Free Republic

#6. There's a Whole Industry Dedicated to Just Making Weed Pretty #5. The "Safe, All-Natural Drug" Could Actually Be Full of Serious Toxins #4. Weed Can Be Fairly Dangerous to Handle #3. Even Where It's Legal, It's Not Legal #2. The Legal Pot Industry Is Hurting the Environment #1. The Growers Don't Want It to Be Legal

Back in 1990, Richard Streckfuss, an Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wrote a paper titled "Objectivity in Journalism", in which he makes finding the answer to this question remarkably easy. Before the phrase "Objective Journalism" was born, science and news gathering were fused together in thought by Walter Lippmann, the Father of Modern Journalism. Realistically speaking, this one single thing is what earns Lippmann that title. Lippmann's ideal of the objective journalist can be found here, in his book titled "Liberty and the News", on page 82: With this increase of prestige must go a professional...

I’ve always been a great fan of Pope St. Leo XIII’s whose moves to protect the working man during the Industrial Revolution resulted in the rise of labor unions. It saddens me to see how unionism has fallen under totalitarian rule with the leaders thriving on power rather than the welfare of the workers – or the survival of the companies that employ them. More than one union has committed economic suicide by demanding pay and benefits beyond what an industry can support. They forgot it wasn’t only solidarity, it was also subsidiarity – well-stated in Pope Benedict XVI’s “Caritas...

Just watched it. Perdue had the facts. Nunn was long-winded. Spoke in generalities. In between she took pot shots at him. She won because women don't fight fair. Hope the Georgia voters do the right thing.

Dear FRiends, Time is running short for our FReepathon. We're nearing the end of the second month and we still have a little over $14k to go. We need to wrap this up soon. If you enjoy using FR and find it worthwhile and would like to help keep it going, please consider making your donation today. Thank you very much!! FR is funded solely by contributions made by liberty loving people like you who enjoy and use it. We are beholden to no political party, no advertisers, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers, no government subsidies, no outside...

Chef Dies After Spitting Cobra He Was Cooking Bit Him On The Hand - 20 minutes after he had cut its head off WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Dying snake's final act of revenge came as Peng Fan threw its head away Its neurotoxic, flesh-eating venom killed the chef before help could arrive All reptiles can function for up to an hour after having body parts removed Cobras are a delicacy in China and believed to be good for your health By DAMIEN GAYLE 23 August 2014 A chef preparing a dish made from cobra flesh died after the snake bit his...

Egypt on Saturday called for an open-ended cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel and Hamas to return to indirect talks after seven weeks of fighting punctuated by a number of failed truce attempts. The call from the foreign ministry came shortly after Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo. Egyptian officials did not say how they expected renewed talks to produce a different outcome after repeated failures. …

The $16.65 billion settlement by Bank of America over financial-crisis-era mortgage securities "highlights a pattern of the government extorting the banks," Dick Kovacevich said on CNBC this week. Kovacevich is the former Wells Fargo chairman and CEO. I've known him for years. He ran a great bank. He kept Wells Fargo clean during the credit meltdown. And, unusual for a big-bank CEO, he strongly supports free-market principles. Kovacevich went on to say, "It's definitely politics. It has nothing to do with justice or restitution to the innocent victims. In fact, more of the money is going to the coffers of...

Iraqi Islamic State terrorists released a video online Tuesday night, Aug. 19, purportedly showing the beheading of American photo-journalist James Wright Foley, 40, abducted in Syria 22 months ago, after threatening to punish the US and Britain for air strikes in Iraq. Also visible was another kidnapped US journalist, Stevent Sotloff, who had been missing from northern Syria since July 2013. Under the caption “A Message to America,” it was indicated that Sotlof was being held hostage to the next United States actions in Iraq. It is not clear where the videotaped atrocity had been filmed whether in Syria or...

Yemen's government offered on Saturday to resign within a month and to review an unpopular decision to cut fuel subsidies in an attempt to end protests by the Shi'ite Houthi movement, a government source told Reuters. Yemenis are unhappy about the government's decision in late July to cut energy subsidies to ease the burden on its budget deficit, a move which led to a rise in fuel prices. The government spent about $3bn on subsidies last year, nearly a third of state revenues. A previous attempt by the government to cut subsidies in 2005 led to unrest that left about...

Vice President Biden expressed confidence that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria could be defeated without U.S. boots on the ground in Iraq, calling the militant group "far from invincible."  In a Washington Post op-ed published Friday, Biden described the threat as a "long-term challenge" but said the United States is prepared to increase its support in the fight. 

There are fears of a "possible massacre" in Iraq amid a UN warning about the situation in a town besieged by militants. The UN's Special Envoy to the country said immediate action was needed to protect the people of Amerli, which has been overwhelmed by Islamic State (IS) fighters. Nickolay Mladenov said reports "confirm that people are surviving in desperate conditions" and there is "unspeakable suffering". Shia Turkmen residents of the town, in the Salaheddin province north of Baghdad, has been cut off from government-held territory for months. Iraq's prime minister designate Haidar al Abadi has promised aid for them....

This past week an Austin Grand Jury indicted Governor Rick Perry (R) for abuse of power. The offending act was his veto of the budget containing funds for the salary of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Perry took this action when Lehmberg refused to resign after her arrest for drunk driving. In April 2013, Lehmberg was hauled in for DUI. Tests showed her blood alcohol level to be more than three times the legal limit. Lehmberg threatened the arresting officer and deputies at the sheriff's office with the loss of their jobs for deigning to interrupt her travels. Thinking...

General McInerney was just on FoxNews and gave an ominous warning when pressed today. He stated that he had info that we are about to have another 9/11. He stated that next week something was coming (info, publication) that was going to blow things out of the water. He mentioned we should be on DEFCON1 now and then mentioned the MH370 incident. He was adamant and seemed worried! Sorry I could not make out everything he said.

Iran’s defense minister on Saturday said there was no need for U.N. nuclear inspectors to pay another visit to the Parchin military site, where the country is suspected of having tested components used in nuclear weapons. Gen. Hossein Dehghan was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying the IAEA had already been to the site southeast of Tehran and carried out tests there. “Besides, they have accepted that nothing happened in Parchin,” he said. …

Gay bathhouses that once remained in the shadows to stay in business are now seeking attention to keep their doors open. Some are doing aggressive online advertising and community outreach. Others tout their upscale amenities like plush towels and marble baths. A bathhouse in Ohio has even added hotel rooms and a nightclub. […] In the heyday of bathhouses in the late 1970s, there were nearly 200 gay bathhouses in cities across the U.S., but by 1990, the total had dropped to approximately 90, according to Damron, the publisher of an annual gay travel guide. In the last decade, bathhouses,...

Western intelligence agencies have been assisting the Syrian government of Bashar al Assad fight militants of Isis (now called the 'Islamic State'), by providing details on the location of militant leaders for targeted air strikes. The information was passed to Assad's government by German intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), which acted as an intermediary, a source told the Independent... In recent weeks, Syrian forces have launched a series of airstrikes against Islamic State commanders and headquarters, as they battle to halt the advance of jihadist forces from their stronghold in the east of the country. The Assad regime has been accused...

A whopping 68 percent of Americans think there should be a law that prohibits kids 9 and under from playing at the park unsupervised, despite the fact that most of them no doubt grew up doing just that. What's more: 43 percent feel the same way about 12-year-olds. They would like to criminalize all pre-teenagers playing outside on their own (and, I guess, arrest their no-good parents). Those are the results of a Reason/Rupe poll confirming that we have not only lost all confidence in our kids and our communities—we have lost all touch with reality. "I doubt there has...

Iraq's ethnic Kurds are longtime U.S. allies and have put up the toughest resistance to the Sunni extremists in the so-called Islamic State that has captured swaths or Iraq's north and west. They're getting help from U.S. air strikes, but also need heavier weapons of their own to match the firepower of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Weapons have been promised by the U.S. and other countries, but getting them through the central government in Baghdad has hampered the mission, according to Kurdish commanders. "We have heard weapons are coming, but so far we haven't seen any. As...

Palestinian UN rep says every missile fired from Gaza at Israel is ‘a crime against humanity’ In interview with PA TV, diplomat details possible risks to the Palestinians of their joining the International Criminal Court BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF July 14, 2014, 7:06 am The Palestinian representative to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva said that every rocket and mortar fired from Gaza toward Israel is a “crime against humanity.” Speaking on July 9 to Palestinian Authority TV on the possible risks involved if Palestinians leaders ask to join the International Criminal Court — as they have threatened...