bastone.org

Talk about a potent brew.

This German brewer claims a beer he made had an alcohol content of 25.4%. I wonder what the theoretical maximum could be. I know that Sam Adams Triple Bock came in at 17.5%, and had always thought that to be the strongest beer out there. Anyone know of a stronger beer?

Susan forwarded along an open letter that Michael Moore sent to President Bush. I have to say, it pretty much sums up my feelings (albeit sarcastically) I have toward all of our political leadership, Republican and Democrat. I can’t believe that the federal government has had such an inadequate response in rescuing all those people in New Orleans. What was Bush doing on Monday? And on Tuesday? And Wednesday? C’mon now, how stupid does someone have to be to not realize that a lot of people need help quickly? Just turn on the TV!

All I can say about President Bush is this: He just doesn’t get it.

The letter appears below.

Friday, September 2nd, 2005

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It’s Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and
thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on
earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help
finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a
drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really
use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping
with national disasters. How come they weren’t there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of
urricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it
was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still
homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its
way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you
didn’t want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don’t like to get
bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers
to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to
Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don’t
let people criticize you for this — after all, the hurricane was over and
what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don’t listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you
specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget for New Orleans
this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if
you hadn’t cut the money to fix those levees, there weren’t going to be any
Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important
construction job for them — BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was
moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as
you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster.
Hey, I know you couldn’t stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble
and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use
it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to
nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen
because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making
a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming
Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so
wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York
to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It’s not your fault that 30 percent
of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no
transportation to get out of town. C’mon, they’re black! I mean, it’s not
like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people
on their roofs for five days? Don’t make me laugh! Race has nothing —
NOTHING — to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters
and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore

Just a link on how to help hurricane victims.

Don’t forget that employers may do matching contributions as well.

The most surprising finding out of this article is that 1 in 5 people believe the Sun revolves around the Earth.

I had thought people had a better basic understanding of science. How does someone not know what DNA is? Of what a molecule is? I thought this was basic stuff. People need a basic understanding of science in order to have meaningful debates on issues that are important today.

So I’ve heard a rumor that an announcement will be made shortly concerning gas rationing. There was also an article saying a stretch of the Colonial pipeline between Houston and here had to be shut down.

Anyone know about this? Do you have rationing (or the threat of) where you are?

I had heard that North Carolina was the only state on the east coast without a lottery. Until now.

I figure it’s about time for a lottery, since all we would have to do is drive up to Virginia and get a lottery ticket. And provided the proceeds actually go toward education, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m afraid that might be a big if, though. Once the economy starts to go south, money from the lottery tends to get shifted from education to general stuff. Although this article is a bit old, it does illustrate my point.