Stang

There is evidence that Adolph Hitler was a drug addict. Look up "High Hitler" on YouTube it's interesting. He was also a vegetarian from what I understand....so better watch out for those Brussel Sprout eating maniacs! He was known as a dog lover.....hmmm...me to. I don't think I'll roll across Europe leveling everything in my path.
You're correct Stalin and Mao Zedung were even worse mass murders than Hitler. My personal opinion he's probably an alcoholic himself. I do know one thing though. Other people are going to drink and I don't care.

oakwood

I've heard of The Telegraph, but I'm in the US and don't know if it is considered a serious/real newspaper. I do appreciate British humor.

Anyway, my first thoughts were that this guy is a product of his environment/culture and that, generally, this is pure BS and denial.

Alcoholic? I don't know, but it seems way too close for comfort to me. Let's check back in with him in about...say...eight years?

lillyknitting

He obviously can't "leave it at that" though, because of the states he wakes up in the morning. They say if one cannot give it up, even for a while, without his impending terror, then he most certainly has a problem.

lillyknitting

If he does make it to the end of Jan what the hell difference will it make anyway, what about the other 11 months of the year. It's a bit like a smokes giving up fags for a day!!!! Every NY the papers are full of these articles and they just scratch the surface of the seriousness of it all.

tomsteve

this is what caught my eye:
" But I don’t understand how anyone can go out to a decent restaurant and not have a few drinks over lunch"

youbetcha

Typical stuff. He gives that bottle a lot of power. There's peace, personality, generosity, recreation etc. all in that bottle, basically it becomes the H.P. It took me a while to shed all those messages related to alcohol and manhood, alcohol and relaxation, alcohol and trust(don't trust a man who doesn't drink etc). Today I know that was all B.S.

pkrma

I read the article and I enjoyed it, it made me laugh. I wouldn't take any of what he says in there too seriously. It's all comic hyberbole. My favorite quote from it:

"One of the greatest organisations of the last half century has been the Campaign for Real Ale, and I don’t think that its achievements in improving our lives have ever been adequately acknowledged."

To me that's funny, even though of course it's not true. Comparing Hitler to Churchill on the basis of their drinking, he's not being serious. Calling teetotallers "dangerous and untrustworthy" because we are healthier and have more energy than drinkers? Definitely a joke, self deprecating, and it made me laugh.

According to his own description of his drinking patterns, he wouldn't fit my definition of alcoholic. The drinking doesn't seem to disrupt his life in any way. He says it makes him feel happy, then sleepy when he's had enough, nothing wrong with those symptoms. The only negative I see to his style of drinking is the long term health consequences, but there are a lot of behaviors that have long term health consequences, like eating red meat, I'm not gonna judge people for that.

MattyBoy

I find this article highlights the sheer inconsistency and hypocrisy of people's relationship with alcohol in this country. I had a major drinking problem IF I drank, but now I have been sober for a while and the thought of sobriety does NOT fill me with terror but joy. The person in the article may not have drunk like me but is certainly more dependant on it psycologically than I ever was if that makes sense. There's a good song lyric, can't remember who it's by which says "they'll make you feel excluded if you don't drink a little, but drink too much and expect to be belittled". So true. If you don't drink in uk you're a social weirdo but if you're an alcoholic people think you're insane and mentally unstable. Madness.

nigey1

I used sober months "dry July" and "sober October" to help give me test runs at Sobriety and excuses amongst my co drinkers. I think its a good idea even if it wakes one person up to the positives of not drinking.

gaffo

I used to take a month off once a year. I suffer from depression and I hate Xmas so it was usually December. Throughout my drinking career I would see heavy drinking friends take time off, the AFC (alcohol free challenge). Taking a measured month off was horrible torture to me. It really made me dread sobriety. I was just punishing myself for being a drunk. My drunk buddies still think it was some mighty feat of strength but it made me feel weak. I've heard that 90 days is better for self assessment but by the time I made it that far the idea of ever having to repeat it after picking up the bottle again was unthinkable.

The ideas that drinking puts into one's brain are insidious. I especially love the part about people being boring without drink. If you hang out with boring drunks that may be true but once you weed those gas bags out the conversation gets much better, at least less repetitive. Or the part about not being able to eat a good meal without drinking. I still miss a good glass of wine but taking the power drinking out of the restaurant experience has been unexpectedly AWESOME. The food tastes better and I can afford a lot more of it. And process it like a normal person.