Free Republic

WINE IS A BEVERAGE with its own set of rules. Some of these rules, such as “Wine must be served in a glass with a stem,” are more like suggestions. Others, such as “White wine must always be chilled,” are regarded as near-gospel truths. A rule that many drinkers seem to follow is the one that dictates wine should not be consumed alone. Wine is a social beverage and is best enjoyed in the company of others, ideally in the context of a meal. But what of wine lovers who live or travel alone or cohabit with a non-oenophile? Does...

A senatorial report proposes a junk-food tax on products that cause cardiovascular diseases. The tax aims specifically at soft drinks, which currently benefit from low taxes. EurActiv France reports. Similar to steps taken by other European countries, a new junk-food tax is doing the rounds in the French parliament. […] The senators who led the report, Yves Daudigny (socialist) and Catherine Deroche (UMP), encourage talk of “contribution to public health” and not the frequently used term “behavioral taxation”. …

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) - A police survey says panhandlers outside a Wal-Mart here can make $300 a day. Inside, it takes a clerk a week to make that much. Police say people who have a problem with that needn't look to the law--asking for money is considered protected free speech. "We are not going to target panhandlers," said Coos Bay Police Capt. Rodger Craddock, who spoke a recent gathering of business owners about panhandling. "We can't do that. But if they aren't getting money from us, they aren't going to stand on that corner." He said most panhandlers are...

The picketers marching in a circle in front of a downtown Washington office building chanting about low wages do not seem fully focused on their message. Many have arrived with large suitcases or bags holding their belongings, which they keep in sight. Several are smoking cigarettes. One works a crossword puzzle. Another bangs a tambourine, while several drum on large white buckets. Some of the men walking the line call out to passing women, "Hey, baby." A few picketers gyrate and dance while chanting: "What do we want? Fair wages. When do we want them? Now." Although their placards identify...

It is too early to make definitive statements about 2008, but the evidence points to a change in the tone, if not the substance, of the Republican message. Although moderation is in the eye of the beholder and difficult to define, the GOP message and messenger are much more likely than in the recent past to be less beholden to, or a member of, the party's strongly conservative wing. (snip) Since the nomination of Ronald Reagan in 1980, moderates have fared poorly in Republican presidential primaries. The GOP has stood for lower taxes, toughness on defense and opposition to abortion,...

I have been arranging my extensive CD collection which lead me to play some of those long forgotten CD. This afternoon it was Mendelssohn "Reformation" Symphony. This might not be the best symphony of this rather underrated composer. The 5th popularity has suffered from being a "heftier" work, more intellectual, less crafted and vital than the "Italian". As if trying to encompass the reformation movement in music were possible. Still, the last movement opening is one of the most stirring moments of the repertoire, and a powerful musical image of the liberation of the spirit, no matter what religious connotation...

Fatal Beating of Bar Owner by Homeless Man in Tulsa, Okla., Sparks War Against Indigents The Associated Press TULSA, Okla. Aug. 17, 2004 — A homeless man's fatal beating of a brass-knuckle-wielding bar owner has triggered something approaching a war against Tulsa's homeless population. T-shirts around town blast homeless people with a four-letter word, and some people are warning of vigilante justice. Downtown bar owners have stapled wanted posters to telephone poles with a picture of Terry Badgewell, the man who used a length of pipe to kill Deadtown Tavern owner Shawn Howard. A prosecutor said the killing was self...

It was the early 1980s, and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein was driving around the city when she happened upon something she had never seen before: Someone was eating out of a garbage can. Around that time, Jesse Smith Jr. stood dazed on the corner of Market and Seventh streets. He was flying on cocaine and speed, disheveled, filthy and worn out from living in the back of a truck. For San Francisco, it was the start of a painful civic journey that continues today for a city that many say has the nation's worst homeless crisis. For Smith, it...