Good news on the work front:

Drinks after work? It might be in your best interest to have that pint or fruity martini, according to a new study released by the Reason Foundation.

The study, based on an article published in the Journal of Labor Research, says moderate drinkers earn more at work than non-drinkers – 10 to 14 per cent more actually. If you’re a man who frequents a bar at least once a month, you’re probably making seven per cent more on top of that.

Althouse:

I simply do not believe that the so-called health side is really composed of people who are solicitous about everyone else's health. I can't prove it, but my intuition is that all the strength on the "health" side of this war comes not from people who really care whether other people are healthy, but from people who don't like having to see fat people. They are concerned about their own aesthetic pleasures, and they think fat is ugly.

That, and being hooked on the thrill of bossing other humans around as if they were things.

Jamming carrot sticks and other unpalatable crap down kids mouths in England doesn't seem to be working:

"I don't buy any of the stuff in the canteen, it's disgusting,' she says. "The drinks are vile - there's no sugar in them. And as for the food, well, it's all salads and vegetables and stuff - and I don't like that.

"So I stock up before school on crisps and lollipops and chews, then at lunchtime I go and eat them where none of them nosy teachers is looking."

Joanne's friends laugh and agree. They say that since the school got 'sick-bag food', they never go to the canteen. They much prefer to munch their sticky, fatty snacks in secret where no 'health police' can find them.

It's not quite what the Government intended when it set up the healthy food initiative.

If you have kids in school, scouts or what have you, you're probably aware of "peanut-free zones" and various other food restrictions that are in place these days. Ones that didn't exist 15, 20, 30 years ago when you were in school. So, why the sudden onslaught of kids dying from peanut butter? Who the hell knows -- there doesn't seem to be much of a problem:

Prescribing adrenaline-injecting EpiPens to children with food allergies may be fuelling anxiety in parents unnecessarily, a child health expert says.

Pro/con commentaries in Saturday's issue of the British Medical Journal debate the question: are the dangers of childhood food allergy exaggerated?

Food allergy is thought to be more dangerous and frightening than pneumonia, asthma or diabetes.

In reality, the number of deaths is small at less than one per year on average in the United Kingdom, and only some are preventable, said Newcastle University child health professor Allan Colver.

Of course, it's possible the food restrictions are keeping the death tolls minimal. It'd be nice to see some science on allergies and kids though, with a mind to historical trends.

"Extratasty":http://www.extratasty.com/index provides lots of drink recipies from an easy to use web interface.

This is why I prefer to sit at the bar, even in restaurants (þ John Gushue). Things are a lot more pleasant when you know them and they know you.

And for what every fantasy you're indulging in about dumping a plate of spaghetti on my head, Ms. Waitress, well, right back at you. Hey, how's that acting career going anyway?

PS. don't be expecting "17%" for "adequate service". If you can't be bothered to provide "good" to "excellent" service, find a job somewhere else.

It's coming onto the news right now [update: here], but Julie Child is dead at age 91. I thought she died back in the 70s on a SNL show?