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Raise the Red Lantern is one of the more sublimely beautiful and openly disturbing films of the 1990s. It is also the best work to date turned in by the actress/director combination of Gong Li and Zhang Yimou -- and this includes other impressive films like Ju Dou and To Live... The Chinese government didn't approve of Raise the Red Lantern...and it's easy to understand why. As structured, this film can be seen as a parable for the corruption of modern society in China. Songlian is the individual, the master is the government, and the customs of the house are...

As the Senate reconvened Thursday for President Donald Trump's historic impeachment trial, a name began trending on Twitter among those pushing for the president's removal from office: Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano. The conservative commentator was once a Trump supporter and purveyor of conspiracy theories. But recently, Napolitano has shifted his stance on the president, voicing criticisms of Trump that are often at odds with the views of his fellow Fox News personalities. Napolitano published an opinion piece pushing back against the president's repeated claims that the impeachment proceeding is a "hoax." Napolitano described the proceedings as "deadly...

The newly Democratic Virginia legislature’s bold push to codify as much gun control as humanly possible this session has hardly been met with cheers. In fact, ranging from universal background checks and bans on so-called “assault weapons” to a “red flag” weapon seizure law that passed in the state Senate this week, the bills within disgraced Gov. Ralph Northam’s once-failed gun control package sparked immense nationwide controversy this year as they were brought up again in the state legislature, according to Vox. Prompting several protests, including the non-violent marching of 22,000 gun rights advocates on the state capitol Monday, Northam’s...

Yale will stop teaching a storied introductory survey course in art history, citing the impossibility of adequately covering the entire field — and its varied cultural backgrounds — in one course. Decades old and once taught by famous Yale professors like Vincent Scully, “Introduction to Art History: Renaissance to the Present” was once touted to be one of Yale College’s quintessential classes. But this change is the latest response to student uneasiness over an idealized Western “canon” — a product of an overwhelmingly white, straight, European and male cadre of artists. This spring, the final rendition of the course will...

This powerful video compilation exposes the mainstream media’s false narrative that attendees of the Virginia Gun March are racists and rednecks.In reality, Americans of every race, creed and color are united in their loyalty to the Constitution and are prepared to fight to protect it.This footage highlights the danger a unified populace poses to the political establishment who want the American people divided, NOT united. https://banned.video/watch?id=5e29fa6c1b7bca0016b94065 

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will deploy to central Wuhan, the metropolis where a previously unidentified coronavirus that has killed at least 26 people originated, to help build medical facilities to fight the virus, the Communist Party confirmed on Friday. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 902 cases of the Wuhan virus worldwide, the overwhelming majority of them in China. All 26 deaths also occurred in China. Health authorities have isolated confirmed cases of the virus throughout Asia – in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau – as well as Italy and the United...

EIJING (AP) — China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people and rushed to build a prefabricated, 1,000-bed hospital for victims Friday as the outbreak cast a pall over Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest, most festive holiday. The number of confirmed cases around the world climbed sharply to more than 850, with at least 26 deaths, all of them in China. Meanwhile, France announced two cases of the virus — the first in Europe. And the United States reported its second case, involving a Chicago woman in her 60s who was hospitalized...

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he hopes to reach a preliminary agreement with the Trump administration on a joint plan to help combat the city's swelling homelessness crisis when he meets with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson Friday, it was reported. Garcetti said Thursday a final deal was still days or weeks away but expressed optimism that the two sides were making progress toward an agreement to provide federal resources, including land, to augment local efforts to erect more shelter space for people living on the streets, the Los Angeles Times reported...

President Trump made history by becoming the first sitting president to address the March for Life rally in person in Washington, D.C. on Friday. But if you were watching MSNBC, you would not have known. MSNBC chose to not air Trump's speech live and instead focused on the ongoing Senate impeachment trial. When the network came back from a commercial break, they cut to air impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-CA) press conference at the Capitol building. "Now, unlike in the House where the President could play in the courts for years, that’s not an option for the President’s team...

This afternoon, President Donald Trump became the first President to ever address the March for Life in person. At the 47th annual March for Life, he spoke for just over 13 minutes to a very enthusiastic crowd gathered on the National Mall. The President began by calling it a “profound honor” to attend, saying, “We’re here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. For 47 years, Americans of all backgrounds have traveled from across the country to stand for life, and today, as President of the United...

Here are two short powerful pro 2nd Amendment videos (3 minutes each) that gets right to the meat and potatos.  Please send it to anyone that is wobbly on the 2nd Amendment.  Primairly for young people that are still confused.  I expect most Freepers to already understand this. This is a 3 minute video that gets right to the point about the 2nd Amendment.https://banned.video/watch?id=5e29c8bba135a0001e6ec0bb and  Patriotic attendee's at the VA 2A Rally had a few choice words for the liberal infested propaganda machine who characterized law-abiding gun owners as dangerous white nationalists and neo-nazi's. “Mainstream media be damned.”  https://banned.video/watch?id=5e277debdbe526001c59f82d  

Full title: "Americans still divided on Trump’s removal from office, but a strong economy is boosting his approval rating, Post-ABC poll finds" Excerpt: "President Trump’s approval rating has climbed to match the highest of his presidency, boosted by majority approval of his economic stewardship even as Americans remain deeply divided on whether the Senate should remove him from office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll." "The Post-ABC poll finds 44 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s overall job performance and 51 percent disapprove. While views of Trump remain negative, Trump’s approval rating is significantly improved from his 38 percent...

The CBSN online channel didn't provide live coverage of the president's remarks to the March for Life on Friday -- they mentioned it for a few seconds before leaping into more impeachment analysis. But in the minutes before impeachment coverage on Wednesday, they ran an exclusive interview from Davos, Switzerland with Planned Parenthood acting CEO Alexis McGill Johnson. Reporter Kate Smith wasn't asking the tough questions. KATE SMITH: What is the status of abortion in the United States today? ALEXIS JOHNSON: Here we are [at the Davos conference] talking about the fourth industrial revolution, and we are still talking about...

President Donald Trump took action today against the state of California over its requirement that private health insurance plans pay for abortions. The requirement essentially forces churches and Christian groups that are pro-life to fund killing babies in abortions in their health care plans. Churches across California have been battling the onerous abortion mandate for years with no relief. The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering elective abortions immediately. Even...

According to a report from The Hill, Graham said that if his Republican colleagues introduce a motion to subpoena Joe Biden’s son, he said “I vote against it.” The Hill report adds, “Graham’s opposition essentially kills the threat that Republicans have wielded in recent weeks that if Democrats win a motion to hear from additional witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, they will retaliate by subpoenaing the Bidens.” Graham claims that the impeachment trial, which centers around a call about the Bidens, is not the appropriate venue to...

Below is a full transcript of the remarks President Donald Trump made at the 2020 March for Life. His speech marked the first time a president has attended the March for Life and addressed it in person. Thank you very much and thank you, Jeanne. It is my honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life. [applause] We are here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. [applause] For 47 years, Americans of all backgrounds have traveled from across the country...

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has accused the media of racism after she was cropped out of a photograph taken with her white peers in Davos. In an emotional video statement, Ms Nakate said that for the first time in her life she "understood the definition of the word racism". Ms Nakate said "various" outlets, including the US' AP news agency, had removed her from photos. AP, which has since removed the cropped photo, said there was "no ill intent". "The photographer was trying to get a picture out fast under tight deadline and cropped it purely on composition grounds...

We’ve now witnessed seven Democratic debates ahead of the Iowa Caucus this February. At this point, it’s clear that Biden, Sanders, and Warren have a legitimate shot at becoming the nominee, whereas the rest will likely go home after the first few primaries. These frontrunners are now the subject of a growing dilemma that’s undermining party unity and raising questions about its future vision. Four years ago, the Republican Party had to grapple with the rise of Trump, who undermined Republican orthodoxy whenever it suited him. Democrats enjoyed watching Trump make a mockery of his fellow candidates and the entire...

KATHMANDU - A Nepali student home from China tested positive for the new coronavirus, an official in Kathmandu said on Friday, making it the first confirmed case in the Himalayan nation. “One patient tested positive for coronavirus. He is a Nepali student studying in China,” Mahendra Shrestha, a Health Ministry spokesperson, told Reuters. The student had come home on holiday from Wuhan in China, a ministry of health statement said. He is being kept under surveillance and those in close contact with him were being investigated. The ministry said it was seeking health information from all passengers traveling from China...

The lesson of this impeachment so far for President Donald Trump and his successors is that there are major strategic and tactical advantages to simply refusing to send witnesses and documents to Congress. Not only has the president benefited from blocking the evidence itself, but his defenders have argued - compellingly in the minds of some observers - that the House Democrats' case against him on both articles of impeachment is weaker because they did not wait to see if courts would compel testimony and the production of documents at issue. But it's not clear that the president, who has...