S1P27 - Meanwhile, What We Missed

A tip of the hat to Stephen Colbert. On his Late Show, he often does a segment after the monologue that he calls Meanwhile. The premise of the bit is that since the opening monologue usually deals with the big news items and issues of the day, a lot of minor items slip through the cracks. He then proceeds to joke about mostly absurd news blips. 

That sort of happens with our podcast. We tend to concentrate on a couple of big issues, often those that happened close to our recording date. That means that we skip over or completely ignore many news items and issues. Unlike Colbert's Meanwhile, many of the issues we skip over are actually very important. Because of the flood of news that Trump generates, I take notes almost every day between podcast recordings. Part of Trump's strategy is to overwhelm the news cycle so that we forget the bad stuff when the newer bad stuff comes out. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

My plan for my Meanwhile posts is to quickly list what we skip on the podcasts. These will be bullet items that may or not be accompanied by a short comment. Many will include links to news stories. I have already commented on some of these items at the time they occurred either in a separate blog post, tweet, and/or Facebook post. You can see the links to my other sites near the bottom of the right-side column. 

It is normal to have 40 or 50 separate notes prepared between broadcasts. I'm always amazed at the number when we try to distill it down for the recording. 

So here we go with the first MEANWHILE post:

These notes go with the S3E08 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast

• Trump lies - No update. Still stuck on 10,796 lies in 869 days as of 06/07/19
• Trump golf - 201 visits in 132 weeks. 144 rounds.
• The opioid crisis and very disturbing numbers
• The flow of Chinese investments in US slows by up to 90%. An unreported fallout of Trump's trade wars.
• Trump jumps to action when Kanye West calls about A$AP Rocky’s arrest in Sweden. Seems less than a national crisis.
• Al Franken got fucked and caved too soon. Regrets. New Yorker piece.
• Ilhan Omar is Al Franken’s Congresswoman. 
• Trump continues to brag about Article II powers. Wrong. I doubt he has even read Article II.
• Trump’s Bronx golf course loses money. Blames the city 
• Watching The 80s on Netflix. Amazing how many fuckups & failures Reagan had. He also often wore light-colored suits. Considered an impeachable offense when Obama did it once.
• Republicans usually stay united and attack Dems. The Dems tend to stray and attack their own. 
• July 2019 was the Earth’s hottest month ever, beating July 2016

National

1. Congress and WH agree to a two-year budget that will raise the debt limit and increase the deficit. Raises spending by $320 billion
1. What happened to the fiscally responsible GOP?
2. 07/25 - House passes the budget bill
2. 07/22 - Trump expands power of ICE. Can deport without immigration judges or any due process.
3. 07/22 - Trump brags that he could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the earth
4. 07/22 - DOJ sends warning letter to Mueller concerning his testimony before Congress
5. 07/23 - Senate confirms Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper
6. 07/23 - Senate passes the 9/11 first responder bill. Thanks to Jon Stewart and public pressure on McConnell.
7. Trump gets punked at Turning Point rally by fake Presidential Seal
8. 07/24 - Muller testifies before Congress
1. Full transcript 
2. For someone who said they probably wouldn’t watch the proceedings, Trump sure had a lot of tweets. Over 20.
3. Not exonerated
4. Maybe no conspiracy with Russia but certainly cooperation
5. Russian interference was to benefit Trump
6. Russia did and is interfering with our elections. Others too.
7. Did not subpoena Trump because he would fight the subpoena and prolong/distract the investigation.
8. DOJ policy stopped Muller from subpoenaing and indicting Trump
9. Trump lied to investigators
10. Trump could be prosecuted for obstruction once out of office
11. Investigation not a witch hunt or a hoax 
9. 07/24 - A federal judge blocks Trump's latest asylum ban attempt.
10. 07/24 - Trump vetoes Congress’s ban of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, again.
11. 07/24 - Puerto Rico governor, Ricardo Rosselló, will resign next week.
12. 07/25 - Major auto companies strike deal with California for mileage/climate goals. In opposition to Trump’s new guidelines. 
13. 07/25 - DOJ plans to resume executions of death row inmates, ends a 16-year moratorium. The pro-life party.
14. 07/25 - House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena White House work communications sent via personal devices and accounts
15. Only one Republican showed at NAACP convention. Bill Weld
16. 07/25 - Senate Intelligence Committee report. Russia targetted election systems in all 50 states. Overly redacted report
1. Yet McConnell continues to block election security legislation
17. 07/26 - US economy slowed in the 2nd quarter to 2.1% growth
18. 07/27 - Supreme Court allows Trump to use $2.6 billion of military funds to build the wall while litigation continues. 5-4 vote.
19. 07/27 - Trump says he has asylum, safe third country deal with Guatemala. No details plus legal challenges in that country.
20. Trump trashes Fox News because one of their polls showed Biden ahead of Trump. Again, facts don't matter if they differ from Trump's beliefs.
21. Trump trashes Baltimore and Elijah Cummings.
1. Jared Kushner owns many substandard rental properties in and around Baltimore.
22. 07/28 - Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, will step down.
1. Trump will nominate John Ratcliffe, (D-TX) as the replacement. An unqualified Trump sycophant. 
2. A move to politicize the intelligence community
23. GOP to hold annual retreat in Baltimore in September.
24. 07/28 - Gilroy shooting. White nationalist. 
25. 07/29 - Trump again tries to pretend he was at ground zero during a bill signing for 1st responder benefits. No Dems or Jon Stewart at signing. Fuck You. 
26. New California law requires release of tax returns for presidential candidates in primaries.
27. 07/30 - ACLU says over 900 children have been separated at border.
28. The Fed cuts interest rates ¼% to 2.25%. The first cut since 2008
29. US imposes sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
30. The Senate confirms Kelly Knight Craft as UN Ambassador
31. 08/01 - Senate passes a huge 2-year budget. $320 billion increase.
32. 08/01 - Trump to impose tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods on 09/01. This round includes consumer goods such as cell phones.
33. 08/01 - Trump instructs new DOD Secretary Mark T. Esper to review a DOD cloud computing contract because Amazon might win the bid. Very swampy.
34. 08/01 - Texas Representative Will Hurd, says he will not run for reelection. He is the only Black Republican in the House. 
35. #MoscowMitch, #LennigradLindsey are trending hashtags
36. 164,000 jobs added in July
37. 08/02 - John Ratcliffe either withdraws or is dropped by Trump as Director of National Intelligence. Another personnel bust and lack of vetting. 
38. Afghan troop withdrawal proposed. Sketchy details.
39. 08/03 - El Paso mass shooting. Another white supremacist targetting immigrants,
1. Fox News coverage was terrible. Softpedaled type of weapon and white nationalist angle. This is not the time to politicize the gun control issue. Brought up Islamic terrorist possibilities. Seemed to be behind on breaking info.   
40. 08/04 - Dayton shooting

International

• 07/19 - Iran seizes British oil tanker
• 07/23 - Boris Johnson becomes British PM. Elected only by Tories. About 13 cabinet ministers dismissed or resigned. 92,153 votes to Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656. Total UK population 66M. 
• Will Scotland vote to leave UK? Boris has denigrated the Scots i n the past plus they voted against Brexit.
• 07/24 - North Korea fired two projectiles off their east coast.
• And again a week later
• Hong Cong protests escalate
• Moscow demonstrations

Texas

• 07/22 - Wendy Davis officially announces for House District 21
• Wascom’s “fetus asylum” law causing division in the community.
• Ron Wright diagnosed with lung cancer. US rep from 6th district, Ellis & Navaro counties plus part of southeast Tarrant including most of Arlington, Mansfield, & southwest FW. 
• Empower Texans and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and GOP Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows are having a dustup over media access and targetting some incumbents.     

wjh

S1P26 - Beer Review - Sierraveza

These are the beer notes from the S3E08 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast

Sierra Nevada Brewery

• Started in 1980 by Ken Grossman. Hand-built brewery. Chico, CA
• Started homebrewing in 1969
• Opened Home Brew Shop in 1976
• Build new (current) brewery in 1987
• Expansion in 1997
• Built their second brewery in Mill River, NC
• Other Beers:
• Pale Ale - the original beer
• Torpedo - Extra IPA
• Hazy Little Thing - Hazy IPA
• Summerfest - Crisp Lager
• Brut IPA
• Oktoberfest
• Bigfoot - Barleywine style ale
• Narwal - Imperial Stout
• Southern Gothic - Unfiltered Pilsner
• About 30 different brews
• Beers are available everywhere from 7-11’s to bars

Sierraveza

• Easy drinking lager
• Available in 12 oz. cans
• $8.99 6 pack cans @ Kroger
• 5% ABV
• 18 IBU
• 154 calories, 12.8g carbohydrates 
• Malts - Carmelized Pilsner and wheat
• Sterling hops
• Lager yeast

Keeping things light and bright, like sunshine in a can.

Inspired by the classic cervezas served ice cold by the beach, we created our own take on those light and easy beers born south of the border. Sierraveza is golden and crisp, with a balanced malt flavor and a hit of floral hops that will have you calling out for another round.

Review

Dennis and I both agree with Sierra Nevada's description. This beer is golden and crisp with a subtle floral hops background. It would be a good sessionable beer for a summer BBQ, during a round of golf, after working in the yard or in my case after a bike ride. Have two, Sierraveza goes down easy. Both Two Old Guys rate this brew a solid three (3) bottle caps out of five (5). Give it a try.

wjh