Free Republic

Remember Napster? The peer-to-peer file sharing company, popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, depended on users sharing their music files. To promote cooperation, such software "could mislead its users," says Bryce Morsky, a postdoc in Penn's School of Arts & Sciences. Some file-sharing companies falsely asserted that all of their users were sharing. Or, they displayed the mean number of files shared per user, hiding the fact that some users were sharing a great deal and many others were not. Related online forums promoted the idea that sharing was both ethical and the norm. These tactics were effective...

Several high-ranking county GOP officials have resigned after pressure from a group of outspoken critics questioning their leadership. Greenville County Republican Party's Chairman Jennifer Black, First Vice Chairman Stacy Shea and Executive Committeeman Randy Page released a statement announcing their departures on Thursday. This came after a group called mySCGOP, a South Carolina group of Republicans backing a "MAGA agenda," alongside members of the Greenville Tea Party, questioned the legitimacy of the convention that led to their leadership. MAGA stands for Make America Great Again, a phrase linked with former President Donald Trump. In joint remarks, shared via the Fresh...

On 28 May, 2021, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed a decision that held that Stroud Township had the power, through zoning ordinances, to prevent people from discharging firearms on their own property. The Court reversed a summary judgment by the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County dated 26 May 2020. The plaintiff, Jonathan Barris, appealed the decision on the grounds that Township Ordinance No. 9-2011 was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.Barris had first asked for a zoning permit on 27 December 2012.The Ordinance has been enacted on 6 December 2011. Barris had operated a private range on his...

The 10-point guidelines established in response to Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust are unrelated to widespread COVID-19 vaccination efforts, according to Lead Stories, FactCheck.org, RMIT ABC and other fact-checkers. Moreover, the Nuremberg Code does not apply to COVID-19 jabs, according to Rappler and Full Fact, because they have undergone extensive clinical trials and have received emergency use authorization around the world.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has claimed a viral video showing a flooded NY subway station is the result of Americans taking orders from fossil fuel execs. She claimed that her Green New Deal was being sidelined by corporate elites who would make you swim to work. Thunder storms brought flash flooding to the city this week with footage showing New Yorkers wading through filthy waist deep water at a Bronx subway station. AOC, who is from the Bronx, responded to the videos on Twitter, mocking her critics by writing in their voice: 'The Green New Deal, which is a blueprint to create...

We’re impressed by the way New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo moved to get a handle on gun violence this week after 51 people were wounded or killed across his state during the long Fourth of July weekend. Frankly, it’s the kind of “the buck stops here” leadership on the gun violence issue that’s needed in Chicago. Cuomo issued an executive order on Tuesday that declared the gun violence a “disaster emergency” and a public health crisis. That allows him to immediately muster the power and personnel of at least a dozen major New York state agencies and direct it toward...

Terry McAuliffe, a DNC fundraiser and Clinton flak who defiled the Governor of Virginia office from 2014-2018, is gunning for a second term this November.In the Democratic primary, he bested five challengers and spent a whopping $15 million in a contest where he was favored to win. Against political newcomer and Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin, however, he is struggling to negatively brand his opponent and make his attacks stick. Is “Fast Terry” ready for primetime? Not so fast. From blunders to fact checks, the 72nd Governor of Virginia isn’t a shoo-in for his old job in Richmond. And his...

White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell said this week the U.S. does “not support Taiwan independence” but does “very much support Taiwan’s dignity.”

Thanks to the blessings of decentralization, life can vary greatly in America depending on where you sit. Those differences are growing into a chasm of philosophical and practical contrasts between two basic models for the American future. Call them the California way and the Florida way. On many critical questions facing our culture, our economy and our society, California and Florida offer radically different answers. Should lots of new housing be built in the interest of affordability? California says no, Florida says yes. Should homeless people be allowed to turn public spaces into tent cities? California says yes, Florida says...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

As absurd, extreme and reckless as the American left has been on race, and despite growing public disapproval of their antics, they are doubling down rather than pulling back. On the Fourth of July, Utah's Black Lives Matter chapter described the American flag as "a symbol of hatred." "When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around," it declared. "When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist. When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America...

Pornhub asked a Birmingham federal judge on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by an Alabama teen who claims she was raped and that the incident was posted to the adult website, claiming the company is immune to liability for what third parties post to the platform. MindGeek, Pornhub’s parent company, said it was entitled to so-called Section 230 immunity, which it said gives Internet companies “broad immunity from liability for content posted to its websites by third parties.”

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Psalm 119Psalm 119[a] א Aleph 1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. 2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart— 3 they do no wrong but follow his ways. 4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. 5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! 6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart as...

In the 2019 off-year election here in New York City, there was almost no reason to bother to vote. There were no elections on the ballot for any significant political office, whether federal, state, or local. But they took the occasion to put to the voters five propositions to amend the New York City Charter. One of those propositions provided for replacement of then-current voting procedures with a complicated “ranked choice voting” (RCV) system. Nobody can remember what the other four Charter amendment propositions were about. (Go here if you are curious.) Previously, the system provided for runoff elections. In...

Met Police officer Wayne Couzens has pleaded guilty to murdering Sarah Everard. The 33-year-old vanished while walking home from a friend's house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March. Ms Everard's boyfriend reported her missing the following day and her body was found a week later in woodland near Ashford, Kent. Judge Lord Justice Fulford will sentence Couzens at the Old Bailey on 29 September. He said: "This has been a mammoth investigation which has produced some very significant results in terms of being able to understand what happened." It can now be reported that Couzens hired a car and...

Clearly, the January 6 narrative is serving a useful purpose for Democrats, and they are not likely to abandon it any time soon. SNIP Research from the staff of U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) shows that approximately 40% of those who entered the U.S. Capitol were allowed into the building by the police. Among the rest, those who committed vandalism or assault should be prosecuted. The others may have entered the building illegally, but their actions do not rise to the level of terrorism. It has not stopped some far-left activists masquerading as analysts from claiming that the events of...

Other protesters, overwhelmed by a hostile, dishonest federal government, have yielded but Thomas Edward Caldwell is aiming for a new precedent. Following January 6, we’ve been reading stories about people imprisoned for months in solitary confinement and meekly accepting grotesque plea bargains just to get out of the government’s toils. Thomas Edward Caldwell and his attorney, however, are made of sterner stuff. It’s to be hoped that their fight against the federal government will open a new chapter in fighting back against the calumnies and prosecutions emanating from a hyper-partisan “justice” department. Briefly, on January 6, a combination of Trump...

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Students pursuing graduate degrees at some of the nation's most prestigious universities are being slammed with loan debt of up to $200,000, yet most only earn $30,000 two years after graduation. A recent Wall Street journal article detailed the strife students faced in highly competitive programs that leave them financially crippled and wondering if the degree was worth being saddled by six-figure debt. The Wall Street Journal cited Columbia University as one of the main perpetrators of charging inordinate tuition fees and offering little financial help or guidance in return. Recent film graduates had a median debt of $181,000 while...

Progressive liberal social justice activists are not people with whom one might agree to disagree; they are proto-fascists who aspire to install a tyranny. Inasmuch as we Americans are heirs to the Enlightenment, we are inclined to see in the exchange of viewpoints and their public debate a sign of political health. We should recognize, however, that such openness to alternatives is by no means a typical presupposition of political life. The authoritarian impulse -- the inclination to enforce a political consensus -- has a long history, and where this inclination prevails, the censoring of unwelcomed alternatives follows. Inasmuch as...