Smokers are unpopular with non-smokers

The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network
Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D.

From the abstract:

Network phenomena appear to be relevant to smoking cessation. Smoking behavior spreads through close and distant social ties, groups of interconnected people stop smoking in concert, and smokers are increasingly marginalized socially.

Translation: Smokers are influenced by the behaviour of those in their social circle, and that social circle is getting smaller.

Maybe the reason non-smokers can't stand the company of smokers is that smokers reek of the foul stench of tobacco. Football coach Dave Skrien put it succinctly in his book Countdown to Grey Cup (page 44):

Tobacco is the most useless habit ever invented by man. It is unnecessary, unclean, unhealthful, rude and thoroughly distasteful.

Could it be that men honk their horns at women because they're interested in them?

University of Alberta professors differ on why men beep their car horns at women
Car honking theories range from male aggression to competition for status
Sarah Malik, News Writer

Dr Michelle Meagher, a women’s studies professor at the University of Alberta, has formulated a theory as to why men blow their car horns at women. According to her, there is no question that this behavior— which she talks about in terms of aggression and desire—reveals how boys have been raised and the sort of fantasies they have developed about women.

"It has nothing to do with how men are hardwired," she said.

However, Dr Peter Hurd, a Psychology professor at the U of A who researches sex and aggression, emphasizes that men are more likely to honk at women when other men are around rather than when they’re alone.

"It is a dominance signal, a competition for status with other men," Hurd explained.

He further maintained that the role of the woman, who is treated merely as an object in such scenarios, is minimal and that the honking is not about her, but about the male peers.

Obviously, these professors need to get out more. If you saw the photo of Dr. Meagher that accompanied the article in the print edition of The Gateway, it would be easy to conclude that she probably hasn't been honked at by any men. On that point, I wonder if she actually conducted a study on this behaviour at all. It's highly unlikely that any such study could be conducted in Edmonton, since most of the city's women are fat, ugly, waddling slobs with butch haircuts, tattoos, and body piercings. In the words of Newman, "A more offensive spectacle I cannot recall."

"This behavior is part of a sliding scale," Meagher said. "It is related to other violent activities by men against women, such as physical violence."

This is typical of the misandrist drivel that "women's studies" serves up by the bagful. My mother has told me that when she was young, she and her friends took offense if men didn't honk and whistle at them. If Dr. Meagher were a woman, she'd feel the same way.