Monthly Archives: February 2004

German Beerdrinking On The Wane?

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Population changes are going to bring many cultural changes in their wake: and I’m not thinking only of immigration and multiculturalism here. Ageing populations will have different tastes and preferences, among them, apparently, will be changes in the quantity and types of alchohol consumed.

Among the explantations offered for the fact that the nation of beerdrinkers may soon no longer be one are the trend towards healthier living, economic problems (although that used to be thought to be a cause of raised consumption) and a deposit now payable on many cans and bottles. But there is no getting away from the fact that the big cause is changing demographics. Less young people means less beer. Now what else does it mean?
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Certains animaux sont plus ?gaux que d’autres

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Brussels is sparing a thought for filmmakers in the newly acceding member states, reports the Independent. The idea is to facilitate subsidies to help films from our soon-to-be brother countries stand up to the Hollywood juggernaut.

But off in one corner there’s a villain twirling his moustaches. That would be France, which doesn’t like the idea. Now, if nos amis were taking a principled stand against subsidies of any sort, as a good liberal I could only applaud. But if France is about to abandon state support for its own ‘exceptionalism’, I must have missed the memo. Why is it that hypocrisy is always called an English vice?

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RT? News reports that the European Commission is expected to find tomorrow that Ryanair’s Charleroi airport deal with the Walloon government is illegal. Such arrangements will not be ruled illegal per se, but will be subject to significant limits of scope and time. We shall all have to wait to see what effect the ruling will have on the future of cheap air travel.