Tuesday, April 09, 2002

Shine On

The evil forces of puritanical government are always at work to control, regulate, and most essentially tax the pleasures of life.

Turns out that East Texas is my great state's peak concentration area for moonshining. Cool. Bordering on Arkansas and Louisiana had to have some silver lining.

Unfortunately most transgressors are in their sixties -- indicating a dying art to the author of this report on the age old battle between the revenuers and the forces of libation liberty.

I will say the reporter, Oliver Libaw, does his part to perpetuate this great tradition by describing the distilling process just enough to spark interest in a younger generation.

Plus -- based on the number of illicit stills being lovingly maintained in the engineering spaces of U.S. Navy ships -- this is one art that will never die.

Unsettling is the related report on deaths (1400), injuries (500,000), rapes (70,000), etc. attributed to college alcohol consumption. As with all studies and statistics, I have to wonder what sort of questions were asked and what criteria was used to establish if a death was "alcohol related." 1400 is a big number. Most seem to have been car accidents and I take issue with the standard that any alcohol in the blood -- even if below the legal limit -- makes a death "alcohol related."

I do not think the government exists to save me from myself. Darwinism has its place.

Now I need to go check my still.

posted by Bohica at 12:15 PM