Here’s the Friday OPEN thread
Shot by Dan at Black Dog Salvage
“Ballantine was an American brewery. It was best known for Ballantine Ale, a pale ale that is one of the oldest brands of beer in the United States. At its peak, Ballantine was the 4th largest brewer in the United States . . . [Among its products],
also of note was a special Burton Ale (which was aged from 10–20 years in wood prior to bottling). The Burton Ale was never a commercially sold product, rather, it was a special strong brew in the barleywine style which was given as a gift at Christmas to Ballantine distributors and VIPs. Surviving unopened bottles are still bought, sold and traded to this day among collectors, more than 60 years after being brewed. Because of the long aging and generous hopping as well as an ABV content comparable to barleywines, the beer had remarkable keeping qualities. Still, it could be argued that since the beer was already long aged prior to bottling, it was probably already at its peak prime when finally bottled. Reports of modern day tastings indicate that properly handled vintage bottles of this unique beer can still yield a complex (though somewhat faded) taste experience.”
Wikipedia
February 22, 2013 - 10:29 AM
Has anyone been to Parkway Brewery on Kessler Mill Road? We went a couple of weeks ago and their IPA is great! A friend of mine is one of the owners and he gave us a tour of the brewing equipment. As an occasional home brewer, I was in heaven. They also have a food truck most of the time that serves great food. I think we are going back tomorrow. Anyone want to join us?
Ken Cuccinelli pretty well burned his bridges with mainstream Republicans today with his stand on the transportation compromise bill. I think he just guaranteed a Bill Bolling candidacy. The AG will get his 25 to 30 percent of the Republican fringe plus a percentage of the know nothings who only vote for the R next to the name. Bolling will get the rest of the Repubcon vote.
And Terry Mccauliffe will be the next Va. Governor.
I’m from Philly and Ballantine was huge there back in the day. That was at a time when the big national breweries did not dominate the market. I’m not sure of the reason but we as consumers really allowed the likes of Bud and Miller to homogenize our beer tastes to the extent they all beers began to taste bland and the same. The market has certainly changed for the better with all the brew pubs such as Parkway Brewery and the multitude of small breweries nationwide. It’s a very good era for beer drinkers for sure!
Scott Whitaker
I could not agree more. Lots of good beers available these days. We keep some mass market beer in the house, but we only drink it with certain foods. We call it “cheap beer”. Lots more flavor to be had in microbrews, but they are not all good by any means.
This comment is not about beer. It is sort of related to what usually happens when you drink significant quantities of beer however.
To date Arizona has tested approximately 87,000 potential welfare recipients for drugs. 1 potential welfare recipient tested positive.
To date Florida has tested approximately 51,000 potential welfare recipients for drugs. 21 potential welfare recipents tested positive.
Each drug test costs $42. Thus those two states have paid approximately $5.8 million in order to prevent 22 people from collecting less than $300,000 in welfare aid.
I guess that unless you live in Arizona or Florida you needn’t worry about wasting taxpayers money.
Cooch apparently figures he can win with the let-the-infrastructure-crumble crowd.
Ron May
You might want to check out the Austin Lounge Lizards song “Teenage Immigrant Unwed Mothers on Drugs”. It’s pretty good. Maybe Dan can feature a video of it on the Friday drive time tune.
That should read welfare mothers, not unwed mothers. Sorry.
Any thoughts?
http://politix.topix.com/homepage/4723-police-practice-targets-include-pregnant-women-kids
Some law enforcement agencies are training with targets that depict “non-traditional threats”, such pregnant women, elderly people, and children. It’s apparently causing a big stir.
BillPerdue, we were there a couple of weekends ago too and I liked the IPA a lot. I didn’t love the other one as much, but I’m looking forward to relaxing in thir beer garden this spring. We got the tour too…unbelievable facility! They’re already on tap at a couple places in town I believe. Can’t wait till they start having bands.
I think Pittsburgh might be Bob H’s kind of city. It was named #3 among the top 10 worst driving cities in the U.S. partly because motorists there despise cyclists so much they view them as “the equivalent of a moving pothole.”
I have not made it to Parkway yet but I did have dinner at Blue Mountain Brewery at the foot of Afton Mountain on Wednesday and discovered my new favorite beer, “Local Species”, a Belgian Pale Ale Hybrid that absolutely blew me away. Stuff this good makes me wonder how people can suffer thru the bud/coors/miller lite sewage the unwashed masses consume that I wouldn’t clean a paintbrush with. Life is sampling too short for mediocre beer.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16352/82463
A childhood friend of mine just opened Apocalypse Brewery in Forest as well. I have a few road trips to do in the next few weeks.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Apocalypse-Brewing-Co/210376952391265
Sometime back, a blogger posted that civilians should be limited to using only concentrate circle, bulls-eye type targets because even no feature, nameless, faceless silhouette targets were inappropriate for defense shooting practice, because they could/would lead to some sort of inappropriate behavior.
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So, what do you think of this: http://tinyurl.com/byg765d
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Cops conducting target practice on images of children and pregnant women
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[pix]
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SNIP
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and
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http://tinyurl.com/ahcc3s9
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Here is one opinion: http://tinyurl.com/azq6lcu
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Company way off mark with child, pregnant-woman gun targets
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SNIP
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It doesn’t make us feel any better to know that the company was awarded $5.5 million in government contracts, primarily to the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, for, among other things, armament training aids, training aids and paper and paperboard. There’s no way to tell from only cursory research if these “No More Hesitation” targets are among the items purchased by the feds.
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We’re alarmed by the idea. Do we want federal law-enforcement officials densensitized to such a level? Even less than we want that for law-enforcement officials patrolling our streets.
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SNIP
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As horrifying at it is, I can see the logic behind such law enforcement training. It is sad that it would be necessary, but that is not the fault of the police. A pregnant woman could pose just as much of a threat to an officer’s life as a scruffy grown man with a beer belly and beard stubble. Criminals come in all shapes and sizes.
If that wasn’t true, figuring out who gun stores should and shouldn’t sell firearms to would be a piece of cake.
Dan,
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I have some questions related to the “upgrade” of the RT site.
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Do you have a higher or lower comment count?
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Do you have a higher or lower readership/viewership, hit count?
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FWIIW, now that there is no RSS feed for new comments on the individual threads, I can’t keep up w/o a concerted effort and I suspect that my participation is down.
New halftime contest coming up?
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http://tinyurl.com/at9gmpc
SteveC, we were at Blue Mountain in January and loved it. We had some beer and a pizza, and loved the beer enough to get a growler. I understand Devils backbone is right up the road from Blue Mountain, and that it’s a great spot as well. The Cville area has a bunch going on these days.
Looking forward to going back in the spring, and eating outside by the cornhole set ups. Wish it were closer to Roanoke.
I like microbrewed beer because there’s no hangover the next morning.
Re: VT Hokie at 1:46 pm
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Plus 1, here.
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Even 40 years ago, shoot/no shoot drills popups had such targets. Back in the day, counter terrorism driving courses/evasive driving courses/tactical driving courses/offensive/defensive driving courses/or the name-de-jour often had simulations of a pregnant woman pushing a baby carriage into your path.
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However, my main point of my OP was why do some think that self-defense by (or professional bodyguards for) the elite or authorities should have a higher standard and, at the same time, other citizens be denied such basic self-defense.
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IMHO, it is rather like the Department of Homeland Security buying 7,000 “personal defense weapons” while proposing a prohibition of the same “personal defense weapons” for civilians. See: http://tinyurl.com/axoc96e
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BTW, according to this site the DHS “personal defense weapons” are to be full-auto, not the one-shot-at-a-time civilian version that they are trying to prohibit us owning: http://tinyurl.com/a6r2fdz
Using such “targets” in police training is not the same as Bubba at the gun range shooting at an Obama poster. I think people have enough sense to know which is proper in the long run. How often are the police confronted with a pregnant criminal shooting at them? Common sense costs so little.
Contra??? LoL. Some microbrews are 10% abv it more. Drink carefully my friend
Sandi @ 3:25
Agreed. If such realistic and unusual targets were available at the range (I’ve never seen such, just hypothetical) I couldn’t imagine using one, it would make me queezy. Unlike LEOs, though, it’s not everyday that I’m busting into a household meth lab that might just be occupied by an aggressive, armed woman in a bath robe, or even holding a baby. People involved with meth are not usually operating with their faculties fully intact.
On the other hand, the vaguely human shaped target that could just as easily be a bowling pin as a person doesn’t bother me.
“I think people have enough sense to know which is proper in the long run.”
You’d like to think. The company that makes these targets put a post on facebook soliciting comments from the public after it became obvious people were upset. Wow. Yikes. The crazy conspiracy comments far outweigh the more reasonable ones.
https://www.facebook.com/LawEnforcementTargets/posts/614852535197835
Dan,
Are they going to be able to put back the lists of threads again? That is much preferred to, previous and next.
Kristen,
Devils Backbone brewed my previous all-time favorite beer, their Hefeweizen. It is the best Hefe I’ve ever had, even from Germany. The food is also equally as good as Blue Mountain. They smoke every piece of meat served there in a smoker named “Shelia”. Seriously good stuff. In between Blue Mountain and Devil’s Backbone is a brewery named Badwolf; I would rank them a very distant 3rd place in my estimation out of the three. OTOH, the “Blue Ridge Pig”, purveyors of the finest BBQ I’ve every had, is practically right across the street. I can wax poetically about the food served there like I own the place but they don’t serve beer so I’ll save the bandwidth. All these restaurants are very close to Wintergreen ski resort, BTW, so it’s pretty easy for me to come up with an excuse for a road trip.
Debbie,
Can you explain this a little more specifically? Like, “there used to be this: [whatever used to be]. Now they’ve got [however it is now].”
I ask because I work on this blog form the administrator’s controls, rather than what is dislayed. I rarely look at the latter.
Dan, if I may, I think Debbie is referring to the list of the ten most recent threads from your site. It was a right-side linkbox directing to your last ten posts. Yours was one of the few blogs on roanoke.com that had it and it made navigating the last several days’ posts MUCH easier than it is now.
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I think it helped the flow of traffic on the blog greatly and encouraged users to stick around a bit longer. If nothing else, it certainly encourages more page views, because I know I clicked through the entire list daily to view recent comments.
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It was much more convenient than the Recent Comments/Most Popular box, though that is useful as well.
Never, ever go to Lewis-Gale Hospital if you are having chest pains. My dad went there 6 yrs ago, they ran tests and told him he was fine. When he had pains again he went to the VA Hospital, they ran tests and he had one arterry that was 90% blocked and another one with severe blockage. He had open heart surgery at Rke Memorial. My older brother went to L-G yesterday evening with chest pains. They kept him overnight, ran tests and let him leave this afternoon, because the tests showed he was fine, They said they thought he had acid reflux. he went to the pharmacy to get some mediciane, had pains again and was readmitted to the hospital. He died around 5:00 this evening. He had an enlarged aorta and an anuerysm. I am in a state of shock, broken hearted and unbelievably angry. What kind of freaking tests did they run!!
Aw Debbie, I’m sorry!
An aneurysm is what killed Chip Woodrum, too.
Debbie, I’m so very sorry about your brother. I hope you and your family are able to get some answers.
Debbie,
I’m sorry for the loss of your brother.
I’m so sorry, Debbie.
Re: Debbie 7:02 pm
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Thoughts, condolences, and prayers for you and your family.
Dave
Oh Debbie I am so, so sorry. Condolences to you and your family.
Debbie
My thoughts will be with you. I lost my brother to an anueryism ten years ago
at the young age of 56.. Still miss him. Bless you anmd your fam,ily in this difficult time.
Debbie, My thoughts are with you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Debbie, I’m so sorry!
Thank you all. Wayne, my brother was 56 too, We were the same age for a week every year. I was born August 30th and he was born September 9th. he was my handyman hero. He could fix anything, all I had to do was give him a call.
sorry for your loss Debbie….
Debbie, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. My sincere condolences to you and your family.
I am so sorry for your lost . I have lost a good friend from breast cancer and had my webmaster die in these last few years. Here is hoping all the best to your family.
Debbie, my condolences to you and your family.
So sorry, Debbie.
Thank you all, sincerely.
You can’t not like Michelle Obama. Can you see Pickles Bush on Fallon doing the “Dougie?”
Thoughts and condolences, Debbie.
Sorry for your loss, Debbie.
You can’t not like Michelle Obama. Can you see Pickles Bush on Fallon doing the “Dougie?”
Can you imagine her wanting to? Some First Ladies have dignity, and some, well…..
Suzie | February 23, 2013 at 10:51 am
You can’t not like Michelle Obama. Can you see Pickles Bush on Fallon doing the “Dougie?”
Can you imagine her wanting to? Some First Ladies have dignity, and some, well…..
I’m outta here again. See you at the end of Lent. Snicker, snicker.
From the Blue Ridge Caucus:
Cuccinelli opinion could jeopardize deals on Medicaid, roads
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued an opinion challenging the constitutionality of a proposed legislative commission that would oversee the process of Medicaid expansion, a development that could scuttle chances to finalize a revised state budget and pass a state transportation funding package.
In an opinion issued Friday, the conservative attorney general wrote: “It is my opinion that the General Assembly may not delegate legislative authority regarding budget or other matters to a committee composed of a subset of members of the General Assembly.”
The opinion was requested by Republican Del. Ben Cline of Rockbridge County
The jackasses strike again. It’s way p-ast time for the folks in Lexington and Rockbridge County to dump Ben Cline and Cuccinelli’s term as AG can’t [possibly end fast enough.
I’m outta here again. See you at the end of Lent. Snicker, snicker.
Just wanted to say a kind word to Debbie.
Boy, this is a tough crowd.
Thank you, Suzie and J.M.
Whew! Thank God we have school administrators to halt the spread of this type of irresponsible message:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/8th-grader-t-shirt-abstinence-211844892.html
Debbie,condolences for the sudden passing of your brother.
I’m sorry to hear of your loss. My condolences to you and your family.
“Just wanted to say a kind word to Debbie.”
#48 “Can you imagine her wanting to? Some First Ladies have dignity, and some, well…..”
Wow, suzie, so that was a kind word to Debbie?
Suzie | February 23, 2013 at 11:38 am
I’m outta here again. See you at the end of Lent. Snicker, snicker.
Just wanted to say a kind word to Debbie
Of course you did! Which is why you dropped in the snarky comment about M ichelle Obama, then dropped over to another thread to download another
chapter of the they cheated conspiracy theory, and then cut and ran like
a terrified third grader being pursued by the class bully.
Pitiful!
Thank you, Warren and Frank.
Debbie, I’m so sorry for your loss
Debbie, I am shocked too! So sorry for your loss and he was young for such an event! I hope your family can get the answers you need, this sounds beyond outrageous!
Sincere condolences, you will be in my thoughts and prayers as you go through this terrible loss.
Thank you, Steve C, and Sandi.