Credit Where Credit Is Due

Or maybe not.

Meanwhile, the "no strategy" president relaxes on the golf course.

“He won’t call a war, a war. He won’t call Islamist terrorists, Islamist terrorists. This president is a terrified little man in a great big job he can’t do.” — Lt. Col. Ralph Peters

Vegan "Cheese"

"Real vegan cheese." Using those three words together make as much sense as using "Obama" and "transparency" in the same sentence. According to an Indiegogo project fund raising page,

Real Vegan Cheese is a not a cheese substitute! It all begins with regular old baker's yeast. Through synthetic biology, we engineer our yeast to become milk-protein factories, churning out real milk proteins (known as caseins). These milk proteins are then combined with water, vegan sugar and oil to make a kind of milk which is ultimately converted into Real Vegan Cheese using the age-old cheese-making process.

This seems like word games to me. By definition, cheese is "the curd of milk separated from the whey and prepared in many ways as a food." The key word here is milk. The milk comes from mammals, and therefore can't be vegan. A "synthetic" process is used to produce this "real" milk. If it was indeed real milk, it certainly would not qualify as vegan. If it's not real milk, then it can't be cheese. Simple logic.

In my experience, vegans also eschew synthetic and artificially altered foods. Apparently the group behind vegan "cheese" has found a weakness in that vegan resolve. Whatever you want to call this lab-produced product, "real cheese" hardly seems accurate. What's next? Real vegan prime rib?

Higher Stakes Beer Crime

We've seen some interesting beer-related crimes recently, but a robbery at the Minnesota State Fair reaches a new level.

A popular beer booth at the Minnesota State Fair was robbed last Friday night. 

The State Fair Police say the suspect was armed and the victims' hands were bound behind their backs.

The robbery occurred at the Minnesota Craft Beer booth in the Agriculture building. According to State Fair Police Public Information Officer Brooke Blakey, at least two suspects took more than $10,000. Blakey says police believe the victims were able to free themselves and call for help within 10 minutes.

$10,000? That's obviously a popular beer stand.

I am at a loss to explain how the robber was able to pull off the crime. The Minnesota State Fair is a well-known "gun free zone." Firearms have long been expressly prohibited at the fair. Surely, no criminal would ignore a "no guns" sign.

See "Police: Armed Robbers at Minnesota State Fair Flee with $10K" for more.

Labor Day Range Time

On Monday morning I met a friend at the range for early morning shooting practice. I hadn't been shooting for a few weeks, and my intention to hit the range over the weekend never materialized into action. Greg is a newer shooter who's looking to start shooting USPSA matches and was hoping to do a little more than stand and shoot at a single target. We setup a few USPSA cardboard targets, as well as a couple of shooting boxes, and got to work.

Taking turns running the timer, we spent the morning running different drills. Even in practice, the sound of the beep, and knowing the clock is running can have an adverse affect on your shooting. We started out simple; shooting pairs on just one target at various distances. We also spent some time working on quick draws, with a repeatable grip, putting a single shot on target from close up. For a short time we worked on movement between two shooting boxes. We even tortured ourselves with the shot calling drill from the Steve Anderson class.

Greg specifically wanted to work on multiple targets from 15 yards and beyond, so we spent much of our time doing that. I eventually added in the challenge of no-shoot targets. First covering up one side of a target, then adding a second white target so that only the central A zone was showing. We started out shooting at two target arrays, eventually moving to three, the last target in the the array being the restricted one. I found it very interesting that I shot a lot of A-C combos on the first two targets, but consistently avoided the no-shoots and hit double Alphas on the last. And more often than not, those two Alpha hits were in a very tight group. I obviously concentrated on the sight alignment and trigger press much more intently on that target, even though I felt like I was not rushing on the open targets. It was a very enlightening exercise.

I would have liked to have worked on that drill more, but unfortunately we soon had a return visit from the range officer on duty. He had come by earlier, watched us shoot for a bit, and then left. I assumed we were not getting any "you are shooting too fast" warnings. But on his second visit we were admonished. After a few minutes trying to ascertain the definition of "too fast" we learned that when we were shooting just two targets we were fine, but when we added the third target to the drill, even though the shooting pace was the same, we were now in the "out of control" zone with six shots in a string. Someday, just maybe, we'll get that private range where the rules are static, understandable, and logical.

Despite the reprimand, it was an exceptionally enjoyable morning. When the 2 hour practice was over,  I had only put about 100 rounds down range. Sharing advice with Greg also was a great way to review my own habits. In fact, this turned out to be one of the most beneficial practices I've done in a while, despite the low round count. It's always a thrill to help introduce another shooter to the sport. In addition, it forced me to concentrate on the basics. I'm also excited to be bringing a new shooter to his first USPSA match this coming weekend!

The early morning session left plenty of time for yard work, followed by a few hours of sitting around the pool with friends. It was a fitting way to mark the unofficial end of Summer.

North Carolina Vacation Beer Tally

Despite it coinciding with Virginia Craft Beer Month, our week on the Outer Banks, provided an opportunity to focus my beer explorations on beers from North Carolina. The sixteen different beers I had during our week, were but a small piece of the variety offered by local brewers. About half of those beers were enjoyed fresh, right at the source, at Full Moon and Weeping Radish breweries.

• Terrapin Hopsecutioner
• Mother Earth Weeping Willow Wit
• Natty Greene's Southern Dry-hopped Pale Ale
• Natty Greene's Freedom American IPA 
• Natty Greene's Elm Street IPA (2014)
• Weeping Radish Corolla Gold
• Weeping Radish Bitter Bee
• Weeping Radish Ruddy Radish
• Weeping Radish Black Radish
• Big Boss War Hawk
• Big Boss High Roller IPA
• Full Moon Lost Colony English Brown Ale
• Full Moon Charon Stout
• Full Moon Over Time APA
• Sierra Nevada Flipside IPA (2014)
• Highland St. Teresa Pale Ale

With one exception, I avoided the Western breweries that had recently moved to the state, since those are readily available at home. It did cause me a moment's pause when viewing the North Carolina beer shelf at the Trio Wine, Beer and Cheese store I spied the cans from Oskar Blues, a brewery I still associate with my trips to Colorado.

We only brought a few beers home with us, in contrast to last year when I struggled to find room in the beer fridge for the beer bounty. We did indeed bring back many good memories.

I am a Virginian ... And I Carry

A new promotional video from the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

I am a Virginian ... I am VCDL ... I Carry!
from Virginia Citizens Defense League on Vimeo.

Do you? If not, how many more reasons do you need?

Another Virginia Brewery

This one isn't new, and you probably won't be getting any beers from it. 

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia — College students have always had a taste for beer, and archaeologists have uncovered new evidence at the College of William and Mary to prove it. 

The remains of what is likely an 18th century on-campus brewery were discovered just outside of the nation's oldest college building when campus officials were looking to widen a sidewalk.  

School officials say the discovery near the Wren Building will allow them to tell a broader story about campus life in the Colonial era that involved the interaction of slaves, Native Americans, faculty and students.

The brewery is believed to have provided beer for students and faculty at the school during the Colonial era. It's well-known that low alcohol beer was a common replacement for the often unsafe drinking water during that period. The brewery probably existed until the Revolutionary War. Interestingly, the brewery remains were found just a foot below a frequently trafficked area of the campus.

Founded in 1693, the College of William and Mary is the second oldest institute of higher learning in the United States.

See "Remains of 18th century brewery found on Va. campus at College of William and Mary" for pictures and more on this interesting find.

Virginia Beer Month Tally

As promised, I did manage to limit my beer choices to Virginia-brewed beverages for most of Virginia Craft Beer Month. However, a week spent vacationing on the Outer Banks, meant a week focused on North Carolina beers. The weeks prior to vacation were naturally extra busy, which also limited my time for "exploration." Nonetheless, I had no trouble sticking to Virginia craft beers in the time I had.

While the list wasn't extensive, nine of the sixteen were new to me. That's a successful Craft Beer Month in my book.

• O’Connor El Guapo Agave IPA
• Port City Optimal Wit
• Parkway Get Bent Mountain IPA
• Champion Missile IPA *
• Starr Hill Grateful Pale Ale
• Devils Backbone Reilly’s Red
• Old Bust Head English Pale Ale
• Old Bust Head Chukker Pilsner *
• Old Bust Head Wildcat IPA *
• Old Bust Head Shorthorn Pale Ale *
• Old Bust Head Vixen Irish Red *
• Old Bust Head Chinquapin Chestnut Porter *
• Old Bust Head Gold Cup Russian Imperial Stout *
• Lost Rhino New River Pale Ale
• Lickinghole Creek Magic Beaver *
• Lickinghole Creek Til Sunset  *

* Denotes a beer tried for the first time during Virginia Craft Beer Month.