Poor Scottish Lorry Drivers

Many moons ago, while hitch-hiking from London to Edinburgh (Don't tell my mama, in front of whom I've always maintained a decorous silence as she scolded my younger but more talkative sister for similar semester-abroad stunts), I got to talking with a Scottish lorry driver who explained why he much preferred the return leg of his Edinburgh-to-London run: the pubs in London close at 11, which is a bit of a bummer for a chap away from home after a long drive.

Uncivilized, them English!

he exclaimed. (This was a topic on which he was quite passionate.) Angus, wherever you are: it's getting worse.

Britain is considering a ban on "happy hour" discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.

I suppose one shouldn't laugh about cirrhosis, but:

Given that it can take 15 to 20 years for liver disease to develop, the British Liver Trust warned that the figures suggested the problem would only get worse.

Liver Trust? Chortle.

Curtsy: The Corner