Free Republic

While the White House has proclaimed that the President will be speaking to the average American in his last State of the Union speech tomorrow night, Tuesday, 01/12/16, based upon past experience, I expect the usual ego trip.

The Navy announced Monday that it has reprimanded a two-star admiral for getting drunk and wandering naked around a Florida beachfront hotel while attending a conference with defense contractors. Rear Adm. David F. Baucom, the director of strategy and policy at the U.S. Transportation Command, became so intoxicated at an upscale beachfront resort in April that he struck his head on a barstool, wet his pants and needed an escort back to his room, according to an investigative report by the Naval Inspector General. A few hours later, still in a haze, Baucom re-emerged from his room without any clothes...

There has been a spike in the number of people illegally crossing the Southwestern US border in August, including a significant uptick in unaccompanied children, ABC News has learned. ... “We have seen...in the month of August, a surprising uptick, and it still is below -- far below the levels that we saw at the peak last year," White House Press secretary Josh Earnest said. "In August, the numbers decline because of the weather patterns. Instead, we saw a -- an increase. So that is something that is concerning.”

The time has come to take action against thread hijackers. Let me begin with an example of thread hijacking: Like most Freepers, I am pro-life. Abortion and and euthanasia appall me, and marketing the results even more so. I support candidates who oppose the culture of death, and cheer when it is thwarted. I also do not find it necessary to mention these facts on EVERY. FREAKING. THREAD. There is a certain type of Freeper, though, who has no such restraint. For these zealots, any thread that deviates from the pro-life cause, no matter how trivially, is a heresy that...

Non-Muslim students were told to drink their own urine from the toilet by the assistant principal at a Malaysian school.

"I would enjoy some Kentucky bourbon with Mitch McConnell," said Obama, who last year mocked the idea of having a drink with the GOP leader. Then, offering a glimpse into how little time Obama has spent cultivating a relationship with McConnell over the past six years, the president added, "I don't know what his preferred drink is."

Researchers from Oregon State are saying that an ingredient in beer can help boost brain function.

WatchSections Russians Just Bought America’s Most Beloved Crappy Beer Written by HILARY POLLACK September 19, 2014 / 4:15 pm Say goodbye to Pabst Blue Ribbon’s status as our nation’s most iconic cheap beer. For the past 170 years, Pabst Blue Ribbon has been a staple in the diets of American college students, starving artists, and broke drunks. And it’s likely to maintain that status for years to come—but it will now be in the hands of Russians....

A bartender in Lithuania was making a cocktail called "Flaming Lamborghini" - but instead of the drink, she set a patron's face on fire. This footage on LiveLeak shows the dangers of drinking a dangerous cocktail of flames and liquor, with a customer suffering severe facial burns. The incident happened on July 11, according to online reports. The bartender accidentally sets the man on fire at 0:35. Some of the customers near the man helped put out the flames, and the bartender is seen handing the man a towel. According to the video description, none of the staff was able...

The 7th Air Force called last weekend’s ban on drinking a “success,” with no alcohol-related incidents recorded during the 66-hour period. The ban on alcohol purchase and consumption was in place for all airmen in South Korea from noon Friday through 6 a.m. Monday. Violators could have faced punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Command spokeswoman Maj. Richelle Dowdell said the alcohol stand-down was successful because it gave airmen a chance to reflect on their mission, gave them “time to consider what we must do to change — not only as individuals but to promote a culture of...

A fungus called coffee rusts is currently causing damages of more than $1 billion across Latin American region coffee farms, and it is affecting the prices of coffee in the United States. ...But Raj Shah, head of the USAID, said their main concern is not only on the rising price of coffee but more on the economic security of small farms abroad. He said that if farmers lose their jobs, it escalates poverty and hunger and poverty region and this will add to the problem of violence and drug trafficking.

THINK YOU DON'T like IPAs? Too bitter, too intense? Many are. Tongue-numbingly resinous and paint-thinner strong, today's double and triple India Pale Ales have a few devoted, if masochistic, fans. But to those of us more interested in grace than grandeur, IPAs can be hard beers to love. Or even swallow. No longer. Showcasing new and experimental breeds of hops, the latest pale ales offer a welcome change of pace: nuanced flavor.So get them while you can: a fleeting, flickering burst of tropical sun in a northern winter. 1. Great Lakes Chillwave Double IPA (9.4% ABV): Hop-of-the-moment Mosaic bursts through...

The First Lady wants you to drink more water. On a call announcing Michelle Obama‘s newest healthy living initiative Wednesday, Let’s Move Executive Director Sam Kass explained that the White House is working with cities, private companies and public taps to promote the message to “drink up.” Participating companies include Brita, Poland Spring, Evian, Dasani, Voss and others, which will carry a “Drink Up” logo on their bottles, and participating cities include Chicago, Los Angeles county, Houston and, appropriately, Watertown, Wis., where the First Lady is visiting Thursday to kick off the initiative.

**SNIP** “We have a fiscal problem in this country. We’ve got to deal with it or we don’t have a country, so to kind of help make that point, just a little bit, I charge liberals just a little bit more. Really what I’m focused on is the fiscal differences between big government/small government and liberal ways, as far as entitlements and spending,” said Burnett, in a KSL.com report. Burnett says the extra money will go to support the conservative Washngton-based think tank, The Heritage Foundation. Burnett, also a pro-oil and gas activist, plainly lists prices for his drinks, with...

The sprawling Kentucky mansion built by the liquor mogul behind Jack Daniel's whiskey is now up for sale for $6 million in Harrods Creek, an exclusive neighborhood of Louisville. 'The Avish,' the stately, columned 20,000 square foot manor, was developed in 1910 by Owsley Brown and his wife, Laura Lyons. Construction on the home was completed in 1925. The name translates to 'Rocky Hill' in Gaelic, which was the name of the family's ancestral home in Ireland.

WEDNESDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking one or two alcoholic beverages several times a week may improve the bone health of older women and reduce their risk for osteoporosis, a small study suggests. Bones are living tissue with old bone continually removed and replaced in a process called remodeling. In people with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, more bone is lost than replaced. Postmenopausal women are at particular risk because of reduced estrogen, a hormone essential for bone strength, the researchers explained. "This study clearly demonstrates that even small amounts of alcohol have potent actions and can rapidly impact bone...

In his book “New Ideas from Dead Economists,” economist Todd Buchholz quoted bank robber Willie Sutton to explain why so many businesses lobby government for special favors including tariffs, subsidies and monopoly privileges: “That’s where the money is,” Sutton once said when asked why he robbed banks. In Michigan, the “bank” is the state Capitol in Lansing, and some of the favor-seekers have not only been spectacularly successful, but have preserved special privileges gained at the expense of their fellow citizens for literally decades, amassing fortunes in the process. How large are those fortunes? The house (above) is one such...

Michigan farmers are on the cutting edge of the buy local trend, a movement that could provide a great boon for businesses and the state’s overall economy. To give them a bigger boost, lawmakers should allow Michigan businesses to sell more of their products at more locations. One way lawmakers can accomplish this is by legalizing the sale of beer and wine at farmers markets. As the nation’s 13th biggest producer of wine, Michigan wineries make more than a million gallons annually, generating around $300 million in sales, and reportedly drawing 800,000 tourists each year. Additionally, Michigan’s craft beer scene...

ATLANTA - College-age drinkers average nine drinks when they get drunk, government health officials said Tuesday. That surprising statistic is part of a new report highlighting the dangers of binge drinking, which usually means four to five drinks at a time. Overall, about 1 in 6 U.S. adults surveyed said they had binged on alcohol at least once in the previous month, though it was more than 1 in 4 for those ages 18 to 34. And that's likely an underestimate: Alcohol sales figures suggest people are buying a lot more alcohol than they say they are consuming. Health officials...

The recent release of Ken Burns’ “Prohibition” documentary has raised many good questions about the subject of alcohol control. For Michigan, the questions are timely. Gov. Rick Snyder’s 21-member Liquor Control Advisory Rules Committee will soon present its ideas for alcohol control reform, and would be wise to think and reform boldly. Michigan’s laws and rules governing alcohol control have been treated like the play things of politicians and powerful special interests for decades. They are not as protective of public safety as neo-prohibitionists want people to believe, and are actually protectionist in many ways, treating different businesses and people...