Yellow Vests - Week 17

17 weeks and still at it although the numbers are down. The press tends to focus on Paris but there are demonstrations all over the country and plans to go to CDG. My wife tracks cavaton apartment rental rates and they are down through August, which is when Europe goes on vacation. The UN has called for an investigation of police violence and their use of crowd dispersing rubber ball grenades. If you want to gauge the extent of the protests, on Saturday morning pull up Paris on Google maps and activate the traffic function. You will be able to see the road closures due to the marches.

Head Count

Saudi Arabia added to their active start by beheading 15 for murder and drugs. Year to date total is 36.

In other news.....have a Happy Mardi Gras.

Yellow Vests - Week 13

Another Saturday of escalating violence. Looks like marchers headed down the Champs to the Assembly National building. Police reacted with tear gas and rubber bullet grenades. A protester lost a finger when he picked one up and it detonated in his had. These grenades are made for crowd control using flash bang effect and rubber projectiles. They shoot rubber balls out to a maximum effective radius of 50 feet. Some also contain CS for a triple kick. They have a 1.5 second fuse that separates the metallic fuse and safety pin portion and then it detonates 0.5 seconds later. There is no time to pick it up and throw it back.

The Dems who are supporting AOC and her stupid new Green Deal need to watch some international news. These protests started over France's New Green Deal when President Macron increased the tax on diesel fuel on a populace that was already fed up with high taxes. Venezuela is in near revolt because of years of socialist policies. California's high speed rail project is mired in cost overruns and is probably 15 years away  from completion, if ever.

Sweet Revenge

The ratings are in and Superbowl LIII was the least watch Superbowl of all time. In New Orleans, where we had a special animosity for that game, viewership was half of what it was last year.Instead, we had a party in the French Quarter.

I hope that Roger Goodell doesn't have to visit New Orleans in the future. If he does, he probably should not eat out in public.

Cadenhead

Cadenhead is Scotland's oldest independent bottler having been started in Aberdeen in 1842. They don't distill whiskey themselves but buy casks from distilleries and either blend them or sell as small batch single cask whiskeys. This particular whiskey was an 11 year old small batch cask strength distilled at Bunnahabhain.

Palate: Fairly peaty and a little harsh initially
Nose: Sweet
Color: Very pale
Finish: Long and warming

While this was not one of my favorites I recognize it as a unique whiskey due to its limited production. Indeed , some of the independent bottlers can supply whiskey from distilleries that are now closed. Some bottlers keep their suppliers a secret. Their cost can be at the high end of your whiskey budget, but if you know what you like and do a little research, you could find a one of a kind dram.

Yellow Vests - Week 12

The Yellow Vests had their 12 week of continuous protests on Saturday. The focus of the protest was against police violence. The police - a dedicated team that specializes in riot control - uses non-lethal projectiles called "flash-balls". Last week, a protest leader lost an eye to one of these weapons.

Flash-Ball is the brand name of a non lethal system manufactured by the French company Verney Carron. The produce a range of projectiles and launchers. Their full scope of supply can be seen on on their website - follow this link to see it.

The French courts uphold the use of flash-balls although they have been banned in several other European countries.

Head Count

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia started the year off with a bang by removing the heads of 21 criminals for the crimes of drugs and murder.