Free Republic

I doubt they see the irony. In Philadelphia, where American freedom was born, they’re taxing soda pop. That’s because it’s bad for you. Too much sugar, too much carbonation, too much freedom. So the city council has imposed a tax. It’s being seen as a victory over evil soda pop corporations. Somewhere along the way, apparently, Coca-Cola became the antichrist. And somewhere along the way, apparently, people became incapable of running their own lives. And in the city where men in Independence Hall declared that humankind is endowed at birth with liberty and the right to pursue a self-determined happiness,...

During the Revolutionary War, our new nation faced a financial crisis. The colonies had no money to pay for the war and the prospects of raising funds were dismal, at best. Colonial troops had not been paid the money due them, so protests ensued. Some officers even surrounded the Continental Congress and held it for ransom, trying to get what was promised the troops for years of hardship, struggle and deprivation. Our young country was very near imploding after all the years of bloodshed, sacrifice and valiant commitment to the dream of liberty. Enter Robert Morris: the richest man in...

A Telemundo reporter in Philadelphia was punched in the face on the air during a live broadcast, video shows. Iris Delgado was concluding a report outside City Hall on Thursday night when she was approached by Waheedah Wilson.

Donald Trump called for the Republican Party to fall in line behind his presidential bid Saturday during campaign swings through Florida and Pennsylvania, attacking skeptical members of his own party along with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. “We have a war to win against a very crooked politician. The Republican Party really should get their act together,” Trump said here Saturday. “They have to come together. We have to win. And if for no other reason, the Supreme Court, remember that.”

Hillary told Univision (the Mexican Cable TV Station) that we should be “building bridges, not walls.” Of course in reference to Donald Trump’s stand that we need to secure our borders with a ‘wall.’ So in preparation for the DNC Convention in Philadelphia, they are erecting a huge fence to keep out…Sanders supporters? Wait, isn’t a fence like a wall? If they can build one, why can’t we? “I think the idea of building walls as an answer to issues that confront our country is just not the right approach. We should be building bridges, we should be building understanding.”...

After spending an hour meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, Bernie Sanders vowed to stay in the race for Tuesday's District of Columbia primary while acknowledging that he would work with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump in the general election. Sanders ticked through a list of his priorities, promising to take those issues to the convention in Philadelphia next month.

Security at the Sports Complex during the Democratic National Convention next month will include “no-scale fencing” to enclose the Wells Fargo Center and Xfinity Live!, the Secret Service special agent in charge said in an interview Thursday.

“Occupy DNC” protesters have locked down two campground sites where they will set up tent cities to use as home base for their anti-Hillary protests. One of the group’s organizers has said she expects “several thousand” protesters to stay at the campsites. As previously reported by The Daily Caller, more than 20,000 protesters have committed to protesting “a fraudulent Hillary nomination.” Hundreds of those protesters have already reserved two campgrounds in southern New Jersey, about twenty minutes from the Wells Fargo Center where the DNC Convention will be held....

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.

Internal documents show Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump's campaign advisers are projecting that the billionaire businessman will secure more than 1,400 delegates at the Republican National Convention in July, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. That total greatly exceeds the 1,237 delegates necessary to secure the nomination on the first ballot. The projection was in an internal campaign memo sent to Trump surrogates Tuesday night, after Trump secured a convincing win in the New York primary. It called the front-runner's win in New York "YUGE" and included talking points to use in media interviews. It advised the surrogates to talk about...

Hillary Clinton is on the cusp of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, and could move closer as Puerto Rico's primary results are announced Sunday night. The former secretary of state is competing with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to win a majority of Puerto Rico's 60 delegates. Clinton began the day 60 delegates shy of the 2,383 she needs to win the Democratic nomination -- with 1,776 pledged delegates and another 547 superdelegates. Sanders, meanwhile, started Sunday with 1,547 delegates total: 1,501 pledged delegates and another 46 superdelegates. Clinton is closing in on a historic nomination as the first female presidential...

A bill that would require safe storage of guns and ammunition in homes with children passed out of a committee of Philadelphia City Council on Wednesday without a word of opposition from gun-rights advocates. But that does not mean pushback isn't coming. Police Capt. Francis Healy, while saying the Police Department supports the effort, testified that the wording of the bill could prove "problematic and controversial" and that he expected a legal challenge. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160602_Gun_safety_bill_advances_in_City_Council.html#CssmPtHfskzKspUh.99

From Mal Siret writing at the Independent: Hillary Clinton could lose the race for Democratic nominee as the focus shifts to California, where an influx of voter registrations threatens to derail her lead over Bernie Sanders.

The Philadelphia School District will add two Muslim holidays to its calendar, placing it among the first in the nation to do so. In what would be an even rarer step, Mayor Kenney said Tuesday he also hopes to adopt the holidays for city workers. He has created a task force to determine how the change can be accomplished. A spokesman from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington said his group is not aware of any cities that have included the holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, in their municipal calendars. "Philadelphia's history is based on being a place...

'Justice for Palestinians cannot be attained without the lifting of the occupation,' Cornel West was quoted as saying by 'The New York Times' on Wednesday. The Democrat party is facing a possible dilemma as supporters of the two candidates vying for the nomination gear up for a debate on what to do with its Mideast policy. The Israel issue is threatening to tear the party apart as Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who has mounted a considerable presidential campaign that has earned him greater clout within the left-wing camp, has tapped two individuals to a key committee who seek to...

More than twenty thousand people have committed to protest Hillary Clinton’s likely nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia — and that number is quickly growing. The protesters are united in their support for Bernie Sanders, as well as their opposition to “a fraudulent Hillary nomination,” according to the group’s website. Their leaders have set up a Facebook group — titled Occupy DNC Convention — to organize housing and transportation. Protesters are encouraged to read documents shared within the group. One document is titled “Civil Disobedience Training.” Another is titled “Health and Safety at Militant Actions” and includes tips...

Urban school districts from Los Angeles to Philadelphia are experiencing declining enrollment in traditional public schools as more parents enroll their children in charters, depleting millions in per-pupil funding from district budgets. In states experiencing population growth, such as Arizona, charter schools help relieve overcrowding. But for districts that are struggling financially, the student flight is costly. …

In the wake of a recent Nevada state party convention that descended into chaos, Democrats are sweating out a similar event in Wyoming on Saturday. When Democrats meet in Cheyenne to select delegates to the July national convention, the same elements that created such a volatile mix in Nevada will be present: anger and frustration over Bernie Sanders’ delegate haul, superdelegates who backed Hillary Clinton before the state caucuses took place, and threats to state party officials. Story Continued Below At a gathering of state Democratic chairmen in Philadelphia last week, Wyoming was identified as one of the upcoming states...

Sometimes the rigors of daily life just get too overwhelming, causing me to turn to other less stressful items of interest. So I am now reading, “Benjamin Franklin -- An American Life,” by famed biographer, Walter Isaacson. It is already an amazing story about an amazing man, and I am not half way through its 586 pages --- small type, no pictures! Benjamin Franklin: author, inventor, scientist, politician, raconteur. But he considered himself, first and foremost, to be a printer. And would generally sign his name, “Benjamin Franklin, printer.” For in that Colonial period, a printer was a person of...

The entire rust belt just may be in for a scorcher come June, and maybe thru October. By now most of us have seen the forecast. The worst thing about heat waves in the rust belt is either lack of rain or breezes. Are we going to have a repeat of the deadly 1995 Chicago summer? And what about the DNC/GOP Conventions? It's probably going to be around 95 to 100 degrees those weekends. Are the Democrats still going to protest and "Break Stuff" while baking in that heat? And will the Leftist Loonies start up again blaming the excessive...