The title above is reverently referred to by various rebelious groups as "speaking truth to power", but I think that's a bit broad. Only rebellious zealots "speak truth to power", the rest of us just want the truth spoken, period. In our society, it's most important that the Government speak the Truth, since they have the power to mess up our lives.
So it has come to pass that your blogger starts yet another blogging category, "Speaking Truth to Government", because most of us don't give a rat's patootie about who else, other than Government, you might need to speak the Truth to. Well, okay, maybe religious zealots, but then again, you aren't going to have much success there, are you?
In this First Edition of ST2G, I'll address something I just heard, of all places, on Fox News, and I forthwith hoisted the BeeEss signal, with two repeaters:
Any of you Signalman ratings who can, check my hoist, please.
What I heard was that there is new Government concern about young girls binge drinking. Okay, that's something to be concerned about, for sure. Then, the talking head defined "binge drinking" as "four or more drinks in a day"
Whoa Nellie!
Did I hear that right, FOUR OR MORE DRINKS IN A DAY?
Yep, the talking head repeated it twice for emphasis.
Let me see now. Your blogger has had every bit of training possible on alcohol detection and measurement given to me as a Patrol Officer between 1973 and 2003 (I had it all twice, as a matter of fact), and I'm willing to say that it hasn't changed much in the 10 years since I retired. Drinking is, of course, against the law for young girls (or boys). Feddle Gummint said, then forced the States to say, no drinking until age 21. Fine, we know that much. Drinking by young wimmen leads to pregnant young wimmen, among other evils.
Now, a "day" is universally defined in the West as 24 hours. Four drinks in a day is one every six hours. Can you be very drunk with a drink (1 oz alcohol, one 12-oz bottle of beer, or one 5-oz glass of wine) imbibed every six hours?
Of course you can't. In six hours, your body will metabolize about 95% of that drink of alcohol before you take the next one. At the end of a Day, you will have about 0.20 of one drink's worth of alcohol in your body, enough to maybe give you a BAC of 0.004. Maybe. You need to have BAC over 0.005 to be considered to have imbibed at all in most states, and the "presumptive level" for DUI is 0.08.
The Truth to speak to Government here is that they have just come up with a legally and physically deficient definition of "binge drinking". How often does the Government invent deficient definitions? Quite often, actually, and the definitions stay in place until some smart lawyer, defending a client on some criminal charge, forces the Government to choke down that lie and admit it.
Here's MY definition of "binge drinking": imbibing alcohol at a rate sufficient to rapidly raise the blood alcohol level, and keep it elevated, at least to the presumptive level. In any sicence, you have to have acceptable terms. "Acceptable" is defined by Science as something that is universally accepted by experts in the field of endeavor. Taking a process that involves autonomous reduction (conversion or "burning" of the alcohol that occurs naturally in the body, faster in kids than adulets, BTW) and failing to properly include a proper definition of time is NOT legal and it's NOT science, but it DOES and WILL serve to increase Government Authority, which is what this is all about, isn't it?
Comments