god dammit.
 

your buddy should have known that african americans are more likely stricken with certain diseases, just like us white folk are with certain diseases, and that the question brought up may have been a valid question.

of course those places test the blood time and time again to make sure it is safe, but i am damned near positive that things slip through the tests undetected.

it's extremely ignorant of you to assume that just because they asked if the donors were black, they were being racist.

and to make another point:

a racist is a racist.

a nazi is not necessarily a racist.

didn't anyone take a history class and learn about the nazis? i sure as fuck did. which is why i know that not even all of the nazis in nazi-occupied germany were "racists".

saying not to give "the germans" too much credit here is like saying that all americans are money-grubbing patriotic assholes.

it's like saying that all australians have kangaroos in their backyards and drink foster's beer.

it's like saying that all scots wear kilts and play bagpipes at the crack of dawn.

it's like saying that all brits drink tea and have poor dental hygiene.

it's like saying that all canadians walk around in parkas and snow boots and say "eh" after every sentence or phrase that comes out of their mouths.

you're fucking stereotyping.

and it's wrong, and it's lame, and it's ignorant of you.

i am appalled at this generalization. "the germans". don't give THE germans credit. and why not? i bet most of them are wonderful people. and most of them probably are not nazis. and i'm willing to bet that most of them aren't racist.

so how about not giving the GERMAN credit, if infact THAT GERMAN said and meant what you thought.

Jeni,
I was just trying to make your point from the other angle, the present overly-simplistic view of German society is that they are industrious tidy hyper-rational and passionless.We should always judge people for themselves not by some kind of group think.

As you noted blood products are thoroughly screened, this isn't the Red Cross after all, its a real business where one bad pint gets you shut down, every pint is tested no matter the source. The foreign custumer was out of line, he knew the process. My friends impression was it had NOTHING to do with saftey, just an individuals rascist phobia, it was African blood not diseased blood that was the problem. His facility was on the edge of a mixed race working/middle class neighborhood, real people with real jobs, not some Hollywood caricature of Black America. Most of his custumers were regular lunch hour donars ie working people. The few qualified donars with blood disease got a premium for their blood due to its research value.

Re: god dammit.
 

that is mildly inaccurate... aside from all that, we also cross the border to drink american gas... eh?

Funny,I cross the border to drink Canadian beer. ;)

its amusing that canadians are so uppity, often referring to american beer as "piss water"... amusing only because our biggest brands are just as bad [molson canadian, export, and labbatt whatever-they-make]... naw, only good beer we have are from the small breweries like creemore and maybe moosehead [though that tastes more and more like water every time i have it - despite the great name]. "maudite" is a french-canadian brew i just recently discovered - thick as syrup, and 8%! now that's a beer.

My sister-in-law is from Thunder Bay so I've heard the american beer is piss speech. We won't be able to break that stereotype until everyone takes the pledge. No Coors, never, under any circumstance. Some US beer is getting better and some of the majors have bought up micros in an effort to stay profitable, but as long as NASCAR exists we won't have a leg to stand on.

egads... i don't know what possessed me but here i am looking at ratebeer.com after i did a little search for maudite... guess i wasn't wrong, since many people seem to agree its a weird but good sort of brew!

http://www.ratebeer.com/ShowBeer.asp?BeerID=1921

hey if anyone cares to recommend an american beer that doesn't taste like the big ones [i.e. coors, bud] then i'll give that a shot... i think the only US micro i've tried is a steamwhistle? it was rather bitter but not so terrible, if i recall...

(can we get more off topic?)

Sure
 

Apparently we nearly encountered an asteroid today,

/. has the story here

http://slashdot.org/science/02/01/07/138256.shtml

and the beeb has it here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1746330.stm

Thing came within twice the distance from the Earth to our moon, which in cosmic terms is parting our hair right down the middle.

Would have been a very big news day had it hit.

the drift continues
 

The cosmic equivelent of Clemens asking for a little more plate....

Oh yah, the Steelers are gonna rock the bears in the Super bowl.

Drift and flow...
Does anyone remember Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch during spring training? Do I really remember that or am I making it up? Monday, ya know.

Re: the drift continues
 

*looks at Griff's post several times*

Hey Griff, what was that? Something about the Rams beating whomever represents the AFC? ;)

There was a link here somewhere for video of that. Snow day here so we're a little disjointed as well... We were coming up the driveway from our adirondac cc ski trip as the first snow started falling excellent timing now we don't have to drive to ski :) Just wait for Sycamore to see that Bears comment then we'll wake up to some fireworks!

American beer: Its not cool to say so but I'm partial to some of the Yeungling products. Saranac makes a nice Indian Pale. Petes Wicked is always good. Stout is really where its at though, when we bicycle toured Ireland the Mrs and I lived on Beamish Stout and pub sandwiches that was perfect. I guess the Guiness folks were on strike while we were over there. To me Beamish was a hair lighter and a little sweeter. must return to the old sod must graduate little ones from high school get back to wandering life...

Ha Ha! Thought you'd like that!

*laughs*

All kidding aside, I'm very happy for the Bears. I'm so glad to see them doing well, particularly in their last year at the "old" Soldier Field.

The AFC is really a toss up at this point. I'll go with the Steelers in the end.

The NFC is clearer. Taking my prejudice out, Green Bay is the only team, IMO, that could beat the Rams. But I don't think it will happen.

Rams over the Steelers. Another nail biter like Super Bowl XXXIV.

I happen to like Yuengling myself. Much better tasting than, say, Budweiser or Miller.

I've had Beamish on occasion, as well as Murphy's. Both are alright, but I'll take Guinness in a heartbeat. The drink that eats like a meal. :)

I used to know someone that spent significant time in Ireland back in the early 90s. He apparently drank a ton of Guinness while there, and will no longer drink it here. He said it tastes tons better over there. That wouldn't surprise me.

Griff, if I win the pub contest next year, I'll be sure to invite you and the missus over to the Emerald Isle. :)

Your lack of faith in the unstoppable glory and power of that force of nature known as the Green Bay Packers is quite disturbing... I will pray to St. Lombardi to intervene on behalf of your of your heathen, blaspheming soul.

Perhaps this is just a manifestation of some physical problem... are you, perhaps, not getting enough cheese in your diet?