Free Republic

Maine voters in November will consider a ballot question seeking to overturn a newly-minted state law that changes the funding method for the Dirigo Health Program.

What if you decided to patronize the local neighborhood park and discovered that baseball, football, softball, wiffle ball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, kickball, handball, tennis, frisbee, kite flying, model airplane flying and ping pong were all banned there? Sounds like fun, no? (I’m not sure about go-fish or European-style tiddly-winks). And what if I also told you that if you were contemplating a nice bike ride through the park, you could just forget it? Bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, roller blades, shopping carts, golf carts or any other motorized-wheeled modes of transportation are also banned – although, to be fair, baby carriages,...

FAST food fan Natalie Jackson was hit with a £150 fine at KFC — for staying too long gorging on a monster-sized “family bucket”. The trainee nurse and a pal plumped for FOURTEEN chicken pieces, SIX bags of fries and large COKES after driving to their local branch. They spent an hour and a half scoffing the 5,456-calorie feast. Days later regular customer Natalie got the fine in the post for breaking the restaurant car park’s 75-minute limit. The 24-year-old fumed yesterday: “It’s disgusting. I spend a lot of money in there. Now I’m never going back.” Hungry Natalie —...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court upheld San Francisco's pioneering health coverage program today, saying the city has the legal authority to require employers to help pay for health care for uninsured workers and residents. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges by restaurant owners and the Bush administration to the ordinance, the first of its kind in the nation. The 2-year-old program, when fully implemented, will offer care at a network of hospitals and clinics for 73,000 uninsured adults not covered by the Medi-Cal program for the poor or Medicare for the elderly. More than 80...

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation making California the first state to require restaurant chains to reveal how many calories are in their standard menu items.

“Kill your air conditioner,” wrote Joe Klein in Time Magazine. “The unnecessary refrigeration of America has become a chronic disease.” What? I’m tempted to laugh at the lunacy. It’s as silly as banning the light bulb in an attempt to save the planet. Who could be that stupid? Well, in a few years incandescent light bulbs will be illegal. We’ll be forced to buy compact fluorescents, which require Hazmat disposal teams when broken. In today’s green environment, nothing is too insane. Frighteningly, our industry is increasingly considered politically incorrect. A decade ago, the New York Times reported that an Italian...

Animal Rights Activists Get Official Roles In City and County Dog Law Enforcement Undercover Surveillance, Vigilantes, Uniforms and Badges by JOHN YATES American Sporting Dog Alliance http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org asda@csonline.net PALM BEACH, FL – Animal rights activists in many parts of the country are proving the adage that paranoia doesn’t necessarily mean dog owners are crazy. Cities and counties that have enacted repressive ordinances targeting dog owners are increasingly using volunteers as a major tool to enforce the law. Not surprisingly, only animal rights activists are likely to be accepted as volunteers. Many of these activists are opposed to the private ownership...

Nationalization has its consequences. Just note the rhetoric coming from some prominent voices on the left. The government's foray into offering services normally provided by the private sector by bailing out aging mortgage giants gives it the power to implement "green" building requirements, according to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He suggested Sept. 23 that any construction financed by government-funded mortgages should be certified "green" according to the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. "If we're going to be in the mortgage business as a government, then every government-funded mortgage -...

Bars and restaurants around Wrigley Field that ignore the city’s call to voluntarily cut off liquor sales after the seventh inning could face a dire alternative: Area residents could vote them dry, Mayor Daley warned Tuesday. One day after bar owners reacted angrily to the city’s proposal, Daley defended it as "common sense." He argued that Cubs fans who’ve been drinking up until the seventh-inning stretch of potential title-clinching games need, what he called, "some smoothing time" before the celebration begins in earnest. » Click to enlarge image Fans celebrate after the Cubs won the Central Division title. Mayor Daley...

Gordon Brown's plan to provide free nursery places for two-year-olds risks creating a generation of " institutionalised" children, a psychologist warned today. The Prime Minister has said he wants to extend the 15 hours of free childcare from three-and four-year-olds to two-year-olds to increase parents' choice over how they balance work and family life. But Dr Richard House, a child psychologist at Roehampton University, said the drive to get mothers back into the workforce could be harmful to very young children. In an attempt to raise academic standards, all childminders, playgroups and nurseries now have to follow the Early Years...

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- It may soon be illegal for Vancouver residents to wash their cars in the driveway, according to a local newspaper report. The Oregonian article reports that the state of Washington wants Clark County to come up with laws that control what water goes into storm drains, including banning the soapy water from car washes at private homes. “Well it seems kind of strange forcing people to go through a car wash… Some people can’t afford to do that and would prefer to wash at home,” a woman told KGW as she waited in line for a professional...

Smokers will be stopped in the street and asked to take a carbon monoxide test in London's most hard-hitting anti-smoking campaign. 'Smoking police' will target people at betting shops, bus stops and shopping centres to shock them into giving up cigarettes. They will be asked to breathe into a monitor to show how much carbon monoxide is in their bodies, and could then be signed up to local stop-smoking services and given access to counsellors. Pro-smoking group Forest described the campaign as a humiliating infringement of civil liberties. Ealing Primary Care Trust, which is funding the £75,000 scheme, said it...

That's right. New Jersey now requires flu vaccines for preschoolers and children attending licensed child care centers. Now parents will have an additional item to cross off their checklists once the school bells ring in September. The flu vaccine requirement, along with three additional immunizations, was approved last December. According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, studies suggest that young children are "particularly efficient in transmitting influenza to their close contacts," including other children, adults and the elderly. "This new requirement addresses the need to stop flu transmission at a potential source," the department said in...

Children have been banned from reading their football results in local newspapers because it makes them too competitive. Football Association laws dictate that from this season, the results of matches between children aged seven and eight must not be published, league tables must not be kept and prizes must not be given out. Some local associations have chosen to extend the regulations even further, it has emerged, banning league tables and trophies for 9, 10 and 11-year olds as well. Scott Ager, who last season managed Priory Parkside under-9s 'A' team in Huntingdon, was sharply reprimanded after declaring that his...

Pamela Anderson must be floating on air right about now. As of this week, anti-meat activists have a new standard-bearer: United Nations chief climate expert and staunch vegetarian Rajendra Pachauri. On Monday, Pachauri basically put the UN seal on environmental vegetarianism when he recommended that everyone on Planet Earth begin cutting meat out of their diets to combat climate change. And vegan advocates can hardly contain their excitement. But PETA and company had better savor the flavor, because Pachauri’s rationale has already come under fire. And vegetarian groups are having a pretty tough time coming up with answers to some...

RIVIERA BEACH — A judge says Riviera Beach's "saggy pants" law is unconstitutional in the case of a 17-year-old who spent a night in jail for having his underwear showing. And a public defender said her office wants to get the law tossed altogether. Saggy pants File photo In Riviera Beach, a first offense carries a $150 fine or a requirement of community service. Julius Hart was charged Wednesday when an officer spotted him riding his bicycle in the 2800 block of Lakeshore Drive with 4 to 5 inches of blue and black boxer shorts sticking out of his black...

Responding to an exclusive report by CBS 2 Saturday that suggested the engineer in the deadly Metrolink train crash had just sent a text message, the president of the California Public Utilities Commission Monday said he will ask for a ban on texting while driving a train. President Michael R. Peevy said, "I will ask my fellow commissioners on Thursday to approve an emergency order prohibiting the personal use of cellular communications devices while operating a freight or passenger train anywhere in California." He added, "Some railroad operators may [already] have policies prohibiting the personal use of such devices, but...

There is a frightening penchant in today’s gradually feminizing America for people to abandon their God given ability to think and reason. True authority – the kind that summons respect, reverence and even a touch of fear – is being pushed aside, condemned as antiquated patriarchal nonsense, for more “progressive” methods of trying to maintain order. Thus, authority itself is emasculated, common sense is effectively castrated and unintended consequences create new difficulties where there should be none. In New York City, for example, students are not permitted to carry their cell phones into school with them (except in very specific...

HARRISBURG—Two bills sponsored by State Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf (R-Montgomery / Bucks) were approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Friday, July 4, 2008. Language from Greenleaf's Senate Bill 71 addressing bullying in schools and Senate Bill 579 concerning the placement of twins and multiples in the classroom was included in an omnibus school code bill approved by the Legislature and now awaiting the Governor's signature. School Bullying Addressing the widespread problem of bullying in Pennsylvania schools, Senate Bill 71 will require each of the state's public schools to adopt a policy on how to address incidents of bullying by...

HOLLISTON - If you're young and ride a bicycle through town without a helmet, you may end up walking back home. Police here are looking for scofflaws and will snatch the pedals from your feet if you've been warned numerous times but still forgo headgear.Holliston police, frustrated in trying to drive home the point that riding without a helmet is dangerous and illegal, are hoping the tactic will finally get the attention of young riders."We're not looking to take bikes away from the kids who forget their helmets," School Resource Officer David Gatchell said yesterday. "This isn't something where we're...

Pennsylvania's statewide smoking ban, 15 years in the making in Harrisburg, became law today. Cindy Thomas, executive director of Tobacco Free Allegheny, has provided answers to these questions about the new law, which bans smoking in most public places and is aimed at making the state's workplaces smoke-free. What penalties does a person face if he or she is caught smoking in a place where smoking is prohibited? The Clean Indoor Air Act provides for the following penalties: The owner, operator or manager of the premises may be penalized for failure to post proper signs. Each offense can bring a...

Here's our "government knows best" quote of the day.This comes from Dr. Tim Johnson, ABC's medical editor, commenting on John McCain's healthcare plan. "The idea that individuals are going to have enough knowledge and enough savvy and enough insight and, frankly, enough guts to make choices all by themselves is pretty much a pipe dream." CONSIDERING THAT MENTALITY ... Let's take a jump across the pond to Great Britain and its universal healthcare program. One half of primary care doctors are accused of ignoring National Health Service guidelines that say morbidly obese patients should have stomach surgery to reduce their...

Park wardens have been ordered to stop and interrogate anyone who is not accompanied by children. The visitors who are quizzed have to explain their presence and risk being thrown out or reported to police if their answers are not satisfactory. The policy has been introduced at Telford Town Park in Shropshire. The council which manages the 420-acre area says it is a 'commonsense approach' aimed at safeguarding children. But park users accused it of 'authoritarian madness' and said the ruling risked panicking parents about the dangers faced from potential paedophiles. The policy came to light after two environmental campaigners...

OUT IN the Pacific time zone, the nanny-statists have been busy. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a law banning restaurants from using trans fats when preparing food. In Seattle, city councilors passed a measure requiring shoppers to pay 20 cents for every plastic or paper bag they use in grocery, drug, or convenience stores. In Los Angeles, a new "moratorium" forbids new fast-food restaurants within a 32-square-mile section of the city that is home to 500,000 low-income residents. "Ultimately," the moratorium's sponsor declared, "this ordinance is about providing choices." In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed a...

The Roman Empire was founded a republic. The people had somewhat voice in the goings on in the Roman Senate. Although not perfect it provided some liberty to the people. But with massive militaristic expansion into Europe and North Africa along with a slave revolt lead by Spartacus, adding to this corruption ignorance and apathy, it lead the way for Julius Caesar to become its first emperor. From then on, Rome was lead by a series of despots, some wise, courageous and brilliant, others evil, decadent and incompetent. It happened because good men stood by and allowed the state to...

Cigarette sales at Boston drugstores and on college campuses would be banned under sweeping new tobacco control rules likely to win initial approval today from health regulators. The restrictions, which would give Boston among the toughest antismoking laws in the nation, could go into effect early next year. The rules would also stamp out smoking on the patios of restaurants and bars with outside service; tobacco use has been banned inside since 2003. And, after a five-year grace period, the city would shutter cigar bars, swank salons catering to tobacco connoisseurs, which were exempt from the earlier regulation. The measures...

Customers at Northwood Power Equipment are hoping to get their outdoor wood heaters delivered before a new state law bans the selling of some models starting Jan. 1. "I don't think we're going to be taking orders anymore," said store manager Rick Devoid. "We're getting close to the deadline. Right now, it's a November-December delivery date." A state law passed in July set the Jan. 1 ban for selling outdoor wood-fired hydronic boilers that don't meet federal air pollution standards.

Eshoo bill would put a stop to flavored cigarettes enjoyed by children and hipsters. Does it go too far?IT'S NOT really fair for the government to control what we smoke," says Julian Shipp, manager at Mac's Smoke Shop in Palo Alto. "The taxes we pay already are astonishing. I feel like our freedoms are being taken away one by one." Silicon Valley Congresswoman Anna Eshoo says one fact trumps all others. "Smoking is a killer, and we know that," Eshoo says. "It's just as simple as that; it's just as profound as that." New tobacco legislation co-sponsored by Eshoo, which...

WASHINGTON, DC - The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a ruling today requiring all warning signs to carry warning labels, effective immediately. The requirements apply to all warning signs placed since 1974, and call for stiff fines for non-compliance. The Administration hopes the move will help stem the growing warning sign injury crisis...

Children to get lessons in playing Bureaucratic crazy councils are to issue school children with instructions of how to play in the playground. As millions of children go back to school, councils are been given a list of 10 traditional playground games for teachers to suggest they play at breaks and lunchtime. It is hoped the list, which includes Hopscotch, British Bulldog and Tag, will help combat child obesity and remind teachers and parents the importance of children being physically active. The Local Government Association, which issued the list and represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales says...

AUGUSTA, Maine — On Monday, Maine joins other U.S. states and Canadian provinces that have made it illegal to smoke in a car while children are present. But for the first year the law's in effect, violators will only get warnings. A law passed by the state legislature earlier this year outlaws smoking in cars while youths under 16 are present. It's modelled after a tougher ordinance in the city of Bangor, Maine. California, Arkansas and Louisiana have passed similar laws, as have Puerto Rico and some Canadian provinces. Other states have also looked at the proposal. When he signed...

to “positive peer pressure” to encourage them to lose weight under Conservative proposals to make young people take more responsibility for the health. Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, outlined a “no excuses” approach to childhood obesity, drunkenness, drug-taking and under-age age sex in a speech today. He also announced that a Tory administration would refuse to implement further advertising bans on junk-foods and scrap so-called traffic-light food labelling.

Cafeteria trays disappear in US bid to tackle obesity Trays are disappearing from college restaurants across America in a bid to tackle obesity, cut food waste and make campuses more environmentally sustainable. Working on the principle that students tend to fill up a tray until there is no space left only to throw much of it away, a growing number of institutions are forcing diners to be more selective about what – and how much – they eat.... ...The University of Maine says it has reduced food waste by 65,000 lbs – or 56 lbs per person - annually and...

A council publishing 'Wanted' photographs of alleged litterbugs insisted today that it has a legal right to identify suspects - even if they are eventually cleared. As town halls face a growing revolt over new powers to issue on-the-spot fines and access people's personal data, one authority has already handed cameras to litter teams who patrol the streets for anyone dropping so much as a matchstick. The crackdown has been launched by Colchester Borough Council, which claims it has been checked and approved by their lawyers and the police. Its team of six 'street care officers' will now photograph everyone...

Despite the warning signs placed near West University Elementary School, two drivers were caught by surprise this morning as police began enforcing a new ordinance banning cell phone use in the school zone. Parents who were bringing children for the first day of classes praised the new law, which prohibits the use of cell phones or other electronic devices during one-hour periods in the morning and afternoon.... The ban is in effect from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Violators could be liable for a fine of up to $200 for the first offense and...

SEATTLE - Only in Seattle could an event touted as a way to help the environment get washed out during what is supposed to be the driest time of the year. 'By order of the Mayor' - One neighborhood is closed off to car traffic during selected weekends this summer. On Sunday it was the area around 14th and Republican on Capitol Hill, a residential area that's normally quiet anyway. "I think it promotes awareness of whatever we're promoting awareness of," said resident Thomas Hubbard. "A car passes by every once in a while, just people trying to get home....

Next year, the state will add a $25 insurance fee for being overweight Alabama, pushed to third in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat. The state has given its 37,527 employees a year to start getting fit — or they’ll pay $25 a month for insurance that otherwise is free. Alabama will be the first state to charge overweight state workers who don’t work on slimming down, while a handful of other states reward employees who adopt healthy behaviors. Alabama already charges workers who smoke — and has seen...

Velvet Glove Iron Fist A History of Anti-Smoking by Christopher Snowdon The bookWelcome. Thanks for visiting and please stay a while. Velvet Glove, Iron Fist is the first comprehensive history of the anti-smoking movement. This book has not yet been published but several chapters are available here free of charge (these are chapters three, ten, eleven and thirteen). Or you might prefer to start with the introduction. In the news05.08.08:Velvet Glove author obtains data from Wales showing that heart attack incidence rose after the Welsh smoking ban. Politician accused of wilfully misleading the public. See original article and this...

It never ceases to amaze us how once crusaders for fashionable causes get a particular bogeyman in their heads, there is just no shaking it. It becomes a symbol for all they distrust about the modern world: corporations, the marketplace and consumerism. In battling it, they see themselves striking a blow for the public good, the environment, social justice, fairness and more. The current trendy bete noir is bottled water, the evils of which are being blown all out of proportion. British Environment Minister Phil Woolas has recently insisted that drinking bottled water is "morally unacceptable." Giles Coren, restaurant critic...

The threat to Britain and the NHS from rising obesity is as grave as that posed by terrorism, a top expert says. Durham University public health expert Professor David Hunter, who also acts as a government adviser, said ministers should be taking "bold action" now. He said this could include compelling manufacturers to improve the salt, fat and sugar content of their products. The Department of Health said it was making progress in disease prevention in a number of areas. Professor Hunter said that governments since the 1970s, including the present Labour government, had "tinkered around the edges" of the...

When Owen Beck was 17, doctors amputated his right leg to stop the spread of bone cancer. His parents, desperate to find a drug that would relieve their son's excruciating phantom limb pain, brought him to Charlie Lynch's medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, California, carrying a recommendation from a Stanford University oncologist. The marijuana not only eased the pain but also alleviated the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Called to testify as a character witness in Lynch's federal marijuana trial, Beck did not get far. When he mentioned his cancer, U.S. District Judge George Wu cut him off and sent...

The announcement this week from the Local Government Association that Social workers will consider taking 'dangerously overweight' children from their parents and placing them into care is guaranteed to tie all decent people in a veritable Gordian knot of conflicting liberal impulses. On the one hand we all abhor the idea that children might be so packed full of high-calorie low-nutrition takeaways and convenience food by uncaring or ignorant parents that they are effectively crippled by their own bulk. On the other hand we Britons have long rather fancied ourselves to be a more than averagely tolerant bunch, and the...

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and 24 other representatives on Capitol Hill have asked the government to reconsider mandating that all Americans use exclusively compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, in light of growing concerns over the safety and environmental impact of the bulbs. As WND reported, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was signed into law in December, phasing out the use of traditional, incandescent light bulbs in favor of CFLs beginning in 2012 and culminating in a ban on incandescent bulbs in 2014. "Most Americans, if you ask them, have no idea that the government has already...

All the safety measures we have taken to protect our children have produced such harmful effects as increasing the rate of childhood obesity; in fact, one in six children in America is obese, and many of them face a lifetime of chronic illness, says the Center for Disease Control. However, the situation could cure itself if children would just get off the sofa! But how do we lure children outside? One key attraction is risk, says Philip Howard, chairman of Common Good. Risk is fun, he continues, at least the moderate risks that were common in prior generations. Today, America...

"The City Council is poised to approve new legislation on Thursday that would bar stores from keeping their doors open when air-conditioners or central cooling systems are in use. Any store or restaurant in violation of the new rule will first be issued a written warning and charged fines for subsequent violations. The second time within an 18-month period that a business is found to be violating the law, a fine of $200 would be charged by the city for every open door. That fine would increase to $400 a door for any subsequent violations during the same period."

A NEW weapon in the battle against obesity was rolled out last month when the Los Angeles City Council decided to stop new fast food restaurants from opening in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Even in a country where a third of the schoolchildren are overweight or obese, the yearlong moratorium raises questions about when eating one style of food stops being a personal choice and becomes a public health concern. The Sisyphean struggle against poor diets has included booting soda from schools, banning trans fat and, more recently, sending New Yorkers into dietary sticker shock with a law...

The City Council is slamming the door on stores that blast their air-conditioning in the summer to lure foot traffic from the city's hot sidewalks. A bill is expected to pass Thursday that would prohibit large stores from keeping their doors open while running their air conditioners. First violation gets a warning, second gets a $200 fine, and third gets a $400 fine. The council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg believe it will help conserve a bit of energy in summer months when power demands are at their highest.

Over the past couple years, we’ve noticed a suspicious number of ticket camera editorials by the Orlando Sentinel. After looking more closely, we noticed that nearly every editorial in the Sentinel was strongly in favor of installing ticket cameras. Furthermore, we noticed that nearly every pro-camera article was written by one member of the Sentinel’s Editorial Board, George Diaz.This seemed odd, so we decided to look into it further.After some quick research, we discovered that George Diaz appeared at a symposium held by The National Campaign To Stop Red Light Running in late 2007.As we covered on this blog previously,...

Update: Jan Gee of the Washington Food Industry says a Web site with more information on the effort to repeal the bag fee will go live Tuesday or Wednesday. She said it would appear at stopthebagtax.com, where an effort against a California bag fee currently resides. Still mad about that 20-cent grocery bag fee? If a group of Seattle grocers gets its way, the fee could be history, according to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Washington Food Industry, a trade group for independent grocers such as Red Apple and Metropolitan Market, launched a signature-gathering drive on...

As our lawmakers look for ways to save money, they've approved a plan to tax cigarette sales on Indian reservations. The New York State Senate approved legislation Friday that would require retailers on Indian reservations to charge a tax on tobacco sales. State Senator Dale Volker was one of the senators who voted for it. "You're talking about a situation where we got a deficit and here's three to four hundred million dollars," Volker said. "And if we get that money, obviously that makes a big difference in the deficit." Senator Antoine Thompson agreed Saturday saying that it was at...