Free Republic

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time on Friday used its authority under a 2009 law to remove cigarettes from stores.The FDA is forcing Jash International to stop selling and distributing its line of Sutra Bidi tobacco products in the U.S., and is giving retailers 30 days to pull the products from shelves. ADVERTISEMENT “Existing inventory may be subject to enforcement action, including seizure, without further notice,” the FDA said in a release. “Companies that continue to sell and distribute these products in the United States may be subject to enforcement actions by the FDA.”The FDA said...

A proposed ballot initiative in Colorado would require couples to take a mandatory pre-marriage education classes, officials said. The Colorado Marriage Education Act would require first time brides- and grooms-to-be to receive 10 hours of pre-wedding marriage education, the Denver Post reported Monday.

Now they want to psych test your little children. What is New York going to do with that information?A bill introduced by State Senator Margaret Markey, A8186-2013, calls for an amendment to education law to mandate psychological screenings for students in public schools as part of the required health certificate.The law reads that a mandatory health certificate “shall also state that a psychological examination was performed and that the child is mentally fit to permit attendance at school.”That’s not all. The bill further reads: “Each such certificate shall also state the student’s body mass index (BMI) and weight status category.”What...

Unhappy with the scope of his nannyism, Michael Bloomberg has found one last social behavior to regulate before the close of his authoritarian-tenure. Having already conquered the vital task of regulating trans-fats, cigarette smoking, and high-capacity sodas in the Big Apple, it would seem there were few perks of adulthood left to regulate or restrict. But it appears he’s found at least one more. . . What better way to cinch his legacy as a nannycrat than to ban a less dangerous alternative to dangerous cigarette smoking: e-cigarettes. According to the Daily Mail, the New York City Council voted...

The City Council banned Styrofoam and banished electronic cigarettes in a flurry of last-minute lawmaking Thursday at Speaker Christine Quinn’s emotional final meeting. Quinn said a tearful goodbye to the Council with her trademark feistiness. “The city is a better place because of all of you, and I just want to say thank you,” she said. “We were tough. We didn’t take any s---.” Before her farewell, the Council passed a record 26 bills and resolutions. Under the foam container ban, polystyrene coffee cups and takeout containers will be outlawed. “Most foam ends up in landfills, where it can sit for...

Mayor Bloomberg on Friday defended the new city mandate that kids under five who attend pre-school or daycare get annual flu shots -- a rule critics say is just another nanny-state move by Hizzoner. Opponents of the compulsory shots -- including autism activists suspicious of vaccination complications -- protested on the steps of City Hall Tuesday, calling the requirement intrusive and absurd. As for parents who say it's their call as to whether kids should get the flu jab, Bloomberg said, "Your kid can impact other kids by transferring a disease and bringing it home...

Autism advocates are set to protest tomorrow against a quiet effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration to require annual flu vaccinations for all New York City schoolchildren.On Wednesday, with just three weeks to go until he leaves office, Mr. Bloomberg’s controversial Board of Health is set to vote on new rules that would force children as young as six months old to be immunized each year before December 31 if they attend licensed day care or pre-school programs.“Young children have a high risk of developing severe complications from influenza. One-third of children under five in New York City do not...

New York City Major Michael Bloomberg is claiming one more casualty before he officially ends his reign as overreaching “Nanny,” with the City Council debating a ban on plastic-foam takeout containers. The City Council’s sanitation committee is gearing up for a hearing on the future of the takeout containers set to take place Monday, The Associated Press reported. Members of the board are contemplating proposals to either ban the containers outright or explore options to recycle them.

A. Barton Hinkle, a Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist and Reason magazine contributor, wrote a fascinating and chilling column this week about the Food and Drug Administration expensive and burdensome new menu labeling scheme. The regulations will “dictate the disclosure of calorie counts for foods sold in restaurants, grocery stores, delis, bakeries, coffee shops, and even gas stations,” according to Hinkle. And those businesses will pay a hefty price to comply with the policy. The federal government figures the rules will “cost more than $1 billion and require more than 14.5 million hours of labor to meet.” The calorie posting regulations, which...

There is no free speech when it comes to advertising raw milk products in Oregon. In fact, those who violate this law may face possible jail time. Most states in the country have significant restrictions on the sale of raw milk, and at first glance, Oregon's seem like some of the less extreme ones.  Sales are outright illegal in 20 states, and though Oregon does not allow the retail sale of raw milk, it does allow small organic dairies – with three cows or fewer, only two of which can be lactating at any given time – to sell their product...

The town of San Rafael, Calif., has passed a ban on smoking that city officials have called the most stringent in the nation. The new ordinance makes it illegal for residents to smoke in their own homes if they share a wall with another dwelling. The ban applies to owners and renters alike, and it covers condominiums, co-ops, apartments and any multi-family residence containing three or more units. Rebecca Woodbury, an analyst at the San Rafael City Manager's office, helped craft the ban, which took effect Nov.14. "We based it on a county ordinance," she told ABC News, "but we...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t just want to limit the use of cigarettes – but electronic cigarettes as well. In a newly leaked draft of three tobacco-related bills soon to be voted on by the NYC City Council, the new definition of “tobacco products” under city law would be changed to include e-cigarettes and related components, parts and accessories. If the ordinances pass, the display of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco would be banned in retail stores. Also, while tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes would still be available in retail stores, all other flavored e-cigarettes could only be sold...

Rush Limbaugh says Obama's “Nudge Squad” is designed to promote certain behavior. I'm sure he just misspoke. The Nudgers themselves admit they are attempting to do much more than just promote. Government can and already does produce commercials that merely promote an agenda. No, the “Nudge Squad” is not a promotional group. These “behavioral scientists” are charged with steering us into making the “correct” decisions.And who gets to determine what’s the correct decision? Why, the administration. They are the arbiters of right and wrong, good and bad behavior.Do you recall the statement by Bill Clinton, circa 1999? Thanks to the...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has tried to curb soda consumption, ban smoking in parks and encourage bike riding, is taking on a new cause: requiring New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting.

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced a $20 billion plan to prepare for rising sea levels and hotter summers expected as a result of climate change in the coming decades. The plan, which follows widespread destruction wreaked by Superstorm Sandy last year, included about 250 recommendations ranging from new floodwalls and storm barriers to upgrades of power and telecommunications infrastructures. It coincided with a report updating projections of the impact of climate change, saying that over the next 40 years the number of sweltering summer days could double or even triple and that the sea level...

Bay Area elementary school holds toy-gun exchange The SideshowBy Mike Krumboltz | The Sideshow – 3 hrs ago Strobridge Elementary School in Hayward, Calif., held a toy-gun exchange program over the weekend, according to a report from CBS-5 San Francisco. Inspired by gun buy-back programs that focus on getting weapons off the streets, Principal Charles Hill felt a similar program for toys made a lot of sense. "Playing with toys guns, saying 'I'm going to shoot you,' desensitizes them," said Hill, "so, as they get older, it's easier for them to use a real gun." Students who participated were given...

Michael Bloomberg and his battle against bulging waistlines are targeting new villains: sweet tea, energy drinks and fruit juices. New York City’s health department launched a series of TV and bus ads on Monday that warn people about the high sugar content in drinks that are seemingly healthy. The ads cost about $1.4 million and are part of a “pouring on the pounds” campaign that dates back to 2009, The Daily Mail reports. One of the television ads shows a young boy happily slurping on a juice box. The scene takes a dramatic turn when it flashes to what appears...

New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs has given notice to 17 restaurants that offer sidewalk cafe dining: Stop the outdoor service. “Please be advised you have 100 business days from, and including May 1, to complete one of the following options,” the agency, which operates under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, said in a statement, reported by The New York Post. Option No. 1: Provide the city with a “certified land survey” to prove the cafe business is conducted on private property. Option No. 2: Filing for an exemption of zoning law. Or Option No. 3: Surrender the business permit...

After picking up the survey forms from his mailbox about 10 minutes before his first class of the day, John Dryden noticed that they had students' names on them and that they asked about drinking and drug use, among other subjects. Dryden, who had just finished teaching a unit on the Bill of Rights, worried that students might feel obliged to incriminate themselves—an especially ticklish situation given the police officer stationed at the school. Since there was no time to confer with administrators, he says, he decided to tell his students that they did not have to complete the forms...

Raw-milk proponents celebrated a Wisconsin farmer's acquittal on three of four counts related to selling unpasteurized milk and cheese, bolstering their hopes of legalizing the products in America's Dairyland. Jurors found Vernon Hershberger, a 41-year-old Loganville, Wis., farmer, innocent of producing milk without a license, selling milk and cheese products without a license, and operating a retail establishment without a license. He was found guilty of one count of breaking a holding order issued by the state in June 2010, which barred him from moving any of the food he produced without a license. The verdict means Mr. Hershberger can...