Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Sistine Chapel of Tobacco Control

Posted on February 28, 2017 by the archivist

Tobacco Control always presents itself as doing good. It’s full of do-gooders. And the good that they’re all doing is Improving Health and Saving Lives. But do they actually save any lives? There are some very strong arguments that the … Continue reading →

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Words

Posted on February 27, 2017 by the archivist

A year or two back, I found out that sunlight exerts a small force on everything it strikes. It’s called radiation pressure. I built it into my orbital simulation model, and using asteroids that weighed one kilogram and were 200 … Continue reading →

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More on The Pleasure of Smoking

Posted on February 26, 2017 by the archivist

Dr Neil McKeganey‘s talk: Among noteworthy various things he said: “When I moved from the arena of research on illegal drugs to legal drugs, I had not imagined the stranglehold that the Public Health perspective would have on the research … Continue reading →

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The Futile Search for Planet 9

Posted on February 25, 2017 by the archivist

I got interested in Planet 9 a week or so back. Planet 9 is a theoretical planet, estimated to be 3 or 4 times the size of the Earth, in a highly elliptical 20,000 year orbit around the Sun. And … Continue reading →

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You Do Agree, Don’t You?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by the archivist

Dick Puddlecote reports on a talk given by Professor  Neil McKegany: To give you a few examples, he began by explaining that he came from a background of talking about illegal drugs and how policies to reduce harm can be … Continue reading →

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If Air Traffic Control was like Tobacco Control

Posted on February 23, 2017 by the archivist

I came across this in Tobacco Control journal: Recent comments posted on some personal blogs impugn the objectivity of Tobacco Control and its reviewers, questioning our motives and the veracity of peer review. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if … Continue reading →

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Global Media Wars

Posted on February 22, 2017 by the archivist

There’s a rather fascinating media war being fought these days between the established mainstream “dead tree” media and rival new upstart internet media outlets. Here’s the NYT/Boston Globe laying down a barrage on upstart Infowarrior Alex Jones: Is Donald Trump … Continue reading →

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An Epidemic of Chinese Restaurants

Posted on February 21, 2017 by the archivist

I’m interested in what people in Tobacco Control think. But it’s an alien mindset. And, I think, a completely mad mindset. Simon Clark reports on ASH Scotland: We hear that Forest is paying for a survey with the aim “to … Continue reading →

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Broken Dreams

Posted on February 20, 2017 by the archivist

‘Progressives’, it seems to me, are people who think they can see the future, and know the shape of things to come. They regard themselves as far-sighted. And they all seem to be agreed that the future will be some … Continue reading →

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The Shock Wears Off

Posted on February 19, 2017 by the archivist

Mail: …for a moment on Saturday, Trump went back into campaign mode with a massive rally before thousands of supporters at an airplane hangar in Melbourne, Florida where he revived campaign promises to build a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico … Continue reading →

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