Free Republic

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...

Few people will argue against preventing underage drinking. Michigan’s new keg registration law, however, an attempt to trace the buyers of kegs that end up serving underage drinkers, will not accomplish that goal. In fact, keg registration is an invasion of consumers’ privacy and has proven repeatedly to be a waste of time and money. Moreover, it will do nothing to reduce underage drinking and could even make the problem worse. As of Nov. 1, Michigan joined with the nearly 30 other states that have a keg registration law of some type, requiring businesses to affix a sticker or a...

If you live in Michigan, you can’t order online from wine retailers in other states, at least not if you want the wine shipped to your door. But action this Election Day far off in Washington State may send tremors across America by cracking open the anti-consumer, anti-competitive alcohol regulations there. Entrenched interests — particularly alcohol wholesalers — appear frightful that they will be the ones to suffer from government withdrawal from the industry. But if enthusiasm for such freedom becomes contagious and spreads to other states, consumers will reap the benefits. Washington state’s initiative strikes at the heart of...

On Oct. 24, the Mackinac Center dispatched letters that made 15 major and explicit recommendations for reform of Michigan’s alcohol control system to Gov. Rick Snyder’s 21-member Liquor Control Advisory Rules Committee. The advisory committee first met in August and is due to make recommendations to the governor for reform as early as mid-December. We suggest that the committee and Gov. Snyder reform boldly. The 15 major ideas presented below are by no means the only reform ideas we intend to make, but they do represent some of the most wide-ranging and beneficial ones. Where appropriate, I've added nuance and...

A damned interesting event occurred recently that has nearly slipped under the radar. "Damned interesting" may seem hyperbole to most of you but to those who gravitate toward the historical, political and regulatorial (that's not really a word), this event is pretty interesting. Not long ago, the good people at the Center for Alcohol Policy (a National Beer Wholesaler of America creation) took it upon themselves to see to the re-printing and re-release of what might be the most influential book on alcohol ever written in United States: "Toward Liquor Control". Written in 1933 and underwritten by John D. Rockefeller,...

If you’ve ever seen a Ken Burns documentary, you’re familiar with their use of faded photos, archival video and interviews with renowned historians. Films like “The Civil War,” “Thomas Jefferson” and “Lewis & Clark” bring the past to life despite the decades of distance between the subject matter and the viewers. No doubt, his newest documentary, “Prohibition,” which premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. PBS, promises to offer a thorough historical examination of American life during the period around the 18th Amendment’s rise and fall. The three-part series focusing on Prohibition’s past, however, may lead the viewers to believe that every...

Just think, in a few hours, you get.......SUN PEE! Cross-posted at UNCOVERAGE.net Isn’t it bad enough Obama is cancelling the space program? Now the astronauts have to drink their own pee on the final trip? CNET: Soon, we will not only be able to drink our recycled urine. We’ll transform into a tastier, more refreshing beverage choice–thanks, in part, to NASA’s final space shuttle mission. The shuttle Atlantis is carrying aloft tests of the Forward Osmosis Bag, which is designed to convert dirty water into a liquid that is safe to drink using a semi-permeable membrane and a concentrated sugar...

Rep. Weiner: 'I just needed a drink' after GOP responseBy Jordan Fabian - 01/26/11 09:41 AM ET One Democratic congressman says he was ready to hit the bottle after hearing the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union Tuesday night. Rep. Anthony Weiner (N.Y.), who is known for his outspokenness, praised Obama's speech as "uplifting," but said that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) response was too dour for his taste. "[Obama] was then followed by a guy who was bumming us out," he said on MSNBC Tuesday night. "I felt like I just needed a drink...

A fascinating study published in the BMJ shows that although the French drink more than the Northern Irish each week, as they drink daily, rather than more on less occasions, the French suffered from considerably less coronary heart disease than the Northern Irish. Ruidavets and colleagues compared groups of middle aged men in France and Northern Ireland, who have very different drinking cultures and rates of heart disease.The authors found that men who "binge" drink (drink =50 g of alcohol once a week) had nearly twice the risk of myocardial infarction or death from coronary disease compared with regular drinkers...

Feds deem Four Loko unsafe drinkRichard Craver Issue date: 11/19/10 The makers of seven alcoholic energy drinks have been given 15 days to show that their beverages are safe for consumers or remove them from the marketplace. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters yesterday to four beverage manufacturers including the maker of Four Loko saying that the drinks are being marketed in violation of federal law. It determined that caffeine is an "unsafe food additive" when mixed with alcoholic beverages. If a beverage-maker cannot prove that its drink is safe, the FDA can seize the products. The...

Just wondering. I'm off to San Antonio tomorrow, taking wife and in-laws to a great big, wonderful famous Baptist church. I will hopefully have a mild hangover which I'm working on at the moment. Are you gonna be there with me, at least in spirit? Prove it. Whatchya drinkin?

ST. PETERSBURG - Sandie McConnell doesn't know how she'll raise her 4-month-old son, Roy IV, without his father. "This drunk driver didn't just steal the lives from these awesome men but from their friends and family. This world was a better place with them in it, I still can't believe this has happened," said Sandie McConnell, Roy III’s widow. Police say the young man who killed her husband, his two brothers, and their father was drunk and high on marijuana. Investigators say Demetrius Jordan, just 20 years old, told them he'd mixed alcohol with Four Loko -- an energy drink...

The monstrosity of a milkshake I was drinking has just been named the unhealthiest drink in America and that was confirmed to me with the very first slurp. The heart stopping ensemble of ice cream, peanut butter and heavy cream oozed through the straw like tar and half way through I almost couldn't carry on. Officially known as the "PB&C" - and unofficially nicknamed the "heart attack in a glass" – the shake is proving a surprise hit in normally health conscious Los Angeles. However, it has become a taste sensation and those who normally stick rigorously to roller-blading, cycling...

A 2,000-CALORIE milkshake that is the equivalent of 68 rashers of bacon and 30 chocolate-chip cookies has been dubbed the worst drink in the US. Made with chocolate ice cream, milk and peanut butter, the drink - called the Cold Stone PB&C - packs a whopping 2,010 calories, 131 grams of fat - 68 grams of which is saturated - and a massive 153 grams of sugar. It topped the Men's Health 20 Worst Drinks in America 2010 list, beating a McDonald's Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake to the post. Delicious The magazine said on its website: "In terms of saturated...

Just For Fun: example answer: "I'll have a gin and tonic"

Fans watching the Super Bowl are stocking up on more than just pizza and beer. A Nielsen Company survey took a look at the top foods served at parties on Super Bowl night for the past three years. What they found may come as a surprise -- vegetables topped the list. People said they served up more snacks, sandwiches and salads than pizza. In fact, more people drank milk and soda the night of the big game than beer.

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,...

Happy New Year's Eve!

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Gatorade has become the first sponsor to drop a Tiger Woods product since his scandal began. On Tuesday afternoon, the PepsiCo(PEP Quote) company told CNBC that the "Gatorade Tiger Focus" will be phased out.

Sooooooooo. Let us take a break from all the political action, What is your favorit adult beverage?

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A Taiwanese groom died on his wedding day after having too much wine and beer to drink, police and local media said Monday. The man, 35, an insurance company worker surnamed Wu passed out at home after drinking too much Saturday at a high-end restaurant in Taipei among more than 100 wedding guests, the Liberty Times reported.

A word of caution before you head out for the long Memorial Day weekend: It's also No-Refusal Weekend. Which means? Well, if Dallas police pull suspect you're drinking and driving, you'll be stuck with a butterfly needle attached to a vacuum-packed container, and two vials' worth of your blood will taken and tested. And, no, you can't refuse the test; hence the name, as discussed in our cover story on the very subject last month.

Investigators say Eichelberger posed as a wealthy business investor to take his victims to a bar or restaurant to discuss a business opportunity then slip a drug into their drink. Once the victim's judgement was altered, police say Eichelberger would take advantage of the men sexually, steal their identities and even blackmail them.

Holy crap. Or to be urologically correct, holy pee. An Indian organization is launching a soft drink made of cow urine. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the story from the U.K. Times of London:...

Research suggests people who drink more than seven cups of instant coffee a day have an increased tendency to hallucinate......... High caffeine users may even think they sense non-existent people, according to researchers from the University of Durham.........

Teen Pees In Teacher's Drink, Police SayUPDATED: 5:16 pm PDT September 23, 2008 CASTLE ROCK, Wash. -- Police in Washington said they've arrested a teenager for urinating in his teacher's drink. Investigators said officers arrested the 13-year-old at Castle Rock Middle School on Friday, and he's now facing a felony charge. Castle Rock police said the victim was a woman who was teaching four eighth-grade boys Friday when one of them peed in her drink. The teacher walked into her class just in time to catch the boy zipping up and discovered urine in her plastic drink bottle, officers said....

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

The businessman was meeting with clients for lunch at Mimi's Café when he noticed the woman. Sitting a few tables over with her 4-year-old boy, she seemed groggy — yet she was drinking a mimosa. It got worse. The woman ordered a glass of white wine, then another. She was so out of it, the businessman would later write in a statement to police, that she looked ready to fall asleep at the table. When the woman paid her bill and left the restaurant, the businessman was right behind her, cell phone in hand. When she ran a stop sign...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: My old man loves beer and he refuses to give me any. He tells me that alcohol, hops and carbonation are bad for my innards. I don’t buy it. I think he just wants all the beer for himself. That excuse is now going out the window because look at what I just found out on the internet. Dog Beer! You heard right. 3 Busy Dogs has created Bowser Beer. It’s just for dogs and it tastes like beef. Let the party begin… (Introducing Bowser BeerTM Does your dog drink responsibly?) I will say that lately...

HOLLIDAYSBURG — State police are helping Williamsburg, Blair County, authorities find whomever spiked a pregnant teenage girl’s drink with a drug used to abort pregnancies in cows, a drug they think was stolen from a Williamsburg farm, according to a release. The pregnant girl’s beverage was tainted with Prostamate sometime between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 31 at Williamsburg High School, police said. Troopers are considering the act an aggravated assault upon the girl and her unborn baby, police said. State police think whomever was responsible was trying to abort the girl’s unborn child, the release indicates. The drug...

So here's the deal(copy from their website): Every time we get a request for free samples of True Lemon from a new customer, we will donate 10 packets of True Lemon to Operation Gratitude, a non-profit organization providing care packages to U.S. Troops. Here's the link:http://truelemon.com/gratitude-sample.html get a free sample and help out the troops!

Via Bettnet we learn the following from the Tolkien Society: On the 3rd January 1892 JRR Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. To celebrate this event, on this day each year Tolkien fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast the birthday of this much loved author. The toast is "The Professor". To make the Birthday Toast, you stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words ‘The Professor’ before taking a sip (or swig, if that’s more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of...

By Christopher CookLet's talk about something fun, for a change: the big alcoholic hit of 1750....Creaming Flip! I first heard of this drink on one of Michael Medved's tapes on American history, and I was so intrigued that I just had to try it. And, as it turned out, we actually had an opportunity not only to make this drink for ourselves, but to showcase it at a drink-making contest being hosted by some friends. My wife and I are not big alcohol aficionados; we enjoy the occasional drink...a glass of port with a cigar, muscat with some sorbet, or...

One drink a day increases risk of bowel cancer By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor Last Updated: 8:40pm BST 30/07/2007 Drinking just one pint of beer or a large glass of wine every day increases your risk of developing bowel cancer by 10 per cent, experts said today. Every year 35,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer Those who drink three to four units a day increased their risk of developing bowel cancer by up to a quarter, research has found. The study conducted by Cancer Research UK and involving nearly 500,000 people, adds to evidence that drinking alcohol is linked...

Well, two years ago I posted this thread: Whee! I'M TOASTED! Cheers to W! What are YOU drinking?. Well-lubricated hilarity ensued for the rest of the evening. Once again I find myself half-sloshed on an election evening with no work scheduled for the following day, but this time the champagne remains untouched in favor of several stiff glasses of scotch on the rocks. Ahhh, alcohol, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. So sayeth Homer J. Simpson. Anybody else want to get soused along with me? Name yer poison, and bottoms up! -ccm

Protestant reflection on the consumption of alcohol has undergone a dramatic transformation since the Reformation. Whether this change stems from the rise of pietism or the triumph of middle-class morality, contemporary evangelical ideas about alcohol are at odds with the views of the Protestant reformers. Attending to the reformers' ideas, then, is important not only for those who would claim to be their heirs but also for a good understanding of what the Bible teaches about alcohol. Calvin Addresses the Old Testament In a sermon by John Calvin on Deuteronomy 14:26, which is arguably the classic Old Testament text with...

Suspect: I prefer drink to Koran (Filed: 26/09/2006) A suspected terrorist accused of plotting a bomb attack claimed he was more interested in girls and drinking than Islamic extremism. Anthony Garcia, 24, admitted he bought 1,300lb (600kg) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which could have been used to make a huge explosive device, on the orders of his friend Omar Khyam, 24, the alleged leader of the plot. But, he told the Old Bailey, he thought it was to be shipped to Pakistan. Garcia denied he was a devout Muslim and told the court he had wanted to become a model...

Price of food and drink will soar, experts predict By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Filed: 24/08/2006) On top of soaring fuel bills, petrol prices and council tax, retail experts issued a warning yesterday that the cost of food and drink was about to go up sharply. Supermarkets are expected to pass on higher prices to customers after a combination of poor harvests and the rising cost of global commodities such as orange juice and coffee. Drink up: The cost of orange juice is expected to rise by up to 25 per cent over the next few months The cost...

They wanted to sue over sodas in school, they even complained about 2 percent milk, and now they’re after fruit juices. But to the Washington Post, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is just another health-conscious consumer advocacy group. The June 28 Washington Post featured CSPI’s latest complaints about fruit drinks on the front page of its weekly Food section. Staff writer Candy Sagon began by reporting on the additional business juice vendors are enjoying as the nation’s three largest soft drink makers agreed to end soda sales to public schools. But Sagon quickly shifted to complaints...

FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Sports and energy drinks can be wonderful potions that hydrate top-tier athletes and weekend warriors alike. But here's some advice about their use, not from your trainer or your coach, but from a dental school professor: If you choose to use them, chug them. Don't sip or savor them all day. That's what J. Anthony von Fraunhofer, director of biomaterials research at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore suggests. Otherwise, the drinks could be eating away your enamel, setting you up for tooth decay and other dental problems. Energy drinks and citrus-flavored...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

Graphic underneath present CSPAN program says Kerry LIVE in Nashua, NH to start shortly.... Choice, choices....COPS...John Kerry...COPS...John Kerry...COPS...John Kerry...???

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Central Ohio man allegedly told police last week that he likes to drink the urine of adolescent boys. Alan Patton, 54, is in jail after allegedly telling Gahanna, Ohio, police about his affection for urine. Police said Patton goes to family restaurants and movie theaters and waits for boys in a bathroom stall. Investigators said he shuts off the water to the child-level urinal and puts a cup in the bottom.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese driver, afraid of having to take a breath-test, fled a police drink-driving checkpoint even though he was well under the legal alcohol limit, but ended up crashing his car. The 44-year-old man drove through the checkpoint on a road in the western Japanese city of Ikeda late Wednesday. Pursuing police officers found the car about half a mile away, upside down in a dry riverbed below the road. The driver, who suffered light injuries to his legs, was sitting beside the vehicle. "I'd been drinking, so I fled," the Mainichi newspaper quoted the man as...

AMSTERDAM: Dutch troops helping earthquake survivors in Pakistan have complained that while they are subject to an alcohol ban, Spanish and British soldiers laugh at their austerity and turn up drunk at their campfire. "We were told before we arrived that alcohol was banned in this country or else very difficult to get hold of and we accepted this," one soldier told the Dutch daily De Telegraaf. "The Spanish drive around with cars full of Heineken ... and the English laugh at us when they show up at our campfire drunk," another Dutch soldier said. A Dutch defence ministry spokesman...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Here's a new tip to help curb drinking over the holidays: Ask for your scotch-and-soda in a highball glass. That's because people tend to unwittingly pour more alcohol into short, wide glasses compared to tall, skinny ones — meaning two cocktails from a squat tumbler might actually pack the punch of 2 1/2 drinks. The phenomenon is so pervasive even experienced bartenders do it, according to a study being published Friday in the BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal. "People say, 'Oh, the bartender knows what he's doing.' Well, the bartender does know what he's doing in...

One day my wife and I were leaving the Mountaineer Casino and Resort in Chester, W. Va. The casino has two installations connected by a shuttle bus. One is a hotel and casino, and the other is a racetrack and casino. As we departed the racetrack, a shuttle bus from the other installation pulled up to the door. A crowd filed off the bus, and almost everyone was holding an alcoholic drink. (You normally don't carry free soft drinks from one building to the other.) Also, many of the passengers were smoking cigarettes. In this day of political correctness run...

It is guaranteed to raise a cheer among those who enjoy a tipple: moderate drinkers are better hinkers than teetotallers or those who overindulge, says a report in the Guardian. Research by the Australian National University in Canberra suggests drinking in moderation boost your brainpower. But none at all, or too much, can make you a dullard. A study of 7,000 people in their early 20s, 40s and 60s found that those who drank within safe limits had better verbal skills, memory and speed of thinking than those at the extremes of the drinking spectrum. The safe consumption level was...