Mascot Watch (10) - Bad Moon Rising Edition

As you can imagine, one meets some interesting political characters while hanging around the Tory fringe for a couple of days (more about that later). But it was particularly pleasing to encounter our esteemed blog mascot at The Freedom Zone on Monday.

I haven't done a Davies update for a while so, courtesy of RT TV, here's our Phil - fresh from the Free Society debate - doing a Creedence and predicting dark days ahead for the Eurozone. Watch out for the description of the EU as "an inward-facing, backward-looking protection racket".

We're not worthy.

Oh yeah, and here's an exclusive 'behind the scenes' pic from Puddlecote Paparazzo Ltd.

I'm not a stalker. Honest.

Brum Fun

Those who follow @Dick_Puddlecote on Twitter will have noticed that I moseyed on up to Brum for the Tory hotairference. It's why things have been quiet - well, totally silent to be more accurate - around here for the past couple of days.

Arriving back today, there were work-related vehicle issues to get sorted and then an open evening for a prospective secondary school for one of the little Ps (the girl), and unlike others, this one was extremely impressive. Perhaps I may write something on it.

I may write something on the conference too. But not tonight. 'Cos I'm dog tired due to the fact that, for someone whose body isn't as young as the inner being wishes to be, the words 'free' and 'wine' and 'lots of it' tend to have that effect.

For now, though, I'll just say that much like the Lib Dem experience last year, in some respects there seem to be two Tory parties within one.

On the day that Theresa May announced - to whoops of delight, no less - that the misnamed '24 hour licensing' was to be abolished to control excessive consumption by, you know, other people, the end of conference party within the security zone was scheduled to finish at 3:30am, I was told.

Jealous? Not a bit of it, I was already shanted to a standstill at one o'clock when the lanyarded-up piled into taxis.

Is that a pillow I see before me?

Recycling Bullshit

Remember Henry Featherstone? He's the quite ridiculous Policy Exchange wonk who came out with some execrable nonsense regarding tobacco taxes in March.

You see, by cleverly cherry-picking his figures, loading the scales with absurd imaginary costs while simultaneously ignoring very tangible financial benefits, he managed to 'prove' that each cigarette smoked cost the country 6.5p.

The fact that he is a rancid, obsessive anti-smoker on personal terms with the board of ASH had, of course, nothing to do with his torturing of data.

Henry Featherstone (left) at the ASH AGM top table

He posted his strange - and seriously pathetic - rubbish on Conservative Home, where it was promptly rubbished. The same treatment followed from the IEA, the Telegraph, and Alex Massie at the Speccie.

I comprehensively explained at the time precisely why his calculations were little better than those of a nose-picking 10 year old, and suspiciously like an advert for Champix/Varenicline and Pfizer who manufacture it. Do go read it for a refresher (but then I would say that, wouldn't I?).

Most of the MSM and, significantly, the BBC avoided his report like the plague for fear of their reputation being tarnished by its inherent laughable naivety and bias.

However, the supposedly esteemed Faculty of Public Health are apparently quite happy to regurgitate such wishful bullshit in their latest members' magazine [PDF page 20].

The figures haven't changed, he still ignores savings on pensions, still reiterates sunk costs such as street cleaning, still hasn't tidied up the massive over-exaggeration of loss to GDP (apparently, Henry believes that smokers earn, on average, £725,000 per annum), is still unaware of the existence of the insurance industry, and still attaches no value on the enjoyment that renders smokers happy to pay a premium on their supplies, a general 'given' amongst free marketeers, surely.

No-one in their right mind would give an airing to this incontrovertibly nonsensical trash, yet the self-described "standard setting body for specialists in public health" proudly nail their colours to Henry's standards-vaccuumed, addle-brained mast.

Moon-howlers all, quite obviously. And certainly not worth being taken seriously, eh?

Well, not really, no. 'Cos, you see, Henry's wibbling lunacy isn't any reason for him not to be installed as a Chair of two Tory Conference fringe meetings tomorrow [PDF].

What Information Do Patients Want?

10.00, Tuesday 5th October

Room 101, The Jury's Inn Hotel, 245 Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2HQ
Speakers:

· (CHAIR) Henry Featherstone, Head of the Health Unit, Policy Exchange
· Rt. Hon. Andrew Lansley CBE MP, Secretary of State for Health (Invited)
· Tim Kelsey, Senior Expert, McKinsey and Company
· Kieran Mullan, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, The Patients Association

Olympic Health Legacy: Fitter Or Fatter?

14.30, Tuesday 5th October

Room 101, The Jury's Inn Hotel, 245 Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2HQ
Speakers:

· (CHAIR) Henry Featherstone, Head of the Health Unit, Policy Exchange
· Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Invited)
· Professor Lindsey Davies, President, The Faculty of Public Health
· Christine Hancock, Director, C3 Collaborating for Health

While the Tories attempt to position themselves as cheerleaders for change and liberty, this odious, innumerate, tobacco control sock-puppet is welcomed to the fringe - and possibly conference itself - at the right hand of Andrew Lansley. Yet we're supposed to believe that the Tories are so very different to the last bunch of evidence-bastardising control freaks.

Hmmm. I dunno about you, but Henry's prominent presence really doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?

Carry On Cataloguing

Apologies to those who have contacted me to ask where the sidebar link to the anti-smoker psychosis catalogue has gone. I took it down temporarily as it was slow to load, not realising at the time that entries were being regularly added because they had been snagged in Blogger's new spam filter.

I had meant to restore it but procrastination kicked in until Longrider pointed out this article at CiF. In a very well-articulated piece (recommended read), he proffered a few examples of anti-smoking obsession, but they are a trifle mild for our purposes.

From the same comments section, though, come these little beauties.

I like watching recent American TV police shows where the guy who smokes gets shot. That'll teach him.

Ballinger
1 October 2010 12:54PM

Smokers are generally selfish, childish bastards

ElfinSafety
1 October 2010 1:02PM

Not only should smokers be forced to clock in and out, they should be forced to have a shower and clean their teeth so other people don't have to put up with the stench.

Dingaan
1 October 2010 2:55PM

Have you seen them, they drop thir cigarette stubs and walk on like baboons discarding banana skins. Provide vats of slime for them to stand in when they smoke then just dismiss them for time wasting

stripedone
1 October 2010 7:20PM

Crusty leather-skinned tar-ridden ash-tray mouthed, dogs-bottom-mouth, chimney-faced horrors the lot of them.

thebitterpill
1 October 2010 11:36PM

These have been duly added, along with this selection of mouth-frothing hysterics e-mailed by a fellow jewel robbing lady from Perth, Australia.

if you want to smoke, live on an island by yourself and spare the rest of us from your filthy habit.

I Love Smoking Posted at 12:26 PM September 22, 2010

It's about time the govt started to get serious about getting rid of smokers.

DGC Posted at 1:26 PM September 22, 2010

Smokefree 39..Simple solution, grab a bucket of water scream FIRE, FIRE and tip it over his head.

Jay Ar of Bush Bay North Posted at 3:01 PM September 22, 2010

Smokers look at your disgusting skin and lines on your face. If that is not enough to make you give up, smell yourself

Bob Posted at 3:42 PM September 22, 2010

enjoy your emphysema clowns, and keep your smoke to your own festering, brown walled, putrid holes. Suck it in suckers...and have a nice day y'all!

Duke (cough!) Posted at 10:33 PM September 22, 2010

Lastly, Captain Ranty carries two quite astounding examples of anti-smoking hypocrisy which are also now catalogued there for posterity. Steel your stomach for the first one, especially.

Disgusting!
Filthy Bastard!

The database of deranged, inhuman fuckwittery from these people is growing nicely, so remember to keep 'em peeled when reading comments sections. If you see anything particularly hideous and hate-infused, simply click on the bright red fury-filled face to the right to take you to the ever-lengthening list, and place your 'find' there with a link to your source. The nuttier and more mentally unbalanced, the better.

Isn't it nice to know that such abominable people are increasingly fêted and pandered to by your government, eh?

ADDENDUM: Forgot to mention that the comments for older posts are moderated (merely so I don't miss them, they are always published) so don't worry if there is a delay.

Major League Miserabilists

I'd say that this story is the benchmark for bland, soulless, unbending miserabilism ... if it weren't for the fact that we've kinda been here before.

It's been 15 years since the Cincinnati Reds baseball team last won their National League Championship. So, having achieved that very feat this season, they were dead pleased, so they were.

What a day, eh? Joy unconfined, and state pride bolstered as all Ohioans toasted the exploits of their stars.

Well, all but five joyless whiny cunts and the incedibly dull-witted automatons at the public sector health department, of course.

Complaints of players smoking cigars indoors after they clinched the National League Central Division were filed Tuesday night.

Players could be seen on TV smoking their celebratory cigars in the locker room handed out by Reds owner Bob Castellini.

Five people called a statewide smoking ban complaint hotline, said Rocky Merz, health department spokesman.

State law requires a health inspector to go out within 30 days to see if anyone is smoking.

But the Reds won't know when that will be.

"We come in unannounced, obviously," Levy said.

Quite why anyone should find this remotely necessary is anyone's guess because in Ohio, as previously mentioned, scenes like this happen ONCE EVERY 15 FUCKING YEARS!

Here's an idea for Ohio's charmless state rubber band flickers. Instead of wasting your time on a fool's errand at the behest of the terminally deranged, how about telling the complainants that they are batshit crazy and should seek psychiatric help?

'Cos they are, and they should.

It's curious that those who disagree with smoking bans are ignored, and denied any exemption or compromise, on the premise that more are supposedly in favour than not - yet when the overwhelming majority are unconcerned by an understandable momentary transgression of an overweening illiberal law, it only takes an almost negligible, hideously anti-social, minority to prompt public servants into pointless administrative action.

Well done on your success, Cincinnati Reds. It's just a shame that the moment has been marred by a handful of mean-spirited killjoys and spineless public-funded fucktards.

For further reading, there is a good article on this issue here

H/T Reason

UPDATE: Ohio take their ban very seriously it would seem. Just as Megan's Law requires information on paedophiles to be available to the US public, so does Ohio 'name and shame' by providing a searchable database of smoking ban violations. Jesus wept!

Link Tank 02/10

Aah-aah-aah-aaaaah, easy like Saturday morning.

Libertarianism explained: It's not a traditional conservative vs 'liberal' thing

Getting through a smoke free Oktoberfest

Australia moves to apply a biometric, government-set gambling limit

Bans on texting while driving actually increases crash rate

Sweden's elite are in denial over the collapse of social democracy

For the umpteenth year running, the Ig Nobel prizes for crazy science still not as wacky as public health research

A handy cut out and keep guide to using a roundabout

Vaclav Klaus tells the UN to keep their nose out

Question everything, especially the Daily Mail

Welsh anti-smoking nutters urge Stereophonics to make demands on a rock festival ... in Indonesia

Why parents banning books is a bad idea

Science explained ... by Sesame Street

Watching The BBC Tumbleweed

Toby Young has been describing the vitriolic reaction from lefties toward his efforts to set up a free school in West London. In particular, he mentions BBC radio DJ Marc Haynes, who tweeted thus.


Naturally, since Young's two year old kid was 'on' the documentary, it's perfectly reasonable that some mischievous soul added this to Haynes's Wikipedia page last night.


I'm sure the BBC will no doubt soon be sanctioning Haynes for what can arguably be termed politically-motivated hate speech. After all, to not do so would be going against their rules on impartiality.

Wouldn't it?