Beer And Conversation With Pigweed And Crowhill

P&C drink and review Inescapable Fate from Nepenthe Brewing, then discuss quality of life issues in U.S. cities.  Lovely places around the country are falling apart because the local officials are failing to do their jobs. Venice Beach. Fells Point. San Francisco.  Some prosecutors in these locations have decided not to prosecute "quality of life" crimes, and quality of life is deteriorating.  What's to be done? In Baltimore, businesses have created an escrow fund and are withholding their tax payments until the city starts doing its job. Will that help? 

The boys drink and review Hysteria's "What You Want," then continue their "shortcut to the classics" series, with special guest Longinus, by reviewing a few Mark Twain short stories. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County A True Story The Diary of Adam and Eve The $1,000,000 Bank-Note A Dog's Tale

P&C drink and review Pigweed's latest homebrew, then discuss the ruckus in Virginia, where a teacher was fired for failing to toe the line on transgender ideology. A parent rebellion ensued, exposing the high-handed tactics of the educational establishment.  Most people don't like Critical Race Theory, and don't want it taught to their children.  This kind of push-back seems to be catching fire all over the country, as parents realize how radicalized the school system has become, and how much contempt the establishment has for them.

After reviewing a wheat beer from DuClaw, the boys review some of Iain McGilchrist's findings on differences between the functions of the two hemispheres, and what they say about how we view the world. The left and right hemispheres have very different perspectives on life. The right tends to look at the big picture, while the left tends to be more task-specific. When the two hemispheres are cut, scientists are able to communicate separately with each side, and have learned some very interesting things about how the two sides of our brain function, and what biases they bring to the world. McGilchrist is concerned that our society is becoming too left-brain focused, and believes we need a correction.

The boys drink and review Young Buck, a Maibock from Key Brewing, then knock out five topics in five minutes each. The lab origin hypothesis. There's a lab in Wuhan, China, that works on "gain of function" in coronaviruses, which, by an astonishing coincidence, is where the virus started -- but somehow the idea that the virus came from the lab was a crazy conspiracy theory. Zoom life -- what we've learned about virtual meetings during the pandemic. Sobriety checkpoints -- are they legal? Should they be? They seem to reverse the presumption of innocence. Vaccines -- are you a crazy, awful, conspiratorial monster if you choose to avoid the vaccine? 9-0 SCOTUS decision on Catholic organizations being involved in foster care.

The boys review two homebrewed bourbon barrel-aged stouts, then discuss safety. In the 70s we didn't wear helmets or knee pads, and we didn't use seat belts. How much safer are we today? How much safer do we feel? What about sports. Do kids collect friends and play sports, or do they have to wait until the adults organize it for them? Do they ever learn to negotiate and resolve conflicts? What has caused the change?

The boys review their Strauss challenge (Vienna malt vs. Munich malt), then discuss two different ways of approaching the world -- the broader meaning vs. the specific, practical meaning -- and how a skeptical / analytical view of the world contrasts with a more intuitive view. One view might be called sentimental, or following an unprovable grand narrative, while the other might be called practical, rational, hard-headed or maybe "objective." Should everything be "rational"? Sometimes things that seem irrational have a hidden origin or meaning that shouldn't be easily dismissed.

P&C drink and review a west coast IPA from local Hysteria Brewing, then discuss statehood for DC and PR.  Is "taxation without representation" a fair way to characterize the U.S. attitude towards the District of Columbia? The constitution says Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over the federal district. Is that a good idea? Or .. do you want the seat of government under the control of one of the states? And how about Puerto Rico? Should it be a state? Under what terms do we admit new territories as states?

P&C drink and review Hysteria's Barleyfine, then discuss military recruitment. How do you inspire young men to join the armed forces and put their lives on the line for the country? According to the Biden administration, wokeness is the key. What we need, they think, is flight suits for pregnant women. They boys recently watched four recruitment videos: one from China, one from Russia, and two from the U.S. -- one for the army and one for the CIA. The Russians and the Chinese are appealing to masculinity, strength, discipline, self-sacrifice and other traditional disciplines. The U.S. videos are all about voyages of self discovery, wokeness and narcissism. The military is about shedding your individual identity to become part of a bigger cause, specifically service to the country.

P&C drink and review Gaffel's Kolsch, then discuss the lockdown. Was it worth it?  What was the original purpose of locking us all in our homes? How did we get into this weird situation in the first place? Why did we allow it to go so long? What were the consequences, and the unintended consequences?  In making this unprecedented decision, did anyone count the costs of the lockdown? Apparently not. It seems that the allegedly free governments of the west saw that China got away with it and decided to give it a try. To their surprise (and glee?), it worked.  The lockdown was a one-size fits all response to a disease that was known to affect demographic groups very differently. It was a hammer solution to a tweezer problem.  Think of the damage that's been done to our culture as a result of the lockdown. The media is in cahoots with the government, promoting one story and suppressing another. We've accepted the idea that there's an orthodoxy of thought, and it's infiltrated science. Big

P&C drink and review Spaten's Optimator, then discuss Biden's first 100 days in office. How has he done? While there are some decent, or even positive points, the overall rating is poor. The boys discuss his sharp left turn, his oversight of the vaccine program, his spending proposals, his cowardice in the face of the teacher's union, his mismanagement of the border, his foreign policy, climate issues, social justice, police reform, accusing the United States of racism .... Biden seems on track to be Jimmy Carter 2, or worse.

P&C drink and review an IPA from Mully's Brewery in Southern Maryand, then -- with special guest Longinus -- review the classic horror / mystery novel featuring the world's most famous detective.  The boys review the story of the spectral hound (with spoilers) and evaluate Conan Doyle's writing style, as well as his well-known characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. What kind of a man was Sherlock Holmes? And what kind of a relationship did he have with Watson?  The Hound of the Baskervilles is a classic tale, full of mystery,  romance, intrigue and horror, and a good introduction to these famous characters. 

The boys drink and review an imperial red ale, then -- with special guest Longinus -- discuss the hero quest pattern and how it applies to different stories. They see the pattern in the stories of Moses, Krishna and Mithridates. (They wanted to add Jesus and Buddha, but there wasn't time.) Then they discuss the larger issue of patterns and archetypes. What's the origin of this hero quest pattern, and why do so many compelling stories follow it? What does the hero quest say about each of our lives? Where are these archetypes from, and how do they play out in society?

The boys drink and review Holy Roller, a hazy IPA, and talk about Machiavelli. Do the ends justify the means? (And did Machiavelli mean that?) The boys discuss Machiavelli's historical context, the work for which he is mostly known, and the meaning and application of the term "Machiavellian." Machiavelli satirizes the classic view of virtues, espoused by Cicero. Those virtues might be nice, he says, but they won't keep you in power. The Prince is contrary to both Roman and Christian values, and was almost scandalous in its time.

P&C drink a Maibock, then discuss their favorite topic: beer.  The boys talk about hop classifications and uses, and why hops came to dominate beer. They also discuss warm vs. cold beer, and why temperature matters.  And what about sour beers? What's up with that. And speaking of off flavors, what about those beer geeks who criticize Budweiser?  They end with a pair of beer challenges. 

P&C drink and review Joyous IPA from Troegs, then talk about tattletales and crybabies. P&C are sick of them, but it seems their ranks are swelling. Instant gratification. The daily outrage. Helicopter parents. Participation trophies. And people get extremely upset over the most ridiculous things. How have we come to this place? How did we become so coddled and spoiled? The boys discuss possible causes from three angles: technology, culture, and the geopolitical situation. Plus the malaise of safety.

P&C drink and review "Unforgivable Curses" by Peabody Heights brewery, then discuss witches and witchcraft. What's up with witches? Nowadays they're fun and sexy, but there was a time when people were scared to death of them, hunted them down and hanged them. The boys discuss various pogroms against witches over the years, trying to sort out what's true and what's a misconception. They cover ... + Joan of Arc + The Malleus Maleficarum + The witch's mark + Salem + How many witches were actually killed? ... and much more.

P&C drink and review a hop-infused cider, then discuss how lawsuits and boycotts might be the only hope of saving western civilization from the assault by woke, racist morons. The boys don't like litigation or boycotts, but it seems those might be the only tools to fight critical race theory and the other woke idiocies that are ruining lives and destroying the culture. Corporations are buying into these explicity racist, illegal, and immoral diversity struggle sessions to avoid lawsuits. We need to show them that lawsuits and boycotts can come from both sides, and the law is on our side. And now we have Major League Baseball getting into politics. Rather than being the non-political escape that we all were able to enjoy together, sports organizations are injecting partisan politics into our free time. As distasteful as it is, boycott the idiots until they get some sense and grow a pair.

P&C review Pigweed's most recent pale ale, then discuss voting laws. Are the "one-time" accommodations to the pandemic going to change things permanently? The last election was weird. Mail-in (late) ballots. Ballots mailed to everyone on the roles. Votes counted after election day. Both sides recognize there's cause for some sort of clean-up, but we have different visions of what that should be. There's (so far) a federal approach, and a state (GA) approach. P&C weigh in, discussing the role of the federal and the state governments, and how we balance keeping things local vs. national standards.

P&C drink and review another Pastry Archy offering, Oatmeal Cream Pie: an imperial honey wheat ale. Then they review arguments for the existence of God, starting with Anselm's ontological argument. They move on to several of Aquinas' arguments, which mostly revolve around the concept of an infinite regress. Then there's "can you get something from nothing," and the idea of gradation. When we compare things, are we assuming an ultimate standard? What about morals, and miracles, and .... They can't cover it all, but P&C review some of the more well-known arguments and add their commentary.