Free Republic

Victoria Cooper thought her drinking habits in college were just like everyone else’s. Shots at parties. Beers while bowling. Sure, she got more refills than some and missed classes while nursing hangovers, but she couldn’t have a problem, she thought. “Because of what my picture of alcoholism was — old men who brown-bagged it in a parking lot — I thought I was fine,” said Cooper, now sober and living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. That common image of who is affected by alcohol disorders, echoed throughout pop culture, was misleading over a decade ago when Cooper was in college....

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) hit the bar this weekend and violated her own coronavirus orders, according to a photo Breitbart News has exclusively obtained.Whitmer and a large group of friends, including her appointed chief operations officer, Tricia Foster, visited the Landshark in East Lansing, violating her restaurant orders in the process, according to a photo one of the attendees posted on Facebook.Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan COO Tricia Foster with a group at the Landshark in East Lansing, Michigan. (Facebook)The photo, posted Saturday, was part of a montage. Shortly after, Whitmer’s friend deleted the collage and reposted it sans...

My wife & I went to Mass yesterday for the first time in over a month of the churches being shut down. While it was joyful to be back in church, I was initially angry at the procedures and spacing. I noted the bleached out backs and sides of the pews from the repeated wiping. It was distressing to see our priest speaking the word of God through a mask. It was like nothing I have ever seen when he squirted his hands with sanitizer before offering us the Host. Then I thought of Christians around the world, in Iraq,...

Disney World has closed a mask loophole, banning park visitors from eating and drinking while they walk as a means to encourage attendees to wear masks.“Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) and Cast Members,” reads Disney World’s official policy. “Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming.”The policy only allows eating and drinking as long as guests remove their masks while standing still and socially distant from others. “You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical...

If the nation’s liquor stores bolt their doors, can bootleg liquor be far behind? My favorite time of day is cocktail hour. While I love any number of bars and restaurants, my favorite place to enjoy a cocktail is my home. Thanks to my professional requirements, I have an abundant supply of some of the best whiskies and wines in the world. In addition, the service is impeccable (there’s no trying to get the bartender’s attention—I am the bartender), the pours are always perfect, there’s no last call and I don’t have to worry about driving home. And now, like...

Researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism analyzed the death certificates of Americans ages 16 and up between 1999 and 2017. And while 35,914 deaths were alcohol-related in 1999, that number doubled to reach 72,558 in 2017. The death rate spiked 50.9% from 16.9 to 25.5 per 100,000. In other words, alcohol was a factor in nearly 1 million deaths during that time period, with about half of these deaths resulting from liver disease, or a fatal overdose from alcohol or alcohol mixed with other drugs. In 2017 alone, 2.6% of roughly 2.8 million deaths in the...

MANILA (Reuters) - At least 11 people have been killed and more than 300 treated in hospital after drinking coconut wine in the Philippines, including some who were celebrating at a Christmas party, health and local authorities said on Monday. The poisoning occurred in Laguna and Quezon, two provinces south of Manila, and all had consumed lambanog, a drink popular in provinces and consumed widely during holidays and celebrations. Many were admitted to hospitals on the urging of mayor Vener Munoz in Rizal, Laguna, where the deaths occurred between Thursday and Sunday.

One of the last sentences said by the 44-year-old man struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Longwood Friday was shouted to a friend as the two walked to a neighborhood pub: “Let’s race the train!” Alexander Javier, the 24-year-old friend, made it across the tracks. Todd Keller did not. The Longwood Police Department released details about Keller’s death Wednesday afternoon. According to the incident report, Keller and Javier had been drinking at Connolly’s Pub earlier in the night and had gone to Javier’s apartment for awhile before deciding to head back to the pub. The men were walking...

Employees who work in the public eye who force themselves to smile for customers or hide feelings of annoyance may be susceptible to heavy drinking after hours, according to a new study.

Employees who work in the public eye who force themselves to smile for customers or hide feelings of annoyance may be susceptible to heavy drinking after hours, according to a new study. Researchers at Penn State and the University of Buffalo studied the drinking habits of employees who work in the public view. Some of the jobs studied include nurses, teachers or food service employees. The study found a link between those who fake positive emotions or suppress feelings like eye rolling with heavier drinking after their shifts ended. Alicia Grandey, professor of psychology at Penn State, believes these type...

We are losing more and more of our rights under feel good laws that do absolutely no good The country has been tending towards a police state for some time. Nowhere are the losses of individual rights accepted by so many people as when these rights are taken away in order to combat drinking and driving. The new amendments to the Criminal Code that came into effect on Dec. 18, are not only draconian but some of the provisions border on the absurd. While some in the media have addressed the fact these amendments infringe upon peoples’ rights, little has...

In November 2016, when then-President-elect Trump was assembling his cabinet, we noted Mika Brzezinski trying to derail President Trump's possible pick of Rudy Giuliani as Secretary of State by hinting that Rudy had been "drinking a lot" during a meeting with Trump. Mika was back at her not-so-subtle intimations about Rudy's imbibing on today's Morning Joe. Commenting on what could be seen as criticisms of the President that Giuliani had made in an interview with The Atlantic, Mika twice wondered out loud about "what time" Giuliani had made his comments. As an explanation of Rudy's candid tone, Mika twice suggested...

Hi everyone. I need a bit of help. I've had a serious drinking problem for a very long time. My husband doesn't drink. But he does hit me. I guess he feels entitled to since I'm the one who causes all the problems apparently. I'm up in bed I haven't had any food for dinner. I need doesn't even want me to come down he shakes me he hits me; I'm supposed to go to rehab on Wednesday for 3 months. Not really looking forward to it. I just wondered if anyone had any advice I'm really at a loss...

A stiff upper lip – and a strong drink – are how British Prime Minister Theresa May got through a politically punishing week. Calling her husband, Philip, her “rock,” May said when a revolt erupted among members of her party on Wednesday, the first thing he did was pour her a whiskey. May revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail how her husband supported her during “a pretty heavy couple of days.” She is battling to preserve her position as prime minister after her government struck the long-sought divorce agreement with the European Union, known as Brexit. She laid...

Sneaky dog goes viral after it drinks owners' beer (and double-checks to see if the coast is clear) ......

You can expect a "drinking checkup" when you visit the doctor. All adults, including pregnant women, should be screened for unhealthy alcohol use by their primary care physicians, the United States Preventive Services Task Force advises. For those patients who drink above the recommended limits, doctors should provide brief counseling to help them reduce their drinking, according to the new task force statement published Tuesday in the medical journal JAMA. As far as teens, the independent panel of medical experts came up empty. The task force said it did not find enough evidence to make a recommendation for or against...

James Roche, the college roommate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, speaks to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his experience with Kavanaugh at Yale. .....

The standards being applied to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s fitness for high office would have killed the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, among other recent Democrats (Clinton and Kennedy, for starters). Bill Clinton has adopted a low public profile, and deployed Hillary’s ”Bimbo Eruptions” squad to silence and discredit the women “survivors” of his sexual aggression. But Barack Obama went on the record in 2001, and nobody cared about behavior in high school they now feign outrage over in the case of judge Kavanaugh. Kudos to Ryan Saavedra of The Daily Wire for uncovering a video from 17 years ago...

As a young man Obama was a smart guy who didn?t put much effort into his school. He liked to goof off, chase girls and play basketball. And then he started drinking and smoking pot and even used coke when he could afford it. And then something happened during college that made he smartened up and realize that he was wasting his life. He turned his life around and become the success that he is today. As a young man Bush was a smart guy who didn?t put much effort into school either. Some time after school he started drinking...

WASHINGTON — A Yale classmate of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s accused him on Sunday of a “blatant mischaracterization” of his drinking while in college, saying that he often saw Judge Kavanaugh “staggering from alcohol consumption.” The classmate, Chad Ludington, who said he frequently socialized with Judge Kavanaugh as a student, said in a statement that the judge had been untruthful in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee when he had denied any possibility that he had ever blacked out from drinking. Mr. Ludington said that Judge Kavanaugh had played down “the degree and frequency” of his drinking, and that the...