Free Republic

A lawmaker in California introduced a bill that would ban teachers from being able to assign students an excessive amount of homework. California State Assembly member Pilar Schiavo (D) introduced The Healthy Homework Act, also known as AB 2999, in February, noting in an interview with Fox40 that it would have a “huge impact” on the students. Under AB 2999, educational agencies, local school board officials, and school administration officials would need to “develop, adopt, and update” homework policies “at least once every five years,” and take into account research available regarding the impacts of homework on students’ physical and...

Colorado House Democrats passed “assault weapons” ban legislation Sunday to prohibit the sale of AR-15s and certain 9mm pistols. On March 20, 2024, Breitbart News reported that the legislation, HB24-1292, bans 9mm pistols that have threaded barrels and accept a detachable magazine. Moreover, the text of HB24-1292 makes clear that a semiautomatic handgun of any caliber would be banned if it takes a detachable magazine and has a threaded barrel.

A bill that would prohibit public libraries from banning books or other materials because of topic or content passed the Assembly Education Committee in a 5-1 vote with 1 abstention on Wednesday. Assembly Bill 1825, authored by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), would specifically require the governing board or body of each public library to establish a written policy for the selection of library materials and the use of library materials and facilities. The bill would require the policy to establish that library materials shall not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to the creation...

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight” that she believes Democrats are fighting for freedoms that Republicans are taking away with book bans. The former speaker claimed books in school that have been classics “are now burned.” Wagner said, “Some of the priorities for these Republican lawmakers in a vacuum. The most egregious things really stand out. Among them their war on reproductive freedom and the most recent comments from their informal head, their front runner, Donald Trump, who wants to replace Obamacare.”

Florida has “effectively” banned AP Psychology from being taught in schools, according to a statement from the College Board. The Florida Department of Education instructed superintendents that “teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law,” according to the statement.

Portland officials are mulling a proposal to ban daytime homeless camps in most public spaces as the West Coast city struggles to get a handle on the ballooning number of people living on the streets. Homeless people would need to clear their camps every morning by 8 a.m., picking up all their belongings and trash before they could settle down again at 8 p.m., according to the proposal. The ban would extend to city parks, near schools, day cares, construction sites and some sidewalks, according to the plan brought forward by Mayor Ted Wheeler. “There are currently hundreds of unsanctioned,...

Once this is in place, hopefully it will serve as a model for other states. The Texas Tribune reports: Texas lawmakers find consensus on bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices in public universities Texas public universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion offices likely have six months left before they’re banished. State lawmakers came to an agreement Saturday on legislation that would ban DEI offices, programs and training at publicly funded universities, largely adopting the version that the Texas House approved a week ago, with some minor changes.

Among the many lies that Joe Biden told in his 5 A.M video announcing his 2024 reelection bid last week was that Republicans are banning books. As Biden mentions the book ban, there is a depiction of a stack of books at the top of which sits a paperback copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.It is not only Biden; this is also a claim that many Democrats have made when they are confronted with the cancel culture pioneered by the left. They slyly paint a false equivalence by claiming that Republicans are banning books too; often, they make it a...

New York state leaders led by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul reached an agreement late Thursday on the state's 2024 budget which includes a future ban on natural gas hookups in new building construction. Under the budget deal, natural gas hookups will be banned in small buildings beginning in 2025 and large buildings beginning in 2028, according to Hochul. The governor said in remarks that the budget insulates households from "exorbitant energy bills" while helping the state build a "more sustainable future." "Everyone knows we've seen the effects of climate change — the storms, the hurricanes coming to New York, record...

Buying “nips” in Boston may soon be nipped in the bud. The city of Boston is considering a possible ban on miniature liquor bottles, known to Bostonians as “nips” and to others across the country as “minis” or “shooters,” due to the amount of waste they add to the city. Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo on Monday proposed banning city liquor stores from selling the mini bottles, which hold between 1.7 to 3.4 fluid ounces, in order to combat both alcohol abuse and mounting waste in city streets. “The fact that this handled even one of these two issues would...

Sometimes it’s the little things – the one indignity too many – that cause people to revolt. Banning new gas stoves, as a commissioner on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has suggested, could be the diktat that finally brings Americans to rebel against the government’s incessant, autocratic and ultimately insulting intrusion into our daily lives. The European Union found that out the hard way. Just weeks before the British went to the polls to vote on whether they wanted to remain in the EU, reports leaked that the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels planned to ban electric teakettles that were...

COVID response critic and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson was reinstated by Twitter Wednesday, after suing the social media company in the wake of his August 2021 banishment from the platform. Berenson and Twitter settled the lawsuit in late June, with most of the terms undisclosed. The tech giant was forced to eat a little crow, though, admitting that his “tweets should have not led to [his] (Berenson’s) suspension at that time.”Shady's back.Tell a friend.For the full story of my reinstatment, including @Twitter's acknowledgment of error, see my Substack.https://t.co/SgXfocIFiQ— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 6, 2022Berenson was a loud...

Vijaya Gadde, the 48-year-old chief legal officer and general counsel of Twitter, called a virtual meeting with the policy and legal teams she oversees on Monday Gadde wanted to update her team on the implications of Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the company, and ended up breaking down in tears, Politico said Gadde 'expressed concerns about how the company could change,' Politico reported, under Musk's leadership, in which free speech is championed Having joined Twitter in 2011, she has been central in crafting the company's positions on banning hate speech versus allowing free debate Gadde was instrumental in the...

President Joe Biden announced his decision to ban oil imports from Russia at the White House on Tuesday, just days after his administration argued against the idea. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,” Biden said, painting the decision as a moral one after Russian president Vladimir Putin escalated his war in Ukraine.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) may ban lawmakers from holding or trading stocks if he wins the speaker’s gavel in November, a report suggests. McCarthy’s plan of banning members like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) from trading stocks is still under development and undefined as to how far-reaching the limitations would be, Punchbowl News reported.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Wednesday that he regrets enacting a law that banned mask mandates as the number delta variant coronavirus cases continues to climb across the United States.

Monday, CBS “This Morning” host Gayle King revealed her Thanksgiving festivities this year will go on without members of her family who are yet to get the coronavirus vaccine. King told National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was discussing the importance of the White House’s door-to-door push to encourage people to get the vaccine to fend off the Delta variant, that she has members of her own family who are reluctant to get the vaccine.

The governor called Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin's executive order "an irresponsible, self-serving political stunt" that subverted the decisions of local officials. Idaho Gov. Brad Little repealed an executive order banning mask mandates across the state Friday morning, 24 hours after Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued the surprise action while the governor was out of town. In a statement, Little slammed McGeachin issuing the executive order as "an irresponsible, self-serving political stunt" that subverted the decisions of local officials and the people of Idaho. McGeachin was serving as acting governor when she issued the order banning mask mandates statewide among state...

There’s too hot for TV and then there’s too wrong for Tapper. The anchor of CNN’s two-hour mid-afternoon show “The Lead” suggested to his colleagues Tuesday that he would bar Republicans from appearing if they were “not willing to stick to standards and facts.” “How am I supposed to believe anything they say?” Tapper asked “New Day” hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar. “If they’re willing to lie about Joe Biden wanting to steal your hamburgers and QAnon and the Big Lie about the election, what are they not willing to lie about? Why should I put any of them...

Amazon has adopted a rule against books that contain anything the company labels as “hate speech.” It appears there was no announcement of the new rule. It was only noticed by media after the online retailer recently banned a book that criticizes transgender ideology. It’s not clear what Amazon means by “hate speech” or even if it used that label to drop that particular book. In general parlance, Americans hold widely diverging views on what constitutes hate speech, a 2017 Cato poll found. Some tech platforms describe it as speech that disparages people based on characteristics such as race, gender,...