Free Republic

As speculation continues to swirl around the frenzied campaign to replace Joe Biden and just who that replacement might be, the names of several prominent blue state governors have been widely reported on and discussed, like Gavin Newsom in California and Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer. Vice President Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has almost been an afterthought. In a hypothetical situation where there is talk of replacing the president at the top of the ticket, you'd think the default answer would be to turn to the veep - and stay there. But we are not in normal times, this is...

The World Health Organization (WHO) is pushing for higher taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks, arguing many countries are not using taxes to encourage healthier habits. The WHO on Tuesday released data showing the global tax rates on products like alcohol and sweetened beverages and claimed such rates are “low.” The U.N. health agency found 108 of its 194 member states are taxing some sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), though such excise taxes — which are applied for certain products — are only about 6.6 percent of the price of soda. At least 148 nations applied excise taxes to alcoholic beverages, but...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A sticky puddle of lemonade wasn’t the only thing to be canned from a 7-Eleven store in St. Petersburg late Sunday night. Police said that 35-year-old Clearwater clerk, Miles Jenkins “got frustrated with a customer over payment” and “threw a Big Gulp cup filled with lemonade at [her].” The woman told police the flying lemonade struck her in the left side of her head. Three other customers in the store at the time told officers they witnessed the battery. Authorities said Jenkins also “made spontaneous statements admitting to striking [the woman] with the drink.” Officers...

Here's a list of things Nanny Bloomberg tried to ban or succeeded in banning while he was the mayor of New York. Imagine what havoc he could wreak if he were president. Trans fats: Recipes for cannolis, cheesecake, burgers, French fries had to be changed to accommodate Bloomberg's distaste for trans fats.

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign for president spent a colossal amount of money in the final quarter of 2019 as he attempts to catch up to and surpass Democratic rivals. Bloomberg’s campaign spent over $180 million at the end of 2019, according to a newly released Federal Election Commission filing. The massive expenditure amount went toward TV ads, field staff and his technology firm, Hawkfish. The record shows Bloomberg’s campaign spent over $11 million on the digital firm. The company has become the primary digital ad agency for Bloomberg’s operation. He launched his bid for president at the end of November, several...

Why, 7-11, WHY?  Is no one in your convenience store chain organization familiar with that old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" And fix it they did. Oh how they fixed it. Despite the fact that the 7-11 presidential coffee cup poll has accurately predicted the outcome in every election since it began in 2000, this year they changed it in a major way. So is the nation leaning red or blue? Neither. According to their new method the USA is an indeterminate purple. Yes, this year you can pick a purple cup. The completely unnecessary, and confusing, change was...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Guzzlers prevailed Thursday as New York's highest court refused to reinstate New York City's ban on the sale of big sodas, ruling that the city's health department overstepped its bounds when approved the 16-ounce cap on sugary beverages. The court largely ignored the merits of the ban in the 20-page ruling, but determined the city's Board of Health engaged in policy-making, and not simply health regulations, when it imposed the restrictions on restaurants, delis, movie theaters, stadiums and street cart vendors.

Michael Bloomberg steered New York City through economic recession, a catastrophic hurricane and the aftermath of 9/11, but he may always be remembered, accurately or not, as the mayor who wanted to ban the Big Gulp. After 12 years, Bloomberg leaves office Dec. 31 with a unique record as a public health crusader who attacked cigarettes, artery-clogging fats and big sugary drinks with as much zeal as most mayors go after crack dens and graffiti. And while Bloomberg’s audacious initiatives weren’t uniformly successful, often leading to court challenges and criticisms he was turning New York into a “nanny state,” experts...

The left would probably be completely beside themselves at this comparison, but it's totally appropriate.We have fallen very far from our founding when government, even at the local level, feels entitled to micromanage our lives down to the number of ounces of soda we drink. From Super Conservative

Out: Tebowing and Eastwooding In: The #PalinLibertyPose Sarah Palin’s wildly popular CPAC speech, punctuated by the Big Gulp swig heard ’round the word, has sparked a new late-night, post-CPAC trend: Send in your pics!!!!

‘Million Big Gulp March’ Takes Aim At Bloomberg’s Proposed Big Drink Ban July 9, 2012 11:14 AM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A rally will be held Monday against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on super-sized sugary drinks. About 1,000 protesters chanting “Drink Free Or Die” are expected to take part in the “Million Big Gulp March” in City Hall Park at 4:30 p.m. Monday. Business owners, local politicians and others against the proposed ban are all expected to take part, according to NYC Liberty HQ spokesman Zach Huff. “The ‘Million Big Gulp March’ is about more than just the size...

This is hilarious: Wonder if Bloomberg watches Boardwalk Empire.Maybe thats where he is getting his ideas. - Check out the link. http://times247.com/24-7-videos/boardwalk-empire-spoof-ridicules-bloomberg-s-ban-on-big-gulps

The basic case against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest crusade, to outlaw the sale of extra- large sugared soft drinks, is Libertarianism 101: In a free country, people should have the right to do what they want, even if it’s bad for them. The major exceptions and complications to this basic principle don’t seem to apply. Unlike secondhand smoke, my consumption of a Pepsi does no direct harm to anyone else. Unlike marijuana, sugary drinks have a perfectly adequate and legal substitute: sugar-free drinks. (Even if you can tell the difference between Coke and Diet Coke, you can’t claim...

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 1 -- Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman urged his party Thursday to oppose rising anti-immigrant sentiments in the debate over border security and illegal immigration, suggesting that the GOP risks being on the wrong side of history ..

Who needs expensive pollsters and political pundits? Certainly not the folks at 7-Eleven. They nailed the presidential election with an unabashedly unscientific, tongue-in-cheek poll based on coffee- cup sales. When the national convenience store chain closed its "precincts" on Monday, its month-long promotion showed that 51.08 percent of its customers nationwide preferred coffee in a Bush cup, and 48.92 percent picked Kerry containers. Margin of error: zero. To heck with reading tea leaves. Jim Keyes, 7-Eleven chieftain, is sticking to coffee. "Our popular vote was absolutely right-on," he says, adding that the accuracy was slightly spooky but hardly surprising. "We...