Free Republic

A New Hampshire town's attempt to force a bakery to remove or alter its painting that shows sunbeams shining down on a mountain range of doughnuts, a muffin, a cinnamon roll and other pastries is unconstitutional, a judge ruled in a First Amendment dispute. The town of Conway infringed on the free speech rights of bakery owner Sean Young, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante ruled Monday, following a one-day trial in February. He ordered the town to stop any efforts at enforcing its sign code regarding the mural painted by high school students atop Leavitt's Country Bakery, mentioning a "complete...

Washington -- The United States will impose tariffs on the countries that "harm" America, President Donald Trump has said, as he named China, India and Brazil as high-tariff countries. “We're going to put tariffs on outside countries and outside people that really mean harm to us. Well, they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good,” Trump told House Republicans at a Florida retreat on Monday, the first after he became the president for the second term last week. “Look at what others do. China is a tremendous tariff maker, and India and Brazil and so...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched hundreds of attacks on Syrian heavy weaponry and suspected chemical weapons facilities in the 24 hours since the fall of the Assad regime, as Israeli soldiers moved into Syrian territory. Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country for Russia early Sunday morning as rebel forces, including Islamists, began moving into the capital city of Damascus. Russia and Iran were unwilling, or unable, to come to Assad’s aid. Israel soon moved troops into the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, on Syrian territory, to deter Syrian rebels from attacking. It also occupied the peak of...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, are fire-retardant chemicals that are found everywhere—upholstery, carpets, curtains, electronics, and even infant products. Known to disrupt hormones and persist in the environment, these pollutants have been detected in human tissues and even breast milk. A mouse study reports that probiotic supplementation can reduce the negative impacts of PBDEs on neurodevelopment, behavior, and metabolism. "Exposure to PBDEs during the perinatal period produces autistic-like behavior and metabolism syndrome in mice," said Margarita C. Curras-Collazo. "These compounds also disrupt the gut microbiome, which has been linked to brain and metabolic health. Our study shows supplementing the maternal...

(CNN) - Alleged Israeli airstrikes in central Syria on Sunday night struck a facility claimed by the West to have produced chemical weapons, according to a local resident. The strikes killed at least 18 people and injured 37 others, state-run Syrian news agency SANA said Monday, citing the director of Masyaf National Hospital. SANA reported that there had been several explosions in the central Tartous and Hama governorates, including in the Masyaf countryside. A Masyaf resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons, described to CNN hearing several explosions late Sunday night. “About half an hour before midnight, multiple airstrikes targeted...

Chemicals commonly found in sunscreen, makeup and other personal care products could be putting pregnancies at risk, a new study warns. Phenols and parabens in these products increase a pregnant woman's risk of high blood pressure by 57%, particularly at 24 to 28 weeks of gestation, researchers reported. Phenols and parabens are used as UV filters in sunscreens, and to prevent the growth of harmful mold and bacteria in makeup and cosmetics, researchers said. Parabens alone are used in about 80% of personal care products, the research team said in background notes. For the study, researchers tracked the health of...

Some store-bought chocolate desserts may contain dangerous chemicals that could damage your DNA and cause cancer, researchers warn. Scientists found that popular treats like crepes, waffles and cakes contained high levels of carcinogens released during the manufacturing process. These compounds are created when cocoa beans are roasted to help give desserts their chocolatey taste during preparation. The researchers warn they may be evading detection because they are not ingredients intentionally added to the products. The researchers from the Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (IBST) in Belgium said that molecules, called α,β-unsaturated carbonyls, form while roasting cocoa beans and...

Russia violates the laws of war and uses chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to the Operational Command North of the Armed Forces of Ukaine. "The other day, the enemy threw a gas grenade into the dugout of an infantry battalion. However, the soldier, nicknamed Yaryi, reacted instantly and threw the grenade outside," the statement says. The Russian occupiers dropped a gas grenade from a drone at the positions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. It was filled with gas that affected the respiratory system... ...The munitions dropped by the Russians are similar to those used by the police...

Officials in rural Texas have begun to release details about what led to a fiery explosion at a chemical plant after lifting a shelter-in-place order in the surrounding community on Wednesday. Geoff Harfield, president of the industrial blending facility Sound Resource Solutions in Shepherd, told reporters that a "forklift incident" triggered the blast, though he did not elaborate. Officials in San Jacinto County said a preliminary investigation found the ignition happened when an employee noticed a container leaking with chemicals and tried to use a forklift to lift the container. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters he was...

An explosion at a chemical plant in Texas on Wednesday has prompted nearby communities to shelter in place as officials work to determine whether any chemicals were released into the air. The blast happened at Sound Resource Solutions along U.S. Highway 59 in Shepherd. The city in located in San Jacinto County about 60 miles northeast of Houston. One person suffered first-degree burns to the face and second-degree and third-degree burns to the arms, FOX26 Houston reported, citing a source. The individual was being treated at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Chem Bio Traditionally, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) were Chemical, Biological, Radiologic and Nuclear (CBRN). The people of the world don’t want them used on us—they are cheap ways to kill and maim lots of people at once. And so international treaties were created to try to prevent their development (sometimes) and use. First was the Geneva Protocol of 1925, banning the use of biological and chemical weapons in war. The US and many nations signed it, but it took 50 years for the US to ratify it, so we believed we were not bound by...

"More than 30,000 tons of chemical munitions have been disposed of over nearly three decades. Years behind schedule and several times over budget, the United States’ declared chemical weapons stock is fully destroyed. The last batch of munitions containing sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, were disarmed on Friday, July 7 at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Kentucky. The destruction was verified by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons."... ..."Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the military was supposed to have eliminated its stockpile in 2007, almost two decades ago. It was granted a five-year extension...

Researchers found acrolein — a chemical toxin — at levels six times higher than normal near the site of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment weeks after public officials told residents it was safe to return to their homes. Nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine evacuated following the February 3 train derailment after Northfolk Southern officials decided to burn vinyl chloride from five tanker cars in an attempt to prevent an explosion, PBS reported. A team of scientists from Carnegie Mellon and Texas A & M Universities sent a van three weeks after the train derailment to search for harmful...

Residents in Philadelphia are flocking to local supermarket stores such as Target and Walmart to buy water after a major chemical spill occurred in the Delaware River. On Friday night over 8,000 gallons of latex-based solution spilled into the Delaware River from a chemical plant in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The massive spill caused Philadelphia city officials to send residents an emergency phone alert urging residents to buy bottled water and to not drink their tap water. ------- The emergency alert sent residents of Philadelphia in a frenzy and caused them to flock to local supermarket stores in the area to...

The main concerns now are the contamination of homes, soil and water, primarily from volatile organic compounds and semivolatile organic compounds, known as VOCs and SVOCs. The train had nearly a dozen cars with vinyl chloride and other materials, such as ethylhexyl acrylate and butyl acrylate. These chemicals have varying levels of toxicity and different fates in soil and groundwater. Officials have detected some of those chemicals in the nearby waterway and particulate matter in the air from the fire. But so far, the fate of many of the chemicals is not known. A variety of other materials were also...

Certain sex offenders in New Mexico would be required to undergo chemical castration as a condition of their parole, according to a bill being proposed by state lawmakers. Reps. John Block of Alamogordo and Stefani Lord, both Republicans, said House Bill 128 would be a "commonsense" step to protect children from pedophiles. "Passage of this commonsense bill is the very least we can do to protect children in our communities from the horrific threat of pedophiles," Block told Fox News Digital. "The New Mexico Legislature must now choose to either stand on the side of children’s safety by passing our...

Biden administration officials have assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons in Ukraine first before resorting to a nuclear confrontation with NATO if his troops continue to lose ground.The concerns, according to six people with knowledge of the matter, come amid a push by the administration to ensure allies are prepared for such an event, as well as to mobilize new resources and investments in manufacturing of detection systems for when the chemicals are used. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive, internal deliberations, include U.S. and Defense Department officials.

A HAZMAT team responded to Harvill and Old Oleander avenues after a large plume from railcar was reported just before 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Cal Fire Division Chief John Crater said during a news conference Friday morning. Wind gusts helped spread the initial plume until it covered a two-mile area over the city of Perris, Crater said. The leaking chemical in the railcar tank was identified to be styrene, which is used to make foam products for commercial purposes. Crater consulted with experts who told him that heat building in the railcar could still cause a release. “Meaning some sort of...

"Our Omaha Fire Department has done a tremendous job at the 3-alarm fire at the Nox-Crete plant. Over the last 15 hours up to 75 firefighters have been on the scene. We are grateful no one has been injured and actions to protect the surrounding neighborhoods were successful. Thank you OFD!" Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said in a statement addressing the fire. Nox Crete manufactures a variety of products, including form coating and deactivator, liquid floor hardeners, joint fillers, curing and sealing compounds and water repellents according to its website. Pottawattamie County Emergency Management advised the smoke posed no toxicity...

President Joe Biden appeared frustrated on Monday when he was asked to clarify his comment about chemical weapons and other comments during his trip to Europe. The president took several questions at the White House about his off-the-cuff comment about Putin on Saturday that raised concerns from leaders around the world.