Free Republic

* Soaring obesity rates make changes imperative * Taxes could reduce soft drink consumption * Changing public transport routes could encourage grocers By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - A strongly worded report on child obesity released on Tuesday recommends that state and local governments tax junk food and soft drinks, give tax breaks to grocery stores that open in blighted neighborhoods and build bike trails. The report from the independent Institute of Medicine and National Research Council also suggests that governments limit television and video games in after-school programs, require restaurants to list calorie...

AIP Projects -> AIP National Committee News From grassroots email networks: On Friday, September 11th, 2009, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States .  Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this eighth anniversary of one of our country's worst tragedies.  We do this to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms. In the days, weeks...

It's enough to turn your stomach. Or, if you're a New Yorker who lived through the September 11th attacks, give you a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. A new ad purportedly for the World Wildlife Fund features dozens of airplanes converging on lower Manhattan -- featuring the Twin Towers -- with the line "The Tsunami Killed 100 Times More People Than 9/11." The ad was first brought to our attention by Gothamist, but was originally picked up by Adweek.com's AdFreak blog, which reports that the ad is from the Brazilian arm of the WWF. Sure, the 2004 tsunami was a...

A Maine man caught peering up at a girl from below an outhouse toilet seat four years ago stands accused of crawling into another pit toilet on White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire. A federal affidavit indicates 49-year-old Gary J. Moody of Pittson confessed to repeating his previous act on Memorial Day. Federal agents sought Moody out after a 9-year-old boy saw him climbing out of a toilet at the Hastings Campground. Two witnesses saw him walk away from the outhouse. Forest Service special agent William Fors wrote Moody initially said he climbed into the waste-filled pit to...

Headline and link only due to copywrite complaint http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090901/COLUMNISTS02/909010343/+Birthers++will+never+believe+Obama

Manufacturing, Home Sales Show Growth Signs Survey on factory orders adds to evidence that recession is ending NEW YORK - The U.S. manufacturing sector grew in August for the first time in 19 months, adding to evidence that the recession is ending. The better-than-expected reading Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management showed the highest number for its manufacturing index since June 2007. New customer orders jumped to a level not seen since late 2004. And in another sign of an improving economy, a gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July to the highest point...

A man accused of launching a military flare that sparked a $50 million blaze and forced the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of endangering public safety.

The Company He Keeps Can you know a person by the company they keep? If you can, is it fair to do so? Is it then fair to judge them? I often have the opportunity to get to know someone through personal and business relationships. However, when I don’t have a personal or business relationship knowing them by the company they keep has served me well. The advice remains in good stead but I was curious of its origin. I have not found a direct connection to the advice but I did find several indirect references. As early as 1541,...

I had figured that Michael Sean Winters' recent psychodrama in America Magazine — “The Boors Who Demean Ted Kennedy” — would have a brief shelf-life, as most such gimcrackery usually does, but I was wrong. A related outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease has erupted on a blog written by a theologian named William D. Lindsey who, like Mr. Winters, excoriated my response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler's obit for Ted Kennedy ("He Made Me Proud to Be a Catholic"). He characterized my comments as "hating on Ted Kennedy" and being part of a wider "festival of hate." Hate? Hate? Eh, not so...

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. That represents the lowest level of support for Democrats in recent years, while Republicans have tied their highest level of support for the third straight week. The previous low for Democrats over the past year was 37%. This summer, support for Republican candidates ranged from 41% to 43%, support for Democrats ranged from 37% to 39%. Looking back one year ago, support was strikingly different for the parties. Throughout the summer of...

Snip... President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009...

Thousands of Texans poured into the capitol and other major cities across the state on Saturday to demand that their elected officials immediately deliver an ultimatum to Washington: "sovereignty or secession."...

House Reverses Decision to Drop Patriotic Songs From On-Hold Music A spokesman for House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard says that after a three-week trial period constituents will once again hear patriotic favorites while on hold -- after the House temporarily switched over to smooth jazz. Tuesday, September 01, 2009 So long, John Philip Sousa. Hello, Kenny G. That was the short-lived message House leadership sent to lawmakers over the break, as the "on-hold" music that so many constituents hear when they call their congressman was switched from patriotic tunes to smooth jazz standards -- or, as one lawmaker complained,...

Birds, more than any other group of animals, are a celebration of color. They have evolved to every extreme of the spectrum, from the hot pink of flamingos to the shimmering blue of a peacock’s neck. Yet, for decades, paleontologists who study extinct birds have had to use their imaginations to see the colors in the fossils. Several feather fossils have been unearthed over the years, but they have always been assumed to be colorless vestiges. Now a team of scientists has discovered color-producing molecules that have survived for 47 million years in the fossil of a feather. By analyzing...

Look at the way the overtly professional styling of the lettering distracts your eye from the dented fender. Obviously this van could only possibly have been commissioned by the big, bad insurance companies!

Of all the extras that can be bought to make more of a PC, the humble printer is probably the most popular. But that humility might conceal a house guest that costs much more to run than most people realise. While the device may be very cheap to buy initially, especially if bought at the same time as its companion PC, the running costs can, and do, mount up. Particularly if a printer is used to produce a lot of high-quality colour copies. It is well known that printer ink costs more per millilitre than the finest champagne. And it...

In the last few months, the ghostly image of Jesus has appeared on a half-eaten Kit Kat bar, a slice of cheese toast and the seat of a Las Vegas toilet. But those miraculous manifestations were all about the size of a driver’s license photo, and even when the evening newscast zoomed in tight, you had to squint to see the savior’s beard. In his latest showing, just off the Boylan Avenue Bridge in Raleigh, N.C., the Prince of Peace shows up 30 feet tall and green. The Kudzu Jesus, Raleigh’s vegetative relic. He snakes up a utility pole, forming...

I've been watching the 9-12 Glenn Beck video all day and I'm pissed. I can't stand the Republicans, I don't do if for them, I hate them. But when I watch that video and see our founding fathers it stirs me like nothing else, they were noble men, worthy of our sacrifice. How weak are the American people going to look if only a few thousand show up? That pretty much gives them the "full steam ahead" message. I'm leaving home Friday night and sleeping in my car and Marching on Saturday, I can make it there on time. This...

Would that changing people's attitudes were as easy as changing the name of a popular ice cream flavor! Ben & Jerry's (www.benjerry.com) is showing its support for the historic legalization of gay and lesbian marriage in its home state of Vermont, and marriage equality for everyone (www.freedomtomarry.org) by changing the name of its popular Chubby Hubby ice cream to "Hubby Hubby" throughout September, featuring Hubby Hubby sundaes at all its ice cream shoppes in Vermont. Chubby Hubby/"Hubby Hubby" features fudge covered peanut butter-filled pretzels in vanilla malt ice cream rippled with fudge and peanut butter.

CT House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, far right, speaks while colleagues play solitaire and read ESPN on their computers Monday night.