What's even so good about GMK keycaps? High price doesn't automatically mean high quality.

American Sprawl. Our urban planning makes no sense.

Lock the oathbreaker up and throw way the key. We're through being lenient with traitors.

Puts him away for a while though so he can't kill anyone else. Not like DC where nothing happens to criminals and they're free to carjack and assault and rob over and over again.

Seen it at Whole Foods, esp. the full size ones. You could probably just make it yourself as well.

Love Lebanese Taverna.

Face shield is irrelevant. The hose goes from the mouthpiece to the air pack. Doesn't matter how good your gear is, entanglements happen to firefighters and cause fatalities. That's why they drill disentanglement procedures so thoroughly throughout firefighter training. And again, the inability to verbally communicate with a mouthpiece makes it a moot point. You're worthless if you can't talk to your crew during an incident, and you're dead if you can't call a mayday on the radio if the shit hits the fan.

There is literally no solution other than to shave your beard. This is utter foolishness. Either shave the beard or find yourself another job. There is no place in this industry for people who put their personal religious beliefs before safety. There are so many ways to get yourself and your crew killed in a fire I have zero patience for someone who can't respect the safety rules and do the job right, and if these religious liberty nuts had ever served as firefighters they'd never have taken the case to begin with.

Yeah and then what happens when you get gassed? If you're lucky you get 10 seconds heads-up to put on your mask and make sure it seals, and if you fuck it up well nice knowing you. A good seal is all the more important with a negative pressure system like a gas mask. SCBA and PAPR are at least positive pressure so there's an airflow gradient away from your nose and mouth in case there's a break in the seal. Chlorine, mustard, and sarin are awful ways to go: and all of 'em have been used recently in Syria (and a few decades ago in Iraq).

Secondly, growing a beard when you're trying to blend into the local population in a Muslim country is another use case, but it's a calculated risk based on intended diplomatic aims versus risk of a CBRN attack.

Also it catches on any debris and is ripped out of your mouth and then you're fumbling around in complete darkness in a smoke-charged room.

You are thinking of escape hoods, which as the name implies are only for escape and not suitable for entry into an IDLH environment. PAPR similarly is not suitable for entry into an IDLH environment because it requires that the atmosphere still have normal ratios of oxygen and carbon dioxide: they are only designed to filter out airborne contaminants like certain chemical, biological, and radiological agents.

SCBA is the only acceptable respiratory protection for entry into a fire. It is positive pressure in the event of a failure to keep out superheated and/or lethally toxic gases, and provides sufficient oxygen in what is otherwise an oxygen-deficient environment due to the fire consuming all the available oxygen. In order to wear SCBA properly, you MUST be cleanly shaven or it will leak air continuously which will greatly shorten your usable air supply and put you and your entire team at risk. Additionally, if you experience sudden flow failures you might inadvertently inhale superheated/toxic gases whereas for a sealed mask it will suck down against your face and give you at least a chance of diving out a window to safety.

I never had a beard my entire adult life until I retired from firefighting because my safety is more important than any religious or aesthetic requirement, and also because I knew how to follow orders. I signed up to wear a uniform exactly as prescribed by safety experts, just like these people did, and if they can't follow the rules they need to quit and do another job.

There's no such thing. And actually all of those countries (including the US military) may allow beards in uniform with a valid religious exemption, those personnel are non-deployable to anywhere that they might be required to wear a gas mask, so basically they're ineligible for combat duty.

DCFEMS relegating their religiously exempt employees to logistical and non-frontline tasks is a legally-defined "reasonable accommodation". Allowing them to serve without shaving is utter foolishness and will result in death or disability for those people.

If you are unwilling to conform to the essential functions of your job, then you need to find a different job. This is 100% about safety, and your personal religious beliefs are not going to protect you from carbon monoxide, cyanide, superheated gasses, or airborne infectious agents.

This is so fucking stupid. Beard means your SCBA mask doesn't seal correctly. Best case scenario you will be hemorrhaging air through the broken seal which will drastically cut down on your breathing time in an IDLH environment, and worst case you accidentally breathe in superheated and/or poisonous gasses and die.

"Religious liberties" is out of control in this country. Your religion doesn't say you have to do this job, so if you cannot conform to the essential functions of UNIFORMED SERVICE then go find another job. There's plenty of other people who will gladly do your paid firefighter job and follow the safety rules.

Just about any ice rink has adult learn to skate classes (and learn to play hockey, too, if you're so inclined).

That's DC for you. And this is what happens when public officials don't enforce the laws because they're afraid of bad optics.

And who had the final sign-off on the plan?

Then rip out some lanes. Train tracks will do a lot more to fix congestion than more lanes on 267 and 28

They should have made a three track from the start. Just another example of WMATA never thinking things through.