The lawsuit also names the nearby town of Whiteclay, Nebraska, which has four beer shops that sold nearly five million beer cans in 2010 despite having only about a dozen residents.

Alcohol is outlawed on the reservation and the nearest town which allows alcohol is 20 miles (32km) away, Mark Vasina, president of Nebraskans for Peace, told the Associated Press news agency.

The lawsuit alleges that beer makers and the shop owners knew the alcohol would be smuggled into the reservation for consumption or resale.

The legal documents allege: "The illegal sale and trade in alcohol in Whiteclay is open, notorious and well documented by news reports, legislative hearings, movies, public protests and law enforcement activities."

Meanwhile, Tom White, the lawyer representing the tribe, told the Associated Press news agency: "You cannot sell 4.9 million 12oz [356ml] cans of beer and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate, and say we've got nothing to do with it being smuggled."

The town of Whiteclay, Nebraska, has four beer shops

The reservation has grappled with alcohol problems and poverty for generations, and the tribal council has said it hopes the case will help protect the community's youth.

"Like American parents everywhere, we will do everything lawful we can to protect the health, welfare and future of our children," Tribal President John Yellow Bird Steele told the Associated Press news agency.

The reservation, which is about the size of the state of Connecticut, includes Shannon County, the third poorest county in the US.

The median income in the area is $27,300 and almost half of the population is considered to be living below federal poverty standards.

The life expectancy in the community is between 45 and 52 years - the lowest in North America except Haiti - and far below the national average of 77.5 years.

Nebraska State Senator LeRoy Louden has said that after struggling with the problem for years, the state has introduced legislation that would impose restrictions - on the types of alcohol that can be sold and business hours.

Besides, alcohol is just a symptom that prevents them from dealing with the root of the problem:Sadness that comes from having been defeated by an oppressor, having your lands taken away, having your way of life replaced with some gaudy, superficial, shallow, materialistic, degenerate Western culture, and pushed into a reservation.

I hope one day they can get revenge.

I was taken to the USA by my secular parents when I was 5 years old. I got my US citizenship so that the immigration department wouldn't harass me, something I'm ashamed of.Later on, I met an Apache native in Texas. I apologized for being on his land uninvited, and I asked him for his permission to be on that land.Guess which permission I consider to be morally and ethically legitimate?The permission from the native American I consider to be a real permission. The permission from the US, I consider to be like a permission from a gangster bully who you have to deal with because his presence and power is imposed on you.

Alcohol tolerance and the likelihood of developing an addiction differs between ethnic groups. Native Americans, Aboriginals and some groups in eastern Europe are more likely to develop alcoholism than Indo-europeans.

Alcohol tolerance in different ethnic groups, from Wikipedia:

Quote

The tolerance to alcohol is not equally distributed throughout the world's population, and genetics of alcohol dehydrogenase indicate resistance has arisen independently in different ethnic groups.[2] People of European descent on average have a high alcohol tolerance and are less likely to develop alcoholism compared to Aboriginal Australians, Native Americans and some East Asian groups.[3][4][5] This is related to an average higher body mass, but also to the prevalence of high levels of alcohol dehydrogenase in the population.[6][7] The high alcohol tolerance in Europeans and some other ethnic groups has probably evolved as a consequence of centuries of exposure to alcohol in established agricultural societies.[8][2]

Not all differences in tolerance can be traced to biochemistry.[9] Differences in tolerance levels are also influenced by socio-economic and cultural difference including diet, average body weight and patterns of consumption.[10][11]

An estimated one out of three people in East Asian countries have an alcohol flush reaction, colloquially known as "Asian Glow", a condition where the body cannot break down ingested alcohol completely because it lacks the genetically coded enzyme that performs this function in the bodies of drinkers with "European" tolerance levels.[12] Flushing, or blushing, is associated with the erythema (reddening caused by dilation of capillaries) of the face, neck, and shoulder, after consumption of alcohol.[12]

What comes now is purely my speculation, however: I suspect building a tolerance to alcoholic beverages was much like building tolerance to consuming wheat or dairy products.AKA at some point in history, a bottleneck event occured where food was extremely scarce, and those who were able to sttomach lactose, for example had an extra food supply, and those who couldn't stomach it passed away long before the advent of modern medicine or food production could keep them alive if they were lacking that trait in a particularly dire situation aka famine. Over generations, this gradual shift in reproductive dynamics resulted in modern human populations where rates of lactose intolerance are much higher in populations from east asia and the americas, who have not been exposed to dairy products nearly as long, relatively speaking, as many populations from the middle east and europe and also Africa. In contrast, in the distant past at one time virtually no human populations would have been able to stomach it because the human GI system was never selected for such a task (drinking another animal's milk and growing wheat is not something any animal, including humans until about 10k BC, did in the wild).

Now, it may not be the case that beer was popular as a source of calories in times of famine in certain populations. But perhaps the same principle applies, where those civilizations that have been exposed to alcohol for many more generations into the past of the history of human civilization have built up a tolerance to it because with each generation of exposure a certain number of heavy drinkers who couldn't hold the alcohol well would have died prematurely, or become drunkards whose children died from neglect, or nobody wanted children with.

Obviously, given the advent of modern medicine and civilization, this sort of selection across generations no longer occurs because, at least in the developed world, even if people suffer alcoholism, they can now get enough help to live a healthy enough life to even raise a family, and they do not have to worry about famine. However there is an unfortunate aspect to this, that people who happened to be born in populations detached from the old world are being exposed to products, particularly drugs and alcohol, to which they have had little chance in the past to build up a tolerance, or resistance against addiction, for. I hope they get some money out of the lawsuit so they can get help for their problem, and perhaps have the business thaat sells alcohol relocate so their community can live in peace.

"The sword is victorious over money, the master-will subdues again the plunderer-will. . . A power can be overthrown only by another power, not by a principle, and only one power that can confront money is left. Money is overthrown and abolished by blood. Life is alpha and omega . . . It is the fact of facts within the world-as-history."

I've grown lactose intolerant with age, which sucks since I love cheese. I still eat cheese and yoghurt though (too damn good not to) but get a stomach ache afterwards. Also, while in China I got the "Asian glow" mentioned in the quote from Wikipedia. This only happened to me there... which also is odd, I guess. Being a good guest one has to endure many things

I've grown lactose intolerant with age, which sucks since I love cheese. I still eat cheese and yoghurt though (too damn good not to) but get a stomach ache afterwards. Also, while in China I got the "Asian glow" mentioned in the quote from Wikipedia. This only happened to me there... which also is odd, I guess. Being a good guest one has to endure many things

That's, genuinely interesting, rouz. I would have assumed there was a hereditary biochemical (presence of bacteria in stomach) / genetic basis, but of course it may be more complicated than that if what you say is indeed true...

Although I do know that avoiding certain foods for long periods can change the reproductive dynamics of GI tract bacteria so as to lower tolerances over time. But that should have no baring on alcohol tolerance...

What comes now is purely my speculation, however: I suspect building a tolerance to alcoholic beverages was much like building tolerance to consuming wheat or dairy products.AKA at some point in history, a bottleneck event occured where food was extremely scarce, and those who were able to sttomach lactose, for example had an extra food supply, and those who couldn't stomach it passed away long before the advent of modern medicine or food production could keep them alive if they were lacking that trait in a particularly dire situation aka famine. Over generations, this gradual shift in reproductive dynamics resulted in modern human populations where rates of lactose intolerance are much higher in populations from east asia and the americas, who have not been exposed to dairy products nearly as long, relatively speaking, as many populations from the middle east and europe and also Africa. In contrast, in the distant past at one time virtually no human populations would have been able to stomach it because the human GI system was never selected for such a task (drinking another animal's milk and growing wheat is not something any animal, including humans until about 10k BC, did in the wild).

Now, it may not be the case that beer was popular as a source of calories in times of famine in certain populations. But perhaps the same principle applies, where those civilizations that have been exposed to alcohol for many more generations into the past of the history of human civilization have built up a tolerance to it because with each generation of exposure a certain number of heavy drinkers who couldn't hold the alcohol well would have died prematurely, or become drunkards whose children died from neglect, or nobody wanted children with.

For those interested in these subjects and various opposing view points, consider reading the works of Robert Wright, Jared Diamond, Steve Pinker, and not to mention Stephen J. Gould . These writers run the gamut of evolutionary psychology AND evolutionary biology and include notions of animal domestication and agriculture as well. My least favorite is Jared Diamond, who I believe over-simplifies, and my most favorite is Robert Wright, who brings together a vast range of complex evolutionary topics and weaves them together brilliantly. Although they both represent the same thinking which is, to over-simplify, we are who we are and how we are as a result of a natural and repeatable progression of biology and human interaction. If everything starts over again we will end up the same way (more or less). Stephen Gould, who is Wright's arch-nemesis, believes our state is purely incidental and if we can start all over again we would be very different or not exist at all. Both sides present interesting and compelling arguments and serve as excellent and fun reading.

Regardless, evolutionary topics-especially evolutionary PSYCHOLOGY are very very interesting and also touch on notions of religion and faith and their causes and effects.

Mamdali

PS: On the limited topic of 'lactose intolerance', since it is genetically 'learned' as opposed to 'embedded', it is common for those that do not consume sufficient dairy products, as they age, to become lactose intolerant. I believe, the process is reversable although somewhat 'painful'... I drink 2 gallons of skim every three days and I'm fine. I think.

(Note: I hope I'm being redundant by saying that given the state of misinformation and factless and unsupported content that is rife on the 'internet' today, naturally, I cannot endorse, believe, support, or accept any of links posted by me or others. I personally find them interesting, however, as they open new perspectives for me. I leave it to the reader to glean what they can or want from them).

That's, genuinely interesting, rouz. I would have assumed there was a hereditary biochemical (presence of bacteria in stomach) / genetic basis, but of course it may be more complicated than that if what you say is indeed true...

Although I do know that avoiding certain foods for long periods can change the reproductive dynamics of GI tract bacteria so as to lower tolerances over time. But that should have no baring on alcohol tolerance...

Yes, I think it has more to do with avoiding certain foods for a while. For example, the "Asian glow" phenomenon started occurring months into my stay in China. The lactose intolerance started basically in my 20s when I moved to my own place and stopped buying dairy products. Perhaps we Iranian's (rather the ones with some central Asian and Moghul blood) are hybrids and easily switch from one mode to another.

mamdali:- For those interested in these subjects and various opposing view points, consider reading the works of Steve Pinker, -

If by Stephen Pinker you're referring to the MIT professor of neuroscience, I do like reading his ideas.

I mostly read him for the cognitive linguistics and neuroscience aspect, but you're right, he does say a lot about evolutionary / biological based psychology / behavioral tendencies which I also find to be interesting because I see Islamic law as realistically addressing much of the natural biological based tendencies that humans naturally have, as opposed to Western systems which are based on views of human nature which are not realistic.

So far I've read his first book "The Language Instinct" and I'm starting his second book, "How the Mind Works."

Daniel Dennett may be another person to add to your list of theorists of biological psychology, though I haven't read enough of his ideas to say that with certainty.

mamdali:- For those interested in these subjects and various opposing view points, consider reading the works of Steve Pinker, -

If by Stephen Pinker you're referring to the MIT professor of neuroscience, I do like reading his ideas.

I mostly read him for the cognitive linguistics and neuroscience aspect, but you're right, he does say a lot about evolutionary / biological based psychology / behavioral tendencies which I also find to be interesting because I see Islamic law as realistically addressing much of the natural biological based tendencies that humans naturally have, as opposed to Western systems which are based on views of human nature which are not realistic.

So far I've read his first book "The Language Instinct" and I'm starting his second book, "How the Mind Works."

Daniel Dennett may be another person to add to your list of theorists of biological psychology, though I haven't read enough of his ideas to say that with certainty.

Yep, that's the same Pinker. BTW, know of Dennett but haven't read him.

There are different degrees of tolerance for alcohol, but as far as I know this doesn't affect the likelihood of developing an addiction. Does it? The quote from wikipedia didn't mention addiction. Whatever the case, alcohol remains an extremely addictive drug (similar to heroin) for Indo-Europeans as well, notwithstanding their relatively greater tolerance. The very elevated addictiveness of alcohol for humans in general was demonstrated by various studies.

- There are different degrees of tolerance for alcohol, but as far as I know this doesn't affect the likelihood of developing an addiction. Does it? -

What I've heard is that the Irish have a genetic proclivity for getting addicted to alcohol, but have a high tolerance.

Native Americans, on the other hand, have a high genetic proclivity for getting addicted to alcohol, but have a low tolerance for it.

So, it seems that proclivity for addiction and tolerance are influenced by different genes.

In any case, people should stay away from that poison. Whatever good it may do is outweighed by the harm that it causes.And if an individual lacks the understanding that it harms himself and society, or if he doesn't care, then society should prevent him from accessing it.