On Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:03:59 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

snippity-snip

I've always like the European approach to alcohol. In many societies
it's common to serve beer to school kids, and entire families often
enjoy a drink together. The difference is that becoming publicly
intoxicated is a very serious screw up, and getting caught DWI will
typically result in very serious punishment even for "first
offenders".

In a lot of European countries the tradition of giving wine and beer
to kids at meals comes from the poor quality of their water supply.
Mark E. Williams