no.

but my friend does.

thats what I meant by my friends son.

Where the fuck is Major?

Gramsci wrote:What you seem to be missing is that they aren't drinking for the "alcohol effect", they are drinking for taste.
[...]
You seem to only look at drinking an alcoholic drink for the purpose of the intoxicating effects.

i don't 'seem' anything

for health purposes, alcohol is what it is. you said:

Not really, there is nothing more healthy about not drinking. It all depends on what you define as drinking.

you can define it however you want, but consumption of alcohol has a tiny window, within the bounds of great moderation, where it is a wash for most people or may have slight health benefits

beyond that, drinking is not as good for one's health as not drinking

my point is that healthfulness of consumption is related to quantity directly. one's intent is meaningless.

the balance between healthfulness and pleasure is one everyone must determine for himself, and i'm not interested in getting into that in any more detail than i already have

i don't know if you are suggesting that aficionados of alcoholic beverages are _exclusive_ to europe, exactly, but anyway, i know many american wine snobs and even more bourbon snobs and yet more beer snobs. however...

I think the European way of drinking falls a little flat on most Americans and the English because they have very little in the way of a culture of food, certainly not in the same way as Italians or the Spanish.

no argument there

although you are discounting british beer and spirits by implication, which as i recall isn't necessarily warranted in a broad sense

Where was it that I just read something about how the pub hours have been extended in some part of England where binge drinking is rampant and out of control, and on the rise? Was that maybe an article in Time magazine?

Seriously, without drinkin and watching futbol, and beatin on folks, what does England have, really? Dudes in drag?

scott wrote:...
Seriously, without drinkin and watching futbol, and beatin on folks, what does England have, really? Dudes in drag?

Yes it does, especially around Christmas. I shit you not, but at Christmas English people like to go to musicals with cross-dressers as the main characters. I'm not sure how much longer I can stand it here!

scott wrote:Seriously, without drinkin and watching futbol, and beatin on folks, what does England have, really? Dudes in drag?

Dudes in ´raq.

Zing!.........?

Gramsci wrote:I should have been a little clearer; it’s not really this board but a cultural difference in general. Like the way on every mainstream US drama as soon as someone has a drink you know something bad is going to happen to them. The best satire of this is that Simpson episode where Marge has a glass of wine in the late morning and the “dan dan daaaa!!!!” music kicks off.

TV? Come on.

TV drama (or at least Statesian TV drama) is a giant morality play. You can't have a freaking thunderstorm or drive to a mall on a TV drama without it resulting in the meting out of some cautionary punishment.

Hell, even the news is that way.

Seriously, though, come to DC and hang in Adams-Morgan some weekend. You'll see plenty of good, "healthy," unashamed Anglo-American binge drinking. We sure can "put it away." Etc.

Cornerstone of civilization in full effect.

I choose not to drink alcohol for the following reasons:

I don't like the feeling of being drunk.
I could act like an ass when I'm drunk.
And I'm very certain I have the potential of becoming a major alcoholic, due to my personality, and a lack of a will to live anymore.

-Plus, I don't really care for the taste.

I am not allowed to drink alcohol by court order, also I cannot come within 50 yards of a Jr. High school.