Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the large soda ban set to go into effect this month at city restaurants, street vendors and movie theaters is how government tells the public what’s in their best interest. “We're not banning anything. It's called portion control,” Bloomberg said Sunday on CBS’s "Face the Nation." “It's a typical way that companies use to and governments use to explain to people what's in their interest and what isn't.”

<p>A state judge on Monday stopped Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration from banning the sale of large sugary drinks at New York City restaurants and other venues, a major defeat for a mayor who has made public-health initiatives a cornerstone of his tenure.</p>

<p>Distraught relatives of a 16-year-old Brooklyn boy shot dead by cops claimed yesterday that the teenager didn’t own a gun and they’re “skeptical” about the cops’ version of how the incident went down.</p> <p>“He got shot six times, and the police didn’t get shot once,” fumed great-aunt Brenda Nunez of the shooting of Kimani “Kiki” Gray of East Flatbush.</p>

New York, NY --(Ammoland.com)- This e-brief “Unlikely Consensus” discusses the coming UN Arms Trade Treaty and the possible splinter organization that is forming and helps people make sense of what’s going on, in relation to export-minded firearms business, marketing shooting, hunting, or security products or services abroad. If things go one way, it looks like major regions of the world are going to close their doors to American exports in the form of follow-on non tariff barriers. The e-brief summarizes key context and factors, and estimates various scenarios and their probabilities. The research and analysis is based on insights from...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Monday is the last day New Yorkers will be able to buysuper-sized sugary drinks in New York City. The cola crackdown goes into effect on Tuesday. The new regulation puts a 16-ounce limit on sugary drinks sold at city restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts and applies to both bottled and fountain drinks.

New procedures give restaurant inspectors cups that can hold 17 fluid ounces and they'll be instructed to issue a violation only when a cup is found to 'clearly exceed' 16 ounces. There will be no SWAT teams policing Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial new ban on large sodas and other sugary drinks starting Tuesday, but city inspectors will be armed — with 17-ounce cups. The Health Department plans to use regular restaurant inspections to make sure eateries are not selling sugary beverages in servings larger than 16 ounces. But the inspectors will have specially ordered cups to help them enforce the new...

New York - Carrying condoms has resulted in arrest for a growing number of women in New York. Experts said that the issue may be contributing to a public health crisis in which sex workers are beginning to use condoms less frequently. In an incident cited by Vice magazine, a New York woman was arrested and charged with “loitering for the purpose of prostitution” after an officer found a condom in her purse, the New York Daily News reported. The unnamed woman was wearing jean shorts and a “tight” shirt and had been standing outdoors for about 30 minutes. After...

Barring any late legal surprises, Mayor Bloomberg's 16-ounce cap on sugary sodas goes into effect on Tuesday, March 12. After that, restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and food carts will not be permitted to sell extra-large portions of sugar-packed drinks. Stay calm. This does not signal the end of democracy in America. This is not the nanny state gone out of control. If we want Americans to be healthy, we are going to have to take actions like this - and many more - and do so soon -snip So-called "nanny-state" measures - like bans on driving while drunk, smoking...

Washington -- Rep. Dan Maffei, after winning the most expensive campaign on record for a Central New York congressional seat, says it is time to take the big money out of politics. Despite the millions of dollars in special-interest money spent on his behalf, Maffei says he's ready to change the system and back it up with tough legislation.

Video LinkWhat would you do if you accidentally stumbled upon a man getting strangled in an elevator? If this video, produced by ad agency Thinkmodo, is any indication, most of us would pretend to look the other way. As a marketing stunt for a new action thriller, Dead Man Down, starring Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard, the company staged a mock murder-in-progress in a New York City elevator and films the reactions of unsuspecting people trying to board. Though you have the odd person attempting to beat the attacker with a newspaper, some bystanders clearly pretend they didn’t...

The Project 21 black leadership network, New York Times liberal columnist Paul Krugman Obama Must Condemn NY Times Race-Baiting Tactics, Black Group Says Washington D.C. — The Project 21 black leadership network is condemning New York Times liberal columnist Paul Krugman for scurrilously pinning racist motives on critics of President Obama’s health care proposals. The group is calling upon President Obama to condemn all efforts to derail legitimate public debate, specifically including this effort to stifle debate with race-baiting tactics. “Paul Krugman is the one with race on the brain,” Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie charged. “Specifically, he is using...

You’re just a vicious racist, a Manhattan judge said in sentencing a psychotic gunman to 240 years in prison for holding 15 white patrons of an East Village wine bar hostage 10 years ago. Steven Johnson — an AIDS-infected, unemployed Brooklyn barber — had burst into Bar Veloce on Second Avenue just before closing time on a June night in 2002, dousing everyone with kerosene and shouting, “White people are going to burn tonight!” One decade, one mistrial and one overturned verdict later, Johnson was up to his old tricks again at his sentencing yesterday — ranting about the economic...

Ever since its hurried and likely unconstitutional passage into law, the NY SAFE Act has faced considerable opposition from supporters of the second amendment in various forms: seven thousand marched on Albany, scores of lawsuits have been filed questioning its legality, and dozens of county governments have supported anti-SAFE Act resolutions. In fact, forty of sixty-two county governments within the State of New York have passed laws opposing the SAFE Act and calling for a repeal of its most egregious parts: such as limiting magazine capacity to 7 rounds, prohibiting the ownership of "assault weapons," and even limiting how many...

Rep. Greg Meeks will head up a U.S. delegation attending the funeral Friday of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a decision by President Barack Obama that is drawing attention because of the congressman’s previous ties to Chávez. … Former Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Bill Delahunt is also part of the U.S. funeral delegation. Like Meeks, Delahunt drew criticism in 2005 for meeting the Venezuelan dictator to discuss a deal for discounted heating oil to help low-income residents of Massachusetts. …

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- On Thursday, February 28, NRA-ILA, along with the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, held a rally to protest New York’s recent attack on the Second Amendment–the passage of the so-called S.A.F.E. Act. The rally drew more than 10,000 law abiding gun owners. According to the New York State Police, it was one of the largest rallies ever held at the State Capital. NRA President David Keene was the featured speaker and told attendees that NRA is committed to helping repeal the S.A.F.E. Act, saying NRA would do “whatever is necessary”–including going to court–to defend...

If students want to pass John Banzhaf’s law class, they’ll have to fight for increased government regulation in the food and beverages industry.Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University, will require his students to lobby state and local governments to ban sugary beverages, according to a press release. The release was put out by Banzhaf himself, who summarized the objective as “Undergrads Required to Lobby for Obama Policy.”“Some 200 undergrads will be asked to contact legislators in their home cities, counties, or states asking them to adopt legislation similar to that already adopted in New York City … banning...

Downstate Democrat Assemblyman Vito Lopez not only leered at a 14-year-old intern and encouraged other women in his office to dress as “sexy” as the teen does, but his remarks were so startling that it prompted another staffer’s mother to call 911, and the police to file a sexual harassment/child abuse report, according to the Daily News. Remember, this is the same man that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver used hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to shield from sexual harassment charges. We reported on this incident last month. Here’s a little background…

A new Quinnipiac University poll found that Hillary Clinton would trounce any of the top three Republican 2016 contenders, but Vice President Joe Biden would lose to Christie, struggle against Ryan, and defeat Rubio. If the election were held today, former Sec. of State Clinton would have an easy time against either Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, or Paul Ryan. Clinton would defeat Sen. Marco Rubio 50%-34%. She would also win by double digits over Rep. Paul Ryan 50%-38. The Republican that would give her the most trouble is the one that the conservative base likes the least. Clinton would defeat...

One question hovering over the voting rights case now before the Supreme Court is whether there should have been a special counsel appointed to represent New York. The case involves the question of whether... --snip-- It used the power when, in 1965, it enacted what is, in the Voting Rights Act, one of the most glorious laws ever entered into the United States Code. It admitted African Americans to the political process and spelled the end of the Jim Crow era. Section 5 of the law, however, has been much fought over. It deals with certain states or jurisdictions that...

It’s an education bombshell. Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University’s community college system. The number of kids behind the 8-ball is the highest in years, CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday. When they graduated from city high schools, students in a special remedial program at the Borough of Manhattan Community College couldn’t make the grade. They had to re-learn basic skills — reading, writing and math — first before they could begin college courses.