Free Republic

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...