Free Republic

Trump does a Seinfeld (The Paper Straw Routine)

Canada’s Green Party admitted it doctored a photo of its leader to show her holding a reusable cup instead of a paper one. Elizabeth May, the longtime head of the party, said in a statement on Tuesday that her staff altered the photo, which had been taken last year during the Sidney Street Market in Victoria, British Columbia. In the original photo, May held a paper cup without a straw. But in the doctored photo, she holds a reusable cup with a Green Party of Canada logo on it, as well as a metal straw. “I was completely shocked to...

Taylor was unaware of a new city law that went into effect on Jan. 1 requiring customers to request straws. Despite being told of the new law, Taylor began screaming at employees, claiming that the law did not exist, WFTS reports. Taylor grabbed employee Yasmine James by the shirt collar and pulled her onto the counter. James attempted to defend herself by punching Taylor in the face. After leaving the restaurant, Taylor returned to yell at the store manager and kicked another employee in the stomach before he once again left the scene. Taylor was later arrested and charged with...

Plastic toys, sí! Plastic straws, no! Legoland, a theme park dedicated to celebrating plastic toy bricks, has announced that as of next year it will no longer provide single-use plastic straws to park visitors. The decision came down last week from Merlin Entertainments, a British company that operates 120 attractions worldwide, including nine Legoland parks. "Like many of our guests, we are concerned about the negative environmental impact associated with the disposal of plastic straws," says Merlin CEO Nick Varney in a press release. "It is something we can act on immediately as we continue to assess how we minimize...

A Reason investigation reveals that the coffee giant's new cold drink lids use more plastic than the old straw/lid combo. Right now, Starbucks patrons are topping most of their cold drinks with either 3.23 grams or 3.55 grams of plastic product, depending on whether they pair their lid with a small or large straw. The new nitro lids meanwhile weigh either 3.55 or 4.11 grams, depending again on lid size. (I got these results by measuring Starbucks' plastic straws and lids on two seperate scales, both of which gave me the same results.) This means customers are at best breaking...

Starbucks, the nation's largest food and drink retailer, announced on Monday that it would be going strawless.... As is to be expected, Starbucks' decision was greeted with universal adulation.... Yet missing from this fanfare was the inconvenient fact that by ditching plastic straws, Starbucks will actually be increasing its plastic use. As it turns out, the new nitro lids that Starbucks is leaning on to replace straws are made up of more plastic than the company's current lid/straw combination.

Israeli agency told to find incriminating material on Obama diplomats who negotiated deal with Tehran Donald Trump promised the Israeli leader that Iran would never have nuclear weapons. Donald Trump promised the Israeli leader that Iran would never have nuclear weapons. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to “get dirt” on Ben Rhodes,...

or decades, customers have complained that McDonald’s straws were pretty much useless when used to drink milkshakes.... But now, with the announcement of several new Shamrock Shakes, the fast food giant has swung the pendulum far in the other direction, with a straw that’s overengineered – seriously, two engineering firms worked on it – to look more like mountain climbing equipment than it does any straw we’ve ever seen. Here’s the result of design, a determined product development team, and a 3D printer: A ridiculous item like this requires an equally bombastic name, which McDonald’s has, of course, bestowed upon...

Some liberal snowflakes are wearing safety pins on their shirts to show they are a so-called 'safe space' for others following the election of Donald Trump as our 45th president. A hack columnist at the liberal website Slate called on like-minded Americans to wear the safety pins to show solidarity with those who may be 'afraid' of Trump. How ridiculous is this? Supporters say the safety pin is not meant to be political, but to show solidarity with minorities against bigotry and hate. In response to the safety pin movement, some 'Deplorables' have come up with a brilliant idea: #SuckItUpStraw....

Donald Trump wins this week's GOP Straw Poll in Delaware. This week the Sussex County Republican Party held its Presidential Primary "straw poll" at the GOP Headquarters in Georgetown. While the turn-out was moderate, the results were very interesting. Donald Trump won the poll with 72-percent of the vote; coming in second was Ted Cruz with 21- percent of the vote, followed by John Kasich with 7-percent. The format and names on the Straw Poll ballots duplicated that of the sample ballot provided by the State Election Office in Georgetown. They included the names of Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, and...

A divided Supreme Court sided with gun control groups and the Obama administration Monday, ruling that the federal ban on "straw" purchases of guns can be enforced even if the ultimate buyer is legally allowed to own a gun. The justices ruled 5-4 that the law applied to a Virginia man who bought a gun with the intention of transferring it to a relative in Pennsylvania who was not prohibited from owning firearms.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A Charlotte couple says Dick's Sporting Goods refused to sell them a gun because of their last name and race. Bernard and Francine Miller tell us they went to the store on W. T. Harris Boulevard looking for a rifle because they spotted a coyote in their yard. After forty minutes of shopping and working with the sales agent, they settled on the one that fit their price range. A 22-rifle that cost just over $200. Bernard was then asked to fill out paperwork. But the couple says after filling out the paperwork, a salesperson refused...

Online voting have begun. You can use the button below to view the ballot. Voting ends at 7PM CT on November 5, 2011. Voting open to Illinois residents only. Minimum donation of $5 required. For complete rules and information contact the Illinois Republican Party (email at info@ilgop.org) or visit FAQ. To vote in person on Saturday Nov. 5th click here 2012 ILLINOIS PRE-PRESIDENTIAL STRAW POLL FAQ Who is running the 2012 Illinois Pre-Presidential Straw Poll? The 2012 Illinois Presidential Straw Poll is being conducted by the Illinois Republican Party ("IRP"). The online portion of the straw poll is powered by...

Miyagi man who sold contaminated straw blames gov't for scandal OSAKI, Miyagi -- A man in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, who sold straw contaminated with high levels of radioactive cesium told the Mainichi on July 18 that he had never imagined that his straw was contaminated because the city is about 150 kilometers away from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. "The wind was in a different direction immediately after the hydrogen explosions, so I never thought it was contaminated. I really feel sorry," the man said. The man made the remarks in response to recent revelations that cows...

Michele Bachmann won a straw poll held at a conservative conference this weekend. | AP photo Michele Bachmann scored a victory in a straw poll held at a conservative conference over the weekend. The Minnesota congresswoman won 23 percent of the vote from attendees of The Awakening 2011, a gathering at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Though she was scheduled to address attendees, Bachmann sent a video message instead while she remained in Washington because of the potential government shutdown. Mike Huckabee came in a close second place, taking 23 percent. Newt Gingrich, who actually spoke to the conference’s...

President O’Bunga is being allowed to use a sleight-of-hand, and none of his detractors or opponents are calling him on it. I’m not referring to his touting the marvelous benefits of his Health Care reforms while glossing over the real-cash implications. Neither am I referring to the smoke-and-mirrors trash given to the CBO for them to use in determining the years-out financial implications. The president (if indeed he legally holds that office, which, with a British-Kenyan father it is impossible to do) claims, employing Josef Goebbels’ “kernel of truth” propaganda gambit, that the majority of Americans want many of the...

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board is said to be considering removing former president Ronald Reagan’s name from the City’s airport. “National monuments should reflect an accurate picture of a society’s character and core values,” said Board Chairman H.R. Crawford. “Reagan symbolized a kind of ‘cowboy individualism’ that ran counter to the mainstream of American history. His political ascendancy was an aberration, a detour, so to speak, on the nation’s road to greater social consciousness. We shouldn’t be exaggerating that detour by having the City’s airport named after him.” Crawford suggested that “if we have to personalize it, LBJ or...

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/straw-poll

ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) -- A mother says the straws she bought for her three-year-old daughter were shaped like a male sex organ. Andrea Bailey says she went shopping at the Ashland Wal-Mart on Thursday, February 28th, and bought a package of fun straws for her three 3-year-old daughter, Ashlynn. Bailey says Ashlynn came in and used one shaped like a heart. A couple others in the package, though, were shaped like something different. “There are two of them that are shaped like the male private area,” said Bailey. “I called Wal-Mart and they very rude with me about it. They...

Straw ... proposals    It will be OK to bash a burglar     By GRAEME WILSON Published: Today     HAVE-a-go heroes who defend themselves against thugs and burglars are to be protected, Justice Secretary Jack Straw pledged yesterday. People who use reasonable force should not fear prosecution, he said. He is proposing reforms he says would protect people who ACTED “instinctively”, FEARED for their safety or the safety of others and used FORCE that was not “excessive or disproportionate”. Mr Straw – who has helped catch muggers or burglars four times himself – said: “Law-abiding citizens should...