(World curling champion and Beer Store manager Glenn Howard appears in a TV ad opposing the sale of alcohol in convenience stores and gas stations.)
Ontario “Beer Store” Against Alcohol Sales in Grocery Stores: OF COURSE THEY ARE!
The “Beer Store” has got a monopoly now, kids ……………………., so naturally they are going to fight like hell to prevent anyone else from taking away some of their revenue!
(It might be the best thing for them, but certainly not the best thing for the rest of us!)
Read more: http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/beer-store-steps-up-campaign-against-alcohol-sales-at-ontario-stores-1.1764321#ixzz2yFQJtZDP

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A bit of sanity has returned to Quebec ………………………, looks like they are going to turf the P.Q. tonight!

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By | Daily Brew
It’s not news anymore that many Canadians are woefully ignorant of this country’s history, but there’s something disconcerting about a new poll that finds a lot of us know little about a pivotal moment in Canada’s emergence as a nation.
I’m talking about Vimy Ridge.
And if you’re asking yourself, “What’s Vimy Ridge,” I’m talking about you.
The poll by Ipsos Reid for the Vimy Foundation suggests that while four out of five Canadians knew it was a famous battle, only 47 per cent of those surveyed knew it took place in the First World War. Two out of five put it in the Second World War and the rest guessed anything from the Korean War, Boer War, Afghanistan and even the Northwest Rebellion (extra points for knowing what that was).
“It’s disappointing that a seminal moment in our history like the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the centennial that is a few years away just doesn’t have that click in people’s minds,” foundation campaign manager Jeremy Diamond told the National Post.
Historians generally agree the battle, fought on April 9, 1917, was a defining moment of Canada’s development as an independent nation.
An aerial view shows Canadian National Vimy Memorial on Vimy Ridge, northern France.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/poll-shows-most-canadians-don-t-know-vimy-203558446.html
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NOW THIS COULD ONLY HAPPEN IN TEXAS, FOLKS: Police in East Texas have arrested a woman after she called them to complain about the quality of the marijuana she had purchased from a dealer!
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Ellie James suffers from fish odour syndrome! It’s a bizarre medical disorder which makes her smell of fish …………., and / or rotten eggs.
Today Ellie, 44, bravely reveals how she is just one of a handful of others have been diagnosed with Trimethylaminuria (TMAU).
Also known as fish-odour syndrome, it has had a ­devastating impact on her life.
She was first struck down with the condition at the age of 30. Her body is unable to cope with certain foods – meat, dairy, coffee and fish – and releases ­trimethylamine, which creates a putrid odour.
But even when she avoids those foods there are days she is unable to stop the smell. It leads to her being abused in the street and on public transport.
Ellie-James-3378528At her lowest point she was taking a bath five times a day.

Ellie explained how she became aware of her condition: “At first I didn’t ­understand what was wrong. I’d always had impeccable hygiene. The smell was a complete mystery. I wondered if my cat had brought in a mouse and left it to rot. But I slowly realised it was me when strangers began to stare at me while holding their noses. I heard people whispering about me in the office. I would come home from work every night and cry. Soon people were showering me with gifts of perfume. At Christmas I’d get soap – it was completely humiliating. Once a driver actually installed an air freshener on the bus I use and a passenger said it was my fault. It was soul-destroying. It was a real struggle getting out of bed in the morning.”
Alarmingly, Ellie got so desperate she started to scrub her skin with kitchen detergent until it was red raw. “I was at my wit’s end,” she said.
It took doctors seven years to diagnose the condition after she first plucked up courage to visit her doctor in 2005.
“The doctor started to lecture me on personal hygiene and told me how to wash,” she said.
She was so mortified she waited a whole year before seeing another doctor.
But together they researched the possible causes and in 2007 she came across an online forum for people with TMAU.
“Although it was hard to swallow I felt relief as I’d finally found the answers I’d been looking for,” she said. She was referred to an ­endocrinologist – an expert on hormones – who put her on antibiotics and suggested a diet plan.
She said: “I began to wash with a special pH-balanced soap after I found out washing excessively with normal soap made the smell even worse.
“There is no cure but making these changes helps.”
Brave Ellie added: “Now when someone holds their nose I take them aside and explain I have a medical condition. I hope my story will help educate those who point fingers and encourage other sufferers to find the strength to get help.”
Now she is beginning to get her confidence back and has even found love with boyfriend Dan Molston, 50.
They first met in 2006 through mutual friends and bonded over an interest in cycling. Romance developed earlier this year.
Loyal Dan said: “Ellie is a lovely person and that’s all that matters.”

What is TMAU?

The condition is a metabolic disorder in which the body loses the ability to properly break down the trimethylamine found in certain foods.
Trimethylamine then builds up and is released in the sufferer’s sweat, urine, and breath, giving off a strong fishy odour.
Women are more likely to develop the condition than men, possibly because female sex hormones aggravate the symptoms.
It can result in depression and other psychological problems. It is so rare that only a handful of people have been diagnosed with it!
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/weird-news/rare-condition-means-woman-smelled-3380729
(So there ya go folks, if ya stutter, or you think your nose is a bit too big ………….., don’t complain!)
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Well Folks, we started out with booze, so we might as well finish up this post with it too! Over here is S. W. Ontario, things don’t usually get too strange, but this is one fad that I can see infecting our large (60,000) University student population any time now!
By MELANIE BALAKIT
Maryland may become the first state to ban the use of Vaportinis, a relatively new device that allows users to inhale fumes from heated alcoholic drinks, if a measure approved by the General Assembly is signed into law.
The Senate unanimously passed the measure Wednesday. The House of Delegates previously passed the bill with a vote of 105-28 in March.
Maryland is the only state that considered banning Vaportinis, according to openstates.org, an organization that tracks all legislation in the nation. The Chicago-based inventor of the device said she knows of no other attempts to make her product illegal.
The Maryland bill extends the state ban on so-called “AWOL machines” – to include Vaportinis or any other similar devices. “AWOL” stands for “alcohol without liquid” vaporizers. Violators can be charged with a misdemeanor and a maximum fine of $1,000.
The AWOL machine was first introduced in 2004. Today, it is banned in Maryland and more than 20 other states, according to a legislative analysis.
“I took a look at what the vaporizer does, and I didn’t think it would be a good thing to be doing,” said Delegate Charles Barkley, D-Montgomery, who sponsored the bill. “Some doctors were unsure what effect [vaporizing alcohol] would have on the brain.”
Julie Palmer, founder and owner of Vaportini, said the dangers of Vaportini are exaggerated.
“Using a Vaportini won’t put people over the legal alcohol limit,” said Palmer. “There is no danger of overdose.”
Palmer said users can feel the effects of alcohol faster using a Vaportini, but the “buzz” also goes away faster. She said that a professional lab is testing the product to see how much alcohol is consumed when using a Vaportini with one ounce of alcohol.
“The only complaints that we’ve got about the produce is that people weren’t getting drunk,” Palmer said, adding that she is unaware of any other laws against her Vaportini products.
Unlike traditional consumption of alcohol, inhaled alcohol bypasses the digestive system and directly enters the bloodstream and brain. The health impact of inhaling alcohol vapor is still being studied.
The Vaportini launched in January 2013 according to the Vaportini website. The most basic Vaportini kit sells for $35 on Vaportini.com.
A lit tea candle is placed at the bottom of a pint-sized glass. Then, a metal ring and a glass globe filled with about an ounce of a spirit, is placed on top of the glass. After the drink is heated for about five minutes, a user inserts a straw into the globe and then inhales and exhales the vapor.

A vaportini is a product that allows users to inhale vapor from heated alcoholic drinks.
A tealight candle heats one ounce of a spirit in a glass sphere atop the glass.
Photo courtesy of Vaportini.

http://edgewater.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/drunk-by-inhaling-maryland-lawmakers-ban-vaportini