Free Republic

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is grinding the gears of the Senate to a halt as it seeks to move forward with President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. It is just the latest step by Johnson, who is up for reelection in a state narrowly won by Biden, to burnish his Trump credentials, whether that’s by repeating unfounded theories about the Jan. 6 attack or becoming the face of GOP opposition to the coronavirus bill that is broadly popular even among Republicans.

When the phone rings, there’s a better chance than ever that a robocaller is on the other end, industry experts say: Automated calls are up 92% since 2017. More than half are legitimate calls -- from, say, your school district or doctor’s office, or politicians running for office (which you can expect more of in the months ahead). But about 44% of the estimated 59 billion robocalls made last year – approximately 26 billion – were placed by scammers, according to the Robocall Index, a national database of autodialed calls compiled by a company that sells services to block them....

On screen, many of these celebrities entertain us—they make us laugh and make us cry. But when they turn political, what was once a fun, entertaining, and dare I say quasi-intelligent celebrity, turns into the most annoying, irritating dullards we’ve ever come across. Normally, their silly political beliefs would be cast aside—we wouldn’t even hear about them! But due to their celebrity, we’re forced to endure their stupidity. Here are eight celebrities, in descending order, whose fat mouths we can certainly do without. 8. Robert Redford Actor/director/eco-nutjob Robert Redford won’t admit it, but he’s happy with the BP oil leak...

Is there anyway of blocking these roll over ads in Firefox other than not moving your mouse over them? I am logged in and have been stunned by these....

A DEVICE that can pick up on people's emotions is being developed to help people with autism relate to those around them. It will alert its autistic user if the person they are talking to starts showing signs of getting bored or annoyed. One of the problems facing people with autism is an inability to pick up on social cues. Failure to notice that they are boring or confusing their listeners can be particularly damaging, says Rana El Kaliouby of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's sad because people then avoid having conversations with them." The...

Tom Cruise has been named the biggest movie star of all time, but also the most irritating, by film fans. An Empire magazine poll of 10,000 movie fans named Cruise the biggest star, beating Robert De Niro and Marilyn Monroe among others. Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey took the favourite actress and actor titles. Cruise's status as most irritating actor "may be a knee-jerk reaction to his year in the spotlight", said Empire assistant editor Ian Freer. Scientology beliefs While promoting latest film War of the Worlds earlier this year, Cruise announced he was engaged to Dawson's Creek star Katie...

What's Kerry saying now about those foreign leaders? On the blog, we recount John Kerry’s quotes on his foreign leader endorsements – and what they’re saying now: What's Kerry Saying Now About Those Foreign Leaders? More "nuance" from the Massachusetts Senator: "I've met with foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly. But, boy, they look at you and say: 'You've got to win this. You've got to beat this guy. We need a new policy.' Things like that." -- John Kerry, March 8, 2004 "I have heard from people, foreign leaders elsewhere in the world who...

<p>From child care for the toddler set to tuition credits for college students and better medical benefits for veterans, John Kerry has plans to distribute new federal dollars far and wide and still cut the deficit in half within four years.</p>