Papst Blue Ribbon NOT bought by Russians: (Retraction) So it turns out that the original Bloomberg article that reported this story was wrong. The company “Oasis Beverage” was not actually involved in the sale, and the beer company is actually owned by a equity firm based in New York.[1]

Brewing Laws in Canada: I tried to find more information on the specifics of brewing rules in Quebec, but like most things, it’s almost impossible to find. This website promises to include it at some later time. [2]

The Beer Label Baron: I can’t imagine a man who goes by the moniker “Battle” would NOT be a gigantic pain in the ass to deal with when trying to get your beer label accepted. Hard to believe only one guy is in charge. Well, you know what they say about absolute power…[3]

Maple Syrup Cartel: In Quebec, the price of maple syrup is out of control because it is effectively run like a trust, or really more like a cartel. Some independents are getting their assets seized, because these asshats have the government on their side [4]

Rio Olympic Disasters: Remember the Olympic sniper? Well, thankfully there were only a few close calls, but no deaths by the time the games ended.[5] Let’s not forget the Chinese athlete robbed by a fake drunk guy, [6] of the poor New Zealander who had to withdrawal cash at several ATM’s [7] There’s a great article where you can read a summary of all the disasters that plagued these games that you might enjoy.[8]

Mr. 14’s Olympic Predictions:

1. Third World Countries will have amazing medal count. (BUSTED)[9]
   4..Emergency personnel will in fact be robbers (REAL)[10]
2. Sniper will kill 15 people (BUSTED)
3. There will be a terrorist attack at the Olympics (BUSTED)
4. Brazilian government will have a military coup (PARTIALLY TRUE)[14]

Mr. B’s Olympic Predictions:

1. Major Incident in the athlete village. (REAL)[10]
2. Rio Athlete will contract the Zika virus (BUSTED) [11]
3. Due to transportation issues, athletes will be late for events and crowds will be empty (REAL) [12]
4. Major IOC doping scandal involving Russia (REAL) [13]
5. Athlete will have big ole poop on them (BUSTED)

Osheaga Music Festival: Few people outside Canada know of this concert, despite it’s massive size and impressive roster of bands. In 2016, they had a record 135,000 people who showed up [15]

Grimes pukes on Stage, Keeps Going: Now that’s one tough rocker! [16]

Flea’s Instructional Base Video: I think Flea would disagree with me over the definition of “instructional”. It’s all about slowly leading up to the lesson man. When your fingers move so fast I can’t see, it’s not exactly helpful! [17]

The Degradation of the Media: Before the whole “fake news” word salad, I was beginning to notice that major news orgs were losing credibility by trying to play the clickbait game. I wasn’t the only one to see this trend coming: [18]

Zeno’s Paradox: We briefly mention this topic, but one day we’ll have to revisit it. Imagine an ancient Greek philosopher who happens to hit on the idea of infinities, and uses that to create a most interesting paradox about movement [19]

Pokemon Go: I think there’s money in the idea of making a “Nature Game” that uses the same “catch them all”. Scientists were already asking people to look for new species. Why not an app for that?[20]

Veterans Clash with Pokemon Go Players: What happens when two American values collide: the love of dead soldiers, and the love of entertainment?[21] While there was talk of creating new legislation, it doesn’t appear that any law was passed banning “fun” at the park as a result.[22]

Young Americans Eager for War: That encounter with the young american man reminded me that the easiest way to get rid of a troublesome generation is usually to send them crashing against the currents of war.

The Ring of Nebelungen: This was one of the great operas of it’s time, and a huge inspiration for Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring. It seems like no one has yet published real work linking Tolkien’s precise influence, so I think when I do record the long version, I’ll have to do a bit more digging. [23]

Predicting the Rise of Fake News: As I listen back on some of these shows, I’m struck by how accurately we predict a lot of the events that started to unfold in early 2017 with the rise of Fake News.[24]

[1] http://www.brewbound.com/news/pabst-wasnt-actually-sold-to-russians
[2] http://bacchusurbanwinery.com/regs.htm
[3] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/12/meet-the-beer-bottle-dictator.html
[4] http://business.financialpost.com/news/its-crazy-isnt-it-quebecs-maple-syrup-rebels-face-ruin-as-cartel-crushes-dissent
[5] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3646384/Rio-s-highway-terror-Shooter-takes-aim-cars-Red-Line-road-Olympic-athletes-fans-travel-games-Brazil.html
[6] http://thebiglead.com/2016/07/30/chinese-athlete-robbed-by-fake-drunk-man-in-rio/
[7] http://time.com/4421332/rio-olympics-new-zealand-athlete/
[8] https://lmd.lk/olympic-debacles/
[9] https://www.devex.com/news/what-the-olympic-medal-tally-tells-us-about-developing-countries-88683
[10] http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/news/a62370/rio-olympic-village-horror-stories/
[11] http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/so-far-it-seems-no-one-caught-zika-olympics-who-n637876
[12] http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-2016-olympic-athletics-empty-stadium-a7187286.html
[13] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/09/ioc-rio-ban-failure-russia-doping-scandal
[14] https://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/25/this_confirms_it_was_a_coup
[15] http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Osheaga+Record+crowd+enjoys+music+lovefest/8749117/story.html
[16] https://www.instagram.com/p/BInFbtPAJe6/
[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En1U1P9di64
[18] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/what-you-dont-know-about-click-bait-journalism-could-kill-you/
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno’s_paradoxes
[20] http://www.nature.com/news/gotta-name-them-all-how-pok%C3%A9mon-can-transform-taxonomy-1.20275
[21] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYyO1HofVuQ
[22] http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/video-veteran-arrested-after-crazy-showdown-with-pokemon-go-players/
[23] http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2013/09/25/how-much-was-j-r-r-tolkien-influenced-by-wagners-ring-cycle/
[24] http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37846860