Now that there isn’t a Republican in the white house to kill it, Congressional Democrats claim to be making SCHIP a Top Priority. CQ Politcs reported on Friday, November 6th that Democrats in the US Congress plant to move quickly in the New Year to pass a major expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was interviewed on National Public Radio the day after the election and stated that the expansion of SCHIP “will probably be one of the first bills we would put on President Obama’s desk.”

For those who recall recent events, the US Senate and House both passed a $35 billion dollar SCHIP expansion bill TWICE but it was vetoed both times by President Bush and the legislative branch was unable to swing enough votes to over-ride the veto both times. 

What Does This Mean To You?

Why is this important to pipe and cigar smokers you may ask? Well, because this bill would be funded almost exclusively on the backs (and out of the pocketbooks) of smokers of ALL types.

But that isn’t all, the CQ Politics article points out that the tax increase shown above won’t even cover the cost of the expansion of this program. In fact, the congressional Budget Office issued a report in August of this year which found that a five year expansion of the SCHIP program as envisioned by the House and the Senate will cost close to $45 billion, not the $35 billion they are hoping to raise.

The current SCHIP program is set to expire on March 30, 2009 so they are going to move fast on this. We responsible smokers need to speak out loud and clear that this funding proposal is not only unfair, it is UNSOUND!. Not only will it not fund what they want it to do, thereby continuing to grow our budget deficit even further but it also unfairly targets a small percentage (less than 10%) of the US population to pay for something that they claim is a universal need.

Not only will this hit YOU directly in the wallet in these trying times, but it will likely cause for the closure of many tobacconists around the country that are barely hanging on as it is. This, in turn, will dramatically affect the volume of cigars purchased yearly, decreasing the amount of money raised by this tax increase as demand drops; widening the difference between the funds committed to fund SCHIP and the funds available to pay for it.

And if we look out beyond our own selfish needs, IPCPR and many other organizations predict dire results for the economies of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras as a result of this flawed legislation.

What Can I Do To Help?

Well, we all need to band together and show our elected officials the errors of their thinking in this flawed bill.

Let your US Senator and representative in the House know how the negative impact of this legislation will affect you, affect small businesses in your community and how you feel it will affect our neighbors in cigar producing countries. Make sure that you reference SCHIP in your conversation and how you are rallying your neighbors and fellow business owners to defeat unfair taxation. You should also remind them that as a voting block in their state/district, you WILL remember those that fall prey to the “but it’s for the children” sound-bite mentality behind those supporting this bill.

Helpful Links:

A listing of all the current Senators

How to find your local Representative

Your IMMEDIATE action is the only thing that will keep this proposal from becoming a LAW! Please respond today!

As always, we encourage your responses in the comments section below.

I found these pipe tips on the Bucharest Pipe Club's blog. I found them interesting and figured why not re-purpose them. Warning, much of the site is NOT in English so be forewarned if that type of thing bothers you...

Keeping Your Pipe Stems Shining Like New
First, we have to give credit where credit is due. This tip comes from the video "Total Pipe Care and Maintenance". We've all had our vulcanite rubber stems turn that nasty brown/green that happens over time. This is oxidization. Oxidization comes from the chemical reaction from the saliva in our mouths reacting with the vulcanite and from sunlight. This unsightly process can be slowed with a simple product that you most likely already have in your kitchen ... olive oil. This process is best done with a brand new stem or a stem that has been thoroughly cleaned. First, take the stem from the bowl. With your finger take a very small amount of olive oil and coat the outside surface of the stem. Allow the olive oil to penetrate for about 5 - 10 minutes. Now take a clean cotton rag and wipe off the excess. It's that simple! Here's why it works ......... If you look at a vulcanite stem under magnification you'd see that there are thousands, if not millions, of tiny pits in the surface, similar to an english muffin. This is normal. By applying the olive oil to the stem the microscopic pits get filled by the oil leaving less surface area on the stem for the oxidation to get a foot hold. You'll also want to keep your pipe out of sunlight, direct or otherwise, for any extended period of time.

The above tip is a great idea. However, I found the results of the following experiment quite interesting:

Leave It In or Pull It Out ?
Your pipe cleaner that is. One year ago someone emailed and asked whether or not it was a good idea to leave a pipe cleaner in the stem when you're through smoking. I answered according to what I had been taught ... NO. I've always listened to the pros and cons on the subject and formulated my own conclusion. After thinking about I came a the conclusion that I shouldn't be jumping to that conclusion. I decided to perform a somewhat controlled test. Here is how I did it.
-Two identical, new Savinelli Model 114 pipes were used. Both croos grained.
-Each was smoked three times a week for 1 year (3/03)
-Each rested 2 days between smoking.
-Each was cleaned with 4 pipe cleaners after smoking was complete.
-Each was thoroughly cleaned every 4 weeks.
-The same tobacco, Five Star Deluxe, was smoked exclusively.
-One was left to rest with a pipe cleaner in the stem and shank and one was not.
-Standard size and fluff pipe cleaners were used.
Here are my observations at the conclusion of the test. The pipe in which the cleaner was left in will be referred to as Pipe A. Pipe B is the pipe without.
-The shank of Pipe A is slightly darker than Pipe B leaving a slightly two toned appearance.
-Pipe A developed a slight gap between the shank and stem.
-Pipe A's shank expanded slightly larger than the stem.
-Pipe A had more pipe cleaner residue (stray fuzz) in it when thoroughly cleaned.
-Pipe B took longer to break in. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the test.
-Pipe A took a few more cleaners for the once a month cleaning.
-After 1 year Pipe A is a little more ... well for lack of a better term, stinky.
So there you have it.
Pipe B, without the cleaner, faired better than Pipe A with. I am only going to guess why but I suspect that the pipe cleaner left in does more to keep the moisture trapped than it does to wick it out...Happy Smoking

Every wonder how the most successful and most reliable lighters of all time are made? Check out this video?

Every wonder how clay pipes are made? Check out this video of an interview with someone claiming to be the last clay pipe maker in Gouda, Holland at his retirement:

Even though this is a Youtube video, I first found this on the excellent Marcin's pipes and tobaccos blog. Of course, we carry clay pipes too at the barn. http://www.tobacco-barn.com/p-8167-goedewaagen-clay-churchwarden.aspx

One of the nice things about running MeershcaumPipes.com website has to be all the questions that come in about people's meerchaum pipes. I thought it would be worthwhile to start documenting some of these, if nothing else, because we get some cool pictures of pipes to evaluate. Take this one for example (yes, she gave us permission to repost this thread):

-----Original Message----- 
From: Susan C
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 6:44 PM 
Subject: Question from MeerschaumPipes.com Website 
 
I have an old Meerschaum pipe carved with a horse running across a few 
logs and branches.  The pipe is richly colored but not just in shades, 
the back of the horse has a spotted area which has remained white.  
And there are a few other "spots" of white clearly intentionally 
placed.  The surface shows no signs of inlay...so ...where these areas 
treated with something to prevent them from coloring??? 

 

 

Our reply was:

Wow,
What a great old piece that is!

As for your questions on the coloration, yes, it is very natural for a heavily used meerschaum pipe to turn this color over time. Other examples and an explanation of the process can be found at http://meerschaumpipes.com/ColorYourMeerschaum.aspx

The variations that you see in the pipe itself (what you are referring to as brindle coloration) is caused by the stone itself as well as whatever was used to seal it at the time. For the last half of the 20th century, bees wax mixed with paraffin has been the preferred sealant. I'm guessing at the age of your piece that perhaps they were still using sperm whale oil for this but it is hard to tell from the photos.

The sealant acts to protect the exterior of the pipe and also to help "draw" the liquids and toxins out through the stone depositing color on the outer layer of the pipe. What is particularly interesting about this example is the "mottled" look on the horse's back. The lighter color on the nose and ears is probably the result of extended rubbing on the inside of the case; the back appears to be a different story. It is almost like the carver had placed a blocking sealant of some sort on portions of its back to give it the effect of an Appaloosa with a small blanket on it. The blocking sealant would prevent the color of the tobacco from seeping through those areas. From the looks of it, I would guess this was intentional rather than a happy accident.

If this was a pipe that you wished to keep for it's sentimental and artistic values, it could most likely be cleaned up to get rid of much (but not all) of the tobacco smell. After a really good cleaning and allowing it to sit out for a period of time, the majority of the objectionable aroma should be gone. At that point, you could probably mount it inside a sealed shadow box and have a great decorative piece for a horse lover.

If you were looking to sell it, I would suggest that you place it online on PipeTrader.com as well as Ebay to find a buyer. We could also sell this on consignment for you in our Estate Pipes section of the Tobacco-Barn.com website.Antique meerschaum pipes rarely get high dollar values from anyone but one who collects them for artistic purposes rather than for smoking them.

We wish you the best of luck with your pipe and want to thank you for sharing these photos with us.

I stumbled upon this piece titled "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Steve Johnson of the Southwest Pipe & Cigar League just the other day while working on plans for their next meeting there at the Barn.

Reading it brought back some great memories of the various trips to London that I'd had with one of my previous employers. His words brought back mental images of many of the locations he mentions.

The only downside for me was that I wasn't a pipe smoker then AND I didn't have such a great roadmap of tobacconists in London. I frequented the Seegar and Snuff shop in Covent Gardens most of the time I was there. I never got down to the Dunhill shop he mentions during business hours.

Oh well, perhaps if the Dollar ever goes back up against the Pound or the Euro, I'll be able to afford another trip back... If I do, I'll have this as a guide.

Links mentioned in Steve's article:

• The Pipe Club of London - http://www.pcol.co.uk/
• J.J. Fox - http://www.jjfox.co.uk/static/
• Davidoff of London - http://www.davidoffoflondon.com/
• Map and info for George Smith & Sons - http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Shopping/G_Smith__Sons/703f/

Interesting thread about meerschaum pipes on a non-pipe forum over at the Straight Razor Place.

The posting by mparker762 showing off a couple of his best colored pipes includes the darkened claw shown at right.

In a subsequent posting, he extols the virtues of using a coloring bowl:

As for coloring, a coloring bowl like the one shown with the Cavalier is really the secret. I've got three coloring bowls, a smooth meer, a pebbled meer (shown w/ Cavalier), and an XL briar coloring bowl made for me by Mike Butera after much hounding. AFAIK it's the only one in existence, and I use it for smoking my english tobaccos in my meerschaums.

With results like these, it is hard to argue with the man. One thing that I found particularly interesting was that the claws darkened up so much more so than the bowl. I would have imagined this to be the case with the shank but seems odd to me that the talons on the claw would be so dark given the path coloring must travel to reach that portion of the stone.

Anyone else have any great coloration samples to share? You've seen, mine, now show me yours!

This blog posting on JackTales  blog brought this new pipe wax to my attention. I've never heard of Paragon Wax for the Pipe before but his tales of using this product to rehabilitate meerschaum as well as briar pipes really caught my attention.

I’ve applied numerous coats to my meerschaum and the finish has improved each time. And I might be wrong, but the coloration process looks like it’s accelerated a little. Maybe in drying, the glaze pulled the nicotine outwards. I don’t know, but like I said, knowing the complete disaster I had started with, I’ve been amazed with the results.

I've ordered a "combo set" to see how this works. I'll let drop a note here when I've had a chance to try this on a few different pipes. If I'm happy with the results, we'll see about getting this product available to sell at the Barn.

Newsbiscuit.com is reporting in this posting that a recent British statistical survey has shown that  for the first time in the history of these studies, the usage of Crack Pipes is not outpacing the usage of Tobacco Pipes!

The end of the civilized world is near! Of course the survey resorts to rash generalizations about the type of person who smokes a tobacco pipe:

Old fashioned pipes are still popular with certain types of older bearded men; model railway enthusiasts, canal barge restorers and the like, but curiously these tend to be among the least likely people to head into the inner cities to score crack cocaine off their dealer.

We've actually been finding at the Barn that more and more younger, college age men (and women) are not succumbing to the lure of the glass pipe but are coming in and learning the finer points of Briar and Meerschaum!

Ann Widdecombe, a Minister of Parliment, has used this to decry something that we've been passionate about all along. This is just another example of political correctness run amuk: government is too busy cracking down LEGAL smoking of tobacco products like pipes and cigars when they should be working harder to address issues revolving around the sale, acquisition and use of crack and other illegal drugs. Finally a politician that "gets it!"