"Renaissance Thinking About the Issues of Our Day"
Save money by rolling your own cigarettes
Submitted by timron on 31. January 2013 - 10:48
The cost of cigarettes is outrageous these days but luckily we still can buy tobacco. Long ago they were $2 a pack but now you won't find cigarettes at that price. Stores are currently selling them for $5 a pack and it's quickly rising to be a dollar more. Did you know that some cigarettes are selling for ten dollars in states like California, New York and New Jersey? Of course, it depends on which brand you by. A few years ago, smokers would be ordering their cigarettes in the mail instead of going to the store because this would save them a bundle each month. However, USPS banned shipping any cigarettes.
The first thing that is needed is rolling tobacco and cigarette rolling paper. For the paper, make sure it is thick as this will be easier when you first learn to roll.
You obviously don't want the whole thing falling apart in your hands. Instead of purchasing in stores, you should buy tobacco online. Your cost would go down by at least $25-$80 a month, depending on how many cigarettes you go through each day. This will save you even more money because you'll be buying large amounts of tobacco. Remember that your tobacco may get old if you have not used it. In this case, you will need to prepare before it gets dry. Take a zip-lock bag and store your tobacco in there. If you notice it still gets dry, place an apple peel with the tobacco for at least 8 hours.
Do you like to use filters? If so, you can always buy some on the internet. Or if you want, a simple paper card can be used to make a filter. This could be a slice of cardboard or maybe an index card. After you have made your filter, the cigarette will be sturdy and you won't have to worry about the tip becoming moist. As you can see, rolling your own cigarettes is a simple task and you will be able to save money each month.
Comments
The piece at least makes some good points about the polarizing effect on what could have been reasonable debate when issues are couched in terms of rights. Rights are non-negotiable. As soon as something is called a right, debating the merits becomes more or less impossible. Some things should be rights, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, but the right to bear arms has been grossly misinterpreted, as have other parts of the Constitution. Some of the Powers of Congress come to mind, like the power "to coin the money of the land." None the less, getting rid of the Constitution? What a pandoras box.
It was Michael Seidman, not CBS, who advocated scrapping the constitution. For the original Op-Ed piece in the NY Times click on this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/opinion/lets-give-up-on-the-constitution.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&smid=tw-share
My hat's off to him. Whether you agree or not it was certainly a courageous act on his part. I would prefer changing the constitution although scrapping it might prove better in the long run. I've suggested certain changes to law and the constitution here on TH more than once. Changes to the constitution, perhaps a total revision, are long overdue. Here's a portion of a blog that I posted some time ago:
I think of "long term solutions," "fundamental change," and the Founding because they are important - vitally important. Anyone engaged in political action would do well to have a solid foundation in America’s early history, particularly the fascinating saga of the struggle for the Constitution. As Bernard Bailyn reminds us: "We must get the two-hundred-year-old story straight, in some way, in order to make sense of our own world." None of the founders, certainly not Madison, thought of the Constitution as a sacred document. It aches for a few fundamental changes - and soon.
Here, then, are some of my suggestions for change, by no means exhaustive. I consider the first three to be the most urgent. Please consider discussing these ideas with friends, neighbors and associates, promoting those that appeal to you. Most of them would require a change to the doddering, old and justly venerated Constitution:
1. Restriction on the number of times that a person may hold federal elective office. I'd hold it to two terms, period, with one exception permitted - a person who has held federal elective office for two terms could subsequently contend for and occupy the office of president for two terms. (I'd prefer, though a single six year term for president, no re-election).
2. An exemption-free draft for all able-bodied citizens. No exemption for members of congress or White House staff. No exemption for college students (grossly unfair and discriminatory). No exemption, period, except for health or disability.
3. Legalization and strict governmental control of the sale and consumption of drugs.
4. Transparency in government to include (a) declassification of ALL official government records five years after the date of their origin (exact, uncensored and unaltered duplicates might be filed, at the time of their origin, with a special archivist and made readily available to the public after the five year period has expired) and (b) immediate and unrestricted access to all files, records and offices of any federal department (when expressly authorized by a vote of thel House) by a standing committee of five House members composed of three from the majority party, two from the minority, all of whom have been sworn not to divulge sensitive information.
5. Elimination of the Electoral College allowing presidential elections to be decided directly by a majority of the popular vote.
6. Revision of the system for electing Senators so that, in so far as possible or practical, Senators would represent all the people, fairly and equally (each Senator would ideally represent the same number of people), through election by national or regional, rather than state, constituencies. This might prove the most difficult change to bring about, but one of the most important. Alternatively, each state might retain its two senators, as prescribed by Article V, but Senators would have weighted votes based on their state's population. If all else fails, the Senate could be relieved of all real power becoming an advisory body only.
7. Elimination of the unconscionable (and growing) disparity in the distribution of wealth. This would require an aggressive, vigorous policy of progressive taxation and absolute limitations on inheritance. A wealth tax to replace income tax.
8. Elimination of primary elections for national office with candidates to be nominated by their political parties.
9. Supreme Court nominees (maybe candidates for all Federal judgeships) to be proposed by the House, vetted by the President and approved by the Senate. For example, the House might be allowed to propose five candidates, the President to select two of the five, and the Senate to approve one of the two (or to reject both in which case the process would begin again). Both the President and the Senate might be required to act within a certain time frame.
10. Equal television time for all major party candidates for Federal elective office.
11. Elimination of special privileges (perks) and "gifts" for all members of Congress. For example, members would be required to get their health care just as any member of the public or the most humble government employee gets theirs. Also, no special clubs or spas for members, no cut-rate dining rooms, etc.
12. Federal regulation of funding for public education that would insure equitable distribution of funds nationwide based solely on student enrollment.
13. A loop-hole free, hard-nosed and effective campaign finance law. This might require that the Supreme Court overturn its recent free speech ruling (the Supreme Court's equation of money with "speech" ) or that congress enact an imaginative law to circumvent its noxious effects.
14. Revocation of the 2nd amendment.
15. Opportunity for the public to decide directly, perhaps every seven or twelve years, whether or not they would like to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of revising or amending the constitution. The question might be placed simultaneously on the ballots of each of the states and might require approval by two thirds majority of the national electorate (not the states) to carry.
“A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.” – James Madison