Word: taboos
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...most important law regarding alcohol is the age limit. Most kids say the age limit, more than anything else, contributes to irresponsible and immoderate underage drinking. They argue that by prohibiting drinking, the law makes alcohol a taboo, giving kids a reason to drink. If this is true, lifting or lowering the age limit would drastically reduce binge drinking among kids...
...course, not true. To say that kids drink because alcohol is a taboo is ludicrous. Kids drink for the same reason adults do: they want a buzz or intoxication. If we changed the age limit, we would not get a libertarian paradise. We would only get countless teenage alcoholics, even more than we have...
...Microsoft leader regaled the Apple masses with his boundless affection for the operating system (OS) whose commercial viability he had spent much of his adult life systematically undermining. "We think Apple makes a huge contribution to the computer industry," Gates assured the room, respectfully observing the taboo against speaking ill of the dead--or, ahem, the gravely ailing. Let's put it this way: you sure didn't hear the man extolling the wonders of Apple a few years ago, when the Mac still had market relevance. Gates celebrating Apple today is like the Department of the Interior celebrating...
These arguments are being overpowered by pure (if that is the word) politics. In a political climate that has made increased government spending taboo, the tax code is the best remaining means to hand out rewards to constituents. This is why even Republicans who were whooping it up for a flat tax last year (for instance, House majority leader Dick Armey) are now advocating a change as complex as indexing capital gains for inflation (Armey again). That's also why the new tax bill is being stuffed with special breaks for everyone from whaling captains to sky divers...
...move that could delay or even scuttle the project. The leftist government also announced plans to consider granting residency permits to thousands of illegal immigrants, fueling resentment that may further bolster the Front's support. Meanwhile, infighting among defeated conservatives may lead some factions to break a longstanding taboo by allying with Le Pen's movement. As it is, the party is now the third biggest vote getter, after the Socialists and Gaullists...