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2006-02-22 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

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Posted by Jackal 2006-02-22 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11127 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "I think they (Hamas) are very smart, very educated. I believe they will think twice before they do anything to hurt our business."
Oh, my, he is the optimist.
Myself, I never underestimate the Palestinian ability to be their own worst enemy, or at least, shoot themselves painfully in their own foot.

Posted by Sgt. Mom">Sgt. Mom 2006-02-22 08:05|| www.sgtstryker.com]">[www.sgtstryker.com] 2006-02-22 08:05|| Front Page Top

#2 Mmmmmmmmmm...non alcoholic beer. Eliminates that annoying buzz.
I wonder if the cans explode before you even shake them up?

Posted by tu3031 2006-02-22 08:11|| 2006-02-22 08:11|| Front Page Top

#3 prepare for the next step :
OSAMA's Single Malt -Black Label
(a.k.a gihadi whiskey)
I also expect the "Seventy Virgins" Root beer brand to appear soon in the ramallah market

Posted by Elder of Zion 2006-02-22 08:20|| 2006-02-22 08:20|| Front Page Top

#4 interesting (or not) sidenote re: beer - for many centuries in many places (including Europe) it was a primary way to save the calories of grain for human use when they couldn't prevent rats from getting into silos and spoil it. IIRC in the lowlands of 16th century Germany, kids would go around drunk because it was what their poor parents could afford.

another strange sidenote: the Swiss, who had pastures for dairy goats, didn't rely on grain and looked down on the drunken lowlanders.

Calvin was from Switzerland .... ;-)

Posted by lotp 2006-02-22 08:25|| 2006-02-22 08:25|| Front Page Top

#5 The reason beer was drunk was that the alcohol killed bacteria. It was a way to have drinkable fluids.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2006-02-22 08:41|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/] 2006-02-22 08:41|| Front Page Top

#6 yes, that's true. But Braudel's extensive research into source documents of the time explicitly demonstrates that the beer was seen as a way to preserve much-needed calories from grain, as well. c.f. Structures of Everyday Life: The Limits of the Possible (Civilization and Capitalism : 15th-18th Century) .

The 3 volumes of which that is the first is fascinating, a good read with excellent scholarly evidence behind it. Want to know how much of their budget people spent for food in different places and at different times? or what mix of foods were eaten, what types of cloth made up their clothes (and where it came from), how people learned trades ... it's all in there. An old favorite of mine.

slipping quietly to the back of the crowd again ...

Posted by lotp 2006-02-22 08:47|| 2006-02-22 08:47|| Front Page Top

#7 Actually, lotp, Calvin was French.
Born to an upper middle class family in France, John Calvin (the Latinized form of his birth name, Jean Cauvin)...
Calvin's ideas...forced him to flee for his own safety. During the next few years, he sought refuge in various cities, most notably Basel, Switzerland.

Posted by Spot">Spot 2006-02-22 08:49|| 2006-02-22 08:49|| Front Page Top

#8 True enough - I took liberties with that one and you're right. But it certainly was not a coincidence that his message found a receptive audience in Switzerland. (full disclosure - one part of my mother's family were Swiss)

BTW, for those who might dismiss Braudel because he's also French, this might be of interest:

Braudel explains that capitalism - and this is important - rose from the individual to the group, not top down. He traces an incredible path of changing habits, personal practices, slowly emerging markets and how the whole became greater than the sum of its parts. What is unique about this economic revolution is that it was NOT directed according to the dictates of academic theory or the musings of an economic prophet. It rose because it fit with the emerging modern civilization that was beginning in Europe (and would soon conquer the world).

One of the things I love about his work is that he shows how this happened and how it led to greater freedom and prosperity.

Posted by lotp 2006-02-22 08:55|| 2006-02-22 08:55|| Front Page Top

#9 Beer is also a diuretic. I'm not sure it is a net supplier of fluids. Perhaps Dr.Steve can make a House call on this one.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-02-22 09:43|| 2006-02-22 09:43|| Front Page Top

#10 Beer is also a diuretic.

"You don't drink beer, you borrow it".

Posted by anonymous5089 2006-02-22 09:46|| 2006-02-22 09:46|| Front Page Top

#11 lotp, that's why the most vicious of Islamist attacks are directed at the middle class...the shopkeepers, rubber plantation workers, people commuting to work, teachers, police. They are the true threat to the ideal of the Caliphate, in which there is only one ruler (and appropriate numbers of well-fed, bejewelled henchmen and toadies of course) and an empire of groveling slaves.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-02-22 09:53|| 2006-02-22 09:53|| Front Page Top

#12 Beer was mixed with water to create 'small beer' (in England) which everyone drank. If you read contemporary texts from the 14/17th century, you will find references to schoolboys having small beer for breakfast/lunch/dinner. And yes it was an important source of carbohydrates.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2006-02-22 09:55|| http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/]">[http://autonomousoperation.blogspot.com/] 2006-02-22 09:55|| Front Page Top

#13 alcohol is a diuretic. Beer is the convenient beverage it comes in. Mmmmmmm beer

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2006-02-22 10:26|| 2006-02-22 10:26|| Front Page Top

#14 I've just come back from China and while I was there I pondered the fact that tea drinking was ubiquitous, whereas in Europe beer drinking is.
Well the reality is that both need water to be boiled, therby killing germs.
A lot of Chinese are intolerent? to alcohol
"Some patients will experience intense facial flushing after having even small amounts of alcohol. These symptoms are most common in those with an oriental / Asian background. Other side-effects include fluttering of the heart (palpitations, tachycardia), sensation of heat, headache, abdominal discomfort or a drop in blood pressure (hypotension) are related to high blood acetaldehyde levels. Patients with these problems appear to be partially deficient in aldehyde dehydrogenase, resulting in high levels of accumulated acetaldehyde"
But there are a lot of areas in China where beer is drunk with meals.
While I was there I discvered Harbin, one of the best beers I've tried.
The point i want to make is that families in China who served tea and families in Europe who served beer would find that their children did not die of water bourne diseases.
With todays water systems being reasonably pure, that cultural advantage may no longer be important.

Posted by tipper 2006-02-22 11:07|| 2006-02-22 11:07|| Front Page Top

#15 The beer yeast is chock full of B vitamins. Which kept people healthier when the suppy of red meat was not available.

Posted by BrerRabbit 2006-02-22 12:29|| 2006-02-22 12:29|| Front Page Top

#16 Used beer on Hamas.

Posted by Zenster 2006-02-22 13:56|| 2006-02-22 13:56|| Front Page Top

#17 Personally, I would enjoy reading more stories about average guys who want to "beat the Jews" by creating and marketing a nice boring product or providing a useful service. The more of a functioning, capitalist economy the Palestinians have, the more peaceful things are likely to become.

Posted by Secret Master 2006-02-22 14:05|| 2006-02-22 14:05|| Front Page Top

#18 I thought Khoury had a restaurant in Long Beach

Posted by BigEd 2006-02-22 16:30|| 2006-02-22 16:30|| Front Page Top

#19 The lucrative market potential was highlighted by a deal four years ago which saw Egypts largest brewer of "near-beer," Al-Ahram Beverages, bought by Heineken for 280 million dollars.

Now that goes a long way to explain why Heineken tastes like crap now.

Posted by Cheaderhead 2006-02-22 17:38|| 2006-02-22 17:38|| Front Page Top

#20 I have not read this book, The Empire of Tea, but know the author and have read favorable reviews. Anyone interested in the impact of the transition from beer to tea on England in the nineteenth century should find it worthwhile.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-02-22 17:47|| 2006-02-22 17:47|| Front Page Top

#21 I'd rather have a Ham asandwich with cheese.

Posted by Captain America 2006-02-22 22:35|| 2006-02-22 22:35|| Front Page Top

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