Free Republic

Subheading: Policy could be paired with proposal to ban menthols; FDA must decide whether to pursue menthol ban by April 29 The Biden administration is considering requiring tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine levels in all cigarettes sold in the U.S. to levels at which they are no longer addictive, according to people familiar with the matter. Administration officials are considering the policy as they approach a deadline for declaring the administration’s intentions on another tobacco question: whether or not to ban menthol cigarettes. .... Nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer, heart disease or lung disease, according to the FDA. But...

Around a third of participants in a Massachusetts study tested positive for antibodies linked with coronavirus, according to researchers. The Mass. General study took samples from 200 residents on the street in Chelsea, MA. Sixty-four of the participants tested positive – a “sobering” result, according to Thomas Ambrosino, Chelsea’s city manager. Ambrosino called Chelsea the epicenter of the crisis in Massachusetts. Chelsea has the state’s highest rate of confirmed cases, with at least 712 confirmed cases and 39 deaths – an infection rate of around 2 percent. .... Doctors used a device made by BioMedomics to analyze the samples. The...

Scientists: Astronauts Could Build Moon Base Using Human Urine Need a resilient lunar building material? Urine luck. VICTOR TANGERMANN5 HOURS AGO In cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), a team of European researchers have conducted a… strange experiment. They mixed urea — the main compound found in mammalian urine — with materials, including Moon rocks, to test if we could one day use astronaut pee to build a lunar base. The urea itself acted as a “plasticizer” — stuff that allows us to shape other harder materials into different forms. In their unusual experiment, the team used an analog...

Debate Thread

Topline: James Murdoch, a son of press baron Rupert, has publicly criticized the family’s news outlets for their “ongoing denial” of the links between climate change and raging bushfires in Australia, where the Murdoch empire originated. Former media executive James and his wife, Kathryn, who works for the Clinton Foundation’s climate initiative, have previously been outspoken about climate change. A spokesperson for the couple told the IAC-owned Daily Beast: “Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known.” “They are particularly...

DOn't see a discussion thread on Acosta's press conference. Is anyone else watching?

Major rehabilitation speech on by Biden. Anyone watching?

One of the most celebrated groups in the mainstream media is transgendered people or people who suffer from gender dysphoria. This lead to transgenderism becoming a fad that had many people claiming to be transgendered, especially among the young. However, data now shows that those young people who do embrace a life of transgenderism seem to have abnormally high suicide rates. ..... Female to male adolescents reported the highest rate of attempted suicide (50.8%), followed by adolescents who identified as not exclusively male or female (41.8%), male to female adolescents (29.9%), questioning adolescents (27.9%). ..... Compared to the suicide rate...

I have a question for FReepers which might merit some discussion. I've been reading about the amount that people pay coyotes to be smuggled into the US. For Central Americans and other OTM (Other than Mexicans), estimates I've seen vary from $6,000 to $12,000 per person. That amount gets a person smuggled through Mexico (really, the Mexican part is a bribe for passage, possibly un-molested) and across the border into the US. An example article discussing this can be easily found. One example is this one from the NY Times: What it Costs to be Smuggled Across the U. S....

The bitter divorce battle between billionaire bond king Bill Gross and his ex-wife is beginning to stink — like vomit, flatulence and dead fish. The California moneyman, who lost his beloved 13,819-square-foot Laguna Beach home to his ex-wife in the breakup, used foul-smelling sprays to leave the place a stinking mess — and placed dead fish in the air vents, a “disgusted” Sue Gross claimed in court papers last week. Mrs. Gross, who won a temporary restraining order against Bill last week, has the evidence of his foul play — empty spray bottles in the trash cans... In addition, security...

Looking for some helpful hints and discussion on Windows 10 update. I have a G751 Asus ROG computer, which is pretty capable and modern (Intel quad core 4710HQ, 32 GB RAM, NVIDIA 970 GTX), only a couple of years old. I've been using Windows 10 Home Edition happily for the last 2+ years, accepting upgrades as they are pushed to me without problems. Now comes the Creators Update (the 1703 series of Windows 10), and I have big problems. First off, MS is pushing it on me, by clogging up my computer with the Windows 10 upgrade download. When I...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Starbucks says it will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years, a response to President Donald Trump's indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees and temporary travel bans that apply to six other Muslim-majority nations. Howard Schultz, the coffee retailer's chairman and CEO, said in a letter to employees Sunday that the hiring would apply to stores worldwide and the effort would start in the United States where the focus would be on hiring immigrants "who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel."

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) in his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee (DNC). "The Democratic Party stands at a crossroads, and needs leadership that will expand our vision to more Americans — while also intensifying our commitment to our core values. Keith Ellison is that leader," De Blasio told NBC News. De Blasio said Ellison is "a unifier who worked tirelessly for both Bernie Sanders and then Hillary Clinton, he will bring the party and the grassroots together..."

There is a massive nine-alarm fire blazing in Cambridge near Berkshire and York Streets. Nine alarms are the most that can be called. Firefighters from communities well outside the area being called in. Cambridge police are asking that the public avoid the area. Multiple buildings are on fire, including a church. At least one building has reportedly collapsed. Fire companies from all corners are on-scene to assist, including from Boston, Newton, Waltham and Wakefield.

Today, with Hillary's health a hot topic of discussion, I am wondering about the rules for the upcoming debates. Does anyone know whether these debates, which I believe are 90 minutes long, will require the candidates to stand, as is usual? If Hillary isn't feeling quite up to it and sits, what will the impact be? Would DJT stand? Would it be spoken of as "bullying", like when Al Gore puffed out his chest and walked into GWB's personal space (GWB handled it very well, by the way), or when Rick Laszlo was "mean" to Hillary during a debate in...

This is just a smoky backroom vanity. Gays have been courted by the Democratic Party for years, with rhetoric, rainbow flags, celebrities, and special rights. But what is the most valuable right? Their right to life. It is here that the Democratic Party, led by Obama and Hillary, have let them down the most. Special rights... such as calling a gay union marriage, or persecuting bakers or photographers to force them to serve gays in ways they find wrong... are big carrots the Democratic Party has held in front of them. But, when the chips are down, and a bunch...

Hillary Clinton is urging the White House to reject Norwegian Air’s application to fly to the United States over questions about its labor practices, adding her voice to a growing chorus of criticism surrounding the low-cost air carrier. .... Norwegian Air has for years been seeking access to more airports in the U.S. and European Union, by establishing a subsidiary — Norwegian Air International — in Ireland, a member of the EU. The Department of Transportation (DOT) tentatively approved the application last month. But critics have slammed the company for attempting to skirt more stringent Norwegian labor and tax laws...

(CNN)Scientists have for the first time visualized the effects of LSD on the human brain. Using brain scanning and other techniques, researchers at Imperial College London were able to show what happens when someone takes the popular (and illegal) psychedelic, scientific-name Lysergic acid diethylamide. The findings may indicate how the drug produces the complex visual hallucinations often associated with its use.

It's a vanity, but also a comment to the Trump campaign. Trump came up with "Crooked Hillary" for her nickname, to follow up on his "Lyin' Ted" theme. My wife and I think that while Hillary is totally corrupt, this might not be the best nickname. For one thing, it lacks alliteration. My wife is extremely upset about Hillary's post-Benghazi performance. It's bad enough that she lied to the American public, told different stories (terrorists versus movie) to different heads of state, and to Chelsea. What is unforgiveable in her (our) view, and completely heartless, is the way she lied...

We have also learned something very disturbing – that search engines are influencing far more than what people buy and whom they vote for. We now have evidence suggesting that on virtually all issues where people are initially undecided, search rankings are impacting almost every decision that people make. ..... In one of our recent experiments, biased search results shifted people’s opinions about the value of fracking by 33.9 per cent. ..... Remember what the search algorithm is doing: in response to your query, it is selecting a handful of webpages from among the billions that are available, and it...