Free Republic

And most is consumed by a minority of daily users. About 9% of Colorado’s population consumes marijuana, according to a market demand study conducted by the state department of revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division and the state’s Marijuana Policy Group. And those users, it’s estimated, will get through about 121.4 metric tons of pot every year. According to the report, that consumption — calculated through survey results, demographic data and source data — is “31 percent higher than a recent department of revenue assessment, 89 percent higher than a study by the Colorado Futures Center, and 111 percent higher than an...

While the House and the Senate this week issued measures intended to temporarily replenish the Highway Trust Fund before it runs out of money next month, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) ended the week by proposing to hike - then abolish - the federal fuel tax and replace it with a per-mile “fee.” “The policy development that I’m most excited about and that will reinforce the right practices for the future: After we raise the gas tax, we should abolish it,” Blumenauer said on Friday at the liberal Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. “The time is right to replace...

Obama Administration is not only using tax dollars to advertise… but also using tax dollars to pay more than $6000 a month to house ILLEGALS—NOTE the Tax Free reference in the ad. When a Murrieta resident called the advertised phone number and asked about housing a CHILD, the person on the other end explained there are no children under the age of 12.Are we not being constantly told this is about compassion for young children? Are the 12-year-olds (and older) cartel children? Is this among the reasons why no one is allowed access to the illegals at detainment centers? Is...

For many Americans the country of Mexico conjures up images of a third world nation. The poverty, lack of basic services, and extreme violence has left the populace so desperate that thousands of people on a daily basis head to the United States for a better life. But according to Future Money Trends, all that could change in the near future as key Mexican financial leaders and politicians have been working to institute sweeping monetary change that, if implemented, could unleash a global power shift of epic proportions. “Take just three or four men out of the ‘anti’ group,” says...

<p>Watching last night's Question Time, which was in Scotland and devoted half of its time to the question of Scottish independence - it was also the last QT before the September referendum -, confirmed and strengthened my opinion that England would be far better off without Scotland.</p>

Update: it just got worse. Moments ago Bloomberg followed up with the second, and expected, part of this story, namely that just like China cut off major US corporations from big procurement contracts leading to a collapse in CSCO and IBM Asian revenues, it is now Germany's turn. Per Bloomberg, the German Interior Ministry reviewing rules for awarding govt contracts for computer, communications equipment and services as political rift w/ U.S. widens, people familiar with matter told Bloomberg News’ Cornelius Rahn, Amy Thomson. •Ministry will probably issue new purchasing guidelines in coming weeks to replace “no-spy-order” dated April 30 •Details...

At this time of year in Arizona, I open carry.   I was in a McDonald's, drinking coffee and using the Internet when I considered how ordinary this all was, and how much heat was being put on Open Carry Texas for merely working to obtain the same freedoms in Texas.   Freedoms that are part of the law in most states of the union, somewhere around 44 states, at last count.  It was particularly surprising how much of the heat was coming from within the gun culture.  So I decided to stand with Texas.   I saw a gentleman who did...

Conservatives have a new line on climate change: “It’s real, but it’s nothing to worry about!” Las Vegas is parched. A 14-year drought has left Lake Mead, the local water source, dangerously low. It has dropped 100 feet in the past decade. If it drops 12 more feet, federal water rationing rules will kick in. Some climate scientists predict that will happen in the next year. And most believe the situation will only worsen over time. The view from inside Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, however, is considerably rosier. That’s where scientists, activists, and bloggers have assembled this...

While the world’s eyes remain riveted on Brazil’s World Cup stadiums, most people aren’t aware that the country is also the home to one of the world’s most progressive reparations movements to repay Afro-Brazilians for their enslavement. Slavery in Brazil didn’t end until 1889, making Brazil the last nation in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw the institution, and the legacy of slavery has firmly ensconced Black Brazilians in the lower rungs of Brazilian society. “By and large, black Brazilians live in the worst housing and attend the poorest schools,” writes Roque Planas in a comprehensive two-part series for the Huffington...

When 3D printing is discussed, one of the most debated topics is that of 3D printed weaponry, specifically guns. Last year, Solid Concepts created a 3D Printed replica of a 1911 pistol. At the time, it brought up quite a bit of debate, as the 3D printing of guns could severely undermine national and world-wide security. If anyone with a 3D printer could print an operational gun, then what good are laws that prevent people from obtaining guns? TodayÂ’s consumer level 3D printers can, for the most part, only print in plastic or plastic-like materials. Many people argue that guns...

On this episode of The Conservative Beacon Podcast, Josh Price is joined by Robert J. Norrell, author of Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington, to discuss the inspiring life story of Booker T. Washington and its lessons for pursuing the American Dream. Head over to TheConservativeBeacon.com to listen.

With the children being sent across the country, a Houston woman went on an epic rant when she learned that officials were looking at a closed school in her neighborhood as a potential detention facility. Bernadette Lancelin not only opposed the idea, but did so emphatically: It’s not right. Now billions of dollars want to be borrowed from the White House to help feed and house them. What about the kids here? In our neighborhood? In our country? Not just in this neighborhood but in our country. All these kids? Really? Why can’t they go back? I’m sorry that their...

It is so sad to watch Latin American children used as human props for political gain by our government, intent on forcing America into a third world status and more diversification. It is even sadder to see that so many parents were so deluded and so irresponsible that they sent their children in the company of coyotes who, for a fee, dropped them at the border, to be then bused and flown by our government to locations around the country. In transit these children were potentially abused and sexually molested.

Dubai is already home to the tallest tower in the world, so it was just a matter of time until the glitzy emirate planned another record-breaking construction. Its next project involves building the largest shopping mall on the planet, complete with climate-controlled streets, the world's largest indoor theme park and 100 hotels and apartments. In fact, the ambitious emirate has dubbed the project a 'temperature-controlled pedestrian city'. Occupying 48 million square feet, the Mall of the World will also contain health resorts, theatres, a Celebration Steet modelled on the Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona and 'retail streets network' that will stretch...

The marketing expertise of Moms Demand Action has created a media campaign to demonize the open carry of long guns, especially in Texas.   Shannon Watts, who heads MDA is a longtime professional at creating media campaigns:  She is not just Suzy Homemaker or some low-grade employee at a small company but a heavy Public relations hitter, savvy on the ways of media manipulation and making her clients look good. Basically she “grows” astroturf for a living. Open carry activism in Texas has become so effective that both Governor candidates have endorsed the legalization of the open carry of handguns,...

The Michigan Education Association is a large critic of school boards hiring private companies to provide noninstructional services, such as custodial, food and transportation. But the union uses this often fiscally responsible practice itself, as the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has documented several times in the past. The most recent example is revealed in this video that features MEA employees attesting to how great outsourcing their dues collection services was. In it, MEA representatives admit that their "in-house" attempts to collect dues were "not reliable, and inaccurate." They also admit that their accounting was shoddy — apparently the union...

When the CEO of the world's biggest company doubts the veracity of US economic data, you know you have a problem. After quarters of disappointing growth in the face of miraculous equity market performance; Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon warns that shoppers aren’t returning at the pace one might expect years after the recession peaked, despite mainstream media interpretation of the data showing unequivocal growth. Simply put, he exclaims, "the unemployment numbers particularly have been difficult to read with the number of people dropping out of the work force," adding that if we see a further drop in the participation...

I went shopping today for a pair of pants. I was hoping it would only take a few minutes. How difficult could that be in the land of plenty? As I entered the large department store, I was greeted by stifling heat and humidity. This particular department store chain uses smart meters, cycled and controlled by the power company from a remote location in order to “save” them money. Customers and employees suffer because a small group of elites have managed to convince and bribe bureaucrats and politicians into pushing the agenda of non-existent global warming.

Call it a double whammy for the planet or simply irony with a capital “I.” As the invaluable Michael Klare, TomDispatch regular and author of The Race for What’s Left, points out today, if you scan the planet for conflict, what you’ll find from Syria and Iraq to the South China Sea are a series of energy wars -- fossil-fuel conflicts to be exact. At present, despite some hopeful signs, this crazed planet of ours is still a ravenous beast that only fossil fuels can sate. No question that conflicts and wars are terrible things. Just consider the million new...

History suggests that previously sound assumptions about financial security and recession-proof sectors may not apply in the next recession. Nobody wants to lose their job in a recession, but that's what happens when credit tightens, profits fall and tax revenues decline. Every enterprise that can't borrow unlimited sums of money at near-zero interest rates has to cut costs, and since labor and labor overhead (pension contributions, healthcare insurance, etc.) are the biggest expense for the vast majority of enterprises (including government agencies), payroll must be trimmed one way or another: either by lay-offs or by attrition, i.e. not hiring replacements for...