Would that be I.F. Stone’s famous opening statement to his students:

“The first thing to remember is that governments lie.”

Everyone is selling something in America today–makes it hard to know “who’s zoomin’ who.”

Incidentally, there’s a new biography out about Stone.

I’m probably repeating myself, but this article reminds me of I.F. Stone. in fine form too.
“Why would he want them to do that?

Because he’s probably the guy who sold the poor saps on the technology.

A deeper reading of the interview shows clearly that Smith wants things both ways. On second thought, his answers are often spectacularly disingenuous. But maybe I’m just too picky. I like hucksters at least to make some sense.”

And don’t forget to add smoke as yet another element of terroir !

“How smoke affects wine

Smoke does strange things to wine, not all of which are understood. Two compounds are of particular concern: guaiacol and 4-methyl guaiacol, markers for the presence of smoke. Ironically, these compounds also appear during the toasting process of oak and can help provide smoky scents, which is why they are also used in perfumes.

Smoke is not inherently an unpleasant flavor. The very purpose of toasting barrels, sometimes to excess, is to capture it. Not just in wine - look no further than barbecue (or liquid smoke).”

Wines’ smoky taste a memento of year of fires
Jon Bonné
SFGate, Sunday, July 5, 2009

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/03/FDKN18FM94.DTL&type=food