This Bud's For Demagogery

The feds are taking a hard look into the finances of that dangerous buffoon Al Sharpton. The New York Post reports that the investigation stepped up when IRS sent subpoenas to ... Anheuser-Busch? Yes, the beer company:

Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser and Michelob, confirmed yesterday that it received a federal subpoena in connection to its charitable giving to Sharpton's National Action Network.

"We have received a subpoena and are cooperating with the IRS," the company said in a statement.

Sharpton blasted the subpoena as a "fishing expedition" and said his donors are proud of their financial support. The St. Louis-based corporation donated between $100,000 and $499,000 to NAN in 2007 alone, according to its Web site, but declined further comment about its relationship with Sharpton. A knowledgeable source said several other corporate donors received or would soon receive subpoenas.
Sharpton himself, his business entities and his nonprofit civil-advocacy group owe millions in back taxes, documents show.

The IRS and the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn have an ongoing probe into Sharpton's finances going back to his 2004 run for president and stewardship of NAN.

It seems that the reverend is quite the shakedown artist:

Almost 50 companies - including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase - and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton's National Action Network annual conference in April.

Terrified of negative publicity, fearful of a consumer boycott or eager to make nice with the civil-rights activist, CEOs write checks, critics say, to NAN and Sharpton - who brandishes the buying power of African-American consumers. In some cases, they hire him as a consultant.
***
In May 2004, Chrysler began supporting NAN's conferences, which include panels on corporate responsibility and civil rights and a black-tie awards dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Last year, Sharpton gave Chrysler an award for corporate excellence.

In 2003, Sharpton targeted American Honda for not hiring enough African-Americans in management.

"We support those that support us," wrote Sharpton and the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of NAN's Michigan chapter, in a letter to American Honda. "We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner."

Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the carmaker began to sponsor NAN's events - and continues to pay "a modest amount" each year, a spokesman said.

Disgusting.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I'll be Patrick's of Pratt for the better part of the day; feasting on oysters and enjoying whiskey that is much too good for me. Stop by if you're in Baltimore and buy me a beer. Or two.

Childe Harold, R.I.P.

Sorry, I'm a few days late on this. But I wanted to give a shout out to the closing of my favorite DC restaurant. First, the real Stoney's. Now this. I'm going to drink myself into a stupor tonight. That has nothing to do with the Childe Harold closing. I just thought I would tell you my evening plans.

Before they became limousine famous, Emmylou Harris and Bruce Springsteen played in a litany of run-down, no-name joints, where small, unsuspecting audiences got that rare chance to see, hear and touch undiscovered genius.

In Washington, that joint was the Childe Harold, a cozy, wood-lined saloon in Dupont Circle, where, in its heyday, patrons filled every nook and cranny, the bathrooms reeked of marijuana and everyone talked for years after about whom they saw perform there.

Off and On

Off my vacation destination list:

El Alto, Bolivia.

Prostitutes in the Bolivian city of El Alto sewed their lips together Wednesday as part of a hunger strike to demand that the mayor reopen brothels and bars ordered closed after violent protests by residents last week.

On my vacation destination list:

Western Australia.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian barmaid has been fined for crushing beer cans between her bare breasts while an off-duty colleague has been fined for hanging spoons from her friend's nipples, police said Wednesday.

Friday Links

No jokes here. 18 year old arrested for the rapes of two Baltimore women, ages 88 and 73. The 88-year old is also a cancer patient. With youth like this, how could one be pessimistic about the future of our fine city. Remember folks, just Believe!

I betcha this Anne Arundel County (MD) judge knows how to have some fun.

But Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul Harris, in a decision that has victims' rights advocates crying foul, acquitted the man charged with second-degree assault after he was accused of striking his girlfriend three times in the face. The judge said that without the woman's testimony, he could not be sure that she hadn't consented to the attack

[...]

And in a comment that has riled victims' advocates and prosecutors, Harris added, "You have very rare cases; sadomasochists sometimes like to get beat up."

Cameras no longer enough to police the mean streets of London. Say hello to street level listening devices, intended to "infiltrate gangs of youth."

I really don't like David Brooks. Never have -- but now I've developed the nearly unstoppable urge to face-fuck the douche, in his itsy-bitsy mouth, while he's wearing his overtly homosexual turtle-rimmed glasses. Is it just me? From today's Brooks column on the chances of a Huckabee win. I know, I know, I too was guessing he was talking about checkers, or some game involving guessing the number of jellybeans in a jar, because obviously he couldn't be talking about any type of electoral win, whether it be in Iowa or any other state. I was wrong.

[....]Second, each of the top-tier candidates makes certain parts of the party uncomfortable. Huckabee is the one candidate acceptable to all factions.

Third, Huckabee is the most normal person running for president (a trait that might come in handy in a race against Hillary Clinton). He is funny and engaging — almost impossible not to like. He has no history of flip-flopping in order to be electable. He doesn’t seem to be visibly calculating every gesture. Far from being narcissistic, he is, if anything, too neighborly to seem presidential.

Whoa. I should have saved this for a separate post, but quickly -- First, "Huckabee is the one candidate acceptable to all factions". Huh? That GOP tent has gotten so big that they had to push us libertarian leaning, limited government types out of the tent to make room for all those compassionate, social conservatives. Enjoy the circle jerk fellas. [I've made substantive arguments against Huckabee, just click through the Huckabee tag] As for this line, "Huckabee is the most normal person running for president." Do I need to reiterate that this is the guy who said it his religious beliefs are not important to the question of whether he could or should be president? Even if his religious beliefs claim that the earth was created 3,000 years ago, and that evolution is just a silly guess made by some guy named Darwin. Or that kids in elementary schools should be weighed by the state. If this is the "most normal person running for president" then we have some serious issues as an electorate.

Last, but certainly not least, one of the last two brewpubs in Baltimore -- and the closest one to me -- is looking to leave the city. It's part of a disturbing trend that has brewpubs fleeing high-rent, urban areas for the spacious suburbs. I'll end it with my quote of the week, from the above article:

"It's sort of like the melting of the ice caps," said Dominic Cantalupo, a 46-year-old Catonsville resident and president of the Chesapeake Bay branch of the Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood. The society promotes beer brewed with traditional methods.

New Beer Blog

The Baltimore Sun's Rob Kasper has a new beer blog. It's worth a check every-now-and-then if you're a serious beer lover.

A Cultural Lesson through Beer

I've been seeing the ads for the new Coors Light Cold Activated Label for over a week now. I couldn't figure out the fucking point of it as soon as I saw the first ad, but I figured I'd give it a week to see if I was missing something. Turns out I might have been. However, I still don't really get the point of this.

The cold front approaching from the Golden, Colo., brewer will arrive by summer in the guise of the Coors Light Cold-Activated Bottle. The label’s white lettering and Rocky Mountain icon turn blue once the beer reaches optimal drinking temperature.

I did some digging around last night to see if I really was missing something -- And by digging around I mean punching in "Coors Light Cold Activated Label" into Google -- I'm thorough in my research. No outrage from bitter bloggers like myself, but lots of things on how this was a part of a larger marketing effort by American breweries to appeal to the Hispanic market. Miller Chill and all that. What I didn't know -- and this could be total ignorance on my part -- is that Hispanics like their beer really, really cold. From HispanicTrending, a Latino marketing and advertising blog:

Three major brewing companies have introduced new packaging methods and spiced beer blends in recent months, all aimed at persuading Hispanic consumers their own particular brand is best for a super-cold brew with a Latin twist.

[...]

While the brewers may be stereotyping Hispanic people as temperature-obsessed, it's a stereotype that contains a degree of truth, the Ormond Beach banker said.

"Beer is something that people in Puerto Rico keep really, really cold," Ramirez said. "I will not drink beer in bars because it's never cold enough for my taste. At home, I put my beer in the freezer and then take it out just before it freezes."

I still think you could just touch the bottle to see if it was cold, but maybe touching things is more of an Anglo thing. What do I know. Truthfully though, the whole post is worth a read. Interesting stuff.

Impressive Is An Understatement

I just got back from an Irish bar near the hotel, and they had a sign that said "Great Guinness Challenge... Record: 9 minutes 30 seconds."

It turns out the challenge was to drink a 6.5 pint glass of Guinness as fast as possible. And Ryan H. from England did it in 9:30.

I have a new idol.

Your Tax Dollars Used to Find Startling Information: Old Farts Like to Drink Beer Not Take Shots

I don't know which is sadder that my tax money went to these studies or that the media considers them news.

Binge drinkers are more likely to have a beer can in hand than a shot glass, new research shows.

Unless you're talking about teens. They prefer the hard stuff.

The stereotype-shattering findings are reported in two studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Editor's note: Stereotype-shattering? Uh, where have these reporters been?]

Access may play a major role in the choices of the two age groups, experts suggested.

For adults, beer is cheaper and easy to find, sold in gas stations and grocery stores. However, for teens, it may be easier to filch free booze from their parents' liquor cupboards, one of the researchers said. [editors note: if adults buy beer instead of liquor, wouldn't their liquor cupboards be empty? Or full of beer?]

Binge drinking — no matter which type of alcohol — is bad for your health. Excessive alcohol is acutely dangerous because of its role in car crashes, violence and other traumatic injury, and is blamed for 75,000 deaths annually. [Editor's note: Uh, shouldn't you say doing stupid shit like driving drunk and getting into fights with men twice is your size is bad for your health, not drinking per se?]

More here. If you're wondering I'm a binge drinker. As is any one who drank five or more drinks on at least on occasion in the last 30 days. How do the health fascists get away with this? A man has five beers at a company picnic and drinks nothing else the rest of the month and he's a binge drinker? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssseeeeee. Not surprisingly the health fascists have a solution, increase taxes on beer. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The most important thing liberty-minded policymakers can do is to put a special tax on research studies. Researchers can study whatever they want they should just have to pay a special $100,000 federal tax for each report. I bet the junk science mill house would screech to a stop real quick.

Friday Links

Some links for you to digest on this semi-holiday Friday.

AC Milan wins the Champions League Final. Final tally 2-1 over Liverpool. Not nearly as exciting as 2 years ago; however, I saw the score before I had a chance to watch the whole game and still enjoyed the match. In true English fashion, Liverpool supporters leave behind some 98 tons of beer cans, making me wonder how much they trucked out of Pimilco this past weekend for Preakness.

Kevin Durant is one hell of a basketball player. The question: On June 28 is he 1 or 2?

This is an interesting twist on the usual theme parks:

Welcome to Dickens World, a theme park with a difference. If you thought theme parks were all about thrilling roller coaster rides, wolfing down hotdogs and cotton candy, and shaking hands with overgrown mice and goofy dogs, you're in for a rude awakening. Dickens World recreates the filth, squalor, and even the unpleasant whiffs of Victorian London, the city in which Charles Dickens lived and breathed, and wrote so memorably about in "A Tale of Two Cities," "Great Expectations," and "Oliver Twist." It's less a theme park, and more a "grime park."

My only question --- Are you allowed to smoke in this Victorian time capsule?

Senator Kohl -- who sells some incredibly affordable, and wearable clothes for his day job -- is urging the FCC to block the XM/Sirius merger. I'm a big satellite radio guy. Love XM. But I'm on record (and by record I mean I was talking to myself alone while taking a shit one time) as saying that the deal will not go through. Does satellite radio survive without the merger? I think so, or at least one company you would think, but I'm also not sure. The two companies have buried themselves with expensive contracts for talent, and the revenue just isn't there yet. It will be interesting to see how the industry shakes out.

No Beer? Cavalier!

Teetotatalitarian Hugo Chavez isn't making many friends with this Easter beer ban.

Many Venezuelans shrug off President Hugo Chavez's calls to create a new man through socialist revolution.

But a decree limiting alcohol sales for much of Holy Week has got their attention.

"Don't Mess With My Hooch!" blared the main headline in yesterday's El Nuevo Pais tabloid.

The Chavez Government says the law is necessary to diminish the fatalities from drink-driving, but that hasn't stopped the protests.

On Margarita Island, revellers and liquor store owners painted car windshields with the words "No to the Dry Law".

The sharp reactions to the alcohol curb is in stark contrast to the lack of interest that greeted corruption scandals over attempts by Venezualan Supreme Court judges to avoid paying income tax on their bonuses, and claims government officials illegally siphoned off millions from state infrastructure deals with Iran.

"I've been in this country 40 years, and this is the first time I've seen this," said Antonio Gouveia, 54, a Portuguese immigrant who owns a bar.

"Holy Week is the best week of the year because people don't work, they go out and spend."

Mr Gouveia described the curb on alcohol sales as "something for madmen".

Or by them. More here. Tournament, tournament, it's a tournament of lies.