Miscellaneous News

Savings from unplugging fridge not worth food poisoning – UK health authorities​

Turning the refrigerator off to save on electric bills “creates the risk of infection in food,” the UK Health Security Agency warned budget-conscious Brits on Wednesday as energy bills soar. Food poisoning is the result, with sudden-onset stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting that can be potentially life-threatening in the elderly or infirm.

The man-made threat of food poisoning adds to the already formidable “triple threat” that Health Secretary Steve Barclay sees looming on the horizon: the soaring cost of living, another wave of Covid-19 cases, and the return of the flu, which vanished completely last year due to the use of hand sanitizer and masks, according to Public Health England.

While people shouldn’t scrimp on refrigeration, nor should they attempt to save money by turning off their heaters during winter, Health Security Agency chief Dame Jenny Harries warned, noting that having sufficient heat “is an essential part of their health.” People should heat their homes to at least 18 degrees Celsius in winter and make up the difference in warm clothing if necessary

Click to expand...

Japan wants citizens to drink more booze​

The Japanese tax collector has launched a contest calling on citizens to come up with innovative ways to bring up falling alcohol sales, hoping to encourage young adults to hit the bar more often and give a shot to government revenues.

The National Tax Agency (NTA) has dubbed the new campaign ‘Sake Viva!’ after Japan’s iconic rice wine, calling on anyone aged between 20 and 39 to submit business ideas for the country’s alcohol industry, which is lagging in the wake of Covid-19 and declining drinking habits nationwide.

As noted on an official government website that caught international attention this week following local media reports, the contest will run until September 9, and asks for “new products and designs” as well as ways to promote drinking at home. Winners will be invited to an awards ceremony in Tokyo in November, and the taxing body has vowed to back investments into the winning idea.

The NTA noted that taxes on alcohol made up about 3% of the government’s tax revenue in 2011, but had dropped to 2% by 2020, citing a need to revitalize booze sales.

As seen among the same age group in other countries, young adults in Japan have significantly cut down their alcohol consumption in recent decades, with average adult intake per year falling from 100 liters in 1995 to 75 liters in 2020.

Though Japan’s health ministry said it was not participating in the initiative, it voiced hopes that the tax agency would encourage only the “appropriate amount of alcohol consumption,” and stated that it remains in contact with the NTA on the issue.

The contest is not the first of its kind, as the NTA rolled out a project called ‘Enjoy Sake!’ last year in a similar effort to gin up new business ideas. It’s unclear whether the last campaign saw success given the ongoing drop in revenues, but the agency is taking another crack at the idea regardless.

Click to expand...

FriedButter said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I assume legalizing narcotics are next on the list to rise tax revenue. They are probably still dripping sweat over the fears of Russia booting them out of that gas field lol.

Click to expand...

NiuBiDaRen said:

- Serbia
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Sweden (complicated)
- Italy
- Spain
- Greece
- Portugal
- Poland (complicated, plus low quality noobs)
- Croatia

This is how you upset the balance of EU. F*** the Northwestern European economic dominance.

Click to expand...

Abominable said:

What do any of those countries give in return? It's not like Africa, ASEAN or South America with natural resources and potential for economic growth. All of those countries have already peaked economically and lack natural resources.

I would limit investments in any of them unless they were allies i.e. withdrawal from NATO and join the pro China voting block in the UN.

Poland joins the axis of evil based on the Poles who come on this forum....

Click to expand...

FriedButter said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I assume legalizing narcotics are next on the list to *raise tax revenue. They are probably still dripping sweat over the fears of Russia booting them out of that gas field lol.

Click to expand...

NiuBiDaRen said:

- Serbia
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Sweden (complicated)
- Italy
- Spain
- Greece
- Portugal
- Poland (complicated, plus low quality noobs)
- Croatia

This is how you upset the balance of EU. F*** the Northwestern European economic dominance.

Click to expand...

FriedButter said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Upcoming Winter may be beneficial. Just leave the food outside to freeze into a popsicle. Saves money on electricity which will go into heating to prevent you from becoming a human popsicle.

Click to expand...

Bellum_Romanum said:

Tsang: There were [many] experiences. [I was] having some noodles in the noodle shop and there were kids, big ones in their teens and little ones, outside, looking at us eating noodles. It was incredibly uncomfortable. They were pointing at their mouth and rubbing their tummy—’hungry.’ So I pulled out a yuan note and I gave it to the oldest girl, who was in her teens, and said to her, ‘Go buy some food and share it with everybody.’ She grabbed the money and started running. I was so angry. I chased her, took the money back, and then gave it to the little ones and said, ‘Take the money together, go get some food, and share it equally.’

I went back to China for socialism. And what I saw was utter poverty, children starving, and they were behaving in a very selfish way. I was expecting idealism and that wasn’t what I was seeing.

Then we went to Guilin and we wanted to go up the river Li to Yangshuo, this beautiful spot. The staff said, ‘We queue up in the morning at the pier, get our ticket, and go in the boat.’ I wanted to do what the locals do. So I bought the Mao suit, and the green tennis shoes, and we got onto the lower deck [of the boat]. All the tourists, foreigners and Hong Kong people were in the upper deck. So what’s in the upper deck? I wanted to go up and see. I tried to go—’No. Upper decks are for foreigners and Hong Kong or Macao compatriots. You lot stay down there.’

Click to expand...

Bellum_Romanum said:

The economic miracle in China in the last 40 years was totally real. When I first went to China, it was no better than North Korea today. Shanghai, in some ways, is now comparable in your material life and convenience to Manhattan in New York. You can’t say that China has not made enormous progress there. But it doesn’t matter. That has never been the point for me.

So the point for you was that the system that was being advertised to you was not the system on the ground?

Tsang: It’s the untruthfulness of it.

Click to expand...

FriedButter said:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

I assume legalizing narcotics are next on the list to *raise tax revenue. They are probably still dripping sweat over the fears of Russia booting them out of that gas field lol.

Click to expand...