Spectre’s Sayings

I suppose that I should post something Irish for St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s the Brobdingnagian Bards singing The Orange and the Green:

Brian Doherty explains what’s at stake in the District of Columbia v. Heller case that goes before the Supreme Court tomorrow:

Obama to soldier: you can serve and die, but no beer. I guess it’s far more important to be in the insurance lobby’s pocket than to have any sort of respect for liberty, or for those who secure it. [Redacted] nanny-state, and the politicians who enforce it.

 

Meanwhile, Yahoo! News has a story about the international reaction.

Ebel’s Weiss Beer is Two Brother’s Brewing Co.’s take on the hefeweizen style. The label claims an aroma of cloves, vanilla, and bananas. I could smell the cloves quite strongly, and the bananas a bit more subtly. I couldn’t smell the vanilla, but when I tasted the beer I could detect it on my palate along with the stronger cloves and banana tastes.

For a wheat beer, it has a very thick mouthfeel, and strong flavor. Most weisses have lighter flavor. It’s fruity, but I prefer a more citrus-flavor to my wheat beers. There’s a flavor present that I can’t identify, but it tastes a bit raw to me, and isn’t especially pleasant.

This beer is a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant notes on the palate. My overall impression is slightly negative.

Here’s one article about various saints and their relationship with beer. Here’s another. And here’s a third.

Today, my nephew has a kindergarten screening. Good luck, buddy! (Actually, I have no doubt he’ll do well. He’s probably ready for first grade, but is still a little young yet.)

Jedi Knights and The Beatles as Jesus and the apostles? Okay….

Violent Collision of Stellar Winds Detected at Eta Carinae.

Live Science has a neat article about “How the Greek Agora Changed the World.”

Archbishop Burke’s Decree of Excommunication against the schismatics can be found here. Go read it.

A discussion of the canonical implications of the decree can be found here. Read this too.

Note this paragraph:

Wherefore, the entirety of the Catholic faithful of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis are warned by the present Declaration that any of the Sacraments attempted to be celebrated by Patricia Fresen, Rose Hudson and Elsie McGrath are utterly null and void; and that any assistance or attendance at, and direct or indirect participation in their supposed sacramental rites or rites of prayer are strictly forbidden.

What penalties would a Catholic from Saint Louis who did participate in those rites incur? And would a Catholic from outside Archbishop Burke’s jurisdiction also incur penalties?

I suspect that you can visit the Students for a Free Tibet site for a roundup of news of the Tibet protests.