Dehydration

Back many years ago, when I was but a lower-case t, the usual advice regarding water consumption was to drink enough water so that your piss is clear. As we get further into the summer, this is still good advice. Drink lots of water and stay hydrated.

On the same note, drinking beer, champagne, and Jack Daniels until the resulting effluvia is clear is not going to help you in the morning with respect to dehydration.

Amateur Hijinks

Once again, it's one of the holidays I've been referring to for years as Amateur Night. Every jackass in America is going to go out today, drink too much green beer, and act like a moron. Since I am growing increasingly old and bitter, I have no patience for the kind of people who are going to go out tonight, drink 3 pints of colored Bud, and act like fools. Repeat after me, boys and girls: Drunkenness is no excuse for poor behavior. It may be a reason, but it's not an excuse, and won't absolve you of any of the consequences of your inebriated behavior. This ties into the whole concept, apparently lost in America today, of holding your liquor. Of course, since this also ties into personal responsibility and knowing your limits, I'm not surprised it's dead.

Anyhow, today is the day when St. Patrick drove the shamrocks out of Ireland and used snakes to explain the Trinity. I think that's it, anyway. I'm a bit confused on details. I will, instead, be hoisting a glass to Oisín. I think he deserves a little notice on a day like today.

In any event, hoist a glass and enjoy the day.

End of an Era

Ft. Bliss has finally raised the drinking age on post to 21. As the article notes, Ft. Bliss was the last CONUS installation where the drinking age was 18. Another piece of my misspent youth goes into the dustbin of history.

Punch a Tree Hugger

I'm not usually inclined to resort to violence to solve domestic political disputes. Well, not yet, anyway. However, if the same thing happens here that's happening in Germany, I might be persuaded otherwise. I can overlook a lot of things, but fucking around with the price of beer is going to get me mad, especially when the price goes up so dumbasses can feel good about chasing a fantasy.

Look, ethanol from corn and other foodstuffs is a stupid idea for any number of reasons. Let's start with the most basic and intuitively obvious: it's dumb to burn food. You find inedible things to burn, and eat food. The energy balance numbers also don't work out very well. You're only getting a marginal amount of energy back over what you out going by the most generous estimates. The net reduction in emissions is negligible, either. All things considered, it's just a bad idea.

It was a bad idea before, and now the market distortions are starting to come home to roost. I hope somebody has the political capital to start fixing the problem, because my beer's expensive enough.

Beer Is Brain Fuel

I didn't need any additional justification, but this is good to know.