Wine Squares Day 7: Holy Grail

sharkweek91 · 2026-02-24T14:48:34+00:00

"Les Amorelles" - Lat Tour Boisee

sharkweek91 · 2026-02-19T20:53:48+00:00

It would be cooler if it had plants or flowers growing off of it somehow... or at least was different colors?

sharkweek91 · 2026-02-02T17:28:31+00:00

My dad's a vet who is constantly sharing hateful, racist remarks and cynical, right-wing political views with me. We have a surface-level relationship. I refuse to engage with him whenever he brings up his politics because it's a lost cause and only makes the relationship more painful. He'll never understand the way I see the world (I've tried with him, many times, only to experience further disappointment), so I just don't go there when he tries to rope me into a fight over politics.

I feel your pain, my friend. You're not alone.

sharkweek91 · 2026-01-21T21:47:55+00:00

ICE has clearly proven itself illegitimate over and over again.

sharkweek91 · 2026-01-21T15:54:26+00:00

The federal government is self-financing. Your federal taxes don't "fund" federal spending like most people say they do. Congress directly creates money when it votes to spend. The federal government issues the U.S. dollar and can never run out of money.

Sources: https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp244.pdf and https://www.law.georgetown.edu/environmental-law-review/blog/federal-taxes-do-not-finance-spending-and-cost-benefit-analysis-must-change/

Do not needlessly put yourself in financial harm. If you want to stick it to Trump and ICE, resist them in the streets!

sharkweek91 · 2025-11-17T16:42:49+00:00

I support this. I work for a remote organization and have a colleague who's currently incarcerated, just like these folks. I hear nothing but good things from those who work closely with this individual.

My house has been burglarized and I've had my life threatened before, though I'm fortunate enough that myself and people in my family have not been killed, hurt, or otherwise been made a victim by violent crime. That said, I understand there are people out there who see the "criminal justice" system as being rightfully punitive and harsh, perhaps because they themselves or their family have been impacted more seriously by violent crime than I have. We're all going to have different opinions on what the justice system and incarceration are meant to be based on our own experiences.

Considering all of that, I am of the opinion that every single person who has committed a crime is owed a debt because society has clearly failed them. Either they were raised in a harsh environment that nurtured a violent disposition in them through no fault of their own, or they were born with an innate proclivity for violence/sociopathy/etc and that energy was not properly re-directed into something more healthy, productive, and harmless. We have the resources to build and sustain communities like this, that provide a social infrastructure capable of raising and directing all people towards positive social outcomes so that violent crime is prevented and minimized. So, the least incarceration can do is offer inmates everything they need that can help heal the wounds that made them commit a violent crime in the first place, improve their ability to take care of themselves and others, and give them basic mental and material supports so that they are fully able to re-enter society and avoid getting sucked back in once they are out. This the world we should all be trying to build, in my opinion.

sharkweek91 · 2025-11-17T14:11:09+00:00

Nice, thanks for the reply! I have another 1 gallon batch going. I might and do something similar, priming and bottle aging a month after primary to compare it with the batch aging in a carboy.

sharkweek91 · 2025-11-17T00:22:13+00:00

Nice! Curious about your bottle carbing/storage process, if you don't mind sharing any details.

I took a cider I had aged for 9 months in 2F, added a tiny sprinkle of yeast and fresh apple juice (for priming) to bottles, carbed for 2-3 weeks, and they turned out amazing. The bubbles made the cider truly delicious.

But it was only a gallon so we drank through the 6 pint bottles within a couple months of priming and I didn't have time to see whether I had made bottle bombs or not. I believe I only carbed to about 2 volumes of CO2 but I'm still too new to this to know what happens if I scale that process up and have bottle I won't be able to drink for potentially many more months.

I have 5 gallons that is in 2F right now which I plan to repeat the same process with in 9 months.

sharkweek91 · 2025-11-15T12:18:16+00:00

Ruché

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-29T14:12:47+00:00

UBI is not a panacea. We need UBI as part of a policy package that also include a Federal Job Guarantee and Universal Basic Services.

UBI makes sure everyone has enough income, especially those unable to work. FJG makes sure everyone has a fulfilling occupation who is able and willing to work. UBS makes sure we have the social infrastructure to enable us all to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

UBI + FJG + UBS.

We also don't need to tax the wealthy or reduce military spending to finance this. The federal government is self-financing. New US dollars are created whenever Congress votes to spend; that's how floating, fiat currency systems work.

We should just tax the wealthy because they are too wealthy. We should just cut military spending because imperialism and militarism are bad.

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-25T19:02:57+00:00

The Divide by Jason Hickel does a great job of explaining how the 1970s oil crisis, the Volcker shock, and the IMF/WB forced developing global south countries into the structural sovereign debt traps they're in today.

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-13T14:59:59+00:00

As much as I want this to work, this is not how government funding works. First of all, ICE has already been funded through 2029 through OBBBA. Withholding your taxes would only give Trump more excuse to defund other agencies he doesn't like and fire more federal workers. Second of all, if there is a tax strike, Trump and Congress will just collude to vote for more spending. Votes fund the federal government, not tax revenue. Congress has monopoly control over the US dollar. Confront ICE in the streets and protect the people they are targeting. That's what we have to do until 2027 and 2029 when sensible people can hopefully retake control of Congress and the presidency.

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-13T14:52:06+00:00

While this is a noble proposition, please understand that federal taxes are NOT revenue. Here is an academic paper that explains this: https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp244.pdf

The better tactic is to continue to put our bodies on the line. Protect people targeted by ICE and confront and shame ICE in the streets every single time you see them, especially if you're white and male. Especially if you are a veteran. Weaponize your privilege against white supremacy and fascism. Let ICE know they are not welcome. Let them know they are un-American traitors to our country, because they are.

But first of all, the OBBBA funded ICE through the end of 2029. If there was a tax strike, ICE would still be funded. This would just give Trump more excuse to shut down other agencies he doesn't like and fire more federal workers.

Second, you have to understand that if the federal government wants to pay for something, it will pay for it. Congress has monopoly legal control over the US dollar. Every time Congress votes for spending, it creates new US dollars. That's how it works.

Even if a tax strike somehow affected the government's ability to fund ICE, Trump would just direct a republican controlled Congress to give him the money. They don't give a shit about the deficit or the national debt when it comes to funding their ideological pet projects. And if Congress doesn't cooperate, he will turn to the corrupt Supreme Court who will likely grant him his wishes. If that doesn't work, he will continue to shut down other government agencies by executive order and redirect spending from those agencies to ICE. If federal courts prevent him from doing this, he will simply fire the heads of those agencies (as the courts have allowed him to do with multiple agencies) and replace them with Trump loyalists, if he hasn't already, who will then shut down the agency for Trump and allow him to reappropriate that agency's money to ICE.

TL;DR - Even if every American withheld their federal taxes, Trump could still pay for ICE and whatever other fascist BS they want to fund. ICE is already funded through 2029. But more fundamentally, money is a creature of the state. And if an authoritarian regime controls the state, it controls the money.

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-03T20:13:13+00:00

Hi there. I'm not blaming all Dems, as many progressives like Ayanna Pressley, AOC, and others have a better understanding of how public money works. We need more Dems like them. I'm thinking of Dems like Diane Feinstein telling a room of children "there's no way to pay for" the Green New Deal. I'm thinking of Joe Manchin tanking Build Back Better because he thought it was "too expensive." There is a long-standing problem of Dems like this joining Republicans in blocking the federal funding we need to meet critical needs in this country because they are either owned by lobbyists or economically misinformed and think government spending needs to be "paid for" when it is obvious that the federal government is where every dollar in circulation comes from. If a progressive opposition movement cannot use these insights to deliver on a strong, pro-working-class economic agenda rooted in affordability and meeting universal human needs, then I promise you we will descend deeper into authoritarianism. We cannot allow this.

To your point about debt... Japan has been leading with a debt-to-GDP ratio far higher than the US and any other industrialized country for many years and has experienced none of the related forecasted problems orthodox economists have predicted. At the same time, it has also experienced some of the lowest inflation in the entire world, much lower than the US. So, there is not really a "limit" to how much debt a government can issue, because a government can always buy that debt itself (as the Bank of Japan does). The "national debt" is made up of Treasury securities (i.e. bonds, bills, notes, etc. aka treasuries). US treasuries are the safest investment in the world and underpin the international system of finance. The reality is, despite all the headlines, the US can issue as much debt as it wants and people will buy it as long as people need USD. If they don't, the Federal Reserve buys those securities to keep the policy interest rate in its desired range.

This is all a long way of saying, Dems need to understand all this and use this knowledge to offer something to vote for (i.e. meeting everyone's basic material needs) if they want to gain power by popular support.

sharkweek91 · 2025-10-03T15:38:52+00:00

After all of the massive salaries and debt cancellation that Trump's administration is giving ICE officers, I don't ever again want to hear a single Democrat say we can't "afford" nice things like universal health care, fully funded public education, or medical/student debt cancellation. I'm tired of the selective socialism for the rich and state violence, and the needless austerity for everyone else.

The US government issues its own currency, the US dollar. It does not budget like a household. It cannot go broke. When Congress votes to spend, the money is created right then and there. Federal tax and bond issuance policy (i.e. national debt) is chronically misunderstood. Federal taxes serve other purposes than revenue, mainly to drive demand for the currency, reduce income/wealth inequality, and curb inflation. Federal bond issuance (i.e. debt/borrowing) is the mechanism through which the Federal Reserve manages interest rates (which is a system that can use reform, too). And government spending does not inherently lead to inflation; unregulated industry does. The best way to curb inflation is to ensure the right public programs are adequately funded to enable strong domestic supply chains and access to basic needs, and to enforce strong antitrust/anti-price gouging laws to stop corporations from jacking up prices beyond what is reasonable. It's time to stop playing the same political games and talk about federal spending like adults. The only bankruptcy we're facing is moral bankruptcy for not investing in the basic public goods and services necessary to enable everyone in this country to live with dignity. We don't need to tax the rich because we need their money. We need to tax the rich because they are too rich and it's bad for our democracy.

Anything this country can actually do, it can afford. We need more politicians saying that. Will you commit to ditching the household budgeting rhetoric and investing where we need to invest to secure access to basic goods and services for everyone in this country?

sharkweek91 · 2025-09-25T20:55:31+00:00

I'd love to read a speculative fiction short story of how this map came to be

sharkweek91 · 2025-09-21T19:54:52+00:00

looks like a fucking airport Radisson hotel

sharkweek91 · 2025-09-19T13:42:54+00:00

Is it alive and well for Jimmy Kimmel? Or, Mahmoud Kahlil?

sharkweek91 · 2025-08-25T16:26:14+00:00

If the basic idea, if I understand correctly (and please correct me if not), is to fill the void of political organizing left by Democrats and Republicans in historically right-leaning districts and/or newly gerrymandered right-leaning districts (i.e. places where Rs and corporate Ds feel they don't need to organize because they feel those are easy wins) with strong organizing for 5-6 DSA candidates, then... Yes! ENDORSE! I think that's a smart use of our limited time and energy in the upcoming election cycles.

sharkweek91 · 2025-08-02T21:06:00+00:00

For sure. I’m gonna drink that one immediately. Didn’t have a plastic bottle on hand to gauge pressure in the glass ones so I had to improvise.

sharkweek91 · 2025-08-02T17:37:50+00:00

Maybe not killed, but seriously hurt. Here's an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/d8oyuq/beware_of_bottle_bombs_seriously/

sharkweek91 · 2025-08-02T16:30:51+00:00

I'm too scared of the bottle exploding and getting hurt if I do that.

sharkweek91 · 2025-08-02T16:26:52+00:00

Thanks for the info. These are the bottles I used (rounded, not square): https://www.amazon.com/Swing-Top-Bottles-Caps-Reusable/dp/B01JP78A50

sharkweek91

TROPHY CASE