Free Republic

George Soros is a major funder of the Democratic Party. The party sometimes has problems motivating young people, who vote overwhelmingly Democratic, to get to the polls. One way Soros has helped drive them to get into the voting booth is to stoke up their enthusiasm with efforts such as MoveOn.Org - give them a sense of involvement. Barack Obama uses the same strategy: meetups, basketballs games, Organized for America, the internet: make it fun for young people to become Democrats. But over the last year, the young have grown disaffected with Democrats; midterms always pose a problem with...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The insurance taken out on Michael Jackson for his London concert series does not cover cancellations if the pop star was found to have illegally possessed drugs or was involved in the "illicit taking of drugs." The $17.5 million policy, covering the first 13 shows of the 50-show run, was taken out by Jackson and concert promoter AEG Live in April. A copy sent to The Associated Press shows that the policy had several clauses that would prevent a payout, including if the singer concealed information or acted carelessly to increase the risk of a no-show.

Nice done movie answering to some semi-intelligent comments about the Netherlands. Made my day :o)

Wrote English poet John Keats in On Fame: How fevered is the man who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood, Who vexes all the leaves of his life's book, And robs his fair name of its maidenhood . . . It's worth rereading as we overindulge in the recent deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Ed McMahon's death the same week received somewhat less coverage because he was neither beautiful, nor weird, though he qualified as a celebrity. At least McMahon served in two wars as a Marine, which was a real accomplishment. What is it...

The District ranks highest in the country for cocaine use and alcohol dependence, and has the third-highest percentage of marijuana usage, according to a new study. The study by the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is the result of national drug survey results from 2006 and 2007 of residents of the District and 50 states, compiled through interviews and calculated estimations.

The U.S. is moving equipment, vehicles and resources to the border to help deal with spillover violence from northern Mexico and hit at drug and gun smuggling in border states such as Arizona and California. Target areas include Yuma as well as Imperial and San Diego counties in California. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer requested more National Guard troops be sent to the Arizona-Mexico line, where there have been scores of murders in towns such as Juarez, Tijuana and Nogales, Sonora, as rival drug cartels battle each other in turf wars as well as Mexican police and military units sent to...

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has ordered a crackdown on medical pot clubs that are selling the drug for big profits. The move puts the state a bit more in line with the feds in dealing with the explosion of questionable marijuana dispensaries since the passage of Proposition 215 more than a decade ago.The first target was Today's Health Care club in Northridge (Los Angeles County), which agents from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement raided over the weekend. The club owner and an alleged middleman were booked on drug-dealing charges.Brown said Tuesday he would "not be surprised" to see...

DENVER (CBS4) ― CBS4 has now learned at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges. CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle … sighted at 750 yards." Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."...

When I next saw Rielle weeks later, she told me that she'd been fired by the Edwards campaign. She seemed perfectly cheerful about it, but she proceeded to tell me a tale of woe—how the campaign hadn't understood her, how they'd ruined the Webisodes, how they'd impeded her vision and how Edwards himself had failed to defend her. The chief villain in this saga was Elizabeth Edwards. "Someday," Rielle said, "the truth about her is going to come out." [snip] But I didn't. I stayed in touch with Rielle for months. At lunch at the Soho House in late spring...

DEFINITION: Swiftboating; Speaking TRUTH in the face of Democrat Propoganda The Idiots at Kos have a huge thread running on the exposure of the "SCHIP" family by Free Republic members, that Rush mentioned today, and it's utterly HILARIOUS! They are freaking out that we would DARE to question thier "Facts"... "UPDATE #2 Whiskeyfire has a very informative blog on this too (hat tip nyseer courtesy of Atrios) As the day goes on, bigger and bigger smear merchants are picking this up (including The Weekly Standard). All are (of course) listing Free Republic as the mother source. This limits any culpability...

WATERLOO, Sierra Leone — Although the rainy season was coming on fast, Zainabu Sesay was in no shape to help her husband. Ditches had to be dug to protect their cassava and peanuts, and their mud hut’s palm roof was sliding off. But Mrs. Sesay was sick. She had breast cancer in a form that Western doctors rarely see anymore — the tumor had burst through her skin, looking like a putrid head of cauliflower weeping small amounts of blood at its edges. “It bone! It booonnnne lie de fi-yuh!” she said of the pain — it burns like fire...

New Jersey has the fifth highest number of AIDS cases in America, and yesterday became the last state to allow intravenous drug users to get clean needles, hoping it will slow the spread of the deadly virus. Gov. Jon Corzine ended a 13-year stalemate by signing a law to permit six communities to host needle exchange sites, where clean syringes and referrals to drug treatment will be available. The bill includes $10 million for drug treatment and counseling programs. "This is an historic day for public health," Corzine said, calling the law "a potential bridge to hope for addicts." After...

U.S. growers produce nearly $35 billion worth of marijuana annually, making the illegal drug the country's largest cash crop, bigger than corn and wheat combined, an advocate of medical marijuana use said in a study released on Monday. The report, conducted by Jon Gettman, a public policy analyst and former head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also concluded that five U.S. states produce more than $1 billion worth of marijuana apiece: California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington. California's production alone was about $13.8 billion, according to Gettman, who waged an unsuccessful six-year legal battle to...

Nevada is known for gambling, 24-hour liquor sales and legal prostitution. Yet the main group opposing Question 7, an initiative on the state's ballot next month that would allow the sale and possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults 21 or older, is called the Committee to Keep Nevada Respectable. In Colorado, opponents of Amendment 44, which would eliminate penalties for adults possessing an ounce or less of marijuana, are equally certain of their own rectitude. "Those who want to legalize drugs weaken our collective struggle against this scourge," declares the Colorado Drug Investigators Association. "Like a...

A counter-culture arts festival which champions alternative living is being vetted by environmentalists for its contribution to global warming. Burning Man bans the sale of anything but ice and coffee and declares clothing optional. The festival, which is expected to draw nearly 40,000 people to the Nevada desert this week, is described as an "experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance". It has few rules, no structure and features performances, installation art and music, which culminate in the symbolic burning of a large wooden man. A group of San Francisco scientists, calling themselves Cooling Man, have...

When Syd Barrett died earlier this summer, you would've thought I was a personal friend or relative. My wife called. Co-workers asked if it was going to inspire a column. Old friends sent e-mails. If you don't know - which is no crime, trust me - Barrett was a founder of the classic rock band Pink Floyd in the mid-1960s. He only stuck around for one full album before a drug addiction made him an impossible creative partner for a group that went on to do tremendous things in his stead. Some of Pink Floyd's best work - songs like...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman on Friday reiterated his top pick to implement his energy plan that emphasizes renewable sources: Willie Nelson. ADVERTISEMENT Friedman said the country singer/songwriter and benefactor of biodiesel was a natural choice to lead a state energy department or commission, which he wants to create. He also said Nelson "would never have his hand in Texas' pocket." "My plan is to appoint the best people I can find, get out of the way and let them work ... people whose only agenda is to do the right thing for the people of...

An actress in the school play. Two star high school football players. The cute hostess at a local restaurant. Two busy workers behind the counter at the pharmacy. All teenagers with promise in an affluent triangle of eastern Morris County towns. But all were criminally charged last week in a drug bust coordinated by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. Operation Painkiller nabbed 47 adults and seven juveniles, including some current students and a host of alumni of Whippany Park High School in Hanover. Police said they seized more than $70,000 in cash and drugs, including 4 ounces of heroin with...

America's war on drugs is actually a Raid on Taxpayers. The war costs an estimated $70 billion a year to prosecute, and the drugs keep pouring in. But while the War on Drugs may have failed its official mission, it is a great success as a job-creation program. Thousands of drug agents, police, detectives, prosecutors, judges, anti-drug activists, prison guards and their support staffs can thank the program for their daily bread and health benefits. The American people are clearly not ready to decriminalize cocaine, heroine or other hard drugs, but they're well on their way to easing up on...

See for example this thread first. Canada won't legalize pot (A left-winger, Harper is NOT!) He then goes to warn he'll crack down on porn... Can he roll back the liberal rot?