Free Republic

The first four days of legal recreational marijuana sales generated $3 million in sales revenue and about $500,000 in tax revenue, putting Nevada on pace to achieve an estimated $30 million in sales revenue over the next six months of recreational sales, according to the Nevada Dispensary Association. The sales figure was generated from Saturday’s first day of recreational marijuana sales to Tuesday. The tax rate for recreational pot is 33 to 38 percent, depending on local regulations, with all state and local taxes included. “We had a higher demand than everybody initially thought,” dispensary association director Riana Durrett said....

Heeding the advice of Gen. David Petraeus, Barack Obama has committed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan and will keep 50,000 in Iraq after U.S. combat operations end in August 2010. But are U.S. vital interests more threatened by what happens in Anbar or Helmand than in the war raging along our southern border? Prediction: After all U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea have come home, there will be a U.S. army on the Mexican border. For this is where the fate of our republic will be decided, as the fate of Europe will be decided by the millions streaming...

GARMSER, Afghanistan - The Marines of Bravo Company's 1st Platoon sleep beside a grove of poppies. Troops in the 2nd Platoon playfully swat at the heavy opium bulbs while walking through the fields. Afghan laborers scraping the plant's gooey resin smile and wave. Last week, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit moved into southern Helmand province, the world's largest opium poppy-growing region, and now find themselves surrounded by green fields of the illegal plants that produce the main ingredient of heroin. The Taliban, whose fighters are exchanging daily fire with the Marines in Garmser, derives up to $100 million a year...

TO BALANCED-BUDGET believers, the first big mistake George W. Bush made as president was not vetoing the 2002 farm bill. Not only did Bush sign the bill, but he also didn't try to stop Congress from larding the bill with corporate welfare -- which is like handing the car keys and a six-pack to a drunk driver on parole. The result -- a farm-subsidy package that cost the average American household some $1,800 over 10 years, according to the Heritage Foundation. Now Bush is trying to atone. In his new budget, the White House has proposed a 5 percent cut...