Free Republic

On this date in 1944, Wehrmacht Oberst Rudolf Körpert, his deputy Hauptmann Carl Frister, and officers Fritz Müsenthin, Otto Mäder, Richard Seidlitz and Kurt Wohlfarth, were shot in the Soviet Union for their treatment of Russian prisoners of war at Stalingrad. This was nearly two years on since the Germans had surrendered the eastern front’s horrific signature battle. The six captured men were principals at the little-known Dulag-205, a transit camp the Wehrmacht erected at Stalingrad for Soviet prisoners of war pending westward deportation to less extemporaneous prisons. (And less extemporaneous mistreatment.) A minuscule 10 acres, the camp was eventually...

The majority of social media users are standing behind Big Tech companies' efforts to curb misinformation, even as users of "alternative" social media sites find community in the unregulated media environments fostered by "free-speech" advocates. The information comes from a new study by the Pew Research Center, published Oct. 6, which dives into the motivations and digital consumption habits of account holders on "alt" sites like Truth Social, Parler, BitChute, and Telegram (among others). According to the study, while 64 percent of alternative social media news consumers favor the protection of free speech even if it fosters misinformation, "the majority...

Gina Montalto’s parents simply clutched hands and cried as it was announced Thursday that a Florida jury recommended the Parkland school shooter should not be condemned to death. Tony Montalto, Gina’s father and president of the advocacy group Stand with Parkland, called it “yet another gut punch for so many of us who devastatingly lost our loved ones on that tragic Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.” “Seventeen beautiful lives were cut short, by murder, and the monster that killed them gets to live to see another day,” Montalto said in a statement, echoing the sentiments of other...

New pop release from the sibling band ECHOSMITH, and niece / nephews of Freeper LittleBillyInfidel. Great example of mainstream pop music by homeschooled, very conservative Christian kids, previously known for triple platinum "Cool Kids". . (I don't post much, so all admonishments welcome.)

Bethesda has become well-known for its in-depth dialogue and deeply story-driven approach to game design, and its upcoming space-travel title Starfield looks like it will be no exception. The game will incorporate what Howard calls his "favorite speech persuasion system," which he says is set apart from the standard and will require a point-spending speech check system. "It feels like it's part of the dialogue, but you're spending points to persuade them," he explains. "It feels natural, not like I've entered some other mode ... I'm in this mode of persuading you to get what I want." Another topic of...

...... ►"It's Already Too Late, Things Are Getting Serious" ......

ntegrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) iteration is creating problems for soldiers in tests. Some testers suffered nausea, headaches and eyestrain while using the augmented reality goggles. Others were concerned about bulk, a limited field of view and a display glow that could reveal a soldier's position even at long distances. The Defense Department's Operational Test and Evaluation Director, Nickolas Guertin, also said there were still too many failures for essential features. Soldier acceptance is still low, according to the report. The tests are part of a "Soldier Touch Point" program that helps the Army collect real-world feedback and help Microsoft...

Conspiracy and Controversy in the Air? September 2022 saw World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen embroiled in a lengthy turmoil involving allegations of cheating against 19-year-old foe Hans Niemann. The younger Niemann has admitted to cheating in the past when playing online games, but argues that he has played it straight for quite some time. This would include his recent in-person games against Carlsen and other ranked players. Carlsen, who has reigned atop the chess world for over a decade, says he refuses to play against in Niemann, suggesting the American-born player has “cheated more… than he has publicly admitted.“ Across...

Former Rep. of Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, once considered a presidential hopeful in the Democratic party, has served in the House from 2013 to 2021 and as the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013-2016. She is a combat veteran with deployments to the middle east and Africa and is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. Gabbard has been changing her outlook on the Democratic Party, appearing frequently on Fox News as a political commentator and pointing out the policies that she sees flawed. Her views recently soared to the right as she made a big change in her...

For me, abortion is a policy issue. And yes, my view runs afoul of Church teaching, but in other areas, my positions are perfectly aligned [with the Church],” Prof. Tamara Kay of the Keough School of Global Affairs told the Rover following the September 21 panel, “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans.”

The hosts of The View attempted to reverse the recent coverage of senatorial candidate John Fetterman (D-PA) on Thursday's episode. Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hostin turned their attention to NBC’s Dasha Burns, who interviewed Fetterman and claimed it was difficult for him to understand small talk. Burns was the first to interview Fetterman in-person on television. Hostin claimed it was “inappropriate” for Burns to comment on his competence at all. “Maybe she’s bad at small talk," Goldberg said. "Maybe it was her." Goldberg was inadvertently paraphrasing the same argument made by Kara Swisher of the New York Times. Swisher similarly...

Fool's Ball Week 6! Your home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

A scandal that rocked the Evangelical Christian community is the subject of the upcoming Hulu documentary God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty. The film focuses on the downfall of former Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., who endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. “As a pool attendant, I would get hit on,” says former pool-boy turned Falwell business partner Giancarlo Granda at the start of the trailer (watch below). “But if I would have known that accepting this woman’s invitation to go back to her hotel room would have led...

A dog and a sea lion went viral for their game of catch after it was recorded at a beach in Santa Cruz over the weekend. Dave Nelson was playing fetch with his dog Moe at the beach when he noticed a sea lion was following them up and down the beach as they played. "It came all the way up to the beach and Moe went out and sniffed, and the Sea Lion gave a couple loving barks," Nelson told KSBW 8. Nelson said that is when he started to record the fun. The dog and the sea lion...

Democrats in Pennsylvania have tried to rebrand Josh Shapiro, the left-wing gubernatorial candidate. After years of pushing the Left's agendas as Pennsylvania's attorney general, followed by being a pawn for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, is trying to appear as a centrist in the election. Yet, voters must look no further than Shapiro's refusal to prosecute gun crimes in Philadelphia to notice his true intentions. Shapiro is a wolf in sheep's clothing and cares more about left-wing political agendas than innocent people. Unless Pennsylvanians enjoy fearing for their lives while walking through cities, voters...

Pat Summerall’s ad reads for ‘Murder, She Wrote’ always had the CBS crew in stitches.Legendary actor Angela Lansbury passed away on Tuesday at the age of 96, leaving behind an enormous legacy in film, television, and on-stage performances. Lansbury already had a brilliant career when she debuted as detective Jessica Fletcher in the hit series “Murder, She Wrote” at 60 years old. The detective show ran from 1984 to 1996 and was a huge part of Sunday night programming on CBS for more than a decade. That of course means we have a sports tie-in. Pat Summerall and John Madden...

This is the horrifying moment two Florida fathers go berserk at each other after allegedly shooting each others' daughters. The video starts with Frank Allison, 43, yelling obscenities at William Hale, 35, after the pair are said to have fired the rounds during a road rage incident near Jacksonville. 'That's what you get!' Allison is heard yelling. Allison then offers his shirt to his 14-year-old girl Shelby, who is being helped by cops after she was allegedly shot in the back by Hale. After a back-and-forth between Allison and police, Hale is then seen being read his rights. His five-year-old...

An escalating feud between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia got even hotter Thursday in a tense back-and-forth over President Biden’s accusations that a Saudi-approved cut in global oil production was a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a response from the oil-rich kingdom that it would not be bullied. While analysts said the rare public animosity will not break deeper U.S.-Saudi security, economic and diplomatic ties, the strains in the relationship were evident after officials in Riyadh bluntly rejected Mr. Biden’s criticisms and appeared to suggest not too subtly that the American president’s primary concern was his short-term political...

A Vermont television station has deleted the online version of a news story that garnered national attention and provoked a barrage of transphobic messages toward a transgender Randolph student and her family. Links to the original story from Sept. 28 on the website for WCAX now turn up an error message and related social media posts have disappeared. The story’s deletion was first reported by Seven Days. WCAX’s story quoted a Randolph Union High School volleyball player who objected to a transgender teammate’s use of a school locker room. The story was then cited in media reports by Fox News,...

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