The Haunted Bookshop

 So, I have been enjoying a tobacco blend by Cornell and Diehl called The Haunted Bookshop.  It is a blend by the late Bob Runowski and named after a book by Christopher Morely.  In the book, Morely weaves three subplots into a surprise ending.  The book is set in 1919 Brooklyn, New York.  President Wilson is set to go to Europe.  One subplot involves the Haunted Bookshop and its pipe smoking owner.  Another involves the disappearance and reappearance of a book on the shelves of the shop.  The third involves, what else, young love.  It's a fun little whodunit.

Like The Haunted Bookshop, Runowski weaves together three types of tobacco to create a blend that the over-the-counter blends should have been.  The burleys are the most prominent tobacco.  It is high quality, without casings or toppings.  It is rare to find a blend with uncased burley.  The virginias play a secondary role.  Always present in the background, they balance the earthy Burley with their typical sweetness.  Sometimes, like an apparition, they will appear for a moment before fading again to the background.  Finally, Perique adds a peppery spicey note to the blend.  You can sense it best on retro hale, where it may tickle the nose.  You might even sneeze!

 One warning, The Haunted Bookshop has a reputation for being somewhat strong in nicotine.  I don't have any problem with it, and I could smoke it all day.  But for new pipe smokers, I suggest using a small-bowled pipe, or put it down when you start feeling it, and pick it up again later.  While I have never been sick from nicotine, it can be quite distressing.      

If they hate America so much, why don't the leave

 Susan Quinn at the American Thinker today asks something that I have wondered about for many years. She asks If You Hate America, Why Don't You Leave? It's a fair question, particularly for Muslims. There are many countries where Sharia is the law. They don't have to go back home. But instead of going where they will have more in common with the people and culture, they come here to a land where the culture and the government are in conflict with their desires. As a result, they don't assimilate.

Quinn is asking the right question, but comes to the wrong conclusion. The Muslims are here, in a non-Muslim land specifically to conquer it for Islam. They intend to use traditional means by killing the infidel. The truth is that while we are fighting a human war here on earth, the same war is raging in the spiritual realm. St. Paul tells us that the ruler of this world is the evil one. He goes by many names: Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, and of course Allah. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, one of his temptations was taking Jesus to a high hill and showing him all the kingdoms of the world. He would give them to Jesus (who was Yahweh in human form) if He would bow down and worship him. Jesus, of course, refused.

So, Allah thinks he owns every piece of ground in the world, and his army, the Muslims, have a duty to conquer all, killing every infidel. The Left thinks it is using Muslims as a battering ram to take us, but they are tragically mistaken. We, the Christian and Jewish people must fight back. But we can not use guns and knives. We must fight back spiritually, with prayer, self-discipline and fasting, and trust in our God, for he is the true creator of everything that is and everything that is not, and the true ruler of all.

Post Office Carry Ban Contradicts Federal Law

 Today at Bearing Arms Cam Edwards has some welcome news for gun owners. The article can be found at DOJ Says Post Office Carry Ban Contradicts Federal Law. It is not a done deal yet, but it is closer than ever to getting rid of this nasty rule.

Every time I have to go to the post office, I have to take my gun out of its holster, put it in a safe, and then walk in. Upon completion of postal business, I have to retrieve it, put it back in the holster, all without anyone noticing.  But the truth is nobody in the post office is in any danger with it in its holster, but I am at risk every time I handle it. People make mistakes all the time when in a hurry. Besides that, handling the gun in a car, while keeping everything on the down low is awkward.

Gentle readers can read about it at the embedded hyperlink.  As with everything, it takes forever, but at least here it is trending the right way.

Stone. Cold. Sociopaths

Today, at the American Thinker M. Walter has a post entitled The smiling butchery of it all that all gentle readers should read. Abortion has become a sacrament of the left and the Democrat party. It is sickening, disgusting, and no different from the pagan practices of ancient times.

First, it was revealed via Anthony Fauci’s digital messaging that he knew that giving a pregnant woman the COVID vax likely carried with it an increase in the chance of miscarriage — yet he still went on television, under the mantle of his M.D. and his creepy smile, insisting it was safe.

The normal rate of miscarriages is 15%, but among pregnant women who were vaxxed, the rate went up to 81%, and Fauci knew this and advised pregnant women to get vaxxed anyway. As Walter says:

Stone. Cold. Sociopaths

Second, Governor Maura Healey signed legislation making Massachusetts the tenth state in the nation to allow abortion up to the minute before birth, and as she signed it, she smiled and was surrounded by women smiling and clapping.

Again, Stone. Cold. Sociopaths.

These people evidently don't realize, or don't care that each child born is a gift from God. Does it make sense to throw away such a gift?  When the Israelites came to the promised land, the people were worshiping Molock, who demanded that they throw their first born into its fiery belly alive. God demanded that the Israelites kill every man, woman, child, and their cattle and sheep. His judgement was that these people should be wiped out of the land. That is how seriously He takes the killing of innocent babes.

If you are not a sociopath, know too that you will mourn that child for the rest of your life, because you know, in your heart, that you are executing the child for something the mother did.

Third Circuit Ruling in NJ 'Assault Weapon' and Large Capacity Magazine Case a Huge Win for the 2A

 Yes, I am late to the party, but I have now three articles to highlight concerning the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that New Jersey's so-called "Assault Weapon" ban and large capacity magazine ban  violated the Second Amendment of the Constitution. To say this was a huge win for the Second Amendment is an understatement.

First up is an article at Ammoland entitled Major 2A Victory: Third Circuit Strikes Down New Jersey's AR-25 and Magazine Bans Note that the court sitting en banc had 10 of the 15 judges concurring in the majority opinion.

New Jersey’s AR-15 ban and 10-round magazine limit have suffered a major federal appellate defeat.

Sitting en banc, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled July 17 that New Jersey’s so-called “assault firearm” ban violates the Second Amendment as applied to every semiautomatic rifle covered by the law. The court also struck down the state’s prohibition on magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds.

Ten of the court’s 15 judges joined the judgment invalidating the rifle and magazine provisions in the consolidated challenges brought by the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, individual gun owners, and the Firearms Policy Coalition. Judge Arianna Freeman wrote the opinion of the court.

The decision goes substantially further than the lower court’s 2024 ruling. U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan had limited his decision against the rifle ban to Colt-manufactured AR-15s while upholding New Jersey’s magazine restriction. The Third Circuit expanded that judgment to all semiautomatic rifles regulated by the challenged provisions and reversed the ruling on magazines.

Of course, there is a catch.

The Third Circuit remanded the challenges involving semiautomatic pistols, semiautomatic shotguns, and other weapons covered by New Jersey’s definition because the record was less developed regarding those firearms. Bump stocks were not part of the challenge. The court also did not decide the separate Takings Clause claim because the Second Amendment ruling resolved the magazine dispute.

New Jersey gun owners should not treat the publication of the opinion as an immediate green light to disregard existing statutes. The appellate mandate, further district-court proceedings, and any request by the state for a stay must still be watched closely.

Meanwhile, over at Bearing Arms, Cam Edwards has two articles on the Third Circuit ruling, with one more to follow. The first announces the win at Breaking: Third Circuit Says Ban on 'Assault Weapons' and 'Large Capacity Magazines' Is Unconstitutional. The second at 'Catchy Slogans' Versus 'The Rights of Our Republic:' Concurring Opinions in NJ Gun Ban Case.

I urge gentle readers to read all three articles, and of course check back for Cam Edwards analysis of dissenting opinions.

Pipe Meditations

 Today I was smoking a 58-year-old billiard style pipe, probably a Dunhill second by the looks of it.  The markings on it, barely legible now say "Made in England" and "Savory."  I bought this pipe during my first quarter at college, and the smoking of it brought back a flood of long forgotten memories.

I was already smoking a pipe, a nondescript Dr. Grabow that, while relatively inexpensive, nonetheless provided a good smoke.  At that time, I was smoking Sutliff's "Mixture 79," a very fragrant pipe tobacco that tasted like soap.  (Good riddance.)  I didn't really know any better. Then I met a fellow pipe smoker who introduced me to more sophisticated smoking.  At the Tech Book Store, with this acquaintance, I managed to find this billiard pipe and a mixture from the Dutch firm of Dowe Egbert called "Amphora Aromatic."  Now, my dad smoked a pipe with "Sir Walter Raleigh" pipe tobacco, a blend they now call a codger blend or more kindly, an over-the-counter blend.  But I was too sophisticated for old codger blends!  The arrogance of youth.

Back then, you could find pipe displays in every drug store and supermarket.  They had brands like Dr. Grabow, Kaywoodie, Medico, and of course Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob pipes.  They also carried pipe tobaccos in these stores; Prince Albert, Sir Walter Raleigh, Granger, Carter Hall, Revelation, Cherry Blend, and many others.  These were typically burley blends, some with various casings and toppings to provide a pleasant flavor and room note. A lot of blue-collar working men smoked one of these because they were inexpensive and convenient. They did not look on pipe smoking as a hobby, but a part of life.  One could smoke a 2-ounce pouch of pipe tobacco that lasted a week.  Cigarettes on the other hand typically were consumed at a pack a day and each pack cost as much as a pouch of pipe tobacco. There was no internet, no on-line stores.  I have even seen a motorcycle rider going down the highway smoking a pipe.

When I graduated college, Amphora was no longer available to me, so I too switched to Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic.  But I still smoked my billiard.  Although I collected other pipes as time went on, I still have this old billiard, well-worn and well used.  It brings back both fond memories and things I would rather forget when I smoke it.  So now I have become an old codger, smoking codger blends and dredging up old memories.             

Pipe Smoking Has Gone Underground

 I used to smoke a pipe.  I did so for around 27 years until 1997 when President Clinton wrote the executive order making smoking in Federal buildings illegal.  Of course, many businesses suddenly restricted smoking, as well as restaurants, airplanes and...well, you get the idea.  Even my lovely bride, Mrs. PolyKahr complained about tobacco smoke.  Part of the reason was state laws banning smoking.  Some states took it to the extreme, and you couldn't even smoke in your apartment.

Now, most of the uproar was driven by cigarettes, which are more addictive than even heroine, and since cigarette smokers inhale the smoke, over many years in may cause lung cancer.  I say "may" because cigarettes only cause you to have an increased risk of lung cancer by around 15%.  Ordinary people who never smoke have a 7% risk of lung cancer.

As long as cigarette smokers were only harming themselves, the government couldn't do much about it.  But then, the busybody community came up with a new theory that they too were being harmed by so-called "second hand smoke."  They then went about doing various studies which I don't think ever showed a statistically significant harm, and these were epidemiologic studies not controlled studies.  In any case, they pressed on and eventually made most places no smoking zones.

In the no smoking bans, pipes and cigars were caught up with cigarettes.  The busybody community did not see a distinction, and since they operated from ignorance, why would they?  Pipes and cigars are not typically inhaled.  Indeed, the many pipe blends on the market are there because flavor is the main thing.  One takes smoke into the mouth and then releases it.  One can detect many flavors in pipe tobacco including nuttiness, earthiness and the flavor of the casings that make various tobaccos taste different.  Then there is the smell.  Interestingly, one of the things being evaluated when reviewing pipe tobaccos is what is termed "room note," the smell of the room after one has smoked a bit.  Many aromatic tobacco blends really do smell quite pleasant.

Today, I ran across a Youtube video entitled A Little Essay on Pipe Smoking. Malcom Guite has captured the essence of pipe smoking. It is relaxing. He does these little things at last to do nothing. Unlike the cigarette, which can be smoked in a few minutes, enough to get that nicotine hit, a pipe is going to be smoked for a while, perhaps 45 minutes to an hour. A pipe requires fiddling and figeting with it. You carefully pack it with tobacco, not too tight or too loose. There is an art to lighting it. Then you have to tamp it down (with a special tool) several times. When you are done, there is cleaning it and putting it up. All that allows you to contemplate, to just be. You can read a book. I know I don't do that enough anymore or enjoy music.

There is a song by the group Alabama entitled I'm in a Hurry which describes the current state of America rather well. We are all in a hurry to get things done and go onto the next. Kids have little non-structured time.  If not is school, they are doing homework of playing various sports.  Their parents are busy making sure their children can fill out the requirements to get into that Ivy League college.  If that is you, perhaps you need to take time out of your day, join the Brotherhood of the Briar and just contemplate and be for a little while.