I do want to thank all of you very much for adding me to your blogrolls, linking to this blog in your posts and tweets, and most especially your comments (many of them very kind). All of these things are like gold to bloggers. I truly appreciate it. If you have added me to your blogroll and I haven't already added you to mine, please let me know so I can rectify that.
OK. Some stats. This blog doesn't get huge amounts of visitors. To date I've had 45,000 page views split among a little over 7,500 unique visitors. These past six months I've learnt that 60% fewer people read this blog on weekends, and it's often better to put up a post an hour or so before lunchtime (here in ol' Blighty) during the working week to get maximum page views for a post. I don't often manage to post by then.
As for gauging what sort of posts interest or engage you, blog page view stats can be misleading, partly due to a good amount of Russian referral link spam and partly due to the number of people image searching on Google using queries like "Hitler," "old lady middle finger," "gun company logos" or "smoking hot Arab woman" and a host of others that should have led to porn sites rather than here. Well, I aim to please... even accidentally.
Out of 170 blog posts, these are the top 10 (in order, as of this writing):
Big Tobacco Control's Intimidation Tactics**
Into the Black**
The Utter Desperation of Stephen Williams MP
How to Spot Another ASH Stooge
Professor of Prohibition
If Only We Could Ban Everything
Super Twat of the Month - June 2012
Meet Your Democratically Elected Nannying Tyrants
Steve Taylor - An Incomplete History
Taxes (Part 1)
(**Update: Shortly after publishing this post, my blog post "Into The Black" moved into first place among the top 10.)Most of the traffic to my site (about 70%) is from referrals from others' blogrolls or from links in their posts. So, with huge thanks, the top 10 referrers are (excluding search and social media traffic):
- Dick Puddlecote
- Captain Ranty - Lawful Rebel
- Leg-Iron at Underdogs Bite Upwards
- Pat Nurse at Tea and Cigarettes
- Bucko at The Moose (now sadly closed and certainly missed)
- Mark Wadsworth
- Belinda at Freedom-2-Choose (Scotland)
- Smoking Hot at Nothing 2 Declare
- Simon Clark at Taking Liberties
- Bill at Bill Sticker Alternative
Additional thanks to John Tilt, Dave Atherton, Chris Snowdon and to everyone else for their links and tweets to this blog, which altogether has brought quite a bit of traffic here, too. Also thanks to the fine folks at Hands Off Our Packs!
The vast majority of readers, unsurprisingly, hail from the United Kingdom (76%), followed by the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Germany in much smaller percentages. Recently, New Zealand traffic has increased, likely due to their current plain packaging consultation. Greece, Denmark, Cyprus and Turkey also get a nod for coming to this blog regularly.
(Please note: This site does not track IP addresses -- the above country stats are derived from Google Analytics, so I have no idea who you are, nor do I have any inclination to track any of you down.)
So... interesting times....
In the last six months we have seen the Public Health hate campaigners ratchet up their propaganda war to denormalise smokers even more. But it is no longer only about smokers -- these public health asshats are going after everyone they don't like now. Drinkers. Eaters. Big Soda. Big Meat. Big Anything and Everything. That slippery slope or "domino theory" that they have claimed doesn't exist? It exists. In spades.
If you peer behind their thinly-disguised veil of
Many of the leaders in the Public Health religion, though they believe otherwise, are pure evil. Others in their flocks have been grossly deceived by the propaganda and indoctrinated whilst at university or earlier, unaware that they are being used to further an agenda of hate. It's the modern crusade against the infidels, the unbelievers. We have all seen how easy it is for them to dress up their crusade as being one of kindness and compassion. But it is nonetheless a campaign of evil tyranny against those who do not believe in the gods and tenets of Public Health.
The Public Health zealots know that to succeed they need to capture the minds of young children, so they tirelessly preach their gospel in schools until the children accept this faith blindly and unquestioningly. And for those who grow up and wilfully refuse to partake of the sacrament, they create laws to enforce compliance. Resistance is futile. "Believe only what we tell you," they preach. "Do only what we say and immortality is yours." They need everyone to be afraid of everything, so that the masses will seek out their counsel and part with their gold. Fear is their weapon of choice, and these hateful bastards wield that weapon handily against an unsuspecting, uninformed and unarmed population. They squeal with unbridled delight over their conquests, but they have only but begun to bludgeon all of us into submission. They march ever onwards, destroying anyone or anything that stands between them, leaving misery and hate in their wake. "Protect the Children!" is their battle cry, and it confuses and mutes the politicians, binds the hands of the media, and deafens an increasingly frightened public.
Well, that's my take on all of this. I could be wrong. You are always welcome to disagree with my views, which is something you cannot do on the Public Health side of things.
Anyway, it is my sincerest hope that this blog is both informative and entertaining. There are some incredibly awful people out there, but it's always good to be able to have a few laughs at their expense. There are some truly good people out there too, fighting against the hate and championing the causes of liberty and freedom. I have a good idea about what is going to happen next here in the UK, as do all of you. I suspect we'll have plenty more to moan about, unfortunately. Yet I also hope that my suspicions turn out to be wrong. I would like that very much. I suppose we'll see what the next six months will bring.
