Free Republic

You’re lovin’ it — but is it too good to be true? A McDonald’s employee revealed how their iced tea is made — and claim it’s a lot sweeter than most customer’s might think. TikTok user @gia2bad claims she’s letting viewers in on how the beloved drink is really made, leaving them stunned at what they’ve allegedly been consuming. In the now-viral video — which has garnered 1.3 million views and 101,700 likes as of Monday morning — Gia exposed the fast food chain for putting an entire four-pound bag of sugar into their iced tea. “If y’all were wondering...

What do households on food stamps buy at the grocery store? The answer was largely a mystery until now. The United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the $74 billion food stamp program called SNAP, has published a detailed report that provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of the typical household that receives food stamps. The findings show that the No. 1 purchases by SNAP households are soft drinks, which accounted for 5 percent of the dollars they spent on food. The category of ‘sweetened beverages,’ which includes fruit juices, energy drinks and sweetened teas, accounted for almost 10...

So, it’s a warm day, and you’re standing in a parking lot, drinking a refreshing can of iced tea. Suddenly, a random dude walks up and demands your beverage. You show him that it is in fact iced tea and that you aren’t publicly intoxicated. He tells you to give him the can and you say no, figuring this stranger can get his own iced tea. This is exactly what happened to rapper Christopher “Xstrav” Beatty, who was handcuffed and arrested by Officer Rick Libero of the Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement for drinking a can of Arizona...

WOODBURY, N.Y., - The manufacturers of AriZona Iced Tea released a statement saying their headquarters is in New York, not Arizona, to head off boycott talk. Don Vultaggio, founder of the beverage company, released a statement Wednesday asking people not to project their anger about Arizona's new law -- which gives police the right to demand citizenship papers from anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant -- onto his company, the New York Daily News reported Thursday. "AriZona Beverages proudly traces its origins back to New York," Vultaggio said. "In 1992, two hardworking guys from Brooklyn with a dream created...

Dear friend, In four days I'm going to Bali, Indonesia to address the UN Climate Change Conference. In front of representatives from the world's countries, I will speak about the need for a visionary treaty to be completed, ratified and brought into effect everywhere in the world by 2010. I need you, your friends and family to sign this petition calling for a new, positive leadership role by our elected leaders. I will bring your signatures on stage with me as a clear demonstration of our resolve. This petition shows our commitment to solutions to the climate crisis. Please add...

NEW YORK Former Vice President Al Gore is enjoying a boom in the wake of his Oscar win earlier this week for "An Inconvenient Truth." You'd think that the "Draft Al for President" movement was pretty strong or wide. But is it? A new Gallup poll released today finds that, actually, relatively few Democrats think he could win the White House next year. The survey found that 74% thought Sen. Hillary Clinton would have a good or excellent chance to win, with 71% feeling the same way about Sen. Barack Obama. A still healthy 52% gave former Sen. John Edwards...

Jan. 25, 2005 -- Instant iced tea mixes may contain potentially harmful levels of fluoride, according to a new study.Researchers found some commercial iced tea mixes contain up to 6.5 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride, which is well above the 4 ppm maximum allowed by the EPA in drinking water and 2.4 ppm permitted by the FDA in bottled water and beverages.The results indicate constantly quenching your thirst with instant iced teas may increase your risk of a rare, but potentially dangerous bone disorder caused by getting too much fluoride in your system. When fluoride levels are too high,...

(CBS) LESLEY STAHL: You know, you’ve been all over television, all over the newspapers for this last week. You’ve given back-to-back interviews. You’ve answered virtually every question except one (laughs) and that is, are you or are you not gonna run in 2004? Are you gonna run? AL GORE: Well, I’ve decided not to run. And I-- LESLEY STAHL: You’ve decided not to run? AL GORE: I’ve decided that I will not be a candidate for president in 2004 ... And I found that I’ve come to closure on this. I don’t think it’s the right thing for me to be...

Former vice-president Al Gore recently made a visit to China, where he is believed to have been paid to speak at a communist government-linked think-tank and attended a lunch hosted by former ENRON director Ronnie Chan Chi-chung. MORE Participants at the China Development Institute-sponsored forum in Shenzhen, at which Gore was a key speaker last month, were offered the chance to have their photo taken with Gore if they paid 50,000 yuan (HK$ 47,000) or 100,000 yuan for conference sponsorship packages, the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST reported. The news of his visit, which was said to have been personal, is...

<p>December 5, 2002 -- MAYBE it's just wishful thinking, but the December buzz among Dems is starting to be that maybe, just maybe, Al Gore will bow out of the 2004 presidential race and deprive Republicans of their dream race - a Bush-Gore rematch.</p>

Tipper Gore, who is an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her husband's great-great uncle, Chadsworth Gore, a fellow greatly lacking in characer, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Tennessee in 1889. The only known photograph of Chadsworth Gore shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: ''Chadsworth Gore--horse thief, sent to Tennessee State Prison in 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Tennessee Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.'' After letting Al Gore and his staff of professional image consultants peruse the findings, his staff decided...

Gore’s TV War: He Lobs Salvo At Fox News by Josh Benson Among the many problems facing the Democratic Party, according to former Vice President Al Gore, is the state of the American media. "The media is kind of weird these days on politics, and there are some major institutional voices that are, truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican Party," said Mr. Gore in an interview with The Observer. "Fox News Network, The Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh—there’s a bunch of them, and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations...

EATONVILLE, Fla. - Former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday urged black voters "to walk through fire" to cast their ballots, testifying to his experience during the Florida recount of 2000. "If anybody ever tells you that one vote doesn't make a difference, ask them to come talk to me," said Gore, who two years ago lost the presidential election to George W. Bush in part because of the electoral debacle in Florida. That line, repeated at three Orlando-area black churches, was met every time with applause and cries of approval. Democrats have long regarded black voters as a crucial...

RooRoobird14 had a wonderful vanity post about sharing a Southwest flight with Al Gore. It deserved a song. Here you go, RR14: ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Vanity (But True!!!): I was on Southwest Flight 160 with Al Gore!!!! ROTFLOL ALERT!!!! MIDI - TEDDY BEARS PICNIC With hubby I was set for the flight…to Nashville we would be going Who would show up there on that same flight there wasn't a way of knowing We weren't prepared for whom we would see…I had to write my own vanity Today's the day we shared a flight with The Goron A great big "L" should...

<p>How would America have reacted to Sept. 11 had Al Gore been president?</p> <p>Or, more to the point, how would Al Gore have reacted to Sept. 11?</p> <p>Judging by his speech the other day to the Commonwealth Club of California, the answer is: Weakly.</p> <p>Tentatively.</p> <p>Maybe not at all.</p>

Posted as a courtesy to FR insomniacs. I'm having dinner and will NOT be able to watch.

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --  Al Gore harshly criticized President Bush's push for war against Iraq, saying Monday that it weakens America's effort to combat terrorism and forever could damage the nation's standing in the world.</p> <p>"After Sept. 11, we had enormous sympathy, goodwill and support around the world," Gore said. "We've squandered that, and in one year we've replaced that with fear, anxiety and uncertainty, not at what the terrorists are going to do but at what we are going to do."</p>

I just saw this on CNN. Personally, I think it's a super-smart move on his part, putting him out in front of a debate from which his fellow Dems have been hiding.