Evo Terra has put together a pretty good listing of sites detailing botanical medicine.
My attorney agrees that the Bellaruche Rhone wine was wonderful. It had strong tannins that were well balanced with well developed plum fruits. Low acidity kept this young (2000) wine from becoming harsh, so it's fine to drink now. I only had cojack cheese to compliment the wine, but it worked! I'm sure a burger or a steak would have made this hearty wine sing.
On the other hand, because of the low acidity, this wine may not age well. The complexities that begin to show in a wine's third to fifth year were completely absent from Chapoutier's low end Rhone, but then who can hold wine for that long anyway?
Neik Hockx has had a hell of a year.
If you really want sheep shampain then try Cook's Brut for around four bucks. If you mean bargain Champagne, Billecart Salmon Rose beats Cristal for about one quarter the price. Mumm Cuvee Napa, Blanc du Noir is a delicious midpriced Champagne 'taste-alike'. Mumm's California high-tech winery features a mile long hallway lined with Ansel Adams' rare photos of Napa Valley.
Gelukkig Nieuw Jaar!
I worry that an HMO owner is now the most powerful legislator in the House of Representatives. Times columnist Bill Keller opines:
In the twilight of the Congressional session, some legislator anonymously arranged for a provision to be slipped into the Homeland Security bill protecting vaccine makers (mainly Eli Lilly) from lawsuits filed by the parents of autistic children. Hundreds of parents are pressing a claim that the mercury in a measles vaccine contributed to their children's disorder. For all I know, the suit may be baseless, but surely that's for a court to decide. This is a glaring example of legislative malfeasance. And strong evidence points to Dr. Frist as its author. He is cozy with Lilly and he drafted identical legislative language earlier.
Julius Welby has posted new photographs of deserted London streets. He's got a wall made of hexagonal bricks that was "separated at birth' from this wall along the walkway between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora:
