Author: Pigweed and Crowhill

P&C drink and review Double Nickel Session IPA, then discuss January 6 and all the hyperventilating about it.

The over-hyping of the events of January 6 turned Pigweed and Crowhill away from the story. When everyone over-reacts, we under-react.

Now that there’s some distance and the rhetoric has died down a bit, maybe there’s some ability to evaluate it calmly.

First, Trump was absolutely wrong in his belief that Pence had the authority to not certify the election results. Unfortunately, some people believed it.

Second, there have been some persistent lies about that day, such as the claim that six police officers died. That’s not true.

The lies and exaggerations were quite over the top. Calling the event an “armed insurrection” is absurd. If Jan. 6 was an insurrection, it was the lamest, stupidest insurrection that’s ever been attempted. Calling it an attempt to overturn democracy, or destroy the Constitution, is such breathless, mindless stupidity that it beggars the imagination.

The actual threat to democracy from Jan. 6 is the abuse we’ve seen of the justice system: the overly harsh treatment of Jan. 6 protesters, and the fact that exculpatory evidence was withheld from defense attorneys.

The ongoing lies about January 6 are completely outrageous. Pigweed and Crowhill try to parse through it all and present a balanced perspective.

They also discuss recent “insurrections,” where Democrats have stormed state legislatures.

The boys drink and review Bakalar, a Czech dark lager, then discuss the history of religious revivals in the United States, and their effects.

They discuss what makes something a religious revival — what are its signs and effects. What elements are essential and what are accidental?

They review several of the great religious revivals in U.S. history, and mention some of their leading figures.

Also, what causes a revival? What sorts of cultural situations tend to precede revivals? Do they come in a predictable rhythm? Do they always involve a fixation on the end of the world?

There’s also an interesting question of the different talents required for the revival and the people who come afterwards, who need to create lasting institutions.

Crowhill believes a religious revival is the only hope for the United States.

P&C drink and review a dry-hopped pilsner from Nepenthe, then discuss crucifixion.

Crucifixion didn’t start with the Romans, and wasn’t limited to them. The Romans learned it from the Persians, the Carthaginians, and the Macedonians. But the Romans “perfected” and systematized it.

Crucifixion was reserved for crimes against the state: rebellion, treason, and religious dissent.

Modern research suggests that there wasn’t a single way to crucify someone. Arms might have been nailed to the cross, or sometimes just tied with ropes. The feet may not have been nailed together, but sometimes nailed separately on different sides of the cross.

The torturers had some liberty to improvise.

The Romans used crucifixion to warn the population not to dare to mess with Rome. It was state-sponsored terrorism.

After a general review of crufixion, the boys speak briefly about the crucifixion of Christ.

The boys drink and review Dark and Righteous, from Jailbreak brewing, then discuss their recent experiences with destination weddings.

P&C both attended Roman Catholic weddings — Crowhill was the father of the bride at a wedding in Nashville, and Pigweed was at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, near Puerto Vallarta.

The boys discuss similarities and differences in their experiences at the weddings, as well as travel, accommodations, and entertainment. They reflect on the whole package — what they liked and what they didn’t.

On the way home, Pigweed had the unfortunate experience of sitting next to someone who didn’t fit in the airplane chair. P&C spend some time discussing this frequent problem, and how airlines ought to deal with it.

The boys drink and review Lagunitas’s Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, then discuss this new word Latinx — where it came from and why. They also ask whether vacations are actually relaxing.

Our language overlords have insisted that Latino and Latina are inappropriate in our new woke universe, so they imposed a monstrosity: Latinx — which makes no sense.

Spanish is a gendered language, but white woke people in America figured they had to fix that, because those stupid Latinos didn’t know what to do with their own language.

Pigweed takes a woke, revisionist Spanish document with him to Mexico to ask some actual Latinos what they think of this Latinx business. They didn’t like it, and stats bear that out. Latinos don’t like it.

What happened to the left’s rejection of cultural imperialism?

Pigweed and Crowhill also attended destination weddings, and discuss vacations in general, and their experiences.

P&C drink and review Xingu black lager and then take a look back at the government response to the Covid crisis. Do you remember all of this?

• “Three weeks to flatten the curve” became “everyone must stay inside until we have a vaccine.”
• From the start, they tried to crush the lab-leak explanation as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory.
• We were given contradictory nonsense about masks.
• We were told to wipe down surfaces to prevent the spread.
• We had to stay 6 feet apart.
• We were told that natural immunity is no good.
• Healthy young people were told they needed to get the vaccine.
• Everyone had to stay indoors, even though Vitamin D helps against Covid.

Why did virologists and epidemiologists make all the rules? Why didn’t we consult other experts? Economists, educators, psychologists …? Did our leaders consider the human cost? The economic cost?

Why did the government, academia, the media, and social media all sing the same tune and promote the same agenda? Isn’t that a little scary?

The boys drink and review Troeg’s Nugget Nectar, then discuss how men are stealing all the top places in women’s rankings.

While thinking about transgender ideology, the boys look at …

• Contradictions in transgender ideology
• What “transgender” means
• Can people be “trapped in the wrong body”?
• Examples of how men are stealing women’s thunder
• Where have all the feminists gone?

The gender fluidity / trans perspective is internally inconsistent, illogical, unscientific, and mind-bogglingly stupid.

Pigweed and Crowhill try their best to inject some sense and logic into the debate.

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review Paulaner pils, then discuss Lent and fasting.

Lent is the penitential season before Easter. Crowhill gives a basic history of Lent, and the boys discuss some common Lenten customs.

The 40 days of Lent are symbolic, similar to other 40-day events in the Bible.

Modern Lenten fasts are usually not as stringent as fasts in the past, and especially not as strict as the fasts the monks used to do.

Which leads us to Pigweed and Crowhill’s beer fast.

The Paulaner monks came up with a particularly strict fast in which they ate nothing and only drank beer and water for Lent.

Pigweed and Crowhill tried their own version of this fast and had nothing but beer and water for three days. They describe their experiences.

The boys drink and review Sweet Baby Banana by DuClaw, then discuss two short works by Tolkien.

In this latest installment of their “shortcut to the classics” series, Longinus joins Pigweed and Crowhill to review these very interesting stories.

Niggle is a quiet little man who would like to spend his life on his grand work, which was a painting of a tree. His neighbor, Parish, keeps interrupting him with irritating requests. Niggle reluctantly helps Parish, but fails to prepare for a long journey, and is caught unawares when the day comes.

The story can be interpreted as an allegory about death, Purgatory, and the beatific vision. It also touches on the legacy of a man and his art, and role of artists as subcreators.

Farmer Giles is a much sillier story about a simple man who becomes the unlikely local hero that scares away a giant and defeats a dragon, with the help of a magical sword and a talking dog.

These stories illustrate two different elements of Tolkien’s writing: philosophical seriousness, and light, silly writing.

Pigweed wanted to expose the sprouts to some real music, so they went to hear the symphony. Pigweed was enthralled by the soprano, but was confused by her bio. She insists that people use confusing pronouns, and associates her music with anti-colonialist silliness and other liberal talking points and advocacy. The woke BS is working its way into everything, and P&C are sick of it.

P&C drink and review an Irish Stout from Nashville, then discuss five topics in five minutes each.

1. Self love on Valentine’s Day. What do you think of someone who sends her love to herself on Valentine’s Day? P&C think that’s ridiculous. Love is outwardly directed, not inwardly.
2. Brandon and the Chinese Balloons. Was this the most embarrassing thing for the U.S. in decades? We showed the whole world that we’re indecisive and incompetent and that we overreact when we’re caught with our pants down. A total embarrassment.
3. The non-binary soprano. Pigweed took the sprouts to an orchestral performance to expose them to some genuine art. The soprano was wonderful. But … it was a they/them, and the program was full of all kinds of confusing gibberish.
4. Liberal tells. What words or phrases immediately tell you that someone is a liberal? Undocumented immigrant. Always talking about gender. Everything is explained by hate or bigotry. Safe spaces. Decolonization. Problematic. Personal pronouns. Dog whistles. Privilege. Racist. Sexist. Homophobe. Transphobe. Triggered.
5. Beer fasting. You think beer fasting means giving up beer. But P&C are traditionalists. They’re going to give up everything except beer for a few days, to see what it was like for the Paulaner monks in the old days.

P&C drink “Watch out for Bears” brown ale from Calvert Brewing, then discuss the history of Singapore.

It starts with the East India Company, which wanted a port in this strategic location between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca leading into the Bay of Bengal. Commerce between China and India, and then later to the Suez canal, had to come through this area.

Singapore was controlled by the British for a time but was captured and brutalized by the Japanese during WWII. After a post-war effort to join greater Malaysia failed, Singapore became independent, and then started on an absolutely stunning transformation.

At first, the population of Singapore was incredibly poor, and many of them were addicted to opium. Lee Kuan Yew became prime minister in 1959 and led the country to become one of the richest, most advanced, most educated countries in the world.

But it’s a weird mix of capitalism and dictatorship. It’s a lovely place, but not “free” by western standards.

Lee Kuan Yew might be the only example the world has ever seen of the benevolent philosopher-king dictator.

P&C drink and review Cold Snap White Ale from Sam Adams, then discuss their trip to the Maryland Live Casino.

Although P&C generally frown on gambling, they wanted to see what a casino is really like. So they went to see for themselves on the weekend of the NFL division championships.

Unlike the casinos in Vegas, which are beatiful, with stunning art and fancy displays, and lots of entertainment close by, the Maryland Live Casino was just gaudy, noisy, and flashy.

This was not a casino James Bond would visit. Not classy. Not elegant.

Your favorite beer-drinking high-rollers each bet the stunning sum of $20.

P&C drink and review a homebrewed stout, and along with special guest John Wayne Jew discuss how diversity, equity, and inclusion don’t mean what you think they mean, or what they should mean.

They start with an effort to find the good things in DEI. But they don’t get very far.

DEI is a social and moral catastrophe. It hides behind words that sound virtuous and pleasant, but it twists and distorts those words into something unrecognizable.

“Diversity” only applies to a very narrow range of issues: race, sex, and who you fancy. There’s no effort to have diversity of opinion, of religious views, or personality traits, or any of the thousands of ways that humans can be distinguished.

“Equity” is a classic bait and switch. Americans all believe in equality of opportunity, but equity means equality of outcome, which is a horrible mess. “Equity” justifies letting people out of jail because of their race, irrespective of whether they’re guilty.

There’s something similar with “inclusion.” The DEI proponents are only interested in including certain groups and certain ideas. They don’t want to include conservatives.

P&C drink and review Cream Team, a cookies and cream milk stout, then discuss “advances” in reproductive technology.

Ectolife is working on creating an artificial womb, where babies can be grown in a production facility. There’s been some success with mice, and they want to extend the tech to humans.

The goal is to alleviate some of the pain and risk inherent in childbirth, and to help couples who are unable to reproduce naturally.

It would eliminate premature births, miscarriage, c-sections, and all sorts of complications in pregnancy. The system would also report on genetic abnormalities, and possibly allow doctors to correct them — or even correct inherited diseases.

It can go even further. You might be able to choose some of your baby’s characteristics, like eye and hair color, strength, intelligence, height, etc.

But there are criticisms.

If babies are so easily created, will they be less valued?

There’s also no real connection between the mother and child.

It seems like a slippery slope. How far does this go?

Every human that has ever born came from a woman’s body. How will these babies be different?

How will this affect our perception of women?