I haven’t smoked a cigarette in years. I personally do not like them and believe there are better ways for me to enjoy tobacco. The new cigarette packs will not be part of my life. But that’s beside the point.

It isn’t even the intrusion on rights that has me so pissed off. I have sort of grown used to it. This time its just the utter stupidity of the government. The stupidity, arrogance, and bloated power-hungry nature of government bureaucrats.

I don’t like being lied to on my dime. I don’t like to be fed propaganda. Phoney studies and statistics irk me.

For those who haven’t heard, here’s what Nanny Samantha has in mind. On every cigarette pack, the entire top half, there will be a picture such as one of the following:

• Rotten teeth and gums
• Diseased lungs
• A sewn-up corpse of a smoker
• Smoke coming out of someone’s tracheotomy hole

Why do I care?

Why do I care? I’m a pipe smoker. Government does stupid things every day.

The reason I care is because the same people who came up with this hair-brained idea also pull the strings on a lot of other things that effect my everyday life. Do I want the same kind of people who consider this new cigarette pack thing a good idea deciding whether there is a distinction between pipe tobacco and roll-your-own cigarette tobacco?

Beware the myth of hyper competency!

One of the big mistakes so many Americans make is assuming people in government are significantly brighter, more competent, efficient, or otherwise super-powered. Granted, most of these people are probably nice, and they probably got good grades in school, they have been successful, and I’ll even submit that deep down somewhere, they really want to do good. We just disagree on how to accomplish the greater good.

The thing these people in government really excel at and rise head and shoulders above their fellow countrymen is their hunger for power. That, in my ever so humble opinion, is what actually pulls them to the top.

These people are perfectly capable of the most striking feats of stupidity, such as thinking you can get away with stealing classified documents from the national archives by stuffing them in your pants, or thinking you can, as a celebrity, get away with sending creepy pictures of yourself in your underwear to strangers. These are the deciders my friends.

Why this is so stupid

These people actually believe, or think you will believe, that putting those disgusting photos on cigarette packages will save over 200,000 lives a year. Easy as that. This is their claim.

They have been trying to convince you that 400,000 people die every year from smoking. Now they’ll have to cut that number in half or admit their dumbass cigarette pack campaign doesn’t work.

And what about the 433,000 tobacco-caused deaths per year? How do they arrive at that figure? When you die of lung cancer - if you ever smoked or smelled tobacco smoke it was a preventable tobacco related death. Never mind genetics, diet, obesity, stress, environment, bad luck, etc. or whatever causes all the other lung cancer deaths among non-smokers.

This is what a bag of chips might look like in a few years

The fact is, that 433,000 number is entirely bogus. There is no way they could have scientifically arrived at that number. They can not say with any scientific authority that smoking is the number one cause of preventable deaths. But they do.

People typically gobble up and repeat this propaganda because tobacco is “special.” Tobacco is easy to hate for those who don’t enjoy it. An easy target. What they don’t realize is the nanny state will move on to other areas.

Are you ready for pictures of the corpses of obese people on potato chips? How about decapitated victims of drunk driving collisions on beer and wine bottles? Is this the world we want to live in?

I encourage all cigarette smokers to invest in a collection of cigarette cases. There are a ton of them on eBay. Get them now because I predict the market for them will skyrocket the closer we come to seeing these cigarette packs hit the shelves.

Note: That's me a few years ago before I lost 140 pounds.

I want to hear your comments. Will your vote in the next election be influenced by tobacco legislation? What is your opinion of the new warning labels?

Currently, two of my favorites are available at smokingpipes.com - Classic Burley Kake and Anniversary Kake. (Wow - just realized I haven't reviewed Anniversary Kake yet! Travesty! Off to the cellar to get some.) If you like Virginia and Perique blends and haven't tried Anniversary Kake you simply have to get some of this.

They are available in 1.5 ounce and 8 ounce tins.

Of course the entire gamut of Hearth and Home blends is on tap back at pipesandcigars.com. If you haven't explored these blends there is something for everyone and Russ is an outstanding blender.

Don't forget there is also two new series in the Hearth and Home lineup. There's the Landmark Series of aromatic and semi-aromatic blends along with the Marquee Series which include some rare components and are aged before release.

Exciting times.

Ebay auction with SPT logo

Thanks to a reader I just learned that a seller on Ebay is using the SPT logo on products he or she is selling on Ebay.

I want to make it clear these are not mine, I have sold nothing on Ebay in a long time, and I do not endorse the products. (He's selling someone else's tobacco, using my logo on the tin, and says in his auction the value is in the tin.) I certainly do endorse Hearth and Home tobaccos from pipesandcigars.com, but buy it from pipesandcigars.com.

I do all my own graphics design. This site is kind of "my baby."

Hopefully this is all a misunderstanding of some sort and this seller just doesn't understand copyright and the ethics of using, editing, and selling someone else's creative work.

I contacted the seller asking him to cease using it immediately. For now, just wanted to let you all know that I'm not the one selling tobacco tins on Ebay.

Also - I want to thank the reader who alerted me to this. I appreciate it.

Update:

The logo was removed and the remaining auctions were reported to eBay. After communication with someone from pipesandcigars.com I feel it safe to say they do not endorse this practice of selling their bulk blends repackaged in homemade tins on online auction sites.

I'm pretty certain eBay does not approve either based on their rules surrounding counterfeits, bootlegs, not to mention tobacco sales.

Again, I want to thank David for reporting this to me and all the support I've received here, at tampandpuff.com, and by email.

Dark-fired Kentucky Leaf and ripe red Virginia tobaccos, with their deep, earthy flavors, are layered on a central core of golden flue-cured for a hint of bright sweetness, then pressed and matured in cakes, and finally cut into 20z blacks. Slice it thick and rub it out for a ribbon cut, thin for a shag or chop it into cubes. The choice is yours.

Greg Pease Jack Knife Plug is currently on sale at Smokingpipes.com

Also from Greg Pease and Craig Tarlor is their first new Two Friends label blend in years. English Chocolate. Smokingpipes.com has this one ready to go too.

We begin with the finest Virginias and just enough Latakia to provide the taste that so many crave then press it to marry the flavors. We then tumble it out to a broken flake for easy packing and add just a touch of chocolate to awaken the senses. The end result is a blend that satisfies all day for a walk through the Dales yet is welcome in the drawing room in the evenings thanks to a warm chocolate aroma.

These are two I look forward to trying. If you've already popped a tin, lets hear your thoughts in the comments.

Its Virginia season for this pipe smoker so I'm looking forward to trying this one over the summer. This is his first pure Virginia. No cavendish, burley, Perique, or anything but Virginias.

Quoting Greg Pease from his web site:

In Union Square, bright, sweet virginias, are combined with deep, rich reds, pressed into a firm cake for several days, and then sliced and packaged. The result is a blend that is full flavoured, without being overly strong. It delivers layers of pure tobacco character, and burns wonderfully, leaving both pipe and alate clean and virginia fresh.

Union Square is another great summer blend, for sure, but it will also be welcomed in the cooler months by virginia purists, and by those seeking a softer alternative to a steady diet of heavier Latakia mixtures. I expect it to age wonderfully, of course, developing greater complexity and richer mid-tones over the years to come. Smoke it now, and lay several tins down for sampling in five, ten, twenty years. This is one that I fully expect will outlive me, and I plan on a very long life.

This one was added to the Fog City Selection. Still looking forward to developments with an entirely new line coming later this year.

Mac Baren Arcadian Mixture

Mac Baren has been pretty short on blends with Perique. I don't know what else is in this blend besides Perique, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

The other two HH blends (Vintage Syrian and Matured Virginia) were a welcome departure from Mac Baren's usual style. (Nothing against those either of course - big fan of Mixture here.) This one could prove to be interesting.

As soon as I have more details, I'll post.

Following are the blend descriptions for each directly from pipesandcigars.com:

Classic Burley Kake

Classic Burley Kake is a new blend that pays homage to old-time Burley flakes and cakes. Using Tennessee and Kentucky Burleys, ranging from lighter white to darker mahogany, and a bit of matured red Virginia, this sliced cake tobacco is a traditional American-style blend.

We start with four different types of Burley, the aforementioned Tennessee and Kentucky, plus two different premium white Burleys. Then we add a red Virginia for a maple-like sweetness. Then we use all-natural flavors- cocoa, rum and anise and steam the tobaccos with the flavorings and firmly press and slice it. The aroma is mellow and pleasant, and the taste is lightly sweet with a large volume of smoke.

Hearken back to a simpler time when the sight of a pipe in someone’s mouth while walking down the street was common, and the scent of pipe tobacco was everywhere. Give Classic Burley Kake a try and go back in time.

The new Classic Burley Kake is a similar type of tobacco to Edgeworth Sliced. We're not attempting to to copy Edgeworth, but rather provide smokers with a blend that is similar to yet still unique.

Daybreak

After receiving some calls and emails from members of the New York Pipe Club lamenting the loss of Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe, we wanted to develop a blend with similar characteristics to EMP. After a number of "tweaks", we sent a sample to the club, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We're now making it available to the general public. Try this traditional English mixture of sweet Virginias, fragrant Orientals and rich, smoky Latakia.

As soon as I can get my hands on these two and have time to get to know them, you'll see reviews. Expect to see some more of my old favorite Hearth and Home blends reviewed as I revisit those.

Have a favorite Hearth and Home blend? Let's hear about it in the comments.

More good news: Later in the year, he plans to release an entire new line, an "interesting new series" as Greg Pease puts it. Of course, way too early for details. He has three prototypes and working on a fourth.

Roll yer own ciggy and small cigar smokers are hardest hit. The RYO crowd have been getting hit with a $1.10 per pound tobacco tax the same as we pipe smokers. That buck a pound is jumping to almost 25 dollars!

Apparently what you do with the tobacco after you buy it has something to do with how hard you should be taxed? If I put it in a briar pipe I should be taxed 150% more for it, if I roll it in a paper I should be taxed 2000% more?! How about just taxing the hell out of the papers? Consider that for a second and contemplate how arbitrary this is. Pipe tobacco tax is only jumping 158% (this time) to $2.83.

This is just asinine on so many levels and in so many directions. First and foremost, the only purpose of the tax code should be collecting revenue for constitutionally sound government expenditures. This means that punishing people or trying to control behavior is NOT the proper use of the tax code. If legislators want to control a behavior, they should propose, debate on, and pass an actual law to control that behavior. For example, if you rob a bank, you don't face a tax hike, you get put in jail.

Secondly, and on the tail of that, if this SCHIP program is so necessary, purposeful, and all that - shouldn't the entire public have an equal share in supporting it? This isn't just a matter of fairness, but for practical reasons, you don't want the source of income to be something you are apparently trying to destroy at the same time.

I could go on and on. I'll close with this:

Pay attention to who you vote for next exlection.

As always, I want to hear your comments. Especially:

1. What can we do as individuals to change our government's course between elections?

2. Will any of these taxes change how much you smoke?

3. Would a politician's position on tobacco tax effect your vote? Has it in the past?