone with cancer enters the store, they have to walk through that? It's just as easy to smoke in the back, as the front....I always wondered, with so much attention on it causing cancer, why stores let people hang out (like teenagers hanging out) smoking butts. It's gross. It looks bad. Smokers have rights to kill themselves...i lost my grandmother and friends mom to emphasema(sp??). It was the hardest thing to quit. But, why would anyone think it is their RIGHT to subject others to their addiction that causes cancer? Go ahead and smoke....you don't have to throw it in people's faces. :)
betty Feb 5th 2009 9:30AM
FANTASTIC! They mean what they say. I'd like to see HARSH fines here for smoking anyway. AT my business there is a sign on the door. NO SMOKING>.. I had to put up another sign beneath is that said DO NOT BRING YOUR CIG IN HERE! because so many ignored the first sign that was at eye level. (they do that crap anyway.) Some people always thing the sign does not mean "them". There were only a few that continually "did it anyway". One woman would demand to "stand in the door way holding it open in the dead of winter..." she'd hold the cig just in the door way... every now and then bring it in take a puff....Hold it then turn her head and blow it towards the door. I HAD HAD ENOUGH! NO amount of telling her/demanding worked... Last time I told her twice, then walked toward her... stepped up close into "her space" and slowly kept walking, while saying..."Get out and don't come back we don't need your business". It gentely forced her to back up.... Then I shut the door and turned the lock.
SHe put her cig out...stomped it right there in front of the door (rude wench) Then tried to open the door again. Finding it locked she began to beat on it. We ignored her. After about 5 min she got in her car and drove away.. WE've not seen her again!!! ;o)
betty Feb 5th 2009 9:19AM
Your research is FLAWED. Second hand smoking is dangerous to health. MAny studies have been done.. especially with children PROVING it. Even babies born to smoking mothers experience a higher incidence of LOWER birth weights. Children in homes with smoking parents in the home have far more colds/sore throats... Most any non smoker can tell you that having to be around these smokers causes scratchie throat problems... My nose immediately stops up... I DO NOT have to used nose spray constantly because of a smoker... the smoker can stop. it's rude, it stinks, it's nasty. and it's bad for you
Wendy Feb 5th 2009 9:18AM
It's truly amazing to see how rude and self-righteous many non-smokers can be. Comments from these folks are incredibly mean and nasty, as if they have never "sinned" themselves.
And seriously, we are all breathing in toxins (i.e. pollution, radon, black mold, etc.) that are making us ill, so stop acting as if cigarette smoke is the only "devil" out to kill you.
If the government, media and health nuts would put as much effort into alcohol-related health issues as they do for cigarette-related then maybe we could irradicate things like liver damage, spousal and child abuse, DUI injuries and deaths and shootings. Alcohol is just as damaging and has it's own version of "second hand" issues that are just as dangerous to the rest of us.
Dave Feb 5th 2009 9:17AM
MY HOPES ARE THEY'LL RAISE THE TAX ON CIGARETTES SO HIGH EVERYONE WILL HAVE TO QUIT,SMOKING SUCKS AND IT STINKS LIKE HELL
John Feb 5th 2009 9:16AM
I had signs in my manufacturing plant:
Smoking permitted, enjoy yourself and Thank you for holding your breath while I smoke.
That was before the Tyranny of the Majority raised its ugly head. Have retired selling my plants to a non-smoker who knew nothing about business and went under 2 1/2 years later. I got paid in full. 77 employees went to the unemployment line.
BANCHEE Feb 5th 2009 9:16AM
i do not understand why they do not make a smoking section in a plane .all they need is a contained area where they breath only their air and reclaim it !! the rest of the passagners could be on the other side of the sealed wall !! this may sound like bullshit , but some of us DO HAVE ASHMA and have a lot of trouble breathing smoke filled air . I have nothing against their rites but i would like my rites also ! This could be the reason i do not smoke .
STUPID WORD OF WISDOM Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
IN ARAB NATIONS YOU NEVER SEE A CAMEL SMOKING PEOPLE BUT YOU SEE ALOT OF PEOPLE SMOKING CAMELS.
Frostie Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
He broke the law the airlines have imposed on smoking - so there will be consequences - just like here and everywhere else when the law is broken.
Every country has its own punishment - so what is the big deal.
Vall Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
Hey - this is one Arab punishment I agree with. Smoking is smelly and I wouldn't want to be stuck in a vehicle where I can't roll the window down if someone was smoking near me. He's lucky he didn't get beheaded!
Lena Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
Ok, all these "health nuts" need to get off their high horse. Yes, I do hate smelling smoke, it makes me terribly sick. But no, I do not think that we should restrict where people can smoke to these degrees we have. Also, the sicknesses caused by smoking is just hype. My great-grandmother smoked filterless cigarettes for 70 years and lived to over 90. She was perfectly fine, nothing in her lungs, no emphysema. Nothing.
Also, for all you smokers, it's also a matter of respect for other people. You are in a confined plane, and there are most likely small children who probably have never been exposed to it. The smoke can cause terrible headaches and nauseousness. And then there are those people who are actually allergic.
Hezakiah Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
Amazing that these arab countries in these days and times can't progress past the middle ages.Dont forget;they want to make the whole world be this way.
lulu Feb 5th 2009 9:31AM
The government didn't just "decided" smoking was harmful to you and others. It is proven. Recently, Indiana University conducted a study comparing hospitial admissions for cario and heart problems of NON-SMOKERS in 2 different counties (one in which there is a smoking ban in public places, and one in which smoking is allowed in public places). They were selected for their similarities in demographics. They had expected that there would be around a 20%-30% increase in the "smoking allowed" county. WRONG! There was a 70% INCREASE in cardiac related admissions among NON-SMOKERS in the county which ALLOWED SMOKING in public places over the same time period.
The air inside an airplane is bad enough. If you add the toxic fumes of cigarettes to that, you are making it worse.
If you want to kill yourself....be my guest. But do NOT cause anyone else to suffer illness because of your ADDICTION. For those who compared it to "itchy eyes, etc., or smelling perfume that makes you sick...that is like comparing apples and oranges. This causes an increase in cardio-related conditions which can completely alter the quality of life, or else even result in death.
John Feb 5th 2009 9:32AM
I was born when smoking was not only permissable but the thing to do. My dad a doctor smoked 5 packs of Camels a day with a waiting room filled with used ash trays with cigarettes smoldering in them. He delivered babies which weighed just fine. These women also drank as well as smoked and took their normal pills. None of the babies had asthma and none were fat like the rug rats we have today. None needed the stupid drugs we give out today or the extra teachers necessary for unachieving children because it must be a medical issue not a parenting problem. He'd walk more than a mile for a Camel.
tt-rexxx Feb 5th 2009 9:32AM
Yea ,that's real funny, but let those ANTI smokers try that in the US and they won't have to smoke to meet their maker.Smokers have most of the guns's LOL
harryd527 Feb 5th 2009 9:43AM
All smokers should receive 30 lashes.
Kerry Feb 5th 2009 10:06AM
Hi
just wanted to add my 2 cents here.... i have migraine syndrome - which causes horrible migraines that can last for days . its not the smokers who trigger this - its the people who wear perfume ,cologne, very strong deodorant...not that this is their FAULT but people NEVER consider when they are taking baths in perfume and other things that people like me take one whiff and are ill for days! can these people NOT smell themselves???im sure that "healthy"people find this just as sickening as i do. i dont think that smokers are the only ones who are self absorbed.