Alco-culture; Islamofantasy; Prince Albert in a clutch

Let's do this one backwards. Prince Albert of Monaco was on Larry King and mentioned that he had no children at 46. He's not even married! So much for the Royal House, hopefully they have some side-heirs on deck.

This supports my thought that crown ascendency should be given to the prince that has the most male children when the king dies. It'd sure reduce messy situations like this, and the potential impending end of the Japanese dynasty.

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At Marcvs the Bard's Tales: Israeli Army lowers security clearance for D&D players. The punchline on this one is too good to spoil, so just go read it.

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I've been shocked to learn over the years that pub culture trails off west of the Mississippi. Even Manhattan, the Den of Iniquity, has pubs.

The first time I noticed the non-universality of pubs was in Canada, where is seems that outside of towns and cities, an institution prevails that I believe is called a "beer hall." They're wide, the long bar or bars take up much of the back wall, decoration is sparse, and tables and chairs are crammed in.

But what really shocked me was the funny look I got from a Californian way back when I was 21. I was in DC at a Young America's conference, and when day was done, suggested to my confreres from around the nation that we find a pub. This fellow was surprised that young people would want to go to such a place, and actually play darts or just hang out, talk, and put money in the juke. Apparently, pubs were only for aging hipsters where he came from; young people went to dance clubs and tried to grind their bits into other people they didn't know.

Dance clubs exist in upstate New York, but they're mostly for summer tourists, cocaine dealers, and flashy Italians.

Years later, in Dublin on my honeymoon, my wife and I invited this charming gay couple from Houston, Texas, that were at our table on the cruise to grab lunch with us at a pub. There has always been much ballyhoo about "real Irish pubs" and "real Guinness," so I mentioned that the Guinness tastes the same as it does at home, and this pub is remarkably similiar to my own haunt back home - the mahogany, the pictures of drunken patrons from 50 years ago, the piano, etc.

But to them, it was a cultural experience. Apparently, dance clubs prevail in Houston as well, and one of the two have never been in a pub before; the most publike thing around them was TGI Friday's. They were surprised that these places were everywhere in NY.

Apparently, there are some beer halls in Houston, but not much in the way of pubs - mostly dance clubs. Then again, they were gay, so if stereotypes hold they went straight to the dance clubs anyway.