How to Avoid Drinking Budweiser at the World Cup

I now know why my first attempt at teh note above didn’t go through. It’s because, I think, I put a web page inside the note. A lot of what I wrote was good stuff but I didn’t want to re-type it all. But, regarding socialized medicine, check out this web page.

Posted from  United States

Frank Grimes:
“You need to know your history to learn from it.”

LOL! You mean like the US Govt is learning from its history? US Foreign policy is entirely based on FIXING previous mistakes only to make those exact same mistakes over and over again… If that’s learning, then from now on, you can call me Benedict XVI.

“You ancentry is also part of who you are.”

BS! Now you’re blaming your ancestors for the fact that you are being narrow-minded, and incapable of seeing let alone RESPECTING other people’s opinions. But I digress…

“Aren’t you interested in your grand parents and their parents and wjhy you were born where you were?”

Not in the least as it doesn’t affect me, my opinions and my moral values. Now my PARENTS did – to an extent.

” What got you where you are?”

I know how I got where I am… it’s a fancy little piece of machinery called an airplane.

“Don’t you care about history?”

Which version of history? The TRUE version? Or the nationalistic version that american school kids get spoon-fed?

“It’s too bad you don’t feel patriotism is important. ”

As a matter of fact, patriotism is dangerous… it’s about half a step away from the type of nationalism that made Hitler (in)famous.

It was Lewis Black that once said “Why are there people in this country that say America is the greatest country on earth… yet they have never been out of the country… there could be countries giving away sh!t for free!” Welcome to that category of people Frank.

“I am proud of America’s freedoms, our opporrtunities and our openness.”

Hehe.. yeah, that’s why congress needs to flame the NY Times and several other news-media for releasing info about data sharing between the tel-co’s and the NSA, because this country is all about openness. Those damn liberals, always undercutting good honest government programs that do not at all invade anybody’s privacy.

I hate to tell you this Frankieboy, but you’re about as brainwashed as they come… Goebbels would eat your kind for breakfast – and apparently Fox (Fair and Balanced, my big hairy a$$) News does too.

Posted from  United States

That’s just great, you don’t agree with someone so you call them brainwashed. Can’t you see that I can call you brainwashed as well? You are brainwashed by the “left wing media” aren’t you. You guys love calling people names and putting people down who don’t agree with you. I state a case and you call me brainwashed.

the US has made some mistakes throughout hisory but the good far out weights the bad. Typically, the US has saved the world from tyranny, nazi-ism, communism, etc. Are those mistakes? Learning form your past would let you see that there are evil people in the world that want to control it and will stop at nothing to do so. We’ve stopped them in the past so we need to stop them again. Appeasement will get you Nevile Chamberlin and an over-run country.

You say I am narrow minded and don’t respect other people’s opinions. See the thing is I have a different opinion than you and I am making a case quite respectfully. I respect your opinion, I just don’t happen to agree with it. You have a hell of a lot more vitriol in your response don’t you?

It’s good to see that you don’t care about your grandparent, they would be so proud, and that you don’t really care about anyone other than yourself and your opinion. You’re a self made man, that’s great. You have absolutely no introspection it appears and that too is too bad. If you can’t see that your grandparents influenced your parents who you admit had “some” effect on you than you obviously can’t see what effect anything in the past had on your life or in the world for that matter. I can’t make you see that. I am just confident in the knowledge that the past does matter and that it is something to know about.

Your glib response about the airplane was great. Making a lame joke doesn’t really ridicule me as you intended, it actually ridicules you.

Comparing patriotism to following Nazi-ism is cute but just wrong. In Nazi Germany, no one had a choice but to follow Hitler for fear of being killed. That is not the same in the USA. And telling me what a a comedian said on stage is hardly a stirring argument.

But you are so right, the NY times should do whatever is necessary to inform the terrorists of our security procedures because after all, terrorists have rights too, don’t they? Seriously, The plan that the times blew the whistle on had to do with terrorist money and tracking that to help us track the terrorists. The fact that you somehow see that as an invasion of your rights is mind boggling. They aren’t tracking your money, unless of course you are a terrorist.

Quite frankly, I don’t see the point in arguing with someone who thinks it is OK to damage our national security. You too will fight for the rights of terrorists and be sadly mistaken someday. I don’t expect you ever to agree with a closed minded person like myself. I can understand why you hate patriotic people, we’re so happy with our lives and we have a sense of purpose. Those are hateful things.

So Klots balls, enjoy your life and stay safe and mat God be with you.

Posted from  United States

Frank. You have finely proven yourself to be brainwashed seriously. Lets go through the list:

You actually think Iraq was harbouring terrorist? WRONG. So few links were ever actually found, that I can only find 2 reports that Bin Laden and Saddam are (or were) linked, both with fairly tenuous evidence. http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006D9F9.htm
That’s a reason as to why it’s pretty unlikely that they had any relationship. Also Iraq also depised Iran, one of the other nations with Terrorist links, definately much stronger than Iraqs. Infact I’d imagine the only terrorists in Iraq are the ones who are there attempting to liberate it. Not ONE WMD was ever found. Yeah, real treat to the world. So in conclusion the terrorist link was bogus, America knew it and was went in (sacrificed thousands of lives) to help bolster the economy.

Patriotism is one step short of nationalism. Very true statement, infact if you were to Google quotes about Patriotism, there would be a series of pro and negative statements in regards to patriotism, depends really on perspective. But patriotism is why a lot of Young ( often poor americans) are going to fight an invisible enemy for their country, which is handy for the economy as it’s less of a drain.

You are brain washed because you actually think Terrorists ( or communists ) are a threat to you! They are not, they rarely ever attack within US borders and when they do, it is usually pretty small scale stuff. How many people live in america?

You are brainwashed because you believe America saved the world from communism. That’s like saying you saved the world from Santa Claus. Communism is not actually that awfull a thing that people needed to be saved from it. Dictators, or government heads who abuse their power is the danger, and because of how communism is set up, it is more likely to happen before a pass over of control to the people. But communism isn’t the problem. The corruptability of people in power is, and that happens within any type of government.

Put simply, the world didn’t need saving from Communism, the American government did. The rest of the world know that the McCarthy era was bullshit Paranoia and scare mongering by the government. When will you learn this? When will this be taught in schools, when will REAL history be taught in American schools? Terrorists are the new communists for the American government and they will milk it for as long as they can.

You hate Liberals, eh? You know that the word Liberal derives from the word Liberty, which of couse means freedom. Yeah? So in reality you actually hate freedom, why? Because freedom doesn’t protect you and your family from terrorist or whatever other threat the media push, like blacks or gang wars or drugs or sex or the internet.

“They aren’t tracking your money, unless of course you are a terrorist.”

Well if they knew they were terrorists, why didn’t they just send them to jail? The fact is they suspected they were terrorists but had sweet fuck all proof, and thus because of all that lovely freedom you so despise, they couldn’t do jack. The idea anyone under suspicion of been a terrorist, IS a terrorist is laughable. When Republicans stop proclaiming how great freedom is (while at the same time attempting to destroy it), I’ll stop hating Right wing church going republicans.

How can you hate Terrorism but love Ireland as it stands, It’s an oxymoron, there would be no free Ireland with out the rebels (in modern context called terrorists) fight for freedom. I actually appreciate terrorism as a legitimate form of action of repressed people. They’re hardly going to be able form some massive army, now are they, thus terrorism the only option left open to them.

I appreciate what that the IRA movement in Northern Ireland actually improved the lives of all Northern Catholics and Nationlists.

You hate the IRA? You hate the free state!

You hate Terrorists? You must Hate Reagan, considering he supported (billions of dollars of US tax payers) Terrorists in the 1980’s and helped arm Iraq.

What history do you know? Ireland alone has had more recorded history than the entire United states. Then we could go to Europe, where huge castles lie dorment, telling the tales of thousands of dead. Roman Sewers are still in use by Britain, some 2,000 years on. The reason for both Islamic and in history Christian hatred of Jews. How national divides were created. Yeah I know and love history, which is why I feel confident in saying that American is the same as pretty much every other Super Power/Empire in history, Arrogant, overly aggresive, power hungry, and dangerous.

And I know where my family came from.

And your point on US been very charitible is fairly mute. As it is fairly hard to measure that. First the amount compared to the economic size of the country determines how charitible it is, not just the dollar amount and also where that money is going.

Posted from  Ireland

Well done Cathal. You have proven your own idiocy. I love the fact that you call anyone who disagrees with you brainwashed. Like I said before, I could call you brainwashed too. It’s a different point of view. It’s not brainwashing.

Without going into detail, if you can’t see that Saddam Huesin was a terrorist you’re nuts. He murdered hundreds of thousands, many of his own people using chemical weapons. He paid bounties to the families of suicide bombers. We found over 500 chemical rockets, plus nuclear plans and some other weapons. You are in denial.

Also, I NEVER said I hate liberals. I have many friends and family memebers that are liberals. Outside of politics liberals are very nice people, they are just mis directed.

And All the people in the old soviet union who were freed from Communism will be happy to know that you feel communism isn’t all that bad. You’re right, it was the dictators but it was also the system. Every communist system is run by a ruthless dictator. Look at North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc.

Actually, were as I have repsect for others in this forum who I disagree with I have zero for you. That is for 2 reasons. 1- you don’t think America is at all threatened by teorrism. All terrorists threats in America are small you say. 3,000 people died on 9/11 that is not small. Even if it were only 3, that is intolerable.
2- you appreciate terrorist as a legitimate form of warfare. That is inexcusable. You favor the targeting of innocent people including children. That is sick and inexcusable. You should be the vistom of such an attack.

Lastly, you point to all wars and somehow make them about terrorism and you feel that is justified. How should I respond to that. That is so out there I can’t ever reason with someone who has no real morals them selves and clearly does not value human life.

You say America is power hungry and dangerous. What you fail to understand that every country we ever defeated we gave them their country back and we helped them rebuild and we helped them become part of the worlds community. We did not occupy, we conquered, fixed and left. That is what we are doing in IRaq. You just can’t see that.

And I knew you would complain about the % of the US’s charity. It’s not enough that we give the most, we have to give the highest %. We still give so much more than anyone else, but that’s not enough. Typical Liberal Douche bag.

I was trying to be nice but if you support terrorism you are an asshole.

Posted from  United States

Very good site with a lot of useful information.

Posted from  Malaysia

I browse and saw you website.

Posted from  China

wow

you are all idiots

the problem with politics is that its too black and white…..liberal/conserative…prochoice/prolife….probush/everyone else (haha just kidding)

the liberals claim to be open minded but they clearly arent….their idea of being open minded is trying to convert everyone else to their point of view

the conservatives claim to not be brainwashed yet they state facts that are somehow unavailable to everyone else

anyway, i think we should get back on topic on what this post was truly about…..beer

the one thing i COMPLETELY agree with on this page is that Budweiser should NOT be the sponsor of South Africa 2010

not because i think bud is really that bad (paint thinner is a bit of a stretch….)

but because its the world cup, and it deserves a truly great beer

i was in Portugal for the Euro 2004…Carlsberg sponsored that one, which is a great choice in my opinion

most german beers would be fine, although i would love to see a good Portuguese one, i.e. Sagres, Superbock

any other suggestions?

oh, by the way, dont bother replying unless its about what the post was meant to be about….if you want to discuss politics you can join one of the thousands of sites dedicated
to endless political posts that resolve nothing

Vitor,

I would have loved to have brought the conversation back to beer some time ago, I even tried once, but Klots Balls and Cathy kept getting under my skin.

I just tried a beer from Holland, I think, called Aass Beer. I had to buy it just for the name. Unfortunately it kinda tasted like ass. Seriously it was good for the first one but I got sick of it after that.

I’ll stick with Bud if that’s OK with everyone else. I’ll try any beer you suggest though.

Posted from  United States

Aass beer from Holland? Wow! I was born and raised in the netherlands. Never knew that stuff was from there. Oh but it isn’t! Try Norway – a quick detour to your favorite search engine will tell you this…

Personally, I believe any mass produced beer tastes like feet and should only be consumed if absolutely necessary (ie when there is no alternative whatsoever). But then again, I’ve discovered a brewery in town that will let you brew your own… Awesome beer, none of the mess!

Posted from  United States

The real dor having this discussion about Bud and mainstream American beers, and whether they taste like “Spulwasser” or not, is Prohibition. Only half the breweries reopened reopened after it was repelled. Many small ones were out of business for good, and that drove the stake in the heart of the American brewing industry, because mainly the largest breweries had survived. It has only been since the 1980s that the art of brewing finally recovered.

Who knows, Budweiser may have tasted good when Eberhard Anheuser and Adolphus Busch started the company in St. Louis. It is a bit of an American story: great beginnings by enterprising immigrants, but then bible thumpers and politicians kill nearly the whole industry by introducing Prohibition.

Check this out: http://www.schlafly.com/history.brewing.shtml

However, the damage is done. One or two generations of people grew up thinking that the Miller and Budweiser of today is all that beer is about. There are good American beers made in small breweries, but they do not have the market share or the advertising power of Anheuser-Busch to compete on the large scale. It is just like PCs vs Macs: a clever marketing strategy has made an inferior product the dominant one until it reached a near monopoly. Same with Bud.

One more point: how many of you are familiar with a beer called Budvar? It is made in the towm of Ceske Budejovice and its German name happens to be “Budweiser”. Although Budvar has been brewed there since the 13th century, it has not stopped Anheuser-Busch shysters from claiming worldwide rights to the name, claiming that the Czech brewery has been selling Budvar as “Budweiser” only since 1895. Eberhard Anheuser had picked the name Budweiser because it was a nearby town on the Czech Side of the border, plus it would be easy for Americans to pronounce. I think if he saw his product today, he would have picked the name “Spulwasser” and most Americans would never know the difference!

Sorry, the first sentence of my post should read “Rhe real reason for having this discussion”, This airort keyboard is very unpredictable! As are BA flights today, unfortunately

Frank & Cathal-

Given the content of this board … beer & politics (a great mix I think), I am reminded of the old saying

“God invented alcohol to stop the Irish ruling the world!”

Posted from  Australia

Klotsbal – you hit the nail on the head! In my mind, the problem with Bud obviously is not American beer-vs foreign beer, but mass-produced swill, vs beer crafted is small batches. Such beer has taste and character, while mega-beers do not. There are mega-beers in other parts of the world that are similarly character-less: Foster’s or Beck’s to name a couple, and on the other hand there are some great beers made in America as well.

For me it is more a question of ales vs lagers. I have never been much of a lager fan. I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, some of the ales from Rogue in Oregon (i.e. Dead Guy Ale), Long Tail Ale from Vermont, Hoegaarden, and all the Weissbiers from Bavaria and Schwaben.

One more thought about Bud. The fact that Anheuser-Busch manages to sell it to 50% of American beer drinkers, shows the massive power of advertising (or demagoguery if you will). I think it is hilarious that Bud fans buy that stuff, think they are drinking a great beer, even fall for the advertising slogan proclaiming it to be the “King of Beers”!

Back to my original point, IT’S A MATTER OF TASTE!!!!!!!!. You don’t like Bud, I do. That’s good for me and good for you. Advertising isn’t everything. Some people obviously like Bud. A hell of a lot of people. They all aren’t having the wool pulled over their eyes. Maybe many Americans haven’t tasted some of the beers you have mentioned, but many have and stil lperfer Bud. Why can’t you handle that?

Posted from  United States

Frank, take a chill-pill. Every time when there is a critical comment posted here that in some way clases with your beliefs, why do you ALWAYS assume that the comment is directed at you? I fully agree that taste is a personal thing. The difference is that some people have good taste, some have poor taste. (DISCLAIMER: this does not neccesarily mean you.)

Nobody is prohibiting you from drinking whatever your heart desires. But -using your own argument- nobody can tell me that Bud actually IS good. True?

Posted from  United States

Frank, I would not underestimate the gullibility of the American consumer. Americans are fooled into believing all kinds of myths when purchasing consumer goods, from cars to computers to beer. But I agree with you that advertising isn’t everything: Most do fall for advertising, the rest buy because they d not know any better. Again, this does not -in any way- imply yourself…..

Posted from  United States

Advertising is a powerful tool and I often wonder what impact it has for Coke vs Pepsi and Bud or Coors light etc. I won’t deny it has an impact, but I don’t think it can make a product so many consider to be piss, to be the number #1 beer in the world. A hell of a lot of people have to like it to keep it #1. I typically don’t like anything that is popular. I usually stay away from what others consider the best (movies, TV, food, etc.) I prefer to make up my own mind and don’t like to go with the masses. Bud however is an exception. I care only about my taste buds when I am drinking and I like Bud. It is the sweat nectar of the Gods to me. Ahhh Bud!!!!!

Posted from  United States

As the original entry in the blog states, fans at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will have the distinct (dis)pleasure of having Bud as the official beer again. I am wondering why SABmiller, a South African company and one of the largest brewing conglomerates in the world, did not make sure one of their products was the sponsor?

In case people are not familiar with them, SAB stands for South African Breweries Ltd. They own some 150 brands in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. Among them stand out such things as Miller Genuine Draft (another American taste-free ridiculous beer-lookalike, but nevertheless a great seller in the States) and Foster’s (equally bland Australian mega-brew), Peroni and Castle Lager. But they also some very good beers i.e. Kronenbourg, Amstel, Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus.

Posted from  United States

This article is from the World Cup Blog on the Spiegel website. Der Spiegel the German equivalent of Time/Life Magazines.

It is about Dutch fans who had to take their pants off because they were considered a form of advertising for an AB competitor. Absurd? Advertising rights by AB notwithstanding, what happened to the rights of privacy and freedom of expression?

Dutch Could be Forced to Watch Without their Pants

Dutch football fans trying to attend their team’s game in Stuttgart today could be made to go into the stadium without their pants. The bizarre situation has been caused by a popular pair of orange “lederhosen” which breach a World Cup advertising embargo.

The Dutch are known as liberal people but even their orange army of football fans may find the idea of watching a football game in just their underwear slightly weird. But this is the bizarre situation facing many Dutch fans today because of a cult pair of orange trousers.

The problem is that the orange lederhosen bear the logo of Dutch brewery Grossbrauerei. Advertising by non-official sponsors is banned around World Cup stadiums. Heineken, which sponsors the Dutch national football team, is also not pleased at the guerilla marketing campaign. Before a friendly game against Cameroon earlier this month Heineken kicked up a fuss and forced Dutch fans to leave the offending items outside the ground. Later a Dutch court ruled that Dutch fans should be allowed to wear the trousers, but German World Cup organisers may disagree.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported this week that the bright orange lederhosen are the brainchild of Peer Swinkels, manager of a Dutch brewery, Grossbrauerei Bavaria. For every double six pack of the beer sold in Dutch supermarkets, the brewery have been giving out free pairs of orange, cotton lederhosen. The idea is supposed to be a gentle mockery of the Germans’ penchant for real lederhosen during the World Cup period. The lederhosen also feature a tail and a lion motif — the national symbol of Holland. So far over 250,000 pairs of lederhosen have flown off the shelves and they have become a cult item among Dutch soccer fans.

But anyone trying to wear their lion-like lederhosen in the stadium when Holland take on the Ivory Coast will have to leave them at the security check. Which leaves the distinct possibility that many fans will have to watch in their underwear. But hey, at least it’s warm in Stuttgart today…

– Chris Bryant, 6:00 p.m. CET

Original posting at: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,421777,00.html

Posted from  United States

Interesting site http://xoomer.alice.it/naxibo/4/

Posted from  Dominican Republic

Budweiser is my friend!

Posted from  United States

Aass beer is not from Holand, but from Norway it means a hill i Norwegian.

Posted from  Norway

Us south africans are pretty upset about the whole Budweiser thing considering we have the second largest brewer in the world and Budweiser is hardly available here probabl cos it tastes like piss. But end of the day its Fifa’s fault for not giving the host countries preference for sponsors. I mean at the moment how would the americans feel about an French company sponsoring their World Cup!

um… you mean they play soccer in the u.s?…. that’s weird…