12 weeks

It kicks like a 6cm mule. Very good to watch on the big screen.

The real threat is more general, more widespread, and more dangerous than Islam. It took something as extreme as Islamic extremism to trigger a cultural awareness of it. Unfortunately, like the ringing of an alarm clock, the first thing to awaken consciousness is for a time the only piece of reality about which we are aware. Islamic extremism is the alarm clock.

The supporters of the minaret ban see the growth of the Muslim population as an aggressive cultural invasion. They don’t see an immigrant minority that deserves state protection. They see settlers from a destructive culture claiming their country. They feel vilified within their homeland by outsiders and they are afraid that their politicians will continue to insist on irrational “religious tolerance” despite the intolerant attitudes spread through Islam.

National Islamophobia is a phase whose time has come. It is extreme, prejudiced, and wrong, but it is the natural reaction against the wrong actions of extremists trying to universalize Islam. Two wrongs do make a right when everyone learns a lesson. The lesson here is that no protection for status, be it religion, race, sex, or what have you, is deserved when it is used for harm.

Religions have been invoked to excuse atrocious behavior since ages before the life of Muhammad. So have other statuses such as race, color, nationality, and sex. The world tends to absolve these harmful trends after a reform and some generations. And the human race eventually learns a lesson.

I see the minaret ban as a sign that the world is just beginning to reject religion as an excuse for bad behavior. Peaceful Muslims will work with non-Muslims to prevail over the radical perversion of Islam. This time will pass into history and be replaced by a time of rational discrimination and careful tolerance. I hope I’m right, the sooner the better.

We stayed around the corner from the Canal end of Bourbon Street. I’m a bourbon enthusiast. My current obsession is the Antique Collection, five small-batch whiskeys released once a year from the Buffalo Trace distillery. I already had bottles of all but the most difficult to find, the George T. Stagg bourbon. When Zoe and I toured that distillery this summer we found none for sale within 100 miles. When I tried to pre-order Stagg from my local store I learned that the distributor’s entire allotment was already allocated.

Bourbon hunting is a serious game. It’s like Pokemon. So when we sat down for a late dinner Friday night at Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House I had to ask for Stagg. The waiter asked the bartender and was told they were out. I shrugged and had a Sazerac cocktail instead.

On the way to lunch the next day we stopped again at the Bourbon House for a drink. This time I sat at the bar and scanned the bottles myself. I saw antlers. I was going to get my drink!

The bartender picked up on my enthusiasm and we talked about this and other bourbons. She put the bottle on the bar for my inspection and handed me the distillery’s letter of pedigree. Then she gave us the name of a liquor store in the French Quarter that might carry it.

After lunch we found the store. They had three bottles of Stagg on the shelf. I asked whether they limited the sale of rare whiskeys. Nope, just buy what you want. So I got a case (three bottles) and walked straight back to the Bourbon House to thank the bartender. She made my day and then some.

I later found out via Google and Wikipedia that George T. Stagg is nicknamed “Hazmat” when it is more than 70% alcohol (140 proof) which is the maximum concentration allowed by the FAA on commercial flights. The 2009 proof is 141.4. Stop by for a taste but let’s not talk about how I got these bottles back home.

I was disappointed when I read the OS X 10.5.7 news and found no mention of the missing video card selector. The wording here was not promising:

Improves performance of video playback and cursor movements for recent Macs with NVIDIA graphics.

But after I installed the 10.5.7 update I found the new option right where it belongs, in the Energy Saver preference panel, shown here:

Hey Apple, you should have included this in an OS X update before shipping the hardware. But it’s too late to argue. My biggest gripe about the 17-inch is now moot.

Thing in a Place 1

There might be hope for the EU. Events like these are a sort of litmus test. If they can laugh at their folly and let it stand as a document of modern history, certainly the EU government can improve. On the other hand, if they blubber and bluster and blow the thing down, count on a protracted cultural winter.

What does this flourish of politically relevant art portend?

Coffee can be combined favorably with liquor in many ways. Probably the most common hard coffee drink is Irish coffee, a variant of the hot toddy, which is made with coffee, Irish whiskey, and sugar or brown sugar. It is the name of this drink that inspired the name African-American coffee, which is made with an African liqueur, an American whiskey, and coffee.

Rye, coffee, Amarula

Amarula is an African fruit cream liqueur made from the fruit of the marula tree. My father found this during a trip to Africa and shared it with me. I was elated when I found it at Twin Liquors near the Bailey’s. Ask your local liquor store to stock it if they don’t already.

The original African-American coffee used the 100-proof “Bottled in Bond” Rittenhouse rye whiskey, which I found at my favorite Louisville liquor store. This spirit has a sharp, spicy flavor that complements the sweet, mellow flavor of Amarula. If you can’t find a rye whiskey, any sour mash like Jack Daniel’s or Jim Beam will do.

The proportions and temperature can be varied according to taste. I like it hot with about two ounces of Amarula and one ounce of whiskey. It’s also good over ice with a greater proportion of Amarula.

This article was brought to you in part by my desire to see my favorite liquors gain popularity so that I can buy them in more places. You can help by requesting them at your local liquor store.