Free Republic

New Zealand on Tuesday passed extensive legislation aimed at preventing minors from becoming smokers, including a lifetime prohibition on cigarette sales to everyone born after 2008. Under the new laws, which take effect next year, the country’s smoking age of 18 would be raised year by year until it applied to the whole population. Beginning in 2023, those under 15 would be barred from buying cigarettes for the rest of their lives. The legislation is the result of more than a decade of public health campaigns. In 2011, New Zealand first announced its plans to reduce smoking levels to below...

(Reuters) - In a year marked by yet more climate-linked floods, hurricanes and droughts, governments and companies were forced to look more closely at the financial risks and their exposure to liability. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the U.N. climate conference in Egypt, where countries reached a landmark agreement to set up a fund to help poor countries cope with climate-fueled disaster costs. Egypt's COP27 talks did little, however, to address the cause of those disasters – the ever-rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That kind of slow progress in tackling climate change made vulnerable countries...

The Moscow Police Department should relinquish control of the University of Idaho murders investigation, a former FBI agent has told The Post — as the one month anniversary of the slaying passes with the killer still at-large. “I think the Moscow Police Department is in over its head. I think they’re drowning,” Pete Yachmetz, a security consultant and former FBI agent, told The Post. “They don’t have the resources to properly address this type of crime.” The tiny police department, which has around 60 staff and in 2019 boasted just 37 sworn-in police officers is still leading the investigation, but...

Pope Francis last week told editors of the European cultural magazines of the Society of Jesus that, in his opinion, World War III had been declared, it was reported Tuesday by La Civilta Cattolica. Perhaps Russia's invasion of Ukraine “was provoked or not prevented,” the Argentine-born pontiff was also quoted as saying. “A few years ago it occurred to me to say that we were living a Third World War in pieces. Now, for me, the Third World War has been declared. And this is an aspect that should make us reflect. What is happening to humanity that has had...

Officer Curtis Worland, a court services officer with the Alaska State Troopers, died Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, after he was attacked by a muskox outside his home. (Alaska State Troopers) A state trooper in Alaska died Tuesday afternoon from a wild animal attack outside his home.We are deeply saddened to report that one of our own, Court Services Officer Curtis Worland, was tragically killed during a muskox attack near Nome earlier today. CSO Worland was attempting to haze a group of muskox near his dog kennel at his home when he was attacked and fatally injured by a muskox.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison have each retained high-powered criminal defense attorneys specializing in white-collar crimes amid the ongoing law enforcement probes into the collapse of their crypto empire. The task of preventing Bankman-Fried from spending the rest of his life in prison if found guilty of the crimes he stands accused of falls to Mark Cohen, of Cohen & Gresser law firm. Cohen, a former federal prosecutor, has represented a variety of clients including financial firms, hedge funds, executives, energy companies, and others facing federal charges. Notably, Cohen represented Jeffrey Epstein's confidante Ghislaine Maxwell...

RECIPE LINKS AT SITE..................... NATIONAL BOUILLABAISSE DAY National Bouillabaisse Day on December 14th gives seafood lovers everywhere a reason to celebrate. This flavorful fish stew hits the spot on cold winter’s day, too. #NationalBouillabaisseDay The French are known for many great recipes. Their food inspires travel to France for a taste of authentic dishes. Bouillabaisse tops the list of must-have cuisine while visiting France. The tasty stew originates in the port city of Marseille. It is traditionally made using bony rockfish, saffron, fennel seed, and orange zest. However, in the culinary world, strong opinions bounce around about the proper ingredients...

Former President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board for jointly awarding the New York Times and Washington Post the 2018 National Reporting prize over their coverage of the Russian collusion scandal. Trump’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Okeechobee County, Florida, claims that the “demonstrably false connection was and remains the stated basis” for the papers’ award-winning coverage, Fox News reported. “A large swath of Americans had a tremendous misunderstanding of the truth at the time the Times’ and the Post’s propagation of the Russia Collusion Hoax dominated the media,” the complaint states. “Remarkably, they were...

Progressivism is one long fit of rage, constantly pushing toward the most absurd reaction to any given situation, and Elon Musk is currently its top target. And because progressivism is one escalation after another, it was just a matter of time before Musk was connected to QAnon. It all started with a fairly innocuous tweet encouraging people to follow a rabbit emoji (i.e. the white rabbit). Then Caroline Orr Bueno, who studies “disinformation” and has half a million followers, showed up with this banger. *********************************** Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D @RVAwonk · Follow Elon Musk is now explicitly encouraging his 120...

14 December 2022 Saint John of the Cross, Priest, Doctor on Wednesday of the 3rd week of Advent St John Of The Cross Parish, Western Springs IL Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(I).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingIsaiah 45:6-8,18,21-25 ©I, the Lord, shall create deliveranceApart from me, all is nothing.I am the Lord, unrivalled,I form the light and create the dark.I make good fortune and create calamity,it is I, the Lord, who do all this.Send victory like a dew, you heavens,and let the clouds rain it down.Let the earth openfor salvation...

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of now-defunct crypto-lending firm FTX, denied that he was in a secret chat group called "Wirefraud," hours before his arrest in the Bahamas on Monday. Bankman-Fried responded to a tweet accusing him of being in the chat group saying: "If this is true then I wasn't a member of that inner circle. (I'm quite sure it's just false; I have never heard of such a group.)" The apparent chat group, based on encrypted messaging platform Signal, included members of FTX's inner circle, the Australian Financial Review reported first. Alongside Bankman-Fried, FTX's co-founder Gary Wang,...

The drag queen who Joe Biden invited to the White House for the “Respect for Marriage Act” signing this week previously tweeted, “kids are out to sing and suck D!” Yes, really. Drag queen activist Marti Cummings celebrated his invitation to the event on Monday by tweeting, “To be a non binary drag artist invited to the White House is something I never imagined would happen. Thank you President & Dr. Biden for inviting me to this historic bill signing. Grateful doesn’t begin to express the emotions I feel.” Although Cummings has his account on private, other Twitter users were...

Dangerous alliance. In 1787, Edmund Burke said there were “Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there [sits] a Fourth Estate more important than they all." The notion of some vital power beyond our government was imported to the New World, and today constitutes a core belief of the American liberal: there is no free people, we’re often told, without a free press independent of congress, the courts, and our president. But throughout the 20th Century thousands of media outlets gradually consolidated, and by the dawn of our internet era only a few giants remained. These giants...

The Florida Senate on Tuesday approved sweeping legislation that would overhaul the state's property insurance system, which has struggled due to insolvencies, high costs and major storms. The bill would create a $1 billion reinsurance fund, reduce litigation costs and compel some customers to leave a state-created insurer. It also would force insurers to respond more promptly to claims and increase state oversight of insurers’ conduct following hurricanes. The Republican proposal was put forth during the GOP-led Legislature's second special session this year aimed at stabilizing the state's property insurance market. The state House is expected to give the measure...

The House Republican Conference is still entrenched in an internal war over whether to reinstate an arcane rule that would empower any member to bring up a vote to oust a speaker at any time. The bitter divide is only heating up and has emerged center stage in House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s quest for 218 votes to win the position. For McCarthy’s backers, the so-called motion to vacate is seen as little more than a promise of hostage taking, a tool that could be used by the right flank to hamstring McCarthy’s ability to lead the conference and effectively...

Despite the climate narrative, almost everywhere cold temperatures are much more deadly than heat. Why is the cold more dangerous? Because it causes outer blood vessels to constrict to conserve core body heat, which drives up blood pressure, said Bjorn Lomborg. High blood pressure killed 10.8 million people in 2019 – 19% of total global deaths. Dr. Bjorn Lomborg is a researcher and frequent commentator in print and broadcast media. He has also authored several books including ‘False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet’. Last month he published an...

While many might see this “invitation” as harmless, the “call” or “invitation” to Islam is a legal requirement before Muslims wage jihad against non-Muslims. As the Moroccan players returned to their hotel in their bus after their victory against Spain, Zakaria Aboukhal and Abdelhamid Sabiri took part in a live broadcast in which they thanked Allah ﷻ and “invited” people to embrace Islam. While many might see this “invitation” as harmless, the “call” or “invitation” to Islam is a legal requirement before Muslims wage jihad against non-Muslims. As the counter-terrorism group UTT explains, “the Koran speaks of Dawah – the...

The whole point of wokeness is to make you feel guilty for things you didn't do...and to punish you if you refuse. The human race has gone through a number of ages: the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason. We are now in the Age of Introspective Contrition, AKA wokeness. The Age of Introspective Contrition is a leftist initiative that exploits guilt to establish thought processes and cultural mores that serve to solidify its political position, which is to pander to the disadvantaged for political gain. It was ushered in with political correctness, which requires one...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reacted to the omnibus framework by pointing out that the two leaders on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Vice Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), who agreed to the deal with House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), are leaving the Senate when their terms expire in January, “So, there’s no way that the taxpayer or the constituents can hold them accountable for what they’re about to do.” McCarthy stated, “[T]he two people who lead in this Appropriations, Sen....

More has come to light regarding the past of the drag queen whom President Joe Biden invited to the White House for the “Respect for Marriage Act” signing this week, including a past tweet in which he said, “kids are out to sing and suck D!”