the unequivocal notion

Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd, her daughter and booze

This morning in the Idaho Statesman there is a story about Meridian Mayor Tammy de Weerd’s daughter and two tickets she has received for underage drinking. The common theme in the comments section at the Statesman site is to either forgive her for her “mistake” or advocating harsher punishment.

One commenter even wanted to make underage drinking a felony – yes, making the vast majority of our teens felons for experimenting with a socially acceptable intoxicant is a brilliant solution.

What’s to forgive?

I will also note that high school senior RoAnne de Weerd is the chair of Meridian's Anti-Drug Coalition and also serves on America's Promise National Youth Partnership Team plus a couple of other anti-booze/drugs groups. I think that it's pretty clear she should resign those positions. Of course, drinking while telling others it's evil is kind of an American pastime. This is also the second time she has been ticketed for underage drinking.

RoAnne de Weerd only did what about 66% of Idaho teens and a great deal of teens around the world do -- drink alcoholic beverages. Only other countries actually educate their youth about alcohol. People wonder why we have so many problems with drinking in this country, the solution doesn’t lie with stricter regulations, it lies with education, understanding and reasoning. The prohibition of people under the age of 21 to drink has only pushed it underground, making it “taboo” and thus making it a special thing to drink. This is what creates binge drinking and addiction – binge drinking and alcoholism being the source of most of the ills caused by alcohol. People don’t kill people drunk driving after only 2-3 beers, they do it after 10 or 14.

Over the last couple of weeks there have been some interesting discussions about this topic on several of the wine and cooking blogs that I regularly read. I’ve wanted to mention something about it here, but haven’t been motivated to until I saw this story.

I find the 21 age requirement and fallacy ridden reasons behind it make for an interesting argument. On one hand the state allows you to get behind the wheel of a 5000lb truck or SUV at 16 and you’re allowed to elect city, state and national leaders at 18 – an awesome responsibility, on both accounts. But on another hand you can’t legally have a glass of wine with your parents at the dinner table. And let’s not even get me started that you can serve and die for your country at 18 (17 with mom and dads permission) and you still can’t sit down with a beer, either in public or at home. The government will train and arm you to go to foreign countries and kill human beings -- one of the most sacred responsibilities known to man.  And yet when you return home you can’t have a beer with your dad on your own back patio – is that freedom?

Doesn’t make sense to me. You?

Not allowing people to drink until they are 21 makes it seem like it’s this “big” thing when they are finally allowed to drink. Well, they don’t know it yet, but it’s not a “big” thing, it’s just an enjoyable thing. Here is something that history has proven time and time again – if you make something taboo, you’ll make people curious. And curious people do curious things.

When I was in the Army and in training at Fort Bliss in El Paso we were allowed to drink on base at 18 because they didn’t want soldiers going to Ciudad Juárez to drink (I call this being realistic). To me it wasn’t a big deal; I had done my fair share of weekend boozing by then, I’d lived on my own, I had what they called in the Army; “life experience”. I just wanted to focus on the Army and my task at hand and it paid off in dividends for me. However for the young soldiers who’d never been exposed to alcohol, well they went bat shit crazy with it – which invariably led to disciplinary problems. I’m sure you can take this same example and apply it to colleges across the country. There is nothing more degenerate than a sheltered kid who is finally beyond the grasp of their overbearing parents.

People think that if they shelter their children from alcohol and not teach them about it, that they won’t ever drink. Mom and dad do it, the media talks about it, their friends talk about it, and frankly it is a part of our society. And if parents they think their precious little snowflakes aren’t going to throw down at a kegger when mommy and daddy aren’t looking – well, they’re crazy.

One thing I’ve never understood about a great deal of Americans is their fascination with punishment over preventive education. Not only is it more cost effective to educate instead of punish but it makes logical sense. You can’t tell kids that no, alcohol is bad, bad, bad, but then turn around and drink yourself. They’re only going to wonder what you’re trying to hide from them -- thus experiment on their own, which in turn leads them to not experiment responsibly in a controlled environment.

We don’t teach our kids how to drive without allowing them to physically drive so why would we do it any different with alcohol? Granted this is something that should be the parents’ responsibility; I’m not advocating a booze class as an elective for your senior year. Parents should have the right to allow their children to drink in their homes and be allowed to teach the negatives and positives of alcoholic beverages. And frankly, once a kid turns 18 and the government treats them as an adult in both privilege and punishment; they should be able to drink as well.

MEDIA: NYtimes

BLOGS: Left Side of the Moon on de Weerd

Going smokeless in Boise bars?

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.

KBCI:

Proposed smoking ban in Boise

BOISE - David Crawford, a smoker, knows that 20 years of lighting up have not been the best for his health.

"I've quit 100 times. Maybe one day it'll stick," Crawford said.

A group of health advocates, known as "Smokefree Boise," is proposing a ban on smoking in Boise bars.

"There's a trend towards going smoke-free nationwide. Of course, we're definitely not breaking new ground here. Other states have done it and have had huge successes," said Katie Whittier, a spokesperson for Smokefree Boise.

On one hand I love smoke-free establishments, but on the other hand, that's a choice I make, not a choice I want made for me. It's just a personal preference that I've developed in my elder years, but that is what it is, a preference.

I just don't think that forcing smokers to congregate at the entrance to places where you choose to be is necessarily the right thing to do.

...and let the conspiracy theories begin!

KTVB:

Scientists say Tuesday's meteor never hit Earth

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Despite witness statements that a meteor that streaked across the Pacific Northwest skies this week struck the Earth, scientists at the University of Washington said it disintegrated in the sky.

Police search for meteorite landing

Some witnesses reported seeing Tuesday's meteor hit the ground southwest of Ritzville, sending local officials on a fruitless hunt for the crater.

I reaffirm my prior position.

Not really surprising

The Idaho Statesman was kind enough to remind us all that there are stupid people in every income bracket.   

...About that beef

Idaho Statesman:

Schools wait to hear if beef is tainted or safe
USDA puts a hold on meat as it checks out the condition of cattle at a now-closed California packing plant.

Thousands of cases of ground beef are on hold in a state warehouse in Emmett and at school districts across Idaho while federal officials determine whether the meat is safe for school kids to eat.

Some of the meat was eaten by children in Meridian, but the district has had no reports of illness.

Video shot by the Humane Society in California shows apparently sick cattle - destined for school lunch trays - being pulled and pushed by forklifts and being prodded to stand before being taken to slaughter.

I think issues like this need to come to the forefront as an issue where we need to get to the core of the problem -- fertilize the roots, save the tree.

Bear with me as I segway from a story about cheap beef in schools into crappy restaurants. The two are related, I promise.

Americans have a passion for cheap flavorless, overly processed food for some reason, which is really odd when you consider the diverse culinary makeup of our citizenry. I do think that it is important to focus on the "cheap" portion of this argument. Americans don't typically want to pay a "fair" price for anything, they want a steal, a bargain basement price. To them, getting a platter of all you can eat ribs from Applebees for $8.99 (or whatever it is) is a deal, when in fact it is a steal. Americans don't take into account the environmental, nor social impacts of that all-you-can-eat platter of ribs, to them, it doesn't affect them right then and there, so why care? And by golly if they can get down 4lbs of ribs and french fries with some diet coke for 9 bucks, they're gonna do it.

I should go ahead and profess that not by any means shall I ever claim to be some holier-than-thou foodie. No, I've had my share of fast food and sit down fast food, hell, I grew up on the stuff, who didn't here in the valley? It wasn't until I began eating in the small air condition-less BBQ joints of southern Georgia or ate street food in Uijongbu, South Korea did I realize that the food we buy at these places is, well, for a lack of a better term; shitty. Nearly all of it is previously frozen and knowing a few people who've worked in these joints and hearing what goes on in the kitchen -- well, let's just say I won't ever be back.

Cost? Bullocks. I really, really hate this argument. If you've ever gone to Outback or Olive Garden and fed a family of 4 you can afford to go to Brick 29 Bistro in Nampa, or hell, even the Milky Way in Boise. You get local food and best of all, your money stays in the local community. There are lots of options out there, you just have to look a little harder.

Do we suffer from a lack of good local restaurants in our area? Sure, but we're working on that, we can always use some more. We do however have options however. Great local Mexican food? Man, the sky is the limit in Canyon County; El Rodeo, Jalapeño's... etc.. etc. In Nampa and want some Italian grub? Try out Noodles instead of Olive Garden.

Is there crappy local food? You bet. But ya gotta try it to find out.

Need some fast food on the go? There is a host of quick food joints in Nampa, Meridian and Boise, just open your eyes a little, look past those golden arches or that little red head girl and you might just see the light. Ever seen a taco truck sitting in the parking lot somewhere? Ever eatin' from it? Go ahead. You'll eat till you explode for 3 bucks. And it is a hell of a lot better than Taco Bell. And guess what, most likely those tamales were made that morning and they weren't frozen.

And please, whatever you do, don't listen to the uppity food snobs, frankly the people who think that if a meal is under $25/plate it can't any good -- they have no idea what they are talking about. There are foodies, and food snobs, and there is a significant difference between the two. Those types annoy me more than the mini van driving family of 4 who thinks that Goodwood makes good lip smackin' BBQ.

Oy. I think I'll end it there for right now. This is one of those things that I plan on writing at length about when I free up some time -- America's fascination with all things chains.

Keep it fresh, keep it local. Cheap mass produced food does have a cost, and not the cost that you pay at the cash register.

MEDIA: Mark Bittman - "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler"

BLOGS: Ruhlman - "Carnivore", and Chef Chris Cosentino - "This is Cheap Meat!!"

In case you didn't know...

The Idaho Better Business Bureau  would like to inform you that the 24-year-old blond with double-D's you met on the 'tubes last night was probably lying.

Shooting people must be easy

I mean if you read Clayton Cramer's blog (Jesus, know HTML much?) you'd think that aligning the rear sight to the front sight center mass on a human target with say... 1 or 1.2 square feet of target space all while being shot at would be just as easy as shooting at pieces of paper with outlines of pretend perps on them.

When I read Cramer talking about guns and how cool they are I can't help but be reminded of the "I'm from the internet" guy.

While I respect the attitudes of people like Cramer when it comes to being a tough guy and looking out for the safety of the general public. I just don't think he really understands the complexities of actually shooting at someone, while being shot at.

I've was never in combat, but I trained for it -- trained for it a lot. Shooting at pieces of paper stapled to boards of wood is a totally different thing than shooting at a moving target with obstacles in the way. Let alone when said target is doing the unimaginable; shooting back. I did go through years of training with the MILES system and cant attest to the fact that it is substantially more difficult to hit a target that has minimal target mass and is returning fire. Unless you're a sniper sitting back at a safe distance you tend to spray the target area with a lot of lead, well, that or laser beams from your MILES gear. That and when I was training it was in desert and forest environments -- not malls or churches where the culprit is moving amongst people, not trees or rocks.

Personally when it comes to people like Cramer packing heat in public I think I'd rather take my chances ducking and hiding than having an untrained middle aged white dude sporadically shooting off his Saturday Night Special at anything that moves. There are reasons why we pay taxes to have guys (and gals) who are trained to tackle these types of situations. It beats a bank full of weekend shooters randomly unloading their rusty unkempt pistols at a bank robber who is most likely armed with a scrap of paper.

You want to be a hero Cramer? Seeing how you declined military service, you should maybe think about volunteering for the Boise County Sheriff's office. Maybe bringing your piece and coming into the big city and riding along with the Boise Police Department, ya know -- guys how do the things you only fantasize about. Maybe you'll get lucky and if you ride with the Idaho State Police you can get a lap dance at one of the local strip joints, we all know how threatening they are to the public safety.

I'd rather have a say in my own destiny or try to defend myself than count on someone like Cramer who has never shot a weapon in a combat situation take down a perp -- and the 4 people standing next to him, which may be me.

---

I'll note that the person who shot the gunman in Colorado (which is where this is all coming from) is a former police officer who was working security at the church when she gunned the gunman down.

Interesting comments

...Over at the Idaho Statesman.

I'll reserve mine for a later time, but a nationwide debate has just been dropped off at our front door.

Break out those treadmills

I can see college Republicans (and Idaho's own Adam Graham) breaking out mom and dad's credit cards so they they can pay for some treadmills as Bush's "War Czar" puts the draft back on the table.

Bush War Adviser Supports Considering a Military Draft

WASHINGTON —  Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.

"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.

'Bout time personal responsibility comes to bite these people in the ass. It is too bad Cramer is out of reach of the draft, then he could experience what it is like to have those pumpkins and half filled bottles of Pepsi shoot back.

'Cause we all know how cool guns and camo are as long as they don't mean much.

Just a tad disturbing

Some things you read and they just don't surprise you anymore.

Poll: Most Republicans Reject Evolution
Gallup Survey Finds 68% Of Republicans Disbelieve Scientific Explanation Of Creation

AP) The three Republican presidential candidates who indicated last month that they do not believe in evolution may have been taking a safe stance on the issue when it comes to appealing to GOP voters.

A Gallup poll released Monday said that while the country is about evenly split over whether the theory of evolution is true, Republicans disbelieve it by more than 2-to-1.

Republicans saying they don't believe in evolution outnumbered those who do by 68 percent to 30 percent in the survey. Democrats believe in evolution by 57 percent to 40 percent, as do independents by a 61 percent to 37 percent margin.

Oy vey. And we wonder why they are so good at running ruining government.

A 40 year anniversary

I heard this on NPR this morning and couldn't help but think that someday we'll be saying the same thing about same sex marriage.