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.
- Is it malty? Yes.
- Is it balanced? Yes.
- Does it have body? Not really.
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
Comments
262 responses to “The Review Where I Mess With Texas”
I have never considered Shiner Bock a real bock. In the same sense that Bud isnt really a pulsner.
I like krusovice myself as far as mainstream Czech beer goes
I remember having some Krušovice beer while I was in Prague, but I can’t remember which ones. I think I liked them.
I’m curious why Shiner Bock isn’t a “real” bock.
And has Bud ever claimed to be a pilsner? It’s an American pale lager, right?
American pale lager – they were going to call it piss but marketing complained
Pilsner is such an easy style name to remember because it nearly has piss right in the name.
Bud is, if I remember correctly, descended from Pilsners but I don’t remember hearing claims that Bud in its current form is a Pilsner.
Bud got it’s recipe from a brewery in Czechoslovakia called Budvar. One of the finest pilsners I’ve ever had. If you happen to come across Checkvar in the US, it’s the same beer under a diffeeent label because of Trademarks and such.
I’ve had it. It’s good.
I’ll look for that.
Czechvar is an excellent beer and tastes absolutely nothing like Bud, which should not even be called beer. Ista beer, brought to you by the new chemical revolution.
Bud is supposed to be a ‘premium’ lager. Whatever that means. For me, Bud, along with various other American lagers seem to actually be lagers, but there’s something extra in there that is not water. Formaldehyde? Some other noxious chemical? Whatever it is, it should not be in beer and probably not in anything else being consumed by humans.
Adjuncts (mainly corn and rice), as well as aging on beechwood chips. The BJCP classes it as an American Lager 1B (on page 15).
All of my Texas friends always preferred Ziggenbock (sp?) to Shiner. I remember having one while highly intoxicated in Texas and have no memory of what it tasted like.
Ziegenbock is a favorite of mine. I usually pick some up if it’s on special.
I am currently drinking Pilsner Urquell. I have little else to say
I approve.
Can it be a real Bock if you are drinking it on day 7 of winter or before? It’s to be drunk in spring!
Isnt that just a Maibock?
I dunno. I was just being an ass.
I’ll drink Bocks any time of year because I’m weird.
People from Texas just love this stuff. – the old saying goes only 2 things come from Texas. Shiner makes 3 it seems
Shiner is a neutered bock, so it still in the 2.
Shiner is a queer beer.
““Progressive activists trying to shut down a cafe because it’s owners are Jewish” is peak 2018 at its peakiest.”
https://twitter.com/CyborgJazz/status/1078780146591641600
Let’s not forget. This particular (((owner))) is a lifetime, hardcore progressive. He made the mistake of thinking that chanting the Marxist catechism would protect him when the progressive mob came looking for (((windows))) to break.
Tribe always trumps principles with progressives. Always.
It’s pretty indicative of how retarded we’ve become as a society that people can claim to be fighting the Nazism taking over America by going out of their way to smash some Jewish businesses.
If you’re attacking the Jews, YOU’RE THE NAZI.
“Why do we all have to suffer because a minority group of white men have to have their guns? Just saw a college kid in a wheelchair at Dave Matthews, the engine struggling through the sand. I wondered if he was a shooting victim. That’s the reality of our society.”
https://twitter.com/tamaraholder/status/1078863276874915846
Christ, what an asshole.
At a fucking Dave Matthews concert too. That has to bring it close to peak asshole.
Yep… Twitter still cancer.
Yerp.
*sips beer*
I wondered if he was a shooting victim.
I would venture to guess that a tiny minority of college students in wheelchairs are shooting victims. Far less than are car crash victims, at any rate.
That’s the reality of our society.
No, that’s the inside of your head. Not to be confused with actual reality.
Would.
She just doesn’t like minorities.
wood if she’s comatose.
From reading her twit I think she is a shooting victim…shot in the head so I guess comatose isnt out of the question.
Sick burn:
I liked the one from the guy in the wheelchair with the AR.
It couldn’t possibly muscular dystrophy? No way no how.
I’m Asian and I’m the biggest gun nut around. Why is she denying my Lived Experience™?
The replies are fantastic. A short excerpt:
David ?
@DavidFTheWriter
·
6h
Replying to
@tamaraholder
Instead of wondering how he got hurt, why didn’t you go over to him and ask if you could help him get through the sand?
RedLatinos
RedLatinos
@RedLatinosUSA
·
3h
Because Leftists never lift a finger. They only point out the hardship, and then lecture everyone else about how they should help.
If you notice Leftists only donate to causes that benefit them.
Unapologetic American
Unapologetic American
@JuneSaidF
·
2h
Lefties point out the hardship and then try to personally profit from it.
People from Texas just love this stuff.
Not me. Its OK when there isn’t anything but the usual Big Beer on the shelf, but otherwise I agree with your take on it. I suspect it garnered a following back in the days when there wasn’t anything else on the shelf but Big Beer.
I want tumbleweed beer. This is America, damnit. And we have TX, so we should be able to have tumbleweed beer! And it’s going to come in really big cans, like 80oz cans! … *has 2nd thoughts* … just remembered, they let us have hemp beer and that was really super bad in like very very bad. Forget all about tumbleweed beer.
I’ve had hemp beer. It was pretty good.
The one I had tasted like fermented rope.
Shiner is to TX what Yuengling is to the NE IMO. Like you said, decent if maceobrews are your only choices.
Yuengling is excellent. It’s a PA beer. They’re still not available everywhere in the Northeast.
Also, the current owner is a bit of a shitlord.
n the three decades he’s been running his family’s 188-year-old brewery, Dick Yuengling has never heard such vitriolic feedback as he did after news broke last October that he was backing Donald Trump for president.
“The calls and the emails, some of it was just vulgar,” Yuengling said on Thursday, speaking about the incident for the first time since the election. “Some people shook my hand, sent letters of support. But there were a lot of messages calling us names. I felt bad for the staff who had to go through all of it.”
He couldn’t recall anything else he’d said or done during his tenure that had provoked near as overwhelming of a response.
“I didn’t expect it would be such a big story,” Yuengling said. “The boy just wanted a tour, so I said sure. But then it got picked up by the media. They really eviscerated us in Philly.”
Yuengling, I drank a lot of that when I first moved to MD. It’s better than Bud. That’s all I can say for it. If I want cheap beer, it’s a good choice. It was about $15 a case.
I’m not sure about New England but I can get it in PA, NY, WV……
It’s good but I don’t crave it. I like that even the diviest bars usually still have it so I don’t have to swill Bud/Miller….
Except when they have Genesse……it’s pretty terrible but I drink it for nostalgic reasons.
We get Yuengling here in Ohio as well, originally it was going to just be the regular and the light. In the first month it was available, we purchased what they expected to sell in the first year they were distributing here. After that, they added the rest of their line up. The Yuengling Porter is quite solid for the price.
And Genesee has actually made some solid beers.
Genesee Cream Ale! It’s creamy! *barf*
I drank 3 last night. I’d still rather drink that than Bud or *shudders* Old Mil.
Check out the one I linked, it’s solid (especially at the low price point).
Shocking most people, Cream Ale has no dairy in it at all, while Milk Stout has lactose added (a non-fermentable sugar).
I’ve only sampled from my stepfather’s cases of Genny Light that were always at the ready, during holiday visits. Nice mild buzz after four or five of them to help ease the day there. I was shocked to see it in NYC a couple times; hell nobody drinks it even in Buffalo.
Yep. I’ve been to the brewery several times. Their craft line is outstanding. The restraurant run out of there is awesome as well.
I’ve had that and it’s really good. They also do a Chocolate Peanut butter Scotch ale that’s sort of a desert beer but very well balanced.
Technically, aren’t beers liquid?
It’s available in Massachusetts. It might be available in Connecticut and Rhode Island. I haven’t bought booze in either of those states in quite a while so I don’t know. It is not available in northern New England.
I had a few “Coors Banquet” beers this week in memory of my dad. That’s pretty rotten, is all I can say.
This can’t be emphasized enough. The first time I had Yuengling on tap, I thought “this tastes just like Shiner bock.”
https://heyjackass.com/
Chicago stats
The “found bodies” are a nice touch.
Shitlords, let’s arm another cishetero white man. Leaning towards a bolt action 22. Prob something cheap like a marlin. Who do I buy it from? Can I buy it online? I’m new to shitlording, any help would be great
You can check GunBroker; however, unless you have a FFL you’ll have to go through a licensed dealer unless what you’re buying is an antique under Federal law. The problem with GunBroker is you’re relying on the seller to take accurate pictures, to do a good job on describing the piece, and to do a good job responding to queries. Having said that, there are good deals on GunBroker.
With a local gun shop, you can inspect the firearm before putting money out.
Does the “toledo” in your username refer to you living near Toledo? I know we have some folks in Ohio here, though I don’t know if they’ll be close enough to you to give local recommendations on gun shops.
It is going to go through a gun dealer, background check, etc just about any way you go about it unless you have an uncle or such that will sell you one. What you are looking for is easy to find in just about any gun shop. A couple hundred bucks should get you a very decent bolt gun in 22. You can buy that online but it is pointless. The seller is going to ship it to a gun shop, not to you. You go to the gun shop to pick it up and you will just pay a fee on top of the price of the rifle so he can do the background and facilitate the sale.
Go to your local Wal-mart or Academy. Academy has a better selection.
I’m not sure why you selected a bolt action .22. For your first rifle, it’s hard to beat a ruger 10/22. They are plentiful and priced as such.
Just saying.
I have a 10/22. It’s a good gun.
BA 22s are great starter guns. You have to learn to make every shot count. They are very accurate, good price, no recoil, plentiful ammo and fun as hell. Once you learn to shoot proficiently move up to a semi-auto.
*disclaimer – I have bolt, lever, pump and semi-auto 22s. (BLR22, 10-22, Remington, Marlin, Browning, Kimber)
Damn it Suthen.
Thanks for pointing out to me that i don’t own any pump action rimfires.
*Adds it to the list*
Remington Fieldmaster, brother. Get the Fieldmaster.
*checks to see if they are still made*
Yes they are. Not cheap but worth every penny. Holy crap they still make the smoothbore. I always wanted one of those.
Model 61 Winchester, for my 8th birthday. A lot of chipmunks/squirrels/bunnies/woodchucks/porcupines/raccoons and assorted snakes and memories tied up in that gun.
Noted.
I forgot. I also have a single shot, the Stevens. I bought it for my son when he was 8ish y/o.
Last I checked, several companies made replicas of Colt Lightnings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Lightning_Carbine
I’m still kicking myself for not buying one of those Kimber target .22’s from the CMP when they had them.
Also, if you were a Boy Scout from non-gun owners, that’s what you learned to shoot on.
Or a Marlin Model 60. Both are excellent guns.
+1
+2
There are some who believe the recoiling bolt of a semi is a potential
distraction/hindrance for new shooters.
This might be appropriate , Seriously
Try traguns.com. They pay the transfer fee and will ship to an ffl of your choice.
Paul Harrell’s opinion on .22 rifles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I3PXZQW1wg
That looks familiar…
You’d think people descended from Bavarians could do a better job with beer.
Hey, they’ve been in Texas a long time. In any event, it was Prohibition what broke the beer brewing business in this country until micro/craft brewing broke out.
Jimmy Carter legalizing homebrewing really helped kick that off. That and his deregulation of airlines really moved him far better than Obama and G Dub in the list of shittiest post WWII presidencies.
Yeah that gives ol Jimmy a point or two in my book. Too bad it totals a point or two.
And railroads.
^^^ this ^^^
The “American beer is shit” trope gets very tiresome. Many factors and forces unique to this country led to the unique styles of American beers. Just because they aren’t your cup of tea doesn’t mean that they are poorly made. There’s dozens -or hundreds- of different beer styles out there, and for every one there is someone who thinks it sucks.
https://vinepair.com/articles/10-biggest-beer-brands-world-2018/
Applebees, Budweiser…in isolation and without comparison to counter offerings in socialist countries, there’s no greater argument against capitalism.
The strange one to me is that there was no boom anywhere else in the Americas. From what I’ve been reading, there’s a couple of breweries popping up in Mexico and some South America countries.
There is a decent microbrewery in Uschuaia. (Southernmost city on Terra Firma) Their stout and porter were both very good,
In any event, it was Prohibition what broke the beer brewing business in this country until micro/craft brewing broke out.
I know that.
Shiner bock – Not if I’m buying. I do buy it for people coming in from out of state just to try some Texas beer.
Shiner Blonde – A nice evening beer. Not a real go to.
Shiner Holiday – I was really surprised by it. I might pick up a 12 pack to take to a holiday party.
Shiner Bock…I’m convinced that they let things slip in the early mid 2000s. It used to have much more body as far as I remember. The Kolsch is still pretty good as is the black lager.
Black Lager and Ruby Redbird
This is good for some lulz.
Where dey all went and gonez to?
“The mayor’s put together a really strong team. All the pieces are there.”
LOL! Yeah, meet the new team, same as the old team.
I look forward to 30 years from now when walls are back in vogue with the left as they realize they’re necessity in retaining what remains of their ubran tax chattel.
All of the ones that can escape, do so. Most of the inner city folk have made it out to Randallstown and area. Some of the inner city really does look like a post apocalytpic wasteland. Block after block of once beautiful row homes, all boarded up and crumbling. Every now and then you see a block or two where some brave enterprising citizens are trying to renovate and gentrify these areas. I can’t imagine how weird it would be to live there surrounded by blocks of uninhabited area, except maybe by roving gangs.
Remember the idea to just fill up Detroit with Syrian refugees?
What could possibly go wrong?
This is why Democrats support the wars. Gotta get voters in somehow, someway.
Bomb everyone, import the survivors for votes. It should be the dems new slogan.
Seems to be working in that part of the country. Only it’s Somalis and they’re running some massive daycare scams to defraud the states of millions. Oh well, diversity.
Gentrification is destroying our hoods.
//some time in the future
Gotta love those “top men!”
“All the pieces are there.”
Only thing missing are the people, you know, the inhabitants. Are there no homeless in Balmer? 20K empty homes and not a person to live in them. Oh my.
There are plenty of homeless. But they aren’t going to make any money hanging out where no one dares go. You can find them on Mr. Luther King blvd. and other busy intersections, every day of the year.
This might sound kinda racist but I’ve noticed there is a commonality to every “Martin Luther King Blvd” in every city:
It’s a crime ridden shithole
I think Chris Rock made that rock; or maybe it’s even older.
or “joke”, even
Keep pushing racism and gentrification narratives – that’ll work.
For Christmas I got a 4pack of Innis & Gunn “Kindred Spirits” which is a stout fermented in Tullimore Dew staves. Muchos recommended.
I want it. There’s a plave around here that has it on tap…
I’m not sure if it’s a limited release or not. If it is, don’t wait, it’s really good.
I see the Shiner beer in one of the local stores all the time. Have never tried it.
I’m from Texas, and it’s a mass market beer. It’s weak and overly sweet. Pretty good for drinking vast quantities though.
Texas has many many excellent smaller breweries, however.
People say this. I went to Austin for a few days, and the locals weren’t able to direct me to anything delicious (this was almost 10 years back now, though).
I liked Fredericksburg Brewing.
I haven’t noticed anything really stunning from Austin. 512 pecan porter is good. DFW seems to have better microbrews.
Ahh. The SIL has been delivered to the airport, and there’s just enough snow on the ground to justify sitting on my ass. This afternoon is all about bowl games and barley wine.
Did you at least get to see her naked?
Thankfully, no.
Did I ever tell you that she’s gotten drunk and made a pass at me?
Family times are the best times! I feel your nausea and raise you one core-deep shudder. That is so wrong on so many levels.
So her eyesight has gotten that bad. Man, I feel sorry for her.
Picked up 10 or 11 lbs each of fresh meyer lemons and key limes at Walmart this week. Time to make some mead.
Kegged a 2yo lime mead yesterday.
I just put down a deposit on one of these:
https://cz-usa.com/product/cz-shadow-2-black-blue/
I have no idea when I’ll be able to take possession.
Very nice.
There are very few non-membership ranges around here. I’ve doing my practicing at a LGS that has one. They are good people and have been helpful in getting me through the permitting process for my license. But… they don’t carry CZ. So I bought it from a different gun shop. I’m going to feel a wee bit guilty about walking in there to shoot a thousand dollar gun I bought at their competitor.
I feel a bit guilty when I see y’all talking about ranges.
Most places you can shoot here are private clubs. I live right next to one, but their membership is full and they haven’t had an opening in years. The waiting list to get into it is like trying to get season tickets at A&M. There is one that says they have openings, but their website is broken. If I can get into that one, then I can pick up a scary black rifle, since they have a 200yd range.
I shoot at a private…uh…club. It is called Suthenboy’s. Of course it doesnt have any clubhouse or marked off ranges but I can go there anytime I like and shoot as I please.
Does it have blackjack and hookers?
I heard it did have a clubhouse, with muscadine wine on tap.
I had the same type of private club growing up. I miss it.
*wistful sigh*
Growing up, our property backed up to a deep woods. At the edge of our property was a nice hollow. We could put targets on the far side and plink away for hours. By we, I mean my neighbor & I. My parents were not gun folks. My grandfather was. But my parents allowed me to keep some of his (and ones he bought for me) in the home. Even as a younger teen. And this was in NJ!
Just tell them you got it from Cajun Gunworks.
Here’s the weird thing: it’s new in the (sealed) box. It comes with the three standard magazines, which are illegal in NY. So the gun shop has to keep them and… throw them away? Resell them? I dunno.
Cajun is THE CZ custom shop.
But to be perfectly honest, few shops carry CZ and people that shoot CZ are a particular group. I doubt they’d hold.it against you.
And if its with the illegal magazines…spunds like its their problem, no?
Jesus wept.
That’s just stupid.
Related:. I saw this on the glass door of the bar I was in last night:
https://goo.gl/images/4F9A37
I approve.
Heh. I like the “example usage” picture on the Amazon page.
Sweet.
Nice!
Very nice!
Shiner is not unlike Lienenkugle in that the namesake beer is boring, but has some good specialty beers in the portfolio.
Also, for some reason, if I drink 2 Shiner Bocks, I’ll start getting a headache before I finish the 2nd one, but I can drink any of their other beers with impunity.
Hey now. I said they make a good one.
One.
I’m from Austin, and I can assure you that calling fake Budweiser brewed in Shiner crappy beer will get you shrugs.
It is maybe marginally better than Bud.
Drinking “The Mother of All Storms” from Pelican brewery. I’m pleasantly surprised. At 14.4%, I was expecting sweet and syrupy. It’s definitely a big beer but the flavor and texture are not cloying at all. The chocolate notes lean more towards bittersweet and the mouthfeel is that of a much lighter stout. I think the 40 IBUs help balance it out.
Nearly 3 feet of snow in the last day and a bit. Taught Wifey how to operate the snowblower this morning. I am feeling pretty darn Tom Sawyerish right this moment!
https://nypost.com/2018/12/29/the-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-reason-the-military-wants-to-stay-in-syria/
Good, clear-headed article that popped up in my news feed. Nothing that hasn’t been covered here bbefore but it bears repeating.
That was a good article. We won’t be leaving Iraq, regardless of what the Iraqi’s say but at least we’re getting our troops out of Syria. I am also under no illusion that means we will not be involved in Syria. It just won’t be as obvious.
Hopefully Trump can slow if not derail the regime change madness. I’m not going to bet the farm on that though.
Just the tip. I promise!
If he can end he “Nation building” bullshit, I’m a happy man. The Colin Powell “you broke it, you bought it” doctrine needs to die a horrible, painful, tragic death.
I believe you are misinterpreting the Powell doctrine. Powell formulated it as a way to dissuade government from engaging in “regime change” willy-nilly. Basically, he’s saying that one should only engage in intervention if boots on the ground nation building is worth it and necessary. If not, don’t do it, because once you do, the consequences are irreversible.
That having been said, I see no reason why one can’t follow the Powell doctrine while also accepting that the “punitive expedition” is also an option. With the notable exception of Operation Praying Mantis, why the Western World seems to have given up on the punitive expedition following World War 2, I will never understand. Indeed, a punitive expedition was the most appropriate response to 9/11. Yet, we fell right into bin Laden’s trap of pissing away lives and resources beyond his wildest dreams. Even the Soviets caught on more quickly than we did.
Do you count Operation Desert Fox as a punitive expedition?
I could see how it would be viewed that way, if you accept the US and UK were acting as proxies of the UN. But, I think it really was more of us taking an opportunity when one presented itself.
I agree with you that we blew it on the response in Afghanistan. Had we gone with the “punitive expedition” option, we would have been out of there long ago.
We removed Saddam and Qaddafi, one with the nation building component, the other just supporting the antagonists. Both were disasterous. The one with nation building cost us much more blood and treasure.
I prefer the Spud doctrine. Use great restraint in the use of the military, but be so lethal that anyone that messes with us knows it will not go well for them. If we do have to use the military, be ruthless, fast and lethal, then go home. You shouldn’t have fucked with us in the first place. Unfortunately, I am not one of the Top. Men.
You already have my vote.
This is the correct usage of a military.
War is a horrible thing. We try mightily to make it something it isn’t. We should be loathe to employ it and ruthless when we do.
It irks me that Libya is rarely ever mentioned alongside Iraq and Afghanistan in these conversations. Especially when the subject is Syria. Because Libya is what these assholes want in Syria, but the risks are far higher and potential benefits minimal (I’d say fantasies).
You know why. Iraq and Afghanistan are Chimpy McHitler’s fault, but Libya was when the US Military, and we, as a nation, failed Obama.
I have a friend from Italy who despises Hilary because of the Libyan intervention. She argues that it destabilized North Africa, precipitated the refugee crisis and placed unfair burdens on Italy. I’m not sure she’s correct on everything, but she’s a European Democrat Socialist and even she gets the stupidity of Libya (she also dislikes Trump intensely).
I never see a MSM story digging into who all of the contractors working for us in the ME are and what individuals own those companies and how they are connected to the warmongering pols here. That seems odd. Barely ever a mention of it.
They work for the State Dept., which is run by career proggies. MSM is covering for them. Under Hillary, there were up to 50,000 private operators on the payroll.
Funny that Blackwater was the Big Baddy when GWB was in power and suddenly around January 20th 2009 we stopped hearing anything at all about mercenaries. Makes a man think…
Spiteful Keynesian Knome is spiteful:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/opinion/republican-economists-bad-faith.html
He really goes out of his way to remind you that he’s not only a terrible economist but also a terrible person
I gave up half way through. I was looking for some discussion of specific policies but glancing through the whole thing can be summed up in two words:
Conservatives bad.
That’s pretty much his while schtick:
Conservatives and Trump are do-do heads who wreck everything. And like Hihn he does a bunch of linking to his own articles.
He is such a cunt.
*whole not while*
Never apologize!
No interest in anything Krugman has to say about anything.
I’m not sure why I read the comments.
Sad Beard has a point here, actually. He’s not the only partisan hack in town. A whore knows another whore when she sees her.
It’s quiet, but the GOP’s TOP MEN are basically engaging in many of the same policies that Republicans bemoaned under Obama with Trump even throwing a tantrum now that the feds finally raised interest rates. Those massive government spending bills? They juice the GDP numbers that Trump crows about. This isn’t really a surprise – Obama’s bailout was Bush’s bailout, too.
We get fewer regulations and lower taxes with the GOP. Rhetoric that is far less hostile to the animal spirits of the market. But the underlying principles aren’t really different. Both parties at their core, really the entire American state, is progressive. FDR won this war, and most Americans across the political spectrum have internalized progressivism. It’s why your weird crazy Obama hating uncle can bemoan Obama’s big government spending while posting memes praising Kennedy or FDR as heroes in the American pantheon and go out and vote for Trump…whose big ideas involve using the levers of power to start trade wars, kick out the brownies, and massive government spending to include another kick on the shovel ready job bullshit.
You’re correct. I almost said something along these lines but then demured when I realized I might sound like I was endorsing anything Krugnuts had to say. Of course his recommendation would be to double down on the worst of either parties impulses.
This gets to what I think is wrong with the way a lot of people classify the political spectrum the way most people look at it doesn’t account for how progressive elements of Republican Party have been for a long time. I would change the Nolan chart to be something like modern vs traditional and the other axis progressive vs lassiez fairs.
Ha Ha! Three of Wifey’s cow-workers in security just got fired for riding the conveyor through the X-ray scanner! These aren’t kids, they’re grown-ass middle-aged schlubs. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the people that ensure your safety while flying the friendly skies! The funniest part is that they now have to endure a battery of tests to make certain that they didn’t catch cancer… $25 bucks an hour to stand around picking yer nose and they did this why?
“These aren’t kids, they’re grown-ass middle-aged schlubs.”
We got that when you referred to them as “cow-workers”
No apology!
Imitating Kimi Raikkonen: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/45239949
“The private area of Singapore’s main airport often caters for celebrities and the wealthy, preparing for security checks – just one more easy step before boarding their private jets.
It is usually light work for the security staff. But not during one particular evening in 2008.
A man places his bags on the conveyor belt. As everyone else expects him to walk through the scanner, he sees his belongings just about to disappear and has a brilliant idea. He jumps onto the moving conveyor belt himself. Panicked and raging security staff are brought to life by the unusual turn of events, expecting to apprehend a maniac.
Instead they turn him over and are faced with Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen, curious that the scanning equipment would give him “an image of the precise details of his body, and his bone structure in particular”.
I imagine they were just bored and probably stoned enough to do it, or maybe just dense enough to “giver a try”. The same kind of people that jumped off the roof with an umbrella when they were wee and somehow survived.
When I worked at a factory, these three ~18 year old guys went out to a vehicle on break, then came back acting obviously fucked up on some kind of drugs. Their supervisors quickly noticed, pulled them aside, and all three of them narced on each other. Everyone gave up everyone. They called their parents to come pick them up because they couldn’t drive home.
Those damn breeders https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/childless-employees-work-life-balance-1.4953036?cmp=FB_Post_News
A friend from high school posted this on Facebook
I’ve experience this working for the govt…..kids; dropping them at daycare, picking them up, sick kids, baseball games, practice, etc, etc. Are all valid reasons to get off work without using vacation. The list of acceptable reasons for singles is pretty much hospitalization or death in the family.
Not sure how this is in the real world but it’s tiresome in government land. And don’t get me started on the litany of carve outs for single mothers…..
Where I teach (state university), if the local school system declares a snow day so does the campus. Why? Because it would be really hard for the parents to figure out how to take care of their kids with school closed.
It’s the same in many private companies. Single guys get the shaft even worse when it’s a family run concern.
You are frequently asked to cover for your children-strapped peers. And you are viewed as the irresponsible one because you haven’t yet saddled yourself with a financial burden you can’t really afford.
I think they make some legitimate points but the tone of it I find hilarious.
“I continuously find myself raising my hand a little bit more because I feel as though I have to.
-Leviana Coccia, childless communications officer
Agreed but it’s not something I would ever voice at loud at work. And as a non-breeder I’ve never really felt any of the pressure described in the article anyway. Besides, people make trade-offs. If you don’t want kids, not having them is probably its own reward for you.
I think there is always an element of unfairness in that regard but if you get the wrong hr manager any minor thing can snowball into certain people routinely getting screwed.
Merry Christmas to all, and a happy new year.
FYI, won’t be around for the evening post, but wanted to share this because it made me so sick. Dairy farmer complaining about how dairy prices aren’t “fair” and demanding the government do something about it. Oh but he says they don’t want subsidies – they just want the government to do something, anything, to prop up the prices for their products. As an added bonus, it’s full of anti-big corporation scare bullshit. Boo-fucking-hoo, you knew your cows by name instead of lot number. I’m sure that somehow means I should have to pay $4.00 for a gallon of fucking milk.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/dairy-farming-is-dying-after-40-years-im-out/2018/12/21/79cd63e4-0314-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b09a703dedfe
Can you rampage on Wapo?
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018/12/27/Farm-bill-includes-billions-aimed-at-keeping-dairy-industry-afloat/6801545920270/
Why are farmers so special? Sears is probably going to go out of business by the middle of 2019; why doesn’t the government ensure that if a retailer’s earnings drop below a minimum threshold, the government will cover the difference? What is the qualitative difference between farmers and bankers, whom we can’t let fail, and the retail sector?
Inbreeding?
Wholesome photo-ops.
Sears is still in business?
-1 toughskins
For a little while longer
We’ve had that up here for years. Supply-side I believe it’s called and one of the biggest sticking points over the renegotiated NAFTA deal. Quebec farmers don’t want to compete with Vermont farmers.
Dairy news that some may find too local .
Don’t you shitlords get it? If the government does something, that’s it! No more milk! Ever! We’d be doomed as a society. That’d mean no more cheese. No more ice cream. DEAD CHILDREN EVERYWHERE AS THEIR BRITTLE BONES NOT FORTIFIED BY MILK CRUMBLE!
I like cheese curds, subsidized or not. Viva le Poutine!
Mmmmm, poutine.
Fuck him. Local Safeway is selling butter for $6.99/lb.
Jesus, that’s fucking steep.
Like normal butter?
No. Like special HM butter that greases the links to unspeakable things. Normal butter…
Yeah normal butter. Darigold. Amish butter was $9/2lb if that makes sense.
I thought it must be a mistake, but Albertsons did take over Safeway so probably not.
We have price controls on milk here in LA. The wholesale and retail price can only vary between X and Y. Our milk is very expensive. It is just a coincidence that we also had a governor/congressman whose family owns dairies.
Not calling for subsidies or price controls. I do want to point out that small dairy farmers are regulated out of effective competition by the government at the behest of the large dairy corporations. I could easily sell raw milk from my cows for double what the grocery store gets. Grassfed Jersey milk tastes much better than what you can buy at the store.
Can’t do it though. I’m banned by law from selling it. Herdshares are a possibility but are legally dubious. Raw milk is very safe from a local farmer that hand milks their cows. Pasteurization is necessary for grocery store milk because the automated milkers add puss and bacteria from infected udders into the milk.
They need to cut down these regulations that prevent competition.
The ban on raw milk is one of the most bullshit regulations ever. You can buy raw meat with the understanding that it contains bacteria and if you consume it raw, it’s your own fault if you get sick. If raw milk is so unacceptable, why don’t they just ban the sale of meat that has not be pre-cooked? (I know, I know, stop giving them ideas).
I want to make cheese out of raw milk, but I can’t do that because PUBLIK SAFETEEEE.
And you can make the same argument over a dozen AIGS eaten a la “Rocky”, or seafood
Corpomilk – now with added pus and bacteria!
In the before times I was a cook at a very busy hole in the wall and we always bought our salmon, halibut, rock cod, snappers and assorted shellfish straight off the boat. It wasn’t strictly legal but the results were stupendous.
A glory hole?
If you will.
That smelled like fish.
Well, there’s multiple points in the supply chain that can cause bacterial growth if not done right, but should be up to the consumer to decide if they want to buy it or not.
I’d also add, that despite government regulation as the only thing keeping people alive, that dairies and farmers have a vested interest in the quality and safety of the milk they produce, collect, and use. They already test at collection/reception and will reject milk (and not pay the farmer) if it fails certain tests and similar penalties if it doesn’t meet other quality standards.
Fuckin’ Hipsters!
On topic:
Texas attracts people because of friendly economic policies. In other news, water is wet and I like boobs.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-tax-state-exodus-11546037709
“I like boobs”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Duz4R0GVYAIRvJD.jpg
OMG
?
Is there more boobs news?
Hey OMWC: Back to the reading thread: “Abu Hasan and the Fart” is in the Barnes and Noble Thousand and One Nights… Not in Reader’s Digest though.
I think the word “fart” might be a little much for The Reader’s Digest for some reason. Pretty meta.
I guess condensing farts is a bridge too far.
True story. Back in the day when I worked in Richmond, people would get bored when it was slow. So someone decided to start sucking up their farts in 60cc syringes. They would then let them come to room temperature before squirting it in someone’s face.
You know what a cold fart smells like? Death.
I got that one on the second read, but I’m drunk and have been up for 26 hours.
“California organizers cancel Women’s March due to ‘overwhelmingly white’ participants”
https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/organizers-cancel-womens-march-jan-19-due-to-overwhelmingly-white-participants
Ooooh! We hate those Sneetches with stars on their bellies!
LOL I hope that’s a sign this nonsense is losing steam.
One would hope. I fear that it’s becoming so dense that it will create a singularity and drag us all into the Helliverse.
FFS. According to wimipt Eureka is 88.5 per cent white.
Wtf. Wikipedia.
Well, that’s problematic.
Yes. My wife (a beautiful black woman) was doing some work up in Eureka a year ago. Every time she went to dinner, all the white bartenders and patrons were fascinated that she was there. Everyone was friendly enough, but they don’t get alot of… urban sophisticates in that part of California.
And the rest is pretty much Hispanic and Native American. Not a lot of #metoo in those groups.
Maybe because it’s only woke whitey that cares about the shit?
“Xhale City Vape Shop employee has epic meltdown over Trump Shirt”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK-mnbH4s74
Looks like a massive vape shop, and sounds like that clerk has massive TDS.
Looks like he got fired:
https://twitter.com/Fuctupmind/status/1078862678062452738
Hahaha
RHEE!
He should have asked the clerk to bake him a cake.
The employee asked the man to leave, he didn’t and then escalated the encounter. Maga dude is an asshole, an employee asks you to leave, you leave. It’s their store at that moment.
Putting aside it’s a dumbass way to run a business, we don’t live in libertopia where stores can kick people out just because they don’t like their t-shirt.
we don’t live in libertopia where stores can kick people out just because they don’t like their t-shirt.
You may not, I do.
No, you don’t.
I concur. However, neither of them handled it properly, and I’d be happy to see both of them tarred & feathered in the town square.
If (IF) the employee objected to dude’s t-shirt and asked him to leave for that reason, he’s the asshole and his employer was right to fire him.
That said, I’d have respected management for standing up for him against social media outrage. But in a normal world in which political t-shirts aren’t grounds for turning out paying customers, they were absolutely right to toss the snippy bitch out on his ass. (Again, assuming this started as presented.)
Santos L. Halper
@Cromulentness
11h11 hours ago
Replying to @Fuctupmind
It’s too bad we didn’t even give the Xhale City time to do the right thing. They were immediately attacked to the point they had to delete their social media.
How are we any different than fucking leftists when we act like that?
Good handle, good point.
Agreed that it’s not a good way to act. However, I think there’s a silver lining: Leftists might have to realize that if they want to promote a culture of mob justice, they’re going to be on the receiving end of it as well.
I don’t think it’s a fight we can win. Look at the “Proud Boys,” the one counterculture group on the right: it’s being harassed into oblivion almost in its infancy. No non-leftist group marshals the sort of ground game the left enjoys. We don’t have willing armies of underemployed, shameless asshats who will picket a business on the say-so of some community organizer. We don’t have hordes of university students willing to parade around shouting slogans because they’ve got nothing better to do on a Wednesday afternoon. Tea Partiers can’t hold a candle to the rage monkeys the left corrals into their corner. So some vape shop has to let go a problem employee; who cares? These people own entire institutions.
+1 bummer, man
OT: Just made some approximation of mapo tofu, and I put two diced habeneros as well as some ultra-spicy hot sauce that I bought at Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire (hot sauce convention).
Goddamn, I’m sweating.
Mapo tofu is food of the gods. I wish I could make it more often.
I *hope* you loaded it with Szechuan peppercorn.