Free Republic

Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starship exploded into a ball of fire on 4/20 during its second failed orbital launch in a week. The world's largest and most powerful rocket – which was unmanned - lifted off in South Texas and successfully cleared the launchpad, its first milestone. But the craft was sent into a tailspin when the booster - called Super Heavy - failed to separate from the rocket in mid-air. The mission ended at around four minutes when the failure sent both stages crashing toward Earth, imploding mid-descent over the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the failed launch, the team at...

WASHINGTON — On the eve of the 4/20 cannabis holiday, federal inmates again are wondering if and when President Biden will make good on his 2020 campaign pledge to free “everyone” locked up on marijuana charges. About 2,700 inmates are behind federal bars on pot-related charges — even though 18 states and DC now allow recreational use of the drug and two-thirds of Americans support legalization. ... In January 2021, then-President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of seven people serving life terms for marijuana — including two men who were given life without parole under the three-strikes provision of the...

Don’t let the civil liberties lobby blind us to the fact that greater state surveillance, including ID cards, is required. If we are to beat a path out of this pandemic without destroying our economy, overblown concerns about threats to our liberties must be countered by pragmatism. To recover some semblance of normality before a vaccine is found, we must accept the need for the state to access more information about ourselves, our health and our whereabouts — and not waste precious weeks arguing about it. Look east to see how digital surveillance is an integral part of returning to...

This Thursday, April 20, marks the annual unofficial holiday celebrated around the world by marijuana users. And this year, "4/20" will be observed while America's burgeoning legal cannabis industry sits at a crossroads. Public opinion polls indicate that support for marijuana legalization is at an all-time high in the U.S., and November's election saw four new states vote to legalize recreational cannabis while another four states legalized medical pot. As a result, a majority of the U.S. population lives in a state with some access to legal marijuana. However, cannabis remains illegal on the federal level, and the new administration...

They came. They smoked. They left more than seven tons of trash. After more than 8,000 people flocked Golden Gate Park on Wednesday, or 4/20, as the San Francisco’s marijuana-loving community call it, countless bottles of Shasta soda, beer cans, Fruit Loops boxes and butts were left scattered across the grassy, green lawn. "We think we will end up with over 15,000 pounds of trash," San Francisco Recreation and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg said Thursday morning. "Yes, it's impactful to our park." Ginsburg noted the mess was an improvement from last year. That trashy haul tipped the scales at...

Sure… Sunday was Easter Sunday (the most important day of the year for the world’s 2-3 billion Christians). But, c’mon! It was 4:20 dude! And while millions of Americans flocked to their churches and Cathedrals, the Denver Post thought the front-page story of the day ought to be Colorado’s annual “toke-out” at Civic Center Park in Denver. Heck… The 15 year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting was even pushed back to accommodate the “high times” of Civic Center potheads. Living a mere handful of blocks from Denver’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, I can personally attest to...