F.R.O.G. (Family Recovery Orientation Group)

F.R.O.G. = Family Recovery Orientation Group

An off-shoot group for family members (of Adult Children of Alcoholics) who want to understand what goes on in ACA 12-Step Recovery Programs but do not fit "The Characteristics" of someone who attends ACA meetings (i.e. someone invested in spiritual recovery for themselves and their fellow ACA meeting members).

Whisky Advocate Buying Guide ~ Summer 2014 ~ V23/2

Rating Scheme: 95-100 & 90-94

Scotland

~ Speyside Single Malt

• 90 BenRiach Septendecim 17 year old, 46%, $80

^ Focus on Mortlach

• 93 Mortlach 18 year old, 43.4%, £180/500 ml

• 90 Mortlach Rare Old, 43.4%, £55/500 ml

• 90 Mortlach Special Strength, 49%, £75/500 ml

~ Campbeltown Single Malt

• 90 Springbank 21 year old 2014 release, 46%, £182

~ Single Malt

^ Focus on Classic Malts Triple Matured

• 93 Cragganmore Triple Matured Edition, 48%, £80

~ Highland Single Malt

• 94 Brora 40 year old Single Cask 1972 Vintage, 59.1%, £7,000

• 90 Glenmorangie Companta, 46%, $99

^ Focus on Glen Deveron

• 90 Glen Deveron 30 year old, 40%, £250/700 ml

~ Blended Whisky

• 95 Compass Box The Peat Monster 10th Anniversary Special Cask Strength Bottling, 54.7%, $120

• 95 The Last Drop 50 year old, 50.9%, $4,000

• 94 The John Walker, 40%, $3,500

~ Blended Malt Whisky

• 93 Johnnie Walker Odyssey, 40%, $1,100

!!!Editor's Choice

• 96 Booker's 25th Anniversary Bourbon Batch No. 2014-1, 65.4%, $100

***Value Pick 

• 93 Evan Williams Single Barrel (Barrel No. 1) 2004, 43.3%, $27***

United States

~ Bourbon

• 90 High West A Midwinter Night's Dram (Act 1), 49.3%, $80

^ Focus on Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection

• 91 Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Rye 115, 45%, $47/375 ml

• 91 Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Rye 125, 45%, $47/375 ml

^ Focus on Orphan Barrel Whiskeys

• 90 Barterhouse 20 year old, 45.1%, $75

~ Rye

• 90 Redemption Barrel Proof Rye Batch 3, 61%, $70

^ Focus on 100% Ryes

• 91 Lock Stock & Barrel 13 year old, 50.65%, $100

• 90 WhistlePig The Boss Hog 12 year old, 67%, $150

Canada

• 92 Crown Royal XO, 40%, $45***

Ireland

~ Single Pot Still

• 91 Green Spot, 40%, $50***

~ Single Malt

• 90 Bushmills Rum Cask #10623, 43%, $125

Flavored Whisky

• 92 Orangerie, 40%, $45***

Beer***

• 91 Allagash Saison, 6.1%, $11/4-pack

• 91 Harviestoun Ola Dubh 16, 8%, $9/11.2 oz

---

***$50 or less, Rating Scheme 80-89

Scotland

~ Blended Whisky

• 86 Grand Macnish 12 year old, 40%, $25

• 82 Grand Macnish Sherry Cask 15 year old, 40%, $35

~ Single Grain Whisky

• 85 Signatory (distilled at Cameronbridge) 1995, 43%, £26

United States

~ Bourbon

• 89 Jim Beam Single Barrel, 47.5%, $35

• 88 Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Commemorative Edition, 46.5%, $35

• 87 BeanBall Bourbon, 50%, $45

• 80 J.R. Ewing Private Reserve 4 year old, 40%, $35

~ Rye

• 85 Redemption White Rye, 46%, $20

• 81 Jack Daniel's Rested Tennessee Rye, 40%, $50

^ Focus on 100% Ryes

• 85 Jefferson's 10 year old Batch 18, 47%, $40

~ Craft Whiskey

• 87 Coppersea Raw Rye, 45%, $50

• 84 McKenzie Rye, 45.5%, $40

• 83 John Myer Rye, 45%, $45

• 83 Thistle Finch Rye, 40%, $32

• 82 Catoctin Creek Mosby's Spirit, 40%, $38

• 80 John Myer Wheat, 45%, $45

Flavored Whisky

• 83 Sapling Vermont Maple Rye Whiskey, 35%, $40

• 82 Celtic Honey Liqueur, 30%, $22

• 82 The Knot, 50%, $24

***$50 or less, Rating Scheme 90-94

~ Duplicated from Above ~

***Value Pick 

• 93 Evan Williams Single Barrel (Barrel No. 1) 2004, 43.3%, $27***

Canada

• 92 Crown Royal XO, 40%, $45***

Ireland

~ Single Pot Still

• 91 Green Spot, 40%, $50***

Flavored Whisky

• 92 Orangerie, 40%, $45***

Beer***

• 91 Allagash Saison, 6.1%, $11/4-pack

• 91 Harviestoun Ola Dubh 16, 8%, $9/11.2 oz

2 The Cow

6. As for those who deny,
it is all the same if you warn them or not,
they will not believe.
7. God has sealed their hearts and ears,
and veiled their eyes.
For them is great deprivation.

South Asian Spices Recipe - 1.1.13

--
Garam masala
Turmeric
Coriander
Cumin
Ginger
Garlic
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne / Paprika
--
Mix spices, a pinch of each spice
--
Mustard seeds
Olive oil
--
Heat pot on low heat
Add oil
Add mustard seeds & cover w/lid
Wait for seeds to stop popping
Add spices & 2 cloves fresh garlic minced
Remove from heat
--
Spinach
Red potatoes
White/Yellow Onion
Eggs
--
Slice potatoes
Mix seasonings in pan w/oil
Add potatoes
Mix potatoes until covered
Add more oil if necessary
Pop in pre-heated oven at 350 *F
After 30 min., turn potatoes
Add 1/2 sliced onion
Mix w/potatoes
Cover potatoes w/sliced tomatoes
Back in oven for 15 min.
After 15 minutes is over, cover w/fresh spinach
Back in oven for 15 minutes
Cook eggs in the meantime
After 15 min., add paneer
Mix and serve
--

WHO IS WITH ME ON THIS???

12.31.12 – To all my friends! I wish you a Happy New Year! May 2013 bring peace and prosperity to a world in recession and embroiled in foreign conflicts in which we have no place intervening with weapons of violence and devastation. We are the American peoples of these United States and we know better than to be deceived by politicians and corporate-backed media conglomerates. (Remember that today’s Chevron Corporation helped to broadcast the Texaco Star Theatre on the radio from 1938-1949 and to telecast on television from 1948-1956). We can change the world for the better if we learn to consider (by following a politics of consideration) that we have no enemies that we ourselves don’t create; no one is a stranger unless we allow them to be; and that the spirit that guides each and every one of us in our hearts and minds is open to hear our grievances as long as we open ourselves in our hearts, bodies and minds to hear the voice of the spirit in the words others speak to us that may sometimes sound strange and harsh but is a wake-up call, a clarion call, to arms against violent oppressors; against those who choose to ostracize the downtrodden (like the homeless in our nation’s major cities) and castigate those with mental disabilities. This country is in a world of pain and trauma from the wanton violence in 2012. We need to unite against the madness of the mental health systems in this beautiful land of ours and make peace a priority for all of the peoples of the world in 2013. We need the senators and representatives of our legislature to talk openly about creating greater funding for mental health services in America, to battle the demons that guide the unfortunate perpetrators who choose to harm others instead of having the strength and fortitude of a clear mind with an open heart to heal a nation from its own idiocy and blindness. This issue is not gun-control my friends. The issue is funding mental health services so that the mentally ill don’t self-medicate on street drugs and lose it on the innocent citizens of our glorious nation. This may sound like rhetoric to you, but our schools, our movie theaters, our universities, our subways and other public places need to be protected from mentally deranged killers. And the only way to do that is to fight big government and make them realize that arguments over gun-control may help them win a battle and earn their salaries off the backs of honest tax-paying citizens, but it won’t save the children of America. May we have peace in 2013! May the spirit of your heart guide you in the next year to speak out against gun-violence and hate crimes, and to beg the government to better regulate the mental health systems in America. To all my friends! I love you all! Peace! I’m out of here!!!

Epimetheus and the Titanomachy

What is the point in being good? Is it to stay out of jail and avoid prison that we choose to not commit crimes? Or do we commit crimes irrespective of the consequences, without foresight, or the intelligence to realize we will be caught unless we can truly outwit authority. As we all know most criminals are as witless as Epimetheus, lacking the foresight their gifted brother, Prometheus, the fire-bringer, bears. Consider the reasons we choose to act in ways that lead to end our acceptance of the social contract.

Can humans really be divided so simply into mutually exclusive groupings such as occurs in Greek mythology? And are the Olympian gods the authorities who mete out punishment and justice and the Brothers Titan are the heroes who suffer each in their own way from their defeat in the war against Zeus and his brethren? As Epimetheus receives the gift of Pandora from the gods...

The Wycliffe Bible (1395) - John 3:36

3:36 He that bileueth in the sone, hath euerlastynge lijf; but he that is vnbileueful to the sone, schal not se euerlastynge lijf, but the wraththe of God dwellith on hym.