Free Republic

Hartford police officers recovered about 400 illegally acquired firearms last year. Those weapons didn't pop up out of thin air. People who owned or had access to legal firearms either lost them or sold them to convicted criminals, the mentally ill and other people who were unauthorized to own guns. Many violent urban crimes and college campus shootings could be prevented if Congress would pass laws to impose foolproof methods of stopping legal guns from getting into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, efforts to pass such laws are often thwarted by the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby on grounds that...

The National Symposium on Handgun Violence was held at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, on April 9, 2008. Ten of the leading gun-control advocates in the nation were scheduled for a coordinated review of “reasonable” limits on the right to keep and bear arms, led by Jim Brady himself, along with David Hemenway of Harvard and a host of others. News of the event and its surprise ending (covered at the end of this report) has not made national headlines. A courageous decision was made to provide “balance,” which meant the organizers eventually found me (thanks to a referral from Alan...

Against the backdrop of Easter, Bishop Arthur Tafoya is asking regional Catholics to be forgiving toward the three young Mormon missionaries who took part in mocking the All Saints Chapel and the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs in San Luis. Tafoya, bishop of the Pueblo diocese, has issued an Easter letter in response to the recently discovered photos from 2006 in which three young Mormon men were shown acting very disrespectfully at the Shrine of Mexican Martyrs and in the All Saints Chapel. In one photo, for example, a young man is shown handling the broken head of a statue...

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. I wish I could be proud of a nation that has a sitting president that has been responsible for killing almost a million innocent Iraqi people in a misadventure that was based on lies and is for profit.I sit here behind my computer screen in solidarity with Rev. Wright. Not only do I not denounce him, but I support him in telling the truth"

From March 13-16, 2008, members of the antiwar group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will gather in Washington, DC to “testify” against the US military at a protest event called Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan. The name “Winter Soldier” is taken from the infamous 1971 event at which members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) related gruesome stories of crimes they claimed to have participated in or witnessed. The VVAW insisted that rape, torture and murder were standard practices for the US military in Vietnam. Organizers of the new IVAW tribunal, which is supported by several former...

Soros, 77, provided almost half the nearly $100,000 cost of the research, which appeared in The Lancet, the medical journal. Its claim was 10 times higher than consensus estimates of the number of war dead.

You know those self-righteous, college-going hippies who smugly inform you that they purchase Noam Chomsky books and Che Guevara T-shirts as a form of rebellion against commerce and American consumption? This video provides some insight into that mentality.

Ron Mallia wants to build eight apartments and condominiums on an empty parking lot next to his Mission District auto shop and rent some of the apartments to his mechanics. ..."They don't want any development at all in the Mission because any development makes the area better. ... They don't want that because they believe that by improving the area, the cost of housing might go up," said Mallia, who has owned gas stations and car repair shops in the Mission for 25 years. ...More than 50 pending projects were halted in April 2006, when the Anti-Displacement Coalition persuaded the...

Years ago, eBay banned the sale of all complete firearms on its online auction and shopping website. However, they did continue to allow the sale of parts and many accessories. This week, a spokesman for eBay announced that the company would ban the sale of all gun-and-ammunition-related parts and components. The ban is set to begin in mid-August, when eBay will prohibit the listing of “any firearm part that is required for the firing of a gun.” This prohibition will include, according to eBay, “bullet tips, brass casings and shells, barrels, slides, cylinders, magazines, firing pins, trigger assemblies, etc.” In...

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced Monday she is giving up her role as the "face" of the American anti-war movement. Sheehan, 49, of Vacaville, Calif., lost her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq on April 4, 2004. She has since emerged as one of the most vocal and high-profile opponents of the war, drawing international attention nearly two years ago when she camped outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch to protest the war. "I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try...

WASHINGTON - Young adults beginning treatment with antidepressants should be warned about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, federal health officials said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration proposed labeling changes that would expand a warning now on the antidepressants. The current language applies only to children and adolescents. The expanded warning would apply to adults 18-24 during the first month or two of treatment with the drugs, the FDA said. The proposed labeling changes also would note that studies have not shown this increased risk in adults older than 24, and that adults 65 and older taking...

VICENZA, Italy (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Italians under heavy police guard marched through the city of Vicenza on Saturday to protest at the expansion of a U.S. military base that has divided the center-left government. Leftists who last year voted for Prime Minister Romano Prodi, an Iraq war opponent, turned out in droves to decry his approval for U.S. plans to expand the base in Vicenza, home of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Pacifists waved rainbow-striped peace banners while some protesters carried anti-American slogans like "Yankees go Home" as they marched through the city and gathered in a main...

Space experts have confirmed a report that China successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon last week, firing the weapon to destroy one of its own old satellites. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.The report of a new Chinese space weapon first appeared in the publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. And on Tuesday the director of the private Center for Defense Information, space security expert Theresa Hitchens, said she and other specialists have been able to confirm it. "There has been some confirmation through the tracking data of the satellite that's been released by the U.S. Air Force. And...

Here's a Christmas alert!! A fairly new Restaurant named "BJ's Brew house" ( www.bjsbrewhouse.com ) is referring all Christmas stuff as "Holiday." IE. "Have your HOLIDAY party here!" I know this because I work for the company as was disgusted to find out about this.. Please inform Corporate that you will not be dining at ANY of the restaurants until they decide to include the word "Christmas". they can be reached at the address above.. and corporate DOES look at every email. BJ'S is still a fairly small Corporation ( NYSE BJRI) with stores in Ca, OR, WA, NV, TX,...

Radio Legend Lets Anti-Hunting Colors Fly High- (11/17) National Join our e-mail alert list One of America’s most well-known radio commentators earlier this week showed his anti-hunting colors in a nationally broadcast message. On Nov. 13, syndicated broadcaster Paul Harvey’s noon report announced how ‘thankful’ Michigan doves are that voters rejected the state’s dove hunting initiative. He proudly rattled off a number of other ballot issue campaigns to which the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has contributed in recent years, including efforts to ban trapping and bear hunting. Harvey concluded by praising the organization’s new-found political prowess, saying...

Good Christians don’t always turn the other cheek, as a holly, jolly insurgency called the Committee to Save Christmas is about to show corporate America. Incensed by the neutralization of Dec. 25 to bland terms like “holiday,” Lynnfield brothers Robert and Kevin Marley are planning pickets in front of malls and any other store that refuses to display or utter the words “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending non-Christian shoppers. The brothers are putting together a Web site to recruit supporters with an eye toward launching their boycott on Nov. 24 - the day after Thanksgiving. “We’re taking back Christmas,”...

Amish ShootingRest in Peace Girls! It sounds like an Effexor Case... But could have been Zoloft: From Ann Blake Tracy: There were MANY clues in this case! This is the list I sent to the reporters covering this case: You have a normal, average guy who is even a good husband and father, who, out of the blue, goes on a shooting rampage.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health and Saint Mary's Health Care will require all their employees to not use tobacco at any time during their work shift beginning January 1. The staffs of both hospitals will need to arrive without smelling of smoke, and they can't use any tobacco products until they leave hospital property after their shift. Metro Health is also joining in the Smoke-Free Work Day Every Day campaign. In 2003, the Grand Rapids hospitals became the first in the country to jointly declare their hospital campuses smoke-free. Today, more than 30 Michigan hospitals have smoke-free campuses. This...

SEATTLE -- Non-tribal casinos have already lost tens of millions of dollars because of Washington’s new indoor smoking ban. A new financial study, conducted by our own KIRO Team 7 Investigators, discovers taxpayers could loose millions as well. Card-rooms, charity bingo halls, and some bars and restaurants are required to report financial information to the state every year. The state hasn't had a chance to look at the figures since the smoking ban took effect. I have. It looks like "no smoking" means economic devastation for the non-tribal gaming industry. If there was ever any doubt that gamblers are also...

Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago). When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political...

Delaware County's ban on smoking in most work places has become a problem for some nursing homes, which are both work places for employees and homes for the residents. The smoking ordinance does not prevent people from smoking in their homes, but it does ban smoking in most public buildings and work spaces. If a nursing home bans smoking, they could lose federal funding for failing to comply with regulations, but if they allow smoking they could face fines or a lawsuit from the county health department, officials said. Federal regulations state that if a nursing home changes its...

Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday. Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect. But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete...

A private smokers club in Smiths Falls challenged Ontario's indoor smoking ban with its grand opening Friday — and Ontario officials did not brave the fumes to attend. Instead, the club's founder was charged under the province's Smoke-Free Ontario act the day before it opened. Since Ontario's indoor workplace and public smoking ban went into effect, ashtrays and cigars have been illegal in bars. The grand opening of Do' Little's pub as a club for members of a private smokers association took place at noon at the Comfort Inn on Centre Street in Smiths Falls, about 65 kilometres south of...

Park Ridge aldermen will resume discussion of the city's public smoking ban, following complaints from three restaurant owners that their businesses have been adversely affected by it.The restaurant owners spoke briefly to the City Council Monday night, prompting Mayor Howard Frimark to ask the aldermen if the smoking ban should be brought back before the Procedures and Regulations Committee. Alderman Jeannie Markech agreed that it should, and made a motion for the discussion. Eight aldermen voted in favor of the issue going back to committee and five voted against. One alderman was absent.The next meeting of the Procedures and Regulations...

There have been a bunch of books about the mistakes made after the American invasion of Baghdad, George Packer's Assassin's Gate and Thomas Ricks' Fiasco being the two best in my opinion.Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's effort. He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.I haven't read the book, but the excerpt is as damning as anything could be. It outlines how people were recruited to serve in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the group that ran...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...

Robin Brayman, a 44-year-old Greenfield resident, thought she had saved quite a bit of money buying cigarettes online, until she received a bill from the state demanding more than $2,000 in unpaid sales and cigarette taxes. "I had no idea. When I first started buying, the Web site said the cigarettes were tax-free, duty-free. You assumed you didn't have to pay anything," Brayman said. Brayman, like many other smokers, purchases cigarettes online because they are offered at a deep discount. A carton of Marlboro Full Flavor 100s costs $29.45 plus shipping from BuyCheapCigarettes.com, the site Brayman patronized. The same...

ROCKTON -- Rockton leaders snuff out an idea to ban smoking at public places. Tuesday night at their meeting, a motion to draft an ordinance banning smoking in public places failed to get anywhere. Rockton Village Trustee Dennis Meade put the issue before board members, but no one seconded the motion. The proposal would've kept people from lighting up on streets, sidewalks, parks and in businesses. Several community members including business owners spoke out at the meeting against a ban saying it would hurt their business. Others claimed it a ban would go against their rights. One person at...

The mother of deceased Ground Zero worker James Zadroga described Mayor Bloomberg as a "cold, heartless person" for opposing a series of new laws that address the health battles of 9/11 rescuers."I don't think he realizes how the common people live - maybe for one month he should try and live on $500 a week," Linda Zadroga wrote in a letter to the Daily News. "But when [you're] a billionaire, you have no concept of the so-called middle class. Well, one day he may have some tragedy in his family he will need to deal with, and then maybe...

Bitter philosophical disagreements between companies that accept advertising and messages from anti-hunting groups, while refusing pro-hunting messages, are nothing new in the outdoors. But a refusal to create a special postage stamp referencing sportsmen as conservationists by ZAZZLE.com, an "official licensed vendor" for the U.S. Postal Service, has led to the filing of a pair of complaints with United States Postmaster General John Potter. An original complaint, field August 11 by REACT Consulting Group of Olympia, Washington, centers on ZAZZLE's rejection of a stamp bearing the legend "Sportsmen - America's First Conservationists" and the headline "$1.7 Billion for Conservation Annually"...

NON-SMOKERS are being banned from drinking in outdoor smoking areas in pubs and clubs under draconian council rules. Some councils are forcing licensed venues to hire bouncers to enforce the bans, costing tens of thousands of dollars a year, while preventing non-smokers from using outdoor areas. It has raised concerns about discrimination against non-smokers and suggestions that councils are going beyond the State Government's legislation and imposing their own rules. The Daily Telegraph has learned that at least two councils – Fairfield and North Sydney – have already employed the tactic when approving development applications from premises wishing to...

July 17, 2006 The Honorable Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State of the United States of America U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Madam: We, the undersigned, are the citizens of Vietnam who, on April 8, 2006, have proclaimed the Manifesto 2006 which calls for democracy and freedom in Vietnam. We call ourselves Group 8406. According to the information that we received from Vietnam’s Ministry of External Affairs and the U.S. Department of States, we understand that you’ll be visiting Vietnam by the end of this month. We will be happy to welcome you here...

FMA Posted by ro @ 8:59 pm in Uncategorized I am sure the troops in Iraq, the forgotten victims of Katrina, the people being gauged at the gas pumps are grateful that President Bush is focusing on the central issue facing our nation: how to bar gay Americans from someday maybe getting the right to obtain a civil marriage license. Bush first announced Federal Marriage Amendment in feb 2004 – since that day 1,943 American soldiers were killed in Iraq. Total dead - 2476 Total wounded - 15,271 Fool me once… ------------------- fonda Posted by ro @ 11:57 pm in...

One of the most recognizable women of our time, Jane Fonda—actress, activist, feminist, workout guru, entrepreneur, and philanthropist—examines her “life so far”. As Fonda relates her story, what emerges is a full portrait that transcends the many labels that have been used to define her as well as a cultural history of our nation’s last forty years as her life has woven through our times. “Coming to see my various individual struggles within a broader societal context enabled me to understand that much of my journey was a universal one for women. …. I’m proof that you teach what you...

The sponsor of an effort to honor Jane Fonda in the Georgia state Senate withdrew her resolution Thursday, after a rocky reception from some colleagues and a phone call from the actress' office. Sen. Steen Miles, D-Decatur, said a representative for Fonda, who is out of the country, asked that she avoid the controversy the effort had stirred. "This, ladies and gentlemen, should not be occupying our time," said Miles. The resolution cites the Atlanta resident's work as founder of the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, donations to Atlanta-area universities and charities and role as goodwill ambassador with the...

Senator Susan Collins introduced legislation on Aug. 3 to help crack down on illegal sales of tobacco to children by banning the shipment of cigarettes and other tobacco products through the U.S. mail. Specifically, the bill would add cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to the U.S. Postal Service's list of restricted, non-mailable products. A first violation of mailing such a product would be liable for a civil penalty of up to $5,000 or 10 times the estimated retail value of the tobacco products, including all federal, state, and local taxes, whichever is highest. Civil penalties of up to $100,000 would...

An attendee of the “Stop the Terror Rally” sponsored by the Council for America-Islamic Relations – Ohio held at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Columbus, Ohio, on Friday July 28 says she was twice assaulted by CAIR’s National Vice-Chairman, Dr. Ahmad Al-Akhras, when she asked too many questions about the organization’s apparent support for Hezbollah terrorists. Fortunately, she caught it all on tape and has put the video online so the public can see the reaction of one of CAIR’s top officials. The alleged assault victim, who chooses to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, but who posts under her...

A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED - COULD THIS BE TRUE? This is for all the kids born in the 70's who do not remember, and didn't have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear. Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the "100 Women of the Century." BY BARBRA WALTERS Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Jane Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam. The first part of this is from...

She really was a traitor A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA This is for all the kids born in the 70's who do not remember, and didn't have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers and older brothers and sisters had to bear. Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the "100 Women of the Century" BY BARBRA WALTERS Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam. The first...

WASHINGTON -- Quietly leaving his post as surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona said he would judge himself successful if he had persuaded one student to make good health choices or one mother to stop smoking. Carmona's report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of his tenure as the nation's 17th surgeon general.

The issue is no longer just about smoking. Passing a state law outlawing smoking in most public places was, by this comparison, the easiest thing to do. The law was not required to address the inevitable hardships such a bill was destined to inflict. There was clapping and backslapping on the floor of the state Senate the afternoon it passed there. But none of that really matters now, when the issue is one of how it impacts people's lives. They are men and women who once ran tiny, yet prosperous, packed-to- the-kegs establishments, who now tend mostly empty bars. The...

They're making one last attempt to force the City of Beaumont to continue to allow smoking in bars and restaurants. Opponents of a ban on smoking in public buildings say they don't have enough signatures right now, but they plan to work hard in the next 24 hours getting the support they need. Lee Melton/Comedy, Texas "I own a business and pay a lot of Taxes and now I can't smoke in my own building." Smoking ban opponents say they are not quitting when it comes to getting enough signatures on this petition. Lee Melton/Comedy, Texas "Four ladies on...

Revenue from video lottery terminals in New Brunswick declined last year, in part because of the province's ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation says.The lottery corportation's 2005-06 annual report shows that money generated by VLTs fell by almost $8 million, or six per cent, from the previous year.ALC spokesman Robert Bourgeois said a province-wide smoking ban imposed in October 2004 was one of the major reasons for the decline."There were other factors as well, such an increase in competition from unregulated internet sites," Bourgeois said Friday. "But definitely, the smoking ban would have been one of the factors."The...

Nearly 300 union workers will be laid off by Casino Windsor due to declining revenues caused by Ontario's new smoking ban, casino officials said Wednesday. The casino, which has nearly 4,000 employees, will lose 297 union workers over the next two weeks and immediately terminate 32 salaried employees, officials said, who also cited an unfavorable exchange rate and high gas prices for the decrease. The law, which went into effect May 31, bans smoking in all public facilities, including bingo halls, bars, restaurants, sporting venues, stores, office buildings and Casino Windsor. "This is a day that no one takes...

Poor Heather Crowe, the Ottawa waitress who recently died of lung cancer and had lent her persona to the anti-smoking lobby as the typical victim du jour. Crowe was said to be a "typical" restaurant worker who spent 40 years working in Ottawa restaurants, all the while breathing the second-hand smoke that’s said to have claimed her life.There are so many things wrong with Heather Crowe’s case that it begs for an official inquiry, but like all politically correct causes the anti-smoking lobby can do no wrong. Crowe, who really did die of lung cancer, was anything but a typical...

Concerned Women for America (CWA) says that if the Marriott hotels care so much about their customers, as indicated in their recent decision to ban smoking from hotel rooms, they should stop offering hard-core porn in their hotel rooms. “Creating a smoke-free environment demonstrates a new level of service and care for our guests and associates,” said J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International. “Our family of brands is united on this important health issue and we anticipate very positive customer feedback. … Demand for nonsmoking rooms continues to rise with new information from the...

Cops in North Platte won’t be busting anyone for exposing children to secondhand smoke in motor vehicles.Lincoln County Attorney Jeff Meyer says he personally doesn’t like the idea of smoking around children, but it is not barred by law and doesn’t qualify as child abuse. Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter sought the county attorney’s advice based on a recent national study, reporting on the danger of secondhand tobacco smoke. Gutschenritter wanted to know if police could ticket people, who smoke when children are in their vehicles, for child abuse. ”Generally, acts that are not specifically proscribed against by statute do not...

A conservative nonprofit organization called grassfire.org has put up a billboard on Tucson's Southside that says, "Stop the Invasion. Secure our borders." This billboard went up Friday and will be up for 30 days. You can see it from Interstate 10 at the 6th Avenue exit. Steve Elliott, president of grassfire.org says, "I think those six words express the sentiment of literally millions of people and I would say the vast majority of people in Tucson." Grassfire raised roughly $150,000 to put 12 of the billboards in 7 states. Elliott says the purpose is to educate. He says, "In fact,...

The Pennsylvania Restaurant Association has thrown its support behind a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, bars, casinos and private clubs. So why couldn't we find any local establishments who agree with them? Admittedly, we used a small sample, but when staff writer Jeff Pikulsky talked to owners of Mon Valley clubs and restaurants last week, he found angry opposition to the proposed ban. Monessen Elks Club Steward Marcy Zites estimated that 70 percent of her club patrons smoke and feared that a ban would be bad for business. Those sentiments were echoed at the Foster House in North...