Free Republic

Efforts to silence Rush Limbaugh are apparently having a significant impact on the talk radio business as a whole, including syndicated radio shows hosted by Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck. After provocative comments made about a female Georgetown law school student, Limbaugh's show has been targeted by liberal groups that have pressured more than two dozen advertisers to drop his program from their ad buys. Now, Rush's syndicator, Premiere Networks, is losing advertisers for other conservative programs it airs. According to an internal Premiere memorandum obtained by Radio-Info.com, the company says 98 advertisers no longer wanted to air...

All praise be to Allah! The federal government apparently has eradicated the illegal immigration that cripples America. It has eliminated the staggering unemployment that has brought so much misery to so many families. And, apparently, it has erased the suffocating debt and added enough spunk to the economy that it no longer needs all of those little tax dollars that small businesses provide. That is why the federal government has so much time these days for fine-tuning our society in ways that might seem frivolous if we didn’t have so much patience and extra money lying around. Just last week,...

DENVER — Starting Jan. 1, getting shark fins, caffeinated beer, cough syrup or a tan is going to be tougher than it was in 2011. The National Conference of State Legislatures issued Monday its annual list of laws set to take effect in 2012, and there was nothing but bad news for connoisseurs of shark-fin soup. Oregon and California passed laws prohibiting the sale, trade, or distribution of the fins, which are considered a delicacy in China. California also became the first state in the nation to require a prescription for obtaining any drug containing dextromethorphan, an ingredient found in...

First it banned the words, now the whole song. Tiny Goshen College in Indiana has banned the "The Star Spangled Banner: at all sporting events because the Mennonite school's president considers the National Anthem's words to be too violent. The 1,000-student school had already banned the words last year, but the band could still play the music for patriots in attendance. Now, the school has banned the song entirely, according to NBC Sports. The school’s board of directors told college President Jim Brenneman to “find an alternative to playing the National Anthem that fits with sports tradition, that honors country...

Within the last few years, we have been treated to attempts by government to control our food intake with regulatory “nudges” and legislative edicts. Sugar, salt, trans-fats, fats in general, fast foods, and school lunches are just a few ingredients and food types which have come under assault by sanctimonious busybodies seeking to dictate “healthy” eating to everyone.New York Times food writer  provides the latest in we-know-what’s-best-for-you babble. In a Times op-ed, Bittman complains, “WHAT will it take to get Americans to change our eating habits?”The question itself makes a fundamentally flawed assumption and exhibits arrogance. Why is it anyone’s...

In what critics call a classic case of the government working at cross purposes, Washington is forcing residents across the country to install mercury lighting inside their homes while phasing out mercury lighting outside homes to protect the environment. Yes, you read that right. In 2005, Congress passed a law banning mercury vapor streetlights – two years before it banned incandescent light bulbs in favor of mercury vapor compact florescent bulbs. Under the Energy Policy Act, signed by President Bush in August 2005, manufacturers cannot make or import ballasts for mercury vapor lights after Jan. 1, 2008. According to the...

One of the best parts of summertime used to be the plethora of summertime lemonade stands that would pop up in neighborhoods across the nation. A current trend even had several kind hearted children raising funds for a variety of causes from natural disasters to deadly diseases.Enter stage left, the villain of the tale, a bureaucrat with no soul, no heart, and clearly no brain. It happened in town after town, city after city as lemonade stand after lemonade stand was shut down. Why?Some bureaucrats claimed it was for a lack of a permit, other bureaucrats claimed it was a...

The establishment media faked crocodile tears when one Prince Harry wore a Nazi uniform. Apparently, only Hollywood actors can dress up as fascists for fun. Islamist-inspired fascism is another matter: a peaceful religious expression. Here in the real world, of course, appeasement policies are eroding our security – not fancy dress parties. Plus, there’s no free-market without security.Therefore, I say: Give us the right to ban burkas and (where reasonable) veils. There are clear cases of burka-wearing women smuggling in bombs to slaughter ladies, gentleman, and children. There are clear cases of cross-dressing men using burkas as escape costumes. A...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it plans to ban the sale of “the most toxic rat and mouse poisons, as well as most loose bait and pellet products” to residential customers. The goal is to better protect children, pets and wildlife. “These changes are essential to reduce the thousands of accidental exposures of children that occur every year from rat and mouse control products and also to protect household pets,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The EPA also will require that all rat and mouse poisons

Our government at work. A year-long sting operation came to an end this week. In that time, the government used fake names and surprise inspections all to nab the people at Rainbow Acres Farm in the D.C. area. The reason: they were selling milk. Unpasteurized milk, to be exact. Asked for comment, the government released this statement: “It is the FDA’s position that raw milk should never be consumed.” Therefore, the Amish farmers at Rainbow Acres had to be brought down. Asked for comment, one Washington resident stated, “I look at this as the FDA is in cahoots with the...

It was once a staple of public school cafeterias that blended the indulgent and the nutritious, satisfying parents and children both. But chocolate milk is uncontroversial no more. Dozens of districts have demanded reformulations. Others have banned it outright. At the center of these battles are complex public health calculations: Is it better to remove sugary chocolate flavorings at the risk that many students will skip milk altogether, missing out on crucial calcium and Vitamin D? Or should schools instead make tweaks — less fat, different sweeteners, fewer calories — that might salvage the benefits while while minimizing the downside?...

No Kindles in cafes? You’ve got to be kidding. This is an affront, not only to readers and gadget lovers, but also to the spirit of cafes! Many indie New York City cafes now heavily restrict, or ban outright, the use of Kindles, Nooks and iPads. Evidently, too many coffee shops in town have had their ambience wrecked when itinerant word processors with laptops turn the tables into office space. Sure, that phenomenon can be depressing — whether you’re a scornful lady who lunches or the nomadic freelancer who fields glares. And full-dress computers are perhaps too much personal furniture...

The party that ever has “Rights!” on its lips, the party with the mania about diversity, the party that is most anxious that religious fundamentalists will take over and impose their puritanical wills on the rest of us, the party whose members remind us constantly of the dangers of the government meddling in our personal lives has, in a fit holy self righteousness, taken away yet another right, decreased diversity, imposed its puritanical will on the rest of us, and has used the law to meddle in our personal lives once more. New York City Council Democrats have voted to...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Smokers have just one message to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council members: butt out of our business. “We’re outside. We should have freedom to smoke,” City Hall Park smoker Harvey Forbes told CBS 2’s Magee Hickey. By a vote of 36 to 11 on Wednesday the City Council approved a bill to ban smoking in all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas. “People who have made the decision not to smoke have civil liberties too and their health and their lives should not be negatively impacted because other people have decided to smoke,” Council Speaker...

Women soccer fans in Iran will have to stay home, out of sight and out of mind for the players, and for the male fans who watch the matches broadcast live in various locations. Iran has banned women – and families – from attending broadcasts of live soccer matches at public movie theaters. Women are already banned from attending men's soccer games at stadiums. According to the semi-official ILNA news agency, Islamic clerics and government officials said the presence of women at male sports events was not compatible with Islam.

Once again, we hear the old refrain that making it harder for law abiding citizens to purchase guns will make us safer. Following the January 8th shooting in Tucson, an understandable discomfort swept through the American populace. Jared Loughner had killed six people in cold blood, which means six families were irreversibly changed in an instant. Yet while the discomfort is understandable, many of the suggestions for how to prevent the re-occurrence of such a crime have not been.This is mainly because the majority of suggestions have included some mention of new gun control measures, whether they are tied to...

Video-sharing website YouTube shut down on Sunday the main account of the Palestinian Media Watch for posting the PA’s publicly-broadcast programs to the site, where others can see and become aware of the truth about them. PMW translates the Arabic broadcasts into English so that the truth about PA incitement can be publicized. YouTube was recently purchased by the giant Google Internet search engine company. The following video, titled "Hamas TV teaches kids to kill Jews", was one of the videos removed from YouTube for "violating Terms of Use". The reason given by YouTube for shutting down PMW’s main video...

Under a Dallas law enacted in 2008, businesses are prohibited from putting signs in the upper two-thirds of any window or glass door, and no more than 15 percent of any window or glass door may be covered by signs. The only way to comply with the new ordinance is by putting tiny signs at peoples feet, which is not an effective way to advertise. The law also bans signs that cover more than 25 percent of a buildings facade. Failure to take down the signs means you are at risk to be hit with a fine up to $2,000....

WASHINGTON — The smoking lamp is going out all across the Navy’s submarine fleet, where the mission to “run silent, run deep” now will be carried out by sailors ordered to run undersea operations without cigarettes, cigars or pipes. This is the latest front in the long war against tobacco declared by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their programs to help military personnel kick the smoking habit are intended to protect the health of the current force — and to save the government hundreds of millions of dollars a year in health care costs for those who...

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices rose on Tuesday, with the 30-year bond rising a full point, as Germany announced it would ban some short-selling activities and Wall Street stocks turned lower. Treasury yields hit session lows after Germany's Finance Ministry announced a ban on naked short-selling at major banks. The ban would include a prohibition against naked shorting of euro government bonds. For more, click on [ID:nBAT005467] Germany did not ban all short-selling of bonds, but by banning naked short-selling -- in which a position is taken on a bond without buying or borrowing the asset...

The biggest Swedish pension fund has barred Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems from its investment portfolios on ethical grounds, Israel Radio reported Monday. Following the lead of Norway's state oil fund, the Första AP-Fonden pension fund said it had banned investment in Elbit because the Israeli company had built and is operating a surveillance system for the much debated West Bank separation barrier. Critics of the controversial barrier argue that it is an illegal attempt to annex Palestinian land under the guise of security and that it severely restricts Palestinians who live nearby, particularly their ability to travel freely...

Bookmark and ShareShare Send Save Print [ Wednesday, 02 December 2009 ] State TV chief says it goes against sharia Iran bans make-up for women on TV The Islamic republic's state television has eight TV channels (File) The Islamic republic's state television has eight TV channels (File) TEHRAN (AFP) Women appearing in television programs will not be allowed to wear make-up because it is against Islamic law, or sharia, media on Wednesday quoted the head of Iran’s state television as saying. "Make-up by women during television programs is illegal and against Islamic sharia law ... There should not be a...

Has CNN banned talk radio show hosts from its on air programming? Such was reported by TVNewser a few hours ago (h/t Steve Malzberg): Exclusive: TVNewser has learned, and a CNN spokesperson confirms, that in his morning editorial meeting today, CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein asked his show producers to avoid booking talk radio hosts

MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow police will stop any attempts by organizers to hold an unauthorized gay parade due to take place in the Russian capital on May 16, a deputy head of the police public order department said Friday. Earlier gay parade organizers said they would still go ahead with plans for a "Slavic gay parade," involving not only Russian nationals but guests from Belarus as well. The organizers have also called on foreigners attending the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow to join them. "Police officers have clear instructions to prevent public order violations, including the...

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow has banned a gay parade planned to coincide with its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest because it will "destroy morals" in the capital, a spokesman for the city's mayor said Thursday. Gay rights activists have staged small unsanctioned parades in Moscow without government approval over the past few years. But they have faced arrests and severe beatings by anti-gay and neo-fascist groups. "The Moscow government is saying: Moscow has never had gay parades and it never will," said Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's spokesman, Sergei Tsoi. "Not only do they destroy morals within our society, but they...

A BRISBANE Islamic school has banned the national anthem at assemblies and sacked the teacher who asked for it to be played, The Courier-Mail can reveal. Australian International Islamic College teacher Pravin Chand was sacked in November, four months after his proposal for students to sing Advance Australia Fair was ruled to be against the "Islamic view and ethos". A memo sent to teachers at the Durack school in July and obtained by The Courier-Mail, also said "the singing of the anthem will be put on hold".

The Service Employees International Union has imposed a lifetime ban on the former president of its largest California local and ordered him to repay more than $1 million that it says he misappropriated from the labor organization. SEIU President Andy Stern announced the actions today after reviewing the findings of an internal probe of Tyrone Freeman's spending practices as head of the 160,000-member United Long-Term Care Workers and a 30,000-member affiliated chapter that represent low-wage caregivers. "It is tragic and unconscionable that a young leader with such great potential would violate not only the constitution of the international union, but...

Academic Nanny State by Angela Logomasini, Ph.D. Both universities and elementary schools are going after bottled water, as if that were the greatest threat facing students today! At the grade and high school levels, officials are removing bottled water from vending machines and cafeterias, leading students toward drinks with calories. Of course these are fine in moderation, but why deny a healthy option like water? Students supposedly would drink from water fountains, which as I point out on enjoybottledwater.org are not always sanitary or appetizing. A school in Madison, Connecticut is learning the hard way. It has recently been revealed...

There is no one more persistent than a liberal with a bad idea. He knows his intellectual and moral superiority make him infallible, so he easily convinces himself there is nothing wrong with his idea; it is the world that is mistaken Even the facts cannot be the facts when they disagree with his idea. So he forges ahead against all reason, attempting to remake the world until it accepts he was correct all along. Which brings me to the subject of gun bans. As useless as bans have proven, liberal politicians will raise the subject over and over. Thankfully...

US soldiers are now confiscating privately-owned firearms in Baghdad

The Netherlands will ban Iranian students from studying nuclear technology, a source of tension between Iran and world powers, at its universities, the government said Friday. "It is forbidden... to grant Iranian nationals access to special training or teaching that could contribute to nuclear proliferation activities in Iran and the development of systems for transmitting nuclear arms," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Some powers including the United States suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at producing energy to serve a growing population. Friday's measure adds to a Dutch...

Wal-Mart bans bulk sales of rice By Our Foreign Staff Last Updated: 2:42am BST 24/04/2008 The American supermarket chain Wal-Mart yesterday banned bulk sales of rice at its cash-and-carry businesses, as the global food shortage and soaring price of food began to make an impact in the largest consumer nation. The company's bulk supply division, Sam's Club, announced that it would sell a maximum of four bags of rice to each customer, after Costco, a rival chain, said it would place caps on some rice and flour sales in California. The limits were imposed after some customers, apparently alarmed by...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian authorities banned five Web sites that comment on current events for "poisoning" public opinion ahead of the crucial mid-March parliamentary elections, the state radio reported on Thursday. The move came two days after Iran's hard-line constitutional watchdog reinstated more than 280 candidates, including 70 reformists, for the polls. Reformists have complained the reversal was insufficient to ensure a fair election. In the past, the authorities have occasionally closed down some of the hundreds of private Web sites that comment on Iranian news and politics. But this was the first time they closed down five at once...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The quest for thicker lashes and defined eyes should get safer in Minnesota on Jan. 1, when a state law banning mercury from mascara, eye liners and skin-lightening creams takes effect. Minnesota apparently is the first state in the nation to ban intentionally added mercury in cosmetics, giving it a tougher standard than the federal government. Retailers who knowingly sell mercury-containing cosmetics in Minnesota could face fines of as much as $700. Penalties could reach $10,000 for manufacturers who fail to disclose mercury on product labels, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. "Mercury does cause...

Judge bans moment of silence in suburban districtBy Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter 6:15 PM CST, November 14, 2007 A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction barring a suburban school district from implementing the state's new law mandating a moment of silence at the start of classes, calling the statute too vague and "likely unconstitutional." U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman made the decision at a hearing on a lawsuit brought by local atheist activist Rob Sherman over issues related to the separation of church and state. Sherman sued Township High School District 214, in which his daughter is...

China bans "sexual sounds" on airwavesWed Sep 26, 2007 11:31am EDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China has banned "sexually provocative sounds" on television and pulled the plug on a show reconstructing infamous crimes by women ahead of a major Communist Party meeting next month. The order, issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, is the latest in a raft of measures which have included axing reality shows featuring sex changes and plastic surgery and banning talent contests during prime-time. "Sexually suggestive advertisements and scenes showing how women are influenced into a life of crime are detrimental to society,"...

A Fresno elementary school became the latest to ban cupcakes and other sugary treats in favor of healthier snacks this week. School officials at Roosevelt Elementary School say the move is part of a districtwide initiative to improve student nutrition. As part of the effort, the school substituted its "Donuts with Dad" event scheduled for later this week for one called "Fruit with Dad." Officials say they're also giving students more whole-grain bread and reduced-fat cheese, and cutting out high-sugar breakfast cereals and soft drinks in vending machines.

CAIRO, Egypt - Saudi Arabia has indefinitely banned the distribution of a leading Arab newspaper, days after the paper disclosed that a Saudi extremist had played a key role in a violent Iraqi al-Qaida front group. One of the kingdom's most influential journalists immediately criticized the ban, calling it a sharp retreat from recent growing press freedoms. It was unclear if the Iraqi article was the main impetus for the ban, or merely the culmination of several weeks of disputes, mostly on other issues, between the Al Hayat newspaper and the kingdom's information minister. Saudi officials are sensitive to criticism...

BEIJING - City officials yanked hundreds of thousands of cars off Beijing's streets Friday to test whether a partial car ban could clear health-threatening smog and ease gridlock during next year's Olympic Games. The test is a challenge for Beijing Olympic organizers and city authorities to see if they can balance the need to dampen severe pollution without angering a growing middle class. Upwardly mobile Beijing residents have quickly grown used to the comforts of driving, as private car ownership exploded in the past five years. "We just got used to driving and suddenly we're not allowed?" said Zhang Jie,...

Should California ban or place speed limits on lane-splitting by motorcyclists? Ban all lane-splitting (0 Votes, 0%) Allow lane-splitting, but set speed limits (0 Votes, 0%) Allow all lane splitting (1 Vote, 100%) Note: Scroll down on the homepage a bit and look for the poll on the right side. Vote accordingly.

The Moscow government has officially rejected the organization of gay pride parade in Russia's capital, RIA Novosti reports with reference to security agencies of the city authorities. The organizers of the gay pride parade officially informed the Moscow administration of their intention to hold the event in the city at the end of May, officials said. Moscow's first gay parade in 2006 ended with clashes and arrests

Deeply disturbing, Google lawyer saysA court in Dallas, Texas has found a website operator liable for copyright infringement because his site linked to an 'audio webcast' without permission. Observers have criticised the judge for failing to understand the internet. Robert Davis runs Supercrosslive.com and put direct links on his site to audio streams of motorcycle racing. Those streams were created, owned and hosted by SFX Motor Sports, which is behind some of the events covered. A preliminary injunction was granted on 12th December by Judge Sam Lindsay in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Judge Lindsay...

No smoking would be allowed inside public buildings in Texas — including restaurants, bars and workplaces — if a legislative proposal is approved to make the Lone Star State one of 18 states with sweeping bans on smoking. "It is a public health crisis and a very expensive one," said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, who is spearheading the proposal. He said he plans to file a bill at the end of the month and that he will be joined at that time by a coalition of anti-smoking groups as he unveils details. The proposal is sure to trigger a...

Something has happened to freedom in modern America. There seems to be less of it, and we don’t all seem to know how. There certainly has been a slight but undeniable Osauma Bin Ladin tax; levied against our individual rights, since the attacks of 9/11. However, the people keeping us down today aren’t from the Middle East, don’t speak Farsi, unless they came by it from their family, and are not oppressing the masses in hopes of imposing Sharia. They do it for the children. They do it because they care. Anything that might hurt an ordinary American gets reflexively...

JERUSALEM – A Jewish Knesset member yesterday proposed a bill to ban adults from "pressing" minors into becoming more involved in religion and Jewish tradition. Ophir Paz-Pines, from Israel's Labor party, is seeking to pass legislation to prevent adults from attempting to increase or decrease the religious involvement of anyone under the age of 18. Labor is the main coalition partner in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government. According to Pines' bill, influencing the religious involvement of children can "cause the break-up of a family and cause damage to minors." The bill was seen as targeting religious youth groups and...

Berkley, Michigan City Council Caves In To ACLU Threat And Removes Decades-Old Nativity Display Tue, Nov 21, 2006 ANN ARBOR, MI – The Berkley, Michigan City Council last night voted 6-to-1 to no longer display a Nativity scene on city property. The City caved in to an ACLU threat of a lawsuit if they continued their decades-old Nativity display. Some residents claim that the Nativity display had been on city property for more than 60 years. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, commented, “The City Council crushed the crèche. Despite all of its rationalizing last night,...

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...