Free Republic

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking answers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Dr. Anthony Fauci about funding that was provided for experiments on beagle puppies. Twenty-four members of the House of Representatives signed a letter to Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of NIH. The letter was prompted by the nonprofit group White Coat Waste which obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act that appear to show NIAID spent $1.68 million in taxpayer money for experiments on beagle puppies in a lab in Tunisia. Those...

The NBA reached an agreement with the National Basketball Players Association to temporarily stop randomly testing players for marijuana use during the 2020-21 season.T “Due to the unusual circumstances in conjunction with the pandemic, we have agreed with the NBPA to suspend random testing for marijuana for the 2020-21 season,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement, “And focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse.” Marijuana will remain on the NBA’s banned substances list. Players who have previously tested positive or given the league reason to suspect use can still be tested for the...

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday called President Trump "foolish" for his comments on the candidate's mental acuity and unfounded claims suggesting that Biden is taking performance-enhancing drugs, as some pundits are warning that Trump might be lowering expectations for his opponent in the first debate happening later this month. "I'm looking forward to the debate and he's a fool," Biden said in an interview with WFLA 8. "The comments are just foolish. Get ready, Mr. President, here I come." Biden laughed when the WFLA 8 reporter first started asking the question, referencing allegations Trump has made that Biden...

"We've been reporting year-over-year increases of the positivity rates for almost all three of these illicit drug classes," he said, referring to marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines. "As we break it out by industry we're seeing a number of industries with those same results." Still, the rate of growth stood out. The retail industry, for instance, saw a 43 percent increase in positive test results for cocaine between 2015 and 2017, Quest's analysis showed. And eight sectors saw at least 20 percent increases in positive marijuana test results over the same period, as more states loosened laws restricting the drug... "Absolutely,...

The Trump administration is considering letting states require some food stamp recipients be drug tested in order to receive their benefits, The Associated Press reported . The plan would be narrowly targeted and affect mostly those that are "able-bodied," according to an anonymous administration official that spoke with the AP. It would apply to about 5 percent of people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to the source. Along with able-bodied people, the source said the proposal would target people without dependents who are seeking certain specialized jobs, the AP reported. Mandatory drug testing for people in SNAP...

EVERY year about 120,000 organs, mostly kidneys, are transplanted from one human being to another. Sometimes the donor is a living volunteer. Usually, though, he or she is the victim of an accident, stroke, heart attack or similar sudden event that has terminated the life of an otherwise healthy individual. But a lack of suitable donors, particularly as cars get safer and first-aid becomes more effective, means the supply of such organs is limited. Many people therefore die waiting for a transplant. That has led researchers to study the question of how to build organs from scratch. One promising approach...

The news that Donald Trump turned down 94 percent of American job applicants to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., in favor of foreign workers brought in under the H-2B visa program should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.... [During] the campaign season, Trump has proven himself a liar of Clintonian proportions, and there has never been any reason to believe that he was somehow more trustworthy when it came to his rhetorical opposition to America's foolish immigration policies ... And, indeed, this turns out not to be the first time that Donald Trump has undermined American...

A controversial drug testing proposal will remain in the state budget. The legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday approved requiring those receiving public benefits to submit to drug testing. Those who fail would get taxpayer funded treatment, which Joint Finance Committee co-chair John Nygren (R-Marinette) said will help them break the cycle of addiction and become employed. The Marinette Republican said “it’s a better alternative than our corrections department. It’s a better alternative than ending up on welfare for God knows how long.” Democrats spent over an hour criticizing the proposal, noting that Wisconsin is unlikely to receive the waiver...

But when you take a look at the organizations these religious leaders represent, you’ll see that these religious types are political progressives who’re using the cover of religion for their political activism. The websites of these organizations who oppose Walker’s drug-testing legislation all, in some form or another, uses words or phrases immediately identifiable with progressive- rather than religious- causes. Such terms and phrases found were “social” and “economic” justice, “peacemaking,” “solidarity,” and “human community”; “restorative justice,” “united for justice.” One website even had a “living wage campaign” and “resources for justice seekers.” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently proposed a...

But when you take a look at the organizations these religious leaders represent, you’ll see that these religious types are political progressives who’re using the cover of religion for their political activism. The websites of these organizations who oppose Walker’s drug-testing legislation all, in some form or another, uses words or phrases immediately identifiable with progressive- rather than religious- causes. Such terms and phrases found were “social” and “economic” justice, “peacemaking,” “solidarity,” and “human community”; “restorative justice,” “united for justice.” One website even had a “living wage campaign” and “resources for justice seekers.” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently proposed a...

Just nine weeks on the job, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel is already counting off the number of lawsuits he will see come across his desk. The state’s chief legal officer expects to see court action over the right-to-work law, the school accountability bill and drug testing of public assistance recipients, if the Republican-supported measures go into law. “I think that we are going to be very busy,” Schimel said at a March 4 Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce conference in Madison. Schimel, a Republican, said it?s something that he will savor. “I am going to enforce the law the way...

Amrish Mahajan, former president of failed Mutual Bank of Harvey and a major fundraiser for imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been barred from future participation in the banking industry under a newly released regulatory order. Mr. Mahajan consented, without admitting or denying unsafe or unsound banking practices, to a May 1 order by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. prohibiting him from participating “in any manner” in the conduct of the affairs of any federally insured institution. ... Mr. Mahajan was known for his political connections, particularly to Mr. Blagojevich. Mutual Bank briefly entered the realm of national politics after...

LANSING, MI — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday signed a new law creating a one-year pilot program requiring the Department of Human Services to screen some welfare recipients and test those suspected of drug use. The program, to be launched by DHS in three or more counties by October 2015, would apply to residents enrolled in or applying for the Family Independence Program. A recipient who was suspected of drug use and failed an initial test would be referred to a treatment program. Failing a second test, or refusing to take one at all, would result in the termination...

MADISON, Wis. — Some of the boldest reforms to public assistance in the nation may arise from the Wisconsin Legislature in coming months. Armed with the largest Assembly majority in 57 years and comfortable control of the state Senate, Republican leadership appears to be putting together the kind of ambitious reform agenda that could rival 2011, when the Republican-led majority introduced and passed a spate of conservative — and controversial — initiatives. On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced the creation of the Public Benefit Reform Committee. While the new committee’s chair or its members have yet to be...

After Michael and Melinda May's daughter was drug-tested five times in three years at Susquenita Middle School, they refused to sign a permission slip allowing it to happen again. Leila May was drug-tested once during her fifth grade year, once in sixth grade and three times as a seventh grader because Susquenita School District randomly tests students in grades five through 12 who participate in extracurricular activities and apply for parking permits.  Without the permission slip signed, Leila was unable to participate in the National Junior Honor Society during her eighth-grade year, which ended last week. But Melinda May said...

In an effort to stop fraud in the use of welfare benefits more states are insisting that federal benefits, including food- stamp cards, include a photo identification.

One of the big news items this week has to do with St. Edward High School, St. Ignatius High School and Gilmour Academy all kicking off a mandatory drug-testing program for their students in the fall. It's an interesting story because no other schools in Northeast Ohio presently test their students for drug use.   Another interesting point of fact is that the president and CEO of Massachusetts-based Psychemedics - the company that will be conducting the tests - is Raymond Kubacki, brother of St. Edward High School President James Kubacki. The former is a St. Ignatius grad himself and...

<p>AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Workers who lose their jobs would have to clear a drug screening to qualify for unemployment compensation under a proposal approved by the Texas Legislature.</p> <p>Under current law, employers take out insurance policies to help laid-off workers survive on weekly payments of $62 to $440. Those who are fired for cause, including failing an employer-sponsored drug test, do not qualify.</p>

Six Boston cops fired after testing positive for cocaine have been ordered reinstated — with back pay — after a state board struck down hair tests as unreliable in a bombshell ruling that could have a far-reaching impact on how city workers are drug-tested. In a stunning, 134-page ruling, the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission this week ordered the six cops back on the job, finding that “the present state of hair testing for drugs of abuse ... does not meet the standard of reliability necessary to be routinely used” to fire someone.

Q Should drug tests be required to receive welfare assistance? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Yes, for known offenders. Yes, for everyone. No.