I'm going to (kind of) give you the benefit of the doubt considering your article is indeed sub-captioned "Opinion...".  With that said I want to provide you with an educated and (of course arguably) more knowledgeable opinion of my own based majoritively on facts, personal observation, and obtainable hard evidence.

Many of us, and quite possibly most of us, do not strut around trying to look cool.  We have made a terrible choice in our lives by becoming addicted to a substance.  We understand this addiction first hand and may have even attempted to quit smoking multiple times and spending a small fortune in doing so.  Smoking cessation aids do not come cheap and in a lot of cases are even more expensive than the cigarettes themselves (1).  Electronic cigarettes are a solution brought about, maintained, and developed by the consumer (for the most part) without the overbearing control of Big Tobacco and Big Government.  We've successfully solved a very large problem in our personal lives.  You can read into that whatever you wish: corporate conspiracy, government agenda, etc. but the fact is that they, for the moment, are not in control of a product that is very effectively being privately maintained.  How this all plays out in the future is anyone's guess and not a topic I wish to debate.

A lot of us, myself included, decided to give e-cigs a try and have successfully quit entirely and/or have significantly reduced the amount of nicotine we consume.  Speaking only from personal experience, I have not had a traditional (or analog) cigarette in almost 2 years.  My nicotine intake per day is roughly the equivalent of a single cigarette.  I can breathe much better, I no longer become short of breath easily, my clothes don't stink, my appetite has improved, and in general the quality of my life has benefited (from what I can see and feel).  I agree that there are many false securities in this world and there is still much to be learned about e-cigs.  However, all other arguments aside (for the moment), one can very easily see why this is popular.  It appears to be working very well!

Now let's get down to some details:

Propylene Glycol (PG) (2)
Rather insignificant, but this is not the chemical that gives us "thicker clouds".  The chemical you're referring to in this case is Vegetable Glycerin (3).  PG is (was) also indeed used in antifreeze... but you left out one very import fact: PG is used in a non-toxic (or very low toxicity) antifreeze that is environmentally safe.  PG is also a food-grade product.  It is used in plastic, as a preservative, in sweeteners, and is also used in asthma inhalers.

Now anything you combust or heat up to produce a vapor is going to produce smaller particles.  This is a fundamental process for smoking those meats we so love to eat.  It is also true that vapor particles are much smaller than smoke particles (4) but what doesn't exist is any long term, hard data, on what these smaller particles are going to do.  They could be relatively harmless or they could be dangerous, we just simply do not know.

We are not saying these products are healthy.  We are saying they are far healthier than cigarettes.  Many medical professionals agree (5).

Blowing up in your face
This really amounts to common sense and how one chooses to use their devices.  Do you realize the battery in your cellphone is virtually the same one in an e-cig?  I've read more reports of cellphone batteries exploding/venting in people's pockets than I've heard of e-cigs exploding in people's faces.  There's a danger from multiple explosive devices in our lives every single day.  Your house probably has one that you've never even looked at or had a regular inspection of.  You probably drive one to work every morning.  You hold one up to your head.  You get my point though right?  These things are safe when you're behavior with them is also safe.  But yes, accidents do happen, as is nature.

Flavor
My personal goal is to reach a zero nicotine level but I do not personally plan on staying there for the flavor.  I think you might be referring to a very, very small community in this regard.  However, what's really so different about that than any other consumption for flavor?  Or how about air fresheners?  Some of these smelly products contain formaldehyde (6) and let's not forget the water based fresheners like Fabreze.  Guess what they contain?  PG (7).

So let me conclude by saying nothing inhaled into your lungs other than fresh air is healthy.  If anything, it simply reduces the amount of oxygen you obtain.  So yes, it may be self-destructive.  But reckless?  Would you rather we continue smoking cigarettes with high levels of tar, ammonia, formaldehyde, etc.  No, of course you wouldn't.  You would much rather we just quit entirely.  This is where I come full circle... we've made a very bad decision in our lives by becoming addicted to a substance.  If you do not have any experience with a chemical addiction then you should at least research it and maybe even talk to a few of us who have.  We've found a solution that is relatively cheap (for the moment) and safer than smoking.  And when I say "solution", I don't mean as a way to continue a bad habit.  I'm talking about a way to successfully quit in time, a way that is proving to be incredibly successful.

I say this with the best of intentions, we will continue to put people like you in your place so that the facts can speak for themselves.

1: http://www.goodrx.com/smoking-cessation/drugs
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol
3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol
4: http://goo.gl/VmI3zA
5: http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/electronic-cigarettes
6: http://www.nrdc.org/living/healthreports/hidden-hazards-air-fresheners.asp
7: http://goo.gl/duW08e