Surgeon General Steven K. Galson has released a report on underaged drinking that is, in his own words, "devastating." Hang on to your hats as I devestate you.
It turns out more than 10 million Americans under the age of 21 have tasted alcohol. (Smelling salts, please.) The report does not say how many Americans older than 21 have had a drink, but that does not matter because of the other devastating news.
While many Americans older than 21 may go to a friendly bar and responsibly drink a few shots before driving themselves home in their safe SUV's, it turns out 30% of underaged drinking happens in the underaged drinker's own home! Right under the noses of the parents! And Galson is pissed!
OK do not get me wrong I am all for doing whatever you want to do to keep life entertaining. I am bringing this up not as wrist slapper but as education. The link below is an article from the New York Times, and it is about the deaths caused by drugs in Miami in 2007. Long story short:
As I was coming of age in mid-1970s, the drinking age was often 18 or 19, depending on the state in which you lived. The drinking age had been lowered in most states as the Vietnam War was ending. The same argument was used then, as is sometimes heard now: If you are old enough to die for your country, then you should be old enough to take a drink.
Note: This is my first diary entry on DailyKos and is not directly related to the politics du jour (primaries in KY and OR), but I thought I would take this opportunity to post something that interests me and learn more about the system before I dive right into deep political theory and debate. As well as provide a nice diversion from the politics to discuss an issue that I feel is ignored far too much, the minimum drinking age.
Recently, the BBC had a very interesting documentary about food and how people respond to it called the Truth About Food. In one of the episodes, they examined how children behave when certain foods are forbidden from them. For the experiment, they determined two foods that the children were equally fond of at the beginning of the experiment, dried mangoes and raisins. After determining this through a quick survey, they experimentally established that both were liked equally by providing it to the children twice a day and measuring the percentage of fruit eaten during the snack times.
Recently I wrote and published a soul-wrenching diary. Most of the comments posted to it were respectful and sane. But one. This particular comment was so bizarre; it was both filled with alleged documentation and cites, but it was also riddled with errors in reading comprehension, knowledge, and reasoning. I suspected that the writer was stoned. Either on alcohol or drugs. I called the writer of the comment out on it.
Later in the day, when I had more time, I found in his archived comments, evidence that the writer did indeed claim to use recreational drugs via a bong. While I'm not either the substance abuse police or the thought police, I do feel that it's reasonable for me to expect the person writing is not drunk or stoned out of their gourd.
I'm new to the political process, and apologize in advance for certain kinds of flamboyance and outright ignorance (but not others). I know a thing or two about losing. I've lost dogs I loved like family, I've lost train tickets, and most recently I lost an eBay auction for Don Covay's 1965 Mercy! lp, on Atlantic Records--that's Jimi Hendrix, practically a kid, on guitar! My preferred means of dealing with loss is to sip rye whiskey till Lucky Charms appear, listen to doo-wop, and throw empty bottles at my neighbors and/or The Moon.
So it's really no tremendous surprise that, with the broadened acknowledgment of Sen. Barack Obama's victory with the Democratic nomination, my heart syncs not with him, to whom my joy in the abstract goes, but to Senator Hillary Clinton, with whom I now share the palpable and unattractive adornments of loss.
In addition to being gouged for overpriced tickets, both legal and illegal immigrants will have to prove that they have a valid US Customs stamp on their passports in order to purchase an alcoholic beverage at two Boston concert venues.
Boston Globe writer Maria Sacchetti reported that bartenders at both the Orpheum and Bank of America Pavilion are acting as self-imposed customs agents and refusing to serve alcohol to any foreigner lacking a current U.S. Customs stamp on their passport.
LIVE FROM SKIDROW! Hey there, welcome to the second Friday Late Night Drinking Thread! I thought I'd post a nice hangout for the Friday night Kossacks who enjoy a drink during their Daily Kos blogging. It's always fun to supplement Bill in Portland Maine's Rum and Coke Fridays. Put it on Real Time With Bill Maher this minute to catch Kos, only on HBO!
A US Senator identified only as "Hermione R. Climatus" wants to be thought of as the kind of person you'd like to do lines with, so she is reported seeking advice from this guy we'll just call "W" for obvious reasons. Middle class parents around the country are pleased and think that Sen. Climatus has been a perfect role model this week, doing boilermakers in a bar. There is general agreement among the nattering pundits that this is exactly what America needs from its president.
What can wine tell us about the world? Plenty, it turns out. It is one of civilization's oldest products. At one time it was a necessity, when food was served rotten and water was where you washed and evacuated. Now it is enjoying a resurgence. It is an agricultural product, and a unique one. You see, vineyards have kept records of temperature, yield, and ripeness-dates for centuries, giving us incredibly precise records that tell us reams about the global environment. It is also a luxury item, particularly at the top end. As such, its sale and purchase can tell us volumes about the global economy.
The Compass Piece for the April 3rd edition of The Anchorage Daily News was titled "DUI proposal's restrictive nature alarming." The piece played fast-and-loose with the truth through complete lack of statistical back-up, generalized assertions and future-tripping insinuation.
So what is DME? It's an alternative with extremely low exhaust emissions and if the fuel is produced from biomass it is carbon dioxide-neutral. With modest changes, a diesel engine can run on DME. DME is cheap to produce, relatively easy to handle and distribute. DME has different application areas. Today DME is used as a fuel in households and in industries, and as a propellant in spray-cans.
DME has good prospects for becoming a widespread fuel, but then it is necessary for major players both within and outside the transport industry to interact.
LIVE FROM SKIDROW! Hey there, welcome to the first Friday Late Night Drinking Thread. I thought I'd post a nice hangout for the Friday night Kossacks who enjoy a drink during their Daily Kos blogging. I've wondered if Bill in Portland Maine really has a rum and coke on Fridays or any alcoholic beverage, I'll ask on his thread and get back to you if I find out. The word is still out on whether the claim that Bacardi and Coke make that they get the job done is true.
Tee hee hee.....it's almost St. Patrick's Day...a day for being Irish, even if you are not!
Well I'm a full quarter Irish...thanks to my maternal grandmother. AND we understand why I'm always fighting with myself...one side of her family was from Belfast and the other side from Dublin! Damn! Talk about conflicted sense of self!
Well, I'm also Scottish and English. There are no biases when it comes to my drinking for St Patrick's Day! So below I line up my favorite drinks...add your own...with pooties if you have them!
This is a non-candidate diary...please respect that. RULES:
No candidates stuff...not even wonderful local people....none, nada, nyet, zilch...
Post pictures or poetry or a happy personal thought!
Be kind to your fellow blogger...we are emotionally exhausted and need a rest!
There's tons of nightmare scenarios out there for tonight. Hillary loses and decides to stay in the race and continue slinging mud at Obama. Maybe you like Hillary and tonight is the night that Obama finishes her off. Maybe she'll even concede. Maybe Hillary will sweep all the states except Vermont and win in Ohio by 15 points, crushing your hopes of an Obama victory. No one knows whats going to happen.
So whatever happens tonight, let's add a little certainty and make sure we at least get wasted in the process.
Every four years, we get together in large groups, trekking through the cold and the snow, in order to participate in one of the most important processes in American political life -- getting shit-faced. This is an activity that all the hardcore primary war veterans can finally come together and collaborate on.
It's time to determine the rules for the 2008 Iowa caucus drinking game.
The binges activate an inflammatory response in rat brains rather than a pure regrowth of normal neuronal cells. Even after longstanding sobriety this inflammatory response translates into a tendency to stay the course, a diminished capacity for relearning and maladaptive decision-making.
(emphasis mine)
I can't help thinking that stay the course is a jab at the infamous drug and alcohol abusing history and resulting policies of the decider-in-chief.
