Free Republic

Is it safe?Yes, Chris Cillizza. It is now safe for you to mock Andrew Cuomo on #MeToo issues but perhaps not so much on his handling of nursing home COVID-19 patients. Up until at least a month ago, Cillizza's CNN Network was also concealing the coverup by New York governor Cuomo of the nursing home deaths.Although Cillizza, after months of stonewalling on the subject, now feels safe enough to go after Cuomo it is easy to forget that last year he adored Cuomo and his COVID routine. Of course, his rather light touch mockery of Cuomo remains mostly confined to...

In an age of pre-branded franchises and social media currency...DiCaprio remains a global movie star, one whose consistent bankability and acclaim set him apart from his peers...He is arguably the only global superstar left in a film industry in which an interchangeable group of actors regularly suit up in spandex or brandish a lightsaber for the latest billion-dollar earner — only to be ignored by audiences outside of franchises... DiCaprio sits alone atop the Hollywood pantheon without ever having made a comic book movie, family film or pre-branded franchise. Leo is the franchise. Now, after a four-year absence from the...

Think religion, think ritual: history, perhaps sacred writings, proscribed sets of moral laws, and potentially a sacrifice or two. There are plenty of organizations and cultures around the world that claim they adhere to a certain set of beliefs, but could adoration and a cult following for a technology firm be the next step? The University of British Columbia's Dr. Kirsten Bell believes that much of the aforementioned applies to Apple. After observing launch videos, and recently attending the iPad mini launch for TechNewsDaily, the social anthropologist said that Mac fandom has some strikingly similar parallels between a religion or...

You’re a new nerd in town. You want to roll some dice, cast some spells, kill some orcs. Or you want to leverage your fandom for good, not evil, in the so-called “real world,” whatever that is. Let it be known, verily and forsooth, that Our Fair City and its environs is a kingdom replete with every variety of nerdery known to man, woman, halfling, and beast. Boston is the undisputed center of the nerdverse — a mothership for dweebs, techies, trekkers, weirdos, and gamers. “Our mainstream is geeky,” said Kevin Harrington, who runs an annual comedy festival called Geek...

In a time-honored ritual you could set your iPad clock to, thousands of faithful fanboys and fangirls made their annual trek this past week to San Francisco, gathering for the 27th Macworld in their nearly spiritual quest for all things Apple. Among them was Wally Cherwinski, who, for the sake of journalistic expediency, we shall refer to here as the Ultimate Apple Fan. Certainly, he has competition. But the 65-year-old Canadian has just as much Apple cred as anyone at Macworld. For goodness sake, the guy owns so much Apple gear, from iPhones to iPads to iPods, that he maintains...

7 anti-Apple cliches that need to dieby Chris Rawson (RSS feed) on May 29th 2010 at 8:30PMPC vs. Mac flamewars are older than the web itself, but it seems like the more popular/successful Apple gets, the more heated the argument gets on both sides. Almost any debate about the relative merits of one platform or another is guaranteed to degenerate into an all-out shouting match. In the midst of all the fighting and name calling, the oddest thing happens: almost every time, you'll see a lot of the same points being raised by both sides again and again. Some of...

The Superman Returns trailer can be viewed here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/trailer2/ And Pirates of the Caribbean 2 can be seen here: http://www.totaleclips.com/Player/Bounce.aspx?eclipid=e27307&bitrateid=242&vendorid=566

From Pokémon to Full Metal Panic, the anime industry is doing everything the rest of show biz isn't: embracing technology, coddling fans—and making a killing.           It was 2 a.m. when John Ledford heard the banging at his door. Stumbling from bed on that night in the fall of 1999, he threw on a robe over his boxers and opened the door of his Houston apartment to a twentysomething guy with glasses and a face full of freckles. Ledford was about to tell him he had the wrong apartment when the stranger launched into a speech....

Life Imitates Anime Okay, the Real World just keeps getting weirder and weirder. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Case in point -- this report from Agence France-Presse:A Japanese Internet whiz is tipped to become the world's fourth space tourist -- and he wants to orbit the earth dressed as an ace pilot from a hit Japanese animation series. The candidate for the 20-million-dollar trip is Japanese investor Daisuke Enomoto, a 34-year-old former board director of the Livedoor Internet firm headed by flamboyant entrepreneur Takafumi Horie, local media said. Enomoto has already passed medical checks and started flight training...

I need help with LOTR. Two friends and I were discussing the books and movies last weekend. Friend 1 observed that the relationship between Frodo and Sam (in the movies) had homosexual overtones. Friend 2 retorted that the relationship is based on the master/servant relationship of old England and that Friend 1 was looking at it through American eyes, where rugged individualism is more prized. I--caught in the middle--had to admit that I thought that Sean Astin overplayed Sam at times but was great overall. So, was Friend 1 right about the gay overtones, or was Friend 2's explanation correct?...

Hey folks, Harry here... the word from Cannes has just come in... a jubilant ecstatic phone call from a geek in Cannes ran down the winners and it seems that Michael Moore just accepted the Palme D'Or for FAHRENHEIT 9/11!!! Perhaps a political no-brainer... but my inner and outer Liberal screams "YESSSSS!," while the cautionary side worries about a jury headed by Quentin bestowing the top prize to any film that Harvey Weinstein is a producer of... BUT - at the same time I have no doubt that FAHRENHEIT 9/11 is the sort of emotional film that brands its message...