ZARDOZ SPEAKS TO YOU, HIS CHOSEN ONES. IT APPEARS THAT THE BRUTALS AND THE CHOSEN ONES BOTH ARE CELEBRATING THE TERMINATION OF THE CURRENT YEAR. ZARDOZ WILL PROVIDE YOU THIS SPACE TO POST YOUR COMMENTS, THOUGHTS, OBSERVATIONS AND, LATER ON, DRUNKEN RAMBLINGS.
GO FORTH AND POST!
ZARDOZ HAS SPOKEN.
Happy New Year’s Eve, Glibertariat. I’m making barbecue because we don’t have anything truly great around here. Sonny’s is serviceable, but no Killen’s. Chef Steps brisket, 2 racks of baby back ribs, sausage, and fixins. We’re having some friends with kids over and my family. There should be lots of eating, shrieking, and probably some crying.
John Kelly provides one final service as Chief of Staff, waving red meat in front of the news mags on the border wall so that Trump can talk tough about it some more.
The Woodstock 50th Anniversary concert should be about the smuggest event of 2019.
Guatamalan family sues Universal Orlando after man ignores English warning sign, dies. I was frankly shocked to find out they didn’t have signs in Spanish, German, and Japanese.
Why does the NIH have armed agents?
Hello and welcome back to “Pie ponders”, in which Pie – that is me, for those who are situationally unaware – raises questions on various topics of great importance. Today, we talk about definitions and their role in politics.
What is glibertarianism, as a doctrine? Let me drop some definitions on you, as the self-appointed arbiter of all things glib for today. Well it is the perfect political idea that leads to liberty, universal happiness, a better world where all the men are thicc and all the women can deadlift 800 pounds. In this utopia everyone knows wine is better than beer, scotch is better than bourbon and the NBA is the best sports league in the US. Anything else, well that is not real glibertarianism. Don’t @ me, as the kids say these days on the twits.
I noticed a real problem with definitions in current debates on that most marvelous of mediums, the internet. Whenever something looks bad, well that is not the real deal. See socialism. While this may be seen as a version of the true Scotsman fallacy, I am not sure it is quite the same.
Being a Scotsman, you see, can have some measurable definition- was one born in Scotland would be a start? On the other hand, one can claim any ideology one wants, without having to suffer through haggis and bagpipe music, and very often it can indeed be the case that X is not a true liberal/conservative, but just claims to be. For the actual ideology, we need to see if we can define things to see what is what, and then to measure the individual, preferably by the walk they walk as opposed to the talk they talk. Talking is exceedingly easy, after all.
All failures of socialism were, off course, not true socialism. Well, socialism needs to have a clear definition to see what is and is not true. And this definition, like all definitions in politics, needs to respect some ground rules.
Let us start with Wikipedia:
Socialism is a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership and workers’ self-management of the means of production[10] as well as the political theories and movements associated with them.[11] Social ownership may refer to forms of public, collective or cooperative ownership, or to citizen ownership of equity.[12] There are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them
These are the alleged goals of socialism, while implementation takes a variety of forms, mostly authoritarian and disastrous in outcome. To go around the issue of the bear in the room, internet socialist change the definition in an idiotic manner and say socialism is some sort of perfectly just, utopian, classless society where everyone is happy. This is a neat little trick, if you define an ideology as an ideal outcome, whenever it fails, well it was not the real one.
One rule of defining ideology should be that you cannot define it as outcome, but as the path to reach the outcome. Outcome is not guaranteed. Outcome is what is expected and needs to be proven. So you say we do socialism like this and it leads to that. If the result is an authoritarian hellhole, it does not mean it was not real socialism, it means socialism just does not lead to what proponents say it leads to. Critics of communism, on both left and right, said before it was implemented the very first time that it will lead to dystopian authoritarianism. And they were right. Which means communism is a bad ideology, not that the USSR was not real communism.
Certainly, one can very well claim their own personal flavor of socialism will not lead to all that. But since every attempt failed, it takes a bit of a burden of proof that a slight variation will succeed. Every attempt under the umbrella of socialism failed, and one can easily find an infinity of minor variations that are claimed different from any other minor variations attempted. Why, beyond empty claims and wishful thinking, will this variation succeed? This time the right people will be in charge is not acceptable, because that is, again, an outcome that cannot be guaranteed. I think we are at the point where we can safely say socialism failed and ignore minor variations which keep the fundamentals the same, as the fundamentals are rotten.
The criticism of socialism is based on incompatibility with human nature, not due to minor flaws in minor variations. If, for example, there can be no functioning economy without property – no way to allocate resources, establish prices as has been shown long ago – no minor variation of property-less ideologies will help. Because the core is the problem, not the “implementation.”
Let us take a look at another definition.
Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes.[1][2] This includes seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men.
This seems a straightforward definition, with some goals that different between flavors and may or may not be achieved. On the other hand, internet feminist define feminism as „equal rights for men and women” in order to say that people who do not consider themselves feminists are against equal rights. This is again a type of definition I oppose. You cannot define an ideology as abstract concept.
Feminism is a loose group of ideologies who claim to strive for what they believe to be equality. That does not mean that is what they actually want, just what they say they want. It does not mean it is what they will actually achieve. It does not mean there are no other ways to achieve equality besides feminism. As such, it does not mean that those who think there is a better way are against equality. Off course, inside feminism there are also multiple subcategories, being various waves, attitudes (to men, government, trans, sex work etc etc etc) or simply opinions.
Now that we can be somewhat more honest about definitions, we should ask ourselves how useful are they? Because one of the key words in both definitions above is “range”, which means those two labels cover a whole range of movements. So are they of any use? Do we need to break them down into subsets or can we use the whole as a guideline? And if we break down enough, do we not get to individual opinions and decide to forgo labels and focus on the individual? Off course not, that is crazy talk. And humans like to categorize things, to put them in boxes and apply labels. In the end, we can only address an ideology by the common underlying paradigm of all variations.
Wait Pie, but if labels may not be of use and people keep using them, that may lead to a total shitshow! Quite astute, dear reader, but fortunately, looking at the world, things somehow seem to have worked out perfectly, so no worries. Libertarianism in general has an even bigger problem as there is less than the usual amount of groupthink, the labels are even more unworkable. So what is the solution? Personally, I am going to go with get drunk and ignore all this. If you have a better plan, do tell.
Grüezi mittenand.
Your linkings are presented this morning by me. These are precise links. Read, comment, snark.
Alles in ordnung.
Uf wiederluege mitenand.
Time to move on to the next part of brewing: bittering agents. The oldest known bittering agents were herb blends (the most famous being gruit), the modern bittering agent of choice is hops. The herbal beers are still being made today (but not a lot of it) by some of the American craft brewers looking to revive old styles and flavors. There’s lots of options for brewing with herbs instead of hops, here’s an article that talks about the various herbs, and how to use them.
We’re in the modern age now, which in the beer making world means almost a thousand years of history. So that means hops are the primary bittering agent. The bittering component of the hops is known as Alpha Acids, and any hops you buy from the homebrew shop will have an AA% on them. These get measured in a final beer by a scale called IBU (International Bittering Units). IBU’s aren’t the final determination in how bitter a beer tastes though, as that will depend on the residual (or non-fermentable) sugars left in the beer.
If you’re looking to replicate a recipe exactly, the AA% will be important to you. Most recipes will have the variety of hops, listed with an AAU number. That number is just the AA% times the weight in ounces. So, for an AAU of 30, you would need two ounces of 15 AA% hops.
Hops add a lot more flavors then just bitterness, and these flavors can lend themselves to different styles. One way of classifying hops is by the most frequent use for them:
Another type of hops are the Noble hops. This is a special category of four different varieties of hops (Hallertau, Saaz, Spalt, and Tettnang). The term just came into being in the past couple of decades, and the hops from their original regions are generally in high demand. These classifications are more of guidelines, as any hop can be a bittering hop if enough of it is used, and some bittering hops have some very good flavor and aroma notes. Hops can have a wide variety of flavors, with the most common being: earthy, pine, citrus, spice, grapefruit, and tropical fruit.
Another use for hops is dry hopping. This is when hops are added to the beer after the yeast has been pitched, and will add no bitterness, but will add tons of aroma. There are even some beers being released now called 0 IBU beers where all of the hops are added at the beers flameout, or used as dry hops.
New and experimental hops are being cultivated every year for new characteristics, such as disease resistance, flavor, and high alpha acid percentage. These are generally released in small batches to breweries and home brew shops. At this point they’ll generally have letters and/or a number to identify them, only getting a name when they go into wide scale production.
If you say you don’t like hops, it can help to learn the varieties so you can learn which ones you don’t like. There are also several hops that can add negative qualities to beer if used with too heavy of a hand (garlic, catty, vegetal, etc.). Good brewers will avoid this, but not all breweries use good brewers.
The bad part of being the guy who comes in the week between Christmas and New Years to keep the labs from burning down is all of other people’s work that you need to do. The good part is you can do it in the order and in the way that you want.
First alignment: Saturn-Sol-Luna. “A Great Ending.” Great in this case meaning “large” or “profound,” not “happy.”
Second alignment: Mercury-Sol-Mars: “Tidings of War.” This doesn’t have the auspicious aspect of last week, but is not necessarily bad. It has a tangential relationship to the ending mentioned above.
Third alignment: Jupiter-Mercury-Terra: “News of Home.” Good for expats and homebodies. Also big changes at the TSA.
Luna in Libra. Change and stability. A generally unpleasant sign when things at cross-purposes are forced together. Hangovers will be bad.
Venus in Scorpio. You should probably recognize this one by now.
Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius. Changes in firearms law.
Mars in Pisces. Bad luck involving fish. Be particularly vigilant in maintaining your aquaria.
The Sun joins Saturn in Capricorn. For those of us not born under the sign of the sea-goat, we will experience Gold and Lead. Problems will be particularly intractable. Expect defiance, and for subtle tactics to fail. Your enemies will have more resources than usual.
Sorry for the downer forecast. PLEASE don’t pass out around people who will draw dicks on your face or steal your wallet, car keys, etc. If you’re hosting a party and a friend-of-a-friend shows up, make sure they leave at the end of the night and lock the door behind them.
A year passes like nothing. I can’t decide whether to be snarky or maudlin. OK, I’ll be maudlin and save snarky for the links. In any case… we all had a lot of fun in 2018. The Glibertariat is an assortment of intelligent, foul, irreverent, rebellious, supportive, caring, indifferent, kind, and thoroughly engaging individuals. SP and I were lucky enough over the past year to have several of you pass through our area and to actively travel and meet a bunch more of you (as well as a lot of my old friends from the Hit & Run days, who are now SP’s friends as well). And I seriously cannot imagine a more fun group of people. Thank you, from the bottom of our black libertarian hearts, for making our comments section the nightmare that Virginia Postrel always warned us about.
And of course, this will be our last New Years in Illinois. There’s not much we’ll miss about the place, other than the propinquity of cheese curds. But most of all, we’ll miss hanging out with an old friend from HyR days, Swiss Servator. If it’s not evident from his postings and the hard work he does to keep this site fun, he is the finest human being SP and I have ever known. Intellectually, physically, and morally, he’s on the six sigma tail of the human distribution, and it’s been a real privilege to spend time with him and to be able to call him our friend. Other than a missing kidney, we just can’t find a single flaw in him. We’re honored to know the guy.
/maudlin
Oh, and while we’re at it, we wanted to thank our resident Romanian for turning us on to Feteasca Neagra- we had a bottle of a very slightly off-dry version made with carbonic maceration with our pizza last night, and it was an absolutely delightful pairing. Cheap and cheerful, and 11.5% alcohol makes it easy to drink.
Birthdays today include burdened white man Rudyard Kipling; ultimate (((leftist))) Sandy Koufax, whose last game I got to watch (Orioles won); Americana music pioneer John Hartford; multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer/bassist Felix Pappalardi; multi-faceted STEVE SMITH; funny woman and Simpsons discoverer Tracey Ullman; and expert at the most boring game in the world (and also apparently expert at the most interesting game in the world) Tiger Woods.
On to the news.
Surprise, surprise, cops are deadly and incompetent idiots. Back in the ’60s, there used to be a joke that, “If you don’t like cops, when you’re in trouble, call a hippie.” I can think of many hippies that would have actually been useful.
My old home town has famously gone down the toilet. And news flash: it’s not coming back.
And speaking of Baltimore, it’s not even safe to fly there.
Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. Or roast pig stuffed with truffles and foie gras.
When assholes interact, expect that it will be the latest racial outrage. Even if it’s just assholes being assholes and lawyers being lawyers. Which is not mutually exclusive.
Occasional Cortex does her best to imitate Trump. If I were dictator for a day, I’d send a fleet of B-2s to bomb Twitter out of existence. But I’m not, so all I can do is marvel at the attention paid to dimwits.
TRUMP WANTS YOUR CHILDREN TO DIE!!!!!
Everything is bigger in Texas. Including at least one vagina.
One more piece of data to indicate that Alice Cooper is the greatest living rocker– at least as a person. “I want my shows to take you as far away as possible from politics. It’s supposed to be an escape from the world we’re living in. And you know the next president is going to be worse than Trump, right?”
Team Blue begins throwing elbows and body checks. So once again, we’ll be faced with no good alternatives. Nice job!
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. And of course, the cynic in me notes that the “coordinators” of the last caravan faded away when there were no more news stories and fat donations. I’m sure Team Blue will fix the horrifically awful immigration syste… HAHAHAHA, I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face. Or maybe it’s the Jews.
Apparently, it was a slow news day.
And the last Old Guy Music of the year, featuring birthday boy Felix Pappalardi, whose death was Florida Man worthy, but who left an amazing musical legacy. Here’s a terrific cover of a Jack Bruce song, where Felix’s vocals just absolutely sell it.
Happy Last Weekend of 2018, Glibs! (LAST weekend, not LOST weekend. YMMV.)
I was super happy to check in on Kiva.org today and see that the tiny Glibertarians Lending Team has now made 20 loans! This has directly changed the lives of 20 entrepreneurs, their families and communities. Do join us in the New Year, if you are so led. It is always a reality check for me to see how little money it takes to make an impact in many nations around the world. I feel very fortunate that–until I win the lottery–I am able to make small loans and still do something of significance to promote capitalist success for other small business owners. Hmm…maybe I’ll say I’m in international finance next time I’m asked what I do.
Anyway! What will the next week bring here on the site? Let’s see.
As ever, links by OMWC, Banjos (I think Sloopy might be permanently MIA), Brett L, various cryptids and, perhaps, random stand-ins.
Tomorrow we have the I Fucking Love Astrology forecast from Not Adahn, and no spoilers, but I’m glad we are having an intimate NYE dinner party where all guests are personally known to us. Nephilium continues your brewing education with a bitter post. Monday, PieInTheSky has another installment of Pie Ponders, and I’m gracing you with a New Year’s Eve Open Post in case you don’t have Real Life friends and want to just drink and hang out here as we toss out the old and ring in the new.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019(!), Lackadaisical gets you in the proper Glibertarian mood to begin the year with an enlightening, first-person post on the US immigration system. In the evening, OMWC is back with a special Jewsday! Wednesday, we’re hopeful that there might be a dispatch from SugarFree, and there will definitely be an evening poll from yours truly.
Fourscore stops by on Thursday with some honeyed words, and on Friday, Animal brings you lesson 3 in your six-gun history education. Saturday, of course, mexicansharpshooter will be back with another review/not a review.
And as always, the more voices that are heard on Glibertarians.com, the better for all of us and liberty. So, if you’ve been thinking about writing an article on even the most esoteric of topics, please do! Join the Contributing Writers page. Learn more here.
The Saturday Night Open Post starts now! Have a good one, Glibs.
I am going to write something controversial. I am fully aware of what I am about to write, is probably going to result in the very least, being pelted with rotten cabbage.
This is my review of Shiner Holiday Cheer.
What is so controversial about this particular beer….I’ll get to that. You see, I don’t particularly care for Shiner or as the brewery is officially know as Spoetzl Brewery. This is awkward coming from somebody that happens to like Bocks. I just don’t think Shiner is that great, to be honest. I will have my AR at the ready while this is active, because this be fighting words. People from Texas just love this stuff.
Spoetzl Brewery to it’s credit does have an interesting history. Like many large breweries it was founded by a German Immigrant:
Kosmos Spoetzl, a German immigrant brewmaster, learned of the Shiner operation and coleased the facility with Oswald Petzold with an option to buy in 1915. Spoetzl had attended brewmaster’s school and apprenticed for three years in Germany and worked for eight years at the Pyramid Brewery in Cairo, Egypt, before moving to San Antonio in search of a better climate for his health. He came, carrying the recipe for a Bavarian beer made by his family from pure malt and hops. Within a year Spoetzl bought the brewery, which he renamed the “Home Brewery,” and began to produce beer in wooden kegs and bottles. After 1916 the beer was packaged in glass returnable bottles; aluminum kegs were first used in 1947, nonreturnable bottles came in 1958, party kegs in 1964, and cans in 1970. When Prohibition was declared in 1918, Spoetzl produced near beer, ice, and, according to some sources, regular beer as well. During this period, he sustained the brewery by doing construction work in Florida with crews and trucks brought from Texas. After his wife’s death in 1921, Spoetzl considered returning to Bavaria but was convinced by his daughter to retain the business. “Miss Celie,” as Cecilie was called, served as business manager of the firm, and her daughter Rose joined the firm in 1964. August Haslbeck, who served as brewmaster, was the son of a noted Bavarian maltmaster and Spoetzl’s nephew. He later returned to Germany to complete an apprenticeship and receive a brewmaster’s degree. With repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the business resumed, with the introduction of “Texas Export,” a new product later known as “Texas Special” beer. Sales were made within a 100-mile radius. Over the next decade the company added a new bottling room and brew house, and in 1947 Spoetzl constructed the white brick Alamo-style plant still in use today.
The first time I had Shiner Bock, it was probably the only one available not made by what was then Anheuser-Busch. It was okay but as I drank more beer, including actual bocks from Germany, I realized there was something missing. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll just focus on the basics.
The last one I think is where it falls short. While it is carbonated it dissipates so quickly that I feel like I am just drinking flat beer. It’s like opening a beer, telling yourself you will finish it later and putting it back in the fridge. When you get back to it, its just not the same. It is this feeling except I just opened it. Now, many Mexican beers have this same quality, except they aren’t necessarily pretending to be something their not. Then again, Shiner Bock is what it is, take it or leave it. I’ll accept it if offered, but I am not about to buy it.
I have had several of their varieties while I was TDY at Sheppard AFB, near Wichita Falls, TX. The liquor store in town had quite the selection of all their varieties and since I was in my 20s and quite frankly stuck in Wichita Falls for a month…I had what is in hindsight, a disturbing amount of beer while getting hotline certified on overhead power lines. One that does stand out in my opinion from Spoetzl is their Czech Pilsner. While it may seem like faint praise, this is actually quite good and should I actually find it in Arizona, I might be inclined to buy it. Unfortunately, I only ever see Shiner Bock.
So how it Holiday Cheer? Same as the rest of them, which is pretty flat. Also it is very fruity, perhaps not in a good way. Last year (yes, I’ve been doing this over a year now)I reviewed a holiday ale that was also fruity but it had significantly more body, and the malt complexity went well with the fruitiness. This one is just sweet, so I slammed it down, and opened an amber ale. Shiner Holiday Cheer: 2.5/5
We have snow outside. Not much, but a dusting. I warned the Wonder Dog that she may not see much more of that. This confused her, but when she heard that Swiss was going to visit her soon to say goodbye, all she could think was, “PIZZA!!!!” To be fair, I’ll miss the snow and the cold as much as she does. And Swiss, maybe more.
I will not miss birthdays, however. And today’s include the inventor of vulcanization, Charles Goodyear; air force pioneer, rebel, and namesake of my favorite airport to fly out of from here, Billy Mitchell; actual Russian collaborator Klaus Fuchs; nutbag but influential pseudo-historian Cheikh Anta Diop; TV icon Mary Tyler Moore; former owner of George Costanza’s car, Jon Voight; funny drunk Paula Poundstone; and Savior of Chicago Theo Epstein.
Nor will I miss links (hmmm, that suggests a theme…). And here they are.
In case you think the ELECTION WAS STOLEN! thing was Team Blue only, I’m here to remind you that it’s a general Team fashion these days.
Speaking of which, I wonder if the citizens of this district would be justified in withholding any tax remittances to the federal government until their representation is restored.
I don’t hear it, but maybe this week’s flavor of stupid Internet craze will amuse you.
Here’s the thing about Chicago: everything is tied up in graft. Big things, small things, EVERYTHING. Oh, and our yoots will steal anything.
Another casualty of Trump’s war on journalism. At least that’s my predicted spin.
More synthetic outrage over a likely accurate observation. Chicago is a food town, but its Chinatown is a sad joke, and it’s impossible to get first-rate regional Chinese food here. You’re not going to convince me that St. Louis or Tulsa or Cleveland will be any better.
Things in parts of the Middle East are just getting better and better. At least the parts we’re not bombing.
Where’s Heroic Mulatto when we need him?
What is it about restaurant workers and receipts? At least this one doesn’t LOOK like a clear hoax.
If you’re a Philadelphia cop, getting a beej in your car while you’re on duty won’t raise eyebrows. But if you say the wrong word… well… it’s more outrageous than shooting dogs.
I blame climate change. Because reasons.
I will indulge in my Quote of the Day from my very favorite poet.
No matter how nearly perfect an Almost Perfect State may be, it is not nearly enough perfect unless the individuals who compose it can, somewhere between death and birth, have a perfectly corking time for a few years. The most wonderful governmental system in the world does not attract us, as a system; we are after a system that scarcely knows it is a system; the great thing is to have the largest number of individuals as happy as may be, for a little while at least, some time before they die.
Old Guy Music! And all I can say is that Matt Lorenz is a genius.