
© Michael Dalder / ReutersThe bottling plant of the Bavarian Weihenstephan brewery in Freising, Berlin.
Increased beer production and a summer heatwave in Germany have created a bottle shortage problem for local producers, with some breweries even turning to social media to ask for help.
The problem is especially acute for independent, regional, family-run breweries like Fiege in the western German city of Bochum. The brewery's spokesperson told Deutsche Welle that Fiege normally bottles 100,000 to 120,000 beers a day, whereas this summer that figure is up to 150,000 to 160,000.
The struggling brewery has even launched an urgent appeal to consumers via Facebook.
"We need your help," the brewery wrote. "Although we regularly buy new empty bottles, they're becoming scarce in our bottling facility. So before you go on summer holidays, please bring your Moritz Fiege empties back to the shop. First the deposit, then the party!"
Comment: The author's point is well taken. It seems that the intentions of affirmative action in college admissions is undergoing an existential crisis - just what are we trying to achieve here? While there is certainly some argument for allowing disadvantaged minorities a leg-up for access to higher education, abandoning a merit-based system in favor of ideological 'diversity' only serves to increase division to the point of ludicrosity.
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