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SPIRITSCOPE BY DUNCAN H.CAMERON
AUGUST 2017
BLACK OUT... A rare total eclipse of the sun, visible from coast to coast, will happen on August 21. Atleastpartiallyvisiblethroughout the lower 48 states, the last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918. The most complete coverage of the sun by the moon will appear on a path from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. It starts around 10 AM Pacific time in Oregon and winds up about 3 PM Eastern time off the Carolina coast. The peak mid-day darkness will last between about 30 seconds and 2.5 minutes along the main path of the eclipse. This will almost certainly provide all the excuse needed for millions to reach out for a mid-day tipple! Learn more at https://eclipse2017. nasa.gov.
GHOULISH GARNISH... Many watering holes have found their way to fame by becoming known for an especially delicious or unique food or beverage or entertainment feature. We’re not quite sure how to characterize the special feature at the Sourdough Saloon in the Downtown Hotel in Dawson, Yukon, about 60 miles east of the Alaska border in northwestern Canada. Since 1973 the bar has served over 71,000 of their signature “Sourtoe” cocktails. Inspired by the story of a 1920s rum runner whose frostbitten and amputated toe was preserved in a jar of alcohol, each Sourtoe Cocktail is garnished with an actual preserved human toe! And those brave enough to touch
the toe to their lips while drinking the beverage earn a certificate proving their membership in the Sourtoe Cocktail Club! But be careful! There’s a $2,500 fine if you swallow or steal the toe! Remember, you are not the first or last to kiss the toe! This garnish is recycled! Understandably so because detached human toes are somewhat hard to come by. However, they have managed to get by thanks to the occasional health or accident- related amputation/donation, and a few folks kind enough to leave a toe or two in their will! I guess you could call that thinking outside the shoe! The bar generates about $80,000 annually in sales of the Sourtoe cocktails! What’s in the drink? Does anyone ask?
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS...
Does driving while high have any impact on auto accident rates? Legalized recreational marijuana use in Colorado, Oregon and Washington correlates to about a 3 percent increase in auto collision claim frequencies compared to states without such legislation, according to a new Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) study. It’s the first one the group has conducted since the drug went on sale legally.
The HLDI is affiliated with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit research organization that usually focuses on figuring out which cars are safest. The group is funded by auto insurance companies, which have a vested interest in not having to
pay claims and -- of course -- hold a bias against impaired driving of any kind.
The group focused on three states -- Colorado, Oregon and Washington, -- and compared them to the collision claims in neighboring states such as Nevada and Utah, parts of which now allow only medical marijuana. It also factored in statistics regarding the three states where recreational use is now legal from before it became available to the general public.
Colorado saw the largest estimated increase in claim frequency -- 14 percent more than its bordering states, while Washington state was 6 percent greater and Oregon had a 4 percent increase. Allowing for the total control group, “the combined effect for the three states was a significant 3 percent,” said HLDI Vice President Matt Moore.
“Worries that legalized marijuana is increasing crash rates aren’t misplaced,” said David Zuby, chief research officer of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “The HLDI’s findings on the early experience in Colorado, Oregon and Washington should give other states eyeing legalization pause.”
ECSTASY FOR ALCOHOLICS...
Doctors in Bristol, England are set to begin the world’s first clinical study into the use of MDMA, the key ingredient in ecstasy, a drug long associated with the club scene, to treat alcohol addiction.
Researchers are testing whether a few doses of the drug, in
A-10 HAWAII BEVERAGE GUIDE AUGUST 2017
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