Their birth rate has been falling for a long time, and they want to blame everything for it but their drunkenness. The falling birth rate is one of the main reasons they are going after gay people. They're afraid that homosexuality will 'catch on' and they'll go extinct. They blame immigrants and all sorts of other things. Blame the witches, but don't blame my vodka.

As far as the higher life expectancy in Minnesota, I've heard that people who live in colder climates tend to live longer than people in the warmer climes. If that's true, I suppose Russians would be living a very long time if they would just stop drinking themselves to death.

I'm originally from the UK too, but I've been here long enough to count as native and to be able to relate.

I remember a few years ago seeing Wisconsin (Mrs. Obvious' Home State) listed as having the highest rate of alcohol use and the longest life expectancy.

I remember drawing a lot of iinsightful conclusions from that back then, and saying a lot of intelligent things that have since evaporated in an alcoholic mist.

Still, there it is.

ETA: typo.

I don't think they have the highest drinking rate -- did you misread the chart?

Still, the two often go together.

friend of mine once told me, sort of tongue-in-cheek, I suppose, that the reason for high life expectancy there is Lutefisk and Hot Dish

these four made up 90+ of the population.

this guy explains it all....http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor

Usually ranking in the top 2 or 3 in the US. Minnesota is also usually among the bottom 5 in murder rates.

I wouldn't say this is due to a direct effect of education alone, but rather that education is strongly associated with a broad range of benefits of higher socio-economic status that contribute to better diets, utilization of healthcare, freedom from criminal activity, etc. that collectively lead to greater life-expectancy.

-Laelth

Or at least someone explained it to me once: scotch (or at least good single malt whiskies) have a much cleaner carbon structure than other alcohols. Or something like that. All I know is I can drink a glass of Lagavulin (well, when I used to be able to afford it) and feel totally fine, but a vodka martini has me under the table in no time.

However, I must say that Death's Door vodka, which is organic and made on some island in Wisconsin, is very good.

As an aside: I lived in Minnesota for 14 years. Aquavit is a good drink there.

Once, when we were living in Minnesota, my husband had to entertain two Russians (they were a little famous, filmmakers). Yoy! The vodka. It was such a cliche, but true. They kept ordering more and more at the restaurant, downing shot after shot. I had the first shot and stopped.

However, during the distillation process it's pretty much impossible or at least impractical to not get other alcohols as a by-product. Better distillation methods produce less of the undesirable alcohols.

But I can seldom afford it these days. Trader Joes has a $20 single malt called Finlagen. Has a nice smoky flavor like Lagavulin, but a lot cheaper.

I'll try that.

So we should concentrate our efforts on the truly dangerous substance, cannabis.

I mean, we have to prioritize and cannabis obviously is much worse.

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Russia plans to raise minimum vodka prices next year as it seeks to reduce consumption of alcohol, despite risks that drinkers will resort instead to cheaper illegal liquor.

Alcoholism is estimated to contribute to 30 percent of deaths in the nation of 143 million, according to medical surveys.

Russia's government imposed minimum prices for strong spirits such as vodka and brandy in 2010 and has been raising the bar annually to factor in increases in excise taxes and inflation.

According to a draft decree published on a government web site the cheapest half-litre bottle of vodka will cost 199 roubles ($6.00) from Jan. 1, up 17 percent from the current 170 roubles.

The price will rise further to 220 roubles from Aug. 1, bringing total increases next year to almost 30 percent over 2013.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/29/russia-vodka-idUSL5N0JE0U720131129


And then some weeks later :

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russia will further raise minimum vodka prices from next year as part of efforts to combat counterfeit spirits and curb alcoholism in the 143-million-strong country.

The price of the cheapest half-liter bottle of vodka will be set at a new minimum of 170 roubles ($5.56), according to a regulatory decree published on Wednesday, up from the current 125 roubles.

Retail prices for spirits such as brandy will also rise.

The regulations are aimed at putting out of business makers of counterfeit alcohol but will also affect listed companies such as Synergy and CEDC.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/26/russia-vodka-idUSL5E8NQ2OQ20121226

Blaming it on vodka is ridiculous. Russia has always had vodka, but they haven't always had such abysmal life expectancy figures.

Doubtless there others.

guaranteed housing or other social protections, no fucking food.

Imagine that, THEY DIED. In rather large numbers.

Any that I've met out in Cuba have been pretty much normal everyday workers.

Which ones have you met ?

just coincidental it coincided with the transition to wonderful capitalism.

They just all started drinking more.

"what about the ones you've met" or do only read about them ?

to do with understanding the reason for the DOCUMENTED drop in Russian mortality after the fall of the USSR, I have no idea.

I've met Americans, too. I know Americans who tell me that Obama is a Muslim and wages are low because of communist politicians and teachers. I know Americans who tell me that we are the longest-lived people in the world with the best health care system.

They're a source of vital information.

Wow, you've met Russians and Cubans. And some of them tell you Russians don't live long because they drink too much. Whoop-ti-do.

I'm sure you can also find lots of Americans who'll tell you poor Americans die younger because they use drugs. Big fucking deal.

Reply #24 was in response to reply #23.

Actuals here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_in_Europe_by_monthly_average_wage not that means too much because cost of living very from country to country.

Last words.

Last edited Sat Feb 1, 2014, 12:44 AM - Edit history (1)

After all, bad economy will do that to you.

they have worse health care on average, more crime, and more precarious lives.

What's the cause & what's the effect? What's primary and what's secondary?

We also have the US, where both men and women die younger than in comparable developed countries, despite drinking and smoking LESS on average.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024424275

What's the cause here?

Oh, yeah, they're fat. There's always something.

Anything but the root cause.

How do inequality and health relate? Increasing evidence from scientists the world over indicates that many health outcomes — everything from life expectancy to infant mortality and obesity — can be linked to the level of economic inequality within a given population. Greater economic inequality appears to lead to worse health outcomes.

By greater inequality, epidemiologists — the scientists who study the health of populations — don’t just mean poverty. Poor health and poverty do go hand-in-hand. But high levels of inequality, the epidemiological research shows, negatively affect the health of even the affluent, mainly because, researchers contend, inequality reduces social cohesion, which leads to more stress, fear, and insecurity for everyone.

drinking "non-beverage alcohols" like aftershave and hand sanitiser is apparently a thing, in Russia, because they're a lot cheaper than vodka.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogate_alcohol#Russia

And why this trend started circa 1989-1991.

and I'd imagine psychological demoralisation from the collapse of the Soviet system plays some role, but that's harder to quantify on a graph.

I was going through the liquor before Christmas trying to figure out what was needed and THOUGHT I had a full bottle of vodka.

Turns out the teen had replaced it with water. My BIL informed me during Christmas dinner....
which obviously required a thorough check of all the liquor from everyone at the party (much hilarity ensured).

The teen's clean and sober for the past 18 months (she fully confessed to the "crime" and had a laugh with the rest of us on Christmas Day), and while I won't replace the vodka til the next holiday I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions.

Last edited Sat Feb 1, 2014, 12:48 AM - Edit history (1)

Smoother than Stoli, Skyy or Absolut ... at a far better price.

"Monopolowa" means "monopoly", in this case referring to a privilege of the nobility, which was granted in the mid-17th century to the szlachta, giving them exclusive rights to produce and sell vodka in their territories.

Monopolowa was produced by J. A. Baczewski until World War II. After the war, Gessler, an Austrian company, bought the licence and the rights to production. In 1990, the Starogard Gdański based branch of Polmos, a privatized offshoot of the former state-owned monopoly, started to produce several of J.A. Baczewski's products under license from Altvater Gessler - J.A. Baczewski International (USA) Inc. However, in the late 1990s, the license was terminated and production in Poland was halted.

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

Been drinking the stuff for years and often thought "Baczewski" doesn't sound Austrian. Regardless of origin, it is a damn fine spirit.
Thanks for the history lesson.