Free Republic

The Chinese government has banned all depictions of gay people on television, as part of a cultural crackdown on “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content”. “No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviours, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on.” The ban also extends to smoking, drinking, adultery, sexually suggestive clothing, even reincarnation. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television told television producers it would constantly monitor TV channels to ensure the new rules were strictly adhered to.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Cornell student is suing New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after claiming that the legal drinking age of 21 makes him feel "ostracized and excluded" from other graduate students. The action was filed by Matthew Uhalde Wednesday at the Tompkins County Court. According to the documents, Uhalde claims to have graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was admitted to a graduate program at Cornell University in fall 2015, at the age of 19. Uhalde says that because nearly all unofficial graduate school activities involve alcohol, he is not able to have a...

The National Transportation Safety Board wants to decrease the legal driving limit to one drink, lowering the legal limit on blood-alcohol content to 0.05 “or even lower.” The agency released its “most wanted list” on Wednesday, a laundry list of policies it would like implemented nationally. The list includes recommendations to reduce the current 0.08 blood alcohol content limit and outlaw all cell phone use while driving, even hands-free technology.

Full title: "Month off drinking slashes risk of disease: Abstaining found to heal the liver and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels" Drinkers should take a month off alcohol to prevent serious illness in later life, doctors warned yesterday. They cited dramatic British research showing how abstention can heal the liver and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Patients who gave up for four weeks were also at lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes.

So. . . what are the rules for the inevitable Drinking Game for tonight's debate. I've seen the "Bernie Rule", every time Sanders pushes a "free" government program, you chug someone ELSE'S beer. And the Hillary! Debate technique of leaving the bar, taking the server with you, and having them make you drinks at home. But we need some point-scorers, gang. What do we drink to when the Teflon Leprechaun says something dumb. . .or bares his chest. . .or pulls out a musical instrument. What will Chaffee be tonight, Democrat, Republican, Independent, or just Confused. And what points can...

The State Attorney's Office in Tallahassee, Fla., released surveillance video on Monday showing FSU quarterback De'Andre Johnson punching a female student at a bar a month ago.

New study shows where we drink the most, and who’s doing it. A new study has been released that tells us a lot about our nation’s drinking habits. Which states drink a lot? Which house the most teetotalers? Where do you fall? See below:

History buff Tiffany Alnefelt, 30, met her Swedish husband while she was studying in Ireland. The pair now run an alternative tour for visitors to Stockholm, via some of the city's oldest pubs. Bobbie Carlson tagged along. Long wooden tables fill candle a candle lit room. Cosy furs cover the seats and Viking shields and helmets adorn the walls. This is the setting at Aifur, a well-known Viking bar in Stockholm's Old Town (Gamla Stan) and the first of four stops on the Stockholm Historic Pub Tour. What started as a mutual interest, has turned into an exciting part-time career...

From A New and Accurate Map of the Entire New Netherland, engraving believed to be by Carolus Allard, courtesy the Department of Records   Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the New York City Department of Records just blew the minds of history geeks everywhere.  They released the first batch of digitized documents from the first years of the city's existence, back when it was the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. You can find the first batch of released documents at the city's attractive new portal here. This is the equivalent of pulling out old photo albums of you playing with...

In a move that, if adopted, would almost certainly be brought into the courts, a northern New Jersey town is contemplating an ordinance that would grant local police access — without a search warrant — into private residences in order to check up on allegations of underage drinking. Officials in the town of Montville, on the western edge of the New York metropolitan area’s sprawl, are discussing the new ordinance — perhaps counterintuitively — in terms of keeping underage drinking in check while helping young people avoid establishing criminal records that can follow them throughout their lives. “While teens caught...

The U.S. public health establishment buries overwhelming evidence that abstinence is a cause of heart disease and early death. People deserve to know that alcohol gives most of us a higher life expectancy—even if consumed above recommended limits.

The age 21 rule sets the United States apart from all advanced Western nations, and it has pushed kids toward pills and other anti-social behavior.

This is a product where absolutely nothing will go wrong, we're sure. Trying to sneak booze is an American past time. Well, not THE American past time -- but now there's a way for you to sneak alcohol easily into your favorite sporting event! Heck, you don't even need to use a syrup bottle. Meet "Palcohol"

A man who was riding in the car with Mario Careaga testified in court Tuesday that his partner had two or three vodka and tonic drinks before getting behind the wheel of his Mercedes Benz. Careaga, 46, is charged with DUI manslaughter in the Sept. 10, 2010, crash

Please help me come up with some anticipated phrases/words/gestures this evil muslim is going to spew at a Amerika next Tuesday. My buddy and I are at work today already betting on what they are going to be. We're both positive "income inequality" will be abused like a red headed stepchild in Walmart. I say the bonus phrase will be "polar vortex". Got any others? It'll be fun (even if watching the lying king is deplorable)!

Link only:Dish of the Day: How to… Drink Like Frank Sinatra

A 17-year-old North Andover High School student was stripped of her captain's position on the volleyball team and suspended for five games after she went to a party to pick up an intoxicated friend, reports The Boston Herald. Erin Cox received a call from a friend, who was allegedly intoxicated, and asked her to pick her up from a party on Main Street in Boxford. Being a good friend, Erin went to pick her up, but instead met police just as they arrived at the house, the newspaper reports.

Prosecutors have dropped a driving under the influence charge against the wife of former Miami Heat superstar Alonzo Mourning.

One recent recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board was to reduce states’ drunken-driving threshold from .08 to .05 blood alcohol content. What do you think? That’s way too strict. 42% Sounds good to me. 35% The standard should be zero. 21%

**SNIP** They’re also crimes with the highest rates of default, with 50 to 70 percent of all offenders ignoring the fine and blowing off administrative hearings. That could change, thanks to a mayoral crackdown advanced Thursday. The City Council’s Public Safety committee approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to add six months of jail time and double the maximum fine — to $1,000 for drinking and urinating on the public way and $400 for gambling — for violators who fail to pay their initial fines and are no-shows at administrative hearings. Similar penalties are already in place for offenders who ignore...