Why MacG has insomnia

Jerms on Dec-13-2005 at 04:49 AM RST @ 24.249.73.221 It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion,
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning,
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

The Levels of Rat Fest

Jerms on Nov-30-2005 at 11:16 AM RST @ 24.249.73.221

RatFest Level One: Rats are chatting amiably with each other, admiring campgrounds, chuckling amiably while sipping at their hefeweizens and pales ales and nibbling at sliced cheeses and smoked meats. RatFest Level Two: Rats are talking loudly - sometimes to each other and sometimes to nobody at all, rearranging the furniture, singing "Ironman" around the campfire, gulping their Imperial Stouts and Barleywines while wolfing down smoked salmon & brisket. RatFest Level Three: Rats are arguing violently with inanimate objects, howling "You're in my eyes" at the moon, gulping ABC, Red Death, and other meads, wolfing down cold brisket from yesterday, playing tackle football with furniture and burning the broken evidence in the campfire. RatFest Level Four: Rats have burnt brisket bits smeared tribal style all over their naked bodies, are performing a ritual dance IN the burning campfire. Nathi is missing after the second hour of mead shots, and Pipers beard contains at least half a dram of laphroaig. The natives have fled and the campfire can be seen from the ISS in high orbit.

Jerms on Nov-30-2005 at 11:17 AM RST @ 24.249.73.221

with apologies to Dave Barry

Cagey on Nov-30-2005 at 11:18 AM RST @ 207.250.116.150

Wrong! at level 4 nathi is being chased by a naked guy and I am sleeping outside

Shoe's Pemmican

Shoe on Nov-24-2005 at 12:06 PM RST @ 24.180.72.198

Cagey Rat on Nov-23-2005 at 11:28 AM RST @ 207.250.116.151 Anybody know of any use for chunks of deer tallow? I thought all you Canadians knew how to make pemmican! Shoe's Pemmican Kill and dress a deer. Dig a hole in the ground. Line it with the deer skin. Add water, the larger bones (cracked with rocks), and the deer tallow. Build a big ass fire. Down wind of the fire, hang strips of the lean deer meat to make jerky. Heat rocks in the fire, and cycle them into the deer skin pot. Do this until the jerky is ready. Skim the purified fat from the top of the deer skin pot. Have your woman pound the jerky into a near powder using her favorite rock tools. Knead the fat, jerky powder, and dried cranberries into single meal patties - voila, pemmican! And to answer the inevitable question... Yes, Mother, you can add this to the rat cookbook.

Deadness Explained by 666

bikerBOB on Nov-19-2005 at 02:52 AM RST @ 70.171.163.135 wonder why it's so dead

to much meaness?

to much evolution chat?

quilting convention?

AA 12 steppers taking over ?

Aliens?

Metal on Nov-19-2005 at 02:55 AM RST @ 67.167.94.100 the internet bubble burst dude. we are the only junkies left. everyone else in the WORLD has gotten up from the computer terminal and WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR!!

Metal on Nov-19-2005 at 02:58 AM RST @ 67.167.94.100 OOPS just rubbed the eye with pepper dust. damn!

bikerBOB on Nov-19-2005 at 02:59 AM RST @ 70.171.163.135

now pee and get it on mr. johnson OUCH

bikerBOB on Nov-19-2005 at 02:59 AM RST @ 70.171.163.135

Current Live sessions within the Brew Rat Chat User (by IP-address) Session-Status 67.167.94.100 Has not refreshed a page in this directory for 1 mins 70.171.163.135 Has not refreshed a page in this directory for 0 mins 2 Users online

Bow down before the altar of Evolution, you infidels!

Shoe on Nov-19-2005 at 01:34 AM RST @ 24.180.72.198 What I want to talk about is intelligent design.

At its core, intelligent design simply says that the planet hasn't been around enough to account for the complexity of life observed. That random mutation followed by natural selection over 3 to 3.5 billion years is insufficient to account for the complexity of life.

Interestingly enough, this is a question that can be addressed in a scientific manner. Statistical analysis of how we believe mutation and natural selection function would provide a reasoned and critical assessment of intelligent design's central hypothesis.

Yet I don't see that statistical analysis and scientific thinking happening. Instead I see vitrolic personal attacks on the intelligent design advocates who are advancing what is, at its heart, a scientific question. That, more than anything, confirms in my mind that for many people, evolution is not a science - it is a religous belief.

Let me repeat that - EVOLUTION is the religous belief.

And I say that as an agnostic. If I had to bet today, I'd come down on the side of evolution. But I don't worship at the altar of evolution.

Dirt Porn, Snacks, and Refreshments

aleman on Nov-17-2005 at 08:33 PM RST @ 24.230.141.235 Lab I went to a meeting in Arlington, Texas a few weeks ago. The soils mechanics Lab set up a big display of all their testing stuff and their products. I think you would have been in heaven.

Macker on Nov-17-2005 at 08:34 PM RST @ 167.88.200.30 DIRT PORN!

LabRat on Nov-17-2005 at 08:35 PM RST @ 24.17.4.52 coolness AM...did they have direct shear machines and triax machines and fun cit like that? the index testing part is Really Boring....

aleman on Nov-17-2005 at 08:35 PM RST @ 24.230.141.235 I did not realize that they travelled to dam failures and did investigations. I think that would be fun.

LabRat on Nov-17-2005 at 08:37 PM RST @ 24.17.4.52 fun? maybe, depending on circumstances. but interesting fer sure....bet they're in on summa this NOLA stuff Aleman....

aleman on Nov-17-2005 at 08:38 PM RST @ 24.230.141.235 I did not know what any of it was Lab, I just kept nodding and smiling at them. They had some big photos of washed out dams that they had been examining. Mass soil movement poor compaction during construction not enough water added during the compaction stage of building the damn, soils with very low clay content, you could have joined right in AND THERE WERE SNACKS AND REFRESHMENTS!

Fest History

The Grand Wazoo on Nov-17-2005 at 08:36 AM RST @ 24.61.120.214 Although the Chat was working in late 1995 it was not a public URL.

I first announced the Brew Rat Chat on April 26th, 1996 on the HBD...

The first visit to stranges (andy, RB and I) was in September of 1997.

There were two "unofficial" RatFests. The one just listed and then in 1998 with TD, KJ, Dorothy, Strange, Arlette, Shawn and myself. This was again in Ashland, WI.

The first Official gathering that was called RATFEST was RatFest '99 at my house in Oak Park, IL

Life through the ages

Jerms on Nov-16-2005 at 06:07 PM RST @ 24.249.73.221

You know, I will do battle with my woman, and lose. I will do battle with my woman, and win.. and yet, I still lose! And I am suppose to feel great sorrow for her! I swear, by Zeena's teats, if I hand her advantage on the field of war, I would be a god.

Jerms on Nov-16-2005 at 06:07 PM RST @ 24.249.73.221

At dawn, I leave the hut; my woman is happy in her toil. When I return from my daily gathering, I am tired and hungry; there is no food or fire, because she has dragged out her ceremonial betroval skins and spent the day weeping because they do not fit. And somehow all this is my fault! I tell you, that ties a knot in my pelt! And now, her family has come to comfort her. They have been with us since Nordis blew his icy breath. And, I tell you, if her brother is not out of my hut by piping time, there will be a clubbing!

Strange don't get some

Strange in Belize on YET ANOTHER LAGAMBA SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!!!! on Nov-12-2005 at 10:43 PM RST @ 69.179.9.165 Cowan, I am gonna call you Coitus Inturruptus after that call this morning... 8^(

Piper on Nov-12-2005 at 10:44 PM RST @ 66.82.9.81 What's wrong Rick, can't you talk on the phone with one hand?

Strange in Belize on YET ANOTHER LAGAMBA SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!!!! on Nov-12-2005 at 10:46 PM RST @ 69.179.9.165 Cowan may have noticed a slightly strained quality to the conversation...

He now Joins Piper in the "I kept Strange from getting Laid" Club...

But at least he used a phone and not a set of Goddamn Bagpipes at my bedroom window...

CtB on Nov-12-2005 at 10:47 PM RST @ 67.132.227.140 Strange.. you could of told me to call back in 30 seconds.

Panhandle Barbecue - Chicken or Pork

Sohtyz on Sep-09-2005 at 11:31 PM RST @ 68.103.70.208 Panhandle Barbecue - Chicken or Pork

Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup butter-melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Dash cayenne
1 cup salad oil
1 t. dry mustard
1/2 cup Worcestershire
14 oz. bottle catsup
2 T. Heinz chili sauce
Garlic to taste
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 drops Tabasco

Add above, stirring constantly. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce separates when cool. Stir before use. Freezes well – make a bunch.

Dry Rub

1 T. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 t. paprika

Rub your chicken/pork with the above mixture and grill as normal. You may wish to brush on the panhandle sauce during the last few minutes of grilling or more traditionally, apply the sauce after grilling and have sauce on the side for dipping.

This is an old family recipe (1970) that comes from my parents Chris and Anne Sizemore of Liberty, MO. At the time the recipe was born we lived in the panhandle of Florida. This recipe has a unique and intriguing Southern flavor that everyone loves. It simply makes the world’s best barbecued chicken.

Ed Sizemore

How to determine beer haze source

Beernardo on Aug-10-2005 at 05:57 PM RST @ 68.160.111.31 this is kind of useful, for checking the source of haze... posted yesterday in RCB, sorry if it's a repeat:

Here are some suggestions collected on the British group UK-Homebrew
by Andrew Ryan-Smith (Rhyno)

Bring the sample up to room temp or a bit more - if it clears, it's a chill haze, which is a heavy protein haze.

Add a few drops of caustic soda to a sample - if it clears, it's a
light protein haze. Don't drink it.

Add a few drops of iodine solution (eg Betadine) - if it turns
blue/black, it's starch haze. Don't drink it.

Use some finings (Isinglass, gelatine, BeerClear etc) - if it clears, it was a yeast haze

If the haze gets worse, it's an infection haze - you'll smell/taste it as well.

Metal on Aug-03-2005 at 11:37 AM RST @ 67.167.94.26

hahahahhahahahhaahahha oh man!! I need to put out a brewrat personal ad. "Evil Metalhead and satan worshiper seeking good-mannered brewrat to be the focus for attacks on personal beliefs and local culture. NASCAR fans a bonus! All applicants should portal to Brew-Rat-Chat for test flame war."

Macker on Aug-03-2005 at 11:38 AM RST @ 167.88.200.30

GAWD DAMM IT METAL! I just got the monitor cleaned up from the earlier spew!

TD's Port Recipe

aleman on Aug-01-2005 at 08:30 PM RST @ 24.230.139.217 Buy the TD port concentrate http://www.homewinery.com/

Add 12 pounds of sugar per 5 gallons. Add some boiled up ghost yeast,

I used a mixture of 3 wine yeast cakes.

Let ferment, takes 2 months......

Put in a cask, add 1/2 gallon of Popov! vodka.

Wait 3 months.

VIOLA!

Kegstand's Beans

KegStand on Jul-26-2005 at 08:35 PM RST @ 135.214.150.100

KegStand's HazMat Baked Beans • 2 pounds of white* beans (*navy, great northern, lima, etc etc. navy are most common in mine) • 1 pound bacon (chopped, coarse or fine)(look for ends and pieces packs, much cheaper and since you are going to chop it up, its perfect) • 1 pound brown sugar • Salt and pepper to taste This is the base recipe, and from here you can add most anything you please. I personally add: • 1 large onion, finely minced and caramelized • 1-10 garlic cloves, finely minced and caramelized • 1 cup of Texas Rick’s BBQ sauce • Cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, habanero powder, chipotle powder/sauce, or other seasoning, etc… Other suggestions might include bits of roast, pork parts, cut-up homemade andouille sausage, etc etc… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Soak beans 12+ hours (overnight) in double enough water to cover. (they expand to double, so you need a lot of water) • Drain the beans, discard the water • In a large pan, cover beans with water and 1 TBSP soda per 2 pounds of beans and put on stove to boil. • Boil (rolling) for 5 minutes (cracks the bean “husks”) being careful to not let the green-white foam boil over. (skim as necessary) • Drain but do not rinse • In a separate bowl mix brown sugar with about 1-2 cups of warm water, making thin syrup. • Add all remaining ingredients, except beans, to this syrup and mix thoroughly • Pour this mixture over beans in a large roaster pan and mix thoroughly again, coating beans with syrup • Add water to barely submerge beans, and cook for 7-14 hours at 200-220° (the higher the temp, the drier the beans end-up, the longer the time, the more caramelly they get.) My best beans came from 210° for 13 hours, adding about 1 cup of water around hour 8.

KegStand on Jul-26-2005 at 08:50 PM RST @ 135.214.150.100

mid-evening deadness

The Smeagol Brew Stand

Face on Jul-15-2005 at 11:48 PM RST @ 203.87.90.130

Now I have a brewstand I can do brew "demos" at the shop once a month

Finally, regular brewing again!

Space Madness on Jul-16-2005 at 12:06 AM RST @ 24.61.120.214

SMEAGOL... Do you have a big honking ladder so that you can get to the top of that stand or do you hire a CHIPPENDALE dancer to lift you up every time you want to look into the HLT?

Jane Fonda and Memorial Day

Zim on Jun-01-2005 at 12:32 AM RST @ 68.37.6.192
Giving Hanoi Jane an opportunity to speak publicly right after Memorial Day is quite an insult to our servcemen.

Sker on Jun-01-2005 at 12:33 AM RST @ 69.209.155.19
Now now, it's her very right to speak that this great country stands for.

Sker on Jun-01-2005 at 12:34 AM RST @ 69.209.155.19
But I wouldn't be completely against dragging her around the parking lot by her tits

Zim on Jun-01-2005 at 12:43 AM RST @ 68.37.6.192
I can forgive momentary lapses in judgement. What she did was more than that, it was a fundamental display of her contempt for her own countrymen in uniform. I can respect protestors who simply wish to stop war. However, I cannot respect the actions of anyone giving aid and comfort to an enemy trying to kill Americans.


BITCH

I'll paint any car for only...

Maybe you had to live on the East Coast during the 70's to appreciate this...

---

SPANKULEEZ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:24 AM RST @ 169.145.3.11
Are you painting cars now BD?

The Earl of Scheib™ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:24 AM RST @ 12.14.80.3
Yes Skot. How did you know that?

SPANKULEEZ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:24 AM RST @ 169.145.3.11
Here BD
BrewRat Hyperlink

The Earl of Scheib™ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:25 AM RST @ 12.14.80.3
That's another indicator of age... knowing who the fuck Earl Scheib is.

Oogie Wa Wa on Apr-08-2005 at 11:26 AM RST @ 64.246.106.44
"Fourty-nine ninety-five, any car, any color!"

The Earl of Scheib™ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:27 AM RST @ 12.14.80.3
I go back as far as $39.95.

Oogie Wa Wa on Apr-08-2005 at 11:27 AM RST @ 64.246.106.44
Masking the little things, like say windows, was optional, as I recall!

The Earl of Scheib™ on Apr-08-2005 at 11:27 AM RST @ 12.14.80.3
basically, the guy vomitted on your car and they baked it on.

Dinky Dau' on Apr-08-2005 at 11:52 AM RST @ 208.5.44.21
Earl painted my first car, a 1955 Cheve Belaire 4-dor. 29.99 out the door. And, he baked the paint on since I chose an enamel instead of lacquor which most customers got.

Please, Lord, let there be video...

aleman on Apr-05-2005 at 04:55 PM RST @ 24.230.139.217
Angie leaped out of her quiet shell and went completely Tex on the car salesman. It was not pretty.

aleman on Apr-05-2005 at 04:57 PM RST @ 24.230.139.217
She even looked at me and said, "can I speak with you outside".

aleman on Apr-05-2005 at 07:26 PM RST @ 24.230.139.217
Basically the weasles were offering to put the Explorer on their lot and charge us $600 to sell it. They were throwing figures around in an effort to confuse us. She called me outside to explain how we were getting hosed then she started yelling at the weasles. Man it was entertaining.

wea·sel (wê¹zel) noun

1.
2. Any of various carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela, having a long slender body, a long tail, short legs, and brownish fur that in many species turns white in winter.
A person regarded as sneaky or treacherous.

verb, intransitive
wea·seled also wea·selled wea·sel·ing wea·sel·ling wea·sels wea·sels To be evasive; equivocate.

- phrasal verb.
weasel out Informal.
To back out of a situation or commitment in a sneaky or cowardly manner.

Fact
To Be Weazley... Like say to be a Consultant

Strange Brewer's Goose is COOKED

---

Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:11 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
Strange!!!

How do you feel?

You did get checked out by a medical team right?

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:12 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
AccountingTroll on Apr-01-2005 at 11:11 PM RST @ 151.199.232.184
Next time, just hit the goose.


Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah blah, Blah!

Metal on Apr-01-2005 at 11:13 PM RST @ 67.167.94.26
STRANGE YOU LIVE!!!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:13 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
By the paramedics and by a passing doctor. I let the doc look me over even though he was a Vikings fan. I am sore and a bit stiff, but otherwise undamaged.

Metal on Apr-01-2005 at 11:14 PM RST @ 67.167.94.26
sucks the vehic is totaled strange. too bad you can't still resurect it.

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:15 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61

I Live, but the goose is




DAID!!!

And, unfortunately, so is Dog Dick Red.

So hoist a toast to Dog Dick Red!

Gimp on Apr-01-2005 at 11:16 PM RST @ 66.168.94.140
Any chance you can get some salvage dollars for the parts that are good in it Strange? Looks like the drivetrains should be in good shape (except that slight oil leak in the passenger side of the engine/transmission).

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:16 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
That must have scared the fucking bejeeezus out of you Rick

Gimp on Apr-01-2005 at 11:16 PM RST @ 66.168.94.140
Fuck the goose while it is warm!

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:16 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
A TOAST TO DOG DICK RED!!!

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:18 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
BLAME CANADA!!!


Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:19 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
Will have to see; DDR is now over at my wife's cousin's auto salvage yard... (It is the final resting place of MANY Strange Daid vehicles) Will see if it's worth anything to him or not. If not; he can have it for scrap.


Scared the Bejezus out of me and then some. I was hanging upside down from my safety belt, unable to unhook the cocksucker, in an overturned minivasn with a full tank of gas.

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:19 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
Damn Strange... htat really sucks!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:20 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
I finally got the fucker to release, then I couldn't get out...

Metal on Apr-01-2005 at 11:20 PM RST @ 67.167.94.26
heh, did anyone stop to help you strange? did the cops give you a FST?

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:20 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
A full tank of cash is better than an almost emtpy tank of gas!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:20 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
All the time the engine was still running, and for the life of me I couldn't find the ignition switch.

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:21 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
hahahahahaahaha

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:22 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
Man Strange...

That is a great story for April 1st...

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:22 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
I had people there inside of two minutes. Highway was empty when the accident happened... Here, people ALWAYS stop. ONe guy was able to open the passenger door, thank God. I crawled back to the rear hatch, but you can't open it from inside, So I had to climb back to the front, to press the latch silinoid, but the guy managed to open the door and I shot out like a crab on steroids.


Loth - Home on Apr-01-2005 at 11:24 PM RST @ 69.212.3.200
Yes, Welcome to the Castle Anthrax... First the spankings and then: Hey Now!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:24 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
Spank, half of my problem is that no one I tell this stuff to believes me. I ahve a reputation for the "April Fools Stories" I put in the paper...


Incidently, I am going to be a page two picture. Me and the goose.


Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:25 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61

"REPORTER'S GOOSE IS COOKED"

Loth - Home on Apr-01-2005 at 11:25 PM RST @ 69.212.3.200
WTF happend strange?

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:26 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
AP is thinking about picking it up...

Metal Metal on Apr-01-2005 at 11:26 PM RST @ 67.167.94.26
yeah we were all expecting the ultimate brewrat april fools joke all day with that picture strange.

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:27 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
STRANGE IS GOING TO BE A PAGE TWO GIRL!!!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:27 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
Loth, I was brutally attacked by a Canada goose who sexually molested my Minivan. You can see it laying there, tires spread most wantonly...

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:27 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
TIRES SPREAD WANTONLY!!!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:29 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
I did a dumfuck, basiocally, Loth. All of a sudden, there was this goddamn goose right in front of me at 60 mph. Like a goddamn rookie, I floored the brakes and cut the wheel sharp to the right. Results were predictable.

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:29 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
I would have run that fucking thing straight the fuck over

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:31 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:29 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
I would have run that fucking thing straight the fuck over


So would I except that I didn't see it until the last minute. I acted insinctively, and WRONG!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:31 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
I tell that to people all the time: JUST HIT THE FUCKER...

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:33 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
HIT AND KILL IT AND THEN BALME CANADA!!!

Homeward Bound Rat Homeward Bound Rat on Apr-01-2005 at 11:33 PM RST @ 65.162.120.25
HAHAHHAHAHAH

BALME!!!

Goose Krashkar, The Minivan Killer, Live for one night only in Belize on Apr-01-2005 at 11:35 PM RST @ 69.179.33.61
GIANT FUCKING CANADIAN FLYING RATS!

Detroit Blogger

I've added a link to the Detroit Blogger, off to the left. Fascinating stuff to read. He was born and raised in Detroit, and lives there to this day, working as a journalist. His blog centers around drinking and breaking into the thousands of abandoned buildings in Detroit, but focuses on the skyscrapers. Very well written, I've enjoyed going back through all his archives. Lots of good pictures also.

This has to be one of the best-ever hacks I've ever seen on the chat! 

TRUE-ER WORDS NEVER SPOKEN!!!

Yeasty on Mar-22-2005 at 04:11 PM RST @ 68.34.14.189
I got to go grocery shopping with the wife. Why is it that women love to buy socks in a fucking grocery store? I mean it really ticks me off when she stands there for 20 minutes looking at FUCKING SOCKS in aisle 7. I got so pissed off I walked off and looked at the briskets and salvatated.

The Beer Standard

Strange Brewer on Mar-14-2005 at 06:46 PM RST @ 69.179.20.12
Interesting article on the Gold Standard here.
BrewRat Hyperlink

Cagey on Mar-14-2005 at 07:02 PM RST @ 207.250.116.150
Everyone must be reading about the gold standard

daBull on Mar-14-2005 at 07:08 PM RST @ 69.9.219.220
hey..yes,Gold standards

Cagey on Mar-14-2005 at 07:09 PM RST @ 207.250.116.151
I think we should base our economy on the soybean

LabRat on Mar-14-2005 at 07:11 PM RST @ 208.26.195.38
i think we should base our economy on malt...

LabRat on Mar-14-2005 at 07:12 PM RST @ 208.26.195.38
and to some degree on hops....

LabRat on Mar-14-2005 at 07:12 PM RST @ 208.26.195.38
oh, and let's not forget stainless steel!

daBull on Mar-14-2005 at 07:13 PM RST @ 69.9.219.220
BLACK GOLD

LabRat on Mar-14-2005 at 07:13 PM RST @ 208.26.195.38
Texas Tea

Strange Brewer -v- Piper on Adam Smith & Noam Chomsky (separated at birth?)

Strange Brewer on Mar-13-2005 at 02:37 PM RST @ 69.179.2.67

Gonna lose that snow in a hurry... Piper; ever Read Noam Chomsky? I KNOW you won't like him, but I am interested in a serious point by point examination of some of his work. In fact, I'd like to set up an e-mail dialog with you to debate economics, something a bit more rigorous than drunken chat "Slams". Not that I have anything against them; they are a lot of fun, but I'd like to get beyond that with you, since it's clear that your views are well-researched, carefully thought out and well systemitized. I think it would be fun. We could save the results and blog them, I think it would be worth doing. What are your thoughts?

Strange Brewer on Mar-13-2005 at 02:43 PM RST @ 69.179.2.67

Here is a snitppet you might find interesting, if odious... But no name calling. Destroy the argument, not the man. Chomsky is a fat, overbearing self-centered prissy fop, but he presents a clear view that is worthy of debate. If you read Adam Smith, I’m not talking about the illusions that are concocted about him but the actual text, there are many things that I would consider typical left-wing thought. So for example, Adam Smith does give an argument for the market, but his argument for the market is based on the assumption that under conditions of perfect liberty, which he hopes will be attained, the market would lead to perfect equality. In fact he regarded equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity, as being an obvious desideratum for a decent society. That’s a left-wing idea. Or Aristotle. Let’s take Aristotle, the founder of modern political thought. Is he on the left or is he on the right? Aristotle discusses the different kinds of social order, oligarchy, tyranny and democracy. Among the three, he prefers democracy, but he also mentions flaws in democracy, and the flaws are interesting. The major flaws have to do with inequality. So, if you have a concentration of wealth within a democracy, then first, most of the population will not be able to participate freely, because they don’t have the opportunities. And even if they were to participate, they would use their force, their numerical force, to pursue their own interests, not the common good of all, and their own interests would be opposed to the interests of the minority of the wealthy. Well, for him democracy ought to be free, participatory, a community of free men participating equally, trying to find the common good. So a democracy wracked by extreme inequality would have serious flaws. He saw a conflict between democracy, on the one hand, and inequality and poverty, on the other. His conclusion was: let’s eliminate poverty. So, for Aristotle, democracy has to be what we would call a welfare state. It has to guarantee “lasting prosperity to the poor” by distribution of “public revenues,” a welfare state in other words. And then he goes on to describe means of doing this. He says that the best, the only properly functioning democracy, will be when everybody has “moderate and sufficient property.” Property is a broad term. Well, is he on the left or is he on the right? He’s taking a position which in contemporary terms would be called left-wing social democracy. He doesn’t talk much about organization of work, he’s obviously not talking about the industrial system and so on and so forth, but in the spectrum, he’d be way off on the left. On the other hand, there are conflicting factors. By “community of free men,” he meant first of all men not women, and secondly he meant not slaves, and thirdly not aliens, so that cuts out a considerable part of the species. It’s a little hard to blame Aristotle for this; these questions were not addressed until very recent years in fact. Nevertheless, there is Aristotle.

Strange Brewer on Mar-13-2005 at 02:45 PM RST @ 69.179.4.206

ANd the conclusion, cutting to the chase... If you look at the American constitutional debates, you discover that James Madison, who was the framer, faced exactly the same dilemma as Aristotle, almost in the same words. He said yes, we want a democracy, but if there’s going to be inequality, the mass of poor people will use their voting power to attack the wealth of the rich. They will carry out what we would call agrarian reforms— it was an agrarian society—so they will try to take the property of the rich and have it for themselves. And he said that’s wrong, just as Aristotle thought it was wrong. They faced the same dilemma but drew opposite conclusions. Aristotle’s conclusion was, “Okay, let’s eliminate poverty.” Madison’s was, “Let’s eliminate democracy.” Quite clearly, he said the goal of government must be “to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.