oenophile

Both were born on February 12, 1809. Thank you gentleman for your contributions.

Happy birthday Shell.

I wonder about and am amazed about the endless variations of pretzel logic that biblical literalists employ to support their positions.

Yeast can usually withstand a.b.v. up to 15%.

Remember the show that Dinner Parties that Steve Allen used to host? My dinner party #1 Jesus Buddha Mohammed Moses Bertrand Russell My dinner party # 2 Adam Smith John Maynard Keynes Milton Friedman John Kenneth Galbraith Karl Marx My dinner party #3 Winston Churchill Ghandi Martin Luther King Abraham Lincoln Jimmy Carter

My work and play are the same. I actually sell some of the micro craft brews and premium imports to bars, liquor stores and restaurants. A few of my brands have been mentioned by others on this thread; i.e. Ommegang, Summit, "Blackened Voodoo" from Dixie Brewing, St. Peters, etc. Thanks for the plugs guys. Some other of my brands are Rogue (Oregon), Great Lakes (Cleveland, their Edmund Fitzgerald porter rules), Victory (Pennsylvania, their Prima Pils is Men's Journal perennial pick as best pilsner), Lagunitas (California, their IPA has been named best India Pale Ale by Maxim Magazine although my favorite from this brewery is one of their seasonal brews, Imperial Red Ale.) North Coast (California, their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was rated by Beer Advocate with the score of 100 when they were giving number grades.) Great Divide (Colorado), Breckenridge (Colorado) and Southern Tier (New York). Perhaps the favorite beer I sell is the Bavarian Hefeweizen from Braueri M. Plank from Germany. This is a small family owned brewery located about two hours from Munich. Established in 1617 the recipe and art of making bavarian wheat beers has been handed down from father to son. For seventeen generations, the eldest son in the Plank family has been named Michael and with the name comes the designation as the next brewmaster. At the 2006 World Beer Cup, the brewery was named "Best small brewery in the World" and two of their beers were awarded Gold Medals in their categories another was awarded silver. Did you know...? Hops, used as a bittering agent in beer, is a member of the cannabinacea family and as such is a relative of marijuana. The difference between a lager and an ale is that the former is bottom fermented and the latter is top fermented. In Europe people with colds often visit a brewery to breathe the air in order to relieve symptoms.

My earliest career ambition was to be a garbageman. When I stayed with my grandma, I would jump out of bed when I heard them coming just to watch them. I loved the way they got to bang garbage cans together, throw garbage in the back of the truck, pull a lever and watch the truck "eat" the garbage. Sadly, my family didn't give me a lot of encouragement to pursue this career choice. When they told me that they only hire black people to be garbage men, I think I recall responding, "Ok, I will paint myself black."

Hmm, similar to "We do not charge for the class but there is a required level of donation."

It seems every day we are bombarded with bad economic news. Some economy watchers say that things will start to improve late in 2009 and national unemployment numbers will not exceed 10% as it did in the early 1980's. Others say that we could be in for a deep ten year slide. So, how do you feel about your own personal "economy"? What are you doing, if anything, to prepare for the possibility of a long, painful downturn in the business cycle?

Merry Christmas, Linda. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with him.

Geisha, I must say that I agree with you that people who cloak themselves with the name of God (or Allah for that matter) in order to realize their lusts, i.e. power, wealth or sexual proclivities, are a separate category apart from the human condition. The same goes for those who engage in genocide or seek to hold on to political power by any means necessary regardless of the cost in terms of suffering it causes their people, i.e. Robert Mugabe.

Forgiveness is something with which I continue to wrestle. Yet, I have learned that it is simply letting go of the hurt so I can get on with my life today instead of clinging to yesterday's pain. Geisha...you said that habitual sin is another matter. Perhaps you could clarify what you mean. When asked if seven times would be a sufficient number for one forgive to his brother, Jesus said 70 x 7. Would He do less or would He do much more? I only bring this up because we humans have our weaknesses, things with which we continue to struggle with and often come up short in dealing with them. To pass judgment on someone who is caught up in an addiction or continues to respond to others unkindly because of the abuse or abandonment that the person suffered as a child, perhaps is more revealing of the heart.

Back in 1991, Time published a cover story on Scientology, Scientology: the Cult of Greed. You may read it here. By all the accounts that I have read or heard discussed Scientology makes TWI look like sunday school in the small Methodist church that I grew up in. The cult was founded by L. Ron Hubbard who had previously acheived some fame as a pulp science fiction writer. Born in Nebraska in 1911, Hubbard served in the Navy during WWII. After the war, he complained to the Veterans Administration about his "seriously affected mind" and "suicidal inclinations." Time article Sound familiar? In 1950, Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Science of Mental Health which is the sacred text of Scientology. He introduced his pseudo-psychological technique called "auditing." Hubbard claimed that all human unhappiness had its root cause in mental aberrations, which he called "engrams." Time article I find it interesting that Scientology, like TWI, encourages its adherents to progress through its curriculum while recruiting new members, or "raw meat" as L. Ron Hubbard referred to them. Time article

Mstar...those are some very inspiring churches from an architectural pov. I would like to mention my favorite church in that regard, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain designed by Antonio Gaudi. imgres.htm imgres.htm sagrada_familia_1.htm sagrada_familia_interior.htm sagrada_familia_interior.htm

Scumbag!

American cars have made some gains recently in both customer satisfaction and reliability. The problem is that there are recent gains. Honda and Toyota have firmly established themselves in these areas over the course of the last three decades. It will take some time for Detroit to catch up in the public perception of it's products - that is, ofcourse, if it continues to sustain and improve on those recent gains.

I love my 2003 Honda Civic Si. Can you say i-VTEC?

Ah yes, the Nuremburg defense.

George, I'll try to clarify. Most of us have been subjected to abuse in one form or another during our TWI daze. Most of us occasionally were also on the giving end of the abuse if we are honest with ourselves. The question posed by this thread, what if one of your favorite posters turns out your former abuser in TWI. My response to that question is simply perhaps you response to your favorite poster (formerly tormentor) could be informed by how you would hope that one who admires your posts now whom you may have tormented would respond to you. I hope this de-muddifies my earlier post.

Suppose if YOU (whoever you may be) are now the favorite poster of one here now and YOU caused this person grief at one time during your tenure in TWI. Is your tormentor to blame for that person's suffering also? Were you just a neutral conduit through which passed slings and arrows of your present admiring reader's past misfortune? Or are you alone responsible for whatever injury you may have inflicted? What would your admiring reader's reasonable response be if he or she knew you were YOU? Perhaps this answer would be enlightening as you ponder how you want to respond to your former tormentor. Peace.

A Chinese writer was charged with the task of writing a short history of the human race. "Man is born, suffers and dies", he wrote.

Was LCM an abusive, arrogant cult leader and sexual predator? The facts are pretty clear about this. He was. Is LCM narcissist? I don't know. I doubt many here are qualified to make that diagnosis and probably none who may be qualified have actually interviewed him. Could LCM seen the error of his ways? Perhaps...or not. Who can say? Has anyone talked with him lately? Should he burn in hell for his sins? Not for me judge. Let him who is without sin cast him into the lake of fire. Should he have to go to jail or make financial restitution to his victims? Probably but the statute of limitations has most likely expired. Why weren't criminal charges for rape brought? Is his failure to make an apology here evidence that he is not contrite? I am not sure. One would think that one's conscience would direct one to make an apology.

Happy birthday Linda!!!!!!! Albeit maybe a day late.

A few weeks ago, I announced that Ryan had his research paper selected for publication in the Columbia Undergraduate Journal of History. A few of you asked me to let you know when you could read the paper when it was published. You will find the link below. To read his paper, simply scroll down until you see his name, Ryan Jackson, alongside the title of his paper. Click on the preview and his paper will come up. http://cujh.columbia.edu/search/label/Fall...minated%20Paper

I understand Mr. P-Mosh's point and I empathize with his and others predicament of having friends and family still in twi. I suppose what I don't understand how is it that lurker here can find out someone's identity without that persons consent. You know my name is Robin because I given out that information. Most here post under pseudonyms. Who decides who is able to post in the "inner circle." What is the screening criteria? What safeguards would be in place that this forum wouldn't be used to malign someone who is not privy to remarks against him/herself. There was such a forum had a similar noble purpose that turned into a slander room.