Smoking wins

This image of two lit cigarettes looks like the towers of the World Trade Center after being hit by the terrorist planes. And with a message that reads “5.4 million die of smoking related causes each year that's 2000 times a 9/11”,it is debatable weather such a tragic event should be leveraged for an anti-smoking campaign or not.

One side of the debate believes that by letting people know that cigarettes kill more people than the terrorist attacks they would hopefully be conditioned to either have a lower opinion of cigarettes or create a subconscious relationship between cigarettes and 9/11.This view also holds that considering the resources being spent towards terrorism, cigarettes should be made illegal because it kills even more people.
The other side of the debate thinks the two are unrelated and any attempt to compare them is absurd. Because While a person has a choice to quit smoking or not, the victims of the terrorist attacks did not have an option. They died because of other people's choices. From this point of view smoking is a voluntary hazard, and it is not the business of the government to save people from themselves.

I think this ad in an attempt to be provocative went a tad too far by making the casualties of the 9/11 attacks seem trivial, and there is no reasonable connection between smoking and the attacks. This would offend people that lost their loved ones in the attacks, more so if they were non smoking victims.
I haven’t smoked in about 18 months, but looking at the cigarettes in this ad, even with the extra darkened smoke, makes me want to light one up. I would rather see pictures of tar blackened cadaver lungs- I think they are more effective.

Social networking sites provide an efficient avenue to make new friends and/or stay in touch with old ones. These upgraded websites allow an individual to construct a profile, find a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view the lists made by others within the system. These extra features create a ‘community’ where people can communicate from different angles rather than just through response to a central point as is the case in regular websites.
These sites provide an environment where people can connect with strangers, find and stay in touch with loved ones or colleagues, or advance a cause. Sometimes these interactions may turn negative, especially when people take their cyber activities out to real life. Like when someone physically assaults another because of comments made on a social network site or when a predator meet a victim from one of these sites.
But these sites are increasingly popular because it gives the individual an avenue to put their personalities and activities out to a wider audience, and also to see the activities of the other people. Young adults are increasingly becoming part of this social world of personalized communication, and are spending c considerable time in a day catching up with events.
I have a facebook account and I think it is wonderful. I have lived and studied in five different countries, whenever I moved, I lost contact with old friends. Facebook helped me reunite with friends as far back as to elementary school. And Keeping in touch becomes easier when connected. The isolated cases of predators is as concerning as any other criminal act is. But these criminal acts can happen anywhere, assuming a predator meets a victim at the mall, I do not think responsibility should be shifted to the mall, and certainly think it would be an overreaction to mandate the mall not to let people of a certain age into the mall as a result. Parents should train their kids and make them understand that just because they chat with someone online does not mean they can meet somewhere, or to not talk to strangers in general.

Always do your best

Growing up one of the most common advice I kept bumping into was the phrase “if you always do your best your destiny is king of the world”. I didn’t think it made any sense, not just because there is no such thing as king of the world, and that advice mostly came when there seem to be some form of anxiety and it never qualified as a solution. And I knew that doing my best does not guarantee success. I had done my best in certain cases and the result did not reflect anything near being king of the world.
But the point is not that it guarantees success, It is that if I did my best always, even if it is not good enough, I will derive some form of consolation In the fact that I gave it all I could.

I experienced this profound insight at a time I used to get into a lot of table tennis competitions. I used to go into them with my eyes strictly on the outcome- winning.And generally if I didnt win the first set i become anxious ,I would give up mentally if I lost the first two sets(three sets required for victory). I did win some games when I played like that and it felt good, but when I lost it was very disappointing, sometimes after such a loss I would consider if I should ever get into another competition.
One day as I was walking into the hall for a game, a friend of mine told me “walk in there and concentrate on playing you best game” and I did just that. I diverted my attention from trying to get points to executing the basic processes of the game like serves, returns and smashes the best way I could at any instance, and the points did come automatically. I won that game and I always play that game like that ever since. I still lose some games when I play like that, but the difference is that now I play with the same determination now till my opponent gets the victory point,I don’t waste time feeling sorry or mad at myself,and the reduced anxiety makes the game more interesting. When I lose a game I congratulate my opponent and that’s the end, I can walk across the hall and play another competition.
I don’t quite know about being king of the world but anyone that does his/her best always can easily live a life of little no regrets, not because such life will be perfect but because there is nothing to regret in doing your best.