Useful Idiots

The differing reality of Web Health

The differing reality of Web Health

Breaking News! E-Cigs Will Help Them Quit Smoking! A survey says… Same old same old. Whenever someone references a “survey” it does make me wonder who wrote the survey, and how they interpret the results. This one is unfortunately no different. E-cigarette users are much more hopeful that the devices will help them quit smoking than the general public is, including people who just smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes, according to a new French survey.
Leading academics would love you to keep smoking

Leading academics would love you to keep smoking

It is very rare for me to post something whilst I’m still incredibly angry after reading an article. But in this case, I’m going to make a bloody big exception. For a while now the anti-vapor organisations have been setting a pretty dismal standard in their attempts to either discredit vapers or the vapor market. It seems that there is nothing they won’t do, no low they won’t stoop to.
Spokesperson on Coal Seam Gas, Mining, Agriculture, Biosecurity, Sport, Climate Change but not really on Health

Spokesperson on Coal Seam Gas, Mining, Agriculture, Biosecurity, Sport, Climate Change but not really on Health

In a rare display of self-restraint, I decided to hold off putting my thoughts down on this one, not because I didn’t want to. I held off mainly because I’ve had a lot of other advocacy stuff to do locally along with my usual 9-5. More on that in another post I think. I digress, in the first sentence too! New South Wales, Australia. Come with me on a little journey, if you will, and let’s see what insanity awaits.
Smokey and the bandit

Smokey and the bandit

“When you tell somebody somethin’, it depends on what part of the country you’re standin’ in… as to just how dumb you are.” Nobody could say that except Burt Reynolds, but we know a few folks that are dumb no matter what part of the country they are in. Good grief. Somebody really doesn’t like smoking do they? Let me see, out of the God knows how many films I’ve watched since the age of about 13, there must have been hundreds of scenes that included someone either sparking up a ciggie, cigar or just generally having a ball tooting on one.
Why complain about marketing ?

Why complain about marketing ?

For the first time in a long time, I actually spent some me time last night and watched some actual live broadcast television. Nothing in particular, just had the TV on and channel hopped for a while before settling in with a beer or three. As I was watching “live TV” on my Sky box and not a recorded show I endured the adverts that litter the shows and it got me thinking, as stuff often does.
A day at the races beats a Day at the Capitol

A day at the races beats a Day at the Capitol

Just for once, I would dearly love to see a non-profit organisation that actually has some kind of moral standard. The simple fact is, I seriously doubt that any non-profit in the field of anti-tobacco has any kind of morals. At all. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m all for a non-profit organisation to actually raise awareness of issues, conduct research, educate the masses and so forth, but there has to be some moral and ethical standard.
A new generation being spoon-fed

A new generation being spoon-fed

The constant flow of misinformation originating from various NGOs and charities makes a day in the life of a vaper feel a little like groundhog day. It is usually the same preposterous rubbish with some words jiggled about to make “new” headlines. Or in the case of this subject, tweets. I do spend an incredible amount of time on social media, and although I may not see the tweets directly, other vaping advocates do so I get to see their responses.
Tobacco companies can’t tell their arse from their elbow

Tobacco companies can’t tell their arse from their elbow

Thought I’d have a stab at making a sensationalist headline for once. I’ll admit, it needs work. Some work. OK a lot of work, but it sure as hellfire beats the headline gracing the on-line Mirror today. In a way, that headline can be seen as positive. In a bad light, if you squint. It isn’t the usual scaremongering headline that normally accompanies an article on personal vaporisers in the Mirror that’s for damn sure.
IE Ireland

IE Ireland

Last week, the Irish Cancer Society released an article under their ‘News’ section detailing some ‘alarming’ findings about who uses electronic cigarettes. After reading this article two or three times, I noted a few items that were a little odd. So I sent them a pretty lengthy e-mail and waited, not expecting a response. Imagine my total surprise when I checked my inbox this morning to find that my email actually had a response from an ICS Advocacy Officer.
The Conversationalist

The Conversationalist

I recently posted about the possibility of two distinct stories that could arise from one source, it seems there has been a bit more action with one of the stories. Spurred on of course by new ’evidence'. Armed with this stunning new evidence our resident chipmunk decides to put pen to paper and attempts to ‘dissect’ the information presented. Think we can all guess how this is going to pan out can’t we?