Free Republic

The Food and Drug Administration appears likely to move to ban menthol in cigarettes this week — a step, experts say, that has been years in the making and that could have a significant positive impact on the health of Black Americans. The FDA's decision would not ban menthol immediately, but rather kick off the rule-making process to do so, which could take years. "The winds are definitely in our favor," said Delmonte Jefferson, executive director of the Center for Black Health & Equity, citing both the decades of data that show that the cooling flavor in cigarettes makes it...

An elderly husband and wife have announced their plans to die in the world's first 'couple' euthanasia - despite neither of them being terminally ill. Instead the pair fear loneliness if the other one dies first from natural causes.

Senate Democrats brought energy drink industry representatives before Congress, with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., comparing them to the heads of tobacco companies and faulting them for marketing beverages to children in a special appearance as witness at the hearing. “We were all veterans of the tobacco wars,” Durbin said during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on energy drinks, in reference to colleagues who want to crack down on the industry. “We’re getting the same run around from these energy drink companies. They are openly, openly advertising to kids and denying it.” “As the sale of energy drinks has grown, so...

Memorial Day weekend is here which means it's the official start of swimming pool season. This year though, you may want to think twice before jumping in and making a splash. There has been a nationwide recall of 1 million pool and spa drain covers that could trap you or your child, despite their federal "seal" of approval. "We're finding out the laboratories misrepresented their testing procedures," said Albert Rizzo, of Rizzo Pools in Newington. Rizzo says the timing couldn't be worse. "If you have one main drain, I would tell you not to swim in the pool. Now I...

Alaska state representative Bob Lynn (R., Anchorage) is asking the long overdue question: Why do we consider 18-year-olds old enough to join the military, to fight and die for our country, but not to have a drink with their friends before they ship out or while they’re home on leave? Lynn has introduced a bill that would allow anyone 18 years and older with a military ID to drink alcohol in Alaska. The bill is already facing strong opposition from self-styled public-health advocates. However, the data indicate that the 21-minimum drinking age has not only done zero good, it may...

Increasingly, our government reminds me of a certain old Star Trek episode.  It was titled "I, Mudd," and in it, the Enterprise explorers find themselves in the grip of seemingly perfect androids determined to serve man.  The automatons informed the crew that humans are "self-destructive," need the androids' "help," and can't be trusted with freedom.  One of the mechanical masters concludes by telling Captain Kirk, "we shall serve them [humans], and you will be happy...and controlled." I don't know if the episode was meant as big-government allegory, but it could serve as such.  And there's no shortage of nanny-state intrusion...

Mayor Bloomberg's latest health campaign -- cutting salt intake -- has targeted soup as one of the big sodium offenders to be taken down with new city ads. The ads, which will be plastered on subways for the next two months, feature a half-opened can of soup with a geyser of salt spewing from the top and forming a heap around the can.

I like bacon. I know, courageous stance right? Bacon is one of the delights of life on this earth. It's a universal good, a boon; manna. But like any universal good on this earth, there are those who disapprove. PETA, for example, and for obvious reasons. Luckily, I don't see PETA successfully instituting global bacon sharia anytime soon. On the other hand, they may not have to. Just as there are universally good things in this world, there are universally stupid things. I call them progressives. And guess what they're coming for next? Your kids. Have you read Jonah Goldberg's...

Price increases, health concerns and restrictions on where people can light up lead to a 8.1% drop in sales in the most recent fiscal year. Taking a puff in California is getting to be a drag, with health concerns and high prices pushing cigarette sales in the most recent fiscal year to their steepest plunge in a decade.Californians bought 8.1% fewer cigarettes in fiscal 2009 — which ended June 30 — than a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday from the California State Board of Equalization. Since peaking in fiscal 1980 with 2.8 billion packs, cigarette sales has tumbled...

Smoking bans in places like restaurants, offices and public buildings reduce cases of heart attacks and heart disease, according to a report released Thursday by a federally commissioned panel of scientists. The report, issued by the Institute of Medicine, concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke significantly increased the risk of having a heart attack among both smokers and nonsmokers. The panel also said it found that a reduction in heart problems began to take effect fairly quickly after a smoking ban was instituted and that exposure to low or fleeting levels of secondhand smoke could cause cardiovascular problems. “Even a...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Mike Huckabee is turning into a front-runner for his party's 2012 presidential nomination almost by default. A pair of sex scandals involving Republicans once touted as White House contenders and the abrupt exit of another hopeful from the public stage are helping Huckabee boost his odds as he weighs another presidential run. "Given that the dominoes are falling, the fact that he's still standing works to his benefit," said Hal Bass, political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University.

A Massachusetts man facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly killing his bulldog with a hammer told police the dog was sick and he could not afford to pay a veterinarian to put it down. Charles Berube, of Methuen (meh-THOO'-ehn), appeared in court Thursday. A jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 20. Berube owned the dog, named Spot, for 10 years. Animal welfare investigators say the 53-year-old told them the animal had been sick for weeks and had lost a lot of weight. It had swollen legs and had trouble walking. Berube says he did not want the animal to suffer...

STILLWATER: Oklahoma State University today becomes the largest campus in the state to ban tobacco. Getting Burns Hargis to work early sure has paid off for OSU. OSU President Burns Hargis said the policy aims to make OSU a clean and healthy environment. "We have enough afflictions that affect the human condition without voluntarily adding to the problem, he said. "It sets a strong example and a consistent example of our commitment to be a healthy and attractive campus. OSU's wellness center offers cessation help and, in some cases, medication and nicotine replacement products, to students and employees. Student Charles...

Wait till the liberals jump on the latest worldwide crisis de-jure requiring government intervention  You thought the whole man-made global warming thing was bad, wait till you see what these socialist do-gooders have in mind for curtailing your freedom when it comes to the pressing issue of…worldwide obesity. They’ve even managed to come up with a new “enemy” who will soon be standing side-by-side with “Big Oil”, “Big Pharma”, “Big Tobacco”, every major corporation, Halliburton and the like in the Hall of Shame. Just listen to this garbage. The chairman of the International Obesity Taskforce wants world leaders to agree a...

Among the top tier Republican candidates, Rush says that only Fred has been a consistent conservative. You have been given your marching orders. Now you know who to vote for. RUSH: …the genuine moderate as opposed to conservative aspects of three of the top-tier, four of the top-tier candidates were on full-fledged display last night. There was one candidate who did not display any moderateness or liberalism or have any of his past forays into those areas displayed, and that candidate was Fred Thompson. … …we have a campaign now where most of the candidates are not genuine conservatives. They...

WASHINGTON — The battle over dirty words shifts back to Congress today. A Senate committee is expected to support legislation that would authorize regulators to enforce a nearly zero-tolerance policy on the broadcast of certain expletives that was struck down last month.

A year after a statewide smoking ban took effect at workplaces, restaurants, bars and other public places, a new battlefield over secondhand smoke is emerging: apartment buildings. Spurred on by nonsmoking tenants and public-health leaders, more private landlords are considering restricting smoking inside their rental units. And local public-housing agencies are also looking at banning smoking in the units of some buildings. *snip* While the state ban prohibits smoking in the common areas of private apartment buildings, such as hallways, community rooms and libraries, residents may smoke inside their units unless the landlord prohibits it. But smoke from one unit...

Some organization, the Consumer Federation of America, has has come up with an amazingly stupid idea on how to combat high energy usage. They want to ban advertising of gas-guzzling SUVs on television [pdf]. They have other brilliant ideas, such as an SUV buyback program. Just who would buy them back? Well, I would suppose this gaggle of idiots would propose that either the government (which means the taxpayers) or the automakers buy them back. Either way the cost is passed down to individuals; either taxpayers or shareholders. They also want a federal gas tax that would stabilize, as they...

Washington, D.C. — Concerned Women for America (CWA) expressed its strong dismay at the multibillion-dollar broadcast industry’s latest attempt to abuse the public airwaves. After repeatedly offending the public with indecent broadcasts, four major broadcasters filed what CWA believes are frivolous lawsuits challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) recent rulings. A license to broadcast doesn’t give anyone – not even super-rich Big-Media conglomerates – the right to broadcast indecent language between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The four major broadcasters want the courts to approve the indiscriminate use of words for excretory and explicit sexual conduct. “All four broadcast networks...

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s anti-smoking effort, funded by the tobacco settlement, has poured more than $2 million into passage and implementation of local clean indoor air laws. But now that the Super Bowl of smoking bans is before the Ohio General Assembly — a statewide ban that would be among the strictest in the nation — the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation must sit on the sidelines, at least officially. The 2000 law that created the foundation forbids it from lobbying or otherwise getting involved in a state ballot issue, the goal behind petitions certified by Secretary of State Kenneth...