NEWS AND OPINION:

Here are some upcoming Republican revels to consider.

Things will be rocking of the musical sort in the Granite State soon. The New Hampshire Republican Party is hosting a First in the National Primary Party in January, according to a friendly invitation shared with Inside the Beltway.

“The New Hampshire Presidential Primary is just around the corner. The night before, The New Hampshire Republican Party is hosting a First In the Nation Primary Party! The event is free to attend and will include some top-level political members,” the invitation states, exclamation point and all.

But wait, there’s entertainment of a unique sort.

“Scott Brown and the Diplomats are going to be on stage the whole night. This is a great way to rock the vote, see some friends, and get fired up for election day!” the invitation declares.

Wait. Scott Brown? Does that name sound familiar? It should.

The aforementioned Mr. Brown is a former Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts who served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2017 to 2020. He was also the 2014 Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire.

These days, however, Mr. Brown is also lead singer and a guitar player for the aforementioned band, which performs rock ‘n’ roll from the 1960s onward. The event takes place in Manchester on Jan. 22.

“We have a limited number of tickets, so lock them in now!” the New Hampshire GOP says in their invite, exclamation point and all.

ALE TO THE CHIEFS

The Brewers Association and the American Homebrewers Association have revealed the 2023 winners of the sixth annual Hill Staff Homebrew Competition.

This competition calls upon Capitol Hill employees to brew some brew. And brew they did, producing “an impressive variety of homebrewed beer styles,” according to a statement from the organizers.

The awards ceremony took place Wednesday on Capitol Hill, featuring “a distinguished panel of certified beer judges and seasoned professional brewers evaluated each entry,“ the organizers said.

“In every homebrewed beer, you taste more than just hops and malt — you taste the shared ingenuity of collaboration and community. It’s heartening to witness Capitol Hill colleagues embracing the bipartisan camaraderie, beer, and friendly competition,” Katie Marisic, senior director of federal affairs at the Brewers Association, said at the awards ceremony.

Here are the winners:

The Capitol Hill Staff Homebrew Champion, Best of Show was won by “Irish Trip,” an oatmeal stout made by Will Lane, who hails from the office of Rep. Jeff Duncan, South Carolina Republican.

In second place was “Liquid Legislating,” an imperial stout brewed by Jennifer Burks, from the office of Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Democrat.

And in third place was “Red Sky at Night,” an Irish red ale brewed by Matthew Knoedler, from the office of Rep. Mike Kelly, Pennsylvania Republican.

Find the host organizations at HomebrewersAssociation.org and BrewersAssociation.org.

INFLATION MATH

The big prices are not going away anytime soon. Inflation continues its reign over American pocketbooks, and one news organization casts the blame on President Biden.

There is “no relief in sight,” TippInsights said in a written editorial released Wednesday.

“The dark reality of Bidenomics is 16.7% inflation under President Biden’s watch. When he took office, inflation was at just 1.4%. Inflation has stayed above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for 34 consecutive months since March 2021,” the editorial said.

“According to the Labor Department, average hourly earnings for all employees dropped 3.1% to $11.07 in November from $11.42 in January 2021 when Biden assumed office. Despite nominal salary increases at their fastest pace in years, American workers are now worse off than when Biden took office,” it continued.

“In short, the prices have increased by 16.7% under Biden’s watch, while real wages have declined by 3.1%. … To put it differently, they now need 19.8% more income than they had in January 2021 to maintain their standard of living,” the editorial said.

“Financial stress can lead to insomnia, weight gain (or loss), depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, social withdrawal, and physical ailments such as headaches, gastrointestinal problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease,” the organization said.

Find them at Tippinsights.com.

SCIENCE CORNER

This is some fuel for thought, perhaps.

“A Japanese space startup has taken a big step toward developing its first orbital rocket — which will be powered by gas from cow dung,” the news site Space.com reported.

“Interstellar Technologies Inc. recently performed a combustion chamber static fire test at Japan’s Hokkaido Spaceport as part of the development of the Cosmos engine for its Zero rocket,” the report said.

“The combustion chamber burned for 10 seconds, marking engineering progress but also demonstrating liquid biomethane as a sustainable rocket fuel, Interstellar representatives said in a Dec. 7 statement. The Zero rocket will notably use liquid biomethane fuel produced locally from livestock manure — cow dung — with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer,” Space.com said.

The 105-foot-long Zero rocket is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2025.

POLL DU JOUR

• 54% of U.S. adults say the U.S. should continue building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border; 85% of Republicans, 58% of independents and 24% of Democrats agree.

• 61% of men and 47% of women also agree.

• 46% say the U.S. should not continue building a border wall; 14% of Republicans, 42% of independents and 74% of Democrats agree.

• 38% of men and 51% of women also agree.

• 1% are unsure about the issue; 1% of Republicans, 0% of independents and 2% of Democrats agree.

• 2% of men and 1% of women also agree.

SOURCE: A National Public Radio/PBS poll of 1,259 U.S. adults conducted Dec. 4-7.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.