Things I have learned and relearned on vacation.

It's been a while, but I just want to say that Fat Tire beer is the best beer ever. I will hear no dissent. And don't give me shit like, "Well, I've had a Guiness in Dublin," or any other such douchebaggery. Because all I hear is, "Well, I'm such a dick I can't even let a guy enjoy his favorite beer without bringing up some circumstantial bullshit that doesn't help said guy when he just want's a pint around the corner and not on some godforsaken cloudy island in the North Atlantic."
The following have been gleaned from a few books I got for Christmas.
Pliny the Elder was a gullible bastard (dog headed people in India, apparently, were considered reasonable additions to his Natural History), and even he didn't think you should go around treating god like a reasonable subject for civic debate or public education.
Also, nationalism as an alternative to imperialism (e.g. post-WWI) is a good idea that is often poorly executed (e.g. post-WWI [I highly recommend A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin]); nationalism as the philosophy behind imperialism (e.g. Japan in 1930s and Manifest Destiny here at home) tends to lead to tears (e.g. Japan in 1945 and has anyone heard from the Naraganset in a couple of centuries? Also, black people would like a word with you about the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries).