Free Republic

Hollywood celebrities are urging people to gather in Washington, DC, Thursday to protest the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Alicia Keys, Michael Stipe, and other celebrities are leading the event, dubbed “Bravery Is Contagious.” Party Majority PAC is organizing the protest, reports The Hill.

The F.B.I. is currently conducting its investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Should they wrap up interviews by Trump’s Friday deadline, the Senate could be voting on Kavanaugh’s confirmation by the end of the week. Before that happens, though, over 20 musicians, authors, actors, and producers will make their voices of dissent heard at a protest dubbed, “Bravery is Contagious.” Set to take place Thursday at 7:00 PM right outside of the Supreme Court, the protest comes in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, two of Kavanaugh’s alleged victims. R.E.M.’s...

On June 2 HBO, MTV, and a host of celebrities will be joining Michael Bloomberg and other pro-gun control groups to watch participating mayors proclaim “Gun Violence Awareness Day” in their cities. Those participating will “wear orange” and MTV will “change its on-air logo — as well as several of its social media avatars — to orange in recognition of National Gun Violence Awareness Day.” According to PRNewsWire, participating celebrities–aka, “cultural influencers”–include: Julianne Moore, Russell Simmons, Sarah Silverman, Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, Aasif Mandvi,Alyssa Milano, Padma Lakshmi, John Hodgman, Amanda Peet, Perez Hilton, Melissa Joan Hart, Tiffani Thiessen, Tunde Adebimpe...

You remember those, right?If you ever wonder where delusional left-wingers get their ideas that what is happening in the world, it's useful to know your history. They didn't just start believing crazy things when George W. Bush won the Florida recount, or when dastardly Republicans started criticizing Barack Obama. They've been this way for a long time.And as is so often the case, the insanity is influenced and often led by figures in pop culture. REM front man Michael Stipe provided a perfect example in a recent statement about why, back in the 1980s, he decided not to get tested...

The world in which R.E.M. was created and came to artistic prominence was a much different one from today. They were a post-punk band, to be sure, but they sounded like the Byrds more than X. Their musical roots were in Americana (a genre that hadn't been recognized yet), the static psychedelia of the Velvet Underground, and to some extent Nick Drakian dreamfolk, but philosophically they were inculcated in punk and its discontents. Issues like integrity, self-determination, and aesthetics were involved in talking and thinking about the band in a way that's quite foreign now.

Michael Stipe has told Sky News that he may leave America if John McCain wins the US election. The REM frontman is an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama and said the Democrat's election would give his country the chance to move on from the aftermath of 9/11. The 48-year-old revealed he had stayed up overnight because he wanted to experience Senator Obama's nomination acceptance speech live and said he hoped America would be ready to elect its first black president on polling day. Speaking exclusively to Sky News ahead of the band's appearance at London's Twickenham stadium, Stipe also talked...

Excerpt - The REM frontman is an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama and said the the Democrat's election would give his country the chance to move on from the aftermath of 9/11. ~ snip ~ Asked what he felt it would mean for America if McCain wins the election, Stipe smiled and said: "Well I'd have to move to England". ~ snip ~

Visionaire Magazine which we adore for it’s fantastic editorials, has teamed with Lacoste for its fall issue and printed polo shirts with artwork from Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Karl Lagerfeld, filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, musicians David Byrne and Michael Stipe, and painter Richard Phillips.

We had an extended debate at the office today....what was the best "MTv Unplugged" performance? Me? Hands down....Alice in Chains! Before any reasons are discussed ..... I was curious as to anyone else's opinions or preferences on the topic?

Artists Speak Out Against the War Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Steve Earle, Moby and more play New York anti-war event R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Steve Earle, Rufus Wainwright, Fischerspooner, Moby, Peaches and Devendra Banhart all performed at Monday night's Bring 'Em Home Now! concert at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. The event, to benefit a number of anti-war groups, could be seen as an anti-war rally at the third anniversary of the United States' invasion of Iraq, bringing together an array of musical styles -- hip-hop, country, rock, pop, indie and electronica -- with one shared view: It's time...

The Associated Press - BANGKOK, Thailand - The Georgia-based rock band R.E.M. will broadcast a song dedicated to Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi into the military-ruled country via satellite television to mark her 60th birthday, a U.S.-based activist group said. The group will perform the unspecified song for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate at its June 19 concert in Dublin, Ireland, and air it inside Myanmar though an Oslo-based dissident television station, the U.S. Campaign for Burma said in a statement dated Wednesday. Myanmar was formerly known as Burma. The broadcast is part of a series...

FUTURE SOUNDTRACK FOR AMERICA Barsuk Records is set to release a fundraising CD compilation, titled future soundtrack for america, a joint project with MoveOn.org and Music For America, on August 10th. The compilation will include R.E.M.'s "The Final Straw (MoveOn mix)." McSweeney's Publishing is also releasing a book with similar fundraising goals that will include a copy of the CD; the future dictionary of america features contributions from an astounding group of almost 200 writers, from Paul Auster to Michael Chabon to Jonathan Franzen to Joyce Carol Oates to Kurt Vonnegut to Wendy Wasserstein. One hundred percent of the proceeds...

'Saved!" is a satire aimed at narrow-minded Christians, using as its weapon the values of a more tolerant brand of Christianity. It is also a high school comedy, starring names from the top shelf of teenage movie The film follows the traditional pattern of many other teenage comedies. There's a clique ruled by the snobbiest and most popular girl in school, and an opposition made up of outcasts, nonconformists and rebels. We saw this formula only a few weeks ago in "Mean Girls." What's different this time is that the teen queen, Hilary Faye, is the loudest Jesus praiser at...

<p>With "Saved!" having gone wide last week, the rest of America now has a chance to see Brian Dannelly's satire of life at an evangelical high school. Or, as the film's producer, Michael Stipe, put it: "Saved!" is "like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers."</p>

Moby, Soros launch contests for anti-Bush commercial Mon Nov 24, 2:55 PM ET NEW YORK (AFP) - Electronic pop supremo Moby has teamed up with Jonathan Soros -- son of billionaire George Soros -- in launching an Internet competition for a TV commercial attacking President George W. Bush (news - web sites). The contest, called "Bush in 30 seconds" is open to the general public and will be judged by a celebrity panel including actors Jack Black and Janeane Garafalo, REM frontman Michael Stipe and documentary film maker Michael Moore. "Anyone can make and submit a 30 second TV ad...

Did anyone catch REM on Leno last night? I just caught the part where the band sat down to be interviewed. Stipe, looked like the grisly, bald goon in the original "Chainsaw Massacre" move. He had sloppy, blue/black markings around his head and eyes, and wore pants with some spray-painted numbers down the leg. "Aren't you going to ask me about my pants?" Stipe asks Leno. "I was going to ask about the blue stuff on your head" Leno replies. "This is the number of people 'misrepresented' in the last Presidential Election!" Stipe kept taking digs at Bill O'Reilly all...