Monday, 13 February 2012

White Man's Firewater?

I always expected this, when mentioned in the cowboy movies, to refer to rotgut whisky, not weak American beer!
An American-Indian tribe in South Dakota has sued some of the world's biggest beer firms over severe alcohol-related issues in the community.
Because, apparently (and this was news to me) it's banned on reservations, but those awful beer companies will keep on selling it to the palefaces, knowing it's going to be smuggled in:
The lawsuit alleges that beer makers and the shop owners knew the alcohol would be smuggled into the reservation for consumption or resale.

The legal documents allege: "The illegal sale and trade in alcohol in Whiteclay is open, notorious and well documented by news reports, legislative hearings, movies, public protests and law enforcement activities."

Meanwhile, Tom White, the lawyer representing the tribe, told the Associated Press news agency: "You cannot sell 4.9 million 12oz [356ml] cans of beer and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate, and say we've got nothing to do with it being smuggled."
I think this has to be the first time an entire nation has admitted to giving up on personal responsibility...
Nebraska State Senator LeRoy Louden has said that after struggling with the problem for years, the state has introduced legislation that would impose restrictions - on the types of alcohol that can be sold and business hours.
*boggle*

And least we think it's just an amusing story from across the pond, Dick Puddlecote points out that this is exactly how tobacco prohibition started.

H/T: CJ Nerd via email
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10 comments:

  1. Woodsy4213 February 2012 at 12:24

    Wasn't there supposed to be a real (genetic?)reason why alcohol is such a huge problem to some american (and Australian) indigenous races. Makes it far more intoxicating and more addictive, so they may have a bit of a point?

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  2. Anonymous13 February 2012 at 14:18

    O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
    What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
    Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
    O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
    And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
    Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
    O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
    O'er the land of the free ride and the home of the drunk braves?

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  3. Lynne13 February 2012 at 17:07

    Young indian boy: Mother, is it true that Indian children are named after the first thing the mothers sees after giving birth.

    Mother Indian: Yes. I named your elder sister Moon on the Mountain and your younger brother Horse Running Swiftly. Why do you ask Ten Braves Getting Pissed On White Man's Beer?

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  4. RAB13 February 2012 at 17:17

    This has got to be a crock...

    Reservations are pretty much autonomous and sovereign, so if anyone has banned alcohol it is the reservation itself. If they can't police themselves then fuck 'em!

    They are quite happy to use their autonomy for their own advantage...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_casino

    So suing for their own inadequacies, is taking the piss rather.

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  5. Captain Haddock13 February 2012 at 17:39

    Young indian boy: "Mother, is it true that Indian children are named after the first thing the mother sees after giving birth ? " ...

    Mother Indian: "Yes, I named your elder sister Moon on the Mountain and your younger brother Horse Running Swiftly ... Why do you ask, Two Dogs Shagging" ? ... ;)

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  6. Leg-iron14 February 2012 at 03:58

    This comes from the people who gave us tobacco...

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  7. Leg-iron14 February 2012 at 04:00

    ...in exchange for firewater.

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  8. JuliaM14 February 2012 at 07:05

    "Wasn't there supposed to be a real (genetic?)reason why alcohol is such a huge problem to some american (and Australian) indigenous races."

    I've heard that - along with the inability of the Japanese to digest dairy products - but how true it is, gawd only knows...

    "O'er the land of the free ride and the home of the drunk braves?"

    :D

    "Why do you ask Ten Braves Getting Pissed On White Man's Beer?"

    LOL!

    "So suing for their own inadequacies, is taking the piss rather."

    Seems to have become 'The American Way'...

    "This comes from the people who gave us tobacco..."

    Good point!

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  9. Dr Evil14 February 2012 at 12:16

    Americans used to be rugged individualists. OK, Red Indians were terribly abused but this is no excuse nowadays for giving up on individual responsibility. And American beer is quite weak.

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  10. Dr Evil14 February 2012 at 12:19

    @Woodsy42

    Yes indeed. They have lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase in the ir livers (true for al Asiatic peoples). Although inducable by ethanol it is not as easily induced to higher levels as that of Caucasians and Africans!

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