Free Republic

Elon Musk’s 9.2% stake in Twitter and his newly announced board seat has sent the left into an anti-free-speech tailspin. Musk has been an outspoken proponent of free speech – which he says that failing to adhere to “fundamentally undermines democracy.” The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022 On Monday, CNN host Brian Stelter said there’s a ‘fear’ over Musk’s move. “There’s interest in billionaires, there’s celebration of the Musk. There’s also fear, I think, sometimes or wariness of- okay, so here’s the richest man on the planet who...

The producers behind the 94th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night have drawn fire from critics who called it “insensitive” to accompany two black presenters as they took the stage at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles with Toto’s “Africa.” Toto’s “Africa” played as British actor Daniel Kaluuya and singer H.E.R., both of whom claimed Oscars in 2021, strolled into the spotlights to present best supporting actress. Some argued the 1982 song was a less than stellar choice to introduce two black presenters, the Hollywood Reporter pointed out and others agreed on social media.

City council members of Keene, New Hampshire, voted on Thursday to continue to enact regressive coronavirus policies, opting to mandate masks in indoor areas yet again. However, the Keene City Council took the policy a step further, choosing to fine “repeat violators” up to $250. On Thursday night, in a 10-3 vote, city councilors opted to reinstitute a mask mandate for all indoor spaces in Keene. The rule, which goes into effect Monday, applies to all ages ten and older, with exceptions for those with certain disabilities. However, while previous mandates across the country would often target businesses for failure...

COVID is over. Oh, not with Anthony Fauci. Not with the media. Not with the sour-faced Karens ... But with normal people, especially outside the big urban areas, it’s over. The Atlantic scandalized its readers by reporting ... Where I Live, No One Cares About COVID.. No one cares. ... And with good reason... especially after the experience of the Diamond Princess cruise ship suggested that COVID was a lot less scary than we were told. ... the damages wrought by lockdowns ... have been worse than those wrought by COVID itself. ... People have seen through this, and they’re...

People currently aged 14 and under will never be able to legally purchase tobacco. New Zealand has announced it will outlaw smoking for the next generation, so that those who are aged 14 and under today will never be legally able to buy tobacco. New legislation means the legal smoking age will increase every year, to create a smoke-free generation of New Zealanders, associate health minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said on Thursday. “This is a historic day for the health of our people,” she said. ...

Two elite private schools have scrapped their co-production of the smash-hit musical Grease after girls raised concerns about the show being sexist and offensive. Presbyterian Ladies’ College students voiced their apprehension about going ahead with the production in a joint statement with Scotch College. SNIP Some parents said not all students were given the opportunity to weigh in on the debate about cancelling the production, referring to a “small minority” of PLC students who found Grease to be “offensive, sexist and anti-feminist”.

I hope this is the last column I ever have to write about the state’s Panic snitch line and the mentally ill Karens who keep calling it. Even the Karens’ cult leader, Gov. Charlie Baker, claims to be resisting their desperate pleas to re-impose his idiotic lockdowns and mask nonsense. H.L. Mencken once defined Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” That’s what the Department of Public Health’s snitch line is all about. The callers — and whatever their gender, they shall all be known as Karen – are obsessed. What drives Karen crazy is the...

Several reporters have gone to therapy to cope with the January 6 Capitol riot, according to a report by Vice News. “Reporters who survived the deadly Capitol riot are still struggling. Some won’t go back into the building. Several have sought therapy to deal with trauma. Many still aren’t sleeping well,” the publication said in a tweet.

On June 26, 2018, Oklahoma voters approved State Question 788, the Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, legalizing “the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma for medicinal purposes.” The state question was written to allow anyone to claim just about any medical need for a card. The ease of access to medical weed made Oklahoma virtually unique among states with similar laws. Politico noted that “Oklahoma is now the biggest medical marijuana market in the country on a per capita basis.” Head Shops on Every Corner The dispensaries proliferated rapidly, sometimes more than one on a single block, more...

It’s been nearly a year since Amy Cooper — upset that she had been asked to leash her dog in the Ramble — called 911 on bird-watcher Christian Cooper in Central Park, falsely alleging that her life was in danger. But such “Karen” incidents have not gone away. If anything, they have become a depressingly regular occurrence. So regular and unsurprising, in fact, that many of these videos no longer go viral. In the latest such case earlier this week, a 77-year-old woman, a resident of a retirement community in Wildwood, Fla., was charged with launching a racial tirade against...

Chances are you’ve seen them – car clubs gathering in suburban parking lots full of beautifully shiny classic vehicles, hoods open, windows down, men and women milling around comparing notes and sharing a mutual love of a hobby. But according to media reports, car clubs are under fire in Austin, Texas, for exuding a “toxic display of masculinity.” The term “toxic masculinity” is a recently invented term, coined by academics and media personalities who believe certain masculine traits are harmful to not only society but also to the men themselves. Repeating a lie long enough doesn’t make it true, of...

A year into the pandemic, a lot has changed. And we're reminded of that every time we go outside (if we go outside). Masks have joined the traditional don't-leave-home-without-them trifecta of keys, wallets and phones - and they are here to stay. There are folks who hate them, who can't breathe through them, or who think they're a sign of political oppression. But for others, the widespread use of masks has made the past year one of liberation. With a mask, you can sing in the grocery store, talk to yourself on a walk, grimace in the gym, leave the...

Weird that all this high-tech facial analysis equipment is never available to identity antifa terrorists. People have "identified" one maskless scofflaw in need of prosecution: The mayor of Tampa herself. By the way: Gathering outdoors is illegal again. Momentarily. Until Antifa, BLM, and/or Democrats want to gather outdoors again.

Was chatting with my sister. A friend of hers was crying in church after services. Turns out her friend's son was seriously injured in a weight-lifting accident. My sister sat next to her, and hugged and prayed with her for her son. Some church goers passed by and expressed displeasure at my sister's "violation" of social distancing. My sister said she felt bad, and wondered whether what she did was right. I told her those people were idiots, and said it's as if we are no longer permitted to express compassion. Sorry, had to rant.

Frustrations over some lawmakers’ refusal to wear masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives chamber brought action to brief halt on Tuesday. House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia pointed out to House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, that she counted over 30 members on the House floor who were unmasked in violation of the bipartisan-backed policy approved last summer requiring face coverings on the House floor during session. Cutler, standing at the rostrum looking down over the chamber with a mask covering his face, said, “Obviously I have a slightly different viewpoint being...

“Put your damn mask on” said a guy three seats behind me on a Southwest Airline flight heading to Washington, D.C. to the passenger walking down the aisle. The man's mask had slid down under his nose as he negotiated his carry-on bag while holding his little daughter’s hand. I turned around to see who was making such a demand so rudely. Just as I suspected, it was the guy who came aboard sporting a full N95 mask, face shield cover and surgical gloves. Forget for a moment that the father’s mask slipping actually posed zero risk to the hazmat-protected,...

GCHQ spooks are monitoring the movement of British people minute by minute to check if they are complying with government restrictions, according to reports. The London Telegraph reports that spies from Britain’s most secretive intelligence and security organisation, Government Communications Headquarters, have embedded a ‘cell’ within Number 10 Downing Street in order to provide Prime Minister Boris Johnson with real time information pertaining to the public’s movements. Speaking anonymously to the London Times earlier this month, a source noted that “GCHQ has been told to take out antivaxers online and on social media. There are ways they have used to...

Parents have a difficult enough job as it is, making the choices they feel are appropriate for their families and children. Health and safety are a huge consideration in that effort. Recently, one mom questioned whether her stance on gun safety, and potential access to a firearm via her parents-in-law, was needlessly harsh. The internet response was overwhelming: you do you, mama. The mom shared her concerns on a Reddit platform, asking fellow internet patrons “Am I The A**hole?” She explained the specifics of the ban on her mother- and father-in-law babysitting. "My in-laws (80M and 70F) have a gun...

<p>TROY, Mich. (AP) — She walks with the determination of a person who believes the very fate of democracy might depend on the next door she knocks on, head down, shoulders forward. She wears nothing fussy, the battle fatigues of her troupe: yoga pants and sneakers. She left her Lincoln Aviator idling in the driveway, the driver door open -- if this house wasn’t the one to save the nation, she can move quickly to the next.</p>

Fed up with white people calling 911 about people of color selling water bottles, barbecuing or otherwise going about their lives, San Francisco leaders unanimously approved hate crime legislation giving the targets of those calls the ability to sue the caller. The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday on the Caution Against Racial and Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act, also known as the CAREN legislation. It’s a nod to a popular meme using the name “Karen” to describe an entitled white woman whose actions stem from her privilege, such as using police to target people of color. All 11 supervisors signed on to...