Dang, Back-to-Back Gin Reviews.... Battle Standard 142 Navy Strength Gin......

OK, folks, yes, this is my fourth gin review. Well, review?  I don't think my few uneducated

comments, if you will, rise to the level of review by any definition. 

So, I was out of the hard stuff except for a bottle of Sacred that I'm saving. Yes, the last of the Fighting Cock is gone. Soooooo, off to the booze store.

Went to the gin area. Normally I shop one of two ways. I know what I want, grab it, and I'm outta there. The other way is to meander among the bottles reading labels...... Tonight was a little different. I saw the bottle of Battle Standard perched proudly on the top shelf. I looked at it a few seconds, turned it around and read the label, and I knew I had found my gin for the evening.

Why is it called Navy Strength? Here's a quote from the distiller's website.

The term Navy Strength comes from the British Navy’s practice of proofing the Gin provided as Navy rations to 114 proof so in the event it was accidentally spilled on the ship’s gun powder, the gun powder could still be fired in battle.

          
Ok, folks, what do I think? Mixed a gin and tonic (1 gin, 2 tonic, and
lime juice) and sipped a couple of ounces in a one-ounce shot glass.
Yes, definitely another winner. I really like sipping it. It sort of lights
up your mouth, if you will. In a good way. No, you won't feel as though
you need to rush to the ER. (Just took another small sip.) This gin
should satisfy folks who like their booze straight, who just like to take it
easy and take a sip from time-to-time.

 Here's the link to the distiller. Please go here to learn about the distillers. It's an interesting story.
        

OK, Folks, I've Had a Live-Changing Experience and Have Discovered a New Gin!!!!

No, I'm not going in detail about what I'm calling my life-changing experience; however, I will spend a little time about a gin discovery. For the past year or so I've been receiving information about gin from the folks at Gin Foundation.

Anyway, I decided I wanted some special booze to accompany me on a vacation. Yes, this will be a special vacation. About as special as a vacation can be; at least for me. Yes, I'm heading back to the mountains of Virginia. The Blue Ridge Mountains. Wow, what a beautiful part of the country this is. I've vacationed at the cottages at the Chesley Creek Farm twenty-plus times. It is truly an amazing place.

Back to the gin. No, I surely know nothing about evaluating booze; that said, I bought two bottles today. I've had a few gin and tonics (one part gin, two parts tonic, and a spec of lime juice) and an ounce straight, sipping out of a shot glass (it's really smooth and interesting?).

This is now my favorite gin. But, folks, it's a little pricey. And, I had to call my favorite booze store (here in Virginia all booze is sold by state stores) and ask them to find me a store that had it in stock. Yes, I drove a few miles.

I hope all is well in your lives... And, hey, if you want a really cool gin, try Sacred!

Here's a little information about Sacred gin.

Oh, Well, What Can Be Said?

Senator Cruz declared, "Any president who doesn't begin every day on his knees isn't fit to be commander in chief of this nation."

Really don't need to comment......

Another by Derren Brown. Yes, He Creates a Faith Healer....

I would be hard pressed to come up with people more evil than so-called faith healers. These people actually get away with killing people, murdering people, if you will. Yes, the ones who come to them for help, and who they tell are healed of cancer and other diseases and tell them they no longer need medications or treatments. And, of course, we, our government, do nothing, because after all....it's RELIGION.

I would become a believer if there were a god who would create a hell and immediately send all of the healers. But, alas, there are no gods and no justice in the world of religion.

In this video Derren not only shows you the tricks and deceptions of faith healers, he actually creates one. Believer or not, you should watch this video.

Do You Folks Know Derren Brown? You Should!

I would imagine that if asked his occupation, Darren would say he's a mentalist. I've watched many of his videos, but just finished watching this one for the first time.

This is a video about a bet of one Pound that Darren made with a well-known art gallery owner. Darren bet him that he would steal a specific expensive painting. Not only that, he told him when he would steal it... he specified the date and the time, 3:00 PM. He even gave him a photo of the person who would steal it. This is an amazing video. I won't tell you whether he succeeded. And, for we older people, maybe life isn't over at 65, 75, or whatever age.

Do You Folks Know Pat Condell? You Should.

Ahh, as one of our presidents said, Islam is the religion of peace.

You folks should meet Pat Condell.

Today I Was Humbled and Brought to Tears......

In August, I posted a comment. Yes, it was about Postrcrossing, a group of folks from around the world who exchange postcards.

Yesterday, I was given a person to send a postcard. I took a look at her profile, a place where folks tell a little about themselves. This lady mentioned that she sent postcards to seriously ill children.

Here are the links.....

http://www.sendkidstheworld.com/  (Kids around the world)

http://marzycielskapoczta.pl/en/  (Kids in Poland)

http://www.postpals.co.uk/ (Kids in the UK)

I read some of these histories and was brought to tears (well, you know what I mean). Many of us feel sorry for ourselves for whatever is going on in our lives. Most of  us really don't know what problems are. Most of us have it really good.

I just ordered a bunch of children's postcards and stamps. I hope to send at least three postcards a week. I hope that this is one project that I will follow through with.

Trump and Bowe Bergdahl

"Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan.

"We're tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who's a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed," Trump said to cheers at a rowdy rally inside a packed Las Vegas theater at the casino-hotel Treasure Island."  From ABC news.....

First, Sgt. Bergdahl. Nothing should be done to him. And, the Army should apologize.. What is rarely mentioned is that this young man enlisted in the Coast Guard and shortly after enlisting, they discharged him for psychological reasons.

So, one of our services says he isn't fit for service for psychological reasons and the Army allows him to enlist. And. look what happened. I guess the folks in the Coast Guard were right.

Trump, you may be tired of Bergdahl but many if us are growing tired of you. At first you were entertaining, but no longer. I mentioned in another comment that Trump questions where our president was born and also stated that he'd welcome Sarah Palin as a member of his cabinet.

Hope you folks are supporting Bernie. I know little about politics; that said, it surely seems as though Bernie is an honest man who truly wants to help the folks at the bottom of the heap. And, hey, most of us are at the bottom or headed in that direction. He seems to say what he thinks and not pander to us.

Most of the Republicans seem to be religious whack jobs. And, Hillary? Seems sleazy like the rest of them. And, dang, if she were president we'd have to have a million SS agents to follow old Bill around.

EDIT: You know there's a problem when you confuse the person with the SNL actor portraying them. It was the same with Palin.

New Booze..... Yep, Aviation Gin......

Was in my favorite (and closest) booze store (ABC in Virginia) today.

Bought a couple bottles of my favorite Scotch (Laphroaig) and headed to the gin area to buy some Broker's. Well, for some reason, I noticed bottles of Aviation gin. Yes, it was on the top shelf. The bottles had tags around the necks saying they scored highly. Actually, the tag said, Top Gin 97 points, Wine Enthusiast. OK, I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff and yes I'm one of the few who read labels on bottles of booze.

Anyway, yes, I bought a bottle and just sampled it.

Well, I'm surely not an experienced booze sampler. Let me rephrase that, I can't talk those fancy terms about after taste, body, bouquet, and all of that other stuff.

It would seem if you want to test a booze you'd do it straight. After all, if you mix it with a bunch of other stuff...how in the heck can you tell what the actual booze is like.

Anyway, I poured this gin in a shot glass and sipped it, if you will. Let's see, I'll say it's smooth. It's interesting (about as fancy as I'll get). OK, I'll let it go at that. Anything else I'd say would be BS.

It's a cool looking bottle and has a metal-looking cap.

Anyway, not that you folks care, Aviation gin is my new gin. Yes, I'm sure it'd be great in mixed drinks; however, if you like to drink your gin straight, this should really be on your list. Give this gin a try......

Here's a link to the Aviation website site. Tell them George sent you and you'll get 50% off. Just joking.

I Have Little to Say About the Pope....

If the Pope gave a shit about his flock, he'd melt down the Vatican, sell off all the treasures, and they'd be enough money to care for and feed the world for a hundred years.

                                                                           

This supernatural stuff is some serious BS!

Amazing. Guy in a dress with a beanie spouting crap about the supernatural and we all go ape shit! Prayers? You think they work? What is the Pope praying for? More babies being born deformed, more people worldwide being slaughtered for their religious beliefs, more poverty...well, you get the idea. Hey, Pope, if that's what you're praying for...well, your prayers are working.

FAC, You Can't Get Away From Religion....And, There Are A Bunch of Folks Out Here Looking For Their 15 Minutes...

I guess religious people in their own pathetic way are trying to make statements. Some of

them remind me of those old timey movies where the Christians are taken to the Colosseum and fed to the lions. But, hey, they all die with smiles on their faces.... WHERE IN THE HELL ARE LIONS WHEN YOU NEED THEM?

Yes, the latest is a local lawyer who has a Christian flag flying above the US flag on a flag pole at his law office.

And, yes, I realize I'm just as bad as the religious folks......

EDIT: Note, the photos are courtesy of Virginian-Pilot. Well....I guess you could say I borrowed them.

What in the Hell is Wrong With Us? Yes, the US! Bringing Thousands of Refugees From Syria!

Secretary of State Kerry said we will be taking 85,000 refugees in 2016 and 100,000 in 2017. OK, the obvious. 

Where in the hell are we going to get the money to help these people?

Do we really want 185,000 more Muslims coming to our country? Take a look at England and some of the European countries to see how they're doing with the Muslims. And, the obvious is simple. Regardless of any screening that we try to do we're going to have some terrorists coming here... Period. No, I'm not saying all Muslims are terrorist. But, are we willing to knowingly allow terrorists come to our country?

And, where are these folks going to stay?

OK, I'm sure I'm naive and don't have the big picture...but, what about our folks, our citizens who are living on the street, our mentally ill who can't get the treatment they need, our veterans who are backed-up at our VA hospitals......

The following is from a CNN article September 23, 2015.

"America's Skid Row sits in downtown Los Angeles.

This pocket of 2,000 men and women constitutes the nation's biggest concentration of homeless people living and sleeping on public sidewalks, in scattered camps under tarps. Not surprisingly, sanitary conditions are appalling.

Skid Row is a 54-block area that has the largest homeless number of individuals in the country, said Jerry Jones, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

New York City has the largest homeless population, but Los Angeles has the

highest unsheltered population in the country, which has led to the destitution you see today, he added.

New York City's unique right-to-shelter mandate ensures "temporary emergency shelter to every man, woman, and child who is eligible for services, every night," the city's website says.

But not in Los Angeles, where two-thirds of the county's 40,000 homeless people are unsheltered, Jones said.

So many live on the streets of downtown Los Angeles -- and elsewhere."

I once did a short essay, that I think I called Budget By Conscience. My argument was simple. We categorize what we must do. For instance, what services must we have? OK, not a complete list but you'll get the idea.

Police and fire protection

Education

Take care of the homeless...shelter, food, medical

Armed forces

Health care and treatment for all

And, then go from there. We will have what we call the must haves..... And, we must take care of those before pissing away money on what we call pork barrel and bullshit projects such as Palin's bridge to nowhere.

So, here's the money available......   

$ XXX,XXX,XXX,XXX (without increasing taxes and such)

Must have services cost  $ YYY,YYY,YYY,YYY

If we don't have enough to do the must have services then we cut somewhere or get some more money from taxes or what-have-you.

We spend millions every year looking at and testing so-called complementary and alternative medicine. It's all bullshit and you can test it forever and it's not going to work. Period!

No fancy offices for anyone.

Cut all congressional expenses in the federal, state, and local governments. With all the technologies we have why should we spend money to send government employees all over for so-called workshops and conferences.

OK, folks..... I could go on and on but I'm out of steam. I think you get the idea.

EDIT: Yes, this is poorly written. My points are simple. Look around the world at what the Muslims are doing. I'm all for welcoming anyone who wants to come to our country and become an American and assimilate (hey, I can use that word-I have a degree in sociology). All others need to stay where they are. And, let's take care of our own before spending money on others.

FAC, Only in America. Craphead Awards Four, Five, Six, and Seven!

Here they are....

So-called hopeful, Dr. Ben Carson, said a Muslim shouldn't be president of our country.

Carson is a Seven-Day Adventist, for cryin' out loud. Yes, this is another of those, your religion is weirder than mine. The last time I remember this happening was when Romney was running and Billy Graham said Mormonism was a cult. Of course, they kissed and made up..... after Romney met with Graham.


Huckabee and Cruz rushed to Kentucky to defend Davis. Yes, that Davis. Kim. She's parlayed her 15 minutes to days and weeks...and, the saga seems ongoing. Here are a couple of quotes from a recent interview with ABC news.

Huckabee, you should be embarrassed and ashamed. You 
look like a class A dork!

“I’m just a normal person that has been touched by the grace of God, and his mercy,” Davis said.

Davis admits that she hasn’t always been a “good” person. She has been married four times and had children in an adulterous relationship, but she doesn’t consider herself a hypocrite. “No, I’m forgiven,” she said. “Washed clean.” Davis found God four and a half years ago, she said.

Yes, we can do what we want and then old God will wash us clean. You need a really heavy dose of the god-virus to buy into that.

Oh, and let's not forget Trump. At first we all laughed. Then, I think most said, Well, let's see what he has to say. It was refreshing that a candidate spoke his mind. However, Trump, yes, you've earned a Craphead Award for questioning where our president was born and singing the praises of Sarah Palin.  SARAH PALIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhh, A Little Controversy Here in My Own Backyard.....

The Chesapeake (Virginia) School Board Chairwoman made a post to her Facebook page that is gathering a little press and many comments from we locals. Yes, I fess up, I did leave a comment.

Though we have our free speech rights (still), some could rightly argue that given her position in the community it was most likely a bad decision to make the post. The sentiment of the comments were overwhelmingly in favor of her right to make the post and in agreement with her post.

Let's face it folks, many in the US just don't like the Muslim religion. Period. Who was it? Bush? the religion of peace?  Sure, Bush. 

Anyway, if you have any interest, click on the above link.

How many more years are we humans going to be driven by myths and superstitions and Dark Age thinking? Folks, it's 2015! When are we going to see the light?

Oh, well.......

RIP, Dr. John Hinds, MD, Who Died July 4, 2015 While Providing "Medical Coverage" at the Skerries 100 Motorcycle Road Race....

If you stop by here, please read and watch the videos. 

This is a remarkable young man. Wow, am I bummed-out and sad as I write this. Where to start?

Many years ago I did some motorcycle road racing. Raced 250cc to 650cc, though doubt if I went more than 130mph (today, some production out-of-the-box motorcycles can reach 180 mph plus). For three years co-rode in a five-hour road race at VIR that was always a lot of fun.

And, yes, I came off a few times. Was scraped-up a little and sore for a couple of weeks or so. Thankfully, my leathers, boots, and helmet usually took the brunt of the crashes.

Where am I going? Hmmm....

Anyway, have always been fascinated with the races at the Isle of Man. Here's a link to my posting about those races. Also, Irish road racing that uses regular highway roads and streets that run through cities. The racers reach speeds of almost 200 mph and are inches from stone walls, curbings, and all of the other things we have on regular streets and roads. 

There's no room for error. On what might be called today's sanitized circuits, designed for racing with run off areas and sand and gravel traps where riders come off with little or no injuries, the street racers in Ireland have no such luxuries. With riders averaging over 130 mph there are almost no minor crashes. I would imagine that many of the riders may feel that a crash that resulted in a few weeks in a hospital would be a good crash-as opposed to dying.  I've watched eight or ten interviews with the racers and they all mentioned the dangerousness, as being an attraction.

Though I've spent hours reading and watching videos about the Isle of Man races and Irish road 
racing, I'd never heard of Dr. Hinds until by chance, last night, I learned of his death.

As I best understand from reading several articles, Dr. John and an associate would follow behind the racers on the first lap so that they could give almost instantaneous medical care and treatment to those who crash. Then, they would standby waiting until they were needed. Seems Dr. John rode about as fast as the racers. Also, mentioned that for the races in Ireland there wasn't an air ambulance for which he had been advocating

This post has been languishing as a draft for a few weeks. I just need to get this posted.

Here is a presentation that Dr. John made, explaining what he did. And, here is a tribute to him.

I've often thought about the Isle of Man and Irish road races and pondered, should they be allowed? People are going to die, period. It's not an if, it's a when and how many.

NASCAR, has spectacular crashes but rarely does a driver get injured, much less die.

There are a group of racers who seem to be drawn to the Isle of Man and the Irish road races because of how dangerous the races are. The moths to the flames.......

Joey Dunlop was killed road racing. There were 50,000 at his funeral. Robert Dunlop, Joey's brother was killed road racing.  Today, two of Robert's sons are racing.

North West 200 and Irish Road Racing. Those who have died.

Year	Rider	Series	Ref
1939	Norman Wainwright	North West 200	[122]
1949	P. L. Phillips	North West 200	[123]
1951	William Bennison	North West 200	[124]
1955	Julian Crossley	Ulster Grand Prix	[125]
1956	Bill Aislabie	North West 200	[126]
1956	Derek Ennett	Ulster Grand Prix	[127]
1961	Carl Todd	Killinchy 150	[128]
1961	Ron Miles	Ulster Grand Prix	[129]
1970	Andy Manship	North West 200	[130]
1973	Graham Fish	North West 200	[131]
1974	Norman Connor	Killinchy 150	[132]
1977	Geoff Barry	Killinchy 150	[133]
1977	George Oates	Ulster Grand Prix	[134]
1977	John Molyneux	Ulster Grand Prix	[135]
1978	Monty Swann	Ulster Grand Prix	[136]
1978	John Williams	Ulster Grand Prix	[137]
1979	Brian Hamilton	North West 200	[138]
1979	Tom Herron	North West 200	[108][vague]
1979	Frank Kennedy	North West 200	[139]
1980	Mervyn Robinson	North West 200	[140]
1982	John Newbold	North West 200	[108][vague]
1983	Gerard Frame	Killinchy 150	[141]
1986	Pat McLaughlin	North West 200	[142]
1986	Stephen Smyth	Ulster Grand Prix	[143]
1987	Steve Bull	North West 200	[144]
1987	Elaine Surgenor	Killinchy 150	[145]
1987	Klaus Klein	Ulster Grand Prix	[146]
1992	Oral Watson	Tandragee 100
1992	Steve Johnson	Ulster Grand Prix	[147]
1994	Geoff Calvin	Dundrod 150	[148]
1996	Daniel Humphreys	Tandragee 100	[149]
1997	Steven Galligan	Ulster Grand Prix	[150]
1999	Donny Robinson	North West 200	[151]
1999	Owen McNally	Ulster Grand Prix	[152]
2001	Gerald Allaway	Ulster Grand Prix	[153]
2002	Gary Jess	Ulster Grand Prix	[154]
2004	Andy Wallace	Ulster Grand Prix	[155]
2006	Darran Lindsay	Killalane Road Races	[108][vague]
2007	John Donnan	Tandragee 100
2008	Robert Dunlop	North West 200	[108][vague]
2008	Martin Finnegan	Tandragee 100	[108][vague]
2009	Mark Young	North West 200	[108][vague]
2010	Victor Gilmore	Killalane Road Races	[156]
2012	Mark Buckley	North West 200	[157]
2012	Lee Vernon	Dundrod 150	[158]
2014	Noel Murphy	Tandragee 100	[159]
2014	Simon Andrews	North West 200	[160]