He ' s not going to be the one answering the phones and doing the legwork , but ideally for Surgeon General you ' d have someone who specialized in health policy . Someone with an education gearing them for a job in the CDC , or HHS . But hopefully Carson would sort of speak the lingo . He ' d know , or be able to catch up on things like , say , how HHS was handling the flu season . What flu vaccines were being distributed , and who the vaccines were targeting . So a medical background would hopefully prepare him to some extent for that better than , for instance , someone with no health care experience . Although I think Carson has voiced some fairly fringe healthcare views . <| sep |> Cool , missing open receivers <| sep |> Drinking in Ireland is not what it once was , even 20 years ago . That is not to say that there are still elements of truth in the Irish Drinking stereotype . You would have to accept also that that stereotype is just that a hyperbolic image , and that it grew from some pretty nasty antiIrish propaganda from the AngloSaxon literati of the 17 th and 18 th centuries that was designed to legitimise our subjugation by making us look incapable of governing ourselves . Nevertheless the Irish , poor and dispossessed , did , as many in their situation do , seek relief from reality through drinking . This was exasperated by broader social events such as the Gin Craze which made alcohol widely available and cheap . It could well be said , by the 19 th century , that alcoholism was rife and ruinous in Ireland . Emigrants to the New World would have brought those practices with them practices which the WASPish ascendancy in Canada and America would have been very ready to point out and popularise in people ' s minds . Certain social movements in Ireland such as the Temperance Movement sought to tackle the widespread abuse of alcohol in the country , which are still alive today in many parts of the state . Many Irish school children , for example , still ' take the pledge ' to abstain from drinking and drugs until at least the age of eighteen . It ' s probably the most frequently broken solemn vow in the history of the world ! After independence , Ireland remained a largely agrarian nation where , outside of Dublin and a few small cities , life centred around the small towns and villages of the countryside . There , often the only social outlet was and still is the pub . People didn ' t go to see a show , or to the cinema , or the library . They went to the pub . This lack of society outside of a drinking environment , combined with harsh social conservatism , made drinking common , constant , and very addictive . Irish pubs are traditionally mere drinking houses . There were no ' gastropubs ' that you see increasingly nowadays . You went to a pub to drink with company , and you stayed drinking ' till you went home . In the nineties and beyond , as Ireland became affluent , more and more social avenues were opened , and more and more people were broadening their social horizons . Drink was still very prevalent , but was more a byproduct of habit rather than the end of the means . Heavy taxation on drinks was introduced , which made steady drinking in pubs economically unsupportable . Further laws and publicity programmes were introduced which made drinkdriving commonplace in rural areas after a few pints in the pub both extremely penalising and socially reprehensible . Meantime , however , offlicenses offer very cheap beers and spirits for drinking at home . Nowadays , Irish people ' s drinking habits are very similar to those in Britain . People tend not to drink early in the day . Wine is more prevalent , especially with women , and especially with meals . To combat high taxation on drinks , Irish pubs now commonly serve food as well , to maintain profitability . This offsets much of the ' hard drinking ' habits of old , and also spreads the times that people will visit a pub from being just in the evenings to throughout the course of the day thus also spreading out the consumption of alcohol . Social acceptance of abstaining either as designated drivers or just by choice is also well established , so more and more will now go out with their friends and not drink at all . Irish people consume , on average , quite a lot of alcohol a year 11 . 72 litres , placing us 8 th in world for c o n s u m p t i o n w o r l d a l c o h o l c o n s u m p t i o n h o wmuchdoeseachcountrydrink Canada is ranked at number 46 . In comparison to other European countries however , we don ' t seem initially to deserve to be labelled as big drinkers especially when you look at some nations in mainland Europe and further east . However , Irish people still hold to some older habits , despite recent social changes . We still emphasise ' going out ' at the weekend , and a big part of that is still going out specifically to drink with friends . Younger people will often go out specifically to get drunk tanking up on cheap offlicense naggins and cans at home , before toppingoff in the more expensive pubs and nightclubs . Thus , Irish people still engage heavily in binge drinking , in comparison to most western nations other than Britain , and will often drink in one sitting what those of other cultures would spread out over the course of a week . Many people regard the Irish habit of concentrated heavy drinking as very unhealthy , and it can be uncomfortable and intimidating for foreigners particularly as the night wears on and people get loud and wild . I tend to be of the view that , while it is certainly not good for us , at least we ' re honest about drinking we drink to get drunk or at least ' influenced '. Nobody starts drinking whiskey , gin , beer , or wine because it tastes lovely . So when an Irish person suggests going for ' a session ' you know what you ' re getting . A last , but important , consideration for a foreigner is safety . Irish people love a good session , where everyone enjoys themselves . Yes , in any given town on a Friday or Saturday night , there will be some lads throwing punches at each other outside a chipper at three in the morning . However , general violence and machismo or intimidating behaviour is very much frowned upon . It ' s about having a good time and forgetting the cares of the week . Irish pubs , clubs , and streets tend to be very safe even when populated by groups of men with their arms around each other and women holding up their highheels and all swaying across the road while trying to sing the Fields of Athenry .