Pay Up Blogger

The Federal Trade Commission wants to fine bloggers who accept compensation to mention a product favorably.

I find this amusing. First, since nobody would ever want me to endorse their products to my lone reader, but mainly because it would take the FTC hiring enough people to fill the state of Montana to monitor every blog and website out there.

Hey! Wait a minute! Maybe that's the way Lord Obama is going to stem the rising tide of unemployment! Levy a tax on the "SuperRich" to hire 15 million currently unemployed Americans to read blogs and rat out bloggers to the fascist state. Kewl. It's so smart it's Rooseveltian.

Just in case somebody wants to pay me off before this all gets going:

Blenheim Ginger Ale is the best soft drink in America. By far! But if the Blenheim people don't hear about my opinion (nudge,nudge,wink,wink) Coke Zero is great too!

And, Palmetto Porter is a delicious beverage. Dos Equis amber hits the spot as well.

OK. Now back to your regulating ways, DC.

I have research to do.

Make Mine A Palmetto Porter

It takes a lot to screw up a beer blast, and yet the current administration appears to have done just that before the first cap pops. The WSJ has the sad details here.

Of course Lordy O could have served any of a gazillion fine craft-brewed beers from all around the USA. But most of those brews come from small businesses and O is right in the middle of trying to crush all of those folks with higher taxes, onerous regulations, and health insurance mandates. So that might have been a problem too.

My bigger problem with the whole "Beer Summit" is this-- if Lord Obama had texted his old pal "Skip" Gates and asked him to come over to the White House for an afternoon of chin-stroking, and tut-tutting about racist America do you think he'd have served beer?

I doubt it. Beer came into the picture because these two academic Marxists are also entertaining a working-class guy. It's a bit offensive. Then again, you can learn a lot about a President by the beer he drinks. Bud Light. Sounds about right.

6 Figure Income For Guzzling Beer?

WDIV-4 in Detroit did an expose on UAW bosses that will turn your stomach.

Warner Todd Huston at Stop The ACLU tips us off to the story.

Just remember, the "bailout" isn't for the "Big 3" or the "Detroit 3", it's for the United Autoworkers' Union.

Lots of Nutty Talk Today

There is so much talk about "nuts" today for some strange reason that it got me to thinking, "What goes best with nuts?" As any barmaid will tell you, the answer is "BEER!" The ever prescient George Will was also thinking about beer when he read an article in IBD the other day. Which caused him to write about the beverage here. In a nutshell Mr. Will thinks, "no beer, no civilization." Enjoy, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Time To Rest Up

It's Friday afternoon here. Knock off and have a beer. This site tells you where to find the most affordable beer in this whole round world. Meet me in Ethiopia, I'm buyin'. And, for the friend of a few years back who e-mailed me after seeing the site, I'm buyin' the best beer in Ethiopia for you! All ya can drink... which, I recall, is a lot!

Hey! Is that our lake tomorrow? It sure looks like it...

Not On My Lake You Don't

Many years ago we were in The Bahamas on a cruise paid for by the ad sales department of a Dallas radio station. (I had a big ad budget back then-- but it was nothing compared to what would come later. Some days I miss the 80's and 90's.) But, I digress.

We went on a cruise to The Bahamas. In Nassau we did the touristy thing: a guided trip in a glass-bottom boat. That diversion is now remembered mainly for the guide, a robust local chap, who would tell everyone as we gazed down through the glass, "All is nature. Nature is all." That was pretty much the extent of his snappy patter. I don't remember any of the fish, shells, or anything else except that we passed over an empty Bud can at one point as he was saying, "Nature is all." Ain't it funny what you remember.

In the news today I see we're taking the glass-bottom boat in a new direction and making a sports car with no roof that drives straight into the lake or ocean and turns into a submarine with no roof. Sure, everybody wants one of those. It's the Swiss-made sQuba by Rinspeed. (pictured above if the photo loads properly) Ever driven a Swiss-made car? I didn't think so. There's a reason for that you know.

At least the fella in charge of Rinspeed admits to what inspired him: "The Spy Who Loved Me" starring Roger Moore as the daring secret agent, Zer0-Zer0-7even. I admit, I've seen the movie despite the fact that I never bought Moore as James Bond. Not for a minute. Not even close. The Lotus Esprit Bond drives that turns into a mini-sub is a far better actor than Roger Moore and more memorable too. And, this is important for our discussion here, IT WAS A FAKE.

Barbara Bach is the Bond girl in this one. She can't act either, but Ringo didn't seem to care so why should I. That big character actor, Richard Kiel, gets fitted with "steel teeth" so he can play a bad guy named Jaws. Clever. Almost as clever as the Swiss guy naming his submarine car sQuba. "The Spy Who Loved Me" is one of those Roger Moore/ Bond films that causes you to say to yourself, "This would have been pretty good with Sean Connery in it." Other Roger Moore/ Bond films make you say, "That was really awful." (see: "The Man With The Golden Gun") So, hey, that's something.

Back to the sQuba. Here's the problem I have with this car/sub thing. I like cars. I like boats a little bit too and I think personal subs are really cool. We live on a lake. So, when you think about it, I just could be the market for this sQuba. But, our big ol' lake was made by damming a river that flows from the mountains of North Carolina. As this river flows through the Piedmont and on into South Carolina it gets dammed several times to make lakes. Ours is but one. Now, let's add in that the ground here is red clay. Very red. Red, red, red dirt. We're famous for our red dirt.

Slow water + red dirt= 1 muddy lake.

I'm tellin' ya, this sQuba thing could be sitting ten feet off the end of the docks down at T-Bones and, if it was covered by as little as 6 inches of water, you would never know it was there.

If you want to sell a car/boat thingy around here, Mr. Swiss fella, make sure it floats and that there is plenty of room for fishing rods, tackle boxes, and a large ice chest. And put a removable top on that thing-- it gets hot out there on the lake.

We're #13, We're #13, We're #13!

According to Japanese brewing powerhouse Kirin, the #1 country in per capita beer consumption is The Czech Republic. Ireland, Germany, Australia and Austria round out the Top 5. The USA comes in down (but not out)at #13 with our adult population consuming about 2 and a half bottles a week on average. Two and a half bottles per week? Someone's not trying very hard. The Czechs are beating us senseless! They average twice as much beer per day than Americans. What is wrong with you people?!?!?! Start sucking up more suds-- NOW!

On a more uplifting note. Americans are #2 in total consumption of the brewer's art. Ranked #1 is China, but only because there are so darn many of them. They don't even make the Top 35 in per capita beer guzzling.