to home; I live in the Moravian-Silesian region, in Ostrava.

Lots of folks 'round these parts drink this cheap-ass nasty swill. I certainly hope there won't be further fatalities. Interestingly, in the original article, it states, "Igor Dvoracek, a doctor in the eastern city of Ostrava, said autopsies might be done on about 150 people who have died in recent weeks to see if they were also victims."

As an anecdote, I'd say I've heard ambulances far more frequently in my neighborhood over the last three or four weeks than normal. Even today, the buildings in my immediate locality had three ambulance calls, and that's unusual.

I was just there last year with my wife. It's so sad to hear people are dying.

and perhaps next month, I'll be moving to Brno. That should be interesting; it's a beautiful city.

On our way to Telc. Would love to live over there.

At the same time, the US Government was encouraging the use of Methanol to replace alcohol in items where alcohol was used. i.e. Storage. Legitimate users of Methanol would so indicate on its bottles, but many bootleggers used methanol to enhance the alcohol it whatever they were selling. Thus, even in the US Methanol poisoning was NOT unknown prior to prohibition, during prohibition AND after prohibition.

Interesting article from the 1921 New York Times, Methanol (wood alcohol) deaths did go up during prohibition, from single digits in pre-prohibition days to 54 in 1919 and 29 in 1920. BUT the number of deaths attributed to alcohol DROPPED from 560 in 1917 to 252 in 1918, 176 in 1919 and only 98 in 1921. The increased deaths due to Methanol is often used as an attack on Prohibition, but if combined with the DECREASED deaths due to prohibition, the combination supported Prohibition.

In 1927 98% of alcohol confiscated contained Methanol, one of the reason for this is the Prohibition Office gave tracking down such bad alcohol a priory in the Bureau:

The following is a Anti-prohibition book and repeats "statistics" that no one ever made, but does include the above statement which appears to be true on its face:
http://books.google.com/books?
id=PIOx2l30ODEC&pg=PT226&lpg=PT226&dq=Prohibition+Methanol&source=bl&ots=qtZbliLeFt&sig=EsP-HtojjZVZKbWK9CkXV_gvPGc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Prohibition%20Methanol&f=false

I always mention Mable Walker Willbrandt, she tried her best to get Prohibition to work, but was undermined by everyone (And she had OPPOSED prohibition, while the people she was trying to get to enforce it had been for it):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Walker_Willebrandt

http://sallyjling.org/2011/07/16/mabel-walker-willebrant-fascinating-women-of-prohibition/

http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/tu_olmstead_doc_18.html

The 1920 era Famous Cartoon about her and Prohibition

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the free market, hands off system will correct itself.
Its about objectivism, isn't it? I'm sure these thugs just have to
get the right mixture down correctly and everything will be right.

if Ayn Rand would have downed a gallon of Methanol before she wrote Atlas Shrugged, it would have saved us all a ton of grief.