Monday 4 June 2012

Why Are We Paying For This Ineptitude?

There's been much said about the newly-revealed tinfoil hattery of the Tobacco Tactics site this weekend, my particular favourite being Longrider's article today.

The Exile has already cherry-picked the very best comedy from my page, and high comedy it is too. The fact that someone in the tobacco control industry was so dense as to even attempt a search at Companies House for Puddlecote is beyond parody, as well as further proof that they have far too much time on their hands at our expense.

However, I'm somewhat disappointed that the rest of the entries are also such a mess. Having engaged a Dutch security research firm - paid for partly by a grant of £56,409 from Cancer Research UK (remember that next time someone waves a sponsorship form under your nose for running round a field) - you'd think they could have produced something more professional.

Bad links, spelling mistakes, elementary grammatical errors, and things I haven't said are all there. And that's just one page of hundreds we're talking about.

A perfect example is this claim:
He also calls, ASH's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Deborah Arnott a "wanker" who is "paid for out of your taxes”.[22]
I found this curious as I didn't remember it, which is unusual. Hardly surprising since I didn't say it.

It was lifted from a quoted section of an article by Tim Worstall.
And I’ll even make a deal. When Deborah Arnott’s screen and radio appearances, public utterances, are accompanied by a “this wanker is paid for out of your taxes” warning then I’ll make sure that my income, and thus my funding, is similarly disclosed. Until then you’re all cordially invited to fornicate and travel.
As you can see, even Timmy didn't directly call Arnott a wanker. A non-existent message from an unspecified fantasy government department did.

I really couldn't give a monkey's chuff if the University of Bath want to waste their time on wiki adventures which attack free speech with their own cash (or CRUK's), after all it's the kind of thing we have come to expect from these charlatans. However, I'm deeply offended that Smokefree South West - a government-funded organisation who are helping to pay for this nonsense - are spending my substantial taxes on something so pathetically shoddy.

Think we need more cuts? You betcha.


9 comments:

ChrisBro said...

There are NHS waiting lists but our elected betters would rather pay £millions out to Arnott and associated leeches.
How many citizens could walk without pain, see through cataract free eyes, sit without the pain of haemorrhoids or simply receive professional assurance in times of personal stress if it wasn't for the demands of this unproductive and destructive gang of troughing tyrants?
How many could enjoy the benefits of camaraderie had their social lives not been destroyed.
Society, for all its faults, deserves to evolve without evangelistic nanny intrusion. It should be respected for what it has achieved through tolerance and commonsense. Too much has been destroyed by the truly ignorant.

Mark.S. said...

So Tabacco Tactics "researsh" follows the usual high standard.
Medieval wool merchant in the pay of big tabacco.!

Gregster said...

Is Octobeber a month for anti-smokers? 

Lysistrata Eleftheria said...

Am about to write a few letters.
Simple questions.
"Dear M. Cameron/Clegg/Balls/Farage/Lucas etc etc
I am 63 and a smoker and a voter. I enjoy good health. I do not want to give up smoking.
Please can you confirm that you will never make smoking illegal, and that you will never make smoking available only on prescription.
Yours sincerely..."

David said...

You could make a screen shot of the wanker ref. And anything else of relevance that they might edit out. I'd advise all others that are listed to do the same.

Or even save the site off line

e.g. 

http://www.georgedillon.com/freeware/webreaper.shtml 

http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/webBrowsingAndEmail/saveWebPagesOnYourComputerWithInternetExplorer.php 

Lyn Ladds said...

How many could enjoy the benefits of camaraderie had their social lives not been destroyed.
The above statement really is important.  Just around the time of the smoking ban being announced as to what it truly was going to entail the local Mental Health Team's list almost doubled.  This was because of people like me who had managed their own depression without medication or medical intervention for years by smoking and/or socialising and having their own support network. 

With this totally divisive and vindictive law most if not all of these measures fell apart and people, like me, needed to resort to full medical intervention.  The biggest problem being that even now, despite more awareness, the Mental Health side of the NHS is still the very poor relation and resources are not available to help most patients.  It is a case of give a little to everyone, but that does not get the patients 'off the books' as a little is just not enough.

Yes, you are completely right, the likes of ASH are denying those that have paid for and need help, in all spheres, from getting what they have paid for whilst they live the high life on OUR hard earned cash.  Every single one of them are dispicable and if they really cared about people and peoples' lives they would disband and any money left in their coffers after they have had their snouts in it should be given directly to helping those that both deserve and have paid for medical care, whether it be physical or mental!

I know, I have just stepped off this planet for a nanosecond!

JonathanBagley said...

Good morning "blogger who calls himself Dick Puddlecote". I heard Arnott crying "foul" on the Stephen Nolan Show last Friday. She didn't seem up for the fight and buggered off after 5 minutes with Dave Atherton. Stephen then had on a couple of callers who thought the current smoking ban too draconian. He won't have much sympathy with the health nazis as he weighs 22 stone and has hosted many discussions on intolerance of obesity. The anti tobacco industry is getting desperate and it's quite a good advert for you, Chris and a "blogger who calls himself Frank Davis". All the names on one page and you've got your own page of links to some of your most memorable posts.

JJ said...

I watched Arnott and Dave Atherton slugg it out on CNN and it was a clear victory for Dave, a couple of minor blunders, but a decisive win none the less. The thing is their science doesn't hold water but most of the time it doesn't need to as it doesn't get questioned.

They dont like facing a genuine grass roots movement perhaps because they've been trying to pass themselves off as one for ever (sounds better than paid pharma shills), and they are desparate to paint us as no better.

I do think that there is at last a fight starting now, and that cheers me.

Patnurse said...

Tobacco Control Industry. Gun. Shot. Foot.