Why do people think references should be cited for EVERY statement made in a Wikipedia entry? [citation needed]
[The neutrality of this section has been disputed.]
Common knowledge ain’t citation worthy, and is it really a good idea to make plagiarism so easy to find?
About a year ago, I grew a full beard with very little fuss and bother from those near, dear, and undear to me. For more than a couple of decades, I’ve sported just about every style of facial hair imaginable (except a solo soul patch–that’s just tacky–or anything resembling ZZ Top), so whatever I do is not very surprising to those near, dear, and undear.
Yet, one does get some pesky initial (and sometimes continuing) comments. People’s reaction to the emergent hirsute countenance is always interesting, if utterly predictable. 50% will say nothing, beyond a sort of tacit acknowledgment, sensing that their reaction says more about them than growing a beard means about me. The other 50% give me their “hernia comment”–they simply MUST say something or bust a gut. Such comments, which I always mentally note with polite cheer, usually fall into one of about ten categories and get thrown into one of as many mental trash cans, joining their like type. Which is to say, with the upmost charm and tact: you’re not very original, people, and I don’t really care (even if you’re trying to flatter me–but, oh shucks, go ‘head an’ flatt’r).
Particularly annoying are the following kinds of comments, which just make any bearded person’s day. (My typical responses are in italics.)
The Red/Variegated Beard Anecdote
(Always from a man with black hair) “Hey, I grew a beard once, [whispered almost conspiratorially] it was RED.” Shocking.
(From a woman) “My husband grew a beautiful beard once. I really loved seeing all the different colors in it, until I made him shave it off!” How sweet.
The Gas Mask/”Beards are Unacceptable” Regulation
(Always from someone such as a Mormon temple worker who is also a volunteer firefighter) “It’s silly that Brigham Young had a beard, and I can’t have one; but, on top of that, a gas mask won’t seal if you have a beard.” I’ll see what I can do about it.
“You went to a little Baptist school, didn’t you? I thought they didn’t allow beards?” You’re thinking of a place like Bob Jones University. They’re fundie–I didn’t go there.
The Dewey Lecture
“Dewey would have beat [sic] Truman had he shaved off that mustache.” It was good enough to get him elected governor of New York; besides, Truman might have won by a larger margin had he not worn a straw hat and walked like Hercule Poirot.
(Follow-up to the previous) “And I can’t think of any CEO with a beard or mustache.” Yes, those clean-shaven types are crooks, aren’t they? Look at how well they’ve lead the economy.
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I wonder what people would say if I went for ZZ Top length? And I’m such a nice person!
THIS article, “Congress Is Behaving as if the Health Care System Isn’t in Tatters” by Mitchell Bard, is one of the most cogent pieces I’ve read about the ongoing health care reform debate.
An interesting parallel just occurred to me: Republicans always hated the TVA Project, citing during the Roosevelt era the same arguments used today against a government-run public health insurance option to compete with the private insurers. TVA forced utilities to provide electric power to 100% of Americans, and without it, many people in rural areas would be sitting in the dark to this day.
Maybe that last sentence should read “provide access to electric power,” since the consumer still has to pay for it. 
(We interrupt this blog for an unscheduled rant.)
Although the pen is mightier than the sword, why doesn’t anyone acknowledge that the weapon runs out of ammunition–that would be ink–sooner rather than later in these days of “downsized” products? The plethora of “comfort grip” disposable ball-points available seems to be designed to run out of ink in a couple of months. GGGGGRRRRR (and various other Incredible Hulk sounds).
That does it: I’m about to suffer purple-stained fingers filling my Pelikan fountain pen (which I always think is “too nice to use”) from a bottle of ink! I prefer fountain pens, anyway!
About twenty years ago, around the time that Michael Jackson was first turning from very eccentric to just plain weird, I underwent an operation to correct malocclusion. The surgeon casually mentioned during the last consultation (the day before the big event) that, in addition to doing medically necessary oral surgery, he also did cosmetic work, gently pitching that I might consider a chin implant. I politely refused, thinking to myself, “You’re crazy to first bring this up NOW–besides, Carol Burnett’s chin job doesn’t look quite right!” (Miss Burnett, at the time, was a famous malocclusion case, and she’d had a procedure to fix her “weak chin” thereby improving her bite.)
The day after the surgery, pausing while unwrapping my head, the doctor murmured to a nurse, “I didn’t do the nose–he’s got a good nose; but, I still had to pack it.” Then he reached forceps into my left nostril and pulled out several yards of coiled-up, narrow gauze. Nose job or not, since the oral work involved the floor of the nasal cavity, I had to follow the post operative nose job admonishment not to sneeze for six weeks. (!!!)
I share this story to point out that it is not so hard to imagine how Michael Jackson got snookered into nose, chin, and cheekbone jobs, as well as tattoed eyeliner and lips, etc., with multiple procedures probably done at the time of nose “revisions.” (**DISCLAIMER** Not that it has ever been confirmed that he had anything done except one nose job.) Letting himself be so snookered and not knowing when to stop (if that did, indeed, occur) was a great tragedy, a heartbreaking waste.
I have nothing against the occasional nip, tuck, or tightening here and there for those in the public eye to look “camera worthy.” However, one of the most offensive things in the world to me was the show Extreme Makeover–not the home renovation version, the one where people got the all-at-once renovation, then were “revealed” to their families and friends, who always reacted with hyperbolic disbelief and rude, backhanded compliments as if to say, “We’re so relieved that we can be seen in public with you without embarrassing ourselves, now.”
The problem with makeovers is that you don’t get to walk around with the “before” picture plastered on your forehead, and strangers are . . . well, strangers: they’ve never met you before. “After” is only an improvement relative to “before,” and it becomes how you look in the here and now. So, it’s much better to appreciate the rich, flawed diversity of how people naturally look, here and now.
But, Barbra Streisand really should’ve gotten that honker fixed long ago.
