Free Republic

Amazon Web Services delivers almost all filmed media in the United States to your screen of choice. How are they leveraging that power? When Amazon announced that it would buy mini-major movie studio MGM in an $8.45 billion deal, I surmised that the real goal here was to raise the cost of acquiring filmed entertainment for its competitors, making Amazon’s bundled Prime Video option look more attractive. I also nodded to the fact that Amazon is a competitor in streaming video and theatrical movie production, while also being a distribution network for streamers. Amazon also sells other streaming services through...

A Chinese citizen who has appealed for injury compensation for her father for a decade discovered the regime had spent over $300,000 to stop her petition, but refused to pay her father a work injury subsidy of less than $15,000.Furthermore, a document issued by the Hongling street government on Feb. 2, 2020, claimed that they had paid the father almost $30,000 for his treatment, but the petitioner’s family never received it.Liu Yi, the petitioner’s young sister and legal representative, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on July 18 that she got the chance to review the petitioner’s legal dossier at the...

Residents in Texas who have smart home thermostats were deeply disturbed during the state’s latest heat wave. Texans who have smart thermostats reported that their temperatures to their homes were raised without their knowledge. Reports revealed that electric companies in the state raised the temperatures of homes remotely to almost 78 degrees to conserve energy consumption. The actions by the companies were part of a sweepstakes that residents unknowingly signed up for which gave the electric companies the right to change their customers thermostats.

The so-called ‘living pharmacy’ will be able to manufacture pharmaceuticals from inside the body The implantable living pharmacy, which is still in the “proof of concept” stage of development, is actually envisioned as two separate devices—a microchip implant and an armband. The implant will contain a layer of living synthetic cells, along with a sensor that measures temperature, a short-range wireless transmitter and a photo detector. The cells are sourced from a human donor and reengineered to perform specific functions. They’ll be mass produced in the lab, and slathered onto a layer of tiny LED lights. The microchip will be...

Their normal human sympathies have atrophied. They live in the desert of their own inhuman politics. They are cold and apparently lack a spiritual life. Desperate to look down on other people, they take fatuity to a new level. David Atkins, recently elected as a California member of the Democratic National Committee, mused on Twitter (Nov. 21, 2020): "How do you deprogram 75 million people who would literally die to stick it to the domestic enemies the teevee and youtube conspiracy vids told them to hate? No, seriously...how DO you deprogram 75 million people? Where do you start? Fox? Facebook?...

<p>An employee who fatally shot nine people at a California rail yard before taking his own life as law enforcement rushed in had talked about killing people at work more than a decade ago, his ex-wife said.</p><p>He had two semiautomatic handguns and 11 loaded magazines, Smith said. A locker at the rail yard believed to be the gunman’s contained “materials for bombs, detonator cords, the precursors to an explosive,” the sheriff said.</p>

Three enlisted soldiers stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky are now facing a variety of federal charges after their arrest by ATF and Army investigators on Tuesday. The trio are accused of funneling dozens of guns purchased in Kentucky to associates in Chicago, where several of the guns have been traced to shootings. The Army Times reports that 21-year old Demarcus Adams, 22-year old Jarius Brunson, and 22-year old Brandon Miller have all been charged with transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident; making false statements during the purchase of a firearm; engaging in the business without a firearms license;...

So what is next? It’s not a question of the vaccine. You may want the vaccine for yourself and your children, you may not. It’s a question of being forced to take it. And if we allow ourselves to be forced to take it, what next? Anything is the answer to that question. If the authorities are permitted to control a health care decision this intimate — if they can force you and your children to take a vaccine you don’t want and are afraid of — what can’t they do? Nothing. They’ll have total power over your body and...

April 29 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it is proposing a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes in the United States. The announcement begins a long regulatory process, resulting in menthol cigarettes being available for about two more years even if the ban is eventually adopted. The tobacco industry is expected to challenge the decision. The FDA decision would also ban all flavored cigars. The agency did not include menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes. Menthol is the last allowable flavor for cigarettes. The proposed ban was prompted by a citizen petition that allows the public to...

The White House is waging war on menthol — the last allowable flavoring in cigarettes — and flavored cigars, announcing Thursday that the administration intends to ban the popular additives in tobacco products. It was the first shot in an uphill battle that advocates say would prevent the industry from marketing to children and minority communities with whom flavored tobacco has proven popular. "With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom...

Not content with jacking up taxes massively and dangerously mushrooming the state budget, legislators are now looking to inflict yet more pain, by sneaking through a “universal rent control” bill that would clobber the housing market. This, even though rents in New York City have plunged to decade-long lows. The legislation, now in committee in both the Assembly and the Senate, is misleadingly labeled “Good Cause Eviction,” when it would essentially force landlords statewide to accept tenants for life — with a cap on yearly rent increases.

For many months now, Dr. Anthony Fauci has advocated that people remain masked outdoors to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. “When you are indoors, make sure you have a mask. When you’re outdoors, keep the mask on,” he said back in August, though he acknowledged that being outdoors was significantly safer than being indoors. Now, Fauci is saying that he believes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide updated guidance on wearing face masks outdoors, and says it’s “common sense” to reconsider the guidance. I call it science, but I’ll take it. Fauci also concedes that...

Like the rest of the travel sector, the cruise industry is looking at how to guarantee the safety of those ready to explore the world again. And while an ever-increasing portion of the population has been vaccinated, questions are arising as to whether so-called “vaccine passports” will help pave the way to safer travels or impinge on the privacy rights of individuals. How Cruising Could Be Impacted It’s impossible to talk about the resumption of cruising without addressing all of the questions surrounding vaccinations. Which cruise lines will insist on passengers providing proof of vaccination… and is it even legal...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is reportedly talking to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and is willing to search out “common ground” for gun control. Politico noted Cornyn was not comfortable supporting the current universal background check gun control proposals Democrats have put forward but could be open to more narrow offers.

Shakespeare wrote that “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…”, and our global stage right now, for watchers of bible prophecy, is a very crowded place alive with more end times activity than you could shake a stick it. In my mind’s eyes, I see Habakkuk up in Heaven right now, beaming from ear to ear, silently saying to himself, “yeah, the LORD used me to write that, wow.” Take, for example, the players in our story today, the fine folks from Global Citizen, truly an organization...

Corporate media and the government are using fear and intimidation to gaslight the world about COVID 19. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation designed to make people question their own perception or judgment, and they are unable to come to sensible conclusions. Yes, I understand that many have lost friends or loved ones to COVID 19. One death is too many. My sincere sympathies. Notwithstanding, people are being coerced into taking a vaccination for a virus that there is less than a 1% chance of contracting and less than a .02% chance of dying from, according to CDC statistics....

BREAKING: OCD Carmelites of Philadelphia abandon their cloister; flee to Nebraska for unknown reasonsAs far as I know, this story is being broken right here. Following is a guest post from a reliable source, with personal knowledge of the situation, who wishes to remain anonymous:For reasons not totally known at this point, the Carmelite Sisters of Philadelphia have abruptly abandoned their monastery.According to sources close to the monastery, the sudden move took place over this past weekend. On Friday, after the daily Mass, a van was noticed by the entrance to the monastery used by the cloistered sisters. Later that...

President Joe Biden broke his 2020 promise Thursday to put former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) in charge of gun control efforts. Instead, he named gun control activist David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

While the West mistakenly believed that China would become more like us after embracing Capitalism, the West is becoming more like China; Maoism and Chinese communism are spreading like a prairie fire...One can’t help wondering if it will be worse to lose your freedoms or never to have known what it means to be free. The only hope is for the silent majority to rise and confront the abomination facing our country. Why are those of us who have had our COVID vaccines still wearing masks? We are protected from the virus and cannot carry the virus despite being admonished...

Politico indicates that President Joe Biden will be putting forth executive action on gun control tomorrow. Politico notes that the executive action is expected to center on “ghost guns,” making it mandatory for individuals buying gun kits to undergo a background check as purchasers of manufactured firearms are required to do.