Are liquor stores really essential businesses?

freebsd_noob said:
The trick is to read them all (including foreign media) and then separate the wheat from the chaff using common sense.
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Well said.
For anyone who thinks that the dangers have been over blown, worldometer is a good site to watch over the next few weeks. It's an education in exponential arithmetic.
The numbers are available by individual country. The US is shaping up to be absolutely scary!
I sincerely hope that the miracle cure hydroxychloroquine being touted by the right wing press works as well as Trump hopes.
 
Crivens said:
recluce You have tried american beer, have you? For any german that stuff is an abomination. ;)
So that may be a sin right there.
But I might need to stock up my scotch reserve. For medical reasons, you know.
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As a German Canadian, I know where you are coming from. American beer in general is an abomination, even though there is a small silver lining in some of their craft beers. In Canada, the industrial brews are just as bad. However, there is a huge selection of craft beers and some of them are really great. I still typically buy German beer, though.
 
Crivens said:
Some nice visualization (also scary)
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=54XLXg4fYsc
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China lies.
www.japantimes.co.jp

Stacks of urns in Wuhan prompt new questions about virus's toll

The long lines and stacks of ash urns greeting family members of the dead at funeral homes in Wuhan are spurring questions about the true scale of coronavirus casualties at the epicenter of the outbreak, renewing pressure on a Chinese government struggling to control its containment narrative.
www.japantimes.co.jp www.japantimes.co.jp
The Chinese dictators deliberately tried to hide the outbreak & now they're hiding the deaths & infections.
What else to expect from a dictatorship. I'm pretty sure tiananmen square happened... China would tell you otherwise.

I just can't understand how any chart could contain a reference to china as a success. They're almost as delusional as Trump. 😷
 
The thing is, numbers don't lie. They depend on humans for that. According to that article you may need to adjust the reported numbers by a factor of 20.
 
Phishfry said:
My gripe is that the government is protecting their own monopoly from closing while closing other businesses as 'non-essential'.
I fail to see how liquor is essential.

I have several bottles on a shelf but do not indulge much myself. More for my guests.


Yes but I fail to find that argument persuasive. Liquor stores close at night and they used to close on Sundays.
If you are an alcoholic and need liquor then you should stock up.
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Medically, it is true. Full Blown, Alcohol withdrawal, aka delerium tremens, is a medical emergency. Untreated, it carries a 25% mortality rate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens
 
Phishfry said:
Call me cruel but I have no sympathy for a self inflicted disease. Calling it a disease belittles real medical diseases.
That we have over 10% of the population with this disease is embarrassing for our country.
49% growth in 20 years is ridiculous.
88,000 people die a year from alcohol. Wow. Maybe the temperance movement had it right.
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The American view: alcohol is drug, sin or both. If you drink alcohol, you are an addict. That view is not global, though. Good wine, beer and some spirits are part of the culture in many countries and the majority of people there handle it responsibly. So no, I do not share your view at all.

Doing something for health in the USA? Well, look at the Opioid Crisis, lack of access to health care and obesity / diabetes due to fast food and snack foods first. If you get these under control, you may stop the trend of the declining life expectancy in the US. Yes alcohol abuse is a problem, but takes a back seat to some other issues in the USA.

See here: Forbes on declining life expectancy in the USA
 
It is more trying to avoid hard choices. For example, a 50yo Alcoholic Housewife, who still cooks and gardens, goes into withdrawal, has a seizure and vomits. She aspirates some of the vomit into her lungs and goes into Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. At the same time a recently retired, otherwise healthy, 65yo Male who volunteers in the community, arrives at the ER with Respiratory Failure from COVID-19 pneumonia. You have one ventilator. If you let the 50yo Alcoholic Housewife stay drunk, you don't have to make the decision.
 
shepper These decisions usually need more data than you have in that moment. Also, the past is not a perfect predictor of the future. I know at least one guy who, after visiting one of his drinking buddies in hospital, got his act together and has not failed in the last 20 years.

Yes, there are those who can't be saved. There are those who don't want to be saved. But you need more info beforehand to make that call. And I don't say that out of the blue, as a trained military first responder that comes with the job. And I'm fsck-ing happy I never had to make that call.
 
mark_j said:
China lies.
www.japantimes.co.jp

Stacks of urns in Wuhan prompt new questions about virus's toll

The long lines and stacks of ash urns greeting family members of the dead at funeral homes in Wuhan are spurring questions about the true scale of coronavirus casualties at the epicenter of the outbreak, renewing pressure on a Chinese government struggling to control its containment narrative.
www.japantimes.co.jp www.japantimes.co.jp
The Chinese dictators deliberately tried to hide the outbreak & now they're hiding the deaths & infections.
What else to expect from a dictatorship. I'm pretty sure tiananmen square happened... China would tell you otherwise.

I just can't understand how any chart could contain a reference to china as a success. They're almost as delusional as Trump. 😷
Click to expand...

After the initial mess China was updating the data daily (I had the link but I lost it) and it does not seems they were hiding the amount of deaths, but in order to legally tell someone died of the consequences of COVID-19 there must have proofs (and not just some doctor opinion) and the tests, all of them, are new and unreliable. A few days ago a guy died of COVID-19 in here (Brazil), that was clearly COVID-19 and all tests were negative to COVID-19 ever the one done right after he died then he should not be counted as a COVID-19 death.
 
These moral questions are always difficult if you think about them hard enough.

Would you allow one American to die, if that was all that was required to save the US economy from its pending doom?

How about ten? You know where this is going...

I'm not convinced that the political class are up to contemplating the deep ethical dilemma. I'm not even sure that I am. And what ever the resolution, there are those who won't be pleased.
 
gpw928 said:
I'm not convinced that the political class are up to contemplating the deep ethical dilemma. I'm not even sure that I am. And what ever the resolution, there are those who won't be pleased.
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This is clearly they are not and that also does not matter. In order to proper impose controls one must have the right tooling to do it.

Asian countries in general, not just China but also Japan, Korea, Singapore[1], Russia etc. can easily suppress people rights if they need and this is fundamental in regards to logistics and national mobilization, and those are exactly the countries dealing with more ease with this crisis. Also, in those countries, except Russia[2], the people are generally homogeneous and the sense of community naturally do exist, a very difference situation of the excess of freedom in the western world and its people diversity fanaticism.

voiceofeurope.com

EU called to use cruise ships to move migrants from Greece to Germany

The German pro-migrant organization Sea Watch has an innovative idea for how the European Union can deal with the ongoing migrant crisis in Greece: get some cruise ships and ship migrants to Germany.
voiceofeurope.com voiceofeurope.com

[1] not a very good example btw.
[2] Singapore is historically a different situation
 
Last I saw proper liquor stores was in Chicago, Illinois. In Vienna we don't really have them. Most of the regular stores, malls, etc. are closed at the moment. However, if you wanna get tanked up, you can still buy alcohol of absolutely any sort in a bigger grocery store like Billa or Merkur. Also, since the country is under lock-down, people are highly advised to stay home. Not everyone treats this seriously enough, though.
 
In regards to USA, the concerns of its Government is not just about the economy after the crisis but a very major problem. This is well know by the economic folks, and the USA opponents are working their strategies around this fact (specially Russian and China), the USA will completely bankrupt around 2035, when its (IIRC) 34 trillion debt will make the call.

The drama around it now is, in order to save/organize the USA economy after this crisis that debt will need to increase dramatically quite anticipating that (2035) date. For when, nobody know yet.

The fact they just spent trillions in a bunch of crap, like the F35 "always miss the target" Jet, Zumwalt-class "useless" destroyer, Littoral "aluminum superstructure" Combatant Ship doesn't help at all.
 
gpw928 said:
I sincerely hope that the miracle cure hydroxychloroquine being touted by the right wing press works as well as Trump hopes.
Click to expand...

I haven't had a cold or the flu for about 12 years. No sickness whatsoever. Haven't been to a hospital in almost thirty years. Don't have a doctor. I'm in my mid sixties. Anyway, I attribute my fortune to one or more of several possibilities. One - I taught myself to *never* touch my face. There's a trick for doing that. Two - I exercise a lot - at least 4 miles/day up to about 8 miles/day walks. Three - (and this is maybe not as sure as the first two) - I pretty regularly drink tonic water, which has a significant (but supposedly non-therapeutic) amount of quinine (the chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are synthetic versions of this, where the hydroxy one is sort of buffered).

Just saying.
 
Well, sodium pentothal is different than sodium hydroxide. One little element makes a big difference. Hydroxychloroquine is different than hydroxychloroquine phosphate (the latter was used in the fish tank cleaner). Even if the ingredient was exactly the same, a grade of that chemical that was not made for human consumption could have dangerous qualities. You're right about the desperation thing. We should leave the prescriptions to the doctors I believe. I'm neither a doctor nor chemist, but still I wouldn't drink something like that!
 
rigoletto@ said:
After the initial mess China was updating the data daily (I had the link but I lost it) and it does not seems they were hiding the amount of deaths, but in order to legally tell someone died of the consequences of COVID-19 there must have proofs (and not just some doctor opinion) and the tests, all of them, are new and unreliable. A few days ago a guy died of COVID-19 in here (Brazil), that was clearly COVID-19 and all tests were negative to COVID-19 ever the one done right after he died then he should not be counted as a COVID-19 death.
Click to expand...

Yes, well call me suspicious, but a stack of urns appearing in various funeral places doesn't add up.😲

I think you're apologising for China when they need no such excuses. They've lied through this entire pandemic and will continue to lie to not lose face. It would be a convenient excuse for them not to define a death by Covid-19 because it reduces the 'official' figures. No, they're being, as usual, deceitful. A friend often quotes "One man tells a lie, dozens repeat it as the truth ". Donald Trump know this all too well, might I add.

That's why I say, the statistics are faked when it comes to China. Their death toll is probably closer to 10 times what they're saying and I base this not on pure supposition but from friends on the ground.

I'm not directly attacking you on this, I just wish EVERY media outlet would just dismiss Chinese figures as the random numbers of a deranged political system.
 
rigoletto@ said:
This is clearly they are not and that also does not matter. In order to proper impose controls one must have the right tooling to do it.

Asian countries in general, not just China but also Japan, Korea, Singapore[1], Russia etc. can easily suppress people rights if they need and this is fundamental in regards to logistics and national mobilization, and those are exactly the countries dealing with more ease with this crisis. Also, in those countries, except Russia[2], the people are generally homogeneous and the sense of community naturally do exist, a very difference situation of the excess of freedom in the western world and its people diversity fanaticism.

voiceofeurope.com

EU called to use cruise ships to move migrants from Greece to Germany

The German pro-migrant organization Sea Watch has an innovative idea for how the European Union can deal with the ongoing migrant crisis in Greece: get some cruise ships and ship migrants to Germany.
voiceofeurope.com voiceofeurope.com

[1] not a very good example btw.
[2] Singapore is historically a different situation
Click to expand...

You are right. With Singapore🇸🇬, they're basically an authoritarian democracy. It sounds weird, but quite a few SE Asian countries have democracy and yet have authoritarian or regal rule. IE: 🇲🇲🇲🇾🇮🇩

Japan 🇯🇵is much less so, as is Korea🇰🇷.

I think the key here is as you mention at the end, it's ethnic diversity. In Japan, Korea and Singapore [the examples you cited], they are homogeneous societies. Basically, they're one race. It makes it much easier for a government to say to their constituents "give up your rights to save our race".
I don't know enough about Russia🇷🇺, suffice to say, fuel them up with Vodka and they're happy! :beer::D

(Playing with the flag icons...)
 
mark_j said:
Basically, they're one race.
Click to expand...
There is only one race - the human race.

A few reads about this topic:

There’s No Scientific Basis for Race - It's a Made-Up Label:
www.nationalgeographic.com

There’s no scientific basis for race—it's a made-up label

It's been used to define and separate people for millennia. But the concept of race is not grounded in genetics.
www.nationalgeographic.com www.nationalgeographic.com

The Concept of "Race" Is a Lie:
blogs.scientificamerican.com

The Concept of “Race” Is a Lie

Even the Ancient Greeks knew it
blogs.scientificamerican.com blogs.scientificamerican.com

Are different races subspecies?

Can humans be split into races? | Ask A Biologist

Do different "races" exist?In terms of biology, no. In biology, we’re actually finding that what we used to call “races” aren’t different enough to have as separate groups. In other animal species, we sometimes notice differences in appearance that allow us to group them… usually into...
askabiologist.asu.edu askabiologist.asu.edu
 
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