On the 16th of this month, I started a thread called "The Pep Boys". The main point of this thread had to do with the political incorrectness of smoking. I tied this topic in with "Gimme a Break!" by mentioning the second-season episode in which the chief got very mad at Julie when he caught her puffing away. Because I had such a big crush on Julie, I felt really bad when I saw her doing such a thing! Shame on her! One thing that this thread has in common with upwards of ninety-nine percent of my other threads is that it has obtained zero replies! Just look at the number of failed attempts by me to start some conversation about this fine series in between then and now! If you still need more convincing, go to the pages of "Caroline in the City" and "Mad About You"! In any event, right before I came to this site, there was a lead on my screen about at attempt to make New Zealand a non-smoking country through rediculously high taxes. I read the article and found it very interesting! According to what I read, in the near future, one pack of ciggarettes will cost the equivelent of fifteen American dollars in New Zealand! However, there is one thing about the article that really caught my attention. There was no mention of what the government planned to do with the tax money that they would get from the people unable or unwilling to quit. I live in New Jersey and a lot of the people running for office have made a lot of promises about imposing new tobacco taxes for the sake of making classroom sizes smaller, helping the homeless or fill in potholes on the highways. However, how much of the money that the government makes from smokers actually goes towards these goals is something that I have no idea about! In any event, I just wanted to share.