Sarah Palin, Miracle Mother

Now, I of course am above any sort of rumor-mongering about politicians. That's what dailykos.com is for. Check out some thoughts about Sarah Palin's surprise pregnancy and premature delivery of "her" son.

I feel for her teenage daughter, who's gonna have all her private business paraded in front of the world when her mother is caught in a (very weak) lie. The WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING. What was she thinking?

On another note, how many Republican VP potentials had to say "Get away from me, you old fart" to McCain before he is forced to get Palin? Anybody with brains can see that the Republicans are offering up McCain as a sacrificial lamb in an election that they *don't want* to win. They desperately want out of the Iraq situation, but are too arrogant to admit their mistakes. They'd rather foist Iraq on the Democrats and go into attack mode when Barack wins and starts to do anything to get us out honorably. They'll start their revisionist history the minute election results are known, saying Bush's folly would work out given enough time. It'll be "cut and run, cut and run" in a drumbeat until Democrats look like the bad guys for trying to clean up the colossal mess that is Iraq (graphic link--story here).

Beermaking

Well, I'm making my own beer. I've got two systems going: one in which I make five gallons at a time from kits that include everything you need, and another one where I make two gallons of "experimental" beer at a time using whatever I have on hand. It's actually a fascinating process to boil the malt extract and hops, then add the yeast and let it ferment. The yeast get going and 24 hours later the airlock is bubbling with their farts--carbon dioxide they produce while digesting sugars into alcohol. The biggest pain is sterilizing equipment and bottles, but for a total of maybe two hours work, I get around 55 *really good* beers. Nice.

I got inspired to do this after getting tired of paying more than a dollar per beer for "the good stuff" like Samuel Adams or New Belgium beers. Doing it myself works out to around 50 cents a beer and it tastes (most of the time) better than anything you can buy. And I can make unusual beers that simply aren't available in the states, like English Bitters or German Doppelbocks and Oktoberfest. Yeah.

If you're interested, get this book: The Complete Joy of Homebrewing (thanks, hareball) and shop at the greatest brew supply shop on the internet, Austin Home Brew. They offer flat-rate $6.99 shipping and, since food isn't taxed, I don't pay state taxes on any ingredients. Booyah.

Incidentally, I also make wine from this recipe. Despite being cheap, it's actually quite good and very simple. Now it isn't Shiraz or Pinot Noir, but it's a dry red wine that tastes better than box wine like Franzia.

Nothing beats doing things for yourself. I've been on this kick lately where I'm not wanting to pay anybody to do things or make things for me--bicycle repair, oil changes, eating out--and making my own liquid entertainment satisfies like nothing else. Cheers.