Pipes and Beards

A few months ago, a question on a page I follow on FaceBook asked why do a lot of pipe smokers have beards? There were various answers and conversations bantered about. I noticed that a good part of the members of the local pipe club I am active with, have beards or some sort of facial hair.

I have been thinking about this and decided to express my own reasoning.

A beard will pick up scents from the environment, mine does all the time, but I don't go smelling it looking for any lingering aroma from smoking my pipe (that is just weird in my opinion). In fact I wash my beard daily (sometimes more than that) so that it does not have any residual odors, aside from the fragrance of my Castile soap.

Beards are associated with manliness and I guess pipe smoking is too. So I guess smoking a pipe and having facial hair is an increased sign of pure manhood in some odd equation. But again, I do not have or do either to be more of a man.

Beards and pipes are on a resurgence with the 'hipster' movement, but then again, I do not consider myself a 'hipster.' There is the Tolkienians (spelling?) and the wizard thing, but still not my thing. The swarthy sea captain would be the next stereotype, maybe an distant imagine for me, but I don't own a boat (but it is in my Irish roots).

I guess the reasoning that fits closest to me would be the intellectual (psuedo or not) connection. You know, the bearded professor type that smokes a pipe. When asked a question, it is relaxing to take a sip from the pipe, clench it in your teeth, and lightly stroke the beard before answering. Usually nothing profound because I am not that good, but at least I can pretend it is going to be a worthy thought out response.

So, why do others have a beard and enjoy a pipe at the same time? I don't know, why don't you ask them, I sure they will have an answer.

Milestones and Updates

It has been a while since I have done a milestones post, so here is a short synopsis of the stats of this blog and of course what is going on with the facial hair...

• 200+ posts, 4500+ views in 3+ years
• I recently trimmed over an inch off the beard, while I can still wax into a handlebar, I rarely do currently.

That is it for now.

Today's Gun Culture

I am not going into a huge rant here on the 2nd Amendment, but just want to point out the issue that many hardcore alt-righters have with gun control.

As I write this, there is a man loose in this country that has written a 160 page manifesto against the government and then robbed a gun store in Wisconsin. Does the manifesto bother me...no, not really. Does the robbing of the gun store bother me...a little, but as a society we have not figured out how to stop crime so this will continue to happen.

My big issue (and the true crime here) is that the store that was robbed, does not have an accurate inventory of what was taken. He took a dozen guns (which were inventoried), a bullet proof vest and helmet (why are these available) and possibly (POSSIBLY) some suppressors...the suppressors were not inventoried and they (authorities and store owners) are not even sure how many were taken...seriously?

Why?

If you want to own a gun, go get a license and registration, and own a gun. If you want to own a "bad-ass" gun, go get the extra license, registration, and own a "bad-ass" gun. It is not rocket science, it is public safety.

Gun control to me is having a thorough vetting process, a working registry, and sensible laws. That is all, if you want to play with bad-ass guns, go through the proper channels. If you want a gun that is not going to wake the neighbors when you shoot your spouse in a heated argument, go through the proper channels. If you need a gun that holds 20-rounds of ammunition for sport shooting (hunting), because you are that bad a shot, go through the proper channels. If you need a weapon that shoots numerous rounds per millisecond (because you don't like taking viagra), go through the proper channels.

Have a wonderful day and safeties on people.

Tax Analogy

So, I have seen the meme above done a number of ways, the first several dozen times I thought it was a lousy lesson and was not based in reality. But then I got to thinking and it hit me that there is a very brilliant lesson in this, so here it is...

First of all, no one really pays 30% in taxes, that is just a propaganda point used by the fiscal conservatives, the rich, and corporations to inflame the argument that they need tax relief. But we will leave that alone and talk just about taxation and its purpose.

Yes, eating 30% of your kids ice cream can teach them an in depth lesson of taxation and its purpose, just don't end with the lesson with only losing several bites or licks of ice cream. Tell them where that ice cream is going. That the lose of ice cream went to offset the transport (infrastructure) to the creamery, another part went to protection of getting them to and fro safely (civil law), and still more of that went to providing clean water, air, and the FDA (make sure that ice cream is safe). Still more parts of that taxation went to utilities (need to keep it at the right temperature).

Next, extent the lesson to construct of money, and that you (the government) created and backs the value of the ice cream. Yes, it was awarded to them for something they may have earned (through chores, grades, sports, arts, etc...), but none of that would have been possible without an education and once again that costs ice cream which needs to be collect through taxation.

A truly enjoyable lesson for all, now go buy your kid some ice cream...

The Return of the Word 'Retard'

Let me apologize up front, as many will take offense to the word 'retard'. I too, take offense when it is used in reference to people with disabilities. I have family members that are disabled and have been called 'retarded'. Our current president used it during his campaign, and I, along with many others, was offended.

This word is going to make a resurgence in the fact that the current leadership of this country has an issue in being retarded. The current administration and its followers are retarded. In the fact that they are rehashing and re-instituting programs and policy with know documented failures. The leadership and its supporters are demonstrating a retarded approach to running this country. Because of that they are retards, plain and simple.

The following is a short list of the retarded moves they have or are making:

• education policy and the direction of the cabinet
• environmental policy and the direction of the cabinet
• economic policy and the direction of the administration
• the relaxation of background checks for gun ownership
• the handling of intelligence and the nuclear codes

I would go into details about each and all of these listed above, but the ones that need to understand, can't understand and those that do understand need no explanation. They do not get that their thought policy is retarded. They will continue to make the same bad decisions over and over, never taking a lesson away from their mistakes, sad when you really think about it.

So if you see me or others like me using the word 'retard' it is not towards or intended for those with disabilities, unless you think voting for and supporting Trump is a disability...

<btw, I like fucktard way more, but some will find the word fuck more offensive>

Let Me Guess: The Republicans Replacement Plan for ACA

The republicans have been trying to repeal the American Care Act since it was passed (60+ times in fact). Now that they have control and have already started with some rushed executive orders, they will most likely succeed. Of course they are saying that they will have a "better" plan to replace it and they will probably spin and sell a plan that everyone will believe is in everyone's best interest.

Here is what I believe they will give the American people and the republican supporters will think it is great...Annual rebates, yep that is their plan, everyone will get $750 (per person in your household). You will be able to use this money towards any health plan of your choice, and since there is no requirement to have health coverage you can do anything you want with the money (maybe that new upgrade on a few kitchen appliances, a new gun for the collection, pay off the holiday purchases on the credit card, maybe a nice long and well deserved weekend away), whatever the skies the limit.

Now lets look at the cost of this masterful plan and what it will all cost. Currently the approximate number of people that "were" forced into the healthcare marketplace is about 47 million. The number of people that still get healthcare from their employer is about 150 million. The total number of people in the Medicare and Veteran's systems is about 105 million. Adding that all up is around 302 million and about 20 million unaccounted for still in the US population.

So 302,000,000 times $750 is 226.5 billion dollars in refund monies. But lets be realistic about this, everyone knows that the republicans are not going to give rebates to those on Medicare and Veterans, so we can take that 105 million out of the equation, lowering the cost of the rebates to $147.75 billion. That is still higher than the projected average of $22 billion per year that the current system cost. Now we could lower the cost of the replacement plan by another $112.5 billion by not giving a rebate to those that get health insurance through their employer, this would bring the cost of the rebate program down to $35.25 billion. But those 150 million that get health insurance through their employer are hard working and deserve the rebates too, so we will leave that in, it is only fair...

So the $147.75B that will be added into the annual budget is so much better than the current $22B....now add the cost the government will have to cover for the uninsured that now come through the medical system because insurance is no longer a requirement...

What if the World Lost Oxygen for 5 Seconds

What if the world lost oxygen for just 5 seconds....

• Everyone at the beach would immediately get sunburn (even though there would be no beach, no sand, and no water), because molecular oxygen in the air protects our skin against UV light.
• The daytime sky would get dark, fewer particles to bounce light means a dark almost black sky.
• All pieces of untreated metal would instantly spot weld to each other, the only thing preventing metal from welding together on contact is a layer of oxidation.
• The earth's crust would crumble, as oxygen makes up 45% of the earth's crust.
• Everyone's inner ear would explode, because we would lose about 21% of the air pressure.
• Buildings made of concrete would turn to dust, oxygen is an important binder in concrete.
• Water is a third oxygen, without it hydrogen would turn into a gaseous state and expand in volume.
• The oceans would evaporate and bleed into space.
• Without oxygen, hydrogen is free to float to the upper troposphere and eventually into space.

To be positive, now, what if the amount of oxygen doubled...

• Paper airplanes would fly further.
• We would get better gas mileage.
• Extra oxygen would improve our cognition, alertness, and physical performance.

(Also, there would be giant insects, as an insect's body size is determined by the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere.)