Australian Town Bans Alcohol

by Iva Skoch on

Well, it appears that dry towns are no longer an American anomaly. The Australian town of Alice Springs has banned alcohol drinking in public places because “large groups of people, mostly Aborigines, binge drink in ‘full view’ of other residents and tourists”, The Guardian reports.

The restrictions apparently do not affect Alice Springs’ 90 licensed clubs, hotels or restaurants, and a park near the town used for picnics. It seems that this ban is de facto directed mainly at the 3,000 Aborigines who live in town camps in the area. Great! Now, the impoverished Aborigines will also be more likely to be engaged in criminal activity (of making illegal alcohol and drinking it.)

Is there one place on this planet where prohibition actually solved a major drinking problem?

Find free booze on your travels

by Martha Edwards on

When travelling, I’ve been known to enjoy a drink or two (or ten) — I find the pub is usually the best place to meet locals and fellow travellers, to swap stories and tips and Email addresses. I’m typically a backpacker when it comes to exploring the world. Translation: I’m on a budget, and the cheaper the better, if you ask me.

Which is why I wish I’d come across this website sooner. It’s called My Open Bar and it gives you insider info as to where you can find free beer while travelling. And you don’t even have to crash any parties or weddings (though you can if you want to, I suppose) — the listings are for actual restaurants and bars offering drink specials.

Right now, they only have listings for NYC, San Francisco, LA and Chicago, but Boston and Washington DC are slated to go live soon. I hope they do ones for cities in Europe too — London particularly, where finding a cheap (or free) drink can be a bit difficult.

(via Fly Away Cafe)

Which Country Drinks the Most?

by Justin Glow on

The Economist released a study on which countries drink the most, and guess which came in first? Luxembourg, the tiny, landlocked country nestled between France, Belgium and Germany. But why Luxembourg? “One explanation is that the duty on alcohol is relatively cheap in the tiny nation, encouraging booze tourism from its more heavily taxed neighbours.” There’s no explanation for Ireland being second, however. I guess they just drink a lot.

  1. Luxembourg
  2. Ireland
  3. Hungary
  4. Moldova
  5. Czech Republic

To see the rest of the list, visit The Economist. Related: Which country smokes the most?

Pilot, Accused of Drinking, Just on Diet

by Willy Volk on

Last month, a pilot for Virgin Atlantic was accused by a colleague of being drunk while on the flight deck of an Airbus A340-600. Police boarded the plane and removed the pilot immediately. Since then, the pilot has been cleared of any wrong-doing, because at the time of the incident, he was on a low-carb diet.

Evidently, people on low-carb diets have smelly breath — thanks to ketosis — and the odor is what tipped off the “nosey” airport worker. Virgin released an announcement today claiming, “Subsequent blood tests later confirmed that the amount of alcohol in his blood was the equivalent to that of a non-drinker.”

Moral of the story: just because your pilot smells like booze and there are bottles littering the flight deck, that doesn’t mean he’s been drinking. His weight-loss program may just include some intensive recycling. But still…g’head and ask him if he’s okay to fly.

Ireland Best at Binge-Drinking

by Iva Skoch on

Ouch! Just a few days before celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day, the EU has announced the results of a survey exploring attitudes to alcohol in the EU.

Here are the top six binge-drinking (drinks five or more drinks in one session) countries:

  • Ireland 34%
  • Finland 27%
  • UK 24%
  • Denmark 23%
  • Portugal 4%
  • Italy & Greece 2%

Surprisingly, no Eastern European countries scored high. Probably because binge-drinking is different from keeping oneself moderately drunk at all times?