Beer Prices to Rise!

I can handle $3.00 a gallon gas and another 6% to get my palm read, but for God's sake when will it end?

Now beer is going up?

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The Most Important Issue to Voters is...

Bullshit. The Onion is usually pretty funny, but this is so true. Scary, but true.

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How NOT to judge beer...

Unlike Smitty, I have no official beer-tasting training. I don't know the subtle differences between a bock and a dopplebock. And I don't know the right gravity for an American Pale Ale.

However, I do know a few things:

• If you hold a beer-judging event, and Old Style, Old Milwaukee Light, PBR, and Coors Lght are involved, you need to reconsider some things.
• If you hold a beer-judging event, and those beers WIN... you need to leave. right now.

And yet, I offer you solid proof that people like Smitty (and soon Colin) need to smack the rest of these amatuers off the stage...

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Schadenfreude

You ever seen someone berate someone else with such exacting language that you can't help but feel rotten....and you're not even the one being yelled at?

Enter Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez (U.S. Army - Retired). Last Friday, at the Military Reporters and Editors luncheon briefing, General Sanchez took the press corps to task first, then Congress and the President. He doled-out shame like candy at Halloween.

For a transcript, look here.

And he is right, in my estimation. He is right to berate the press folks for dishonesty and self-aggrandizement. And he is equally right to dismantle Congress and the Preznit for...well...exactly the same thing.

Some gems:

LET ME REVIEW SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES THAT HAVE BEEN USED BY SOME OF YOU THAT HAVE MADE MY PERSONAL INTERFACES WITH THE PRESS CORPS DIFFICULT:

"DICTATORIAL AND SOMEWHAT DENSE",

"NOT A STRATEGIC THOUGHT",

LIAR,

"DOES NOT GET IT" AND

THE MOST INEXPERIENCED LTG.

IN SOME CASES I HAVE NEVER EVEN MET YOU, YET YOU FEEL QUALIFIED TO MAKE CHARACTER JUDGMENTS THAT ARE COMMUNICATED TO THE WORLD

Okay. So far, so good. Call them out for their personal attacks. But it gets cooler.

THIS IS THE WORST DISPLAY OF JOURNALISM IMAGINABLE BY THOSE OF US THAT ARE BOUND BY A STRICT VALUE SYSTEM OF SELFLESS SERVICE, HONOR AND INTEGRITY. ALMOST INVARIABLY, MY PERCEPTION IS THAT THE SENSATIONALISTIC VALUE OF THESE ASSESSMENTS IS WHAT PROVIDED THE EDGE THAT YOU SEEK FOR SELF AGRANDIZEMENT OR TO ADVANCE YOUR INDIVIDUAL QUEST FOR GETTING ON THE FRONT PAGE WITH YOUR STORIES! AS I UNDERSTAND IT, YOUR MEASURE OF WORTH IS HOW MANY FRONT PAGE STORIES YOU HAVE WRITTEN AND UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF YOU WILL COMPROMISE YOUR INTEGRITY AND DISPLAY QUESTIONABLE ETHICS AS YOU SEEK TO KEEP AMERICA INFORMED.

Heh. Take that....everyone.

ALL ARE VICTIMS OF THE MASSIVE AGENDA DRIVEN COMPETITION FOR ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL SUPREMACY. THE DEATH KNELL OF YOUR ETHICS HAS BEEN ENABLED BY YOUR PARENT ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO ALIGN THEMSELVES WITH POLITICAL AGENDAS. WHAT IS CLEAR TO ME IS THAT YOU ARE PERPETUATING THE CORROSIVE PARTISAN POLITICS THAT IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY AND KILLING OUR SERVICEMEMBERS WHO ARE AT WAR.

That says it all.

Here's some gems of his assessment of Iraq:

AFTER MORE THAN FOUR YEARS OF FIGHTING, AMERICA CONTINUES ITS DESPERATE STRUGGLE IN IRAQ WITHOUT ANY CONCERTED EFFORT TO DEVISE A STRATEGY THAT WILL ACHIEVE "VICTORY" IN THAT WAR TORN COUNTRY OR IN THE GREATER CONFLICT AGAINST EXTREMISM. FROM A CATASTROPHICALLY FLAWED, UNREALISTICALLY OPTIMISTIC WAR PLAN TO THE ADMINISTRATION'S LATEST "SURGE" STRATEGY, THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS FAILED TO EMPLOY AND SYNCHRONIZE ITS POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND MILITARY POWER. THE LATEST "REVISED STRATEGY" IS A DESPERATE ATTEMPT BY AN ADMINISTRATION THAT HAS NOT ACCEPTED THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REALITIES OF THIS WAR AND THEY HAVE DEFINITELY NOT COMMUNICATED THAT REALITY TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. AN EVEN WORSE AND MORE DISTURBING ASSESSMENT IS THAT AMERICA CAN NOT ACHIEVE THE POLITICAL CONSENSUS NECESSARY TO DEVISE A GRAND STRATEGY THAT WILL SYNCHRONIZE AND COMMIT OUR NATIONAL POWER TO ACHIEVE VICTORY IN IRAQ.

The rest is an elaboration on exactly that point. But be assured, his angst is directed at who was in charge when we invaded...and the Congress that is in charge now. And the Preznit.

There are some keys in his discussion, including disdain for the "coalition" that's been put together. It was hasty, as he put it, and is under-resourced, especially as the coalition members withdraw. And they withdraw, in his estimation, because we have no plan other than individual political gain.

Go read it in its entireity.

Then let's discuss.

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October-Long Oktoberfest

In recognition of the best holiday save for St. Patrick's Day (I am more Irish than German, after all), I am embarking on an all-Oktoberfest October for beer reviews.

Last week's was the ever-charming Sam Adams Oktoberfest. But for this week, we head to one of Germany's proudest breweries: Hacker-Pschorr, which dates all the way back to 1417.

This lovely German pours a gorgeous light amber color, bordering towards copper. It yielded a thick, off-white, 2-finger head. The lovely, fragrant foamleft a beautiful, small, tight lacing down the glass as it poured down my throat. Under that thick head is a sharp, crystal-clear beer. FOrget seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. I want to see it through Oktoberfest-colored glasses!

The scent of this beer, especially right after the pour, brings tidings of great joy. Great, sweet caramel and toffee right up front and dominant throughout. I caught some mildly sharp fruit like a tart apple, all balanced by a hint of roastiness. I'm sure there was a hop presence in there, but really, my nose was in the mood for the malt.

Man, these Germans can brew. Before I really got into brewing and tasting different beers, my impression of German beers was Heineken and St. Pauli Girl. Boy did I miss a whole universe of big, tasty beers. This offering from Hacker-Pschorr is one of my favorites. It is chock-full of big caramel and sweet malt, which gives the beer the impression of being sugary-sweet. I get some bread crust taste as well; a neutral sweetness to balance what could otherwise be a pretty cloying sweetness. Ah, balance; the true art of German beers. There's the slightest hint of noble hops, earthy and grassy, to lend more counter-point to the malt. But in the true form of this style of beer, it has a beautiful, simple malt flavor. Oktoberfest is all about the malt.

I'd call this beer, despite the maltiness, a medium-light bodied beer, smooth and refreshing. It is a little watery, but I'm not gonna knock it.

While Sammy A certainly offers a well-balanced beer, you just can't beat the source. We sure like the ability of an American brewery to emulate their German forbearers, but if you want to taste what the Germans are quaffing as we speak, go get this beer.

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How to Beat Your Wife

Continuing with the Mid-East theme, here is a video on the rules for beating your wife. Don't hit her in the face, don't leave bruises or draw blood, don't do it front of your kids. In other words, don't leave any evidence. While we certainly had this happen in our country's history, I find it appalling that this is still acceptable in some places.

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Non-binding Idiocy

Not wanting to be upstaged by the Senate's "outrage" at Moveon.org's NYT ad, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a measure 27-21 on Wednesday evening calling the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in WWI, a genocide. Turkish foreign policy advisor Egeman Bagis has responded by saying that, "yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball. I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball." There is a good chance that this response would include closing off that country to US planes and supplies. In addition, it would hurt our relations with Turkey, who is also a member of NATO and an ally.

I am not condoning the conduct of Turkey, but I have a hard time understanding what this is supposed to accomplish and seriously doubt the wisdom of doing this when we already have enough strained relationships in that part of the world. I see it as a huge waste of time, and an insult to the people that elected them to work. How much lower can their approval rating go? The Democratic leadership said they would bring it to the House floor if it made it out of committee. Bush is trying to to convince them otherwise. If I were paranoid, I'd say they were doing this just to make him look bad (as if he needs any help in that area), but I'd like to think they weren't that petty.

...One can dream.

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