I know we rag on Murdock, but did anyone really complain when he managed to everyone safely on the LZ?
This is my review of New Belgium VooDoo Ranger G-Force:
Our friend Murdock, aka Glibertarian.com Inside Joke #78: the meta helicopter joke, is out of a job. This will actually be triggering for those of you that actually did ride in a helicopter in the military. I mean this with actual sincerity—If you had a psychotic helicopter pilot transport you somewhere and felt an overwhelming sense of relief you landed in a rice paddy in Vietnam, or some shithole in Afghanistan, for the simple fact you actually landed without crashing—here is the link to the Veteran’s Crisis Line. Hell, they might even take a call from Brian Williams. Now skip directly to the beer review.
The U.S. Army received on Mar. 19, 2026, the H-60Mx Black Hawk Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) at Fort Eustis, Virginia, the service announced. This comes a little more than a year after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contracted Sikorsky to equip an experimental fly-by-wire UH-60 Black Hawk with MATRIX, the company’s flight autonomy software.
This new development will now further advance DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program being in the works since 2020. As part of the program, Sikorsky has been testing and demonstrating another tablet-controlled UH-60A OPV Black Hawk, and even unveiled a purpose-built fully unmanned S-70UAS U-Hawk.
For the Terminator fans out there, there is a scene where this is specifically called out by Miles Bennet Dyson that his work will allow you to never have to worry about your pilot having a bad day, or showing up hungover. You might not remember that because it was the same scene Sarah Connor correctly attempted to murder him in front of his family.
There is a sense of inevitability with this, given the number of Waymos I am constantly encountering. The number of times my daughter suggests she simply take a Waymo to where she wants to go (thankfully we live 1/2 mile out of their service area). Then there is always the obligatory sell from Elon Musk on TwiX that FSD mod will change the world. I don’t think he’s wrong, once everyone like the guy in the Crown Vic stops driving like an asshole it might actually result in everyone putting their lives in the hands of engineers…
But for those that refuse to get in these things because of some psychotic pilot? What else could they do to make this more frightening to step into? A door gunner powered by Tesla Optimus?
I should’ve left a trigger warning for this one. VooDoo Ranger is one of those solutions to a problem nobody yet identified. Which is fitting they chose a fighter pilot as the logo for these. At 11% this is beginning to leave me with the impression a new generation of malt liquor drinkers is beginning to emerge. Is this “juicy”? Sure, if paying a bunch of juice juice girls at a bar outside of Kunsan is what comes to mind, then yes this is juicy. You bought alcohol at that bar thinking you can handle it, but as it turns out its not exactly regulated, you’re plastered, and suddenly you got robbed by what you thought was a small troupe of prostitutes but they’re not.
And why!? Because juice juice girls are NOT prostitutes. So you can’t even get a decent story out of it when you come back stateside because you’re a dumbass that got robbed by juice juice girls. New Belgium VooDoo Ranger G-Force: 1.7/5 11% ABV, 12 IBU
Life is filled with mysteries.
One of them is what juice juice girls are.
once everyone like the guy in the Crown Vic stops driving like an asshole
BUILD A WALL AROUND CONNECTICUT!
Because juice juice girls are NOT prostitutes.
Oh.
The beer doesn’t look good.
Yeah that’s a no from me, dawg.
I am jumping on the NO bandwagon here.
Because juice juice girls are NOT prostitutes.
I have a feeling MS learned this the hard way….
Negative. I have never been to Korea. I just paid attention to the stories.
New Belgium was already on my shit list for lobbying Congress to force stricter environmental controls on breweries (which they had conveniently spent a large amount of money retrofitting their production facility to meet). Right around then, when they were struggling is when they decided to pivot from their old staples and double down on Voodoo Ranger as the brand to save the brewery. Shortly after that, they were acquired by Lion and that’s where they are now (technically, New Belgium is the brewery that acquired Bells, but it seems they’re behaving better with that brand).
I didn’t mind the original Voodoo Ranger, but have yet to have a variant that I would buy again, and the doubling down on haze/juicy IPAs has me eschewing them more.
Yeah, the original with the muerto wearing a coonskin cap is about my limit where it stops being beer and becomes content.
New Belgium was already on my shit list for lobbying Congress to force stricter environmental controls on breweries (which they had conveniently spent a large amount of money retrofitting their production facility to meet).
Well, it is a day that ends in Y.
technically, New Belgium is the brewery that acquired Bells, but it seems they’re behaving better with that brand
Wut?
I remember hearing something about Bells getting bought, but didn’t know this.
DEG:
It happened when Larry Bell stepped down. Laura Bell had already stepped away from the brewery and said she was not interested in taking over (she had worked there and was their spokesperson for a while, IIRC, she was responsible for Oarsman).
I thought I had shared the Slate piece a while back that expressed shock and surprise that beer drinkers haven’t treated Bells like we did Goose Island/Elysium/Golden Road/etc.
I must have missed all this news.
Thanks!
I’ve been to their taproom in Kalamazoo. It’s OK.
but did anyone really complain when he managed to everyone safely on the LZ?
When did “everyone” become a verb?
GET OFF THE CHOPPA! MOVE PRIVATE! KEEP GOING! WHY ARE YOU STOPPING? GET IN THE FUCKING TREELINE!
This is English, we can verb any noun we want!
Damn straight!
It became a verb when I omitted the word, “land” and didn’t proofread it when I wrote it?
English is a living language, not a constitution!
Military aircraft have/had pilots? Huh. Self loading cargo just go in the back. This isn’t United, there’s no Channel 9 nor are they standing on the jetway greeting you or thanks you for your business.
The number of times my daughter suggests she simply take a Waymo to where she wants to go
Tell her to get a job and pay for her own damn Waymo. :-p
She has a part time job. I’ve mentioned it before…do you people not read ¿enlaces?
The fundamental problem with automation is that it works great right up until it doesn’t. And the better the automation becomes the less engaged the operator becomes in providing critical oversight of the system. So, you get problems when the automation stops working and the operator is totally disengaged and has no idea what is happening. This can turn minor incidents into catastrophic events. So, the solution is to make the automation even better and get rid of the operator.
I’m still predicting the industry is toast the first time it kills someone.
It has already killed people .
brave says:
As of October 2025, there have been 65 reported fatalities involving Tesla Autopilot, with 54 verified by NHTSA investigations or expert testimony. A notable recent legal outcome occurred in August 2025, when a Florida jury found Tesla partly liable for a 2019 fatal crash, awarding $243 million in damages ($43 million compensatory and $200 million punitive) after the jury determined the company was 33% responsible for the incident involving the death of Naibel Benavides Leon.
Jinxed it.
OK, I’ll go back to another quip I made where the industry dies when it causes a 98-car pile-up.
Back in my drinkin’ days, New Belgium had a good (and available) selection ’round here, and perhaps everywhere. I recall Voodoo Ranger being quite good, though I recall the OG to be maybe 8%(?), but I haven’t tried this monster.
Haven’t tried, but I get the idea. If it’s a darker beer, the 11% turns it into a wine slow-sipper, and I can see it working if it all goes right, and one drinks it slowly. I mostly did that with the OG V Ranger cuz it forces you too. Lots of flavor and it’s a thick drink.
I may be 6 (or 7) months clean now, but would recommend this brew. Good job, ev. *drags weed vape before soon work departure*
Powerline.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/04/the-week-in-pictures-no-queens-edition.php
The dime one is depressing, but according to the melt value websites, accurate. ($5.29 today)
Don’t show that to Bessent! Fucker will have us rounding to nearest 25¢.
I’m still kicking myself for stopping buying silver at around $30.
Eggheadspeak
Analyses from groups like the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group, along with McKinsey and others, are starting to frame climate adaptation and resilience as a growing value driver, with investable markers exceeding $1 trillion in the coming years. But for now, while adaptation-related markets are expanding, private capital tends to engage selectively and conditionally. Investment is most likely where risks are partially absorbed by public or concessional finance, returns are indirect but credible and projects are structured to aggregate demand or monetize co-benefits.
To fully unlock the available capital for climate adaptation, governments and international organizations can catalyze economic activity and innovation by using public finances to lower risk and attract more private investment, bundling small, local, or household-level adaptation and resilience efforts into investable portfolios, and reconciling public-good outcomes with private returns (for example, flood protection tied to infrastructure revenue). Green and climate-labeled debt instruments can also support scaling adaptation-focused securities in support of resilience investments
Developing novel insurance and risk transfer mechanisms such as expanding parametric insurance, catastrophe bonds and risk-pooling instruments can make climate risk legible and tradable for private capital, along with strengthening climate risk disclosure frameworks to provide more transparency in lending. But to accomplish this, an early and critical task will be to establish common definitions and metrics to reduce transaction and due diligence costs and create the preconditions for broader market participation.
Yes, of course.
governments and international organizations
Is that just one, or is it two stolen bases?
screw you people and your USDA prime beef.
If you got ripped off at Prime Beef you should know Chippendales is the bar setter in that industry.
Just saying.
Would you rather have composite beef?
Irrational beef is where it’s at.
Better than imaginary beef
25% off at the store I just came from, and it was still overpriced. I didn’t buy any beef there.
I’m not even mad. Pie is right.
Women dithering about pseudo-important decisions . . . .
Listen folks. Your wedding will not be perfect. You marriage will not be perfect. Your life will not be perfect. It is still worth doing it. Take pleasure where you can. Grind your way through the rest of it.
provide the fucking link while you’re at it kinnath . . . .
https://slate.com/culture/2026/04/wedding-dress-tiktok-how-choose-white-long-regret.html
Two year engagement….
As I said to my now-wife at the time – the wedding, while a big event, is not the important part. It’s the marriage that’s important.
The wedding is for the bride.
The reception is for the families.
The honeymoon is for the groom.
Fixed
…To finally stick to the father for not buying her a bigger ring
Please. We paid for our own wedding (“I paid for our wedding” being closer to the truth). My MIL’s “suggestions” were all met with “we’ll think about it”
Dithering about decisions. *grinds teeth*
Here’s the thing – often, people dither about deciding between two things that are pretty much equivalent. “I just can’t decide” is usually the tell for this. But if they’re pretty much equivalent, just fucking pick one already.
I already took one for the team on Duckworth, I’m not touching this one.
So, okay. Met husband online in late Feb/early March, married in September. I spent $2,000 on my wedding AND reception (Mom gave me $1,000 and got about that much from wedding gifts), made my wedding dress (including hand embroidery) AND my mother’s dress (although she objected to wearing red, but I went all Bridezilla over that). I do not regret one moment or detail of my wedding.*
I was just happy to be getting married, honestly.
Ooh. 💃
Oh, I misread, thought you wore red.
on first read, I thought Moj was the one in red too.
Only $600…
https://youtu.be/YTwESBcgoyQ
Not an April Fool’s joke?
This has been on AP for a long, long time. Uh. Huh.
“The crisis? The point? For ‘Bridgerton,’ the word ‘orgasm’ wouldn’t quite do”
Well. *Make* it do. Ya’ve meaning moaning this for a few weeks now. No. I still don’t care.
That’s what.. someone said.
“Easter eggs can be dyed and still eaten. Just follow these tips to make sure it’s safe”
Stop. Fear your the world in your own little bubble. Away from me. (And my eggs.)
Safe? JFC.
Of course, in my house, we did empty shells for coloring, decoration, and display. Punch pin holes on either end of the egg, and we’d blow the eggs out. The unshelled eggs were then overcooked as scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Everything will kill you, continue to make your kids absolutely afriad of anything.
I went window shopping today. Held a Glock 23 in .40SW.
Felt….off. Maybe their crappy grips?
Walked out with my wallet intact.
A M&P40c is gonna feel better ergonomically.
The place had some M&P. They were all 9mm.
A different place has a Swiss K31 that caught my eye, but I dont know how scarce the 7.5×55 rounds are.
https://sgammo.com/catalog/rifle-ammo-sale/75-swiss-ammo/
Currently not too scarce.
I have not shot the S&B or PPU stuff. I’ve heard good things about the PPU stuff.
I have a stockpile of surplus GP-11. That stuff is excellent. I also have a little bit of FNM 7.5×55 left over that I bought when I bought my first K-31. The FNM stuff is garbage. Thankfully the Portuguese government shut FNM down in the early 00s.
Tres, for details on Swiss rifles, check Swiss Waffen. It includes a serial number lookup to see what it is you are looking at. Some of the data is in German only, but the basics for the more common firearms is in English.
Whelp….looks like next weekend I may be owning a K31
I hate doing planks.
Although I do enjoy the endorphins.
🤔
Next weekend there’s a gun show in Syracuse. Should I make a trip out?