Free Republic

Republican-led states are leading the charge to ban soda and candy from their food stamp programs, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement flips traditional partisanship on its head. Colorado is the only blue state to seek and have a soda ban waiver approved, and the only waiver state to propose expanding SNAP benefits in conjunction with limiting its scope. Both parties at times have expressed interest in eliminating soda from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the Trump administration is the first to encourage states to do so.

Ursula's new "European Media Freedom Act" permits the arrest of journalists if it is in the "public interest." ... The act also allows surveillance software to be deployed on devices used by media service providers, editorial staff, or related persons in the “public interest. Who decides the “public interest?” Sophie ... The new law also contains numerous provisions that call for action against alleged "disinformation." Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President ... "national lists" are to be created listing the owners and addresses of media outlets, as stipulated in Article 6. Despite its intent to strengthen media freedom, critics...

Over 64,000 pounds of butter have been recalled due to a potential undeclared allergen, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “Bunge North America Inc., based in Missouri, initiated a voluntary recall of 64,800 pounds of its NH European Style Butter Blend on July 14 because milk may not have been listed on the product’s label,” Newsweek stated. The FDA raised the risk classification for the recall to Class II, the second-highest warning label. According to the FDA’s website, a class II recall is “a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary...

There’s one night of the year when celebrations across the United States light up the map like no other. It’s the Fourth of July — when fine particulates fill the air. The impact fireworks can have on air quality can be quite striking and seemingly outsize, given their relatively small explosive force. And there have been stark examples in recent years of poor air quality spiking after the Fourth of July. In 2019, in Washington, D.C., for one, the smoke got so bad that many couldn’t actually see the fireworks, and crews filming the spectacle flipped back and forth to...

Supermarkets will reportedly be required to make significant changes to their stores as part of a government crackdown on obesity. The Government plans to introduce a health food standard for supermarkets to make the average shopping basket 'slightly healthier' and ease pressure on the NHS. Public health experts say that cutting 50 calories a day would lift 340,000 children and 2 million adults out of obesity, which is one of the root causes of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Major supermarkets will have to report on healthy food sales and 'increase the healthiness of sales in communities across the UK',...

One of America's favorite candies has been shunned by authorities in the United Kingdom, who claim it is "unsafe to eat. The U.K.'s Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced a stern advisory against Jolly Rancher candies on June 11. The alert applies to all Jolly Rancher hard candies, as well as Jolly Rancher Misfits, Jolly Rancher Fruity 2 in 1s and Jolly Rancher Berry Gummies. The reason, the FSA claims, is that the candies contain "Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH) and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons (MOSH)." The agency said the hydrocarbons make the candies "unsafe to eat and not compliant with...

Raw Milk is at risk of a total ban in North Carolina.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., together with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Mary Makary, announced a new round of food dye bans on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference here. The agencies shared their intent to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply. "Today, the FDA is taking action to remove petroleum-based food dyes," said Makary as he kicked off the press conference. "For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals. The scientific community has conducted...

FOR A COUNTRY known for long winters and high taxes, Finland appears remarkably chipper. On March 20th it came top of the World Happiness Report, an annual UN-backed study, notching its eighth consecutive win ahead of 146 other countries. Not far behind it were Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. What makes the Nordics so happy? The World Happiness Report is more a study of life satisfaction than smiles and laughter. It is based on a survey by Gallup, a pollster, where participants are asked to rate their lives out of ten. Finns are not known to gloat (or, for that matter,...

Tired of scouring Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for a decently used refrigerator because your new apartment didn’t come with one? This headache could become a thing of the past with a new bill in the California Legislature that, if approved, would require landlords to provide refrigerators and stoves in their rentals. Why are some rentals listed without a refrigerator? The simple answer is landlords don’t have to provide a refrigerator. Existing California law requires any building with a dwelling unit to maintain “certain characteristics in order to be tenantable,” which includes maintenance of adequate heating and hot water systems. Even...

Newton joined several other Massachusetts towns when its City Council approved a “generational ban” on tobacco products. These laws prohibit the sale of tobacco products to people born after a certain year, essentially aiming to phase out tobacco altogether. Brookline was the first municipality in the country to adopt one of these bans, which blocked the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2000, when it did so in 2020. “Programs and Services voted to amend the proposed item so that it now reads that anyone born after March 1, 2004, would be prohibited from purchasing...

[Catholic Caucus] "Do you only get into heaven with a QR code?" - Giuseppe Nardi on the Vatican as surveillance statePope Francis has introduced a new condition for obtaining a jubilee indulgence for the Holy Year 2025, thereby abusing the jubilee year to advance the globalist agenda.In order to pass through the Holy Door, the faithful must submit to the digital cage. They must identify themselves and register with all their personal data in order to receive a QR code, because only with this code can they pass through the Holy Door. Santa Marta is implementing another building block of...

On the rim of the Grand Canyon, there is an area that is not part of Grand Canyon National Park. This land does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to the Navaho people. The Navaho tribe, as such, has the right to develop its tribal land to bring tourism, money, and jobs to its population. But this kind of thing gives out-of-town environmentalists and the government employees who run the park a sad. The New York Times article on a proposed $1 billion development actually features quite a few viewpoints, mostly fairly, but it frames the whole...

EAST RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — Renae Yellowhorse stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon, 26 bumpy miles across the Painted Desert from the nearest paved road, not a glint of civilization in sight. Ms. Yellowhorse, 52, who has lived her whole life on this Navajo land, cast an arm over the gulf sweeping out to the horizon, pointing to where the Colorado River and the Little Colorado meet in a dazzling burst of deep blue 3,000 feet below. “This is where the tram would go,” she said. “This is the heart of our Mother Earth. This...

'The Los Angeles Times's Julie Cart reported on Sunday of plans to build "restaurants, hotels and shops" on Navajo Indian land adjacent to the eastern portion of the Grand Canyon. The 420-acre Grand Canyon Escalade proposal would also feature an eight-person gondola that would take tourists on a 10-minute ride to the canyon floor, she writes, "where they would stroll along an elevated riverside walkway to a restaurant at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers". Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote The average person can't ride a mule to the bottom of the canyon” End...

Horrifying bodycam footage shows the moment a Georgia mom was arrested for allowing her 10-year-old son to walk less than a mile into a small town. Brittany Patterson, 41, was captured on police bodycam footage being handcuffed and taken into custody on October 30 after she left her son, Soren, home alone. Patterson was charged with reckless endangerment and taken into custody where she had her fingerprints and mugshot taken. The mother had left her home to take one of her older children to the doctor, while Soren, who is 11 years old but was aged 10 at the time,...

Is this the most-wanted cereal killer? An ex-FDA employee has revealed what he claims is the most harmful breakfast cereal on the US market. Dr. Darin Detwiler, who previously served as a food safety expert for the agency, told the Daily Mail that Kellogg’s Froot Loops is the worst of the bunch, pointing out that the rainbow rings are “heavily processed and contain high levels of added sugars, artificial dyes and preservatives, which are linked to health concerns.” Given the laundry list of bad-for-you ingredients in the bagged cereal, Detwiler says excess sugar is the least odious. A 1-cup serving...

California officials have been working for months on a plan to “Trump proof” the state’s leading edge environmental and climate policies, in the event that former President Donald J. Trump returns to White House and follows through on his promise to gut them.Whether California succeeds could affect more than a dozen other states that follow its emissions rules, and could have global impact because the state’s market muscle compels auto makers and other companies to conform to California standards.The strategy now being crafted in Sacramento includes lawsuits designed to reach wide-ranging settlements with industries that generate greenhouse gases, and new...

Disposable propane canisters like the dark green ones used with camping stoves will soon be phased out in California, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sunday requiring all one-pound cylinders sold in the state to be reusable or refillable starting in 2028. The portable fuel canisters, sold by brands like Coleman and Bernzomatic, are popular with campers but have long been a headache for park rangers as they sometimes end up littering campgrounds and dumpsters in state parks after hikers head home.

Keir Starmer has confirmed he is looking at banning smoking from some outdoor spaces such as pub gardens. Smoking could be banned from specified outdoor areas including outside nightclubs and restaurant terraces in a clampdown on tobacco use across the country. Ministers are said to be considering a number of policies as Mr Starmer accelerates plans to make Britain smoke-free. The Prime Minister confirmed to journalists in Paris that he is looking at changes to smoking laws after leaked documents suggested smoking would be banned in outside sports stadiums, in children's parks, in pub gardens, outside nightclubs, on restaurant terraces,...