Beer and Conversation with Pigweed and Crowhill

In which the boys skip a beer review and try to clear out the backlog of topics. * Why do the minorities get to dictate to the majority? * Maybe we can solve the political divide by being decent, kind people. * Pigweed's local history class. Why can't kids learn about local history? * Why is baseball so civil? Could it be because they might get hit by a fastball the next time they're at bat? * Free the nipples? What the heck is that? P&C love nipples, but ... what does this mean?

Before the boys talk about the benefits and concerns with life extension technology, they drink and review Heavy Seas' Night Swell, a dark India Pale Ale. What's going to happen as the population ages -- as older people continue to live past earlier life expectancies? What are the financial implications? How will it affect other social institutions, like marriage and family?

What does "cultural appropriation" add to our understanding of bad behavior? The boys discuss, but first they irrigate the mind meat with Peabody Heights' Unforgivable Curses -- a Belgian Tripel. It's quite the winter warmer. The worst thing about cultural appropriation is when it's applied to Halloween, where people are simply pretending. Quit being uptight about people being silly and having fun! Then the boys read an article from a genuine believer in cultural appropriation and try to dissect it.

The boys re-enact a camping incident with a government official. Jordan Peterson recently praised the American form of government. The boys review the major points and discuss general political principles. The main issue is your anthropology -- your view of man. If you believe man is perfectible, you might design a system that tries to make the perfect man. But if you believe man is prone to stupidity and error and corruption, you're going to create an entirely different system.

The boys review and discuss pride, and the other deadly sins, but first they drink and review New South Brewing's Dark Star, a very delicious and slightly robust porter. The Catholic Church tells us there are seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. P&C talk through the seven deadly sins, and how modern people view these sins. Nowadays, pride is considered a good thing. Which of the other deadly sins has modernity embraced?

The boys drink and review a red ale from New South Brewing, our friends in Myrtle Beach. This show follows a different format for Pigweed and Crowhill. The boys simply review headlines from The Babylon Bee, which is a satire site that seems to have a better sense of the true meaning of the news than most news sites. They show how ridiculous most of the regular news is.

What's with the attacks on Christopher Columbus? Why do we celebrate this particular Italian? And, on the other hand, how do we interpret the Columbus protesters / haters? Columbus is a 15th century man in a 21st century court, being judged by outraged woke virtue signalers with no historical perspective. What did they expect Columbus to do? Or the Europeans in general? They came to the new world and found slavery, human sacrifice and cannibalism. Were they supposed to endorse that?

In pursuit of the almighty dollar, it seems everyone is self-censoring to please the communist Chinese -- from the NBA to Disney. South Park (rightly) criticized the NBA and was immediately scrubbed in China.  China manipulates currency, steals our intellectual property, spies on us, cracks down on peaceful Hong Kong protesters, and is trying to become the world's dominant superpower, but ... hey? The NBA has to make a buck, right?

Celebrities are condemning one another for being nice to people! You have to show your liberal qualifications by who you hate, who you refuse to sit with, eat with, or talk to. Ellen DeGeneres committed the horrible sin of being friends with George W. Bush, and didn't back down when criticized! Good for her. We need more people with that kind of character. And then Elton John defended her as well. Closing music, "Adventure," from https://www.royaltyfree-music.com

It's bad enough that politicians use "it's for the children" as a prop for their policies. But the trend in using children has gone through fazes.  * "It's for the children," then  * using the children to write letters to congressmen, then  * calling children as "expert witnesses," then  * scaring the crap out of children so they can wag their fingers at the horrible adults.  The boys review and comment.

Our politically correct brethren in Massachusetts lose their minds over a flyer that says "Islam is right about women." This is genius. Professional level trolling. What exactly is the problem with this sign? Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it ironic? Is it hate? If so, why? Unpacking the reaction to this sign tells you everything you need to know about the insanity of the politically correct. The crime, apparently, is forcing people to address their hypocrisy about Islam and women's rights.

It seems that the law of supply and demand applies to hate as well as widgets. We're told that hate is everywhere, and some people reply with "Hate has no home here." But the boys think those are the people who hate more than anyone else. Are people projecting hate on others because they can't deal with the hate in themselves? When there isn't enough hate in the world, people make it up -- with hoaxes about hate crimes. Where does the hate come from? Is it more on the left, or more on the right?

In this latest issue of "Newz and Booze," Pigweed previews the new Joker movie -- without having seen it. Since movies have mined the superhero world relentlessly, this is the next step. To make heroes out of villains. Are they trying to normalize monstrosity? Arthur Fleck (the joker) is not a sympathetic character. He's a loser in many ways. His response is to lash out in violence. "Look at what you made me do."

The three irreducible principles of western civilization are these. The rule of law. The government cannot use law as an instrument of force and control. “Law” is king, and exists on a higher plane. A just law is the birthright of every citizen. Personal liberty. People are free to do as they please, and someone who wants to restrict freedom has to prove why that is in the common interest. Government should represent the people, and people have a say in the laws under which they live.

Are humans alone in the universe? The boys discuss the Fermi paradox. If there are so many stars with planets, where's all the intelligent life? Why haven't we heard from them? Crowhill says it's the worst of inductive reasoning, since we only have one example of intelligence. A related idea is the Drake equation, which tries to work all this into an actual equation with numbers, which is a good idea!