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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...

Any experienced police officer or EMT will tell you that it is not unusual for drunks to survive vehicle accidents where many times the sober victims of the traumatic injuries caused from the same collision do not survive. Booze May Save Drunken Trauma Patients Trauma patients have better chance of survival if intoxicated, according to study By OLSEN EBRIGHT Updated 7:55 AM CDT, Fri, Oct 2, 2009 An intoxicated friend hands you his or her beer and says, "Watch this." A story like that usually ends with a trip to the ER. Obviously alcohol is to blame. But, according to...

It's 2 a.m. and the hours of sustained drinking are taking their toll. Smashed glass and plastic cups litter the streets, trash cans overflow with empty beer cans, and girls in high heels and short skirts totter unsteadily out of rowdy pubs. But this is not London or New York. It's Rome. Italians have long been regarded as a model of Mediterranean restraint when it comes to alcohol consumption. But all that is changing, for a complex mix of reasons. Italian parents, struggling in the country's worst recession since World War II, are working longer hours and have less time...

St. Paul may soon pass a social host ordinance that punishes adults who knowingly allow parties, where minors are drinking. That includes adults who aren't even there, including landlords. "They bear some of the responsibility to ensure it doesn't continue," said St. Paul Council Member Russ Stark.

A man has been arrested in France after driving to a police station to distribute Alcoholics Anonymous leaflets - while drunk. Gendarmes became suspicious when they smelled alcohol on the 56-year-old man's breath, after he arrived to drop off the pamphlets at the station in Neuf-Brisach, eastern France. A blood test revealed that he had almost twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. The man, who has a previous drink-driving conviction, has had his licence confiscated, and is due to appear in court in December, where he could face up to four years in jail.

Report: David Hasselhoff Rushed to Hospital for Alcohol Poisoning for Second Time in Five Months David Hasselhoff’s struggles with alcohol seem to be far from over, as new reports claim the actor was rushed to the hospital this weekend after severe alcohol poisoning. According to Radar Online, Hasselhoff was at home with his 17-year-old daughter Hayley and his male assistant when he appeared to be in physical danger. After allegedly drinking for more than a day, his daughter found him and frantically called her mother, who then had a friend call the authorities. Hasselhoff, 57, recently finished taping his show...

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin got so drunk during a visit to Washington that he was found standing outside the White House in his underpants trying to hail a cab to go and buy a pizza. The following night he was mistaken for a drunken intruder when he was discovered stumbling around the basement of his guest house by secret service agents. The drunken behaviour of Yeltsin, who was known for his fondness for vodka and died two years ago aged 76, were revealed by former US president Bill Clinton. Clinton, who is no stranger to indiscretions of his own,...

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin got so drunk during a visit to Washington that he was found standing outside the White House in his underpants trying to hail a cab to go and buy a pizza. The following night he was mistaken for a drunken intruder when he was discovered stumbling around the basement of his guest house by secret service agents. The drunken behaviour of Yeltsin, who was known for his fondness for vodka and died two years ago aged 76, were revealed by former US president Bill Clinton. Russian President Boris Yeltsin (L) taps his watch to end...

Now, you KNOW that had the roles been reversed the liberal media's race baiting journalists would be out there asking this very question. So, how about it? Was his motivation racial?

Like a scene out of the "Dukes of Hazzard," a driver launched his SUV from the road into the second-floor of a Long Island home early Saturday. "All hell broke loose," said homeowner John Sarli, 58, who was sleeping at the far end of his E. Moriches house when the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed through the front. "I was kind of in shock." Suffolk County cops said Adam Clark, 20, was driving drunk when he hit a dirt berm 20 feet off E. Moriches Blvd. about 12:20 a.m. The Jeep flew 65 feet into the grand foyer of Sarli's...

After a Nato airstrike killed as many as 125 people last week, General Stanley McChrystal was keen to get the situation under control — fast. When he tried to contact his underlings to find out what had happened, however, he found, to his fury, that many of them were either drunk or too hungover to respond. Complaining in his daily Commander’s Update that too many people had been “partying it up”, General McChrystal, head of International Forces in Afghanistan (Isaf), banned alcohol at his headquarters yesterday,

Teachers are demanding the right to get drunk at weekends as they protest against a tough new code of conduct. More than 10,000 have signed a petition calling for the scrapping of rules which require them to uphold 'public trust' in their profession outside school. The code, drawn up by the General Teaching Council [GTC] and coming into force next month, aims to reinforce the traditional role of teachers as pillars of society. It urges teachers to act as role models for pupils inside and outside the classroom by maintaining 'reasonable standards in their own behaviour'. One teacher, who asked...

It is the era of designer drinks: bubblegum martinis, vodka essences, caffeinated schnapps. You name it. In spite of all their flair and fun, when you sit down to really enjoy a drink for the craftsmanship and complexity, you really only have a few good choices, and they were usually created over a decade ago. For years I had been a wine guy (not whinny, mind you). I took the classes, began to dig into certain vintages and the regions and vineyards around the world, and I developed a taste for the European wines, which tended to be drier and...

People over 60 who consume moderate amounts of alcohol have a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, according to a large review of studies. The analysis, which appeared in the July issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, reviewed 15 studies that together followed more than 28,000 subjects for at least two years. All the studies controlled for age, sex, smoking and other factors. The studies variously defined light to moderate drinking as 1 to 28 drinks per week. Compared with abstainers, male drinkers reduced their risk for dementia by 45 percent, and women by 27 percent...

Woman didn't smell like alcohol, but car smelled like hamburger Tosha Sketo 2009-08-31 13:19:07 CRESTVIEW – A woman was arrested after parking her car toward the end of the Whataburger drive-through lane in Crestview and passing out over a half-eaten burger. Machelle Coleman, 33, of Crestview, was found slumped over her steering wheel by a Crestview Police Department deputy. She had a half-eaten burger on her left leg and lettuce and French fries were strewn across her lap, according to the deputy.After unsuccessfully attempting to awaken Coleman, the deputy called EMS. A few minutes later, Coleman woke up and...

Among the expected glories of the Constitution, next to the abolition of Slavery was that of Rum. --George Clymer Fifteen men on a dead man's chestö Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the restö Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! --Stevenson, Robert Louis Treasure Island There's naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms as rum and true religion. --Lord Byron

Beneath its idyllic exterior, Martha's Vineyard – beloved holiday destination of America's well-heeled – is rife with depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence. America's First Family will wave goodbye to Martha's Vineyard tomorrow after a week's holiday on an island whose name is rarely uttered without the epithet "idyllic". As President Obama flies his family back home to Washington, they will rapidly be followed by an armada of private jets from the tiny local airport. After next weekend's Labour Day holiday, the exodus of billionaire businessmen, media tycoons and Hollywood stars who summer on the island will be complete....

The chairman of the city Democratic Party was charged with public drunkenness after allegedly intervening in a police investigation of an assault at the Parker House bar late Wednesday. "Do you recognize the name? Do you know who I am?" the party chairman, Art Moran, asked Patrolman Robert Hegedus, according to an affidavit filed by the officer. Officer Hegedus, who reported smelling alcohol on Mr. Moran's breath, didn't recognize him and asked, "Should I?" "Remember my name," Mr. Moran replied, the officer reported. Mr. Moran, 47, a former Scranton school director, denied in an interview Friday he tried to intimidate...

The early baby boomers may be known as the generation of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. But it turns out, they're hitting the bottle pretty hard as they age, as well. And that portends significant alcohol-related health problems ahead as those mid-lifers become seniors. A new study finds that among men and women 50 to 64 years old, almost 1 in 4 men and 1 in 10 women is a "binge" drinker -- meaning that at some point in the last 30 days, he or she has downed four (for women) or five (for men) servings of alcohol in...

Mayor Mike Bloomberg enjoys a cold one like any other New Yorker. And like any other New Yorker, he's bewildered by the city's ban on drinking in the park. "I never understood why we don't let you drink in the park," Bloomberg told Community Newspaper Groups, a chain of weeklies owned by News Corp., which also owns the Post. "I mean, you go to watch the Philharmonic, you can't have a bottle of wine." Asked about Brooklynite Kimber VanRy's legal battle over a ticket he received for drinking a beer on the stoop of his Prospect Heights home, the mayor...

AN DIEGO - A rookie San Diego police officer, arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public this past weekend after she supposedly pulled out her gun at a Carlsbad nightspot, is on administrative leave. Christine M. Thurston, 23, pulled out her gun while off-duty at Hennessey's Tavern on Friday evening, prompting a manager to call 911, Carlsbad police spokeswoman Lynn Diamond said. Before officers arrived at the Roosevelt Street bar, someone had taken Thurston's gun away, and bouncers had put her outside, Diamond said. Thurston was arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness, a misdemeanor. Diamond said there was no...

San Francisco has paid at least $150,000 for Kenny Walters in the past year. He isn't employed, has an arrest record as long as his hair, and can often be found passed out in a doorway on Haight Street. Kenny Walters' job is to get drunk. He's certainly not alone. "Chronic inebriants" are a grim and disturbing fact of life in San Francisco. They also cost the city millions. The frustration is that the public service network - police, fire and medical professionals - doesn't seem to make a dent when it comes to people like Walters. There are suggestions,...

It is something I love dearly, but I am so outraged by the actions of the Scottish judge and government that I hereby pledge not to buy another bottle of Scotch whisky, blended or single malt, until an official apology is made for this despicable act. The rationale can be found in the main thread: Pan Am 103 Bomber To Be Freed

FORT WORTH -- A man suspected of being drunk drove his car into an east Fort Worth Walmart this morning before jumping into the bed of a passing pickup in an apparent attempt to escape, police said. The pickup’s driver, afraid he was about to be carjacked, then struck three or four cars in the parking lot trying to remove the man from his truck, police said. The incident happened about 8:15 a.m. at the Walmart at 8401 Anderson Blvd., near Interstate 30 and Eastchase Parkway. Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman, said witnesses reported seeing a man driving erratically...

(Rising temperatures may have a devastating effect on the way French wines are made, destroying the industry.) French wines, the country's pride, are looking at a grim future failing an ambitious deal on climate change at the upcoming United Nations summit in Denmark, 50 top chefs, winemakers and Greenpeace warned Tuesday. "Climate change has made vines increasingly vulnerable," the group said in an opinion column in the daily Le Monde. "Wine," they added, "is the result of an alchemy between a native soil, or terroir, and generations of winemakers. Today this alchemy is in danger." Because of the global rise...

Russia is grappling with a major public health crisis in which residents are essentially drinking and smoking themselves to death, according to the country’s public health officials. About a million Russians die each year from alcohol- and smoking-related causes -- between 600,000 and 700,000 of those deaths are attributed to drinking alone, Andrei Demin, of Russia’s Public Health Association, told Fox News. “It’s threatening the future of the country,” he said. The problem? Unlike other countries, Russia has refused to levy hefty taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to discourage drinking and smoking. The resulting statistics are staggering: — The average...

Even moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant can have detrimental effects on the health of the child, a new report from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health has advised. Sweden looks to boost healthcare exports (28 Jul 09) Alcohol abuse on the rise for Swedish women (13 Jul 09) Swedes back al fresco smoking ban (1 Jun 09) The incidence of behavioural problems among children is higher among those whose mothers drank as little as one to four glasses of wine per week, the institute claims according to a report in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. "The best thing to do...

"Even moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant can have detrimental effects on the health of the child, a new report from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health has advised."

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – A mother drank vodka and smoked marijuana while taking a vanload of children home from a weekend camping trip that ended in disaster when she went the wrong way on a highway and crashed into an SUV, killing eight people, police said Tuesday. Diane Schuler, who died along with her 2-year-old daughter and three nieces in her red minivan, had more than 10 drinks of alcohol in her system and a high level of the main ingredient in marijuana, authorities said. A broken 1.75-liter bottle of Absolut vodka was found in her wrecked minivan, police said....

The Long Island mom behind the wheel in a fiery wrong-way crash that killed her and seven others along a New York state highway was reportedly drunk and had high levels of marijuana in her system, authorities said Tuesday. The findings were part of a toxicology report that was conducted on 36-year-old Diane Schuler in the wake of the deadly July 26 crash along the Taconic State Parkway in Briarcliff Manor, The Journal News of Westchester reported on its Web site. The findings were shared with relatives of the crash victims, which included Schuler's 2-year-old daughter and three nieces. Schuler...

The Long Island mom behind the wheel in a fiery wrong-way crash that killed her and seven others along a Westchester highway was reportedly drunk and had high levels of marijuana in her system. The findings were part of a toxicology report that was conducted on 36-year-old Diane Schuler in the wake of the deadly July 26 crash along the Taconic State Parkway in Briarcliff Manor, The Journal News of Westchester reported today on its Web site, citing sources close to the investigation. The findings were shared with relatives of the crash victims, which included Schuler's 2-year-old daughter and three...

Beer summit sparks fight between MADD and alcohol lobby @ 2:37 pm by Eric Zimmermann President Obama's beer summit might have created a media frenzy, but not everyone was excited about the message it sent about drinking. Placing alcohol at the center of a political firestorm has sparked a war of words between Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the pro-alcohol lobby. Nancy Raynor, the President of the Delaware chapter of MADD, told radio station WDEL this weekend that the beer summit may send an inappropriate signal to young people. "It's a well known fact that young people tend to...