Condoms, cheap pizza, beer, lotto tickets, bongs, military gear . . . what have they got to do with the rule of law? LearnLiberty, a project sponsored by the the Institute for Humane Studies, recently aired a video that I wrote and narrated on the question. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label alcohol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcohol. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Condoms, Cheap Pizza, Beer, and . . . the Rule of Law
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Listen to Me
I'm scheduled to be interviewed on Mike McConnell's radio show this morning (Wednesday) at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. I'll be talking about the World Health Organization's ranking of national healthcare systems. The show is on Cincinnati's WLW (AM 700); you can listen to it live here; and it's also on XM satellite radio.
Also, I recently discovered that my 2006 testimony before a subcommittee of the Minnesota State House of Representatives, on the subject of alcohol regulation, is available here. So if you just can't get enough of my voice, you can listen to that as well.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Rum Thoughts
I recently finished reading -- and enjoying -- And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. It's just what it sounds like. Each chapter is named after a rum drink, from kill-devil through the mojito, each drink representing an era of our history. Lots of fun for fans of history, economics, and strong drink. I won't offer a full review, but I wanted to post a couple of my favorite passages before passing the book on to a friend. On how rum is made:
Distillation concentrates and intensifies the subtle tastes found in the original low-alcohol product. Brandy has thus been called the distilled essence of wine, and whiskey the distilled essence of beer.And on rum's distinctly American qualities:
And rum? It is, as we shall see, the distilled essence of fermented industrial waste.
Bourbon fanciers, who often claim for their tipple the title of "America's spirit," drink one of the most regulated spirits known. To be labeled bourbon, it has to be made with a certain percentage of corn and aged in a certain kind of barrel. But excessive regulation is not the spirit of America. Unrestricted experimentation is. Rum embodies America's laissez-faire attitude: It is whatever it wants to be. There have never been strict guidelines for making it. There's no international oversight board, and its taste and production varies widely, leaving the market to sort out favorites. If sugarcane or its by-products are involved in the distillation process, you can call it rum. Rum is the melting pot of spirits -- the only liquor available in clear, amber, and black variations.
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