Free Republic

“Welcome to the world. People are garbage.” ~Tony Soprano Today, we take for granted premium cable channels and streaming services creating their own content. In the late 1990’s, this was a brand new concept, one that many people in the film and television industry had little or no faith in. HBO took a big gamble with The Sopranos — and they hit the jackpot. The show was a resounding critical success and connected deeply with viewers. It garnered and audience of around 11 million viewers an episode, including most viewers for a season premier with 22.6 Million in 2001[1]. What’s...

In a statement late Dec. 17, NASA announced that SLS engineers decided they needed to replace the controller for engine four in the core stage of the SLS. One of two redundant channels in the controller failed to power up consistently during tests of the integrated vehicle at the Kennedy Space Center. That controller operated as expected during the core stage’s Green Run test campaign at the Stennis Space Center that concluded with a full-duration static-fire test in March. An initial investigation failed to identify the root cause of the problem. NASA did not give a schedule for the work...

In an interview with CNN's "New Day" on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to comment's from Fox News personality Jesse Watters, in which he called for students to ambush Fauci with questions regarding the National Institute of Health's funding of gain-of-function research. "New Day" host John Berman talked about a comment given by Watters at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest. "I’m not gonna play it because frankly I think it's dangerous, but Jesse Watters, who as a Fox News entertainer was giving a speech to a conservative group where he talked about you and suggested to the crowd that they ambush...

Three uniformed San Francisco police officers sat down for a meal on Friday at an all-day breakfast restaurant. But it was not long before staff members of the restaurant, Hilda and Jesse, “felt uncomfortable with the presence of their multiple weapons” and “politely asked” the officers to leave, the restaurant said on Instagram on Saturday. That request drew widespread attention, with the San Francisco police chief criticizing the move and hundreds of people leaving negative ratings on the restaurant’s Yelp page. The police chief, William Scott, said in a statement on Twitter: “The San Francisco Police Department stands for safety...

[Catholic Caucus] It’s Time to Occupy the ChurchesThis past summer, just before the God of Surprises ordained it be revealed that Grindr users’ location data is accessible to the public, Pope Francis issued something unsurprising to traditional Catholics who didn’t have their heads in the sand – Traditionis Custodes. I’ve heard and read a lot of things along the lines of this: “Now is the time to show our bishops how obedient we are. We all need to write letters to them thanking them for allowing us to have the Old Mass these past several years.”I was struck, however, when...

HOUSTON — After warnings of an omicron surge over the holidays, Harris County has reported its first death caused by the omicron variant of COVID-19. It's also the first known omicron death reported nationwide.County Judge Lina Hidalgo made the announcement during an afternoon news conference. "My phone was ringing, I'm sure you guys noticed, and it was our public health director telling me we just had our first omicron-related death," she said.According to Hidalgo, the patient was a man in his 50s who was not vaccinated and had an underlying health condition. He lived in Precinct 2.

In the great Woody Allen comedy, Love and Death, Allen plays a Russian nebbish who is celebrated for his heroism when, after hiding in a cannon during a battle, he gets fired into the Napoleonic command tent, taking down four enemy generals and thereby winning the battle. His rival, played by Harold Gould, derides his newfound celebrity with the understated line, “I understand your heroism was quite inadvertent.” Americans may soon realize that the newfound celebrity of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin may be due to something similar. The Build Back Better Bill, also known as the $5 Trillion spending plan,...

Brits dying from Covid-19 are begging to have their vaccines when it’s too late, a doctor has warned. Vaccines are the best way to protect people from severe Covid, which could put them in hospital and in many cases, lead to death. Intensive care consultant Dr. Tom Lawton, of Bradford Royal Infirmary, described his patients’ desperation to get the jab – once they have already been hospitalized with the virus and it’s too late. Dr. Lawton urged people to come forward for their booster vaccines in order to beat Omicron – with all Brits invited to get a third jab...

ransomnote: I happened to choose some excerpts which don't reflect that the author is actually pro-vax.So what we have here is the latest Biden/White House talking point, which is not just anti-science, it is also more proof Democrats want Trump supporters to die.As far as it being anti-science, after more than a year of the pandemic, some 800,000 Americans have died. That’s a lot of people, no question, but it’s also less than one-third of one-percent of the total population.As far as “severe illness,” according to the CDC, about 254,000 Americans have been hospitalized with the China Flu. Again, that’s...

For three weeks already, US President Joe Biden has not answered Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's request for a phone conversation on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, Channel 13 News reported. The disagreements are believed to stem from a recent conversation between Bennett and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken touched on the issue of construction in Judea and Samaria. During that conversation, Bennett made definite statements regarding Israel's right to expand Jewish towns in the area. On Tuesday evening, a delegation of senior American officials, headed by the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, landed in Israel. The...

Dear Archbishop Roche: The Attempt to Cancel Tradition is doomed to failure Venite, adoremus!Dear Archbishop Roche:Very early yesterday morning a “Rorate” Mass was celebrated in a local parish church in a New England town here in the United States with the kind and generous permission of the local bishop. It is not a “Traditional” parish per se. As is the custom for the Rorate Mass in Advent, the Mass began early, before dawn, with only candles in the church providing light. Shortly after the Consecration of the Mass, the light of dawn appeared in the sky. There were nearly...

Joe Biden gave a speech Tuesday, announcing a major expansion in federal government involvement in COVID-19 testing and more, but took the opportunity to both scold those who spread what he calls “fake news” and spread a bit of fake news himself. Addressing a question about what he would say to Americans who are trying to get tested now and who are not able to get tested and who are wondering what took so long to ramp up testing, Biden first hit back:Come on. What took so long?Then he went to one of his other standbys of denying that something...

CDC has ranked states based on Covid-19 booster rate. This is the number of "fully vaccinated" residents who have also gotten a booster. No state has reached close to half of its vaccinated residents getting the extra recommended shot. Vermont tops them all with 44.9% of "fully vaccinated" also getting a booster. Next are Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. At the bottom are West Virginia, Hawaii and New Hampshire. New Hampshire has just 9.8% of fully vaccinated residents choosing to get a booster, so far.....

It's time for The Jesse Kelly Show! Let's have some fun!E-mail Jesse at jesse@jessekellyshow.com. When he takes listener calls, the studio line is 877-377-4373.Jesse's show is now on over 200 radio stations across the nation, replacing Buck Sexton. Those of us who miss Rush very much know that no one could ever replace him, but if you give Jesse a chance, you'll find him to be a very intelligent, refreshing, naturally funny truth teller.Jesse is a former Marine. He and his beautiful wife live in the Houston area with their two young sons. He's a self-deprecating historyphile with an infectious...

Stephanie Lontz came to the rescue earlier this month for 19-year-old Lauren. As you can see in the Ring Camera video ... Lauren began screaming for help with her dog in her arms, as the larger dog was biting and lunging at them. After several terrifying seconds, they were only able to escape safely into the house, thanks to Stephanie, who ran from her delivery van and got in between Lauren and the pit bull. The Amazon driver..told the local NBC TV station, "I wouldn't even think it's motherly, it's just the human thing to do." Though Lontz saved Lauren's...

President Joe Biden said Tuesday unvaccinated Americans were not able to celebrate the holidays safely. “I know some Americans are wondering if you can safely celebrate the holidays with family and friends,” Biden said during a speech at the White House. “The answer is, yes you can, if you and those who celebrate with you are vaccinated.”

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) stated that if states start implementing coronavirus mandates again, “it’s never going to end and you’re going to be start-and-stopping your communities, your economy.”

Japan hanged three death-row inmates on Tuesday, its first executions in two years, amid growing criticism by human rights groups of the country's use of the death penalty. One of the three, Yasutaka Fujishiro, was convicted of killing seven people and setting fire to their house in 2004, while the other two, Tomoaki Takanezawa and Mitsunori Onogawa, were convicted in the 2003 killings of two pinball parlor employees. Executions are carried out in high secrecy in Japan, where prisoners are not informed of their fate until the morning they are hanged. Two death-row inmates recently filed a lawsuit against the...

Olive Garden is known for a few things. Namely, its never-ending offerings, like soup, salad, breadsticks, and pasta. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end—even those that are supposed to be never-ending. Olive Garden's incoming new CEO revealed that the restaurant may never bring back its never-ending pasta bowl promotion. According to Business Insider, the deal, which gets you a bowl of pasta with endless refills for $10.99, was one Olive Garden would roll out periodically. Customers could enjoy as much pasta as they could stomach under the promotion, as well as unlimited breadsticks and salad. For an...

t looks like a scene from the “Fast and the Furious” movies, but it’s real – drivers were recently seen on video pulling dangerous stunts right on the Eisenhower Expressway. How was this allowed to happen? CBS 2's Jermont Terry reports...