tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post3394718030597995995..comments2024-02-06T07:57:54.467+00:00Comments on underdogs bite upwards: First they came for the smokers...Leg-ironhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-65628287943370283622011-11-09T17:17:09.410+00:002011-11-09T17:17:09.410+00:00I dunno if any of you folks are readers of Raymond...I dunno if any of you folks are readers of Raymond Chandler? His take on US prohibition is stunning. <br /><br />Just one thing in one of his novels (I forget which) has speakeasy owners employing cops as bouncers. It's brilliant. Obviously they aren't the only ones on the take, so are their pals in cop-car cruisers outside. But beyond that they are trained and armed so as to handle aggressive drunks. So you run your illegal bar with the illegal yet implicit OK of the rozzers and not only that but you got people skilled in crowd control bouncing for you. <br /><br />Anyway, back to Chandler. Anyone who doubts the terrible effects of prohibition ought to read him. At one point Marlowe gets shot-up with heroin after being coshed and taken to a dodgy clinic. And the whole thing is sordid beyond description. Marlowe likes a drink (as did his creator) but his musings on what prohibition has done to LA is devestating.NickMhttp://www.countingcts.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-36980680382907875512011-11-07T18:51:00.116+00:002011-11-07T18:51:00.116+00:00"A study in 2009 found that half of 11-15 yea..."A study in 2009 found that half of 11-15 year-olds had already had an alcoholic drink."<br /><br />A poll, minimum-wage-temps asking kids if they've ever drunk alcohol, (and believing them), is a "Study"?<br /><br />Science is truly a wonderful thing.Zaphodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03695819392577629492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-75044022111308210772011-11-07T12:50:31.153+00:002011-11-07T12:50:31.153+00:00Jake Leg
"Newspapers in 1930 reported the oc...Jake Leg<br /><br />"Newspapers in 1930 reported the occurrence of a new neurologic disease. Persons afflicted with this ailment first noticed the development of wrist and ankle drop. <br /><br />In his 2003 article in The New Yorker, Dan Baum wrote that “the patient’s feet dangled like a marionette’s, so that walking involved swinging them forward and slapping them onto the floor.”<br /> <br />That is, of course, if the patient could walk; permanent paralysis was common. Two doctors in Oklahoma City quickly linked the outbreak to drinking Jamaica Ginger Extract; within months, hundreds of victims were reported in Cincinnati; Wichita, Kan.; and Johnson City, Tenn. <br /><br />Various names were used to describe the gait—“jake leg,” “jake walk” and “jake foot”; the terms “limber leg” and “limber trouble” referred to the accompanying impotence."<br />http://www.pharmacypracticenews.com/ViewArticle.aspx?d=Pharmacy+Heritage&d_id=206&i=November+2008&i_id=466&a_id=12068<br /><br /><br />RoseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-3050351639882868382011-11-07T12:46:24.991+00:002011-11-07T12:46:24.991+00:00The knock on effects of poisoning alcohol during P...The knock on effects of poisoning alcohol during Prohibition on a herbal medicine.<br /><br /><br />Monday, Mar. 24, 1930<br /><br />"Cold, sore throat, numbness in legs, paralysis in legs, violent illness. . . . Through this course 400 people in Oklahoma have run, 160 in Tennessee. Georgia and Mississippi. They suffer from a new paralysis for which doctors have been unable to determine either cause or cure. One sufferer, a four-year-old Oklahoma City girl went one step further, died.<br /><br />Jamaica ginger, which almost all of the stricken confessed drinking, has been mentioned as a cause. Jamaica ginger is an infusion of the peeled and ground roots of he ginger plant in alcohol. In medicine its used internally to remove gas on the stomach. Many women use the candied root or the extract to soothe their periodic griping. Because Jamaica ginger gives a lot feeling to the stomach and because it contains alcohol it is like lemon extract, favorite tipple of inland drinkers unable to buy normal imported alcoholic beverages. They call Jamaica ginger "jake."<br /><br />Oklahoma Health Officers suggested that metallic poisoning from the ginger was the cause. Analysis of several samples failed to disclose any trace of common metals.<br /><br />Providence, R. I. health officers reported 20 cases; blamed wood alcohol in Jamaica ginger. In two of their cases partial blindness was found."<br />http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,738897,00.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-73121302732155805252011-11-07T11:07:01.505+00:002011-11-07T11:07:01.505+00:00"Well, the Scots did have a way of dodging th..."Well, the Scots did have a way of dodging the revenue men, but, how would they cope with heat sensing helicopters? Food for thought."<br /><br />RPGs and heavy machine gun fire?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-82248938432560924892011-11-07T10:52:30.979+00:002011-11-07T10:52:30.979+00:00MERRY XMAS FROM UNCLE SAM POISON RUM, DECEMBER 192...MERRY XMAS FROM UNCLE SAM POISON RUM, DECEMBER 1926<br /><br />"BY NOW, it was not only liberal Eastern wets like New York Gov. Al Smith who were calling for modification of the Volstead Act. A growing number of Republican leaders were abandoning the dry chorus: Nicholas Murray Butler, the distinguished president of Columbia University, had denounced Prohibition as evil and inhuman; even the saintly John D. Rockefellers, senior and junior, solid Baptist teetotalers both, had withdrawn funding from the Anti-Saloon League fanatics.<br /><br />In referenda in New York and four other states, voters had overwhelmingly called for relaxation of the pious laws that the farm belt had successfully imposed upon all America seven long parched years earlier. <br /><br />In early December 1926, New York's federal grand jury went on record as opposed to the national prohibition laws, arguing, among other things, that they had all by themselves created "a ruthless and dangerous set of criminals."<br /><br />And still the federal sleuths mounted large prosecutions; still the Dry Navy prowled the coast for rum runners; a week before Christmas, President Calvin Coolidge went before Congress to request still another $30 million for enforcement."<br /><br />"The official Health Department numbers made it plain that more and more people were dying of bad alcohol in New York City every year, not even counting the off-the-books deaths: 127 in 1921, 233 in 1922, 370 in 1923, 499 in 1924, 585 in 1925. The city's 1926 death toll was expected to surpass 750. Nationally, the number was nearly 4,000.<br /><br />Every Christmas, the Anti-Saloon League's general counsel, the odious Wayne Wheeler, made a public point of expressing satisfaction at these figures.<br />"If a man wishes to violate the Constitution of the United States," Wheeler liked to chuckle, "he should be free to commit suicide in his own way."<br /><br />On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the city, reported Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Norris, 11 more merrymakers died, and 55 were committed blind and sick and raving to hospital wards.<br /><br />By wednesday the 29th, the death count had hit 37, and hundreds were hospitalized. These included not only the standard-issue Bowery bums, but several perfectly respectable businessmen, a policeman and two young St. Luke's Hospital nurses who had gone to a party, had one drink each and were dead three hours later."<br /><br /><br />"Merry Xmas from Uncle Sam," observed the Daily News.<br /><br />ON FRIDAY the 31st, there were 43 dead, and it wasn't even New Year's Eve yet. By midnight, two more people were gone and another 28 were hospitalized. And it was only midnight.<br /><br />UNCLE SAM, said The News, "is sound and fine at heart. But he is controlled, just now, by a gang of blackjackers cloaking themselves in the sacred names of law observance, civic and national duty, patriotism. The Washington administration knuckles under to these daughters and sons of witch hunters of olden days, because it fears them."<br />http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-03-28/news/18133843_1_christmas-eve-alcohol-denaturedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-18691889885347068422011-11-07T09:57:03.998+00:002011-11-07T09:57:03.998+00:00Really, all politicians should be forced to study ...Really, all politicians should be forced to study the story of American prohibition.Neal Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13933911904170752700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-72495864381006310292011-11-07T02:11:57.873+00:002011-11-07T02:11:57.873+00:00A lager shandy for me and everyone else from now o...A lager shandy for me and everyone else from now on then...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-70836463972115306982011-11-07T01:11:08.998+00:002011-11-07T01:11:08.998+00:00Well, the Scots did have a way of dodging the reve...Well, the Scots did have a way of dodging the revenue men, but, how would they cope with heat sensing helicopters? Food for thought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-66086739938011724402011-11-06T22:45:20.517+00:002011-11-06T22:45:20.517+00:00Glad I've already got my brew-shed up and runn...Glad I've already got my brew-shed up and running!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-4258664311781420262011-11-06T22:06:18.010+00:002011-11-06T22:06:18.010+00:00Booze cruises from Scotland only have to go as far...Booze cruises from Scotland only have to go as far as Carlisle at the moment.<br /><br />Further increases, well, the Scots have a long tradition of 'the shed in the hills' and of dodging the revenue men. I can see that part of history repeating itself very soon.Leg-ironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04932361799889315359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-44072985936626302612011-11-06T22:05:23.936+00:002011-11-06T22:05:23.936+00:00Ah no, we were at cross purposes there. I'm no...Ah no, we were at cross purposes there. I'm not quite sure how HSBD intermeshes with small brewers' relief - certainly you don't get the relief on the 25% surcharge, but whether you forfeit it all I don't know.<br /><br />So apologies all round :-|Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-68613861120556625532011-11-06T21:48:31.784+00:002011-11-06T21:48:31.784+00:00Sorry Curmudgeon, my apologies and thanks.
I wil...Sorry Curmudgeon, my apologies and thanks. <br /><br />I will pass this info onto the Head Brewer and his Finance Director that shied away from brewing above 7.4% because of their belief of a massive extra duty charge.<br /><br />When the notification sheet from HMRC came through the post we read it as the 50% Small Brewers Relief would not apply over 7.5% ABV. It was not as clearly worded as the link you left.manwiddicombehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499331812704446499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-60986246907763781822011-11-06T21:03:29.362+00:002011-11-06T21:03:29.362+00:00Apart from the home brew (we have red wine, white ...Apart from the home brew (we have red wine, white wine and beer on the go) we'll see the growth of the booze cruise again.<br /><br />Stuff the government and it's taxes!Smoking Hothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04534745989363293923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-14475223910127859252011-11-06T21:01:20.484+00:002011-11-06T21:01:20.484+00:00No, the duty is definitely 25% higher, not twice a...No, the duty is definitely 25% higher, not twice as much. <a href="http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_031160&propertyType=document" rel="nofollow">See here</a>.<br /><br />I'm sure it is frightening micro-breweries off producing higher-strength beers, but so far I am not aware of any well-known brands that have had their strength reduced to 7.5%. This includes Carlsberg Special, Tennent's Super, Gold Label and Old Tom.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-91328659363190551032011-11-06T20:54:03.749+00:002011-11-06T20:54:03.749+00:00Can I beg to differ about high strength beers Curm...Can I beg to differ about high strength beers Curmudgeon? I can tell you from personal experience that microbreweries are shying away from creating new brews above 7.4% ABV.<br /><br />The duty due to HMRC on a 7.5% ABV beer is, if I've read the Duty Notice correctly, <i>double</i> that of a 7.4% beer. And that's not a small increase. <br /><br />Existing beers may survive for a while, larger breweries might be able to absorb the extra cost better, but the new, exciting, flavour packed, exotic, high ABV brews from the micros are unlikely to happen in any quantity again.manwiddicombehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499331812704446499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-932420167061308372011-11-06T20:38:28.862+00:002011-11-06T20:38:28.862+00:00My local publican is so desperate now that he is a...My local publican is so desperate now that he is advertising a 1 hour happy hour on food, each night.The Filthy Engineerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07584236558282159183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170981338945747646.post-70276267183332400422011-11-06T20:38:07.726+00:002011-11-06T20:38:07.726+00:00Yep, I said when this tax was introduced that the ...Yep, I said when this tax was introduced that the principle was bound to be extended. And, actually, I've seen <a href="http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/10/frightened-of-your-own-strength.html" rel="nofollow">no evidence so far</a> of beers having their strength reduced.<br /><br />Apart from Skol, that is, which has gone down from 3.0% to 2.8%. But that is just making a piss-weak brew even more piss-weak.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.com