The Lows of Tobacco Control

Yesterday was a normal Friday.  You know, looking forward to knocking off time at work, the weekend plans etcetera etcetera.  I’d placed a couple of orders for some vapemail to be delivered the following day.  Life was, in general pretty good.  Then late afternoon, my less than perfect little world was seemingly torn apart.  First, I’d like to give you a little back story.  I am a huge fan of science fiction.  TV series such as Stargate, Fringe, Star Trek, X-Files and so on.  I grew up to William Shatner being the Captain of the starship Enterprise (NCC-1701, no bloody A, B, C or D in the immortal words of James Doohan).  Yes, the show had long since been off-air, but several channels still ran the shows.  I loved them, it was the highlight of my week to sit with my folks and watch a few episodes of The Original Series.  Many of the lessons taught by Gene Roddenberry in those episodes still stick with me to this day.  It is part of who I am.

Needless to say, when I heard that Leonard Nimoy had been taken to hospital with chest pains a few days before, I grew worried.  Then came the saddening news, that a man I had grown up with was no longer with us.  Social media seemed to explode with the news, with many offering their heartfelt condolences, sharing their memories, and even sharing Nimoy’s own tweets.  I was thoroughly shocked and upset by the news I decided to turn off social media for the night, and even watched the first two Star Trek films.

What greeted me on twitter this morning is the main reason for this post.  If you remember, Joe Cocker also passed away recently, and his death was used to spur certain members of Tobacco Control to some disgusting lows.  I had hoped that the passing of Leonard Nimoy wouldn’t get the same treatment.  How very mistaken I was.

Ruth Malone, the ever present, bad haired flunkey of Tobacco Control, who must on some level be the spawn of satan himself.  She decided to tweet about Leonard Nimoy’s death.  Instead of offering her own remembrance of him, she decided to highlight tobacco as part of her disgustingly disgraceful, agenda driven tweet.

Oh dear.  Now many of you should know that Nimoy did in fact smoke.  He also stopped smoking thirty years ago.  He was an advocate for quitting smoking, and for that I praise him.  He encouraged many to do exactly what he did.  What he did not do, was treat smokers in the way the current tobacco control “experts” do now.  This one tweet alone really got my back up, along with many others.  Ruth became the target of a lot of hate regarding this one tweet, just as Chimpman did with his tweet about Joe Cocker.

So many folk were incensed by her callousness that many who followed her stopped and blocked.  I can’t say I blame them if I’m perfectly honest.  The initial tweet wasn’t about paying her respects to a well loved person, or even to express her own sorrow about the loss of such a great man.  No sir, it was all about how tobacco caused it all.  The entire tone of the tweet was cold and heartless. It was, in one word; sickening.

As you can see, plenty of folk were rightly pissed off with her.  Did she apologise?

She went on with the claim on offending people.  Too fucking right she offended people.  Leonard Nimoy was a great man who inspired so many, not just because of his role in Star Trek, but also in the roles he played outside of the show.  Including his role in encouraging smokers to quit.  The original tweet was low, the follow up tweet was even lower in my opinion.  Defending her original tweet in this way just highlights how much contempt she has for any tobacco user, we already know how much she despises vapers.

But her crusade didn’t stop there. Would that it had.  She denies that she was cheapening his death by furthering her own agenda.  Even went as far as including a poke at the Tobacco Industry.

This would seem to be the new method of tobacco control to “encourage” smokers to abstain from tobacco at any cost.  It’s sickening, immoral, disgusting and crude.  I sincerely hope that Little Miss Bad Hair is thoroughly ashamed of herself, although I doubt it.

As for Leonard Nimoy, you were such a great man and inspiration to many.  You may be gone from this world, but your legacy remains.  You will be sorely missed. Live long and prosper.

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