Free Republic

The Supreme Court has been under attack since the 2020 election, with protests outside the homes of judges, an unprecedented leak, and now scrutiny in the professions of family members. SCOTUS released its report earlier this month into who might have leaked the draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito concerning returning the question of abortion back to the states. The report did not find the leak, but one lawmaker has expressed an opinion on the matter.Now there is a question about the professional work of one of the justices’ wives. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s wife could face...

THE BIBLE An address delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Bible Society in Boston, May 28, 1849, by Robert C. Winthrop. Undoubtedly, Sir, the first of all charities, the noblest of all philanthropies, is that which brings the Bible home to every fireside, which places its Divine truths within the range of every eye, and its blessed promises and consolations within the reach of every heart. All other charities should follow, and, indeed, they naturally do follow, in the train of this.... Diffuse the knowledge of the Bible, and the hungry will be fed, and the naked clothed....

As citizens Thursday night continued to debate a possible smoking ban in Springfield, the executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association threatened to sue the city if it prohibits smoking in taverns and bowling alleys.Opponents of a ban also attacked the idea that scientific studies show that secondhand smoke is harmful to those who inhale it.Supporters cited reports by the U.S. surgeon general and numerous medical groups that secondhand smoke is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in nonsmokers. They argued the issue is more about the health of patrons and workers than economics.A proposed ordinance would ban...

This week, supporters of a smoking ban in Chicago's restaurants will rally in the Federal Plaza at noon in anticipation of a vote on the Chicago Clean Indoor Air Ordinance. They will effectively remove smoking from all public places. This ordinance is a more comprehensive form of the current ordinance, which only bans smoking in public places except for designated smoking areas. The new Chicago Clean Indoor Air Ordinance 2005 by Alderman Ed Smith of Ward 28, bans it completely from all public places. Any adult that has lived in the public sphere for at least part of his/her life...

ALBANY, N.Y. - The world's largest shipping carrier, UPS Inc., will stop delivering cigarettes to individuals in the United States under an agreement announced Monday with state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.The agreement is the latest in federal and state efforts to combat the sale of under-taxed cigarette and to fight underage smoking. Most under-taxed or untaxed cigarettes are sold by Indian tribes, where the taxation of sales to non-Indians is disputed.Monday's agreement leaves only the U.S. Postal Service among major carriers to continue to deliver cigarettes to individuals, Spitzer said. He called that practice "an embarrassment." Spitzer continues to negotiate...

Doctors call on Ottawa to buy big tobacco and manage orderly phase-out OTTAWA--(CCNMatthews - Oct. 21, 2005) - (Ottawa) Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (PSC) today called on the government to stop the "rape and run" tactics of tobacco business corporations by buying tobacco companies outright and seeing that they are run in the public interest to phase out tobacco completely by 2030."Yesterday's announcement by Imperial Tobacco that they would close their manufacturing plants and lay off 650 workers was entirely predictable." said Neil Collishaw, Research Director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. "Canada is making great strides at reducing tobacco...

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 13-- After opening the 2005 season with Nicorette as the first quit-smoking sponsor in NASCAR, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare is closing the year with its Commit® stop smoking lozenges as the primary sponsor of a car for two Cup Series races. David Stremme will run the #39 Commit Dodge in tonight's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., and again at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2005, to help promote the newest form of medicinal nicotine for smokers trying to quit.

THERE'S something even deadlier in the air than secondhand smoke -- it's secondhand fat, says a top researcher.For years, doctors have been baffled by the high number of heart attack deaths of extremely skinny people, who were married to fatties or living with whale-size family members.Some theorized that they just might be getting clogged arteries because they adopted the same poor eating habits of their obese spouses or housemates.But now, Dr. Benjamin Myers, an obesity specialist in Bristol, Conn., says that invisible particles of fat detach themselves from obese people and are breathed in by those around them."I believe that...

Smoking and health concernsThe harmful effects of cigarettes on smokers have been well documented since the 1950s.Health officials, doctors and government agencies have long cautioned that cigarettes cause numerous cancers, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and obstructive pulmonary disorders, among other ailments. Despite warning labels and public campaigns, many smokers continue to accept the health risks and simply light up.Nevertheless, the persistent efforts of health advocates have been increasingly persuasive. Smoking rates in the U.S. have consistently fallen since the early 1960s.1 Smoking rates per capita have fallen to 22.5 percent2 and show no signs of recovering.Adult per capita cigarette yearly...

AUGUSTA - Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said Friday that he has appealed a federal judge's decision that invalidated a significant portion of a 2003 state law aimed at preventing youth access to tobacco from Internet and mail-order sales. Maine's law required procedures to verify that those who purchase tobacco by mail are old enough to do so. It was designed in part to prevent youths from ordering cigarettes online and also to assist the state in collecting taxes that would otherwise be unpaid. U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby said that while Maine's statute was well-intentioned, it ran afoul...

What's up in the town of Winthrop, Maine? SMOKERS NOT WELCOME AT WINTHROP BEACH!Winthrop proves smoking is not a health issue at all.  But it's all about CON T R O L!7-16-05 - I was notified of the ridiculous treatment given to one family just because a family member was smoking. A cop approached the family and told them they would have to leave because this was a "no smoking beach."  The family, as you can see, is not "on" the beach, but on the grassy area.  There were no signs stating that the area was smoke free.  The cop told...