Free Republic

Bars and restaurants around Wrigley Field that ignore the city’s call to voluntarily cut off liquor sales after the seventh inning could face a dire alternative: Area residents could vote them dry, Mayor Daley warned Tuesday. One day after bar owners reacted angrily to the city’s proposal, Daley defended it as "common sense." He argued that Cubs fans who’ve been drinking up until the seventh-inning stretch of potential title-clinching games need, what he called, "some smoothing time" before the celebration begins in earnest. » Click to enlarge image Fans celebrate after the Cubs won the Central Division title. Mayor Daley...

Michael Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Munger's recent trip to Chile and the changes Chile has made to Santiago's bus system. What was once a private decentralized system with differing levels of quality and price has been transformed into a system of uniform quality designed from the top down. How has the new system fared? Not particularly well according to Munger. Commuting times are up and the President of Chile has apologized to the Chilean people for the failures of the new system. Munger talks about why such changes take place and why they...

"Below you will find a list of activities children 12 and under can do to get involved. To start, print out our Logo Coloring Sheet, color it in and display at your house or in your school. Write a letter or editorial to your local news paper, expressing "Why Barack Obama should become the next US President". ...Take an adult (voting age) to the polls on Election Day and encourage them to vote for you, by voting for Senator Obama. ...Host a Senator Barack Obama House Party or sleep-over. Contribute to the Kids for Obama Blog .

Obama and The Don't Drill Democrats To America: Don't Drive. Just Shut Up and Sweat In Your Dark House. When Barack Obama told a Pennsylvania audience this past weekend that "We can't drill our way out of this," he was repeating the same line that Nancy Pelosi used days earlier and that Harry Reid used on Wednesday. The Big Three Democrats are thus all agreed that their party has given up on bringing down the cost of oil and thus the cost of gas at the pump. Because demand for oil isn't going to drop due to growth around the...

Surging oil prices have often sent stock markets tumbling this year when, according to one view, investors should embrace rising energy costs because they boost the bottom line of many large-cap U.S. companies. The energy sector is now the largest earnings contributor to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX, Wall Street's benchmark for corporate America's profitability, said David Bianco, head of U.S. equity strategy at investment bank UBS in New York. Many investors see the rise in crude prices as a negative because of its potential impact on economic growth and the wallets of American consumers. That view, however,...

PARIS (AFP) - Sun screen lotions used by beach-going tourists worldwide are a major cause of coral bleaching, according to a new study commissioned by the European Commission. In experiments, the cream-based ultra-violet (UV) filters -- used to protect skin from the harmful effects of sun exposure -- caused bleaching of coral reefs even in small quantities, the study found. Coral reefs are among the most biologically productive and diverse of ecosystems, and directly sustain half a billion people. But some 60 percent of these reef systems are threatened by a deadly combination of climate change, industrial pollution and excess...

There is revolution going on in waste management, which Big Brother would be proud of. Tucked away under the rim of wheelie bins found in two Sydney councils are small radio frequency tracking devices collecting information on a household's waste habits. Randwick Mayor Bruce Notley-Smith told The World Today they are the way of the future. "We will be able to find out the weights of the various bins and collect the data, the entire amount, as opposed to the quantity that is recyclable," he said. The garbage truck reads the data on the bin, weighs the bin, and the...

Thursday, March 27, 2008 By Elizabeth Hovde Portland Mayor Tom Potter joked Monday that to get to Vancouver, he gets to “cross the I-5 Bridge that apparently was built by the Lewis and Clark expedition.” The bridge isn’t that old, but it is outdated in size, form and function. Ask almost anyone if we need a new Interstate 5 bridge and they should nod in agreement. For heads that don’t bob, tell them the northbound span was built in 1917 and the southbound in 1958. Remind people that the bridge is seismically unfit and that it offers the only red...

UPDATE ON YESTERDAYS STORY Hartford (WTNH) _ A new city ordinance that went into effect Wednesday has been violated by two Albany Avenue convenience stores, Hartford police say. The new law applies to convenience stores and gas stations open between the hours of 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. Such stores must have appropriate security measures in place, including security cameras, a silent alarm and a drop safe, among other things. Police say they conducted inspections at Jay's Smoke Shop and Smoker's Stop Family Grocery around 1 a.m. this morning and found both stores to be operating without a license that...

ATLANTA — All children — not just those under 5 — should get vaccinated against the flu, a federal advisory panel said Wednesday. The panel voted to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children except infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies. That means about 30 million more children could be getting vaccinated. If heeded, it would be one of the largest expansions in flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history. The flu vaccine has been available since the 1940s. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said all children should start getting vaccinated as soon as...

Life insurers to impose 'fat tax' on the obese, costing up to 50 per cent moreBy BECKY BARROW - More by this author » Last updated at 22:37pm on 22nd February 2008  A "fat tax" is to be imposed on the obese by life insurance firms, it emerged last night.  Around 50 per cent extra could be charged on new premiums - and the threshold at which the higher rate starts will be lowered. The increased charge can be up to 400 per cent if you fall into other high risk categories, such as being a smoker or having...

BRUTAL, unprovoked and pointless murders have always generated public response. Revulsion at the crime draws on the well of primitive responses that include fear, anger and fascination. The person accused can expect little respite from outrage from the moment he or she is identified as a suspect. The worse the crime the less reality there is in the public mind to the legalistic concept of presumption of innocence. For most of the 20th century, newspapers understood sales could be built on extensive reporting of court cases. So most of the 20th century also saw a steady extension of the restrictions...

A tax called 'No Child Left Inside' has been backed by New Mexico's Sierra Club, an environmental and outdoor preservation group. The proposed one-percent sales tax on video games and televisions is aimed at funding outdoor classroom initiatives and encouraging New Mexico's increasingly obese and diabetic youth to get off the couch and explore the great outdoors.

TORONTO -- A group of Toronto-area children is asking the Ontario Human Rights Commission to force their school to launch mandatory lunch-bag inspections to screen out foods to which they have severe allergies, a case which could make all Ontario schools do the same. The six children, ranging in age from six to 11, contend that the local school board discriminated against them when it shut down a voluntary lunch screening program at St. Stephen's Catholic Elementary School, in Woodbridge, Ont., aimed at keeping peanuts, egg products or other potential allergy-inducing foods off school grounds entirely. Maurice Brenner, a human-rights...

AUSTIN — A coalition of strip clubs has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a state law that would add a $5 surcharge for every strip club visitor. The new fee, which was approved this year by the Texas Legislature, is set to take effect on Jan. 1. It's expected to raise about $40 million to be dispersed for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured. The Texas Entertainment Association and Karpod, Inc., the operator of an Amarillo club, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Travis County against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Comptroller Susan Combs. The...

The Belmont City Council has passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking in multiunit housing, a measure hailed by supporters as a landmark ban that will give residents relief from second-hand smoke drifting into their apartments and condominiums. "It's to give people who are intolerant of second-hand smoke a chance to say, 'Please stop - you're violating the city's ordinance,' in the same way that if your neighbor has a loud rock band, you can say, 'Please stop,' " City Councilman Dave Warden said today. The council passed the measure Tuesday night by a vote of 3-2. The ordinance also bans smoking...

This is where things are heading. From the AP: “John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.” Edwards: “It requires that everybody get preventive care... you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked...” He noted that women would be required to have regular mammograms in an effort to find and treat “the first trace of a problem.” Edwards: "The whole idea is a continuum of care, basically from birth to death.” In NYC, already,...

August 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton lavished praise on New York City's tough anti-smoking laws yesterday - and said she supports smoking bans in public places across the country. Asked at an Iowa forum on cancer whether banning smoking in public places would be good for America, Clinton replied, "Well, personally, I think so. And that's what a lot of local communities and states are starting to do."

Rugged American individualism could hinder our ability to understand other peoples' point of view, a new study suggests. And in contrast, the researchers found that Chinese are more skilled at understanding other people's perspectives, possibly because they live in a more "collectivist" society. "This cultural difference affects the way we communicate," said study co-author and cognitive psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago. The study, though oversimplified compared to real life, was instructive. Keysar and his colleagues arranged two blocks on a table so participants could see both. However, a piece of cardboard obstructed the view of one block...

If one of the more extreme responses to global warming comes true, driving a sports car anywhere but on a racetrack might be relegated to history's dustbin. Fast, powerful cars within a few years may be outlawed in Europe, an idea that has been raised ostensibly because Ferraris and Porsches produce too much carbon dioxide. For those who abhor sports cars as vulgar symbols of affluence (along with vacation homes, furs and fancy jewelry), such a ban could be a two-fer: Saving the planet while cutting economic inequality. Who are these people anyway who decide on behalf of everyone what...

Carpooling won't do much to reduce U.S. highway congestion in urban areas, and a better solution would be to build new highways and charge drivers fees to use them, the White House said on Monday. ADVERTISEMENT "It is increasingly appropriate to charge drivers for some roadway use in the same way the private market charges for other goods and services," the White House said in its annual report on the U.S. economy. While some urban areas have designated roads for vehicles with two or more passengers, those high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are often underused because carpooling is becoming less popular,...

<p>Hillary's first conversation will be begin tonight at 7 PM. You need to register at the linked site to participate.</p> <p>Hillary's website asks people to "help make these webcasts a true national conversation by spreading the word."</p> <p>I'm doing my part.</p>

Conservative blogger John Hawkins of Right Wing News has now decided to join Michael Medved in a new ad hominem attack by using a disparaging adjective to call me a name (“kooky”) and placing me No. 3 in the list of the 20 “people on the right” he finds most annoying. Hawkins places me between No. 2 Mark Foley, whom Hawkins characterizes as a “page-molesting pervert,” and No. 4 Duke Cunningham, the congressman Hawkins notes is “going to jail for 8 years after taking a bribe.” I am honored to be included on any list John Hawkins wishes to create....

New York on Tuesday became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants, leading the charge to limit consumption of an ingredient linked to heart disease and used in everything from french fries to pizza dough to pancake mix. In a city where eating out is a major form of activity _ either for fun or out of hectic necessity _ many New Yorkers were all for the ban, saying that health concerns were more important than fears of Big Brother supervising their stomachs.

The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution protects Americans against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and against warrants being issued without "probable cause" that they have done something wrong. While most Americans who might be familiar with this portion of our Bill of Rights probably consider its protections to apply only to criminals and therefore of little consequence to them, the Fourth Amendment actually provides vital protection to all Americans, not just "criminals." In fact, its prefatory language makes this clear, explicitly providing that its goal is to assure that the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,...

TUESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Adult obesity rates increased in 31 states during the past year, leaving an estimated two-thirds of Americans vulnerable to fatal diseases such as diabetes, stroke and cancer.This, despite federal and state government efforts to curb the overweight epidemic, according to a new report from the Trust for America's Health.The report, titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing America, 2006, was released Tuesday and is the third in a series of annual reports by the trust detailing state obesity rates as well as the effectiveness of government policies to fight the problem.According...

Fat is not a feminist issue, as Susie Orbach once claimed. Fat is a class issue. Rich, educated people are not fat; you see almost no children in private schools who are overweight. Fatness and obesity are directly related to lower education and lower incomes. What is sad is that at a time when this country is richer than ever and ought to have better schools than ever, we have far more fat people than ever — a dangerous explosion of flab. Last week the Department of Health issued a report grimly called Forecasting Obesity to 2010 and its findings...

Should last week’s joint disqualify a pot smoker from driving today?A police officer pulls you over at a checkpoint and asks, "Have you been drinking?" Assuming he wants to know whether you have consumed alcohol in the last few hours, such that it might be affecting your ability to drive, you say no. "Not at all?" he asks. Well, you admit, you did have a beer the night before, whereupon he arrests you for driving under the influence. If that scenario makes sense to you, you should have no problem with Michigan's new policy regarding driving and drug use. As...

Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has become a convenient morning stop on many hectic commutes. Recent studies have even pointed to coffee’s potential in helping to prevent cirrhosis of the liver. But on ABC, the coffee maker was criticized during a “consumer alert” that treated cups of coffee like a “dose” of a hard drug. The June 19 edition of “Good Morning America” presented Starbucks as akin to a narcotics dealer preying on addicts. Correspondent Elizabeth Leamy explained “many customers love their regular dose.” The camera then cut to a shot of an apparent Starbucks consumer who referred to her relationship with...

Five years ago, Felipa Cusi, a poor Peruvian woman, went to a free clinic hoping for relief from her flu symptoms. Her "relief" took an unexpected form when she was involuntarily sterilized. Cusi, who lived to tell her story, was lucky. At least six other Peruvian women died after being involuntarily sterilized. These abuses took place under the auspices of Peru's Family Planning Program. As a report to Peru's congress put it, the program employed "explicitly restrictive and controlling" methods to achieve its goal of lowering Peru's birth rate. That's putting it mildly. There were sterilization quotas for hospitals and...