Free Republic

Restaurants and bars would have the option of allowing smoking on patios and other outdoor portions of their businesses under bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the state Legislature. "I think this something businesses should be able to offer if they choose to," said Rep. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, the sponsor of House Bill 5159. "People step outside to smoke now anyway. "I am not a smoker, but to me this is an issue of liberty and property rights," Rep. McMillin continued. "That's why I didn't support the smoking ban legislation when it was in the House. If I was in...

The Environmental Protection Agency was warned as early as July 2010 that a senior executive who claimed to be a CIA agent was collecting pay and bonuses not allowed by law but took no action for years, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general. Auditors warned EPA administrators that continuing “retention bonuses” for John C. Beale, which were not authorized, had pushed his salary above the legal maximum, according to the report, obtained Tuesday by The Washington Post. In July 2010, the EPA’s human resources office contacted Beale’s Office of Air and Radiation with a document it...

I'm sitting at my desk, looking at a photograph of a gangrenous foot. It is a bloated thing in hues of phlegmatic gray rot, sanguine inflammation, melancholic black bile, and choleric open sores​—​exhibiting all the humors of a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Above the photograph, in bold white capitals on a dull, matte background are the words “smoking causes peripheral vascular disease.” The photograph is helpfully labeled “gangrene.” Below the photograph, in a bland sans-serif typeface with letters an eighth of an inch high, is “Marlboro Red.” This is a pack of Australian cigarettes, conforming to...

First the city banned smoking in most public places. Now it’s moving to snuff out the use of smokeless electronic cigarettes as well. The City Council announced Wednesday that it will hold a hearing Wednesday on a bill prohibiting the use of the battery-operated, tobacco-free vaporizers in restaurants, offices, parks, beaches and other places where smoking regular cigarettes is not allowed.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A California ordinance that prohibits smoking in residences with shared walls may be the strictest anti-smoking law in the United States, city officials say. The ban, passed by the city of San Rafael, applies to both owners and renters, ABC News reported Thursday. It covers any multi-family residence with three or more units, including condominiums, co-ops and apartments. The ban took effect Nov. 14.

The closest Planned Parenthood to me is three hours. That's a lot of money in gas. Convenience food is just that. And we are not allowed many conveniences. Especially since the Patriot Act passed, it's hard to get a bank account. But without one, you spend a lot of time figuring out where to cash a check and get money orders to pay bills. Most motels now have a no-credit-card-no-room policy. I smoke. It's expensive. It's also the best option. You see, I am always, always exhausted. It's a stimulant. When I am too tired to walk one more step,...

The town of San Rafael, Calif., has passed a ban on smoking that city officials have called the most stringent in the nation. The new ordinance makes it illegal for residents to smoke in their own homes if they share a wall with another dwelling. The ban applies to owners and renters alike, and it covers condominiums, co-ops, apartments and any multi-family residence containing three or more units. Rebecca Woodbury, an analyst at the San Rafael City Manager's office, helped craft the ban, which took effect Nov.14. "We based it on a county ordinance," she told ABC News, "but we...

Berkeley, Calif., City Councilman Jesse Arreguin has recommended that the city ban smoking in single-family homes. Councilwoman Susan Wengraf, who supports an ordinance to ban smoking in multiunit dwellings, is appalled. "The whole point is to protect people who live in multiunit buildings from secondhand smoke," Wengraf said. Locals have told her they find the notion of a ban in single-family homes scary. "I hope he wakes up and pulls it," she said. Actually, I think Wengraf should want Arreguin's recommendation to stick around. After all, his proposal makes the multiunit ordinance seem reasonable. Arreguin aide Anthony Sanchez tells me...

President Obama told supporters Monday night that he needed their help battling against “a lot of misinformation” spread by political opponents about his signature healthcare legislation. Speaking on a virtual conference call hosted by Organizing for Action — the political group born from his reelection campaign — the president admitted that problems with the ObamaCare website had put a damper on early enrollment efforts. “The good news is it’s getting better every single week,” Obama said. “I am confident that by the end of this month it is going to be functioning for the vast majority of folks.” The president...

A live thread for the Clown's lies. See, his poll numbers are in the toilet, so Valerie sends him out.

**SNIP** Support in Congress from Democrats for these “if you like your plan you can keep it” bills is growing. The biggest defection from the White House line came when Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said she would co-sponsor legislation Sen. Mary Landrieu, R-La., is pushing that will allow people who’ve lost coverage they like to keep it. Landrieu is up of re-election next year in a red state, so her motives are clear. Feinstein isn’t, and even if she were she could execute puppies on live TV and still win by 20 points. But there are a couple of problems...

Kitty Rhoades, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary, warned of possible fraud and identity theft associated with Obamacare. She made the statement in a radio interview by WIBA Capitol Reporter John Colbert that aired Sunday morning on "Madison Forum" broadcast on Madison's 1310 WIBA. Rhoades called Obamacare "an opportunity" for fraud and identity theft. Rhoades especially warned senior citizens not to provide personal information such as a Social Security Number to anyone who contacts them concerning enrollment into Obamacare. Rhoades said the state has sent out letters to tens-of-thousands of Wisconsin residents that are currently enrolled in state health plans,...

Calls were made this week for Berlin to follow New York state in raising the legal smoking age to 21. Johannes Spatz of anti-smoking campaign group Forum Rauchfrei told The Local why this will not be easy. Berlin Christian Democrat (CDU) politician Cornelia Seibeld told regional newspaper the BZ this week that Germany should follow New York’s lead and increase the minimum smoking age from 18 to 21. … Spatz agreed, and told The Local that Germany should indeed “look to New York for a positive role model” for dissuading young smokers. “If a person starts under the age of...

ObamaCare promotion has now sunk to the lowest level conceivable: fake e-mail "testimonials" blasted out to unrelated comment threads. These are in imitation of the "sister-in-law" employment ads that have infested internet threads since the days of Hammurabi: "By gosh, my sister-in-law makes $3,587.53 a week over the internet, working only three hours a day, etc." Here's an almost identical comment that appeared yesterday, on a thread to an article dealing with how to identify psychopaths (a topic of some interest to me, since I know about fifty of them): epk1118 Thank God for Affordable Health Care. We have been...

"Obamacare Enrollment Teams" give presentations on health insurance options and the Affordable Care Act, but are not actually affiliated with the government.Thirty or so attendees at St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Fla., gathered on a recent evening to hear a presentation by the Obamacare Enrollment Team on their options to get insurance under the Affordable Care Act. "If anybody is interested in getting enrolled, we can get you enrolled tonight," they were told. Signs outside the church looked official: A familiar, large "O" with a blue outline, white center and three red stripes. But the presenters, Pastor H.B....

Smokers younger than 21 in the nation's biggest city will soon be barred from buying cigarettes after the New York City Council voted overwhelming Wednesday to raise the tobacco-purchasing age to higher than all but a few other places in the United States. City lawmakers approved the bill — which raises from 18 to 21 the purchasing age for cigarettes, certain tobacco products and even electronic-vapor smokes — and another that sets minimum prices for tobacco cigarettes and steps up law enforcement on illegal tobacco sales. "This will literally save many, many lives," said an emotional City Councilman James Gennaro,...

A dying mechanic wanted a few thousand dollars to leave to his wife, two sons and infant daughter. A politically connected millionaire, now running for Virginia governor, wanted to make some money. And a Rhode Island estate planner wanted to become ambassador to the Vatican. All three came together on paper in late 2006 in a deal struck just two months before the 44-year-old mechanic died of cancer. The mechanic got $5,000. The millionaire, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, made at least $47,000. But the estate planning lawyer, Joseph Caramadre, went to prison instead of Rome. Caramadre helped McAuliffe place a bet...

Bitcoin mining difficulty is increasing now exponentially with more and more ASIC miners coming online. Today the difficulty increased by 45% to 390 million. In a little over 2 days, difficulty level is predicted to increase by 300% to 1.6 billion. When I first started paying attention in May of this year, the difficulty level was only 10 million. Not sure what this will mean for bitcoins or the price theroof. I'm curious what those Freepers who mine or have bitcoins think?

(CNN) -- Use of tobacco in flavors like Dreamsicle and chocolate mint may be a growing problem among teenagers, according to a Centers for Disease Control report. More than two out of every five middle- and high-school students who smoke report using flavored little cigars or flavored cigarettes, according to the report. And the bigger concern may be that the majority of the kids who smoke the flavored cigars -- some 60% -- say they don't plan to quit anytime soon (compared to 49% of all cigar smokers). ~ "Historically what we know from other studies is that flavors can...

CHICAGO — A federal judge rejected an impassioned plea from a television pitchman for his freedom on Tuesday, ordering U.S. Marshals to lock up Kevin Trudeau for failing to pay a $37 million civil judgment. The visibly exasperated judge had already ordered that Trudeau be jailed during a hearing in Chicago when Trudeau stood up and asked if he could address the court. The Federal Trade Commission won the judgment after accusing Trudeau of hoodwinking viewers about his weight-loss books. "There are no more assets to turn over, your honor," the 50-year-old Trudeau insisted during a 10-minute plea, at times...