Free Republic

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he'd personally like to see the legal drinking age lifted to 21 years. But there would have to be rigorous debate and evidence that the policy could reduce binge drinking before the government would consider it, he says. What do you thinks about the legal drinking age? Should it be raised to 21? Leave your comment below. "If the evidence is there and it is capable of being proven that it works, then we (will) look at these things and make a decision," Mr Rudd said, when quizzed on ABC Television's Q&A program on Monday...

Alcohol Restrictions, Curfew Lifted In King Police Chief: King Remains Under State Of Emergency Until Monday KING, N.C. -- Authorities lifted a curfew and alcohol restrictions in King on Sunday, but said a state of emergency declaration remained in effect until Monday. Authorities said the state of emergency declaration would continue until Monday 9 a.m., barring any unforeseen circumstances or severe changes. Effective Sunday afternoon, alcohol restrictions and a curfew were lifted. All other remaining restrictions would continue until Monday, said Paula May, King police chief. Other restrictions include a ban on the sale or purchase of any type of...

Turns out the coast isn’t the wettest part of California. Three Golden State cities are among the top ten “drunkest” in America, according to a survey by Men’s Health magazine posted Thursday, with Fresno’s 500,000 residents knocking back the most suds. Reno, Nevada took the runner-up slot and Billings, Montana grabbed the bronze. Riverside and Bakersfield in California were numbers four and ten, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, in spite of being a hub for thirsty college students, Boston is the nation’s “least drunk” city, the magazine found. Three of America’s teetotaler cities were in the New...

President Barack Obama has blown $10 million on drunken White House parties, Washington insiders tell GLOBE. This week's Special Report rips the lid off the Commander-in-chief's outrageous antics, including boozy conga lines and dinners featuring $150-a-pound Japanese beef! It's must reading for every American.

Mickey Gets a Mickey Malcolm A. Kline, February 3, 2010 Apparently, the federal government is employing more than one use of the word “stimulated” when it doles out grants to colleges and universities. “Researchers at Florida Atlantic University received $8.408 in stimulus funds to study whether mice become disoriented when they consume alcohol,” the Washington Examiner reported on February 2, 2010. “Researchers might consider studying whether government’s continuous waste of taxpayer money disillusions voters.”...

A Minnesota man who shot and killed his 8-year-old son two years ago while turkey hunting has been charged with violating his parole and with a drunk driving offense. Anthony Klaseus was arrested after he accidentally knocked over a Belle Plaine resident's mailbox. Leo Albrecht said he came home one afternoon a couple weeks ago to find his plastic mailbox shattered and mail scattered in a snowbank. "I saw tire tracks but I didn't know what happened" until Klaseus came by to explain that he hit the mailbox with the side-view mirrors on his pick-up truck, Albrecht said. Albrecht said...

LITCHFIELD, Conn. – Rip Torn was so intoxicated when he broke into a Connecticut bank carrying a loaded gun that he thought he was home, taking off his hat and boots and leaving them by the door, according to court records. The 78-year-old actor was wearing the same battered boots Monday when he was arraigned on several charges after spending the weekend in a police holding cell near his hometown of Salisbury, in northwestern Connecticut. Torn, who did not enter a plea, was released on $100,000 bond a few hours later and waded through a phalanx of media to a...

Last Thursday, apparently still celebrating the Bringer of Light’s first State of the Union address from the night before, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) stumbled onto the Senate floor, clung to the podium for balance, and proceeded to rant about, well, something…for three minutes and thirty seconds over his time limit. According to Media Matters, Leahy’s inebriated rant last Thursday morning only occurred in Mark Levin’s head. They also smeared the Fox Nation for embedding the video of Leahy’s speech from C-SPAN and reporting, completely without commentary, that Levin suggested that Leahy might have been drunk. Typical of Media Matters, author...

For the first time since 1995, the Russian population has increased. It went up about 20,000, to 141.9 million. The growth was caused by a 4 percent decline in death rates, and more immigration (mostly ethnic Russians coming from countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union.) This migration caused a spurt of growth after the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, and population peaked in 1995 at 148.5 million. But low birth rates, and rising death rates, caused continual decline since then, until 2009. The government has improved public health, and made it easier to have children...

Break out the whiskey and shot glasses -- it's time for President Obama's first State of the Union Address. The Constitution requires that from time to time, the president shall give to the Congress information on the State of the Union, which is best digested by the people, while completely hammered. Here are some of the games out there. From the 2010 State of the Union Drinking Game, presented by Kind of a Lark: "Let me be clear" - sip (If he's actually clear - pound) "Healthcare" - sip "Obamacare"- pound "Scott Brown" - sip "My name is Barack Obama,...

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says he’s a White Zinfandel fan. Soon he may be able to pick up his favorite wine at a local liquor store that his state doesn’t own. The governor is sticking by his campaign promise, and says he plans to get Virginia out of the liquor business.

The findings suggest development of drug treatment for substance abuseLA JOLLA, CA – January 25, 2010 – A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found that a specific stress hormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), is key to the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence in animal models. Chemically blocking the stress factor also blocked the signs and symptoms of addiction, suggesting a potentially promising area for future drug development. The article, the culmination of more than six years of research, will appear in an upcoming print edition of the journal Biological Psychiatry. "I'm excited about this study,"...

Politicians are well-known for wasting our money so they can live very comfortably. While many of us are outraged over such lavish waste, libs tend to forgive the behavior (unless a Republican does it). However, using the taxpayer’s dime to reap such rewards is one thing … taking money from our troops so you can pound shots with your buddies is another thing altogether.

A new report by the the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says that 11 people were arrested for being armed and drunk during the state's 2009 nine-day deer hunting season. Five of them were repeat offenders. Game wardens also arrested 29 convicted felons carrying firearms -- a big increase compared to previous years. It's not illegal for felons to purchase hunting permits in Wisconsin, but they can't carry guns. On the bright side, hunters managed not to kill each other this year, although a handful of them shot themselves or each other one way or another. Wisconsin DNR says the...

January 18, 2010 Bishop Attacks Morals Of Monks Who Brew Scotland’s (15% Proof) Tipple Of Choice A bishop has condemned Buckfast, the fortified wine [Pic in URL] made by monks and regarded by some as the scourge of Scotland. The Right Rev Bob Gillies, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church, accused the Devon-based Benedictine monks of betraying Christian values. Bishop Gillies is the first senior clergyman to criticise the monks of Buckfast Abbey, who have always claimed they are not responsible for the antisocial behaviour that results from the widespread abuse of their product. Speaking on...

SALT LAKE CITY — State Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack resigned from office Saturday, a day after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The Syracuse Republican said in a statement he decided to quit after discussing his options with his family and friends. "My heart weighs heavy. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the legislative process, my legislative colleagues and for my constituents," said Killpack, 41. "At this time, the Legislature would be a distraction from what is most important and, frankly, I find that I have become a distraction to the Legislature. In...

MILLCREEK, Utah, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Utah Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack was booked into a county jail Friday, suspected of drunken driving, police said. The 41-year-old Republican was pulled over about 12:15 a.m. by a state highway patrol officer who allegedly noticed "a poor driving pattern," the Deseret News reported. Police said he failed a field sobriety test and then refused to breathe into a portable breath tester, the newspaper said. "I could smell the odor of alcohol coming from the subject's breath," a trooper wrote in a probable cause statement. Killpack issued a statement in which he said...

If bill sponsors and gun owners get their way in Virginia and New Mexico this year they will be able to carry concealed handguns inside alcohol serving restaurants just like they already do in public shopping malls, movie theaters, and most other public places. . . . Should both bills pass, there will be only 7 states left still banning handgun carry in alcohol serving eateries.

Pilot Erwin Washington [Pic in URL] was three times the legal alcohol limit A U.S. pilot is facing jail after admitting trying to fly his passenger jet from Heathrow while more than three times over the alcohol limit. Captain Erwin Washington, 51, was preparing to take a Boeing 767 with 124 passengers and 11 crew to Chicago when a colleague smelt alcohol on his breath. Police boarded the United Airlines plane and ordered him to take a breath test, which he failed. Yesterday, Washington pleaded guilty before Uxbridge magistrates to trying to pilot an aircraft while over the limit last...

INDIANAPOLIS (December 30, 2009) - 2009 traffic fatalities in Indiana are on pace to be the lowest recorded since 1925. Preliminary statistics through December 28 show 680 highway fatalities, compared to 814 for the same period in 2008, according to Indiana State Police (ISP). That is a more than 16 percent reduction. Since 2004, when there were 947 fatalities, there has been a 28 percent drop in roadway deaths. 2009 will be the first year in which ISP issued more than one million traffic arrests and written warnings. ..................

Brown Discovers Hangovers Malcolm A. Kline, December 30, 2009 Here’s a research project the Ivy League has just tackled that people outside the Ivies have been onto for generations. “Researchers with the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies gave subjects alcohol on an empty stomach, let them sleep and then checked their ability to think in the morning,” The Washington Post Express reported on Tuesday December 29, 2009. “Although the subjects though they’d be fine behind the wheel of a car, the researchers found they should probably wait a few more hours.” I wonder if they had a...

During the general debate on the health care legislation that recently passed the Senate, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana, took to the floor of the Senate and engaged in a drunken tirade. Oblivious to the fact that he was slurring his words and mangling his sentences, Senator Baucus shouted down opponents as he let loose a rambling, and at times incoherent, tirade against those dastardly Republicans who refused to be bipartisan. This drunk is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, charged with overseeing our taxpayer dollars. As is clearly evident from this video, the less than honorable Baucus...

A Galt teen is back home for the holidays after the successful, seven-month-long treatment of a brain tumor that was only discovered after he made a dangerous mistake before school one day. He passed out and was rushed to the emergency room to be treated for alcohol poisoning, and a CT scan at the UC Davis Medical Center revealed a tumor in the brain of the unsuspecting eighth grader.

INTERNATIONAL "PAKISTANI MUSLIMS GUN DOWN CHRISTIAN FRIEND They order him to convert to Islam or die, after accusing him of murder." By Jawad Mazhar SNIPPET: "MUREEDKAY, Pakistan – A group of Muslims shot their Christian friend dead this month on the outskirts of this town after saying they would spare his life only if he recanted his faith, according to the young man’s father. The friends of Patras Masih, who died from gunshot wounds on Dec. 3 in Karol village, Punjab Province, issued the ultimatum to him after accusing him of the murder of their friend Anees Mahammad. An autopsy...

Important information just in time for the holiday season has been released. Darker alcohols result in worse hangovers than the clear ones. Most drinkers had already figured this out, but there had been no real explanation as to why this happened. The study also revealed that the sluggish effects that accompany a hangover are the same for all types of alcohol hangovers. The study was conducted by Damaris J. Rohsenow from Brown University. The university is in Rhode Island. 95 healthy, heavy drinkers between the ages of 21 and 33 were used in the study. They were required to drink...

Its pale, amber hue evokes a classic Scotch whisky, distilled in the wind-swept Highlands of Northern Scotland. But there's something rather unusual about this single malt: it was produced in England. For the first time in 100 years, a whisky made south of the border is going on sale. Produced at St. George's Distillery by the River Thet, nestled among the farms of Norfolk, the English Whisky Co's single malt has been rated as 'brilliant' by experts.

Many alcoholic beverages contain byproducts of the materials used in the fermenting process. These byproducts are called "congeners," complex organic molecules with toxic effects including acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural. Bourbon has 37 times the amount of congeners that vodka has. A new study has found that while drinking a lot of bourbon can cause a worse hangover than drinking a lot of vodka, impairment in people's next-day task performance is about the same for both beverages. Results will be published in the March 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early...

Drinking coffee does not sober you up – and may actually further impair your judgement, new research suggests. The combination of alcohol and caffeine produces a potentially lethal mix that just makes it harder to realise you are actually drunk in the first place. And the study published in Behavioural Neuroscience suggests popular caffeinated energy drinks could also raise risks from intoxication rather than lessen them. "The myth about coffee's sobering powers is particularly important to debunk because the co-use of caffeine and alcohol could actually lead to poor decisions with disastrous outcomes. "People who have consumed only alcohol, who...

UNIONTOWN, Pa. -- A Fayette County woman who drank herself unconscious celebrating her 20th birthday said a hospital didn't properly treat her, resulting in partial amputations of both of her legs. Shanna Hiles' medical malpractice suit against Uniontown Hospital and one of its emergency physicians says she passed out while sitting on the floor with her legs tucked under her in May. Hiles was in that position for more than 12 hours, and she claims hospital officials didn't properly diagnose her condition and work to restore circulation to her legs.

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida Highway Patrol trooper suspected golfer Tiger Woods had drunk alcohol on the day of his car accident last month, according to a subpoena request by the officer rejected by a state prosecutor. The detailed subpoena request, released by the State Attorney's Office for Orange County on Monday, added fresh intrigue to the media storm around the world's No. 1 golfer, who ran his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree while pulling out of the driveway of his home at about 2 a.m. on November 27. The November 30 request by the trooper...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say alcohol played a role in a man's deadly fall from a Holiday Inn Express in west Houston. Witnesses say three people had been drinking at a party and decided to go on the roof of the hotel. The door they used was for employees only, but it was unlocked so they opened it. Police say one of the friends decided to take pictures over the edge of the roof. He lost his balance while climbing onto the ledge of the building and fell 10 stories to the parking lot. He died on impact.

There is Protestant drinking and there is Catholic drinking, and the difference is more than mere quantity. I have no scientific data to back up my claims, nor have I completed any formal studies. But I have done a good bit of, shall we say, informal study, which for a hypothesis like this is probably the best kind. To begin with, what is Catholic drinking? It's hard to pin down, but here's a historical example. St. Arnold (580-640), also known as St. Arnulf of Metz, was a seventh-century bishop of Metz, in what later became France. Much beloved by...

POLL: Should members of Congress be required to undergo random alcohol and drug testing? VOTE HERE!

The wife of the most senior Republican in the Senate was arrested Wednesday night after her vehicle struck a parked car. Police said Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar's wife, Charlene, drove her car into the parked vehicle just after 6:15 p.m. Wednesday in their McLean, Va., neighborhood. No injuries were reported.

“DREAMS OF MY VIOLENT DRUNKARD FATHER” thelastcrusade.org Our alcoholic father beat me, says Barack Obama's half brother, Mark As the US President arrives in China, Barack Obama's half brother reveals that when he was a child their father was a violent drunk Telegraph & News Sources On the eve of his older sibling's first-ever visit to China, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo has emerged from the shadows to reveal the disturbing truth about the late Barack Obama Sr, his and President Obama's father.Last week, Mr Ndesandjo published an autobiographical novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen: A Tale of Love In The East....

LOCK HAVEN - Four months after two boats collided on the Susquehanna River, killing a young girl and injuring several others, one of the boat operators has been arrested on with multiple criminal charges, and charges are pending against one of his passengers. John Edward Englert II, 51, of 335 N. Water St., Mill Hall, was arraigned before Friday afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Joseph Sanders on 37 criminal offenses, ranging from homicide by watercraft while driving under the influence and other first-degree felonies to various summary offenses under Pennsylvania's boating laws. Sanders set bail at $750,000 and Englert was...

They say whisky matures with age...but leaving it embedded in the Antarctic ice for almost 100 years may be going a bit far.

A Harvard law grad surrendered to cops yesterday after allegedly setting fire to an East Side chapel that houses remains of 9/11 victims as part of a drunken dare, sources said. Brian Schroeder, 26, originally from Texas, walked into the 13th Precinct station house at about 7 p.m. in connection with the blaze at Memorial Park, on East 30th Street. Charges were pending, police said. None of the remains, which are destined for a memorial at the World Trade Center, were damaged but "mementos and candles left by family members in honor of 9/11 victims were destroyed or possibly stolen,"...

A chief drugs tsar was sacked last night for claiming cannabis, Ecstasy and LSD are less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes. Professor David Nutt was fired after Home Secretary Alan Johnson decided he had 'no confidence' in him following his controversial remarks...

The British Government's chief drug adviser has sparked controversy by claiming ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are less dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol. Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, attacked the decision to make cannabis a class B drug. He accused former home secretary Jacqui Smith, who reclassified the drug, of "distorting and devaluing" scientific research. Prof Nutt said smoking cannabis created only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness. And he claimed advocates of moving ecstasy into class B from class A had "won the intellectual argument". All drugs, including alcohol and tobacco,...

Filmmaker Michael Moore will probably want to steer clear of one of his favorite leftist countries -- Hugo Chavez's Venezuela -- after he inadvertently insulted El Presidente and enraged the strongman's rabid supporters. Chavez's devoted followers (no doubt at Chavez's behest) are deriding Moore as a liar, racist, and coward -- all for the filmmakers outrageous statements about their leader during an appearance on a late-night talk show, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." (A film clip of the Oct. 9th show may be seen here.) Moore described a strange encounter with Chavez during last September's Venice Film Festival. Chavez was there...

What type of bourbon do you like to drink? Me? Ancient Age over the rocks.

SNIPPET: "After the 4 July DDoS attacks, wrongly attributed to North Korea, it’s wise to treat reports of DPRK security hacks with some caution. Nevertheless, The Korea Times reports the following: Classified Info on Dangerous Chemicals Hacked Hackers stole classified information on dangerous chemicals in their raid on the South Korean army computer network in what was believed to be an attack by North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday, quoting government officials." SNIPPET: "The Sydney Morning Herald adds more information: A North Korea cyber warfare unit hacked into a South Korean military command earlier this year and stole some...

We may have to introduce Beck Dyrangement Syndrome, Joy Behar calls him an idiot, the guest calls him a mental patient, and Bonaduce says he caused him to start drinking again...(Video from CNN)

Why is WYSP morning man Danny Bonaduce drinking again? Not a reaction to his recent ratings, which were up. (September was his best month among men 18-49.) As a panelist on Joy Behar's show on HLN (formerly Headline News), Bonaduce blamed remarks by syndicated talker Glenn Beck's on the Fox News vs. White House feud for making him fall off the wagon.

Lindsay Lohan Facing Jail Unless She Attends Alcohol Rehab, Judge Warns Lindsay Lohan, the Hollywood actress, has been warned by a judge that she faces jail unless she attends compulsory alcohol rehabilitation stemming from her drink-driving charges. [Pic in URL] By Andrew Hough 16 Oct 2009 A Beverly Hills judge extended Lindsay Lohan's probation for a year after she was ordered back to court. The troubled 23 year-old actress had been placed on probation after pleading guilty to two counts of being under the influence of cocaine and no contest to two counts of drunken driving and one count of...

Veteran actor Sean Connery has refused to give up his favourite red wine even after been diagnosed with a heart condition. The former James Bond star has been warned to stop drinking alcohol by medics but he refuses to give up, as he believes it is good for his health. “I do drink red wine because of my friend David Murray, who owns two French wine estates. He showed me the evidence that it was good for the health,” the Daily Express quoted him as telling Wine Spectator magazine. “I favour Merlots from Chile for their value and I keep...

Russia's population has fallen by 6.6 million since 1993, despite the influx of millions of immigrants, a United Nations report said Monday, and by 2025 the country could lose a further 11 million people. ...Russia's mortality rate is among the highest in the developed world, with average life expectancy for males at barely 60 years.... A study published in June in The Lancet medical journal found that drinking has caused more than half of deaths among Russians aged 15 to 54 since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Utilizing the words BEER and/or BREW, or a combination thereof. This is for a contest taking place in my local college pub, of which I'm an alumni. Muchas Gracias!

VIRGINIA BEACH A Virginia Beach man was charged with DUI after a crash in which his girlfriend was left trapped in waist-deep water, police said. The crash was reported by a citizen at 2:33 a.m. Friday in the 800 or 900 block of Sandbridge Road, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a police department spokesman. Police said Michael Brandon Walck, 23, lost control and crashed into a ditch. His girlfriend told police that he was drinking and ran from the scene, Bernstein said. It took about an hour to remove her from the wreckage, and she was stuck in water to her...