Free Republic

Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick has vetoed the state legislature’s attempt to ban the use of EBT cards — or food stamps — to purchase items such as tattoos, porn and jewelry. Patrick vetoed the reforms Sunday while signing the state’s $32.5 billion budget. According to the Boston Herald, which first reported the veto, the governor berated the legislature’s stab at banning the purchase of specific items like manicures, tattoos, guns, porn, body piercings, jewelry, and bail by saying the move was “political grandstanding” at a time when such reforms are already on track elsewhere. “I’m not going to do...

When Laurie-Ann Fuca told loved ones she was planning to become a soldier, some doubled over and laughed until their stomachs hurt. They hooted that she'd never pass the physical at her age, that she'd wilt without luxuries like manicures and martinis. No one's laughing now at the 41-year-old Tucson soccer mom, who is making history as the first Arizona woman to join the Army past her 40th birthday. The mother of four leaves for boot camp Monday, three weeks after her eldest son, a 19-year-old soldier, was sent to Iraq. Until recently, the scenario would have been impossible. But...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- In what organizers call ``the softer side of shooting,'' a gun convention for women is offering classes ranging from hunting and gun safety to gourmet game cooking and fancy hat making. There was even a pajama party with manicure tips and a shooting scrapbook contest. The Shooting for Women Conference was created for the female gun enthusiast who doesn't enjoy the testosterone-charged environment at most gun events, said Susan Long, editor of Shooting for Women magazine and a promoter of the four-day conference, which began Thursday. The idea is to create a more feminine place so...