Free Republic

Want to sip a refreshing beverage this summer? If environmental zealots and sycophants get their way, you won’t be allowed to sip it through a plastic straw. Actress Nina Nelson and other celebrities made a video claiming that plastic straws kill sea life: “In the USA alone, over 500 million straws are being used every single day, most of which are going into our oceans.” “I will stop sucking,” vowed the celebrities. In obedient response, Seattle banned plastic straws, and other places plan to follow. Starbucks, Hyatt and Hilton are all abandoning straws. Katy Tang, of San Francisco’s Board of...

The U.S., overall, is a much less violent place than it used to be. Our reported violent-crime rate is almost half what it was in 1991. But mass shootings haven’t decreased. In fact, they’ve become even deadlier. In 2010, the World Health Organization found that the United States’ gun-homicide rates were more than 25 times higher than in any other high-income country. And that was before Las Vegas—and before Parkland, Florida. We’ve witnessed 19 of the 30 deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history during the past decade.

Swamp regular Admiral James Stavridis has taken his best shot at addressing a phony issue: whether "democracy" is dying, killed off by President Trump, presumably, by offering reassuring words to the left and the Washington establishment about its durability in a cover essay in Time. Axios has the write-up and a photo of the cover. I suppose a lot of them are going to take grim satisfaction from it, given the level of hysteria on the left about President Trump's very existence. But it rather too cutely frames a canard. The left, including Time magazine, seems all in for the...

. Earlier this week Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was forced to apologize after eating at Chick-fil-A… during Pride Month! The horror! Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey ignited a backlash online after revealing that he ate at Chick-fil-A this month. On Saturday, Dorsey posted a photo on Twitter with the caption "Boost @ChickfilA," showing he had saved 10% on a $31.58 order at the fast-food chain. A "boost" is a cashback reward Square users can earn when using a Cash Card, which is a debit card from the payment platform. Critics immediately seized on Dorsey's support of Chick-fil-A — whose...

Millennials expect to make it big some day, with more than half reporting that they believe they will eventually become millionaires, according to a new study. Despite having crushing student loans (20 percent never expect to pay them off), credit card and other debt, people born between 1982 and 2000 share a confidence when it comes to their financial outlook. 'Young people are optimistic about the future,' said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist for TD Ameritrade, in a statement on the company's new report. 'On average, survey respondents expect to land a job in their chosen field and be completely financially...

Construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline has quietly attracted an alarming amount of aggressive protesters, arriving from around the country and using destructive means to stall the project’s completion. The Bayou Bridge Pipeline is a 163-mile crude oil pipeline that will extend through southern Louisiana, running across the state’s Atchafalaya Basin. The project is actually a “phase II” of Bayou Bridge that already runs from east Texas to Lake Charles, La. When completed, the new pipeline will run from Lake Charles to St. James, La. and carry up to 480,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Project construction will bring...

PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has a laudable mission – to end animal cruelty. But, like most liberal groups, their declared mission and the execution of that mission are often at odds with one another. They are a left-wing group, and like other left-wing groups they run a left-wing crusade against anything that will not conform with their agenda. They’re also raging hypocrites who were exposed 2015 for killing 88 percent of the cats and dogs they “rescued” at their shelter in Virginia. A total of 2,324 animals “put down” by a group that views meat...

On Tuesday, all three network morning shows were gleeful over the news that Barack and Michelle Obama had signed a deal with Netflix to create original content for the online streaming service. Hosts happily touted “a lot of people very excited” about the announcement and cheered that the former president and first lady “got paid,” with the agreement rumored to be worth tens of millions of dollars. Missing from much of the adulation, except for a brief mention on NBC, was the fact that the Netflix executive in charge of content was a major Obama campaign donor. “This morning, the...

New York Democrat Linda Rosenthal introduced legislation to ban shooting sports from New York schools Friday, claiming the sports “spread gun culture.” If the legislation is passed, high school shooting teams, including air rifle and even archery clubs, would be disbanded, Time magazine reported on Thursday. These programs can lead to violence, Rosenthal claimed, citing the Parkland shooter’s involvement in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program before executing his mass killing. “Schools should not be supporting the spread of gun culture in society,” Rosenthal told reporters. “If parents want their children to have shooting instruction, there are opportunities...

What should be the focus of coverage when three United States prisoners are freed from North Korea? If you’re the journalists at CNN overnight, you make sure to mention the Robert Mueller investigation, Stormy Daniels and to worry about Donald Trump getting credit for these Americans returning. At 2:26 AM ET, in the early hours of Thursday, CNN’s cameras were waiting for Trump and Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base. Journalist John Vause deemed this the time to speculate on scandals: “Donald Trump believes that this success in the foreign policy field...

Gun control advocate David Hogg and his sister, Lauren, have inked a book deal with Random House with a release date of June 5. The book will center on the gun control movement birthed by the Parkland attack. Entertainment Weekly reports that David and Lauren “have been leaders in the gun control movement that took shape among students, in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.” The siblings’ book “will explore their efforts taking on some of the most powerful forces in Washington and beyond, and will detail their commitment to new legislation aiming to prevent future tragedies.”

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is like so many politicians or journalists. She accuses others of doing things they don’t do, while supporting people who do things she claims she doesn’t support. Here is a recent headline and story showing it: Madeleine Albright on fascism and the "most undemocratic president" in U.S. history And here are the money quotes from the story: "I think Trump is the most undemocratic president I have ever seen in American history. And so that's what worries me. But I do think that we all need to pay attention, which is why I'm –...

The women of The View, Tuesday, eagerly promoted the idea that a fascist Donald Trump might bring a dictatorial reign to America. Promoting ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s new book, the ABC show’s announcer panicked: “Why is former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warning that President Trump could turn America into a fascist country?” Previewing Albright’s appearance on the show, the announcer hyped: “Still ahead, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on why she says Donald Trump is the most anti-democratic president in American history.” Co-host Sara Haines uncritically promoted the threat of fascism under Trump: We want to talk...

Much that is deeply wrong with our culture and politics today has its origins in the 1960s, but that can be exceedingly difficult to discern from the media's selective memory on that troubled period in our history. A proper understanding of modern politics requires an accurate view of history.

Last month, reports emerged about a strange workplace hazard at Apple's sleek new headquarters in Cupertino. It seems that people keep walking head first into the glass walls at Apple Park. Now the San Francisco Chronicle confirms the news via 911 calls on three separate incidents in early January. Some highlights: First call: "We had an individual who ran into a glass wall pane and they hit their head. They have a small cut on their head and they are bleeding, slightly disoriented." Second call: "So we had an employee, he was on campus and he walked into a glass...

A lot of people will buy this just because it's cool, and they want to appear like soldiers. If you're a gun collector or a gun aficionado and you want an AR-15, you can certainly buy one, and you should be able to buy one. The problem is when it gets in the hands of the wrong people. In my personal opinion, you have to receive a whole lot of training to use this weapon. And this weapon in the wrong hands can be more dangerous than most weapons because of its capability to do a lot of damage in...

In a report for Wednesday’s NBC Today, Special Anchor Maria Shriver praised Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as an “amazing leader” who was “changing the world for the better.” As evidence of his supposed “inspiring” and “groundbreaking” leadership, she touted his left-wing intimidation tactics against states that enacted religious freedom laws. Interviewing Benioff for the segment, Shriver noted: “You also said employees want to have a meaningful experience at work.” The liberal billionaire gushed: “You see that with millennials....Before, business was just about the product. Now, business is about something much greater.” Shriver chimed in to explain that “purpose” to viewers:...

High school students in Stockton, California walked out of school last Friday to demand more gun control in the wake of the Parkland shooting in Florida. However, some of the kids turned violent and began throwing rocks at cars and a handful got into a fight with a police officer. From KCRA:

ABC’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel admitted on Good Morning America today that he wasn’t going to address Hollywood’s problem with sexual assault, while hosting this year’s Academy Awards, because he didn’t want to “make it unpleasant.” However, he also confessed that he didn’t regret “anything” he’s said against President Trump, Republicans and the millions of legal gun owners in this country. “I don’t think you can go too far,” he told ABC’s Paula Faris on the February 27 GMA. The GMA anchor sat down with Kimmel to find out what the comedian turned liberal commentator had in store for...

Prodded on by the approving ESPN SportsCenter host Cari Champion, LeBron James delivered his latest installment of attacks on President Trump today. The professional basketball star who tweeted the unprofessional message "u bum" to the president last year, uses his Uninterrupted internet forum to blast Trump as someone who "really don't give a f--- about the people." Zachary Ripple, online sports editor for The New York Daily News, gave James more mileage by posting the video on his site along with a short story. This episode of Uninterrupted, titled "Rolling with the Champion: LeBron James and Kevin Durant," features Champion...