Free Republic

The German company Mercedes-Benz, which has withdrawn from the Russian market, also decided to disconnect Russian dealers from its software completely. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov threw a tantrum and threatened to "ruin" the concern.

...Buddy who drove and used State ID drove us back, we go into the Officer of the Day's office to report my lost/stolen ID. OOD is a crusty old bastard, but fair. Actually a mustang, he takes his orders from the President and god... and we are not sure of the president he might tell him to f**k off if it is a stupid idea. ..."Seaman Raccoon here says the doorman at Joe's took his ID and wants $20. Pull a driver and one of those Jarheads at the gate and go down their and sort it out."

Amazing numbers for a Friday night. I guess people are yearning to watch movies.https://www.boxofficemojo.com/

One man's Independence, another man's Treason.

SVB Financial Group faced a perfect storm, but there are plenty of other banks that would face big losses if they were forced to dump securities to raise cash Silicon Valley Bank has failed following a run on deposits, after its parent company’s share price crashed a record 60% on Thursday. Trading of SVB Financial Group’s SIVB stock was halted early Friday, after the shares plunged again in premarket trading. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said SVB was one of a few banks she was “monitoring very carefully.” Reaction poured in from several analysts who discussed the bank’s liquidity risk.

My son's band " The Henry Cruz Band" will be rockin one of our local haunts , Kimbros picking parlor" sat night. It is a well known food , drink and music venue and it's stage has been graced by the likes of Kid Rock, the late John Prine among many other well known rock,country,and folk acts. The band has played there off and on for a couple of years but this one is special. Included in their regular repertoire of original blues oriented, psychedelic tinged, folk rock , they are going to cover 3 or 4 Skynyrd tunes. It...

For those with kids, grandkids - or just the young at heart- here is the official Norad Santa Tracker. At this writing, it will commence in a little less than 11 hours. https://www.noradsanta.org/en/Fun story as to how the Norad Santa Tracker began: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa#History_and_overview

This morning I'm picking up my brand spanking new Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road edition. It's my first new vehicle in almost 40 years.While I was married, all the new vehicles went to the now ex-wife because I wanted her to be the safest possible and I was ok driving the 'hand me downs' due to my very short commute.As we had kids, that continued with her getting the new vehicles with the most safety features for her and our two sons. I never considered it a "sacrifice" to always drive the highly used vehicles and her & the kids getting...

...for 14 hours, 14 minutes and 11 seconds, since setting off at sunset from Austin, Texas, in a race to Sin City. Their mode of transport was a former prop car they were told was used on the set of “The Walking Dead.” Top speed, when they could get away with it: 140 miles per hour. “Waldo ran from us,” The rally, called Fool’s Roll because it is held each year near April 1, is a simple concept with a maniacal flourish. ... must drive the roughly 1,200 mile trek, on any route they like, in a vehicle that costs...

The United States is now the world's leading exporter of liquified natural gas as Europe's energy crisis and shortages in China send demand for American shipments soaring. LNG exports from the United States topped 7 million tonnes (7.7 million tons) in December, according to ship-tracking data from ICIS LNG Edge, narrowly edging out rival producers Qatar and Australia for the first time. The United States only shipped its first LNG cargo from the lower 48 states in 2016, and has risen to become the world's top exporter in just six years as a shale gas revolution boosted domestic production and...

Dubbed the “goth home” by Twitter user Zillow Gone Wild, this single-family dwelling stands out by being so dark. But after installing a new all-black shingle roof, Goodman went a step further and had the entire exterior redone with black gutters and matching vinyl siding. Goodman loved the look so much he took a page from Mick Jagger’s playbook and said “paint it black” for the interior.

A brawl over pay at Columbia challenges academic solidarity with the working class. Consider Columbia, where many student workers earn little more than New York City’s $15 hourly minimum wage. The UAW wants $45,000 for 12-month appointments and a minimum $26 hourly rate for non-salaried workers, with annual increases. The union says a single adult had to make at least $45,285 to live in Manhattan in June 2020—before this year’s inflation. “Columbia made $3.1 billion in returns on its investments this past year alone,” the union says, adding that its demands for a three-year contract would amount to a mere...

In the eye-popping, now-viral video, which had amassed more than 2.9 million views on Twitter as of Tuesday afternoon, a barefoot Rochelle is seen pushing a little boy out of her way as she struts over to her grinning groom, who’s seated in the middle of a dance floor. Then, draped in the bedazzled halter dress and matching G-string undies, the buxom bride bends over and wiggles her rear in her new hubby’s face while her bridal party busts a repetition of sultry moves to Beyoncé’s sexy single “Dance for You.”

, $5,000 in one-dollar bills was dumped onto a carpet in the middle of the ice as 10 local teachers readied themselves to shovel up as much of it as they could. When the competition began, the teachers — all wearing hockey helmets — crawled into the pile of cash, frantically stuffing the bills into their shirts as an arena of spectators hollered and cheered until every dollar was snatched up. In the end, Barry Longden, a teacher at a local high school, snatched the most cash — $616 Alexandria Kuyper, a fifth-grade teacher, managed to grab $592

Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered a flippant response to being sued for $162 million by JP Morgan Chase, threatening the nation’s biggest bank with a “one star review on Yelp.” “This is my final warning!” he added.

The prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set had been used by crew members offsite for fun, a new report claims. The gun, which was fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of the movie “Rust,” may have even been loaded with live rounds when it was used for what was essentially target practice, TMZ reported. Multiple sources connected to the production of the film told TMZ that the gun was fired at off-the-clock gatherings – which could explain how a live round found its way into the gun’s chamber. Another source who was...

While Americans remained trapped in Afghanistan, including being held hostage, the Taliban are busy making international connections to help prop up their new regime. It wasn’t enough that American taxpayers gave the terrorist government tens of billions of dollars in high-tech military equipment. Now, they are going to make sure and fleece us even after we are gone.To make sure that happens, the United Nations has announced a meeting with the Taliban, and that meeting included the promise to keep shoveling money into the bottomless pit that is Afghanistan.I met with the leadership of the Taliban to reaffirm @UN’s commitment...

A much-needed laugh: A pair of NYPD officers volunteering in Louisiana tried to pronounce some local city and parish names. It went about as well as you'd expect. Gov. John Bel Edwards declared that the Big Apple cops “get a pass” for butchering enunciations of local locations — and expressed gratitude for their work — on Twitter.

A woman leans out of a Cadillac's passenger window and brandishes an AK-47 while speeding through the streets of San Francisco has been caught in an image released by city cops. The woman - who has not been identified - made the shocking move during an illegal stunt driving event in the area of Barneveld and McKinnon Avenues on July 11, and pictures were posted online by the San Francisco Traffic Safety on Wednesday. Police announced that they have since impounded the Cadillac involved, but would not say if the woman has been arrested or faces charges. 'It is an...

The YouGov survey for George Washington University was conducted in June It asked those polled to respond to the statement that there will be a time coming when 'patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands' The poll found that 47% of Republicans surveyed agreed with the statement Just 9% of Democrats agreed with that same conclusion, in a shocking difference of opinion on partisan political influence on laws in the United States More than half of Republicans - 55% - also supported the use of force to 'preserve the traditional American way of life Just 15%...