Free Republic

Is "1917" a wartime shoo-in for best picture, or might "Parasite" make some Oscar history Sunday night? The 92nd annual Academy Awards brings to a close yet another awards season, one in which the main acting categories are led by performers who've run roughshod over their competition. But the race for best picture is somewhat more up in the air. Sam Mendes' World War I thriller "1917" is the closest to a favorite, having won important Golden Globe, Producers Guild and Directors Guild awards. But Bong Joon-ho's South Korean black comedy "Parasite," which took the best ensemble award at the...

In the years after World War II, Korea’s economy was in tragic shape. In 1948, the country’s per capita income of $86 put it on par with Sudan. Disastrous policies led to hyperinflation, snail-paced growth forced mothers to make choices about children along the lines of Sophie’s, plus literacy rates in the country were among the lowest in the world. Analyzing the situation, one U.S. official concluded that “Korea can never attain a high standard of living.” The reason, he observed, was that “there are virtually no Koreans with the technical training and experience required to take advantage of Korea’s...

The international success of Parasite, the black comedy thriller by Bong Joon-ho, has been rather spectacular. It started with a slew of early season awards, including the prestigious Palme d'Or (by unanimous vote) at Cannes. It has now won Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language at the Golden Globes, multiple nominations at the Baftas, and six Oscar nominations, including in some of the most distinguished categories (film, director and screen play). If it wins an Oscar, it would be the first Korean film to do so and a testament to the rising popularity and success of the Korean film industry...

Senator Bernie Sanders likes his hotel rooms cold and does not like slow flushing toilets, according to a leaked tour rider from his 2020 presidential campaign. Referred to as the 'Senator Comfort Memo,' the document offers specific arrangements that need to be met for Sanders' hotels, food, drink, family and staff. Marked 'confidential: for campaign staff use only, not for circulation,' the two-page memo is dated April 10, 2019 and was first reported by the Smoking Gun Wednesday. **SNIP** Sanders requests that rooms have a down comforter or at least one extra blanket and also asks that they come stocked...

Green activist John Cossham, 52, on how he earns very little so he can live a low-carbon lifestyleName: John Cossham Age: 52 Income: £10,000 Occupation: Entertainer and ecology educator I’m an enthusiastic green activist and I earn very little so I can live a low-carbon lifestyle. That’s the way I like it; I don’t want much money, because people who earn a lot have a high carbon footprint. This green lifestyle saves my family about £10,000 a year on utilities, food and travel compared to the average family of four. But that’s not the reason I do it. I’m proud...

... Kathleen Kingsbury: Quite a few things. Can you walk us through what the first 100 days will look like, though? [...] Sanders: It’s going to be a busy hundred days. In fact, I’ve made enough promises that I think I’m going to be up all night on my first day. I’m going to go to bed at five in the morning. I think the most important point aside from the legislation, which I’ll get into, is to convince the American people that in fact we can have a government that represents working people and not just the 1 percent....

When Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” became the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it was the worthy culmination of a stellar career. The South Korean master has rattled off gem after gem with a modern monster movie of “Jaws” meets “Godzilla” in “The Host” (2006), a sci-fi social commentary about class divides on an action-packed speeding train in “Snowpiercer” (2013), and a young girl’s adventure to save her beastly friend from a multinational corporation in “Okja” (2017). This week, his latest and arguably greatest work “Parasite” finally received the overdue American affirmation it...

Pop superstar Taylor Swift slammed music industry manager Scooter Braun on Thursday after he reportedly bought the rights to her music with what she claims was funding from the family of left-wing billionaire George Soros. Swift made the remarks during her acceptance speech for Billboard’s Woman of the Decade award Thursday evening, calling out the “unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying our music as if it’s real estate — as if it’s an app or a shoe line.”Braun, 38, recently purchased the independent record label Big Machine and the master rights to Taylor’s first six albums, which...

Major institutions should be broken up if necessary, Greenlight manager says NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Greenlight Capital manager David Einhorn said Monday that his hedge-fund firm is betting on the possibility of a major currency collapse and a surge in interest rates, citing ballooning government deficits in some of the world's most developed countries.The hedge-fund manager, who warned about Lehman Brothers' frailty before it collapsed last year, also said financial institutions that are deemed as "too big to fail," such as Citigroup Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!c/quotes/nls/c (C 4.57, -0.02, -0.38%) , should be broken up. ReutersDavid Einhorn of Greenlight Capital. Greenlight has...

Italian populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has blocked migrant ships from docking in Italy as his government cracks down on mass-migration into the country.Salvini declared that ships will only be approved for docking if all of the occupants onboard have been relocated elsewhere in Europe first.Italy's leader was responding to an incident where a group of migrants was picked up by an Italian fishing boat named the Accursio Giarrantano, according to an Il Giornale report.

Even single-celled organisms desire partners every now and then. Leishmania—single-celled parasites that cause infections of the skin and internal organs—have long been known to multiply asexually, like bacteria. But occasionally, researchers have found hybrid parasites that carry genetic material from more than one strain—or even more than one species—of Leishmania, suggesting that some kind of genetic mixing is going on.Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that the hybrid Leishmania parasites can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring that carry genes from both parents—signs of...

A high profile dispute over a school policy allowing s transgender pupils to choose which locker rooms and restrooms they want to use will not be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to reports. The controversial school policy that is in dispute was adopted by the Boyertown Area School District in Pennsylvania in the 2016-2017, allowing transgender students to use school facilities based on their 'identity' rather than actual sex.

A lecture at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine included a slide that drew “parallels between fetuses and cancers.” In response to a Thursday night tweet containing a photo of one of the slides, Twitter users expressed disgust at the language used by the professor, who referred to the fetus as a “legitimate parasite” that “invades” a mother and “manipulates” her immunity. Campus Reform obtained a copy of the full slide deck from the course, titled, "Evolution of Human Disease." The slide in question reveals that the comparison was billed as an attempt to explain the tendency of...

This is awesome. Warheads On Foreheads… https://twitter.com/Drumboy44DWS/status/1087875242930982913

Disturbing video shows Instagram user Cash Bently harassing teenagers at a mall for wearing MAGA hats… https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1086774794081763328

Delicious clip from Anderson Cooper's show last night. CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin on BuzzFeed: “People are going to take from this story is that the news media are a bunch of leftist liars who are dying to get the president, and they’re willing to lie to do it…I just think this is a bad day for us” Jeff Toobin is trending – Snowflakes are not happy. You will notice sad-faced Brian Stelter at the end of the clip - and Preet Bharara even chimes in to chastise the media. (videos at link)

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has shown public support for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall, stating that walls do work, refuting claims from his colleagues that they do not.

In a late Friday tweet, President Trump has teased what he calls a ‘major announcement’ about the Southern border and the government shutdown tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm. @realDonaldTrump I will be making a major announcement concerning the Humanitarian Crisis on our Southern Border, and the Shutdown, tomorrow afternoon at 3 P.M., live from the @WhiteHouse. Trump should declare a national emergency, shift funds out of the Pentagon, build The Great Wall, open the government and charge Democrats with finding excuses not to secure our border because they have a demographic and ideological interest in changing the face of the...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office announced today they are postponing her 7-day trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan after learning "the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans," according to a statement. Why it matters: By leaking even more information about this trip — after Pelosi aides had previously asked news organizations not to publicly report the details due to national security concerns — her office said going ahead with the visit would "further endanger our troops and security personnel, or the other travelers on the flights." Show less How we got here: Pelosi sent Trump a letter on Wednesday...

As a new caravan that began in Honduras and quickly swelled to an estimated 2,000 people made its way toward Mexico on Tuesday, Mexicans who live along the border towns that will likely be most affected took to the Internet to lash out against another wave of migrants. “Work? Yes, there might be work for people who actually want to work, not for the lazy bums looking for entitlements,” said one commenter. “People of Honduras, all of you who are spinning these grand illusions and getting ready to come on this caravan, please inform yourself about how people who’ve already...