Since the days of Alexander the Great, binge drinking has been a very popular past time - leading to him apparently killing a friend and burning down Persepolis while drunk.

Those are some Great shoes to fill.

Yet, governments, schools and the media have repeatedly tried to teach us of binge drinking's dangers. 

Dartmouth University has taken the lead, instigating a new nationwide policy to curb heavy drinking by their students.

Pour me another glass.

Binge drinking is defined as "the consumption of five or more drinks in a row by men — or four or more drinks in a row by women — at least once in the previous 2 weeks. Heavy binge drinking includes three or more such episodes in 2 weeks."

Seems I don't know anyone who isn't a heavy binge drinker.

Do you think this definition should be changed or should we change people's attitudes? Or should you follow HPD's no fools guide to drinking a lot but not dying?  . . read more

Afghanistan was supposed to be "the Good War". Originally, 95% of the American people supported the invasion as the proper response to the attacks of September 11. Liberals and conservatives alike joined the rush to war. The world needed to see America's iron-fisted wrath. It was "payback time". Tariq Ali called it, "A crude war of revenge". He was right. No one talks about caves anymore - or smoke. The pre-war zeal is gone. Vanished. The "hearts and minds" campaign is lost, too.

"The American war on terror is a mockery and so is the U.S. support of the present government in Afghanistan which is dominated by Northern Alliance terrorists," says Malalai Joya. "Far more civilians have been killed by the U.S. military in Afghanistan than were killed in the U.S. in the tragedy of September 11. More Afghan civilians have been killed by the U.S. than were ever killed by theTaliban... The U.S. should withdraw as soon as possible. We need liberation not occupation."

The Bush administration has reneged on every commitment it made to the Afghan people. There was never any attempt to provide security beyond the capital. Never. The U.S. handed over the countryside to the warlords who run their fiefdoms like Mafia Dons. There's no freedom. There's no safety. There's no rule of law. It's all a fabrication - another made-for-TV invasion that's 99% fiction. [More] . . read more

This is extraordinary, as a country that has been constantly criticised for laying dormant on the terrorist issue and providing a safe haven across its borders has sprung to life. Pitting 30,000 troops in a widespread cleanup operation.

In response there has been a hail of shootings, car bombs and suicide bombings by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Unmanned U.S drones have launched strikes on bunkers and compounds, recently in Bajaur. Strongholds haven been taken over. On the other side the Taliban claim to be shooting down helicopters. Schools have been closed down, people fleeing their homes. Yeah, this really is war.

Senator John Kerry (chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) and General Petraeus have both met Pakistani officials, the U.S getting involved in what could be crucial for their own front in Afghanistan.

Keep watching, because this is exactly what the West has wanted Pakistan to do for years. This will also end up being one of the bloodiest offences in recent memory.

Let’s hope it’s worth it. All one can say right now is, come on Pakistan. I’m sure even India believes in you.  . . read more

Virginia Trioli fiddles while Rome burns.  . . read more

In Australia there will soon be a parliamentary debate into the war in Afghanistan; the idea of which in my mind (and in those who called for the debate) is to examine the morality, ethics and practicalities of the war and make an informed decision whether it's worthwhile.   . . read more

Whether you think Bradley Manning- the man suspected of releasing 'Collateral murder' and 260,000 embassy cables to WikiLeaks- is a hero or not, there is one thing I'm still a little hazy on.

How does a 23 year old Private who is working as a security analyst at the Pentagon have access to all those files and how was he able to leave the building after either sending them or saving them to a portable drive?

I know it's the fault of Hollywood but I would have assumed that if someone had have hit ctrl + S while looking at 260,000 secret documents that some sort of alarm would have rung out in some higher-up's office and CIA agents would have been standing over Manning's desk with guns in arms. 

Apparently Intelligence is a name with no apparent connection to its meaning. 

   . . read more

Dick Cheney - the former U.S Vice-President - has warned Barack Obama against withdrawing from Afghanistan, saying it would create quite a mess. 

He said in an interview with "Fox News" that "I'm not sure that's wise at all."

Hard to take him too seriously.

This is a man who has advocated torture (which wasn't used to catch Osama) so we know he likes to play it a bit rough. 

I suppose maybe we should keep 'em in and consider Dick's idea - the withdrawal method has been out of vogue for decades.

Do you think the U.S should get out of Afghanistan now that Osama is dead? Is his death part of the equation? Tell us and remember...Disqus! . . read more

Despite what the majority of the western media tells its readers and viewers, there is more to the Afghani resistance than the Taliban. In fact, according to a recent report in the US News and World Report, U.S. forces are facing an increasingly complex enemy here composed of Taliban fighters and powerful warlords who were once on the payroll of the CIA. As a military official stated in the aforementioned article "You could almost describe the insurgency as having two branches. It's the Taliban in the south and a 'rainbow coalition' in the east." Add to this the various armed drug traders and their backers and you have a mix at least as volatile as that in Iraq during its worst periods over the last five years...

This is not the "good" war. It is just as wrong as the U.S. adventure in Iraq. Likewise, it can not be won, no matter what the politicians and the generals say. The government put in Kabul by Washington is comparable to a new branch head of a multinational corporation. Its power is dependent on the whim of corporate headquarters and will never garner the support of those not on its payroll. [More]

Many a crime he’s turned a blind eye to, many a treaty he’s blatantly thwarted. He spurned the UN to appease a mad President, our military tried to keep Abu Ghraib secret. Neither torture, rendition or the slayings of civilians has copped a rebuke from the saviour of Oz. Check the reports of Oxfam and Amnesty – descriptions of hell. Dirty water spreads cholera. Black Water spreads death. Bush spreads propaganda. Soldiers admit “the entire war is an atrocity”. Howard says it is “just”, but history will not absolve him, and he knows it. What becomes apparent in Iraq – once you peer beyond the confines of Australian media – is a slow motion genocide. This is a war crime. Key perpetrators will be brought to account.

Out of office, Howard becomes vulnerable. Major figures are positioning themselves to be witnesses for the prosecution. Today, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq called the handling of the war “incompetent” and said those responsible for its “catastrophic failure”, must be held to account. Ominously, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez described the occupation as a “nightmare with no end in sight.” One day, John Howard’s nightmare will begin.

More on Iraq's humanitarian challenge . . read more