Working outside by myself I'm left to my thoughts and the radio most of the day. My headset is only FM so I'm not privy to any AM shows. My current radio lineup is:
- Rick and Bubba - when I wake up - 10:00 AM
- Glenn Beck - 10-11 AM
- Rush Limbaugh - 11-2 AM (If I can't pick up station or its a big sports day then "The Round Table")
- Variety Hour - either Paul Finebaum or Todd Schnitt
- Rick and Bubba Replay - 3 PM til I pickup where I started in the morning
- Back to Finebaum, Schnitt, or News
- Michael Savage - 6 PM til I get home
One issue that has always intrigued me is smoking. Let me start by saying I've never smoked, never intend to, and think its a horrible habit. The anti-smoking campaign was well ingrained to me. If you ask me what I remember about elementary school it would be tire swings and the D.A.R.E. Program.
If they wanted us to learn anything it was that smoking was bad. After one such program I intended to warn my sweet old neighbors Mrs Ernie and Mr. Buddy that smoking was killing them. I made it halfway over, then realized I was a small child and panicked at the thought of explaining to them how bad smoking was. Mrs Ernie is still living, still smoking, and has to be in her 80s.
Smoking has gone from common practice to being demonized and to avoid like the plague.
I'm not so much interested in discussing the health consequences of smoking, but rather the government response to smoking. As mentioned above, we have been inundated with the negatives of smoking since our youth. Everyone knows they're bad for you, yet some people still smoke. Fine by me. In fact I think it is the only product where the makers advertise for you to not buy their product.
So the government, on all levels, continues to tell you not to smoke and makes them out to be the worst thing in the world.
But rather than banning them all together because they are so bad, their way of "helping" you to not smoke are "sin taxes." A plan to try to make them so expensive you wouldn't want to smoke.
In some states they have become so expensive there are now black markets for them. These high taxes have become a big source of revenue for states. To the point they are dependent on them. I haven't heard on any government entity that is doing well financially right now, so they are scrounging for any source of revenue.
I have heard two stories as of late that made me think of this. First, several New England states are considering lowering their cigarette taxes and second, Illinois is in the process of passing a bill to reverse a 2008 ban on smoking in casinos. This seems to be sending a mixed message to the kids. Why would the states be trying to lower taxes or repeal bans? The answer....Money. The only reason to lower prices is to sell more in your own state. Perhaps their demonizing campaign over the years has actually worked and less people are smoking. Not good news for the government. The fact is they need you to smoke so they can keep funding all their projects. They have hurt their golden goose.
I recently heard a story about MSU's newly retired sports play by play announcer, Jack Crisitl. Cristil is now 85 and still smokes to my knowledge. Recently someone inquired about why he still smokes despite all the negative health aspects? Cristil responded by saying, "Son my dad lived to be (I forget the exact age) 95." The reporter responded by asking if his father smoked as well. Cristil answered, "No, he minded his own business."
If smoking is so bad then ban it. Don't demonize it in the streets and then get addicted yourself to the money.
If you want to smoke, then go ahead. I only want the government to intervene when your freedoms start to infringe on mine, and I don't think smoking does.
