Free Republic

Beginning in the 19th century, snake oil salesmen falsely claimed their elixirs and tonics could treat a wide array of ailments. In the 21st century, a group of senators are hawking a bill they assert can cure the oh-so-many maladies caused by using the social media app, TikTok. Just like snake oil salesmen of the past, these Senators may talk a good game, but their antidote is far worse than any purported affliction. To address our nation’s hysteria over dance videos, more than twenty Senators, both Republican and Democrat, support the RESTRICT Act. They tell us that this bill will...

Women’s clothing brand Anthropologie posted an ad Thursday featuring a male model clad in dresses to its Instagram account. The company ended up disabling the comment section for the post after its customers slammed the brand, vowing to never purchase Anthropologie products again. “To quote @theharperwatters, ‘Never anthro-pologize for being fabulous! Loving these #UnexpectedAndUnforgettable looks.’ (Obviously, we couldn’t agree more!) Twirl to the link in bio to shop bold, beautiful dresses for every solo,” the brand said in the post’s caption. The ad featured male model Harper Watters twirling in dresses. Anthropologie customers took to the comment section to inform...

Gonzalo Lira, a prolific online personality who became an outspoken supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, had his home in Kharkiv raided by the security services.Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has arrested Gonzalo Lira—a dual citizen of the United States and Chile, who has been living in Kharkiv—on charges of producing pro-Russian propaganda.Lira, a prolific and controversial online personality, is accused of creating and disseminating materials that justify Putin’s armed aggression against Ukraine. He is facing the possibility of being imprisoned for five to eight years.Lira, a former online dating coach, was arrested on May 1st at his residence in Kharkiv,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday that granting U.S. access to Philippine military bases was a defensive step that would be "useful" if China attacked Taiwan.Marcos, speaking at the end of a four-day visit to Washington that included a summit with President Joe Biden and an agreement to update the countries' nearly 72-year defensive alliance, did not respond directly when asked whether the United States could place weapons at the bases if China attacked Taiwan.Marcos told Reuters the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) reached with the United States in 2014 was originally conceived to improve...

In 2012, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton and two of his students at the University of Toronto made breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) that laid the foundation for where AI is today and where it is going in the future. This week, he quit his job at Google so that he has the freedom to openly speak against his creation.Hinton shares the honorary title “Godfather of AI” with Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun, because of their work on deep learning that led to AI as we know it. He also shares the 2018 Turing Award with those men because of the breakthroughs...

...When on December 20th German foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock headed a large delegation to Abuja, she handed over a second small batch of the 1,130 pieces her country's five leading museums gifted to Nigeria in 2022... Little did she (one hopes) or the German public suspect what Buhari and the NCMM would do, just three months later. Gifting the restitutions to the Oba, who is bound to no enforceable curatorial standards, is controversial in the West; not least because of the campaign by black Americans who descend from slaves, and who demand that the artworks stay safe in the museums...

The overall theme of the Axios post is to emphasize “division” between the Biden administration, whose appointees will make the final decision on whether to take action against the president’s son, and Hunter’s lawyers. What it actually reveals is that the White House is coordinating with Hunter’s lawyer. Top aides to President Biden have clashed with Hunter Biden’s team over strategies for dealing with the legal battles and Republican attacks that surround the president’s son…Longtime Biden lawyer Bob Bauer, who is married to White House senior advisor Anita Dunn, had recommended Hunter’s previous lawyer for the congressional investigations, Josh Levy....

In 2018, director James Gunn was fired from the film for gross tweets. But this comic book sequel shows the value of his gross-out sensibility. It's easy to forget, but James Gunn, the schlock visionary behind Marvel's first two Guardians of the Galaxy films, almost didn't get to make a third entry. In the summer of 2018, Gunn was fired from his job directing the movie, which was then in development, after right-wing trolls dug up a slew of old tweets that were in decidedly poor taste, and which included jokes about violence toward children.But poor taste was, of course,...

A 19-year-old who was arrested in March and accused of planning a mass shooting at schools in Colorado Springs appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, where a judge approved a request by the defense to delay a hearing.... Whitworth, who is transitioning to female, was arrested March 31 and accused of planning a mass shooting when investigators found instructions on how to build homemade bombs and a whiteboard with the floor plan to Timberview Middle School in Whitworth's bedroom, according to arrest records obtained by The Gazette... Deputies found Whitworth lying in bed, drunk, in a room piled with trash that...

The Freeper Canteen Presents....~ It’s Kentucky Derby Time!! ~ The Gas House Gang ~ Star Spangled BannerCall To The Post KENTUCKY DERBY TROPHY Since the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby in 1924, Churchill Downs has annually presented a gold trophy to the winning owner of the famed "Run for the Roses." History is unclear if a trophy was presented in 1875 to the winner of the first Kentucky Derby, and trophy presentations were sporadically made in following years. Finally, in 1924, legendary Churchill Downs President Matt Winn commissioned that a standard design be developed for the "Golden Anniversary"...

<p>But the instructive parable may be its predecessor, which made Hollywood sit up and take notice. Since its release in 2017, "The Chosen," portraying a charismatic Jesus and his youthful disciples, showed it didn't much need Tinseltown's blessing. Through crowdfunding, its producers have raised millions of dollars from thousands of fans and the show is now in its third season. It is thus a case study in outflanking Mammon – the biblical term for debasing riches – in the modern entertainment tempest.</p>

During portions of an interview with NBC News Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley aired on Friday’s broadcast of “NBC Nightly News,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he is “not worried about” the expiration of Title 42 and that the Department of Homeland Security has planned and executed on its plans. Mayorkas also argued that “The border is secure because we are maximizing our resources to deliver the most effective results to our border with the most extraordinary workforce in the world.” Ainsley asked, “Are you worried about Title 42 lifting next week?”

Old Joe Biden almost held a “major press conference” on Friday. Or rather, he announced one, and it was briefly big news, but as it turned out, it was just the dementia talking. Good thing he didn’t declare war on anyone. How comforting it is that the adults are back in charge, eh? Biden has held so few press conferences that whenever he announces one, it’s a significant event. David E. Clementson, an assistant professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, noted in a late February article at The Conversation that “it...

EU Displays Satanic Anti-Christian Artwork by Godless Lesbian in ParliamentThe Last Supper depiction by Elisabeth OhlsonThe EU displayed the satanic artwork by Anti-Christian activist Elisabeth Ohlson in the Parliament this week.Ohlson’s artwork mocks Christianity and insults Christians by its vulgar nature.An exhibition at the EU Parliament featuring an LGBT Jesus (in the background) has sparked protests from MEPs who say it is 'blasphemous and disrespectful'. Here is how the artist, Elisabeth Ohlson, responded to the critics. pic.twitter.com/1w7q8hZ0CGThis is what the European Union officials think of the continent’s Christian roots.The Catholic News Agency reported:An art exhibit at the European Union’s Parliament...

As Republicans have become mired in MAGA radicalism, it has become standard operating procedure for them to parry criticism of their extremist tendencies by pointing across the partisan barricades and shouting, “They’re worse!” This often involves scanning the landscape for any lefty idea or proposal that sounds scary and attributing it to the entire Democratic Party. And lo and behold, it turns out if you say Democrats want to “defund the police” often enough, people will begin to believe it, even though (1) Democratic elected officials from Joe Biden down to the local dogcatcher have vociferously denied it and (2)...

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Three Pinellas County, Florida, men were arrested after an anonymous caller reported the group using a “small pickaxe” to hunt an alligator in Holiday, Wednesday evening. According to an arrest report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the anonymous caller witnessed the three men harvesting an alligator measuring 5.5 feet. After locating the individuals, authorities said the men admitted to the “illegal take” of the alligator. Two of the men accused the third of using a “weapon that appeared to be a small pickaxe to dispatch the alligator,” the report added. The gator...

The new Foreign Malign Influence Center oversees efforts that span U.S. military, law enforcement, intelligence, and diplomatic agencies. WITHIN THE FEDERAL government, offices dedicated to fighting foreign disinformation are springing up like daisies, from the Pentagon’s new Influence and Perception Management Office to at least four organizations inside the Department of Homeland Security alone, as well as ones inside the FBI and State Department. To oversee the growing efforts — which arose in response to concerns about the impact of Russian meddling in the 2016 election but have now expanded — the director of national intelligence has created a new...

In todays episode of Cocktails with Ciara, I (a big whiskey fan) am making a SAZERAC for the first time! A Sazerac cocktail has one of my most highly requested Whiskey cocktails to make on this series. This cocktail is made up of Rye whiskey, a few dashes of Peychaud's bitters, with an added rinse of absinthe in the glass. The Sazerac cocktail is one of the oldest out there, originating in New Orleans in the 1850's. Whiskey Fan Makes a Sazerac For The First Time [Irish Gal makes cocktails at home - Ciara O'Doherty]