The Best Hraka Around
According to a new study in the British Medical Journal, the vast majority of children with high IQs choose to eat meat when they grow up, spurning the vegetarian lifestyle.
Is the above conclusion how the story is being reported in the press? Of course not.
From The Mouse That Roared, written in 1955.
“The fact is that there are few more profitable undertakings for a country in need of money than to declare war on the United States and be defeated. Hardly an acre of land is forfeited in such wars.”
“It is usually agreed, to be sure, that heavy industries and other installations and activities which could be used in future wars are to be dismantled, destroyed and their re-establishment banned. And it usually evolves that this is not done, because it is decided to follow such a plan would either wreck the economy of the defeated nation, or make it incapable of defending itself against other foes. In either or both cases, the Americans would feel called upon, such is their peculiar nature, to help out at their own expense.”
“Again, it is usually decided that the nation and people which lose to the United States shall be made to suffer national and individual hardship for the aggression. And the ink is no sooner dry on such agreements than the United States is rushing food, machinery, clothing, money, building materials and technical aid to the relief of its former foes.”
“Once more, it is always laid down that the defeated armies must be disbanded and never again be allowed to reform. But, a little later, it is discovered that these armies are in an oblique but nonetheless definite manner essential to the security of the United States itself. Either the defeated enemy must h ave an army and nave and air force of its own, or the Americans must remain there in an indefinite occupation.
“Americans, particularly American soldiers, do not like to remain long outside their own country. And in a matter of months, or at the most years, the United States is first requesting and then begging its former enemies to raise an army to defend their own territory. It is not unheard of that these defeated foes are able to state the terms under which they will raise an army for their own policing and defense. Those terms have involved the payments of large sums of money b y the United States, or the extension of generous credits, revision of trade agreements in favor of the defeated nation, return of shipping, rehabilitation of factories destroyed in the war, and even the gift of equipment needed for the army.
“All in all, as I said before, there is no more profitable and sound step for a nation without money or credit to take, than declare war on the United States and suffer a total defeat.” She smiled indulgently at the two of them.
Count Mountjoy, who had commenced listening to the discourse as if h e were hearing a sentence of doom pronounced, was, when it ended, filled with lively interest.
“Why,” he exclaimed, “the plan has possibilities that border on brilliant. We declare war on Monday, are vanquished Tuesday, and rehabilitated beyond our wildest dreams by Friday night.”
In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq’s economy is growing strong, even booming in places.
Showboat prosecution of Duke Lacrosse players: Costly
Dealing with the national media: Very Costly
Turning your hometown into a national laughingstock: You know the rest.
Beer notes from a new Hraka contributor, the Skeleton Brewer.
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Sitting here in midtown Manhattan and have found a great bar for the area - The Ginger Man. I searched it out on Pubcrawler (11 E. 36th) and with 66 taps, it’s got a good selection.
I started with a Climax IPA that is brewed in New Jersey and it was moderate on hops, but had just enough to balance a wonderful roasted barley addition that seemed to hang all the way (sip) through the generous imperial pints they pour here. Although I always want more hops, I was impressed with the balance. A good beer.
Next I had one of the best cask condition pours (and I have had many) in a long time, the Henry Hudson IPA from Chelsea Brewing, a west end Manhattan brewery. It pulled with a great copper color and clean, rich hop nose with thick (rather than loose) head. It had a strong astringent hop profile that lingered, but didn’t stick to much to the tongue. The balance and malt bill was impressive for a cask….no grassy, or flat flavors. So far, two thumbs up for the urban breweries.
Next, a glass of the Corsendonk Christmas beer. It’s from Belgium and has a dark, rich flavor with a yeast undertone. Its a malty bitch, one which tends to get chewy, but has good characteristics. Seems to have the yeast sit up front to connote a “christmas” beer rather than using spice. I sampled the Delirium Noel (very yeasty) and the Rock Art Holiday Bock (more of a strong ale) but didn’t like them as much.
Based on my recent holiday sampling, it seems that the east coast has yet to figure out the holiday beer offerings. The west coast seems to do a better job of finding the balance between high malt AND hops to produce a flavorful, quaffable beer. The best examples would be the Jolly Roger (Maritime Brewery) Jubelale (Deshutes) and the Rock the Halls (Full Sail). Anyone interested in a good tasting should stumble in to the Elysian Brewery in Seattle on a January weekend when they pull out both current and aged holiday beers for tasting. Delicious. I hold out hope based on the balanced profiles of the first two beers I mentioned that more aggressively balanced holiday beers will be brewed out here–those that invite another pint when done with the first.
Okay… last beer of the night….and this is live… the Victory Old Horizontal Barley Wine. Never to pass up a draft pour of a BW from a brewery (HopDevil, Pils, Octoberfest) I’ve come to respect.
Watch out now…..new guy from behind the bar made the fatal error of not understanding what a barley wine is and pouring it in a 20oz imperial pint…..well, here we go.
Malty, fruity, hoppy and very much high on the octane. A wonderful dark, rich brew staring me down at the bar barking at me, challenging to drink the full Big Gulp portion provided to me by the beer gods. Of course I will. Barley wine is not a lawnmower beer, but when you get a good one like this, you enter the world of excess where the idea of Port seems irrelevant. A good BW satisifies all layers of the hop hungry palate.
Tis the season to hush those who sing “Tis the season.”
A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended because she’s Jewish.
A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and requested that the troupe stop singing, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 U.S. National Champion, had just finished her performance at the rink on the downtown pedestrian mall, and was signing autographs.
Choir director Staci Della-Rocco said she complied with the request “because a policeman told me to stop. I didn’t want to have a big old huge scene in front of my kids,” according to the newspaper.
The city staff member, special-events employee Michelle Baldwin, could not be reached for comment. (lvmm)
Hmm. A quick search shows that, like some other organizations, Riverside uses a fairly standard naming convention when assigning email addresses. So, if someone wanted to send a Christmas ecard to mbaldwin@riversideca.gov–say to help assuage her undoubtedly devastated feelings at being made a figure of ridicule by an uncaring press– it would likely go right through.
