Cuban cigars (totally off topic)

[clipped]

Back on the original question.  During the Bush years, a business colleague attempted to smuggle some Cubans into the USA for a friend who purchased them.  The original purchaser got through customs, but his associate got caught. The associate's US passport was flagged in the system and he was told to expect that his luggage would be opened for a thouough inspection every time he re-entered the USA for the next 10 years.  Maybe, as someone has said, the US Customs rules on Cubans has been relaxed. But why risk it?

[Chavster]

Well that wouldnt bother me so much. Firstly I get stopped by US customs every time I enter the US anyway, and I only visit once or maybe twice a year.

I was once about to board a seaplane at Victoria (British Columbia, Canada, North America, Earth) to fly to Seattle, but they wouldn't let me board. I was pulled into the US immigration 'office' (wooden shack) they had there, and they started to interrogate me

After around an hour, they said they'd been interrogating the wrong guy and they thought I was someone from Kentucky who was wanted for a double homicide

So maybe they still think I'm a little suspicious. And Ive never even been to Kentucky

[TheSlyBear]

Strange, you don't look like a double homicide suspect. I'd guess one at the most!

[Chavster]

LOL. Such a compliment! I think!

[D.A.L.U.I.]

These things happen in today's world.  Guy I work with has a very waspy name but that name is on the watch list--so he carries multiple copies of his clearance letter--very hard to get---with him, the travel agent has a copy too, so that the delays are minimized. 

[Chavster]

Well as always when I travel to America, I had my US passport (which shows my birthplace as California), my British passport (which shows my birthplace as Los Angeles CA), my US birth certificate, my UK birth certificate, my US social security number, my UK driving license (I dont have a US driving license, or drivers license as I think you call it), plus one HELL of a strong English accent, and my accent is so strong, nobody could ever have made it up. Think: love child of the queen and Hugh Grant.

But still, for an hour or so, they were convinced I was a double (or single!) murderer from Kentucky.

Then another time I arrived at Las Vegas airport on a flight from the UK. I was stopped by immigration and they were going over my passport like you wouldnt believe. I asked what the problem was, and the guy just looked at me like I'd peed all over him. So I asked him again, and he said something like 'you got a US passport, you sound like an English guy, but you look kinda Araby'.

Welcome to America

[Laser Man]

I was on a TSA Do Not Fly List about five years ago.  I could not get a boarding pass online or at a kiosk, but rather had to go to a counter where they would scrutinize my ID (I used my US passport for domestic flights!)  After sending the TSA certified copies of my birth certificate, passport, drivers license and about six other documents and waiting six months, I received a copy of a form letter stating that the TSA could not determine why I was on the list in the first place and that my name would be removed, but they could not guarantee that I would not be stopped or delayed in the boarding process. The letter did suggest that I carry it to facilitate travel.  By the way, the letter was undated, unsigned, and crookedly copied.  I've kept it as a memento.

[Chavster]

That whole TSA thing gives me the creeps.

[Laser Man]

What was creepy is that I had no idea I was on any list until I got to the airport and the kiosk would prove a boarding pass. Stranger yet - my name is not exotic in any way shape or form.

[Chavster]

Who knows what they use to decide whether to place a ban on someone's movements. Its all way too mysterious. I know it needs to be mysterious in many ways, but they do seem to get it wrong quite often, so maybe the mystery isnt doing its job.

[Snakehandler]

I'd like to start smoking cigars. Been thinking about it for a while. Any suggestions about getting started, what kind to try first?

Try www.cheaphumidors.com you'll get lots of good info there. Cigar Afficionado Magazine is good, also go to a local Tobacco store and talk to the Tobacconist. He can advise you on a nice mild smoke & how to properly cut, light & smoke it. You should be able to find a good cigar to start with for less than $5. They are great with a nice cup of coffee, glass of wine or sipping liquor like bourbon, scotch, brandy, cognac, tequila, grappa etc. Most don't inhale them atleast not the last 1/2 of them or smoke them every day. They are one of life's fine pleasures ! Enjoy 

[JesseN]

Even the finest quality cigars in the world can be a health hazard. It has been many years since Fidel, quit.

I'm not saying that it's not a health hazard, but I really don't think an occasional cigar (and that is all I was talking about) is going to hurt anybody.  My understanding is that it's not like smoking cigarettes, which are more deeply inhaled and also manipulated by the manufacturers to enhance nicotine absorption by the body, thus making them more addictive.  A lot of people seem to be able to smoke 2 or 3 cigars a month and even go long stretches of time in between without suffering from any kind of physical addiction.

I've never smoked anything before so I'm not really sure why I want to smoke cigars now, but it's something I'd like to pursue.

To those of you who offered advice privately, my thanks. I haven't had time to really look into this yet but I plan to shortly.

[Chavster]

You're welcome to contact me any time. It was just on an open forum I didn't feel easy talking about it. You can message me here, or at gsguk@yahoo.co.uk, or Yahoo messenger, same address.

I hope I didn't upset you. I don't disagree with your thoughts.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

I've never smoked anything before so I'm not really sure why I want to smoke cigars now, but it's something I'd like to pursue.

Google images, throat, tongue & cancers--that's what's out there.  If you don't--keep it that way.  I've had more people and friends die a horrible death because of avoidable cancer than I like to think about.  One guy, avid runner, but had to have his pipel  Two young daughters, just starting college after Katrina and he developed esophogial cancer.  Ate through a tube in his belly and died a painful horrible death in his 50's.  He had everything you could want, lovely kids, a cattle ranch near Natchez, MS., a fantastic house in Natchez, beautiful wife--but he used tobacco, gambled and lost big time.  This stuff is deadly--at best if you survive you're mangled.  Just leave it be.  You're young, you think you're bullet proof--believe this if nothing else, you're not bullet proof. 

[Chavster]

I've never smoked anything before so I'm not really sure why I want to smoke cigars now, but it's something I'd like to pursue.

Google images, throat, tongue & cancers--that's what's out there.  If you don't--keep it that way.  I've had more people and friends die a horrible death because of avoidable cancer than I like to think about.  One guy, avid runner, but had to have his pipel  Two young daughters, just starting college after Katrina and he developed esophogial cancer.  Ate through a tube in his belly and died a painful horrible death in his 50's.  He had everything you could want, lovely kids, a cattle ranch near Natchez, MS., a fantastic house in Natchez, beautiful wife--but he used tobacco, gambled and lost big time.  This stuff is deadly--at best if you survive you're mangled.  Just leave it be.  You're young, you think you're bullet proof--believe this if nothing else, you're not bullet proof. 

Yes, but then he might be out somewhere and he goes to get some water from an old fashioned water cooler, and into his system goes a mixture of arsenic, chorline and living parasites. Or he might go out one morning for an early morning jog which could activate an undetected heart murmur, causing sudden death, or an aneurysm, resulting in the same thing. Or he might be paddling in the water in Miami / Dubai / Sydney, and he gets stung by a jellyfish, causing an allergic reaction so severe he drops dead on the spot. Or he might not realise he's diabetic, and one overly-large plate of cherry pie could cause a hypo attack so large that he slips into a coma. He might decide to go working on a farm, picking strawberries or raspberries, and completely out of the blue, he could be bitten on the ass by a bat, causing him to contract rodent rabies, and because he didnt know he'd been bitten, he thought he just had a cold, and because he thought he just had a cold, he didnt seek treatment for rabies before the true symptoms showed themselves, causing guaranteed death. Or, he might jump in his car to go and buy some pop tarts from his local A&P and he gets hit by a bus / truck / drive-by shooting / lightning.

With the greatest of respect (and you know I love you   ), this is a site for grown ups, and assuming thats what he is, then he needs to make his own informed decision. You know that I'm not in the business of promoting this kind of thing, but I also dont think we should be preaching to another adult about choices he should be making for himself.

I know you're being kind and passionate and caring, and of course I have no problem with that at all but one of the rights we have as adults (and we have fewer and fewer of them as the years roll by) is the right to make our own choices. He's obviously very curious, and sometimes ignoring curiosity can be more unhealthy than dealing with the curiosity.