Free Republic

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is prepared to spent upwards of $100 million should he mount a 2020 bid for the White House, according to CNBC. Howard Wolfson, the billionaire business magnate's top political advisor, told the news outlet that Bloomberg spent more than $100 million in his last campaign for New York City mayor in 2009. "Last time I looked, NYC is a fraction of the size of the country as a whole," Wolfson said in an email to the outlet. ADVERTISEMENT Wolfson added that Bloomberg would spend "whatever is required" on his own campaign if he...

Restaurants, bars and tourism officials say Utahns should not shy away from partying or eating out because of the state’s new toughest-in-the-nation drunken driving law when it takes effect in just over two weeks on Dec. 30. They stress two reasons: The Utah Highway Patrol and police say the new law won’t change how they enforce DUI laws, with their focus on impairment rather than blood-alcohol levels; and Utah has plenty of ride-sharing and public transportation options to get people home safely if they drink too much.

<p>After a decade in dock, the historic 1920s-era Delta Queen riverboat will cruise again.</p> <p>President Donald Trump signed legislation on Tuesday authorizing the 285-foot-long riverboat immortalized in poems and songs to cruise again along the Mississippi and several other rivers.</p>

“Magic mushrooms” may soon become legal in Oregon, where even powerful politicians seem high — on the idea, according to a report. The state’s attorney general green-lit language allowing the bill to hit the ballots in 2020, assuming advocates get enough signatures, according to Oregonlive.com If it passes, the initiative would decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms and allow them to be manufactured with a license. Oregon would become the first US state to legalize the drug. The bill will need 140,000 signatures in order to appear on the ballots in the 2020 general election, the paper reported. Nationwide, possession of psychedelic mushrooms...

Adverts for junk food are to be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network to help tackle childhood obesity, Sadiq Khan has announced. From February, promotions for unhealthy food and soft drinks will be stripped from trains, buses, boats and trams across the capital. The decision covers the likes of fizzy drinks, chocolate bars, and cheeseburgers, meaning big brands like McDonald's and Cadbury will only be able to feature healthier products on any adverts they want to run. Mr Khan, London's mayor, said a public consultation launched in May had found "overwhelming support" for a ban, which will...

The practice of parents with similarly aged children meeting up for play dates is in the cross hairs of the DC bureaucracy. State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang has charged that these informal arrangements "are an illegal intrusion on turf reserved for my department. There are public institutions targeting young children and their development. Every hour wasted at some play group run by unqualified parents is an hour that could have been spent in a program run by professionals. It doesn't matter that the play dates are voluntary or that participation seemingly hurts no one. We will levy fines or...

Let’s say you and some of your friends decide to gather your young children together a couple of days a week for a few hours of free play. Maybe you switch off who leads the gaggle of kids each week, allowing for some shared free time and flexibility. Sounds like a great arrangement for all, right? Your kids get to play freely with their friends, and you get some occasional free babysitting. According to government officials in Washington, DC, arrangements like this are violations of the law. They are cracking down on what they call an illegal “child development facility”...

The European Parliament has voted for a complete ban on a range of single-use plastics across the union in a bid to stop pollution of the oceans. MEPs backed a ban on plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, straws, drink-stirrers and balloon sticks. The proposal also calls for a reduction in single-use plastic for food and drink containers like plastic cups. One MEP said, if no action was taken, "by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans". The UK will have to incorporate the rules into national law if the ban becomes a fully-fledged directive before...

In a move to combat what it calls an “obesity epidemic,” Public Health England (PHE) is crafting rules to limit the size and number of toppings on pizzas. Dr Alison Tedstone, PHE chief nutritionist, promised that “our efforts will go beyond merely requiring restaurants to add healthier options to their menus. The real problem in our view is that customers could still choose unwisely. If we strictly control what can be offered we can eliminate unhealthy choices so that the consumer cannot make an unwise choice.” Public Health Minister Steve Brine said the Government was “willing to do whatever it...

Even an occasional glass of wine or beer increases the risk of health problems and dying, according to a major study on drinking in 195 nations that attributes 2.8 million premature deaths worldwide each year to booze. "There is no safe level of alcohol," said Max Griswold, a researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington and lead author for a consortium of more than 500 experts. Despite recent research showing that light-to-moderate drinking reduces heart disease, the new study found that alcohol use is more likely than not to do harm. "The protective effect of...

The Trump administration recently proposed the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule. The proposed rule offers modifications to Obama-era Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards with a “preferred alternative” for model years 2021 through 2026. Without a doubt, the Trump administration’s proposed revision is a welcome victory for consumers’ wallets and for consumer choice. The Obama administration implemented fuel-efficiency mandates that would force auto manufacturers to have a fleetwide fuel-economy average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The new rule’s “preferred” change would maintain the existing fuel-economy mandate through 2020 (increasing to 37 mpg) and keep the level at...

The state Health Department shut down an upstate lemonade stand run by a 7-year-old after vendors at a nearby county fair complained he was undercutting their price. Brendan Mulvaney was selling lemonade, water and Sno-cones from the porch of his family’s home, which happens to be right outside the Saratoga County Fair, when a woman wearing a Health Department T-shirt turned up Friday and ordered it closed because the family had no permit.

King County could require stores that sell guns to post signs at the door and cash register warning that owning a firearm increases the risk of suicide, homicide and other deaths. Metropolitan King County Council Chairman Joe McDermott is proposing the new regulation, which would be enacted and enforced by the King County Board of Health. The measure is the latest in a series advanced by local politicians and activists who say gun violence is a public-health crisis and should be dealt with as such.Washington State Initiative 1639, which is likely to appear on the November ballot, would require gun-purchase...

Summary Background Interest in the use of cannabis and cannabinoids to treat chronic non-cancer pain is increasing, because of their potential to reduce opioid dose requirements. We aimed to investigate cannabis use in people living with chronic non-cancer pain who had been prescribed opioids, including their reasons for use and perceived effectiveness of cannabis; associations between amount of cannabis use and pain, mental health, and opioid use; the effect of cannabis use on pain severity and interference over time; and potential opioid-sparing effects of cannabis. -SNIP- Interpretation Cannabis use was common in people with chronic non-cancer pain who had been...

After a ban on non-biodegradable utensils went into effect over the weekend in Seattle, local officials are advising food service businesses to “[s]top using plastic straws and plastic utensils.”An ordinance pending before the New York City Council would make that city’s food service businesses the next front line in liberal politicians’ war on plastic straws.For the last two months, the New York City Council has deliberated over a bill that would make it a civil offense for any food service provider in the city to offer customers straws or stirrers “made of plastic or any other non-biodegradable material.” If passed,...

The Philadelphia City Council on Thursday voted 13-4 in favor of a bill that became known as the “soda tax.” It will impose a 1.5-cent tax per ounce for soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages include fruit drinks, sports drinks, flavored water, and energy drinks. The tax goes into effect at the beginning of next year. Notably, it excludes baby formula, any product that has a base that is majority milk, and some other healthier offerings predetermined by the city.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Despite preliminary approval, those who oppose the tax on sugary drinks still say the fight is not over. City Council is gearing up for a vote that could result in a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. That’s half of what Mayor Jim Kenney initially proposed. Smaller cities, that have eyed similar measures, have done so for health purposes. In Philadelphia, it has been made clear that the goal is education and community improvement. What has not been made clear is the plan.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg found out firsthand how unpopular laws banning sugary drinks could be. Not only did he encounter strong opposition from those who felt his proposed prohibition on large sodas was an attack on liberty, he also heard from those critics who felt New Yorkers would only purchase multiple beverages or find another way to circumvent the mandate. While his attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, other municipal leaders have made their own attempts to curb cola consumption. Among the latest is Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s plan to add three cents per ounce to the cost of...

San Francisco's new legislation requiring sodas to carry health warning labels is being challenged in court by the American Beverage Association. The ABA, joined by the California State Outdoor Advertising Association and California Retailers Association, filed a lawsuit against the city on Friday, arguing that the legislation, which also would ban sugary-drink ads on city property, is a First Amendment violation, reported SFGate. According to Convenience Store and Fuel News, the lawsuit in part alleges that the ban, "discriminates against speech based on the identity of the speaker, in violation of the First Amendment, by expressly prohibiting speech that includes...

<p>The American Beverage Association has sued the city of San Francisco, claiming new legislation requiring health warning labels on sugary beverages and prohibiting advertisements of them on city property violates the First Amendment.</p>