Maybe the Russians aren't all that bad...
 

I just heard that it is actually cheaper to buy a bottle of Beer on the streets of Russia than it is to buy a bottle of water. I also found out that the Russian government doesn't tax alchol and tobacco products... On the down side, 50% of the deaths in Russia are tied to alchol related issues. I just hope they aren't doing the alchol enemas we where warned against when i was in the Navy after some medical students at a medical school near Norfolk died after putting a case of beer each up their butts back in 1992/93.

No, just... no. A world of wrong.

I'm pretty sure that under Australian law it is a criminal offence to do that to beer.

Surely it depends on the beer:D

I've had some beer that tasted like it might have come out of someone's butt...ever drink "Red Wolf?" Spilled some on the wife's shoes once...it ate the leather:confused:

I am soooo glad I'm a teetotaler...

I have a suspicion that that is possible to do here in the UK if you go to the right supermarket and are willing to buy a 12 pack or whatever (buy alcohol cheaper than water I mean) - they use booze as a loss leader to bring people in. It's a big problem - not because I have any objection to people buying beer and drinking themselves into a stupor if they wish (which is what all too many do in this country) but because the rest of us who work in the drinks trade are tarred with the same brush.

I work for a company that sells fine wine and I can see things moving against us - they got tobacco and now they are coming after alcohol - and they aren't discriminating between a good chablis and an alcopop. I can see myself needing to grow my stockpile of wine for the day when we get something akin to prohibition.

Likewise, I'm in a similar positon in the students union. Yes, we're a bit cheaper than the city centre bars (approx 30p a drink), but we cannot compete with the supermarkets for pricing. A lot of the time Tesco, Sainsburys etc are retailing at prices very similar to my wholesale price. One of my reps told me that they lost a lot of business from privately owned clubs and bars at Christmas because it was cheaper for them to use the supermarkets than the suppliers. And yet every time a drunk student does something stupid its the union that ends up getting castigated rather than a supermarket.

Here in Pennsylvania, you can only buy beer from licensed distributors. Also to buy any liquor at all, the only source is the State Store, yes, the only source is the Pennsylvania government owned State Stores. This goes back to 1933 when Prohibition was repealed and it's been that way ever since although some are trying to change that.

Chuck

And some fine beer you have in PA - its 10 years since I was there, so I was drinking at the time, and I did enjoy Yeungling when I was there :) Anyone selling beer, wine or spirits here in the UK needs a licence as well. On the mainland you just apply to your local council who consider each case individually. In Northern Ireland its a bit different, due primarily to religion dominating our local politics, and 'deeply religious' politicians wanting to save us all from the demon drink. A cap was placed on the number of bar licences, and if you want to open a bar you need to buy a licence from another bar that is closing. This means that bars mortgages are all tied to tthe licence rather than the buildung like most places. This has led to crazy prices for licences - one place I worked paid £1m for one in the city centre. There are also restrictions on how far you can move a licence as well - approx 1/2 mile in urban areas and (iirc) 5 miles in rural. Still no shortage of bars though :)

Here in Western Australia there are various licences for selling alcohol, depending on whether it is a hotel bar, nightclub or takeaway liquor outlet. Licences are granted (and rescinded ) by the Liquor Licencing Board with has representation from the Police among its members.

we got that here too - beer and alcopops and cider are in the stores who have the license - wine and spirits etc in a state monopoly called " the Monopoly "..
Actually a good store when it comes to expertise and selection imho .A little competition on prices would not hurt though...

We have high prices on all alcoholic beverages due to taxes that are supposed to curb our drinking..(Norwegians are binge drinkers..)

Hah! I'm an Australian. Let me tell you about binge drinking...

In Ontario, the only place to buy liquor is in Gov't owned-and-run liquor stores (LCBO)...beer used to be the same, but "The Beer Store" is a privately-run chain...in other provinces, it's much different...

I run a student bar - reckon I've got you beat :)

I was a soldier and the stepson of an alcoholic -- I definitely know about binge drinking (not first-hand, though). I did a lot of designated driving in college and the Army. (Hell, I could get damn near any favor I wanted in the Army if I volunteered to be the designated driver!)

I had one hard and fast rule about designated driving, though -- we're NOT taking MY car! Barf smells never really clean out of a car...

When I was in Cuba it was the same ... a bottle of rum or rye $2.00, a bottle of water $3.00

Bah, students have no stamina!

I was the Company barman. Closing time was supposed to be 10pm. Actual closing time? More like 3am...

Damn those SNCOs can drink! :P

I used to be a big drinker (not that it is something to be proud of btw), nowadays I dare not drink more than my limit - what is the 'science' that means when you are age 17-?25 or so making you almost hangover immune? Then you get older and having 1 drink over the 'sensible' and you lose the first half of the next day sick as a dog...

Maybe it is just me.

Hey! When I was student I could drink a full bottle of Rhum 78° all by myself and do a 2 miles walk on an icy road. I could also follow my russian friend on the third Absolut 50 with ease. What you say about students is only valid for anglo-saxon students who get out of high school not truly knowing what alcohol is.;):p During parties, my favored game was alcohol contest with US students (even seniors): 1 shot, US student out. And we were only drinking Chartreuse Green (55°) or Trapist Beers (12°) when I got back to Europe. Nowadays, my liver strongly disagree except from time to time...
(Noooooo!!! Don't shoot me on the spot.:D)

But drinking beer is the only way to stay alive in summer WA!

Oddly enough, the Australian Federal Government has banned bottled water purchasing in its organisation, as our bottle water is mainly Frenchs Forest tap water (Mount Franklin).

That is may be an attempt to get back to this original thread topic (I'll go pick up a beer first;)).

The fact that Russians are seen as evil might go back to the events in 1904-1905 with Japan. I'm currently reading interesting report on that and something striking came out of it.

A Western view (still true today) imply that when we fight a war (except of course among ourselves) it's always the fight between civilisation (us) and the barbarians (them). Of course we evolved slightly and we, now, bring them Democracy (in place of civilisation).

That was also the case for the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. And the Russians were first presented as being the champions of civilisation going to fight the Barbaric Japanese. When Japan finally came on top, the propaganda in the West changed. Russian slowly becoming the Barbarians while the Japanese were gaining their place among the civilised world.

That and Britain loathed the Russians from the start, seeing Russian designs on India. This confrontational attitude led to them siding with the Ottomans against Russia in the disastrous Crimean War, simply because they couldn't countenance any Russian expansion.
Since then Russia has been seen as something scary, primarily because the did over Napoleon when they finally got around to fighting him properly. Important Men With Maps looked at Russia and suddenly realised how big thier manpower reserves were, and how few thier own were. The Russian Juggernaut is not just a twentieth century fear.

As far as the USSR goes, it was diametrically opposite the USA in ethos, and ideologically a bugaboo against the movers and shakers in power. The incursion into Archangel after WW1 was ideologically driven, as the commies in charge were far more democratic than the tzarists were. In fact, 'soviet' means 'council' and refers to the original pyramid democracy practised by communist groupings. It was a better democracy than ours at the time (wasn't that to change!)

What are thses did over Napoleon you are talking about?

I know we had Rolling Rock, they moved out to New Jersey IIRC, that was in Latrobe, PA. We still have Iron City Beer here in Pittsburgh. We also have Stoney's Beer and Straub Beer as well. We used to have a brand called "Duquesne Beer" and their ads featuring "old Frothenslosh" was a staple on KDKA-AM radio and KDKA-TV.

Chuck M.

Yeah, our system was established just after Prohibition ended in 1933 and still much the same. There is talk of lightening the restrictions but so far, nothing as of yet. If you go across the line into Ohio or West Virginia, you can buy alcohol in the foodstores. So like you in Norway, here in Pennsylvania, we see the State Stores as a monopoly.

Chuck M.

My father was an alcoholic too. :( As to barf smells, I know what you are talking about, when I worked at Budget Rent-A-Truck, there were times where we had to clean barf out of the passenger vans we rented. We had to use something that resembled sawdust as well as antiseptic and deodorant. That was the most horrible job, next to cleaning blood from trucks when they hit a deer or something.

Chuck M.

Sadly it's not just you, it's just a part of getting older. It seems we process the complex sugars in alcohol differently as we age. Somewhere in our late 20s-early 30s we lose a lot of the 'energy' we used to get from heavy drinking and just get the sedative effect. Hard to have the same kind of big night out as we used to, and probably makes the hangover worse too!