Trivializing death for fun and profit

That a Frederick, Md., brewery recently bottled its first batch of beer from a Civil War-era recipe and is now distributing is testament to the creativity of American business. What better time to recreate an alcoholic beverage from the 1860s than the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, right?

What’s troubling is the apparent lack of respect the Moncacy Brewing Co. is showing for the event to which it’s tying its product.

The first of nine ales to be released by Monocacy in commemoration of the 1861-65 conflict is called “Antietam Ale” and marks the Sept. 17, 1862, battle near Sharpsburg, Md., that resulted in 23,000 casualties.

According to the label of Antietam Ale:

“The Battle of Antietam changed the course of the Civil War, helped free over 4 million Americans and still ranks as the bloodiest single day in American history.”

In reality, only that last of those three statements is true. While Antietam is still the bloodiest single day in US history, it didn’t change the course of the war nor did it help free more than 4 million enslaved blacks.

Future bleak for Canadian asbestos industry

The Canadian government recently announced it will stop fighting international efforts to label asbestos as a dangerous substance, potentially sounding the death knell for what was once one of the country’s largest industries.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is no longer going to oppose efforts to include asbestos in the United Nations’ Rotterdam treaty on hazardous materials, according to The Canadian Press.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis, who hails from central Quebec’s asbestos belt, made the announcement last month, speaking in his hometown of Thetford Mines, a community still dotted with imposing tailing piles that remind locals of role asbestos once played in the area.

Canada for many decades enjoyed a reputation as the world’s top producer of asbestos, once hailed as the “magic mineral” for its fireproofing and insulating characteristics in construction materials.

While asbestos mining began several thousand years ago, it did not start on a large scale until the end of the 19th century. For many decades, the world’s largest asbestos mine was the Jeffrey Mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec, 90 minutes northeast of Thetford Mines.

Asbestos became increasingly popular among manufacturers and builders in the late 1800s because of its sound absorption, resistance to fire, heat, electrical and chemical damage, and its affordability.

History be damned, let’s sell some beer!

No one would dispute that a bit of “creative license” is to be expected when it comes to advertising.

Few distort reality with more regularity and aplomb than American brewery companies.

These are the folks that would have you believe that the low-grade swill they pump out daily in quantities equivalent to that of a supertanker is a full-bodied, uniquely brewed, refreshingly satisfying beer.

In reality once you’re of legal drinking age you quickly come to the realization that not only do the ads in question leave a bit to be desired in terms of promises versus reality, but that you’re reluctant to even dump the slop in question into the steaming radiator of a rusting ‘63 Studebaker Lark for fear the suds will eat their way through the cooling system.

Indeed, it would seem that the more a beer ad promises and the more effort the company puts into selling its product, the lower the quality of the brew.

Take one of the latest advertising efforts by Budweiser, called “Return of the King.”

SC museum seeks to restore rail history

The Baldwin Locomotive Works produced more than 70,500 locomotives between the early 1830s and mid 1950s. During a 10-year period between 1898 and 1907, Pennsylvania-based Baldwin, the dominant American locomotive manufacturer, built nearly 17,000 steam engines alone.

Today, it is believed fewer than 1,300 Baldwin locomotives remain. Among these is a 1927 4-6-0 model built for the Hampton and Branchville Railroad, a logging line that operated northeast of Charleston.

Old No. 44 sits at the South Carolina Railroad Museum in Winnsboro, where it has been for the past 20 years. The museum, one of best in the Southeast, is in the midst of restoring the locomotive under an effort called “Project 44.”

The goal is to have the locomotive restored to operating condition for use on the museum’s operating rail line, which includes five miles of track, although plans are in place to refurbish more existing track for use.

The South Carolina Railroad Museum is a 501©3 nonprofit and donations for Project 44 are tax-deductible.

Afghan car dealers cursed by the number ’39′

Being a car salesman would appear to among one of life’s more difficult jobs: rejection comes early and often, and salespeople are often the butt of jokes by late-night television hosts, comedians and any number of other folks looking for a quick laugh.

What’s worse than being a car salesman? Being a car salesman in Afghanistan. One imagines that trying to sell new and used vehicles in one of the poorest and most war-ravaged regions of the globe is certainly not a task for the faint of heart.

And the job can involve even more than just trying to overcome the difficulties of selling cars to a populace with little disposable income.

Apparently, a bizarre Afghan phenomenon that equates the number 39 with prostitution has become a headache for the country’s car-sales industry, as buyers are avoiding vehicles with license plates containing the dreaded number for fear of being ostracized, according to Agence-France Presse.

Rewriting Harrell’s legacy, minus a few facts

Bobby Harrell may have a few problems telling fact from fiction, but one thing’s for certain: there’s no disputing the devotion of his toadies.

Over the past few months, several Harrell followers have repeatedly deleted information from the S.C. House Speaker’s Wikipedia page that could be construed as negative, sometimes within days or even hours of the information being posted.

At the same time, they’ve been only too eager to misrepresent the speaker’s record on any number of issues, presenting a saccharine-sweet image of Harrell that’s nothing short of a 21st century-cross between Ronald Reagan and Albert Schweitzer. 

Most recently, one “LimpiaPapel” took it upon his or herself to delete an entire section from Harrell’s Wikipedia biography dealing with the speaker’s plan to boost “South Carolina’s Knowledge Economy Strategic Framework,” a command-economy style proposal which features a giant pyramid – as in a pyramid scheme.

Roseanne’s Nuts, and I don’t feel so good myself

This blog doesn’t spend much time debating the merits of various television programs, but it will, on occasion, include a well-done review.

Hence, this paragraph from Slate:

The new worst show on television debuted Wednesday night on Lifetime – Dance Moms, an ugly docu-circus featuring a megaton bully of a Pittsburgh dance instructor, the little princesses she costumes as lunatic street whores, and a quorum of strenuously pathetic stage mothers, one of whom warbles that she would slit her wrists if her daughter even thought of trying out for softball. The only good that could come of the show would be for it to motivate a child protective services officer to orchestrate a SWAT raid, condemn the dance studio as a public nuisance, and deprogram the girls posthaste.

Americans continue to turn backs on $1 coins

Few Americans realize it, but there’s a stash of more than $1 billion sitting in Federal Reserve vaults that apparently almost no one wants.

Unused dollar coins have been quietly piling up in breathtaking numbers (see above photo), thanks to a government program that has required their production since 2007, according to NPR.

And even though the pile of coins recently passed the $1 billion mark, the US Mint will keep making more and more of the coins under a congressional mandate, it added.

“The pile of idle coins, which so far cost $300 million to manufacture, could double by the time the program ends in 2016, the Federal Reserve told Congress last year,” according to NPR.

RBC-Heritage pairing makes little sense

It’s hardly surprising that organizers of The Heritage are refuting reports that Royal Bank of Canada is close to signing a deal to sponsor the Lowcountry golf tournament.

Earlier this month, Royal Bank of Canada was the subject of rumors when it was speculated the Toronto-based financial services giant was possibly shopping its US banking operation, composed of 420 branches in the Southeastern US.

Still, Golf World reported Monday that RBC was on the brink of an agreement with The Heritage, citing several unnamed players and sources related to Hilton Head Island’s PGA Tour event, which has been without a title sponsor for about a year and a half.

But the Hilton Head Island Packet reported Tuesday that Wilmot was refuting the report that Royal Bank was close to signing a four-year deal to sponsor the tournament.

How culture improved the lot of mankind

George Mason University economist Donald Boudreaux expounds on an interesting fact about human existence – the role of culture in improving the human condition.

Boudreaux explains in a column in the Pittsburgh Tribune that modern human beings have existed for at least 70,000 years, but that it’s only been in the past two centuries that ordinary men and women have attained a standard of living significantly and consistently above subsistence.

This startling fact – especially given how startlingly different our lives are today from those of the vast majority of our ancestors – demands a compelling explanation.