No Brainer?
In yesterday's news from the Associated Press:

Milwaukee has been ranked by Forbes.com as "America's Drunkest City" on a list of 35 major metropolitan areas ranked for their drinking habits.

For one who got sober in Wisconsin, this doesn't come as a big surprise. I have often been asked by people here in Minnesota, "How did you manage to get sober in Wisconsin?"

I usually just laugh and shrug my shoulders.

So, you ask, where does Minneapolis/St. Paul rank in this same release?

Ah, yes, I am glad you asked. For here, from the land of 10,000 Treatment Centers, it also comes as no surprise:

Minneapolis-St. Paul was ranked second overall.

But let's look further down the list.

[Third was] Columbus, Ohio; [then] Boston; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Cleveland; Pittsburgh and then Philadelphia and Providence, R.I., in a tie for ninth.

Notice something interesting. Only one of those cities was a southern city- Austin, TX. We northerners sure have our problems. Austin was also the furtherest west.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel had more information:

[Brew City was] way above stereotypical party towns Las Vegas (No. 14) and Miami (No. 33). [The article] warned of the "serious trouble" Milwaukee could experience based on its alcohol consumption.

"It's not necessarily the end of the world to rank high on this list, but it certainly should be an amount of concern for civic leaders," said David M. Ewalt, who wrote the story for the business Web site.