Free Republic

Everyone knows it’s hard to get college students to do the reading—remember books? But the attention-span crisis is not limited to the written word. Professors are now finding that they can’t even get film students—film students—to sit through movies. “I used to think, If homework is watching a movie, that is the best homework ever,” Craig Erpelding, a film professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told me. “But students will not do it.” I heard similar observations from 20 film-studies professors around the country. They told me that over the past decade, and particularly since the pandemic, students...

China executed 11 people convicted of intentional homicide, fraud and other crimes linked to a cross-border scam operation, after the country’s top court approved their death sentences, authorities said Thursday. The announcement was published on the website for the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, China’s highest state body responsible for criminal prosecution and oversight. The executions followed a ruling and execution order from the Supreme People’s Court, which upheld lower court judgments against members of the so-called Ming family criminal group.

“Mr. President, what do you think about the U.K. getting into business with China? Keir Starmer is in Beijing,” the reporter asked at the premiere of a documentary about the president’s wife Melania. “It’s very dangerous for them to do that,” Trump began, before quickly pivoting to Canada, against whom he has long held a grudge. The president was particularly unhappy after Prime Minister Mark Carney met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing and announced a landmark “new strategic partnership” aimed at reversing years of strained relations. “Canada’s not doing well; they are doing very poorly, and you can‘t look at...

John Leguizamo, Eva Longoria, and Jessica Alba are just a few stars who signed an open letter demanding better representation for Latino creatives amid the "Deep Cuts" casting controversyJohn Leguizamo, Jessica Alba, and Eva Longoria, are among the more than 100 Latino creatives who have signed an open letter to Hollywood calling for more “accountability, intentionality, and equity in casting and storytelling.” The letter, published Thursday, asks that casting directors, creative executives, writers, producers, and other higher-ups increase the number of Latino voices in the development and greenlighting stages, as well as the number of Latino actors attending auditions and...

Fishback has never held political office, but has vowed to continue the legacy of outgoing Governor Ron DeSantisA CONTROVERSIAL new “sin tax” idea could see some American workers instantly lose half their income in one hit. The plan has already sparked a furious online feud, with a top earner blasting the proposal as unfair. The fight erupted in Florida, where a Republican candidate wants to slap a 50 per cent tax on OnlyFans creators’ income if they live in the state. The push comes from James Fishback, who told one star to “pay up or quit OnlyFans.” He added: “As...

When the U.S. men's hockey team goes to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, it will try to shake off an ugly history of overseas performances. Since NHL players first went to the Olympics in 1998, the Americans have never medaled outside of North America. Can that change next month? While the U.S. has gotten some strong results at Olympics held in North America -- silver in Salt Lake City (2002) and Vancouver (2010) -- it has not fared nearly as well across the pond. In three attempts, the Americans have not finished better than fourth, and they have a combined six...

Transcript SummaryThe transcript is a compilation of video clips and commentary highlighting perceived instances of left-leaning individuals, media figures, and protesters reacting strongly or irrationally in 2026, during the second Trump administration.It features:A CNN interview where Jake Tapper questions former Trump official Chad Mizelle about the shooting of Alex Pretti (a Minneapolis protester killed by federal agents), framing it as a First Amendment issue, while Mizelle counters by listing alleged actions like interfering with law enforcement, carrying a gun unlawfully, and resisting arrest.Comparisons of media reactions: Abby Phillip's coverage of an incident involving Ilhan Omar versus the attempted assassination of...

@RandPaul The Somali fraud exposed a broken system. Instead of reform, Washington spent $5B more. If Republicans can’t cut a fraction of the deficit, they aren’t serious about debt. See how your senator voted:

The "To Wong Foo" star has long advocated for progressive political causes and has been a consistent critic of President Donald Trump.John Leguizamo has a brief but unambiguous message for his fans who support Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "If you follow ICE, unfollow me. Don't come to my shows and don't watch my movies," Leguizamo stated in a video shared to his Instagram on Wednesday. Leguizamo is one among a chorus of famous voices rising against the federal immigration agency, which has been at the forefront of violent operations in Minneapolis. Jimmy Kimmel, who has been one of President Donald...

The National Park Service is on the hunt for a boneheaded driver who ripped rare plants during a joyride through Death Valley last month. The suspect left behind more than five miles of tire tracks throughout the heavily protected Eureka Dunes while destroying at least 74 plants crucial to the park’s ecosystem. Officials say at least two people were in the car during the Dec. 17 off-roading incident.

In an interview with News 5 Cleveland's Clay LePard, Isaacman talked about jobs at ‪@NASA‬ Glenn Research Facility in Cleveland, putting Americans back on the moon by 2028, plans for a base on the moon by 2030 and how humans will be on Mars within our lifetimes. Full interview with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacmanat the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland | 10:48News 5 Cleveland | 354K subscribers | 3,933 views | January 27, 2026

As most know by now, Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” global warming propaganda film turned 20 a few days ago. It won a couple of Oscars in 2007, one for best documentary. The latter should be returned. The movie was filled with errors. Exalting the celluloid screed with an Academy Award for best documentary is the equivalent of handing the Nobel Peace Prize to a terrorist, an incompetent, a fraud, an unaccomplished charlatan, and, yes, Gore himself, because it was far more a faux-umentary than an honest account of the facts. In the same year that Gore was given his...

Transcript SummaryThe transcript discusses an impending partial U.S. government shutdown at midnight, with 78% of federal funding set to expire.A deal between the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would separate DHS funding from a larger package of six funding bills. The DHS portion would receive a two-week stopgap while ICE reforms are negotiated, allowing the other five bills to pass with bipartisan support.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is holding up the deal by placing a hold on the legislation. He demands a guaranteed vote on his bill to criminalize sanctuary cities before lifting the hold. He spoke on...

A U.S. jury found Linwei Ding guilty of economic espionage and trade secret theft after he stole Google’s sensitive AI infrastructure data.In brief -Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding has been convicted of economic espionage for siphoning Google’s trade secrets to China-based companies. -Federal agents arrested Ding in March 2024, accusing him of stealing 500+ confidential AI files while secretly collaborating with China-based companies. -Ding built his own AI startup in China, pitched investors on replicating Google’s tech, and applied to a Shanghai government talent program. A 38-year-old former Google software engineer has been convicted of siphoning thousands of...

An Anglican priest was removed from the formal election service of Dame Sarah Mullally as the first female archbishop of Canterbury at St. Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday after he shouted his objection to her confirmation. The Rev. Paul Williamson, who was ordained in 1973 and has since been outspoken against the ordination of women, shouted, "I object!" during the service before he was removed, according to Church Times. Williamson's eruption, the rest of which was inaudible, came during the part of the ceremony when the proctor, who represents the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral, declared: "No person has appeared...

“The ICE derangement syndrome is off the charts because we are amidst a pandemic of progressive leftist mental illness, which is an extremely disproportionately female problem.” —JD Haltigan on "X" James Howard Kunstler Jan 30, 2026 It has come into focus now and you no longer need to be perplexed, mystified, bewildered, or bamboozled by events unspooling in Minneapolis and other hotspots of Woke-Marxist-Jacobin delirium. You are seeing the infernal machine of a sponsored revolution. Its parts are visible. They can be named and clearly understood. I will tell you how this works. You realize, of course, that there has...

(LifeSiteNews) — In a now-viral social media video, the father of a 12-year-old boy said “this state is absolutely insane” after California regulations granting medical autonomy to teens prevented him from making a doctor’s appointment for his young son. “I cannot explain how ridiculous the state of California is. My 12-year-old son, he needs to schedule an appointment himself to go see a doctor or a specialist,” explained the man, whose accounts are held under the name Jonathan Freeman. “Because when you’re 12 in this state, apparently you can make your own medical decisions.” “We don’t have access to his...

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security lodged a detainer Thursday in California in the case of an illegal immigrant accused of a crime that a top official there is calling the "most heinous one we’ve ever seen." DHS has been pressing sanctuary states and sanctuary cities to respect and honor ICE detainers for public safety and national security reasons, with little headway from those jurisdictions, telling Fox News Digital they hope this is the case that will change their minds. A 20-year-old Mexican national, Enrique Bautista-Vasquez, was charged with rape, a sentence enhancement for sexual assault of a person unable...

Just because you're paranoid about digital sovereignty doesn't mean they're not after youOpinion I'm an eighth-generation American, and let me tell you, I wouldn't trust my data, secrets, or services to a US company these days for love or money. Under our current government, we're simply not trustworthy. In the Trump‑redux era of 2026, European enterprises are finally taking data seriously, and that means packing up from Redmond-by-Seattle and moving their most sensitive workloads home. This isn't just compliance theater; it's a straight‑up national economic security play. Europe's digital sovereignty paranoia, long waved off as regulatory chatter, is now...

(LifeSiteNews) — The University of Notre Dame has defended its appointment of a vehement abortion supporter to a prominent position despite backlash over the professor’s anti-Catholic stance on human life. The self-proclaimed Catholic university issued a statement on Wednesday defending the elevation of Susan Ostermann – an associate professor of global affairs at Notre Dame who has described abortion bans as “violence” and “sexual abuse” – to director of the university’s Liu Institute of Asia and Asian Studies. Ostermann is a particularly harsh critic of pro-life laws, having claimed that abortion access “prioritizes and values women’s freedom from experiencing violence,...