Free Republic

Liberal outlets are trying to scare readers again about alcohol consumption. They are pushing a study that hasn’t been peer-reviewed to claim any alcohol consumption will damage the brain. The sensational anti-alcohol headlines based on the preprint study plagued the internet. CNN’s story on the matter was headlined: “Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds.” The Guardian’s headline was no less blaring: “Any amount of alcohol consumption harmful to the brain, finds study.” Yahoo! News also hopped on the anti-alcohol train: “Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds.” People magazine...

Men who lose consciousness after drinking alcohol are up to three times as likely to develop dementia within the next 10 years, according to an analysis published Wednesday by JAMA Network Open. Women who "passed out" after consuming alcohol were more than twice as likely to develop dementia over the next decade, the data showed. Overall, the risk for early-onset dementia -- which develops in people age 65 and younger -- was twice as high among drinkers who "passed out," the researchers said. "Our analysis ... suggests that binge drinking is a long-term dementia risk factor even if a person...

Occasionally, Elizabeth Bruenig unleashes a tweet for which she knows she’s sure to get dragged: She admits that she doesn’t drink. Bruenig, a columnist at The New York Times with a sizable social-media following, told me that it usually begins with her tweeting something mildly inflammatory and totally unrelated to alcohol—e.g., The Star Wars prequels are actually good. Someone will accuse her of being drunk. She, in turn, will clarify that she doesn’t drink, and that she’s never been drunk. Inevitably, people will criticize her. You’re really missing out, they might say. Why would you deny yourself? As Bruenig sees...

The professional athlete who completed the entire Appalachian Trail in record-setting time paid a $500 fine Wednesday for drinking alcohol atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin in July, an incident that prompted a broader debate about hikers’ behavior in Baxter State Park. An attorney for Scott Jurek said his client agreed to pay the fine because he did pop open a bottle of champagne atop Maine’s highest peak in violation of Baxter State Park’s no-alcohol policy after his 46-day run ended July 12. But as part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped charges of littering and hiking with an oversized group, two...

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that alcohol does bad things to good people. The results of which have never been made clearer than by these altered alcohol bottle labels. Question their accuracy. Go on, we dare you. True story. True, true story. If only your frenemy hadn’t recorded the evidence. Anyone care to fill us in on what happened? Anyone? Literally everywhere. The reason our phone is full of selfies with a stranger and the toilet attendant. We didn’t eat dinner so it doesn’t count. In your face. NOOOOO.

Marking the one-year anniversary of longtime smoker Peter Jennings’ death from lung cancer, ABC’s Dr. Timothy Johnson wrote up a prescription as outdated and ineffective as bleeding a patient: growing government. “At the government level there are three proven techniques. One is to raise prices by increasing taxes, the second is to limit access by minors, and the third is to conduct mass media campaigns,” Johnson said on the August 7 “World News with Charles Gibson.” Although ABC's medical editor went on to slam government for having “dropped the ball” on his prescription, anchor Charles Gibson didn’t include anyone with...

You may not have crashed your car while driving drunk, but you owe for someone who did - a "bill" from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department says so. No one has actually sent the department money for the DWI invoice, but that doesn't mean they've escaped paying for the cost of drunken-driving crashes, said Linda Atkinson, executive director for the DWI Resource Center. IF YOU GO: The DWI Resource Center and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department are teaming up with judges, attorneys, community leaders and anyone else who wants to join the battle against drunken driving. A community forum is...

The candy-colored hand-blown glass pipes started it all. They drew Darryl Rouson to the Purple Haze Tobacco & Accessories Shop, where the pipes fill display cases. Rouson asked the owner to stop selling "death utensils under the guise of tobacco accessories," alluding to the contention that the pipes and glass tubes are used to smoke drugs like crack. Purple Haze's owner, Leo Calzadilla, and other employees repeatedly asked Rouson to leave the store at 1427 34th St. S, Calzadilla told police. Rouson said he didn't leave because he was frightened by pit bullterriers in the store. In April, the St....