Free Republic

The Biden campaign and its allies are rallying around Vice President Harris, rejecting chatter that President Biden should reconsider his running mate heading into 2024. A series of opinion columns published this week all suggested one way for Biden to juice enthusiasm among Democrats and quell concerns about his age heading into a second term would be to replace Harris on the ticket.

Poor Lee Zeldin. If only he would have run for governor in a state that still has free and fair elections. The Republican candidate was leading in several polls on election day in New York State but lost to hapless Kathy Hochul, a complete imbecile. Now New York State can continue its death spiral of crime, violence, socialism, and oppressive regulations. Lee Zeldin helped elevate Republican candidates in the state. Lee Zeldin probably helped save the House by bringing four new Republican congressmen-elect across the finish line. We owe him a lot.

China faces rising labor costs and a shortage of workers. But a government project called “replacing humans with robots” is trying to change the face of the work force in Guangdong Province.

Foxconn has been planning to buy 1 million robots to replace human workers and it looks like that change, albeit gradual, is about to start. The company is allegedly paying $25,000 per robot – about three times a worker’s average salary – and they will replace humans in assembly tasks. The plans have been in place for a while – I spoke to Foxconn reps about this a year ago – and it makes perfect sense. Humans are messy, they want more money, and having a half-a-million of them in one factory is a recipe for unrest. But what happens...

People unfortunate enough to be watching MSNBC since Keith Olbermann was forced out in January have noticed a tremendously unqualified "Young Turk" in the 6PM slot that used to be occupied by Ed Schultz. For the past two weeks, Al Sharpton has filled in for the supposedly vacationing Cenk Uygur, and according to TVNewser, this might be permanent:

"Those who do not believe that Europe’s ruling establishment has engaged in a conspiracy against it own people will also have a hard time explaining the recent decision of the appeals chamber of the Bar Association’s disciplinary council in the Netherlands. On 12 December, it acquitted a Muslim lawyer of contempt of court. The Muslim lawyer, who wears a Muslim head covering during court sessions, refuses to rise when the judge enters the courtroom. He says that his religion maintains that everyone is equal and that, hence, he cannot rise for the judge. Though everyone is equal, however, the same...

'Pimp My Ride' shop fined by feds Replacing air bags with video screens illegal By Danny Hakim NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Posted on Fri, Dec. 31, 2004 DETROIT - Pimp the ride, pay the price. In the first of what is expected to be a broader crackdown against auto customization shops, federal regulators this week levied a $16,000 fine on West Coast Customs, the celebrity auto body shop affiliated with MTV's "Pimp My Ride," a reality show that makes over rundown cars. The shop, which has customized sport utility vehicles for celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, was fined for...