Recent news reports detail the unhappy case of four Tennessee teenagers who drank what they called “dewshine,” a mix of racing fuel and Mountain Dew. Two of them died from drinking this mixture, and the other two became quite ill.
According to Tennessee Poison Center Medical Director Donna Seger, the teens believed the methanol in the fuel would have the same effect as ethanol, the component of alcoholic beverages that causes intoxication. This mistaken belief had tragic consequences.
Recent news reports detail the unhappy case of four Tennessee teenagers who drank what they called “dewshine,” a mix of racing fuel and Mountain Dew. Two of them died from drinking this mixture, and the other two became quite ill.
According to Tennessee Poison Center Medical Director Donna Seger, the teens believed the methanol in the fuel would have the same effect as ethanol, the component of alcoholic beverages that causes intoxication. This mistaken belief had tragic consequences.
This incident took place at the same time as the ill-conceived occupation of a federal wildlife sanctuary in Oregon. Led by the son of the Nevada rancher who instigated an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in 2014 – he had refused to pay grazing fees for his cattle – the Malheur Refuge occupiers demanded the federal land they grabbed be “returned” to “the people.”
They based this demand on the principle our government was holding the almost 190,000 acres illegally. The idea that the federal government controls too much land in the West is held by a widespread minority; the occupiers came together from as far away as Cincinnati, Ohio.
The occupiers also stated their action was in support of two Oregon ranchers who faced jail for executing “controlled burns” on public land adjoining theirs. Trouble is, those two ranchers wanted no part of this support, choosing instead to serve their time.
What is more, the locals of Harney County, where the wildlife refuge is located, were decidedly against the visitors’ actions, pointing out the land already, in fact, belonged to “the people,” having been unclaimed acreage set aside by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1908.
In wanting the government to “return” tracts of western land, the occupiers meant they’d prefer the feds allow unlimited use by ranchers, like themselves, and other private interests. Thus, it is hard to understand how this group came to the conclusion that what they were doing was fighting for freedom.
But that is what they firmly believed, calling on others to vent their disenchantment with the federal government by joining the occupiers’ cause. Through social media, occupation leaders had asked supporters to send supplies, bring arms, make a stand, and be willing to shed blood.
As this column is written, the standoff is winding down. The FBI and local authorities have made a dozen arrests; charges include felony counts of conspiracy to prevent federal officers employed at the refuge from doing their duty through the use of force, intimidation, or threats. Damage to the refuge and its holdings may result in other charges.
One wonders if the mistaken belief leading to this confrontation – that seizing land already belonging to you, me, and all Americans was in the interest of liberty – is worth the life of the rancher/occupier who refused to submit to being arrested.
It seems this firmly held belief was passed among true believers until the notion of their cause’s righteousness was intoxicating. Sort of like the misguided notion that downing some “dewshine” can give you one hell of a buzz.
Pat Grimes, a former South Bay resident, writes from Ypsilanti, Mich. He can be reached at pgwriter@inbox.com
