Re: This is totally awesome
 

They were great breasts. And my priorities are absolutly correct -- I was studying the picture, not chatting about it with you twits.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I think Penske's point is that we should spend stimulus dollars in places that, unlike Napa County, don't make anything anyone wants to buy.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

No, that wasn't my point. The point was that industries or segments of industries that are generally healthy (like the wine industry in napa, and the tourism industry in napa, and as compared to other areas with bubble inflated property values, the real estate market in Napa) should be at the back end/low priority status to receive stimulus dollars. There is enough $$ in Napa to access via local taxes and user fees to fund the $54MM project. Otoh, for example, stimulus dollars for companies/projects related to alternative energy don't bother me as its an industry that needs a boost and has far more strategic importance than wine or tourism. And I believe that California businesses would benefit from such dollars.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Usually I tell people to play to their strengths, not their weaknesses. It may be that a dollar spent in a reasonably healthy place can create a lot more in spinoff effects than another dollar fighting decline in Pittsburg. Again, depends on whether you are looking to stimulate grown or protect against rampant unemployment in the places seeing the most damage, and some balance is needed.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I'm not opposed to balance, and obviously, contrary to the biases of some here, not opposed to government spending, but I am just not convinced that either the wine industry in napa or the tourism industry in napa or the real estate industry in napa need fed stimulus dollars to continue to be relatively healthy. And I say that in the obvious backdrop that I am a big fan of the wine and tourism industry in Napa and want it to remain healthy.

eta: I am also not sure that the wine industry, in general-not just limited to napa, is a substantial enough future source of employment and growth that the fed govt needs to be giving a leg up to.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Yeah, because the last place people cut spending is in their fine wine budget.

And because California has not been impacted by the Great Recession at all.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

But I assume Napa is able to pick up some folks who are skipping by the 1st growths and can't quite bring themselves to stock a $40 bottle of Bordeaux.

I don't know, I don't really drink anything from California.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

With a finite amount of government resources I still don't buy that the wine industry needs fed government subsidies over say the solar power industry. If you are really saying that there is not enough money in Napa from the value of real estate, tourism and wine to tax to fund this 54mM project that the conversation is pointless.

And from the wine makers/distributors I know or represent the wines that are feeling the biggest pinch from the recesssion are wines in the 20ish to mid 40ish range, and not either lower priced "value" wines or "fine(r) wines".

Re: You (all) lie!
 

What's wrong with you?

Re: You (all) lie!
 

When I leave Bordeaux to go slummin, I usually end up in Spain or with some offbeat fortified wine. So much wine, so little time.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Sigh. Your loss. I'd offer to send you something good but, last I checked, your barbaric state wasn't allowing direct shipments. Has that changed?

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Am I on ignore? California pioneered the idea that public need should always and forever be divorced from tax revenue, because elected officials will always be able to identify a need great enough to justify higher taxes. And it was because of state-level tax revolt fucktards that we now bear most of our tax burden in the form of federal income taxes (and the income redistributive effects of having Congress sprinkle its munificence on the nation it taxes -- or borrows against) and now Penske's got to care about whether his tax dollars going to the Napa River floodplain really benefit him and I've got to worry about yet another fucking Robert Byrd pork-and-Klan post.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

It has not. I actually order stuff from an outfit out there, and have to go through this Byzantine approach of having them hold it while I send UPS to pick it up.

The problem is I know Bordeaux, and don't know California. And most people hand me the wine list when we go out and let me choose.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

It's not slummin, its different.....variety. spice. life. One of my winemaker friends in Napa tells stories about a Napa valley mentality where all some people there drink is Napa wine, which he finds crazy, notwithstanding that he makes good wine and works with some good winemakers. I agree and would suggest you find a way to better prioritise your time.......fwiw, I am drinking a nice Sauv blanc from the Walker Bay region of South Africa right now. And billing at the same time. Multi-tasker, indeed!

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Mine does. :D

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I would agree with you that I could find higher priorities. But I could probably say that about 80% of the stimulus money. The political reality is that things don't exactly work that way in government.

Beyond that, neither of us really knows what this project entailed. It seems to have been a fix for a long-term problem, that created potential flood dangers. If the Army Corps of Engineers was working on it, it may well have involved work on federal land.

Could Napa have raised taxes to pay for this project? I'm sure it could (assuming the federal land issue doesn't exist or can be gotten around). But that's not really a stimulus, and it wasn't going to happen right now (as it hadn't happened even in flush times), and the stimulus plan needed "shovel-ready" projects. Lots of money went to solar initiatives, quite possibly enough to reach saturation point in the short-term (and short-term is what stimulus is really about).

As for wines -- I think some of the more expensive stuff is also feeling the pinch, if only because it really wasn't good enough, absent the "Napa Valley" label, to be that expensive in the first place.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

As does mine. Want to arrange a trade?

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Has anyone seen the movie Bottleshock? I really liked the movie quite a bit, and because of it, have gone back to California after an adventure in Argentina and Chile. My boyfriend is wandering Oregon looking for good Pinots, but I know he'll be back in CA soon enough.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I'm just skimming, but how would it help Napa if the wine train goes faster? seems to me that would reduce wine consumption.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I am not sure what all that means, although I am fairly certain that it somehow affirms my decision to move north. no offence.

And as for Byrd, I am working on a new set of Klan phottoshoppes, just not ready yet, although, given that he has changed his ways from the youthful indiscretions of his 30s, I will leave us with some more current (2007) words from Byrd (the Byrd is the word!?!) regarding Michael Vick, which show Byrd's more rational, intellectual, humanitarian side.

"It is a brutal, sadistic event motivated by barbarism of the worst sort and cruelty of the worst, worst, worst, sadistic kind," Byrd said in a 24-minute address on the matter. "One is left wondering: Who are the real animals? Who are the real animals, who are the real animals -- the creatures inside the ring or the creatures outside the ring?"

"The Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible, the King James Bible, tells us a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel," Byrd said. "The immortal Dante tells us the divine justice reserves special places in Hell for certain categories of sinners. Madam president, I am confident -- madam president, I am confident that the hottest places in Hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt! I yield the floor."


Got it. I may yet have to reconsider the termination of my registered D status.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I don't disagree with any of that, other than, I continue to idealize a world in which the government could and did act in a more efficient thoughtful prioritised way as opposed to a politically expedient manner.


Yes, but I would say deservedly so, just for the reason you note.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

yes.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I read the book it was based on, Judgment of Paris. Great read. Inspired me to try new things. As did the Jay McInerney books on wine

Re: You (all) lie!
 

NO. Slower for more consumption is the desired goal.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

you're becoming wonk

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I don't normally respond to the same post twice, but in this case I will make an exception....

yes, hit me up off line and we can figure something out. Also, I have a line on some 2005 (or 2006, not positive) Harlan at an auction I am attending next month. I imagine that the case will go for somewhere between 1000-2000 dollars, if anyone wants in that action.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I suppose it takes a while to implement it, but didn't the 1st Cir. uphold a d. ct. ruling holding Mass.'s limits on direct shipments to "small" wineries violated the commerce clause?

Re: You (all) lie!
 

If the problem is lack of transportation infrastructure on the Detroit end of the line, you could run high-speed rail to the airport. The point is, for a trip of that distance rail makes more sense, and our problem is a lack of political will to make investments that are in the public interest.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I don't have you on ignore, but most of your rants on this subject have been less memorable than that one. Try using the word "fucktards" more often (but watch out for a pissed-off Palin.)

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Perhaps you should plan a visit in a couple of years. I just bought myself a case of 2006 Pichon-Lalande. My present to Sidd to celebrate a particular event at work.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Ahem.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Banged the paralegal?

Re: You (all) lie!
 

I said 90%. I'm not Sebby; in my rants I always leave room for outliers.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

you just intentionally ignore points of argument, points of fact, that you cannot deal with.

you cannot get from the Detroit train station to anywhere where one might need to work. people do not do it, and won't. there are better ways to spend your imaginary money.

now, so you really get the point, take out Detroit and substitute almost every city on your map. then, after you're done with that, if you want to answer do so.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Bzzzzt! The USACOE has statutory jurisdiction over navigable waters of the United States, and specifically has authority over improvements to river and harbor navigation, flood control, and ecosystem protection and restoration. So if you've violated NEPA, the Clean Water Act, or the Endangered Species Act, make sure you're not in navigable waters (or a wetland adjacent thereto) or you'll be picking depleted uranium shrapnel out of your sorry ass, you maggot.

Link about the controversy for those who trust journalists who went to real colleges.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

IIRC most socks here find blowing people to shit less intrusive than detaining them.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

This suggests to me that maybe the city of Napa would not have been wise to recruit a bunch of out-of-work grape-pickers and put them to work shoring up the levy.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Yep. And she paid me a bunch of cash because I saved her from fucking Adder.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

No shit. The USACOE has regulations about how to handle dredged material that falls off a dredge or out of a loader bucket. Yes, you read that correctly -- they regulate you when you pollute the fucking environment WITH THE FUCKING ENVIRONMENT.

Re: You (all) lie!
 

Bitch, please.

So what I said was, run the high-speed rail to the airport instead of the train station. That was my last post. Try to stay with me.

eta: It may be that Detroit is not a place that would be well-served by high-speed rail just now, and that it's being included in the plans for political reasons. If so, that just illustrates the country's problem.