Free Republic

As Oculus VR finally ships its virtual-reality headsets to the public, it’s heralding the potential of video games and movies — but it’s also quietly giving a wink to porn producers. The Facebook-owned startup announced Monday that its new “Rift” headset has more than 30 games available as the first units ship this week, with 100 titles expected by the end of 2016. Meanwhile, insiders say Facebook execs appear to be relying on another kind of content to drive demand for the Rift — namely, VR porn flicks.

The White House insists that the public break between President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) over a government funding bill won't damage the relationship between the two top Democrats. "The president has always had not just a good working relationship but an open line of communication with Leader Pelosi, and that didn’t change yesterday, and it’s not going to change in the future," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Friday. Earnest said Obama values Pelosi because she has proven more persuasive to her members "than I think probably any other leader in either party in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is facing potential rifts with members of his own party in tough re-election contests as he barrels toward a fall fight with Republicans over his ability to change immigration policies. If Obama takes the broadest action under consideration — removing the threat of deportation for millions of people in this country illegally — the short-term risks appear greatest for Senate Democrats in conservative-leaning states. Weeks before the November vote, they could find themselves on the hot seat for their views not only on immigration but also on Obama's use of his presidential powers.

While on Fox News Sunday, commentator George Will uttered an underappreciated truth about the internal politics of the GOP. More specifically, he pointed out that the rift between conservative and liberal factions of the Republican Party is nothing to worry about. . . Unless you are a Democrat. The Republicans now have what liberals are supposed to admire, which is diversity, except liberals don't want diversity in thought, and that's what the Republicans now have. More truthful words are rarely uttered on national television. In their typical, hyper-inflammatory nature, Democrats simultaneously demonize the Republican Party as being “at war with...

The Afar Rift in Ethiopia is marked by enormous gashes that signal the breakup of the African continent and the beginnings of a new ocean basin, scientists think. The fractures appear eerily similar to seafloor spreading centers, the volcanic ridges that mark the boundaries between two pieces of oceanic crust. Along the ridges, lava bubbles up and new crust is created, slowly widening the ocean basin. But a look deep beneath the Afar Rift reveals the birth announcements may be premature. "It's not as close to fully formed seafloor spreading as we thought," said Kathy Whaler, a geophysicist at the...

A majority of the state Supreme Court boycotted part of an administrative meeting Wednesday, believing Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson was improperly trying to take up an issue. The development was the latest sign that the deeply fractured court will be discussing considerably less routine business in public. In 1999, the court became one of the first - if not the first - high courts in the country to take up the bulk of its administrative matters in public. But in January, four of the seven members of the court voted to discuss much of its work behind closed doors. Abrahamson...

Barack Obama speech reopens rift with black criticsBy JOSEPH WILLIAMS | 9/29/11 5:03 AM EDT It was a speech intended to be a rousing call to arms for his 2012 re-election campaign and his jobs bill. But when President Barack Obama told a gala dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus over the weekend that it was time to “stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying” and get to work, he instead gave new ammunition to some prominent African American critics who say the nation’s first black president gets tough only when he’s talking to other black people. **SNIP** By the middle...

What appears to be an enormous ash cloud rising from the eruption of a long dormant volcano named Puyehuein southern Chile on June 4, 2011, isn’t quite matching up with the location of the recorded earthquakes today in the immediate area. “The Cordon Caulle (volcanic range) has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometer-high gas column,” Chilean state emergency office said.The thing is, for some unknown reason, as of this writing, eight earthquakes near magnitude 5 have shook the earth near the Puyehue volcano. The problem is, the earthquakes are located 20 to 40 miles away...

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's attempt to abruptly push aside Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in favor of a transition government has sparked a rift with key Arab allies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which fear the U.S. is opening the door for Islamist groups to gain influence and destabilize the region. Vying to influence the outcome of events, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have sent public and private messages of solidarity to Mr. Mubarak and his vice president, longtime intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, diplomats said. The messages amount to support for the president and Mr. Suleiman to oversee the transition and...

Support for President Obama is waning among America’s Jewish population, polls indicate, a shift driven primarily by the president’s policies toward Israel. The London Telegraph reported this weekend that Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, described the state of U.S.-Israeli relations in bleak terms, saying the two nations “are in a state of tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart.” While Oren since has asserted that he was misquoted and that his words were less incendiary than reported, even relatively disinterested observers can see that relations between the allies are strained. McLaughlin & Associates, a national polling...

Is Kim Jong Il Avoiding Visiting Chinese Official? FEBRUARY 09, 2010 07:53 North Korean leader Kim Jong Il could be avoiding talking to Chinese envoy Wang Jiarui, who arrived in Pyongyang for a three-day visit Saturday. No confirmation came late yesterday afternoon that Wang, director of the international liaison department of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party, held talks with Kim. North Korean media said after midnight yesterday that Kim visited a company in Hamhung, South Hamkyong Province. The report failed to mention when he went to the city. Considering that North Korea’s media usually reports on Kim...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday denied any rift between the US military and the White House over the war in Afghanistan, and suggested a possible radical shift in strategy was unlikely. Asked if there was tension between military and civilian leaders over the pace of decision-making on the US-led mission, Gates said: "I don't think that's the case at all." Citing "an extensive conversation on the telephone" on Wednesday with the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, Gates said the military leader supported President Barack Obama's preference to take time to review...

August 19, 2009 Democrat rift threatens to doom Barack Obama's healthcare reforms After weeks of fierce protests against his plans to reform the US healthcare system, President Obama faced revolt inside his own party yesterday amid accusations that he was surrendering to its vociferous opponents. The powerful liberal wing on Capitol Hill threatened to withdraw support for Mr Obama’s healthcare legislation if it did not include a government-run insurance programme — something he has appeared willing to abandon in recent days to try to garner Republican support. However, fiscally conservative Democrats appeared increasingly opposed to the “public option”, leaving Mr...

Belarus-Russia rift widens, Minsk snubs Moscow meet Sun Jun 14, 7:53 am ET MINSK (Reuters) – Belarus on Sunday signaled a growing rift with Russia, saying President Alexander Lukashenko did not attend a security summit in Moscow in protest against a Russian ban on dairy imports from Belarus. Ties between the former Soviet republics have been strained since 2007. Minsk is angry at rising prices for Russian gas and Moscow by Lukashenko's growing overtures to the West. Lukashenko was due at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which groups Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan....

SENATOR Hillary Rodham Clinton’s victory last week in the Pennsylvania presidential primary bought Mrs. Clinton time, but it’s what might fill the time that troubles Democrats: an increasingly sharp dialogue between core Democratic constituencies — blacks and a wide swath of women. Will either of those constituencies leave their grievances at home come November? Will large numbers stay home altogether if their history-making candidate loses the nomination? The reassurances, and the warnings, are flying. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have all promised a resolution shortly after the...

Rift between UK diplomats and Army in Basra By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 1:13am GMT 29/03/2008 British forces are facing increasing pressure to intervene in fighting in southern Iraq after government efforts to defeat Shi'ite militias in Basra ground to a halt. Signs of a rift were growing among British officials as diplomats said that UK forces "stand ready to support" Iraqi soldiers as and when requested, contradicting military statements that UK forces would be confined to "niche" roles. Fighting in Basra, Baghdad and the central town of Kut has claimed at least 100 lives this week...

Gazprom-Ukraine rift threatens EU gas supply By Adrian Blomfield in Kiev Last Updated: 2:03am BST 03/10/2007 Fears of a new energy crisis in Europe were mounting after Russia threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine just two days after an election that could see a pro-Western government formed in Kiev. Europe receives 80pc of Russian gas imports through pipelines that cross Ukraine The warning, which brought fresh accusations that Russia was using its natural resources to bully its neighbours, raised the prospect of a repeat of a gas dispute between the two countries last year that led to substantial energy...

Deadly fever spreads Kenya panic Butchers now display health certificates Panic has gripped parts of Kenya after 53 people died in the past week of Rift Valley Fever, with the disease spreading to densely populated areas. Medical officials say 148 people have died since the outbreak began in December. Infections are now being confirmed in central Kenya. The fever is common in livestock but is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and consuming infected animal products. The last epidemic in Kenya was reported during the El Nino floods in 1998. The government has, however, moved to allay fears that the disease...

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign appears to be getting more and more love from California voters, he's not getting nearly as much from some Republicans. Just take the California Republican Assembly, a group that supports GOP conservatives. It has recently launched a Web site - www.cravictoryteam.com - to help Republican activists get materials and data to communicate with GOP voters. But one name - Schwarzenegger's - is missing from the site's list of "our candidates." And the same name is missing on the endorsed list of candidates on the CRA's own Web site. Otherwise, every statewide Republican candidate is on...

Rift over disarming Hezbollah The guns were supposed to fall silent in Israel and Lebanon early today, ending a month of combat that has killed more than 900 people. But troubling signs emerged yesterday as to how Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel would interpret and implement the United Nations-brokered truce, raising the possibility of a continuation of major fighting. Amid internal feuding, the Lebanese cabinet postponed a meeting to vote on implementing the ceasefire. Although officials were reluctant to publicly describe the disagreements, a rift appeared to be developing over the disarmament of Hezbollah, which the resolution demands. Interior Minister Ahmed...