There they go again...

It seems that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has noticed your drinking habits, and has calculated the cost of your miscreant behavior on the rest of society:

Excessive alcohol use cost states and D.C. a median of $2.9 billion in 2006, ranging from $420 million in North Dakota to $32 billion in California. This means the median cost per state for each alcoholic drink consumed was about $1.91.

Get that? It costs your state almost two bucks every time you knock down a beer. The study's recommendations? The usual:

Perusing the Community Guide, one can find the “effective strategies” recommended by CDC’s Brewer for dealing with excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S. Among them are increasing alcohol taxes, limiting alcohol outlet density through licensure and zoning regulations, and maintaining limits on days of sale and hours of sale. In addition, the Community Guide recommends against the privatization of retail alcohol sales.

 Gee, why does this sound familiar? This is a fresh approach to alcohol-related problems, right? (reference The Prohibition - 1919-1933).

It also sounds disturbingly like the underlying premise for my book, The Last Bartender. In the book, similar economic arguments led to a new prohibition on alcohol sales, and...well it's a novel; chaos ensues. I strongly recommend that you read the book before the government taxes you that extra $2 per cocktail to make up for turmoil your drinking habits are costing society.

Read the entire article by Dr Susan Berry over at Breitbart/Big Government: CDC 'Excessive Alcohol' Study Author Recommends Prohibitionist Policies

And as long as you're up, grab a softcover copy of The Last Bartender  here, or the Kindle edition here. 

Time for one on the house...

Okay, I know you've been waiting; here's your buyback. I'm running a three-day (April 3, 4 & 5) giveaway promotion for The Last Bartender (Kindle edition only). In case you're not familiar:

Set in the near future, The Last Bartender follows Justin Gardiner, a highly-decorated Operation Enduring Freedom veteran who returns home to work as a bartender.

Just a few years into his new career, rising healthcare costs and other political factors lead to a new prohibition on alcohol — all bars are closed, retail alcohol sales are halted and criminalized, and Justin finds himself out of work. Soon afterwards, Justin and his barroom cohorts buy a rundown Catskill resort and set up an ambitious bootlegging operation, supplying keg beer to the New York City area.

Events start rapidly spiraling out of control as the Drug Enforcement Agency closes its net and the mob aggressively moves in on the moneymaking operation, leaving Justin and his friends caught in the crossfire of the opposing forces.

 You can grab your free copy here: The Last Bartender. And thanks again for your support.

Lift a glass to toast Prohibition Repeal Day!

It was 86 years ago today (Dec 5, 1933) that the Nation's 13-year grand failure of trying to regulate public morality was repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

3.2% ABV beer was actually legalized on April 7th of that year, when FDR signed the Beer-Wine Revenue Act, paving the way for the decriminalization of rum and eggnog just in time for Christmas.

Here's a brief refresher course: Prohibition in the United States

Was that the end of it? Not at all. We got a small taste just seven years ago with the great Four Loco panic of 2010. And the fun never ends, with New York State officials still on the (your) case with their recent “Health Improvement Plan.” Not the mention the ongoing, decades-old War on Drugs, another government prohibition policy that gets more expensive, deadly and futile every year it continues. (BTW, for my latest polk-in-the-eye at the Drug War, check out my last novel, Aqua Vitae).

So what's a determined tippler to do? Well, if you can read and drink at the same time, may I humbly suggest investing in a copy of my book, The Last Bartender. The book postulates the imposition of a second federal alcohol prohibition (don't laugh ... now that you're responsible for your neighbor's healthcare costs, don't you have a financial interest in his overall health as well?). As you might expect, this state of affairs isn't greeted with the same level as enthusiasm by everyone, and the story follows a cadre of those still-thirsty malcontents as they make their way through the new legal and cultural landscape. I promise it'll keep you both entertained and ticked-off.

I've written more on the subject here: And so it begins..., and here: Prohibition, Redux. And please stop by and read the first couple of chapters of the book here: Last Bartender Excerpts.

Update: Looks like the Neo-Prohibitionists have found another target: Drunken Gummi bears no laughing matter. Vodka-soaked candies are the latest method kids are using to get drunk. We'll have to add this to last year's other apocalyptic alcohol scourge that we all barely survived, the alcohol-infused whipped cream crisis. Your government, hard at work...

Update: Wait, there's more! I forgot all about the vodka soaked tampons. That article also covers the subject of "butt chugging," which I'll leave you to research on your own. 
Update: Here's how the news was covered back in the day...  Prohibition finally comes to an end in 1933 (Originally published by the Daily News on December 6, 1933.)

Drink up

I hate being right all the time...

So much for the "unlikely" fictional premise. Check this out:

First, Mayor Bloomberg went after smoking in public places. Then trans-fats, salt and sugary drinks.

Now Bloomberg — known for sipping fine wine and downing a cold beer from time to time — wants to crack down on alcohol sales to curb excessive drinking, according to a provocative planning document obtained by The (New York) Post. 

The city Health Department’s far-reaching Partnership for a Healthier New York City initiatives proposes to slash the number of establishments in the city that sell booze. 

Community “transformation” grants provided under President Obama’s health-care law would help bankroll the effort. 

Read the entire article here: Super Totalitarian NYC Mayor Bloomberg Wants to Institute Prohibition-Lite in the Big Apple

More here: “Talk About a Nanny State. Why Don’t They Just Close All the Liquor Establishments?”

And here: Mayor's plan to limit booze sales

This sort of nanny-state move was precisely anticipated in The Last Bartender, which follows a cadre of barroom buddies and their not-so-respectful reaction to such an affront to liberty. Read the opening chapters here.

Hat tip to Furb over at Freedom Book Club for steering this my way.

More on the adventures of Nanny Bloomberg and his fellow neo-prohibitionists here: The Central Planners do what they do best... and here: And so it begins...

UPDATE Jan 12, 2012: Oops. On second thought... Cheers to you, Mike. Bloomberg flips on booze plan.

More on the aftermath from RedState: The Great Bloomberg Booze Backlash of 2012 "The great Bloomberg Booze Backlash of 2012 is just a taste, if you will, of what is boiling deep in American bellies. We’re getting fed up with the quickening pace of growing governmental control of our lives. It’s not just that we want our bacon and beer. It’s that we are entitled to be the directors of our own fates. The nonsensical, slippery slope argument about shared costs is as artificial as the foods you’d have us abstain from. "

Celebrate Prohibition Repeal Day!

 UPDATE: This post has been updated for 2012 here: Lift a glass to toast Prohibition Repeal Day!

It was 78 years ago today (Dec 5, 1933) that the Nation's 13-year grand failure of trying to regulate public morality was repealed by the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

3.2% ABV beer was actually legalized on April 7th of that year, when FDR signed the Beer-Wine Revenue Act, paving the way for the decriminalization of rum and eggnog just in time for Christmas.

Here's a brief refresher course:


Was that the end of it? Not at all. We got a small taste just last year with the great Four Loco panic of 2010. Not the mention the ongoing, decades-old War on Drugs, another government prohibition policy that gets more expensive, deadly and futile every year it continues.

So what's a determined tippler to do? Well, if you can read and drink at the same time, may I humbly suggest investing in a copy of my book, The Last Bartender. The book postulates the imposition of a second federal alcohol prohibition (don't laugh ... now that you're responsible for your neighbor's healthcare costs, don't you have a financial interest in his overall health as well?). As you might expect, this state of affairs isn't greeted with the same level as enthusiasm by everyone, and the story follows a cadre of those still-thirsty malcontents as they make their way through the new legal and cultural landscape. I promise it'll keep you both entertained and ticked-off.

I've written more on the subject here: And so it begins..., and here: Prohibition, Redux. And please stop by and read the first couple of chapters of the book here: Last Bartender Excerpts.

Update: Looks like the Neo-Prohibitionists have found another target: Drunken Gummi bears no laughing matter. Vodka-soaked candies are the latest method kids are using to get drunk. We'll have to add this to last year's other apocalyptic alcohol scourge that we all barely survived, the alcohol-infused whipped cream crisis. Your government, hard at work...

Update: Wait, there's more! I forgot all about the vodka soaked tampons. That article also covers the subject of "butt chugging," which I'll leave you to research on your own. 

Drink up! While you can...

The Central Planners do what they do best...

... screw up. Apparently Mayor Bloomberg's smoke-free urban Utopia has hit a few (very predictable ) snags. You'd have to be remarkably ignorant of history, economics and human behavior not to be able to see this coming, but when have you ever known a social engineer to let reality stand in their way?

"The underground tobacco market is spreading like a fast-growing cancer in the wake of tax hikes that make New York cigarettes the most expensive in the nation -- and it's costing the state tens of millions a month in lost tax revenue, a Post analysis has found.

Government data show that New York state is being smoked out of as much as $20 million a month from all these illegal cigarette purchases -- an estimated 7.3 million packs a month sold off the state tax radar."

Be sure to read the entire article here: Black-Market cigarettes costing NY $20M a month.

More here: Menthol Ban = Black Market

Geniuses. Everything the government touches turns to shit.

And so it begins...

When I first cooked up the underlying premise for The Last Bartender, I was worried that most folks might find it a bridge too far (literary agents certainly did...). The idea that the federal government would attempt to undertake a second alcohol prohibition after the historic crash & burn of the 1920-1933 "Noble Experiment" seemed just plain silly.

Of course, when I first released The Third Revolution back in 2003, the idea that a state might exert its independence by nullifying unpopular and oppressive federal legislation seemed likewise absurd. Today, a majority of state legislatures are at least considering legislation allowing their citizens to opt out of certain unpopular and oppressive parts of the recent federal takeover of our healthcare system.

So here we are:
Alcohol panel ready to act on caffeinated malt beverages: "Federal regulators deem the drinks unsafe. North Carolina could ban them today."
FDA might prohibit caffeinated booze: "Nearly two weeks after Michigan banned Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks, the federal government is looking to do the same."
Buzz over Four Loko drinks sparks sales: "Fans rushed to snatch the last caffeinated cans of Four Loko off store shelves as the federal government warned four companies that their caffeinated malt-alcohol drinks are "unsafe" and violate federal law."
FDA to block sales of alcoholic drinks with caffeine: "Alcohol has been legal to buy, sell, and consume in the US since the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933.  Caffeine has never been illegal in the US, and millions of people consume it in soft drinks, coffee, and tea every day.  But what happens when you put alcohol and caffeine together?  The manufacturers incur the wrath of the nanny state..."                                    
Obama brings back Prohibition: "What is illegal about booze? To be sure, a few states have outlawed them. I suppose that is their prerogative. But the federal government is specifically barred in the Constitution from doing this. Is President Obama unaware of the 21st Amendment? States, not Congress — and certainly not the president or his flunkies at the FDA and FTC — control booze. So why are we doing this?"

A Chick Beer Four Loko Review:

Is Four Loko dangerous? The FDA doesn’t say: "Since Americans have been mixing rum with caffeinated cola beverages for over a century, and in recent years, voraciously downing Red Bull vodkas, you’d think the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in breathlessly moving to ban Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks this week, would have distinguished the two.    
"Four Loko and Our Irrational Fear of Cognitive Enhancement: "Four Loko is in the news! For a caffeinated malt liquor drink that comes in an assortment of barely palatable flavors, it sure is generating a lot of controversy. The FDA is banning it! People are taking sides and making bathtub home-brew! Politicians are binge drinking it for SCIENCE! Some folks think the ban might be classist or infringe our freedom of speech! Why is everyone so upset over this disgusting fusion of energy drink and booze?"

Anti-Four Loko advocates promise they’re not after your Irish Coffee. Also, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union still exists. "It’s not every day a hip crowd goes bonkers over a malt beverage that tastes like raspberry battery acid and sells for a Jefferson at the gas station next door. Since the federal government announced a vendetta against the idea that you could profit from putting liquor and caffeine in a can, everyone wants a shot at the tin Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. You can’t resist it."

Mad about Four Loco: "The folks leading the anti-Four Loko campaign believe that they have the duty to prevent you from buying prepackaged drinks that put alcohol in your caffeine...


"D.I.Y. Four Loko: "Four Loko is a 23.5 ounce caffeinated alcoholic beverage that’s taking our country by storm. With an estimated 260 milligrams of caffeine and just under 6 shots of alcohol per can, this beverage earned the nickname of “Blackout in a Can” for a good reason. For less than $4 a pop, there’s not a quicker, cheaper or worse tasting way to get your drink on..."Preview


Alcoholic Whipped Cream Causes Buzz On Campus: It might look like a regular can of whipped cream, but if you take a closer look at the label, you'll see why some university students are really buzzing about whipped lightning. "I think it's awesome, you can throw it on some Jell-O shots. It'd be fantastic," UCF student Bo Frisby said.
Finally, The Black Scourge Of Four Loko Is Off The Nation’s Store Shelves: Our long national nightmare is over. An alcopop that’s built up a cult following is being removed from US stores in its current form today on the orders of the Food and Drug Administration.





And on and on... Back in the day, we used to call alcohol and caffeine drinks "Irish Coffee." If you overindulged, you might annoy the crap out of your fellow tavern patrons by running your mouth at a mile a minute, maybe end up in the emergency room after a particularly nasty bar fight, perhaps wake up in the morning on your neighbor's lawn, or, if your luck gave out, wrap your car around a telephone pole. Overindulgence of alcohol is a risky and potentially dangerous undertaking, always was, always will be. The U.S. Federal Government isn't going to change that by outlawing any particular, albeit politically incorrect, concoction. But that reality didn't stop them from trying the first time, and clearly, it's not stopping them this time around.

The Last Bartender isn't looking so silly now, is it? You can read the first few chapters here. Do it before some self-righteous Senator decides that your doing so would present an unacceptable risk to your impressionable young mind...

Prohibition, Redux

Alcohol Prohibition was the law of the land in the U.S. from 1920 to 1933, and I think we all know how well that worked out. Today's "War on Drugs" (or, more correctly, the War on (Some) Drugs...) seems to be working out about the same. Here's a brief refresher course:



My latest novel, The Last Bartender, postulates the imposition of a second federal alcohol prohibition (don't laugh ... now that you're responsible for your neighbor's healthcare costs, don't you have a financial interest in his overall health as well? Your government certainly thinks so...). As you might expect, this state of affairs isn't greeted with the same level as enthusiasm by everyone, and the story follows a cadre of those still-thirsty malcontents as they make their way through the new legal and cultural landscape.

I had a ton of fun writing this book. As many of you know, I worked as a bartender in many a ginmill in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, from the elegant (Trumpets Bar in the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Elmer's in the El Morocco Club), to the rightfully famous (Peter Luger Steak House) to the sleazy (way too numerous to mention). I'm selling it as fiction, but there're many former revelers still walking the streets of Queens who know that many of the personalities and scenes scattered throughout the story are anything but. That's assuming they can remember...

The Last Bartender is now available as a Kindle E-Book. You may read a couple of sample chapters here. Cheers...