Free Republic

The war on drugs has been going on since 1971, and we have a winner: marijuana. Back then, possession of pot carried heavy penalties in many states -- even life imprisonment. Today, 29 states sanction medical use of cannabis, and eight allow recreational use. Legal weed has become about as controversial as Powerball. One sign of the shift came in Wednesday's debate among the Democrats running for governor of Illinois. The state didn't get its first medical marijuana dispensary until 2015, and it decriminalized possession of small amounts of pot only last year. But most of the candidates endorsed legalization...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has become a flashpoint for Republicans running for Senate in 2018. The Hill asked nearly two-dozen Senate candidates this week if they would support McConnell as leader if elected. Not one campaign said outright that they would support McConnell, although two candidates appear to have expressed support for McConnell in the past. Several candidates declared their opposition to McConnell and attacked their GOP primary opponents for not taking a stance on the question. Other candidates deflected, or spoke on background about the bind they’re in over the question of McConnell’s leadership. Most candidates were...

Of all the candidates for utopia, Stockton, California would be on the bottom of my list. But a 27-year-old mayor, with the backing of a foundation, is trying for utopia, as seen by supporters of the Mommy State: Universal Basic Income. Futurism.com writes: Stockton, California, is about to become the first city to test government-supported universal basic income in the U.S. The program is the idea of the city's 27-year-old mayor and will be primarily funded by the basic income advocacy group Economic Security Project.

Since retired Gen. John Kelly became White House chief of staff, news outlets have portrayed him as the disciplinarian sent to impose order over an unruly President Donald Trump. Kelly rejects that scenario -- when it comes to taming, he has other fish to fry. To wit, at Thursday's press briefing, Kelly tongue-lashed the usually feisty White House press corps so relentlessly that in 18 minutes he reduced the usually swaggering scribes and talking heads into shamed silence. After Kelly slammed reporters for taking a "sacred" moment -- the notification of family when a military member is killed in action...

Steve Bannon and Roger Stone are two of President Donald Trump’s most controversial former advisers but recent reports indicate that Trump has kept communications open with the men despite neither having official government roles. As CEO of the 'alt-right' Breitbart news network, Bannon is viewed by the president as a hotline to the populist conspiracy-theory driven base that helped his rise to power. Multiple associates of both Trump and Bannon told The Washington Post that the two have kept in regular touch since Bannon resigned as White House chief strategist in August. Despite Bannon declaring war on the Congressional GOP...

Friday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” filmmaker Ken Burns said many Confederate monuments were “all about the reimposition of white supremacy” after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision causing the desegregation of public schools. Burns said, “There is a professor — Barbara Fields — from Columbia University, and she says the civil war is still going on. Not only still going on, but it can also still be lost. Regrettably, it can still be lost … We haven’t resolved this the question of race.” He continued, “So the monuments is a big deal and we have to understand...

When taking aim, try not to hit your foot. You may need that foot, if only to put it in your mouth. Our bizarre age of ideological bickering continues as if we’ve not been sated yet. At least, the editors of The New York Times think its readers still demand a full barrage of invective and “argument” against “the right.” The Gray Lady has graced its pages with the writings of one Jane Coaston, who in mid-October took on conservatives in yet another farrago: “The Hollow Bravery of Ben Shapiro.” Ms. Coaston accuses Shapiro — the brilliant intellectual pugilist widely...

Just when you thought liberals had sunk as low as they could, they break out the shovel and start digging.Nothing is sacred anymore. Nothing is off limits, and everything is political. This week showed us once again there is nothing Democrats won’t exploit, no grave they won’t dance on, if they think they can score political points. And there’s nothing “journalists” won’t spin, won’t lie about, and no hypocrisy too great to prevent them from smearing their political opponents.The sad deaths of four soldiers in an ambush in Niger normally would not be a political football, but these times are...

I am sure that being smacked (very seldom, as it has happened) did me some harm, though I am equally sure there are some people who think I should have been smacked more than I was. But the question is whether banning smacking will do more harm than allowing it. And that is much more complicated. No person actively wants to smack a child. But a lot of sane, kind people have sometimes thought it wise to do so....... I'm not talking about the angry and obviously damaging violence you sometimes see in supermarkets, where an exasperated and furious parent,...

Two police officers were injured while several protesters were arrested during a demonstration outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Center City Saturday afternoon.A group of protesters, describing their demonstration as "Abolition Weekend," gathered on Arch and 12th streets near the Pennsylvania Convention Center around noon where the conference is taking place. On a Facebook page promoting the rally, organizers outlined the reason for the protest."The International Association Of Chiefs Of Police is coming to have their national convention in Philadelphia," they wrote. "However, we are clear of the damage that these individuals inflict on communities...

The government has said the term “pregnant woman” should not be used in a UN treaty because it “excludes” transgender people. Feminists reacted with outrage to what they said was the latest example of “making women unmentionable” in the name of transgender equality. The statement comes in Britain’s official submission on proposed amendments to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the UK has been a signatory since 1976. The UN treaty says a “pregnant woman” must be protected, including not being subject to the death penalty. Yet in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office submission, Britain opposes...

Please join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for President Trump, Vice-President Pence, and for America: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (I John 5:14) Religion forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind.

Complete Headline: Harvey claims he's cured! Weinstein completes sex addict rehab in ONE WEEK then blasts accuser Lupita Nyong'o as a liar for her claims he forced her to massage him Harvey Weinstein has completed a one-week sex addiction rehab in Arizona Psychologist says he is 'dealing with his anger' and starting to 'work on empathy' This despite reports that Weinstein was boorish in group therapy session Disgraced producer was pulled from group after one session, psychologist says Weinstein will reportedly remain in Arizona for additional stint with doctors Spokesperson says he has 'different recollection' of Lupita Nyong'o encounter Unnamed...

News coverage of Israel is distorted both by the lopsided amount of attention it gets from world media and from a “herd mentality” that embraces and promotes a narrow, simplistic view of “what the story is,” according to an author and former Associated Press reporter in Israel. Israel accounts for 0.01 percent of the world’s territory and has roughly the population of New York City, but when Matti Friedman joined the AP in 2006, he recalled in Jerusalem this week, the wire service had 40 full-time staff in the country. That was more than the number of AP staff covering...

Thomas Frank, the author best-known for "What's the Matter with Kansas?" who's also a Washington political journalist, places the blame for the election of President Donald Trump squarely on the back of the Democratic Party and its abandonment of working-class Americans. "They love it when unions work hard for them and give them campaign funds," Frank said in a telephone interview. "But they aren't deeply concerned with the problems faced by working-class people," he said. "They need to stop taking those people for granted." What they got in exchange for that neglect was Trump, he said. Frank will be in...

It’s a bizarre season in Hollywood. Almost nothing is “working,” and the studios can’t afford to waste any more money hoping things will turn around. They’re pulling flops from theaters earlier than usual. This weekend, for example, Warner Bros. is putting out a white flag on “Blade Runner” after three tough weeks. They’ve cut the number of theaters showing Denis Villeneuve’s beautiful film by 855. So far, “Blade Runner” has made just $66 million. Audiences have not clamored to it. And now, week by week, Warners will quietly take it away. Warner’s isn’t alone. Universal is pulling Tom Cruise’s “American...

President Donald Trump’s proposal for comprehensive tax reform was almost immediately dismissed as heartless and impractical by his political opponents. When the same ideas are packaged under Bernie Sanders' name, however, liberal college students excitedly endorsed them. Students love Donald Trump's tax plan when it's packaged under Bernie Sanders' name. President Donald Trump’s proposal for comprehensive tax reform was almost immediately dismissed as heartless and impractical by his political opponents.But what would some of those opponents think if they were told the same plan was being proposed by someone they adore—Senator Bernie Sanders?To find out, we headed to George...

Weinstein's sex session yards from pregnant wife’s room Girl pleaded ‘don’t hurt me’ as he had sex in back of car Reveals 'The Pig' kept stash of condoms & Viagra in glove box How the film boss's gastric band failed and nearly killed him Mickael, Weinstein’s regular driver in the south of France from 2008 to 2013, said: “Weinstein was a terrible man to work for. Everyone knew him as le porc because of his size and because he sweated so much. When he came to Cannes we all knew what to expect.” He recalled how the mogul once picked...

What do the companies in these three groups have in common?Group A: American Motors, Brown Shoe, Studebaker, Collins Radio, Detroit Steel, Zenith Electronics and National Sugar Refining.Group B: Boeing, Campbell Soup, Colgate-Palmolive, Deere, General Motors, IBM, Kellogg, Procter and Gamble, and Whirlpool.Group C: Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Home Depot, Microsoft, Google, Netflix, Office Depot and Target.All of the companies in Group A were in the Fortune 500 in 1955, but not in 2017.All of the companies in Group B were in the Fortune 500 in both 1955 and 2017.All of the companies in Group C were in the Fortune 500 in...

The fabricated "Russian collusion" meme, cooked up by a bitter and vindictive Hillary Clinton after her stunning and thoroughly deserved loss in last fall's presidential election, is likely to have no end other than soiling many, many reputations: Is special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, appointed in mid-May to lead the investigation into suspected ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and various shady (aren’t they all?) Russian officials, the choirboy that he’s being touted to be, or is he more akin to a modern-day Tomas de Torquemada, the Castilian Dominican friar who was the first Grand Inquisitor in the 15th Century Spanish...