Konstatin Baum, Master of Wine: The Truth about Alcohol and Why Andrew Huberman Is Wrong

Nov 10, 2024 | The true story about alcohol science.

Such a lovely, refreshing, and honest assessment of the drinking of alcohol, one of the pleasures of life. It is as if we are now living in a 'Neo-Puritanical Age', an age in which there are so many killjoys and do-gooders around, determined to destroy other people's pleasures. They forget that life is for living. They also appear to be unaware of the concept of joie de vivre, a concept which I believe is what is truly life-enhancing. Who wants to live a joyless life, and live forever anyway? And if one does give up on all the pleasures of life, how conducive is the abstemiousness to longevity anyway?

These days, if one listens to the so-called pundits, everything causes cancer and everything will kill you! From consuming wine to enjoying a smoke. We are admonished for enjoying any of the pleasures of life, and if we refuse to obey their crazy rules, we are taxed to the hilt, and often confined to our own homes to enjoy the pleasures to boot!

I repeat: We are living in a joyless age. It is so tiresome to listen to people's lectures. Mr Baum's talk is something quite different and quite refreshing. I can but wholeheartedly agree with his understanding and his sentiments. – © Mark Alexander

Alcohol Consumption Abundant in the Natural World, Study Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Range of species have ethanol in diet, normally arising through fermented fruits, sap and nectar

Humans may have turned drinking into something of an art form but when it comes to animals putting alcohol away, Homo sapiens are not such an outlier, researchers say.

A review of published evidence shows that alcohol occurs naturally in nearly every ecosystem on Earth, making it likely that most animals that feast on sugary fruits and nectar regularly imbibe the intoxicating substance.

Although many creatures have evolved to tolerate a tipple and gain little more than calories from their consumption, some species have learned to protect themselves with alcohol. Others, however, seem less able to handle its effects.

“We’re moving away from this anthropocentric view that alcohol is used by just humans and that actually ethanol is quite abundant in the natural world,” said Anna Bowland, a researcher in the team at the University of Exeter.

After trawling research papers on animals and alcohol, the scientists arrived at a “diverse coterie” of species that have embraced and adapted to ethanol in their diets, normally arising through fermented fruits, sap and nectar. » | Ian Sample, Science editor | Wednesday, October 20, 2024

Top Japanese Gymnast Withdraws From Paris 2024 for Smoking and Drinking Alcohol

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Shoko Miyata, the team’s captain, withdrew from the Games after an investigation by the country’s gymnastics board found she had violated its code of conduct.

Japan’s Olympic gymnastics team will head into the Paris Games this week without its captain, Shoko Miyata, after she withdrew from the team following an investigation that found she had violated the squad’s code of conduct by smoking and drinking alcohol.

In a news conference last week, officials with the Japan Gymnastics Association, which conducted the investigation, announced Miyata’s withdrawal from the Olympics, saying that “both parties discussed the matter” and that Miyata had decided not to compete.

The Japan Gymnastics Association’s code of conduct forbids drinking or smoking while in official team programs, regardless of age. The legal age for drinking and smoking in Japan is 20; Miyata is 19. » | Ali Watkins | Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Related article here.

Wine, Beer or Spirits? Europeans Can’t Kick Their Traditional Drinking Habits

THE GUARDIAN: Researchers identify six clusters of alcohol patterns with countries sticking to same drinks and behaviours over years

Whether it is the French penchant for wine, German fondness for beer or a shot or two of sprits in the Baltics, European countries can’t seem to kick their traditional drinking habits, researchers have found.

A study looking at drinking patterns across Europe from 2000 to 2019 has found little sign of countries shifting their preferred type of alcoholic beverage, prevalence of drinking, or boozing behaviours such as binge drinking.

“This shows that cultural factors such as traditional beverage preferences, social norms around drinking, and historical consumption patterns contribute significantly to the stability of drinking patterns,” said Daniela Correia, lead author of the research from the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for Europe.

“For instance, wine has been a staple in Mediterranean countries for centuries, while beer has deep roots in central European countries,” she said. » | Nicola Davis | Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Here we go again! First they came for the smokers; now they’re coming for the drinkers! These killjoys just won’t give up, will they? They don’t understand the concept of joie de vivre, and they won’t be satisfied until they have purged all joy and pleasure out of life!

I have said all along that after the war on smoking and smokers, they won’t stop there. On the contrary, their success in getting people to quit — and where necessary take up that ridiculous unhealthy vaping habit — they will move on to the next source of pleasure. Clearly, it is the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages. We are living in the Neo-Puritanical Age! Expunge all joy out of life!

These neo-puritans strive for their version of utopia. They are greatly mistaken. Utopia has never existed, and it never will. Furthermore, they are creating great dystopic distortions in life. By waging this unrelenting war on smoking and tobacco, they have created the problem with obesity in society. I have no scientific evidence for this; but I am absolutely convinced that these people’s war on smoking and smokers has created the problems we have today with obesity and type-2 diabetes. These people are really not as clever as they think they are.

I am pro-smoking. Let us make that very clear. But I should add that I am no longer a smoker. I quit smoking two and a quarter years ago, with great success. I have not smoked a cigarette since April 10th 2022. In many ways, as a smoker, I felt better than I do today. For starters, smoking kept me nimble and on the slim side. My weight remained constant for years. Decades really. Since quitting, however, despite eating extremely healthy foods — I eat relatively few carbs and virtually no sugar (sucrose) — my weight has ballooned! So much for quitting smoking!

Were the smoking habit not as expensive as it is today in the UK — the cost of Marlboro Reds, for example, is brushing £16 a packet, which is government extortion — I would take up the habit again. Because I felt better as a smoker than I do as a non-smoker. And, by the way, don’t fall for the nonsense that the authorities and medical profession keep pushing, namely that smoking is an addiction. It is not! Smoking is a habit. And a very enjoyable habit at that! Were it to be an addiction, I would have had withdrawal symptoms when I quit. I had NONE!

These researchers, academics, doctors, and politicians — the ones pushing all these changes in lifestyle habits — are social engineers and should be silenced. A good political leader would do just that; shut the do-gooders up! Churchill would have; and I think Margaret Thatcher would have too. — © Mark Alexander

Wine Definition to Be Watered Down in Post-Brexit Move

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BBC: The government plans to change the legal definition of wine following Brexit, to reflect demand for low-alcohol versions of the drink.

Under rules the UK inherited from the EU, wine typically has to contain at least 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) to be marketed as such.

It means low and alcohol-free versions have to be sold as a "wine-based drink", or a similar product name.

That rule will now be scrapped in England next year.

The change is part of a wider package of measures designed to boost British winemaking in the wake of the UK's exit from the EU.

The government says Brexit presents a "unique opportunity" to review "overly complex" EU-era regulations governing the sector. » | Paul Seddon, Politics reporter | Tuesday, October 17, 2023

First there was talk of having a ridiculous and undemocratic, incremental ban on smoking for young adults; so, then they will be expected to fight for their country and maybe lose their lives in times of war, but they won’t be able to enjoy a fag after the fight. Now this crap!

But you have to hand it to the Tories! They are very adept at coming up with weird and wonderful ideas. The Tories are now going to turn wine into water! Jesus would surely be envious of the miracles that 'Sunak the Teetotaller' is able to perform! Jesus turned water into wine in a wedding in Cana; now, Sunak, in Westminster, is turning wine back into water!

They’ve taken long enough to come up with a single Brexit benefit; so this must surely be it! Now, people will be able to attend weddings and swig wine to their hearts’ content without getting pi**ed! Who said the Tories can’t perform miracles? And who said there weren’t any benefits to Brexit? – © Mark Alexander

Some Thoughts on Smoking & Drinking

You will have noticed that I have recently posted a few items on smoking cigarettes. You will have also noticed that I am totally against Rishi Sunak’s incremental ban on smoking for young people, therewith making it impossible for people under a certain age ever to buy cigarettes in this country. Of course I am against encouraging young people to start smoking, but I view this ban as absurd, anti-democratic, dictatorial, intrusive, illiberal, and fundamentally anti-Conservative.

Conservatives are supposed to believe in small government. That means to say that a good Conservative government is supposed not to interfere in people’s private lives or at least as little as possible. Conservative governments are certainly not supposed to tell people what they should eat, drink, or whether they can smoke a perfectly legal product, or not.

This stupid, intrusive law, if passed, is even more annoying and absurd, because we are living in a time in which many governments around the world are decriminalizing soft drugs such as cannabis, and many governments are encouraging young people to vape, the encouragement of which I absolutely disagree with. Why? Because we don’t yet know what the long-term health consequences of vaping and e-cigarettes are.

Many governments and authorities try and say that vaping is less injurious to health than the smoking of conventional cigarettes; but is it really? Only time will tell. What we do know, however, is that vaping, with the plethora of flavours on offer, appeal to young people in a way which conventional cigarettes never did or could.

Cigarette-smoking is an acquired habit. You cannot smoke one cigarette, your first, and love it. Usually, one’s first cigarette tastes foul! Not so, it seems, vaping. An apricot-flavoured vape, for example, has instant appeal to many a young person. The fact that these devices often resemble hi-tech devices is an added attraction to our young people who want to look ‘cool’. This is surely why there are so many young people today hooked on vaping. Vaping today is ‘cool’ in a way conventional cigarettes no longer are. (At least for the time being.)

I have never vaped; and nor have I any intention of ever doing so. Nor have I ever partaken of any drugs. Not even the softest of them. I say that with pride, because there was plenty of opportunity even way back when I was a student. I stuck to cigarettes and alcohol. But in moderation.

Even though I defend people’s right to smoke and deplore this ongoing, unrelenting war on tobacco and cigarettes, I am pleased to be able to report that today, October 10th, marks one and a half years since I smoked my last cigarette. My last cigarette was on April 10th, 2022.

As it happens, I haven't had a drink of alcohol since early June this year, either; so, that is four months without a drink too! My liver is surely happier. Living without alcohol has also been easy.

Actually, I didn’t decide to stop drinking alcohol. It happened by accident. It is not necessarily my intention never to drink again. With Christmas coming, I probably will. But I am sure that being without alcohol for several months has done my health good, especially my liver. Interestingly, I haven’t missed alcoholic drinks at all. It’s surprising what one can do without and what one can get used to.

© Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved

Alcohol Poisonings Rise in Iran, Where Bootleggers Defy a Ban

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Iran’s prohibition of the drinking and selling of alcohol has led to a flourishing underground market. But even officials have acknowledged a wave of hospitalizations and deaths in recent months.

Illicit alcohol being served at a party in Tehran. Iran’s theocratic government has banned the consumption and sale of alcohol for decades, but a bootleg industry has survived. | The New York Times
When a renowned Iranian artist hosted friends at his apartment in Tehran last month, he served, as he did often, a bottle of homemade aragh, a traditional Iranian vodka distilled from raisins, that he had secured from a trusted dealer.

His guests and his partner did not drink that evening, so he raised shot glasses to them and drank alone.

Within a few hours, the artist, Khosrow Hassanzadeh, 60, felt his vision blur. By the next morning, his sight was gone, he was delirious and short of breath. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with methanol poisoning from the aragh, according to his partner, Shahrzad Afrashteh.

Mr. Hassanzadeh fell into a coma that night and died two weeks later, on July 2. His death, from something as innocuous as having drinks with friends, shocked and infuriated many Iranians who have found ways around the Islamic Republic’s longstanding ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, which is punishable by a penalty of up to 80 lashes and fines.

Rather than stopping drinking, the ban over time has led to a flourishing and dangerous bootleg market. In the past three months, a wave of alcohol poisonings has spread across Iranian towns big and small, with an average of about 10 cases per day of hospitalizations and deaths, according to official tallies in local news reports.

The culprit is methanol, found in homemade distilled alcohol and counterfeit brand bottles, apparently circulating widely, according to Iranian media reports and interviews with Iranians who drink, sell and make alcohol.

To many Iranians, the deaths are an example of how the Islamic Republic’s religious rules oppress ordinary citizens and meddle in their personal lives. » | Farnaz Fassihi and Leily Nikounazar | Friday, July 14, 2023

That prohibition isn't going too well, is it? People will have their fun. Governments are very slow to learn this. – Mark

Drinking Alcohol Is Bad for You – End of. Ignore the Headlines That Claim Otherwise

THE GUARDIAN: Another week, another article suggesting that alcohol may have health benefits. It’s amazing how desperate drinkers are to fool themselves

It’s amazing how easy it is to persuade us that what we want to be true is true. Consider a typical headline to a story covered with great enthusiasm by many major news organisations this week: “Moderate alcohol consumption may lower stress, reduce heart disease risk, study finds.” Enthusiastic drinkers, drowning in a dark sea of health warnings, will cling on to such words as stricken sailors might hold on to the hull of their capsized boat.

They will turn a blind eye to the facts of the story, although even the headline itself, with its “may” and its “study finds”, suggests this scientific revelation isn’t quite the slam dunk we might be hoping for. Once the study’s methodology and conclusions are outlined, it’s clear that the whole thing falls into the category of quite interesting, rather than this changes everything. But who needs that level of detail? If I’m so minded, there’s as much information in the headline as I’m ever going to want or need to support my long-cherished pet theory about drinking. “I knew it! I told you so! Drinking helps me deal with stress, ergo it eases the strain on my poor ticker, therefore I’ll live longer and more happily.” I’ll file this fact away along with that one about red wine being good for you, as good as a health drink. » | Adrian Chiles | Wednesday, June 14, 2023

TV presenter Adrian Chiles opens up about his difficult relationship with alcohol ahead of appearance in Ilkley: Adrian Chiles was drinking 100 units a week when a doctor told him he had potential liver damage. Chiles, who has presented The One Show, Daybreak, ITV sport and hosted radio shows, turned the spotlight on to himself, with his BBC documentary Drinkers Like Me. »

The Puritans are back! First, there was a war on smoking (which is still raging); now, the war on drinking alcohol has started! After tobacco and alcohol, what will come next? Soon there will be no pleasures left for us! What a boring world this is becoming! People are becoming boring too! Policing the behaviour of others has become a pastime for many.

Have people forgotten the maxims that served us so well and for so long? ‘Moderation in all things’ and, ‘A little bit of what you fancy does you good’?

The problem today is that so many are incapable of moderation or self-discipline. The result? We all have to pay the price of the immoderate drinker and inconsiderate smoker.

The way things are going it will soon be de rigueur for us all to convert to Islam! Soon the Puritans will be mandating prayer times. If you think that is far-fetched, just wait a while longer! – © Mark Alexander

Dubai Scraps 30% Alcohol Tax and Licence Fee in Apparent Bid to Boost Tourism

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BBC: Dubai has scrapped its 30% alcohol tax in an apparent bid to boost tourism.

It will also stop charging for personal alcohol licences - something residents who want to drink at home must have.

Dubai has been relaxing laws for some time, allowing the sale of alcohol in daylight during Ramadan and approving home delivery during the pandemic.

This latest move is thought to be an attempt to make the city more attractive to foreigners, in the face of competition from neighbours.

The two companies which distribute alcohol in Dubai, Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), and African & Eastern, said they would reflect the cut in tax for consumers. » | Elsa Maishman, BBC News | Monday, January 2, 2023

Qatar Bans Beer Sales at World Cup Stadiums

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The about-face on alcohol could violate a multimillion-dollar FIFA sponsorship agreement, and signaled that soccer’s governing body may no longer be in full control of its showcase event.

DOHA, Qatar — Beer is out at the World Cup.

In an abrupt about-face, Qatari officials have decided that the only drinks that will be on sale to fans at stadiums during the monthlong World Cup will be nonalcoholic.

The decision, which came two days before the tournament’s opening match, was confirmed on Friday by FIFA, the tournament’s owner.

“Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues,” FIFA announced. The decision, it said, would mean “removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.”

The ban on beer is the latest and most dramatic change to an evolving alcohol plan that has for months increased tensions between FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, and Qatar, a conservative Muslim nation where the sale of alcohol is tightly controlled. But it also will complicate FIFA’s $75 million sponsorship agreement with Budweiser; infuriate fans already chafing at restrictions, costs and inconveniences around the event; and once again leave organizers scrambling to adjust — this time only 48 hours before the tournament’s opening game on Sunday. » | Tariq Panja | Friday, November 18, 2022

Revealed: Qatar has spent £440,000 hosting British MPs since 2012: openDemocracy analysis reveals extent of Qatar’s charm offensive in the decade leading up to the World Cup »

Coupe du monde 2022 : la consommation d’alcool bannie aux abords des stades à deux jours du coup d’envoi : Dans un revirement de dernière minute, le Qatar a décidé de restreindre davantage l’accès à l’alcool en marge du Mondial. »

Qatar setzt Bierverbot rund um WM-Stadien durch: 48 Stunden vor dem WM-Auftakt setzt sich Gastgeber Qatar doch noch durch: Rund um die Stadien wird kein Alkohol verkauft. Für die Fans ist es kurz vor dem Turnierstart die nächste Umstellung. »

Minimum Alcohol Price ‘Causes Poorest to Cut Back on Food’ in Scotland

THE GUARDIAN: Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

Alcohol for sale in an Edinburgh off-licence. The minimum pricing policy came into force in May 2018. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.

The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks.

But the latest evaluation of minimum unit pricing (MUP), published on Tuesday by Public Health Scotland, found those who suffer the worst affects of alcoholism did not change their habits after the policy was introduced, with the poorest among them experiencing “increased financial strain” as price rises meant they were spending more on drink, causing them to cut back on other expenditure such as food and utility bills. » | Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent | Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Surprise! Surprise! These politicians don’t have a bloody clue! They keep on distorting the market by introducing stupid, useless laws, the consequences of which should be clear and easy for an intelligent person to anticipate.

Many politicians need to study Economics 101! Most seem to be law graduates; they know not a thing about economics! When I studied economics back in the day, one of the first things I remember learning was that political interference in prices of goods in the marketplace lead to market distortions, which often leads to undesirable and unintended consequences. This problem in Scotland is one such example. With the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products sky high in this country, I feel absolutely certain that a similar story could also be told about those products.

Many politicians these days extol the virtues of the free market, yet they don’t allow the free market to determine prices. Go figure! Instead, they slap high taxes on goods they deem undesirable, hoping to change people’s behaviour and habits. They always fail. And always will. And when they don’t fail totally, they cause those people to take up other habits, many of which are worse than the original habit they were hoping to stamp out.

If politicians really want to change people’s habits, taxing products to the hilt is not the way to do it. Education and infomercials are a far better way forward. The results might not be as fast, but they will be longer-lasting. Furthermore, people won’t get the feeling that their rights are being trampled upon.

And there’s something else politicians need to learn: Utopia will never be achieved anyway. And in any case, regardless of class and means, everyone needs to be able to get some enjoyment in life, even if the source of that enjoyment might at times be deemed unhealthy. For God’s sake, stop the social engineering! – © Mark Alexander

Russia’s Drinking Problem | 2003

Feb 10, 2021 • Drinking Away the Pain (2003) - More and more Russians are turning to drink to help numb the pain of post-Soviet life.

Russians consume over half the world’s hard liqueur. Vodka is often cheaper than non-alcoholic drinks and beer is marketed as a soft drink. As a result, alcoholism has reached record levels, pushing down life expectancies for Russian men to just 58. “As a rule, the Russian drinks until he falls. Some continue drinking even when they’re lying down,” explains one man. Unfortunately there are few places alcoholics can turn to for help. “I lost my family, I lost my house, everything,” recalls one former alcoholic sadly. He’s one of the lucky ones - a church charity took him in. For most Russian alcoholics, the only refuge available is a humiliating night in a ‘sober-cell.’ “Russia has a very tragic history … we have permanently faced cataclysm. Alcohol helps weak people to escape,” explains theatre director Yuri Lubimov. Unless the quality of life for more people improves, Russians will continue to seek refuge in the most traditional of cures.

Chris Snowden on the Ever-Growing Nanny State

May 31, 2021 • Gary sits down with Christopher Snowdon, author of the Nanny State Index. They discuss vaping; smoking; sugar taxes; Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol; the drive towards increased nanny statism coming from NGOs; & what consumers can do to fight back.

These interfering dudes in government have absolutely no sense of 'joie de vivre'! Further, they forget that they work for us: they are our public sevants. Their positions are paid for by our taxes! They should get off our backs and let us lead our lives as we see fit! I can think of a few people in politics in the UK—I won’t name them – today—who behave like interfering old women! In years gone by, we used to call them Betsys! Even though I have successfully given up smoking, listening to this discussion makes me want to start again!

People are not becoming healthier from quitting smoking at all. Instead of smoking, people now eat loads of junk food instead, and grow fatter abd fatter. As a result, obesity and type-2 diabetes rates are soaring. So, instead of dying from tobacco-related illnesses, they are now dying of illnesses related to obesity, insulin-resistance and metabolic syndrome instead. And that's a fact!

Whilst it is healthier not to smoke, it is healthier not to do so only if one vice is not substitued for another. Political hacks don't seem to understand this. One could speak of the law of unintended consequences here. – @ Mark

Tunisian Scholar Mohamed Talbi: The Quran Does Not Prohibit Alcohol, Prostitution, or Homosexuality

Kuwaiti MP Nabil Al-Fadhl Challenges Ban on Alcohol: It Is Part of Our Heritage

Related »

Islamists Slam Kuwaiti Lawmaker for Call to Allow Dancing, Alcohol

LA TIMES: liberal Kuwaiti lawmaker has come under fire by Islamists for his appeal to lift bans on dancing and alcohol consumption, calling the oil-rich Persian Gulf state "a country with no joy.

Nabil Fadhl provoked angry objections from fellow members of parliament when he proposed repeal of a 2004 law that prohibited dancing at concerts and festivals as contrary to the mores of Islam that dictate separation of unrelated men and women in public.

Asked by Islamist lawmakers -- apparently with sarcasm -- whether he also would support the legalization of alcohol, Fadhl reportedly replied, "Why not?" He said that drinking was tolerated in earlier times and that banning alcohol had led to the emergence of a black market where a bottle of spirits can be sold for more than $400. » | Carol J. Williams | Monday, January 05, 2015

Alex Salmond: 'Scotland Is a Nation of Drunks'

THE INDEPENDENT: The First Minister said drinking culture in Scotland had changed since his youth

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has suggested that Scotland is a “nation of drunks” and that he is “significantly” concerned by the nation’s relationship with alcohol.

In an interview with former Labour spin-doctor Alistair Campbell which was published in GQ magazine on Thursday, Mr Salmond explained that apparent drinking problems stemmed from: “the availability of cheap alcohol and the cultural changes that has introduced.”

“When we were young we would go out for a drink. People now go out drunk, having drunk cheap booze before. That is social change for the worse,” he said.

“Then there is something deep about Scotland’s relationship with alcohol that is about self-image – lack of confidence, maybe, as a nation – and we do have to do something about it.”

He then went on to defend the Scottish Government’s plan to introduce minimum alcohol pricing, which has been criticised by the whisky industry.

“I promote whisky,” Mr Salmond told Mr Campbell.

“I do it on the argument that it’s a quality drink, has a worldwide cachet and that its recent great success in markets like China is about social emulation and authenticity, not cheapness.

"My argument is that if you are promoting it as authentic and of great worth, you cannot promote it from a nation of drunks. You’ll never be able to say it is healthy and life giving, but you can say it’s authentic and high quality," he said. » | Kashmira Gander | Thursday, May 01, 2014

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Alex Salmond: Regierungschef nennt Schottland "Nation der Säufer": Alex Salmond geht mit seinen Landsleuten hart ins Gericht. Schottland habe ein gravierendes Alkoholproblem, diagnostiziert der Regierungschef. Die Opposition ist empört » | syd | Freitag, 02. Mai 2014

Drunk in Tehran: The Islamic State’s Secret Party Scene

THE INDEPENDENT: Alcohol is banned in Iran, but that doesn’t stop the wealthy partaking

“Have a shot of tequila first, cheer up!” Shahriyar tells guests gathered at his luxury apartment in Tehran.

His girlfriend, Shima, said they party every weekend. “Shahriyar has one rule: bring your booze! We drink until morning,” she said on a FaceTime call, as lights flashed to rap music in the background.

Despite the ban on alcohol and frequent police raids, drinking in Iran is widespread, especially among the wealthy. Because the Shia-dominated Muslim state has no nightclubs, it all takes place at home, behind closed doors.

Some of the alcohol is smuggled in, but many resourceful Iranians make their own. » | Parisa Hafezi | Reuters | Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sale of Ultra-cheap Alcohol to Be Banned in England and Wales

THE GUARDIAN: New rules will ban deep discounting, which has resulted in cans of lager being sold more cheaply than water in supermarkets

The government is to ban the sale of the cheapest alcohol in England and Wales, the Home Office has announced. Ministers hope the move, which will come into force on 6 April, will stop the worst instances of deep discounting, which has resulted in cans of lager being sold more cheaply than water in supermarkets.

An official impact assessment says that the ban on sales of alcohol at below cost, defined as duty plus VAT, will mean an ordinary 440ml can of beer or lager cannot be sold below 50p.

The new "floor price" for a bottle of wine will be £2.24; a bottle of vodka or other spirits will cost a minimum of £10.16.

Low-strength beers that have an alcoholic content of 1.2% or less will be exempt from the policy, as will duty-free sales on ships, aircraft and in airports. Read on and comment » | Alan Travis, home affairs editor | Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Madness Alert! Muslim Staff at Marks & Spencer Can Refuse to Sell Alcohol and Pork

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Marks & Spencer says its Muslim staff do not have to sell pork or alcohol to customers

Muslim staff working for Marks & Spencer have been given permission to refuse to serve customers buying alcohol or pork products[.]

Its policy decision has highlighted a split among the big food retailers over whether religious staff should be excused certain jobs.

In contrast to M&S, Sainsbury’s said it had issued official guidelines that stated there was no reason why staff who did not drink alcohol or eat pork for religious reasons could not handle the goods.

The advice followed consultations with religious groups, said a spokesman.

Tesco said it treated each case on its merits, but said it “made no sense” to employ staff on a till who refused to touch certain items for religious reasons.

Asda said it would not deploy Muslims on tills who objected to handling alcohol, while Morrisons, which is based in Bradford where there is a large Muslim community, said it had widespread experience of dealing with the issue and would “respect and work around anyone’s wishes not to handle specific products for religious or cultural reasons”.

At M&S, Muslim staff who do not wish to handle alcohol or pork have been told they can politely request that customers choose another till at which to pay. » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, December 21, 2013