Thursday, July 24, 2008
What are the grapes and wines for Texas?
The modern wine industry in Texas is only about 30 years old. There are now 160 federally permitted wineries in Texas. There is a severe shortage of Texas grapes and TDA is encouraging the development of commercial vineyards. Texas is a large state with several "mini-climates." The growers and wineries are trying to decide which grapes to grow and which wines we do best. In the whites, it appears that Viognier and Muscat are winners whereas the red wine favorites may be warm climate, Mediterranean varieties. What are your favorites?
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Do you offer tours and tastings on weekdays?
Do you have a page where you post your current inventory and prices. tom morse
I agree regarding Viognier. We realy liked the viognier weSampled at a dinner last year, but it had sold out. We also like the viognier from Becker Vineyards.
sangiovese is the wine for the high plains ava. Tempranillo is up and coming. So is malbec. Limited success with cab, mostly again from high plains.
The GOP’s new McCarthyism against Muslims
Cynthia Tucker
The GOP’s new McCarthyism against Muslims
7:23 am August 17, 2010, by ctucker
What has happened to the leadership of the Republican Party? Are there no longer any statesmen/women in the GOP? Does the party have any leading figures who believe in the Bill of Rights?
The GOP’s leadership has been taken over by a group of shrill demagogues who cozy up to birthers, talk of rescinding the 14th amendment and want to deny peaceful American Muslims the right to practice their religion. In terms of decency and principle, this season may mark the lowest ebb for the Republican Party since the McCarthy era of the 1950s.
There is no divisive issue the party won’t exploit, no wedge it won’t use as it seeks votes and tries to separate the unum into pluribus. If you listen to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), head of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, gleefully talk about exploiting the emotions surrounding the so-called 9/11 mosque in New York, you can see how low the party’s leadership has sunk.
There is no good reason for a mosque in NYC to concern the vast majority of Americans — especially nine years after the Sept. 11 atrocities. But Cornyn can’t wait to continue the shameful harangues against Islam.
Newt Gingrich — who won’t be out-demagogued by Sarah Palin or anyone else — has gone so far as to compare the Cordoba Initiative to Nazis.
Rick Scott, trying to win the GOP primary for governor of Florida, has an ad attacking President Obama for supporting the Cordoba Initiative’s right to build a mosque two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. What in the world does that issue have to do with being Florida’s governor?
A few Republicans have called on the leaders of the party to stop the shameful attacks on the Cordoba Initiative. Mark McKinnon, former adviser to George W. Bush, praised Obama and criticized the leaders of his party, pointing out that they are “reinforcing al-Qaida.” But McKinnon is little known and not among the party’s elected leaders:
http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2010/08/17/the-gops-new-mccarthyism-against-muslims/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker
The GOP’s new McCarthyism against Muslims
Cynthia Tucker
The GOP’s new McCarthyism against Muslims
7:23 am August 17, 2010, by ctucker
What has happened to the leadership of the Republican Party? Are there no longer any statesmen/women in the GOP? Does the party have any leading figures who believe in the Bill of Rights?
The GOP’s leadership has been taken over by a group of shrill demagogues who cozy up to birthers, talk of rescinding the 14th amendment and want to deny peaceful American Muslims the right to practice their religion. In terms of decency and principle, this season may mark the lowest ebb for the Republican Party since the McCarthy era of the 1950s.
There is no divisive issue the party won’t exploit, no wedge it won’t use as it seeks votes and tries to separate the unum into pluribus. If you listen to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), head of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, gleefully talk about exploiting the emotions surrounding the so-called 9/11 mosque in New York, you can see how low the party’s leadership has sunk.
There is no good reason for a mosque in NYC to concern the vast majority of Americans — especially nine years after the Sept. 11 atrocities. But Cornyn can’t wait to continue the shameful harangues against Islam.
Newt Gingrich — who won’t be out-demagogued by Sarah Palin or anyone else — has gone so far as to compare the Cordoba Initiative to Nazis.
Rick Scott, trying to win the GOP primary for governor of Florida, has an ad attacking President Obama for supporting the Cordoba Initiative’s right to build a mosque two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. What in the world does that issue have to do with being Florida’s governor?
A few Republicans have called on the leaders of the party to stop the shameful attacks on the Cordoba Initiative. Mark McKinnon, former adviser to George W. Bush, praised Obama and criticized the leaders of his party, pointing out that they are “reinforcing al-Qaida.” But McKinnon is little known and not among the party’s elected leaders:
http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2010/08/17/the-gops-new-mccarthyism-against-muslims/?cxntfid=blogs_cynthia_tucker
Brownwood area STIMULUS TEAbaggers, how are you spending your STIMULUS dollars ?
This question is apparently too tough for those Talking Heads of Rex Tackett's CONservative KXYL 96.9FM who advertise themselves as "The Power of Information" ! Surely KXYL's audience would burn up their call-in phone lines and participate if the TEAbagging organizer, KXYL's "Mocking and Misleading" Mike Cope, would just ask that question over the Brownwood area airwaves ! How are the KXYL listening, supporting and enabling folks spending their STIMULUS dollars in KXYL-land ?
WIll KXYL's "Mocking and Misleading" Mike Cope ever ask his on-air guests how they are spending their BuSh/OBAMA STIMULUS dollars ? Maybe it's too simple of a question for the STIMULUS TEAbagging organizer to ask ! Does KXYL's "Mocking and Misleading" Mike Cope receive and spend STIMULUS funds and then get on the air and bash the STIMULUS funds ? Surely not !
updated 6:24 p.m. EST, Wed February 13, 2008
Bush signs stimulus bill; rebate checks expected in May
WASHINGTON (CNN)-- President Bush on Wednesday signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, calling it a "booster shot" for the American economy.
"The bill I'm signing today is large enough to have an impact, amounting to more than $152 billion this year, or about 1 percent of the GDP (gross domestic product)," the president said in the brief ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
The government hopes the measure, which will send most Americans tax rebate checks by May, will either prevent a recession or make one relatively brief.
Powerful Gay Republicans Cower in the Closet
Homophobia has been a central part of Republican electoral strategy for years - most notably in 2004, when Republicans put anti-gay-marriage amendments on state ballots around the country to increase turnout by religious right voters.
The Swiftboating of Obama via Brownwood's "Conservative" KXYL
Will the producers of Rex Tackett's Red State/Blue State Brownwood "Conservative" KXYL 96.9FM schedule Corsi back to their "conservative" airwaves to respond to his (Corsi's) statements regarding McCain and The TYC ? They've (see KXYL's "Mocking and Misleading" Mike Cope and "TYC Scandal just a few bad apples" James Ray Williams) already given Corsi about 20 to 30 minutes of "conservative" airtime to Swiftboat Obama, will they now give him the same courtesy to explain his cpmments regarding McCain and The TYC ? The Brownwood area appears to be Corsi kind of Country !
Jerome Corsi, McCain Basher
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/jerome-corsi-mccain-basher
Back to Jerome Corsi's article in WorldNetDaily, our rightwing source:
http://www.hongpong.com/archives/2007/03/28/late_breaking_upcoming_texas_youth_commission_rove_sparked_pedophilia_scandal_promises_kill_gonzales
"I think the president has a fine mind. And I can relate to it."
"I think the president has a fine mind. And I can relate to it."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Obama
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6655898n&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CbsNewsTheEarlyShowPetPlanet+%28CBS+News%3A+The+Early+Show%3A+Pet+Planet%29
Viva Obama !
This Blog has to do with wine, Texas wine, grapes, food and Brennan Vineyards, not with politics.
Pat
Dis-United States of America
By Saeed Shabazz and Richard B. Muhammad - Final Call Staffers -
Sep 16, 2010 - 11:11:56 AM
NEW YORK (FinalCall.com )- A strong anti-Islam sentiment and national disunity on the nine-year anniversary of September 11, 2001 has many asking what happened to that sense of solidarity, the seductive dream of unity that engulfed many Americans immediately after the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon?
Rudolph Muhammad, a retired New York City emergency medical technician, remembers running across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying his gear after a plane had hit one of the towers that made up the 11-acre World Trade Center.
“I was assigned to the communication unit, but my training and instincts sent me running towards the burning tower,” Mr. Muhammad said.“I reported to a fire chief, who immediately put me to work.”
“Having the name Muhammad across my chest had been controversial before 9-11, but that day nobody cared; even the people who always had something negative to say—we all worked side-by-side to rescue people; and 18 hours later I walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge to my home,” he said.
On the ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center attack, the Coalition to Honor Ground Zero, Stop the Islamization of America, Freedom Defense Initiative and Jihad Watch were tirelessly demonizing Muslims, said critics, blaming Islam for the 9-11 attacks and political and social problems in the United States.
The anti-Islam campaign added to divisions along political lines, racial lines and economic lines with many Americans fearful for the future. A country that at least symbolically stood united as buildings crumbled in New York has seen notions of national unity and good will fall dramatically.
Nine years ago, one president's initial handling of a crisis won accolades, sympathy and perhaps increased national pride—today President Obama seems unable to do anything that will heal a deeply wounded country.
No act, whether political or symbolic, seems to be enough to blunt critics and cries of government overreach, oppressive taxes and federal tyranny.
“We should be concerned about that because we've gone through those upsurges in fanaticisms and insanity in this country and we're not immune to it in the 21st century,” said Robert Starks, a political analyst and writer.
The bad economy, scapegoating of minorities, in particular racial and religious minorities, opens the door for worse times and increasing divisions in society, he continued.
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7279.shtml
All Shortage of guns and ammo are local ! Ginned up Fear of Obama too ?
Shortage of guns, ammo reported
http://www.reporternews.com/news/2009/apr/20/stocking-up-shortage-of-guns-ammunition-reported/
Is the Republican Party Still the Racist, Character-Assassination, Culture Wars' Squad Created by Lee Atwater? Ask Stefan Forbes
http://blog.buzzflash.com/interviews/144
The ghost of Lee Atwater is back as the Conservative movement tries to tear the country apart
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/ghost-lee-atwater-back-conservative-mov
The Irony of the Right-Wing Fear Machine
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/65681
Brownwood Baracknophobes voted overwhelmingly for "Disgraceful" BuSh !
Family of Slain Soldier Calls Bush WMD Jokes “Disgraceful”
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/3/26/family_of_slain_soldier_calls_bush
Bush Jokes about WMD
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/brownwood-tx/T4BP6U1BF93QOOIG6
Brownwood Baracknophobes (Obama haters) voted overwhelmingly for "Disgraceful" BuSh !
Brownwood Baracknophobes don't like the following information to be posted in BuSh's Brownwood !
Official Army history finds Bush admin. "hamstrung' troops in Afghanistan
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Official-Army-history-find-in-General_News-100103-535.html
All "Liberal Hating" Christian "Pushing Armageddon" Zionists are local !
I, Liberal Steve, better understand Bible Belt CONservative Republicans who publicly bash GAYS and are closeted Gay themselves ! Some apparently even attempt to hide behind their wives and marriages and worship centers ! They are quite the "performers" !
The GOP's crowded closet
The party's culture of concealment has led to embarrassment and personal destruction. Isn't it about time for the right to cure its homophobia?
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2007/08/31/gay_republicans
" Conservatives form new Anglican church " was mentioned this morning on the Mike Cope and James Ray Williams Show @ KXYL 96.9FM.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/04/episcopal.split/index.html
Maybe the Southern talking heads of Rex Tackett's KXYL will some day mention the other splits that have taken place across our land due to opposing religious viewpoints. Doubt it , but maybe !
Example: " White Christians in the south, however, did not view slavery as a sin. Rather, their leaders were able to quote many Biblical passages in support of slavery. The Civil War and the divide over the question of slavery thus began in the nation's churches, a decade before fighting began on the battlefields.
Handwritten petition sent by black Methodists in Philadelphia to the 1832 General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church "to give the Bishop power to appoint Ministers of Colour to Coloured congregations."
During the 1840s and 50s, several of America's largest denominations faced internal struggles over the issue of slavery. Even earlier, in 1838, the Presbyterians split over the question. The Baptists maintained a strained peace by carefully avoiding discussion of the topic. But in 1840, an American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention brought the issue into the open. Southern delegates argued that, while slavery was a calamity and a great evil, it was no sin. The Baptist Board later denied a request by the Alabama Convention that slave owners be eligible to become missionaries. Finally, a Baptist Free Mission Society was formed and "refused 'tainted' Southern money."
The southern members withdrew and formed the Southern Baptist Convention, which eventually grew to become the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. The Baptist denomination officially split in 1845, with the North Carolina State Convention "cordially approving" of the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention."
http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/journey_2/p_5.html
Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman: I'm gay
By Felicia Sonmez
Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and the former campaign manager for George W. Bush's 2004 re-election bid, has told his family and colleagues that he is gay, according to The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder.
From Ambinder's report:
"It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I had done years ago."
Mehlman, who helmed the RNC from 2005 to 2007, said that he reached the decision to come out in part because he would like to play a greater role as an advocate for same-sex marriage.
He added that earlier this year, he participated in a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, an organization that has fought the Proposition 8 ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in California. An appeals court ruled earlier this month that the ban will stay in place until December, overruling a federal judge's decision that the ban was unconstitutional.
Mehlman becomes the highest-profile national Republican figure to come out as gay. Another prominent Republican, former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, has been leading the legal fight against Proposition 8.
Mehlman acknowledged to Ambinder that had he been open about his sexuality earlier, he might have tried to push back against parts of the national Republican agenda, including efforts by former Bush adviser Karl Rove in 2004 and 2006 to put same-sex marriage initiatives on the ballot in states across the country:
"It's a legitimate question and one I understand," Mehlman said. "I can't change the fact that I wasn't in this place personally when I was in politics, and I genuinely regret that. It was very hard, personally." He asks of those who doubt his sincerity: "If they can't offer support, at least offer understanding."
Michael Steele, current chairman of the Republican National Committee, issued a statement of support for Mehlman. "I am happy for Ken," Steele said. "His announcement, often a very difficult decision which is only compounded when done on the public stage, reaffirms for me why we are friends and why I respect him personally and professionally."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/former-rnc-chairman-ken-mehlma.html
Dishonoring Texas
Monday, June 13, 2005
THE DAY TEXAS Gov. Rick Perry (R) ceremonially signed a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an exclusively heterosexual matter, he may not have been intending to spit in the faces of countless men and women fighting for their country in Iraq. But that is what he did. Mr. Perry was asked by a reporter what he had to say "to gays and lesbians who are serving in the military right now in Iraq who are going to come back to Texas and may not be entitled to the same rights as the rest of us?" Mr. Perry responded that "Texans have made a decision about marriage, and if there is some other state that has a more lenient view than Texas, then maybe that's a better place for them to live."
In some sense, the governor was merely stating a fact: Texas law forbids same-sex marriage, so a returning veteran who wants state recognition for a lifelong relationship does have to go elsewhere. But the governor was doing more than describing a law that treats one class of people differently from all others; he was wallowing in it.
Foes of same-sex marriage often emphasize that they have nothing against gays and lesbians but are merely trying to protect the sanctity of a traditional institution. Some are certainly sincere in this protestation. But in much of the "defense of marriage" world, the rhetoric of tolerance is paper-thin. Mr. Perry, a veteran himself, did not take the trouble to honor the service of gay people now in harm's way or mention that they were welcome in Texas. He didn't mention the need to respect different life choices or note that same-sex couples might have deeply committed relationships. His message was simple: If you don't like it, leave. It's a message unworthy of the governor of any state.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201433.html
Maybe The Rev. Bernice King will ride the bus to Brownwood !
" The focus of this statement is on hate crimes related to 9/11. We wish not to dismiss other acts of hate that have been leveled against people of color and the gay and lesbian community in Texas. For one example, the ACLU, with local concerned citizens, is currently investigating a rash of hate crime in Brownwood,Texas. We suspect atleast 10 hate crimes in that town alone including murders and even murders of witnesses to those hate crimes. Local officials have repeatedly refused to investigate or prosecute these crimes according to the mandates of the the Hate Crimes Act. In one instance, a field officer drafted a crime report which clearly documented race as the motive of the violent crime. Nevertheless, the local District Attorney's office still refused to prosecute this at all, much less as a hate crime. Our conclusion is that the law alone is not enough. The Texas Attorney General, or some external body, must be vested with full authority to prosecute these crimes or at least monitor the law's enforcement in some meaningful way."
" The focus of this statement is on hate crimes related to 9/11. We wish not to dismiss other acts of hate that have been leveled against people of color and the gay and lesbian community in Texas. For one example, the ACLU, with local concerned citizens, is currently investigating a rash of hate crime in Brownwood,Texas. We suspect atleast 10 hate crimes in that town alone including murders and even murders of witnesses to those hate crimes. Local officials have repeatedly refused to investigate or prosecute these crimes according to the mandates of the the Hate Crimes Act. In one instance, a field officer drafted a crime report which clearly documented race as the motive of the violent crime. Nevertheless, the local District Attorney's office still refused to prosecute this at all, much less as a hate crime. Our conclusion is that the law alone is not enough. The Texas Attorney General, or some external body, must be vested with full authority to prosecute these crimes or at least monitor the law's enforcement in some meaningful way."
Republican Alan Simpson: Veterans Who Are Agent Orange Victims Are 'Not Helping Us Save The Country'
http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/01/in-iraq-address-obama-gives-nod-to-veteran-health-care/#ixzz0yVvhxf5W
EVIL EFFECTS OF DRINKING WINE AND OTHER INTOXICANTS
There are manifold reasons for prohibition of intoxicating liquor. Drinking is a serious crime. Drunkenness often leads to the loss of senses which is responsible for commission of various anti-social crimes. Drunkenness is extremely harmful, as it kills man’s capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, virtue and vice. A drunkard in his intoxication performs such acts which result in enmity and hatred and which disturbs the peace and tranquility of family and society. Drinking not only destroys man’s health but also his wealth, and kills his sense of dignity. Thus wine is injurious both from temporal and spiritual points of view :
1.TEMPORAL
(a)Intellectual
The most precious gift of Allah to mankind is the intellect. It is because of his reasoning power that man is called the best creation of God.
Intellect has two very strong enemies : Desire and Anger. These two rivals of intellect get reinforcement by alcoholic liquor. When alcoholic liquor enters the human body, the first victim is the highest cerebral centers which control such factors as judgment, sense of responsibility and moral integrity. When these higher factors are depressed, the lower instincts are released from captivity. Moral and social inhibitions become a dead thing. It is now proved that the intoxicated person becomes talkative, excited or even violent and aggressive. On-lookers think that he is stimulated. In fact it is not stimulation. What is often referred to as alcoholic stimulation is the first sign of alcoholic depression. No amount of alcohol can stimulate intellectual functions.
http://www.islam4all.com/drinking_wine.htm
VVA to Alan Simpson: Don’t Target Benefits Veterans Have Earned
September 4, 2010 posted by Michael Leon
Agent Orange: The killing and maiming goes on
- When the US Government sends its sons and daughters off to war, it must be prepared to pay the full price; a commitment Alan Simpson and his supporters do not understand.-
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/09/04/vva-to-alan-simpson-don%E2%80%99t-target-benefits-veterans-have-earned/
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