Dear Mr. Colbert: Frankenoid again, in "that oxygen deprived, granola snarfing, watery beer making, mountain bike riding, Camelbak toting, Patagonia wearing, Norad adjacent, rectangular state bordered, John Hickenlooper mayored, high miled [sic] cesspool" known as Denver.
Last week I invited you to be the keynote speaker at the SquareState/Garden Blogging DNC Open House and Meeting of the Colorado Chocolate Fountain Caucus.
Not only that, I sweetened the offer with the promise of all the watery beer you can drink, courtesy of SquareState.net, the Convention credentialed blog for Colorado, and I promised to name our kitten after you. How could you resist both saving a dear little pootie from being called Caligula and knowing we were shouting "Steve Coal Burt" around the neighborhood as we called the cat?
I was disappointed to have not received an acceptance. But then I figured it out.
Well, I saw so many VP candidate diaries that I thought that I should add my own opinions to the bunch. I propose with about as much credibility as 60% of diaries and punditry that proclaim to know such things, that yes Obama has indeed made a decision. His VP candidate shall be- why ME...of course. Think about the enormous advantages I bring to the table.
It's Saturday night. I feel like having some fun.
Warning: if you don't have a warped sense of humor, you should probably go back to the home page now.
For tonight, there is not a liberal America, there is not a conservative America, there is the United States of America.
My third installment in this diary series about kossacks that brew. The first two diaries are listed below for anyone that wants to check them out. I wish I had a beer to go with this diary but I'm bored on a lunch break at work (graveyard shift) and I want to write something.
This will be brief. And not too seriously a "concern diary" (after all, Obama seems to be opening up his lead this past few days), but —
Remember that old "Bush is someone I'd like to have a beer with?" Well, if we go on strictly alcoholic beverage preferences, there's a negative trend reversal in a new poll by Gallup.
I would like to make a sequel to a diary that I wrote not too long ago about beer and brewing by kossacks. Since I don't have enough experience writing about politics, I like to focus on my strengths and writing about beer while mixing in politics seems to work best for me.
I never thought it would happen. Sure, other companies would fall into foreign hands. It seems like that's the way of the world these days. There are all kinds of explanations, rationalizations, and simple bullshit that can be raised on the topic of foreign ownership, but I don't care about that, at least for this particular case. I am just truly saddened that an American icon is now just another brand belonging to an international marketer.
Bud is getting hitched to Stella in a shotgun wedding.
With all the problems in our current economy, with Midwest Airlines today saying they'll trim their workforce by 1200, and GM accelerating plans to cut jobs and close factories, this isn't all that big a story... just another US company being swallowed up by foreign money.
You may have heard today that Anheuser-Busch was sold was sold to InBev, a Belgium-Brazilian company. Though most of the products Anheuser-Busch makes are... not the best beer (Budweiser and Michelob, I'm looking at you!) they do have a couple of beers I enjoy (Beck's, Stella Artois).
So I just want to know with this micro-diary: what is your favorite type of beer? Or favorite beers. I've been known to enjoy a couple in my time and if you hop below the fold, I'll let you know.
You can be assured that Natural Lite and Milwaukee's Best will not be on the list.
Belgian beverage-maker InBev has just purchased Anheuser-Busch, the American beer giant and manufacturer of Budweiser. I'm reminded of one of A-B's advertising campaigns: August Busch IV, proudly talking about his family's heritage with the company, and the American tradition that it represents.
Well, they're just the latest in a string of American companies being purchased by competitors from overseas. While the Belgians may improve the quality of the beer (sorry, Americans, but admit this much is true: Europe does it better), this will undoubtedly affect some Americans in the long-term, especially those working at the many distribution plants across the country:
“I don’t think any substantial effect anytime in the near term, meaning the next 6 to 18 months,” Thompson said. “I think beyond that all distributors will be affected, just depending on whether this helps sales or not. Suspicions are it’s not going to help a lot.”
And who stands to profit from this? The McCains, of course. Beer drinkers unite!
America, the only land where you can one week tell the country you will not under any circumstances sell, and then the next week, having held out for more money, DO IT! Who am I kidding this is just corporate economics at its finest!
To the makers of Budweiser I say take down your commercials where to stake the reputation of your brand on heritage, tradition, and family ownership.
Now you may be asking, Budweiser? What's all this then? I thought you handled manufacturing stuff, you know gears, plastics and metal thingies? Yes we do, but here is something to keep in mind as to why food is also covered. When they (being the mainstream media) has a manufacturing story, sometimes they include that little nugget "yet America is still the largest manufacturer." Sounds crazy, I mean look around in stores, it seems like everything is made in China. Yet, this often-used tidbit is used because when this country calculates manufacturing, processed foods gets included. Yes..that's right, those chicken nuggets and mac 'n' cheese microwavable meals are considered "domestic manufacturing." And you know what else is also? Beer!
I myself fell into the trap of thinking of Cindy McCain as a Stepford wife, and I see I'm far from alone on this site.
The McCain campaign has taken great care that she rarely speaks (at least on camera, and that she's always sharply dressed and fully made up. She stands quietly, smilingly, by her husband until he starts doing his 'man's work', and gracefully leaves him to the business that Victorians believed women should not be privvy to.
In short, the portrayal of Cindy McCain as a Stepford wife is a political ploy, well executed. More after the fold.
You may have heard, "truth is stranger than fiction," and indeed, that often seems the case. While that strange truth is usually just entertaining and innocuous, there are times when it is exactly the opposite... stupefying, shocking, even threatening.
Mimicking Ripley is not the intent here, though. It is simply to point you to a variety of recent articles, some of which just bring a smile, some that give pause for thought, and some that deal with very serious issues. Not surprisingly, many involve government and elected officials at various levels.
Aside from the trivial 'fun' articles, many are important but have been beneath the radar for whatever reason. They need greater exposure, for they have implications which scream for attention.
The entries here do not comprehensively quote their referenced sources, except for maybe a one or two line teaser that might pique your interest, and, of course a link, along with maybe short comment. Better that you follow the links and look in the horse's mouth yourself:) Hope you enjoy.
Just a blog to check in with folks at DailyKos that enjoy brewing and drinking craft beer.
Feel free to post your recipes or talk about why you got into homebrewing. There's always room for a friendly discussion among aspiring brewers/craft beer drinkers that happen to be kossacks.
"Beer promotion women (called locally, beer girls) exclusively sell one brand of beer in bars and restaurants. It is usual for them to have to sell one case of beer per night in return for a monthly salary averaging approx $US55 - about half the income needed to support their family. To supplement their income, about half accept propositions from tourists and local beer drinkers and exchange sex for money."
Condom use following beer drinking is low; HIV/AIDS prevalence averages 20% for the past 7 years. While, the [girls] may sell $13,000 worth of beer annually for their company, they are paid $600-$800 [annually]and cannot afford the yearly $360 cost for life-prolonging anti-retrovirals. Death follows from 3 months to 2 years after diagnosis; beer girls are replaced with new young women from the countryside, often with less than 1 hour of training.
Cindy Hensley McCain and her corporate jet have been in the news. We heard a publicity story about how McSame left the military to go into politics even after he was told he had been nominated for Rear Admiral [????]. But where was his first civilian job? VP of Public Relations for a Beer Co.
We watched John King, CNN accompany Cindy to Vietnam last week to highlight her charity work and do an interview. Cindy in baseball cap and polo shirt saying how she and her family were passionate about serving America. How PROUD she always is of HER country. She is just 'emotional' about it.
From the LA Times comes this story of possible conflict of interest. Hensley&Co., source of Cindy's wealth, is an Anheuser-Busch distributor/real estate owner. The wealth that is reported on her 'secret' tax returns mostly comes from here. Read about how this could be a major conflict of interest for the occupant of the WH:
http://www.latimes.com/...
Dear Mr. Colbert: Frankenoid again, in "that oxygen deprived, granola snarfing, watery beer making, mountain bike riding, Camelbak toting, Patagonia wearing, Norad adjacent, rectangular state bordered, John Hickenlooper mayored, high miled [sic] cesspool" known as Denver.
