Bridget Carey

Business owner and vape advocate. Cool Clouds Vapor Shop &
⭕PHAN⭕ Food enthusiast. Home cook. Urban gardener.

[Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath]

Key to winning:

Choose to be positive and grateful. Then, just keep at it. Time is the great compounder and will do the rest.

So many people just don’t have the discipline to stay positive and grateful. Then time compounds the bitterness instead.

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

Elon Musk avait dit un truc qui m'avait marqué sur l'allocation de ressources. En substance : passé un certain niveau de richesse, l'argent n'est plus de la consommation, c'est de l'allocation de capital.

Cette phrase change tout.

L'économie, dans le fond, c'est juste un problème d'allocation. Tu as des ressources finies et des usages infinis. Qui décide où va quoi ?

Imagine une cour de récré. 100 enfants, des paquets de cartes Pokémon distribués au hasard. Tu laisses faire. Très vite, un ordre émerge. Les bons joueurs accumulent les cartes rares, les collectionneurs trient, les négociateurs trouvent des deals. Personne n'a planifié. Et pourtant chaque carte finit dans les mains de celui qui en tire le plus de valeur. Le système maximise le bonheur total de la cour. C'est ça, la main invisible.

Maintenant fais entrer la maîtresse. Elle trouve ça injuste. Léo a 50 cartes, Tom en a 3. Elle confisque, redistribue, impose l'égalité. Trois effets immédiats. Les bons joueurs arrêtent de jouer, à quoi bon. Les mauvais n'ont plus de raison de progresser, ils auront leur part. Les échanges s'effondrent. La cour est égale, et morte. Elle a maximisé l'égalité, elle a détruit le bonheur.

Le problème de la maîtresse, c'est qu'elle ne peut pas avoir l'information que la cour avait collectivement. C'est le problème du calcul économique de Mises, formulé en 1920. L'URSS a essayé de le résoudre pendant 70 ans avec le Gosplan. Résultat : pénuries, queues, effondrement. Pas parce que les Soviétiques étaient bêtes, parce que le problème est mathématiquement insoluble en mode centralisé.

Quand Musk a 200 milliards, il ne les consomme pas, il les alloue. SpaceX, Starlink, Neuralink, xAI. Chaque dollar est un pari sur le futur. Et lui a un track record. PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX. Il a démontré qu'il sait identifier des problèmes immenses et y allouer des ressources avec un rendement spectaculaire.

L'État aussi a un track record. Hôpitaux qui s'effondrent, éducation qui décline, dette qui explose, services publics qui se dégradent malgré des budgets en hausse constante. Le marché identifie les bons allocateurs, la politique identifie les bons communicants.

Le profit n'est pas une finalité, c'est un signal. Il dit : tu as alloué des ressources rares vers un usage que les gens valorisent suffisamment pour payer. Plus le profit est gros, plus la création de valeur est grande. Quand Starlink est rentable, ça veut dire que des millions de gens dans des zones rurales ont enfin internet. Quand un ministère est en déficit, ça veut dire qu'il consomme plus qu'il ne produit. L'un crée, l'autre détruit, et on appelle ça redistribution.

Dans nos sociétés il y a deux catégories d'acteurs. Les entrepreneurs et les bureaucrates. L'entrepreneur prend un risque personnel pour identifier un problème, mobiliser des ressources, créer une solution. S'il se trompe il perd. S'il a raison, ses clients gagnent, ses employés gagnent, ses fournisseurs gagnent, l'État collecte des impôts. Il est la cellule de base du progrès humain.

Le bureaucrate ne prend aucun risque personnel. Son salaire est garanti. Au mieux il maintient une rente existante. Au pire il la détruit par excès de réglementation, mauvaise allocation forcée, incitations perverses qui découragent ceux qui produisent. Mais dans aucun cas il ne crée.

Regarde les 50 dernières années. iPhone, internet civil, SpaceX, Tesla, Google, Amazon, Stripe, mRNA, ChatGPT. Toutes des inventions privées, portées par des entrepreneurs, financées par du capital risque. Pas un seul ministère n'a inventé quoi que ce soit qui ait changé ta vie au quotidien.

La France est devenue le laboratoire mondial de la dérive bureaucratique. 57% du PIB en dépenses publiques, record absolu. Une administration tentaculaire, une fiscalité qui pénalise la création de richesse. Résultat : décrochage face aux États-Unis, à l'Allemagne, à la Suisse. Fuite des cerveaux. Désindustrialisation. Dette qui explose.

Et le pire c'est que la mauvaise allocation s'auto-renforce. Plus l'État prélève, moins les entrepreneurs créent. Moins ils créent, moins il y a de base fiscale. Plus l'État s'endette et taxe. Boucle de rétroaction négative parfaite. La maîtresse pense qu'elle aide, et chaque année la cour produit moins.

Dans nos sociétés, ce sont les entrepreneurs, toujours, qui font avancer la civilisation. Les bureaucrates au mieux maintiennent une rente, au pire la détruisent. Aucune société n'a jamais progressé en taxant ses créateurs pour subventionner ses gestionnaires.

La question n'est jamais qui a combien. C'est qui alloue le mieux la prochaine unité de ressource pour maximiser le futur de l'humanité. La réponse depuis 200 ans n'a jamais changé. Ce ne sont pas les fonctionnaires.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@LanceChurchill Its like @MartyMakary has a Blindspot. Maybe he should write a book about.... ohhh

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

Exactly. Why?

[Lance Churchill @LanceChurchill]

FDA Commissioner Makary Calls on ‘Grassroots’ Scientists to Challenge Big Pharma Dominance.
Makary said, “We want to see the grassroots scientists of America, the scientists that are working hard in small, little companies or in universities, we want to see them have a level playing field.”
If this is true @DrMakaryFDA then why did @FDATobacco crush thousands of grassroots entrepreneurs who owned small vape companies who were challenging Big Tobacco dominance?
Instead of supporting these hard-working small companies, the FDA put them all out of business and handed the new industry on a silver platter to the Big Tobacco companies.
https://t.co/4D8bvzlD6X

[BelannF @BelannF]

PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOUR TOWN KEEPS RAISING TAXES - Here is what may get their attention.😂😂

A town keeps raising taxes, so a resident shows up to speak, wearing an English lord’s wig. Instead of protesting, he sarcastically supports the increases and says, “If you can’t pay your taxes… don’t be poor.”

Why? Because the people raising the taxes don’t live like the people paying them. The town administrator, Todd Selig, has never been elected, has held his appointed job for 17 years, and makes over $300,000 a year with THREE months of paid vacation.

And if you watch these meetings, you know the pattern. Regular people come up looking for answers, maybe a little dialogue. The administrators DO sit there like an aristocratic court, silent, unmoved, barely looking up. No response. No engagement. Just a posture that says, your problems aren’t my problems… so why are you here?

The wig wasn’t the problem. The disconnect was.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@SenWarren You don't mention RJ Reynolds or Altria, could it be that you actually approve of the monopoly they have on harm reduction and the vapor market ? A lot of small American Businesses are being snuffed out.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@SenWarren @RepRobertGarcia Pretty sure you're not one bit upset over the regulatory capture that Altria and RJ Reynolds secured with that ballroom donation. Small American businesses will be devastated and consumers will lose access to products that keep them from smoking cigarettes.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@SenWarren Why aren't you looking at RJ Reynolds and Altria? Oh. Cuz they will smash the independent vapor industry(the one that truly eradicated smoking) and thats not a big deal to you.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@SenSchumer Pretty sure you are well aware that the subsidies are a scam of the insurance companies to inflate premiums so that they can siphon $$$ from the government. You could push back on the bloat or you can perpetually endorse it.

[Mike Larsen @itsallaruse_]

The US government rolled out Armored vehicles and troops in tactical gear to terrorize American Vapor Distributors on behalf of Big Tobacco.

The GOVERNMENT held up our American made Vapor products and lied through their teeth.

They claimed 90% of products seized were "Chinese illicit vapes" in reality they seized 90% American made e-liquid products

They suggested my products which have saved millions of Americans from the deadliest addiction in human history, smoking, were possibly tainted with fentanyl.

They know they are lying

They did this at the behest of Big Tobacco. To protect them from the mass exodus of smokers quitting the deadliest addiction in human.

Because they care more about the blood money they earn killing Americans than they do about life saving products protecting American citizens from the deadliest products in human history.

Its time to be mad.

Its time to fight back.

Its time to stand for what is right .

And th we the United Vapers Alliance is here to help

Join the fight . Send tweets and save lives

We need your help.

I hope we can count on you.

If your life or your loved ones has been saved by nicotine vapor products then the time is now to fight for the rights of them and future ex smokers for access to less harmful solutions.

Join the group and drop an X1 in the comments if we can count on your support.

Join the page tagged above.

Help save 50M Americans from an ugly early and uncertain death at the hands of Big Tobacco

Together we can make a difference

#itsallaruse #vapingsavedmylife #saveflaboredvape

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

11 years of helping people quit smoking but the government said naw, we don't like your way.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@ChaunceyGardner @MartyMakary don't let your blindspots keep you from the real work we can and are doing to help smokers. Flavored open system vapes have long been the most successful in helping ppl switch and also OFFRAMP nicotine if they choose. See also, nicotine isn't the problem for smokers

[Charles A. Gardner, PhD @ChaunceyGardner]

Cigarettes KILL half of all users. Tobacco control is now, by far, the most deeply divided of any public health field. Here are a few studies that the media ignores:

1) Cancer risk plummets when smokers switch to e-cigarettes
Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) drops >10,000-fold.
https://t.co/GE8tvTMz2T
A more conservative estimate found lifetime cancer risk drops 99.5% (0.5% risk would be difficult to measure; difficult to distinguish from “background noise”)
https://t.co/nKFxiR6Usf
Use of nicotine vapes significantly reduces exposure to a major pulmonary carcinogen, NNAL (results of 4-arm, parallel-group, randomized, controlled trial funded by US NIH and FDA)
https://t.co/x2h6zzQvvu

2) Cardiovascular health improves when smokers switch to ecigs
According to the American Heart Association, smokers who switch to nicotine vaping have a 7-fold lower risk of stroke; their heart health biomarkers are indistinguishable from never-smokers; and they have a 30%-40% lower risk of cardiovascular events than people who continue to smoke:
https://t.co/yZn9cWVvaf
https://t.co/EzlAuTWdNo
https://t.co/dt5fzfKaaz
Systematic review and meta-analysis of 63 studies: “...short-to-medium-term transition from cigarettes to e-cigarettes may improve blood flow and blood pressure... There is lack of evidence supporting any association of e-cigarette use with cardiovascular diseases and cardiac dysfunction or remodelling." Exclusive vapers had no significant differences in heart rate (HR) or blood pressure (BP) compared with non-users, and lower HR and BP than smokers.
https://t.co/fIsBqZyk7w
They “experienced positive cardiovascular impact after both a 3- and 6-month period” including significant improvement in flow-mediated dilation, peak cutaneous vascular conductance responses to acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside, and mean arterial pressure. These benefits were exactly the same for e-cigarettes and NRTs.
https://t.co/YGYr2xtzgt
“We did not find a significant difference in the cardiovascular risk of exclusive e-cigarette use compared with nonuse of cigarettes and e-cigarettes.” [i.e., nicotine vapers’ cardiovascular risk is indistinguishable from non-smokers and non-vapers.] Study funded by NIH & FDA.
https://t.co/v3ajE5AOIm
Exclusive use of nicotine vapes (“e-cigarettes”) was not associated with a statistically significant increased risk of self-reported incidents of diagnosed cardiovascular disease over a 5-year period, whereas exclusive cigarette smoking is.
https://t.co/KcTRx4QoK7; https://t.co/29wvTW2DCU
Smoking cessation showed positive cardiovascular impact within 3 days, and the effects did not differ between nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapies (e.g., nicotine patch or nicotine gum).
https://t.co/KcTRx4QoK7; and https://t.co/29wvTW2DCU
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and blood pressure control, improve, and significant weight gains associated with cold turkey smoking cessation do not occur.
https://t.co/BjosLpfYvY
Blood vessel health improves significantly
https://t.co/seQDCmP9mB
https://t.co/lkQ87LDWLZ
https://t.co/0VNL0QGcY4
https://t.co/YaSrkSz5bB

3) Lung health improves when smokers switch to e-cigarettes
Lung cilia recover full function (these cilia remove solid particulates, bacteria and fungal spores from healthy lungs; cigarettes damage lung cilia function).
https://t.co/QE91tOw4HD
Respiratory tract infections drop dramatically
https://t.co/iBDoUNUGFw
Longitudinal analysis of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, an observational cohort study that surveyed 5,653 US adults ≥18 years, shows “Switching completely from past 30-day use of cigarettes to e-cigarettes had short-term beneficial associations with functionally important respiratory symptoms similar to quitting tobacco completely.”
https://t.co/bivOxgGX0q
https://t.co/5ZjyIot3kn
They have 20% less cough and 30% less phlegm than smokers who quit with nicotine patches or gum.
https://t.co/kTatyrhMLg
Analysis of 19,000 people found 65% of smokers with asthma and 76% of smokers with COPD reported improvement in respiratory symptoms after switching to ecigs.
https://t.co/d8Xs46twC3
COPD smokers’ lung health and quality of life improve dramatically (participants followed for 5 years). “COPD exacerbations were reduced by approximately 50% in patients who stopped or considerably reduced their smoking consumption after switching to vaping.”
https://t.co/CUirpd7ooQ
Asthmatic smokers experience “Significant improvement in asthma control and quality of life”
https://t.co/GGRHZZmlaf
https://t.co/Pcs0Ejq1V2
https://t.co/MpBWw8KNgw
https://t.co/KGG7IZuLez
https://t.co/1FVljR0mu6

NOTE: 'No detectable changes in lung health' of never-smokers who vaped nicotine for up to 4 years
https://t.co/5lp2HqPTTf

Studies that looked at both cardiovascular and lung health:
2022 review by University of Michigan researchers: When smokers switch, risk of acute cardiopulmonary events drops rapidly; long-term use leads to lung health benefits, especially among asthmatic and COPD smokers. No cancer risk found.
https://t.co/1FVljR0mu6
E-cigarette users who never smoked, followed for 3.5 years: No significant health changes in blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, lung function, respiratory symptoms, exhaled breath nitric oxide or carbon monoxide; and “no pathological findings could be identified on high-resolution computed tomography of the lungs, and no respiratory symptoms were consistently reported in the e-cigarette user group.”
https://t.co/5lp2HqPTTf
E-cigarette users’ health biomarkers are indistinguishable from never-smokers. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are Harmful or Potentially Harmful Substances (HPHS) measured at high levels in smokers. “When compared with people who never smoked, E-cigarette smokers [sic] had similar blood concentrations of VOCs.”
https://t.co/Bjw7KFAu3N

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@VaporTechAssoc @MartyMakary I think you need to check your blindspots. What is happening to the independent Vapor industry is absolutely shameful. Chinese disposables can go away without crushing small American manufacturers and retailers that built a harm reduction network.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

And the market doesn't even like their products. The market overwhelmingly chooses liquids made by independent US companies and (sadly) Chinese disposables.

[Lindsey Stroud @lmstroud89]

I thought one company owning almost half of PMTAs was bad.

Didn't realize the makers of Marlboro have a choke hold over saying their products are reduced risk...

21/24... that's 87.5%

The Tobacco Control Act is almost as un-American as income taxes.

https://t.co/qear8wdIAI

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@GregTHR @VaporTechAssoc Midwest told us to pound sand when we needed funds for advocacy in their home state. Sounds like they have a lawsuit to fund with the dollars we have all given them in orders.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

Vape = risk management.

True on so many levels.

[GrimmGreen @GrimmGreen]

This person just left me a comment, and it's the most clear and concise explanation of nicotine vaping for tobacco harm reduction i've ever read. It's a masterpiece. I want to frame it.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@ChaunceyGardner Someone just asked me about popcorn lung 2 nights ago. It's really sad that it has become this urban legend that is total bs.

[Bridget Carey @coolcloudsdist]

@GregTHR Right?!
*groans*

[Charles A. Gardner, PhD @ChaunceyGardner]

In 1999, 35% of US high school students smoked.
https://t.co/5qBNjUPdpO

In 1999, @HHSGov set an ambitious goal to reduce high school smoking to 16% by 2020.

By 2020, it was 4.6%. by 2024, 1.7%. In public health, it is rare to achieve goals. VERY rare to exceed them.