Will Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson just die already?

When I first heard Imus' "nappy headed hos" line I thought it was both a) kind of funny and b) kind of unfair. These girls are amature athletes that just got some fame (and have been getting a lot more) and here is a national radio show host making fun of them.

It was all in jest and I thought the original two week suspension was kind of harsh especially given his bonafide contrition. We are now beyond the comment (which apparently is SOOOO offensive that it bears repeating dozens of times by every reporter who when reporting about Michael Richard's comments simply said "n-word")

I was pissed driving home. Imus apologized...multiple times...to those walking pieces of human excrement Jesse "A quarter pint of MLK's blood + two day old tshirt = advancing my political ambitions" Jackson and Al "I hate Jews" Sharpton.

MSNBC is full of idiots (::cough:: Keith Oberman) and CBS is full of pansies (Les Moonves is an absolute coward) that they couldn't hold off firing Imus until his RADIOTHON for CHILDREN's CANCER could be finished. On the plus side for that charity, they probably would not have received 50 bucks from me had this not happened. If you want to contribute the telephone number is 1-877-877-6464. Help a worthy cause, and send the message that there are those of us that are sick and tired of political correctness rearing its hypocritical head.

I think CBS and NBC will realize very quickly that people are a lot angrier at "thought police" than they are at Don Imus.

--Joey

Microbrews and Mass Media

I noticed recently there have been a few appearances of microbrews in the MSM.

In the (hilarious) Reno 911 movie, the redneck alligator wrestler is quaffing a 60min IPA from Dogfish Head (not really a redneck beer since it only comes in 6 packs) and later the Lesbian cop and her friends were carrying a pack of it.

In 30 Rock, Tina Fey was drinking Sierra Nevada Celebration at the after after party, the after after after party but I believe it let up at the after after after after party.

On SNL featuring Rainn Wilson, the one guy pointed out that he bought a domestic instead of microbrews.

Now don't get me wrong, it isn't like microbrewing is new (it peaked in the 1990s but since I hated beer up until 2003 I wasn't aware of it) but lately it has become more available (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, etc). Bigger breweries are trying to develop better beer (Blue Moon, Jack's Pumpkin Ale, Bare Knuckle Stout, Winter Bourbon Cask Ale) so I think what I am seeing is a little bit what happens inside a fad/movement.

1.) Underground
2.) Underground to 1 standard deviation of mainstream.
3.) Near mainstream awareness (drops some of the first group because they are more interested in being individualistic than in the fad/movement itself)
4.) Declining interest to encompass the 2nd group along with dedicated (non-poser) folks from step 3 (of course, just like there are those that want are only interested in being different there are those that aren't interested once it is not mainstream)
5.) ???

In the case of good beer, I think we may be seeing a resurgence of awareness (the sales have been rising; the only beer market stateside to do that)

--Joey

Boston shutdown

One of the more astonishing things to come out of the "Aqua Teen" promotion in Boston was the complete lack of awareness of the officials. As a Slashdot poster commented, how can someone confuse an IED with an LED? You could hand that to a first year electrical engineering student and he could make the determination immediately that this was not a bomb.

There are two forces at work:

1.) Newly formed security teams want to demonstrate how responsive they are.
2.) The local government is now embarrassed.

One of the prosecutors indicated that having batteries made this suspicious.

I think I recall that ... you know... um.. Energy is CONSERVED. I would be much more suspicious of a device that was providing light without being powered...perpetual motion here I come.

How the hell do you think it can light up!? It has to have power supplied. Of course, if you aren't thinking then I guess it makes sense.

You see mayor fat tongue/other drooling idiots of Boston, voltage is a measure of electric potential, and when there is path by which current can flow between the two potentials, we call this electric power. When the voltage applied to a Light Emitting Diode sufficient to overcome the forward voltage threshold, current flows and it, as its name suggest, emits light!

This is a perfect example of "Security Theater". The citizens have a right to be angry at the city shutdown, except it should not be directed at the two guys who hung these up, but at the staggering incompetence of their elected officials.

--Joey

Beer taste evolution

I was looking back over an old blog post before I started my JIRH blog:

Guess who got a letter read on Phil Hendrie Show? Yup you guessed it, me!

If you get a chance and are a backstage pass member check out the 3rd hour on Nov 11 2003 at the 20 minute mark. Or you can click here You could always IM me (aim) and I'll give you a copy.
If you want a transcript...

I sent the following letter to phs@philhendrieshow.com:

I heard you saying that dollar for dollar Heineken is the best beer you can get. I disagree, try Yuengling Traditional Lager. This stuff is bitchin and it's cheap. It is like Bud Light in terms of drinkability, but still has some flavor and it is smooth.

Great show!

--Joe

So anyway, he responds...

That's not what I call a recommendation man...it's like Bud Light in terms of drinkability...in other words its like water?...but still has some flavor? OH WOW! What your saying, basically, is that Heineken is expensive, I GET IT! I understand! It is worth it to me to pay the extra dollar. Why do you want to drink crap you guys? I have been telling you guys as long as you have been listening to this show about don't drink crap. Some of you cats are sinking your hard earned money into piss, excuse my language. Some body has got to tell you...

If you are going to pay the money man, don't let someone tell you something is quality when it ain't! Blah Blah Blah (blahs inserted by me)

-----------------

My response:

I was trying to make a comment about Bud Light being flavorless, thinking that would better my chances of getting the letter read. Yuengling is actually a fantastic beer. It is only 3.5% abv which allows you to have several without getting drunk. It also is flavorful but it isn't bitter unless it is badly skunked. This is the beer you should give to people that never have had beer before. On top of everything it is cheap! 8 bucks for a 12 pack is quite affordable for college students like myself :)

This is interesting for a number of reasons. One, Phil Hendrie is no longer on the air (he is still doing radio via a podcast. Two, Yuengling is not a fantastic beer, it is an acceptable beer. Three, the 3.5Abv is more like 5%. Four, now love "bitter" beers (iow, hoppy) but I thought I was liking hoppy beers almost immediately (let's put it this way, three months after that post I discovered Celebration and loved it) but I may have written that in the "this is what most people think" mindset. Not sure. Anyway...

--Joey

MLK Day party and White Liberal Guilt

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/25/D8MS8LV01.html

Deepbreaths around the room.

Let's start with: "Authorities at Tarleton State University said they plan to investigate a Martin Luther King Jr. Day party that mocked black stereotypes by featuring fried chicken, malt liquor and faux gang apparel."

Why? Why does the University have to investigate a party? White kids show up in in the most stereotypical costumes in outfits possible, they drink and then they arrive hungover in class the next day. That was the extent of it. I bet it was a fun party.

"I feel like there is no excuse for this type of ignorance," said Donald Ray Elder, president of the Stephenville school's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

There is PLENTY of excuse for this "type of ignorance" it is called "having fun" and not taking yourself too seriously. Does anyone for one nanosecond think that the kids that showed up were in those costumes actually think that is uniformly representative of Black culture?

The party had as much to do with Martin Luther King as the average St Patrick's Day party has to do with Sainthood. Every one of those parties will feature people getting plastered on Guiness, Irish songs, leprachauns, Irish stew and the like. It isn't offensive to St. Patrick.

Do Mexicans really drink Corona with limes, eat plates full of tacos, ride on burros, smash pinatas and sing in Mariachi bands to kill time between bullfights? No of course not, but on Cinco de Mayo we embrace all that goofiness, while people from Mexico barely take notice of their "independence day".

University President Dennis P. McCabe said the photographs were reprehensible.

"I am personally insulted by these photographs and am disappointed that Tarleton students have demonstrated such insensitivity," he said.

College kids doing stupid things? Noooo. My world is becoming undone. Like those parties after Katrina where they served hurricanes?

The outrage is not only misplaced but counterproductive as it reveals the softer maternalistic predjudice of liberal thought: These people are like this and need us to protect them.

--Joey

First update of 2007

2006 was quite a year.

So far 2007 has been pretty good. I took my first graduate EE course the other day (Power Substation Design) and it looks reasonably interesting.

Things to do in 2007

1.) Pass the class
2.) Go skiing
3.) Learn a little Chinese and Japanese
4.) Lose 30 pounds on my backpacker's diet.
5.) Update my blog more frequently

Well number 5 is already falling apart...

--Joey

Misc stuff

I put my obligatory keep-my-travel-blog-active post on whereisjoeytoday.blogspot.com for Birmingham

Not quite Rome.

Speaking of traveling, I am also doing a little research for traveling again. I am looking into going to China in '08 for the olympics (either as a spectator or as an athlete--I'm thinking biathlon). So once I start grad school up I may enroll in a 7 week installment Mandarin class. Mei Wah

--Joey