Posted on 12/11/2002 4:31:33 PM PST by geedee
New York Post exclusive: the state of New York warns that there could be a period of time next year when no cigarettes are available for sale. The State Office of Fire Prevention and Control will soon mandate that only self-extinguishing cigarettes can be sold in the state. This is not going to sit well with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is taxing the sale of (and misery caused by) cigarettes to finance all sorts of spending.
When you look at a regulation that is demanding self-extinguishing cigarettes, you are probably fooled into thinking it's a great safety move. No, no! You have to look for the hidden special interests here, for the kook conspiracy theories. You don't need any proof, so don't worry about that. The less proof and the more outrageous the better! Just come up with the stupidest scenario possible such as Martin Sheen saying that Bush wants to attack Iraq to curry favor with his dad and you're golden.
We all know Big Oil, Big Ketchup, Big Pharm and assorted big businesses run the world. So who is it that gets hurt when cigarettes do not self-extinguish and you have to keep relighting them as you do a cigar? Why, Big Match and Big Butane! Soon, the Al-Qaeda cigarette smuggling operation will be able to take up the slack - working in conjunction with Indian reservations and Internet sales. As always, it's what you don't hear reported that you must always ponder and conceive. Facts don't matter - it's the seriousness of the charge that must be investigated.
I blame the Catchup Advisory Board, and Garrison Keillor for his regular support of them.
And in regardes to the subject at hand, I would LOVE to see NY without cigarettes for several months. Smokers will get them elsewhere, and stock up on them prior. But the government will NOT get hundreds of millions in revenue. It will be a wonderful thing to watch.
So, "Match" is the fellow's name... ;-P
That usually goes without saying.
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