LET'S NOT TURN "EIN PROSIT" INTO A POLITICAL STATEMENT, GENAU?

Our Intellectual Betters in government like to issue all sorts of "recommendations" that, whether they're well thought out or not (generally they turn out to be not) are best ignored, but mocked mercilessly first.  "America's alcohol czar, George Koob, says the U.S. could follow Canada's lead and recommend no more than two alcoholic drinks per week."  I thought the concept of a policy czar went away with the gas lines of the 1970s, but bad ideas are harder to kill than vampires, aren't they?

Currently, the federal dietary guidelines advise no more than two drinks per day for adult men and one drink per day for adult women. Revising that down to two drinks per week would be a dramatic shift, to say the least.

Thankfully, most Americans don't give a shit what the federal guidelines for drinking say. Following federal dietary guidelines to the letter of the law would mean a joyless existence devoid of many fine drinks (particularly if you're a woman), anything less than well-done steak, or eggs benedict. Oh, and don't forget to microwave your prosciutto!

It's also true, of course, that the government is in no way forcing Americans to follow these rules. This doesn't even rise to the level of a backhanded ban like the ones that are aimed at driving gas stoves into extinction. Still, these guidelines come with an air of authority to them—or, at least, the sense that they were made by people who know what they're talking about.

But, often, they don't. Remember the food pyramid? My entire generation was raised on the notion that we were supposed to eat six to 11 servings of starch per day, thanks to poorly researched government-based dietary guidelines

So many targets, so little time. I'll deal with the backhanded bans on our kitchen appliances, which will work out about well as the ban on station wagons did, another day.  Today, let me focus on the meaning of "two drinks."  Our Progressive Betters have funny notions about what a serving is.  Order Cincinnati chili with cheese and you're going to get a week's worth of servings on that plate!

That recommended two beers, whether it's per day, or per week.  I bet that drink doesn't look like this.

Reason's Eric Boehm is relatively polite to the tax-supported nannies.  "[T]here's no need for formal guidelines promulgated by government agencies, and that's especially true when the people writing those rules are only looking at part of the picture."  Red State contributor Ward Clark is more, well, direct.  "My immediate impulse is to tell Dr. Koob how tightly he can fold his guidelines and what to do with them after that, and my suggestion will be something that isn't going to be comfortable."

I'd really just as soon go to an Oktoberfest for the music and conversation and not have to deal with any warning labels from the government.  Particularly because the warnings always come three-way, with hectoring, condescension, and contempt.  "[T]his has been part of the technocratic playbook for a long time: rather than persuade, they talk down.  How much compliance do you get from people you've insulted?  Not much."

Yes, I found one in Cincinnati and went to it, and behaved myself when the subject of the pennant races came up.