Monthly Archives: December 2016

Tobacco Control Must Be Destroyed

Posted on December 31, 2016 by the archivist

I came across this passage yesterday in a ZeroHedge article about fake news, mass hysteria, and induced insanity: Mass hysteria eventually wears off, as it overloads the emotional circuitry of the target audience; humans soon become desensitized to the triggers … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 32 Comments

Cigarettes Are Little Friends

Posted on December 30, 2016 by the archivist

I remarked a few days ago after reading it that “The Pleasure of Smoking” had struck me very forcefully as the title for a study of confirmed smokers. It rather subverted the ubiquitous “Smoking kills” shouted out on every cigarette … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 24 Comments

All The News That Isn’t News

Posted on December 29, 2016 by the archivist

These days I only ever get to occasionally watch TV at my brother’s house. And over Christmas I watched a bit. A couple of items stood out, both of them like sore thumbs, as very good reasons for not watching … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 25 Comments

The Exquisite Pleasures of Smoking

Posted on December 28, 2016 by the archivist

H/T Simon Clark for The Pleasure of Smoking. It was actually a bit of a surprise to read something which had a title like “The Pleasure of Smoking”. After all, in this relentlessly negative era, how often does smoking ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 11 Comments

Delingpole and Snowdon

Posted on December 27, 2016 by the archivist

I’m a regular reader of both Christopher Snowdon and James Delingpole. Snowdon usually writes sceptically about public health. And Delingpole usually writes sceptically about global warming/climate change. With a few slight reservations, I have a high opinion of both of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

An Imaginary Conversation with Joe Biden

Posted on December 26, 2016 by the archivist

I don’t know much about Joe Biden, except that he’s been Barack Obama’s Vice-President for his entire presidency. But the impression I have of  him is that he’s a likeable sort of guy. About six months back he was asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2016 by the archivist
Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments

No Consideration

Posted on December 22, 2016 by the archivist

I’ve started reading Illiberal Reformers, by Thomas C. Leonard. It arrived in the post a few days ago. It’s about the rise of the the US administrative state about a century ago. The administrative state was to be run by … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Fostering Guilt And Shame

Posted on December 21, 2016 by the archivist

Following on from yesterday, I found an interview of Barack Obama by Bill Maher. What initially interested me about this interview was that Obama gave a broad wink after saying he was an ex-smoker. Which sort of meant to me … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 20 Comments

A Separate Culture

Posted on December 20, 2016 by the archivist

I was watching Bill Maher earlier this morning. I don’t know anything about him. He seemed to have had some sort of nervous breakdown when Trump got elected, and this was the first time he’d talked about it. So I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 16 Comments