Oh the contrast with the overregulated, overtaxed, brainwashed prison camp of mostly compliant sheep and grim apparatchiks to which I am now unhappily returned. Boris Johnson’s United Kingdom is much, much closer politically, socially and economically to Tito’s Yugoslavia than it is to Milanović’s Croatia.
It’s been like this since the smoking ban of 1 July 2007, if not before.
Pope Francis Calls for ‘Net Zero Carbon Emissions as Soon as Possible’
What the hell does he know about it?
I suppose climate alarmism is our new religion, with its own new vision of hell.
Pope’s Swiss Guards Resign Over Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination
Serves him right. Covid is also a new religion.
…
Tucker Carlson: Public Health has become America’s reigning religion
Frank Davis 
Yes well if the UK is worse than the former Yugoslavia then Australia is worse than Soviet Russia, and we are building remote desert gulags to quarantine the healthy. Fortunately, various legal actions against government biomedical fascism are underway, also addressing inalienable rights unable to be removed on the whim of elected officials and their zealous enforcers, packs of thugs who pepper spray, handcuff and arrest peaceful protestors to “protect” them against an unremarkable virus. Appeasing the evil CV19 god is now the official state cult, and heretics shall be excluded and punished, like “unclean” smokers (it is also quite irrational how many seem to believe unvaccinated equals rampantly infectious!)…
All right, friends. Seems there are two ways to keep the flame alive.
1. Somebody contacts WordPress and negotiates to inherit this blog. I have no idea how to do it. Then that blog administrator has the right to place own posts and collect, maybe, the posts from those of us who are willing. And the rest will be like before. That means that the new Frank will have a bit of work to do, even when writing personally only 1 post a week. But that option keeps the blog alive, together with all the valuable archives and links.
2. We try to migrate to other places. Smokingbandits, you say? Why not. Thing is, only Beobrigitte knows how to contact them. I have an intention to write a eulogy, trying to sum up Frank’s legacy, so, dear Beo, you may consider it an offer and write to my e-mail, if you think it’s reasonable.
But in any case it will take several writers to replace Frank. I know there are people here who might do it.
Dear Brigitte, your email is not answering. What do we do?
Just a quick reply here! Will send you an email later today.
An article for you Ross, and your fellow cross Tasman Sea residents. Zero risk is unachievable in reality and was always doomed to failure. I could have told St Jacinda that for free 18 months ago.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10056295/New-Zealand-finally-abandons-Covid-zero-strategy-Jacinda-Ardern-admits-Delta-game-changer.html
“and the colored girls (and boys) sing”
Usually interesting comments at http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz although a few ignorant ones.
In a carbon (combustion, not diamonds, I presume) free world how will they notify the selection of a new Pope?
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/for-cardinals-at-conclave-cigarette-and-a-tipple-to-relieve-papal-tension-516125
I am so sorry to have to tell everyone that Frank has passed away. I received the news via email this morning from his brother Andrew. I also spoke to Andrew on the phone just now. He has asked me to let everyone know here. Frank passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday it appears. Andrew and his wife have started formalities and will keep me updated with any details.
I am overcome with shock and sadness. We will all miss Frank so much. Frank was a great friend and an original thinker. He had an impact on so many lives with this blog and community. I met so many good friends here and Frank’s ideas inspired us all.
Very sad news. Frank was ne of the good guys and wil be sorely missed
So sad to hear of Frank’s passing. He was an original thinker. I particularly liked his Idle Theory ideas. http://endgame.co.uk/idletheory/
Frank’s writing had such an impact on me. He was a top bloke and very kind. I shall miss him very much.
Thank you for conveying the news, Emily.
Thank you Emily.
I am sure his consciousness is in a beautiful place now.
And thank you Frank. And I know you are happy for people to write sentences starting with the word And.
This came as a shock. I’m going to miss Frank’s writing. I rarely commented here, the rarely seemed to be anything to add to what he’d already written.
Thank you Emily for letting us know.
Going to miss the debates – and the opportunity to have them again live over a pint in the pub Frank drove us to.
Travel well dude.
Be safe.
We have lost an incredibly talented writer and a tenaciously critical thinker, two things which are sorely lacking in today’s world. We must all continue banging on against antismoking tyranny in his honor.
Rest in peace, Frank. Thank you for sharing a part of your life with us.
Very sad news. I will miss him.
Rest in peace Frank.
Oh man, this is sad.
I am very deeply saddened by this news.
Thank you Emily for letting us know.
So sad to hear this. Rest in peace, Frank.
Dear Emily
Thank you for passing on the sad news of Frank’s death.
Vale Frank Davis and thank you for all your posts. I shall miss your writings.
I am having a beer and cigarette in your memory.
Rest in peace: you have earned it.
DP
Thank you, Emily. It’s a shock. Now I have to try hard to be like him, without his living example.
How do we all communicate in future? Why don’t we agree on following another blog like this one?
How about over at your place at SmokingBandits, then, Dmitry? Sounds good to me – I’ll definitely keep checking in, and hope to see a few of the regulars from here over there, too!
I hope that this place may still stay alive for contributors, as he may have wished it;-
He once remarked that he scattered breadcrumbs, and some folk responded.
Anyway, the free WordPress site should continue, one can comment on old posts.
Bring them to the foreground, interweave into the present perhaps, make present.
There’s a lot of worthwhile reading in the archives, which could be commented on.
Thankfully because the last 15 comments are visible on the RH side, new comments on old discussions will be visible to anyone who checks in daily, or every few days even.
THANK YOU FRANK. WE WILL MISS YOU.
Mercy Sweet Jesus
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Sincere condolences.
So sorry to hear about Frank. RIP.
Very sad news, RIP. Frank. Condolences to family and friends
That is terribly sad news.
I once asked Frank how come he was so prolific and managed to write a blog every day relating to the smoking ban without repeating himself. He replied it was just like writing a daily journal. The last real journalist.
His legacy also includes models of global heating and cooling and close to earth asteroid paths. It would be nice to know these are archived and not lost.
Devastating News. Thank you for showing us that we are not alone in this fight.
Very sad news. Frank was a must read every day. He said that reaching age 70 is considered a full life. The stupid smoking ban certainly did not help his condition. Thanks Emily.
That is indeed very sad and I’m deeply shocked. I haven’t commented on here for a while but I did read each new blog post as it was posted and had noticed that there had been a significant drop in the frequency with which Frank posted.
RIP Frank your blogging will be very much missed.
I also echo thanks to Emily for letting us know, conveying the sad news. Thanks, Emily!
We met up later with a few others in the smokydrinkybar that Frank created and funded, and discussed hopes that that might somehow be able to continue, yet to be seen to.
At least this, his blog, being a free WordPress site, should I think stay alive on the net.
Let’s also remember his other WordPress site,
and his earlier Idle Theory site,
http://endgame.co.uk/idletheory/
(who knows what the mechanics are for that site staying alive?)
No doubt it will be a busy time for his brother with a lot to organise, so once again gratitude and how fortuitous that you’ve been able to be in contact, Emily, and can inform further.
I know that at least a few UK folk here will attend whatever funeral / memorial celebration of life service event will transpire, and there should be a few photos around and anecdotes told.
I’ve expressed a hope that it might also be recorded, so that overseas folk can share in it.
But indeed a deep sadness that he went so suddenly, early, only in his early ’70’s.
We last spoke in visual contact in the SDB only a couple of weeks ago.
Farewell, Frank. We will always remember you!
Oh…. that is a shock, I will miss him.
Thank you Emily. It’s very sad news. He will be remembered by a lot of people around the world.
Yes, thank you very much indeed, Emily.
I got to meet Frank one sunny day in 2018 and naturally he blogged about it.
At this moment it is something of a comfort to see him smiling.
May you rest in peace Frank , you certainly gave the Good Fight!
I still recall his amazing writing, the epic battles he organised (does smoking cause cancer or not?) and finally that he had all the antis fuming about him!
I am sorry to hear that Frank has passed away. We must continue to strive for the reversal od smoking bans in his memory and in order to preserve our liberties. Godspeed Frank!
I am so sad to hear this. Frank was one of the few bloggers who stayed true to the faith, blogging from the early days about the unfairness of the smoking ban, the terrible precedent that it set on all sorts of levels and keeping on right through to the bitter end, never giving up, and notwithstanding the occasional posts on his other interests, never forgetting that this blog was, first and foremost, a place for smokers to meet, to chat and share experiences about the awful, divisive smoking bans that we, his readers, were enduring, wherever we were located. So many other blogs and sites have fallen by the wayside or been diverted into other areas over the years that his was like a constant little oasis of refuge for like-minded people in the middle of a desert. I too had noticed that his blogging had become a little less frequent and his posts considerably shorter, but they remained insightful, useful and informative nonetheless and I will miss them greatly.
I feel that I have lost a good friend, even though I never met Frank personally, and he will be truly missed. Smokers have so few really loyal friends these days who they can count on and who understand the reality of our situation so clearly as he did – because he was living it, too.
Rest in peace, my friend. Light one up on my behalf when you reach the Gates – there are no smoking bans in Heaven!
I was so sorry to see this. I sensed that Frank was slowing down, but he was sharp and insightful to the end. Although I never met him, I too feel that I have lost a friend. There seem to be no pro-smoking blogs left now and I shall miss having this place to share my thoughts with likeminded people. May he rest in peace.
Me Too.
Loved it when he did comedy
Really sad to hear about this. Even though I gave up smoking months ago, ironically, I still regularly followed all of Frank’s posts. He was one of the few voices of sanity in this crazy world. Reading his posts was like reading a letter from an old friend who knew exactly how you felt about things. RIP Frank and thank you.
This is indeed very sad news. One of the greatest minds and one of the purest souls still around in this world has been lost. I never met Frank in person. I do not even how he looked like nor how is voice might have sounded. And yet I think that Frank may have been someone who has had the most profound impact on my life in the past decade.
When I first discovered this blog for the very first time about five years ago, I was delighted and relieved to see that there was someone out there in the virtual outside world who was, just like I was and still am, utterly flabbergasted by the smoking ban and all other hideous forms of social engineering launched upon the public. From the very beginning I hugely appreciated Frank’s unremitting honesty: he was a man whose words and acts were one. Rather than joining the flocks of conformist and often pedantic sheeple, Frank preferred to cut himself quite literally off the world. Not because he would not have cared for the world, but rather out of ‘love of the world’, as Hannah Arendt would have called it. Love of the world, that is, love of freedom, love of justice, love of equal liberties for all. And above all, love of enjoying the God-given right to go inside a pub, having a pint of beer and smoking a cigarette.
Frank was a very intelligent person. He saw the bigger social and cultural picture of what was going on in the wake of the smoking ban. As no other, he could easily connect the dots between the antismoking agenda, the cult of healthism, the glaring hypocrisy of the woke industry, global warming alarmism and finally the blasphemous worshipping of the false covid religion. Or as Frank once pointedly described it: ‘A Many-Headed Hydra.’ I definitely owe it to Frank that I too could finally see the bigger scheme of things, so that I could no longer conceive of the smoking ban as an isolated phenomenon in the chain of events. Instead, it became very clear to me that this was a deplorable yet almost inevitable affair the formal causes of which stretch back at least to the seventeenth century. After all, this was the period when Thomas Hobbes first conceived of man no longer as an intellectual creature endowed with an individual free will, but as a mere spatiotemporal ‘body’ to be instructed and moulded by the will of the sovereign. A monarch like king James I, for example, who levied steep taxes on tobacco because he haughtily conceived of smoking as “a custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmful to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke and stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.”
Even though I learnt a great deal on this blog, assembling knowledge perhaps wasn’t the main reason why I visited and sometimes myself commented here. Thanks to Frank’s many followers and commentators I realised that I was not alone in this world, and that there were many other angry – or rather: steadfast – smokers who would not surrender to the evil forces that be. So in a certain way, this blog also had an important ‘therapeutic’ meaning to me. Each visit always felt like a sort of homecoming – albeit a virtual one. I confess, I sometimes dreamt that the readers of this blog would literally come together and establish a new community. A large-scale co-housing project, for example, featuring a smoky lounge and a cosy wine bar. Or something like Noah’s ark. But instead of taking two animals of each species with us, we would embark with two cartons of cigarettes of each brand.
Rest in peace, Frank, and my infinite thanks for everything you have been willing to share with us. Enjoy, at last, your well-deserved pint and cigarette at the counter of your favourite bar in heaven. Many thanks to all of you as well, for having joined Frank throughout the years during his quest for truth, freedom and wisdom. Let us bang even harder against this despicable smoking ban.
We are not alone. https://www.amazon.com/Death-Humane-Medicine-Coercive-Healthism/dp/0907631592
That’s how I found this blog. Never ever think that you are stupid or alone.
Fumo ergo sum,
I and I am sure others have appreciated your thoughtful comments over the years.
You wrote:
“I never met Frank in person. I do not even how he looked like nor how is voice might have sounded.”
There are a few still pictures of Frank scattered in his blog, i.e. here:
with Nisakiman shortly before his death, and a couple of other smokydrinkybar regulars!
And with Rose, in
I have one of him with Brigitte and Emily on their visit, but not sure if blogged.
Also you can hear and see him speak with Emily in an early interview if you click on the Smoky Drinky Blog graphic link on the RH side.
I won’t link directly to it here, because Frank’s WordPress settings only allowed 2 links per post, before it went in to moderation – and of course, he’s no longer around to moderate.
Be aware that the link within that to the SDB is wrong, appear in is now deprecated, but the other link from here, whereby com, is correct, and you might find folk there Sat evening-late UK time.
If you have a webcam & microphone, perhaps even built-in to a laptop, you could meet up.
I’m sure we – as one of the few regular attendees – would be delighted to see a new face and hear new speech, words, thoughts, social interaction. And of course you can smoke too! ;=})
However …
The SDB started out as an appear in link, limit 4 users for free, and Frank bought a subscription to Pro, enabling 12 users and a background image to continue (initially for free but dropped).
Then it was bought by the perhaps slightly absurdly named whereby com, which recently upgraded to allowing up to 100 users per pro (bought monthly) meeting interface.
The thing is though, that Frank paid a monthly sub of I think 10 pounds for that.
This was innovative in the days before Zoom & Covid, but now others are in the field.
If Franks sub expires at the end of the month, or whenever, it will revert to the free interface.
No background, and perhaps only 4 users at a time reliably.
Meanwhile, other players have stepped up, years later.
I’d suggest looking at
https://meet.jit.si/
where one could create (already done?) and meet in, for instance, say, in lowercase
https://meet.jit.si/smokydrinkybar
Or, if one wanted, perhaps an uppercase version,
SmokyDrinkyBar
or even perhaps
Frank’s SmokyDrinkyBar (if spaces are allowed, I didn’t try.)
Anyway, perhaps something to discuss at the next still existing SDB meet in a day or so.
Easy to experiment – I logged into the first two without a problem!
A just in case scenario, in case Frank’s whereby com subscription ends soon.
Best wishes to all,
~ RdM
I meant to add that jit si allows up to 100 users for free
(although as Bucko commented – for how long? – but hey, it’s here now, and the already offer pro upgrades for business users beyond that. So it may be safe fore a while?)
And, I see that
https://meet.jit.si/Frank%E2%80%99s%20SmokyDrinkyBar
(i.e. Frank’s SmokyDrinkyBar) does work too, potentially, although it’s a clumsy looking link!)
So maybe just continuing with the lower (or upper) case version would be best.
I’m just concerned to see a replacement in the wings if Frank’s subscription expires.
Cheers, despite sad times! ;=})
I don’t remember that conversation. I think I was very drunk on Saturday night :-)
Ah, you did rightfully express that cynical outlook – for how long? – but I still think it might be good.
The great thing about the SDB … we couldn’t really tell if you were that drunk … ;=})
Until you confessed that you had to go to bed.
Great to see you, as always!
Yes, I fell asleep on the couch and my brew went cold :-)
Of course I regret my hasty typing typos, they, for, not the, fore.
And even calling attention to them.
But I hope Frank’s blog will continue in comments, even beyond this post.
And we will hear news of his funeral soon, I hope photos even video from those there.
If it can be arranged or seems meet, convenient, possible.
It’s always good to hear other anecdotes.
I have only just heard that Frank is most unfortunately deceased, from ANTZ warrior Michael J McFadden in Philadelphia USA. I am most taken aback and saddened by this news, and always looked forward to the pithy well argued posts by Frank, and his curmudgeonly mordant rapier wit. Truly those with a commitment to fight the seemingly endless encroachments of the nanny police bully state will miss his challenging discourse, even if the neurotic paternalist health cultists would never change their dogmatic determination to control the lives of others based on such evidence and argument.
If there will be a streamed virtual funeral or if there is a condolences book I will be sure to join with other FOFs (Friends of Frank) to commemorate the departure of this uniquely critical thinker.
I will check back on this fine blog, which can hopefully be retained as a digital memorial, with ANTZ and their fellow traveller zealots obliged to pass an examination on the contents after the Great Reset, when ordinary people wrest back control from dictatorial health cultist elites.
Sympathy to all…
Mark in Canberra, Australia.
I learned of this a few days ago thru legiron and didn’t think to check in here. This is devastating; The loss of a good friend I never met but thought of as a friend. I do hope someone can figure out how to maintain this site—maybe with some of his articulate followers like jax and others writing occasional lead posts to start the conversation. I’ll check back to learn what’s happening here.
I will check back here too, until something is worked out.
Meanwhile, news you might have missed while our company is fractured.
Remember this?
Smoking as a Sars cure? Nonsense, say doctors
2003
“Rumours that smoking can help prevent Sars have been sweeping the mainland.
With fears rising over the increasing number of cases, the claims have become a hot topic of conversation, but doctors are worried.
Some people say that few smokers were among the total number of victims in Guangdong, where the disease is thought to have originated. As the rumours intensify, fears that many teenagers and women could turn to smoking have prompted doctors to write newspaper articles warning people of the risks involved.”
https: //www.scmp.com/article/412965/smoking-sars-cure-nonsense-say-doctors
It seems that those rumours weren’t unfounded
Velvet Glove Iron Fist
Smoking and COVID-19: a new evidence update
Updated 14 October
“Studies which find smokers to be significantly less likely to get COVID-19 continue to be published, even if they are ignored by the media. There are so many of them that it’s difficult to keep up.”
https://velvetgloveironfist.blogspot.com/2021/08/smoking-and-covid-19-new-evidence-update.html
Covid 19 is now refered to as Cov Sars 2 in certain quarters.
Hi all – I wanted to let everyone know that a memorial service for Frank has been scheduled for November 5. There will also be a webcast option to watch the service. If anyone in the UK would like to attend the service in person, or if anyone internationally is interested in the webcast, please email me at dulcie@emily.anonaddy.com and I can send you the details. The webcast details will not be available until a bit closer to the date but I will keep track of everyone who contacts me and make sure everyone gets the details as appropriate.
I’m sad, I liked Frank very much. Never met in person, just on zoom meetings. Beer and a fag? Well, will go and get right now.
Would be good if we could keep this place running, I think he would like it.
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I’m sorry to hear about the death of frank.
It was so illuminating to read all the posts over the years.
If none of you know who I am just google steven Simon pro smoker.
If any of you are based in the north of England especially around Leeds I would be only too happy to meet up.Good luck and good health to all of you.
Hi all
The service for Frank was held last Saturday and I had the opportunity to attend along with Mrs Bucko and 20Rothmans, who you will know from this blog and also attended the Smoky Drinky bar as one of the regulars
Frank lived in Hereford, which was a three hour drive for myself and Mrs B. It was ok on the motorway until we left the M5, but then it was 30 miles of country road hell to get to the Premier Inn where we were staying. Hereford really is miles from anywhere
The service was very nicely done and somewhat emotional in places
The main theme was of course the smoking ban and how it affected Franks social life and how angry he was about the whole thing, which prompted ‘Banging on About the Smoking Ban’. That wasn’t all though. Frank was involved in many things, some that i knew about, like the Idle Theory and The Theory of Ice Ages, but there was plenty of other stuff I wasn’t aware of, much of which I’m not ashamed to say, was way above my reading level
We had the chance to meet Franks brother who had nothing but praise for the online community of Franks blog and the SDB. He told us that Frank did not have a large circle of friends in the real world and we had become his community and support network. He repeated his praise a number of times for those who read and commented on Franks blog and he was very grateful to all those people for giving Frank a network of friends he otherwise probably would not have had
We were invited back to his house for a brew after the service, which was another 20 miles of country road hell, but a georgous house on a hill with lovely views. Following a brew and a piece of cake, we were invited to go on a family meal with them, where we had the chance to sit and get to know other members of the family
They were all really friendly and welcoming people, considering it was the first time we had ever met. We all got on very well and will keep in touch
I’ve embedded the video of the service and added some extra detail
here
here
Very moving and informative BuckotheMoose and Co. Excellent you were able to attend in person, over rough country roads.
I watched silly sci-fi movies on Netflix until logging in to the shall we say somewhat depressing funeral of the missed departed polymath Chris aka Kit aka Frank, esq at 02:15hrs Australian Eastern Summer Time.
It was distant and disembodied, with fixed camera point, couldn’t really see faces much, but no stupid masks, which you probably know if you streamed from the rather anodyne Herefordshire County Council Crematorium.
Although unstated, it seems Frank never married or had children. The poignant readings had extensive quotes from Simon Clark the FOREST CEO, and prolix fluent blog commenter Fumo Ergo Sum.
Also many references to Frank’s Idle Theory and Glacial model…more reliable than the smoking deaths projections I would guess, akin to reading chicken entrails.
Vale dear Frank, a unique philosopher technocrat clearly deserving of more credence than the infallible paternalists would ever admit. I look forward to contributing to other efforts inspired by Frank/Kit/Chris. RIP. 😔
“Although unstated, it seems Frank never married or had children”
I always knew he was a sensible man :-)
But there were jokes (himself included) about a “little black book”.
In the SDB.
:=})
It was 04:15 am here, I set an alarm.
But it buffered for > 5min after the first words.
I caught up those missed with Bucko’s evidently recorded replay today.
The Obitus original replay might be slightly higher quality?
Ah well it was still easy for me to recognise the 3 regular SDB participants lower left, even from the back of their heads.
You should join us some time, it’d be early-mid-morning Sunday for you.
The rest were family, I assume, apart from the funeral parlour staff.
Parlour, Parlor. What a word for a crematorium. Or funeral premise.
Still, I liked the choice of music.
A friend recently (almost same age) went out to “Shelter from the Storm” by Bob Dylan over a photo montage slideshow.
One has thoughts of organising, organizing one’s own wake.
Personal funeral / memorial service music ?
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I’ve just checked now, and with the promised two business days already past, I’m not sure when the 28 days will end, but https://watch.obitus.com/ has it on replay now until then.
I’d leave it up to Emily to post the login and password, given by Andrew, and I’m sure she would, to this group, but it’s past 01:00 where she is, the UK waking up, a summer evening here.
Should I post it? Well, maybe I’ll still wait for Emily.
Song for Frank:
The live stream should be up for about another three weeks.
https://watch.obitus.com
Username: gehe4040
Password: 472873
Another song for Frank, perhaps?
You want it darker
And another, Leaving The Table
Good night, Frank! ;=})
Shocking and sad. I will miss his voice and the wild ruminations of his lovely brain. Rest In Peace, Frank. You started a conversation that will always live on