The alcohol industry fights back!



Big Alcohol has been feeling a little edgy lately. Its old friend and ally Big Tobacco is on the run and the unquenchable marijuana monster is rising up from the deeps to take its place. Meanwhile, groups like MADD are seeking to put a big dent in alcohol sales, moves that could potentially cost the industry millions of dollars.

So, what can the poor alcohol companies do? That's right, they come up with their own statistics! Deftly shifting between "rates" and "overall numbers", they try to prove their case, namely that since the rate of deaths attributable to alcohol has declined, there isn't really a problem.

Most amusing to me is to hear that only 12,000 or so deaths were directly tied in to drunk driving. Of course thats double the total number of deaths in aviation history, including the 9/11 events, but... as Budweiser would have us believe, its all relative.