Bad buzz: blocking alcohol inhalers.
THE EUROPEAN fad of inhaling liquor vapor through a contraption known as AWOL (for Alcohol Without Liquid) hasn't exactly taken the U.S. by storm. But AWOL's absence has not stopped legislators from trying to ban it. "It's not something i wanted to see proliferate throughout the state,"...

Tea with God: Supreme Court ponders legality of church's ritual use of hallucinogenic sacrament.
Jeffrey Bronfman was drawn to Brazil's rain forests because of his commitment to ecological preservation. But on a 1990 trip to help form an environmental association, Bronfman discovered a religion that sparked a spiritual side of his life he had never known. The faith is called O...

Great scotch! A dram of 50-year-old Macallan single-malt warms the coldest heart.
The item: The Macallan limited-edition 50-year-old single-malt Scotch whiskey, distilled in the Speyside region of the Scottish Highlands and bottled in a Lalique crystal decanter. This semicentennial vintage, just released in January, boasts rich, complex flavors--dark prunes, chocolate, maraschino cherries, cumin, cardamom--and a lingering finish of sherry, oak and...

Toasting Brazil's humble spirit: long a symbol of national culture and pride, cachaca is gaining new popularity as a beverage that appeals across social classes at home and abroad.
As Anibal Luiz Gama presses the halved coconut shell to his lips, his nose captures the aroma of the crystalline liquid that swirls inside. Tanned and shirtless, Gama has a simple daily routine that takes place in a setting in the Brazilian countryside that's changed little in hundreds of...

Especies forestales usadas en la produccion de Cocuy Pecayero en el Estado Falcon, Venezuela.
RESUMEN La Parroquia Pecaya está ubicada en Venezuela entre 10[grados] 35' y 11[grados] 10' de latitud Norte y 69[grados] 35' y 70[grados] 5' de longitud Oeste. El Agave cocui Trel., es la materia prima de la producción del licor Cocuy Pecayero, se calculó una extracción anual de...

Annie Pootoogook wins Sobey award.
At a ceremony held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in early November, Cape Dorset artist Annie Pootoogook received the 2006 Sobey Art Award, presented by ScotiaBank. The $50 000 award, established by the Sobey Art Foundation in 2002, has quickly become Canada's premier award for young artists....

Booze: A Distilled History.
Craig Heron. Booze: A Distilled History. Toronto: Between the Lines Press, 2003. xiii + 494 pp. $29.95 paper. Craig Heron has undertaken an ambitious task in Booze: A Distilled History, a narrative overview of the history of alcohol in Canada. The author admits that writing about "booze"...

Art of business: the Fleming Collection admirably defies fashion to show how large corporations--like all patrons--collect according to their individual character.
Rembrandt's Night Watch is exceptional for a group portrait in several ways. As well as the variety of the figures and its audacious colouring, it is also a corporate commission by Amsterdam's militia: a more accurate title would be The Company of Frans Banning Cocq Preparing to March Out....

John Barleycorn Must Die.
John Barleycorn Must Die Ben F. Johnson III The University of Arkansas Press McIlroy House, 201 Ozark Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72701 1557287872 $19.95 1-800-626-0090 www.uapress.com John Barleycorn Must Die: The War Against Drink In Arkansas by Ben Johnson III...

Sugar sector opens a bit to foreigners.
Despite objections from Fidel Castro, Cuba's sugar industry is slowly opening to foreign investment, after more than 10 years of postponements and delays. The decision to invite foreign firms to bid on sugar-related projects was announced in early June during the VIII International Congress on Sugar and...