On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:49:41 -0800, Steve Jackson wrote:

> "Craig Bergren" > wrote in message
> news
>> On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 23:26:18 -0800, Steve Jackson wrote:
>>


>> After all, what could
>> be more Irish than the potato. The answer is Guinness!
>
> I'm not even sure what you're getting at, but doesn't Guinness use English
> hops? That's hardly "Irish" under your accounting of what makes something
> worthy of a nation-of-origin adjective.

Some of their hops come from the UK, but I would guess that more come from
America than the UK. That, however, does not make a Guinness more
American than the potato.

http://www.greensbeverages.com/guinness.html Over 600
tonnes are used by the Guinness brewery each year, almost 1% of the world
crop, these are mainly sourced from the USA, Austrailia the UK and
Germany; Golding are the main variety.

The comparison is between two things not native to Ireland. English
Porter and potatoes. Potatoes come from South America, Porter comes from
England. Even though they've been growing potatoes for roughly 500 years,
they've been growing barley since the neolithic period (roughly 5000
years) and they've been making Guinness for 245 years (since 1759) and the
Irish did put some creative work into morphing the London Porter into Dry
Irish Stout, Guinness, but not much into the potato.

Therefore Guinness is more Irish than the potato.

>> Nothing is more American than the BATF.
>
> You're good at that non-sequiter thing.
>
>

I'm not the one who brought hamburgers, chocolate, and coffee into this
discussion!

What's more American than tobacco, alcohol and firearms?

> Starbucks is communist? Yes, I guess so, seeing as how the rampant
> capitalist spread of cookie-cutter shops to every corner of the earth is
> one of the centerpieces of Marx's writing.
>

You're right, my bad, since 9-11 the worst thing for an American to be is
French. Starbucks is French, the worst thing an American can be.

CB