Final Word from Monday, September 17, 2012
If there's one thing the health ministry, the police and the food
administration agree upon, it's that the finance ministry and the
customs department (which falls under the finance ministry)
were responsible for preventing the outbreak of methanol
poisoning. Health Minister Leoš Heger told Deník that he doesn't
know how to explain the appearance of methyl alcohol in the
distribution channel, because the black market is a matter for
the finance ministry and customs agents. Finance Minister
Miroslav Kalousek has been virtually silent on the issue, perhaps
for fear that people will realize that the black marketeers are
mainly the ones who have benefited in recent years from his
hikes in excise tax and VAT. Nearly everyone already assumes
that Kalousek has profited personally from shenanigans in the
defense and gambling industries. Should bootlegging now be
added to his areas of expertise?[Czech Republic deaths prohibition value-added tax
consumption SZPI]
Glossary of difficult words
to bootleg - to make, distribute or sell illegal goods, esp. liquor, computer software or recordings;
outbreak - the sudden or violent start of something unwelcome;
shenanigans - secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering.