Free Republic

Taylor Swift lashed out at her Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta for selling the label, including the masters of her first six albums, to Kanye West's former manager Scooter Braun, who she accused of "manipulative bullying." Late Sunday, Borchetta fired back at the "Mean" singer's claims.

Taylor Swift was once apolitical — famously so. That changed in October 2018 when she made a bold and rare move to support Democratic nominees in the midterm elections. At the stroke of midnight on June 1, 2019, which kicked off LGBTQ Pride Month, Swift released an open letter to one of her senators, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, in support of the Equality Act and in rejection of President Donald Trump’s stance on the matter. “I personally reject the President’s stance that his administration, ‘supports equal treatment of all,’ but that the Equality Act, ‘in its current form is filled with...

Pop megastar Taylor Swift revealed in a recent interview that she has no plans to give up her political activism mere months after her failed effort to help elect former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) to the U.S. Senate. “I definitely think there are political undertones in the new music I made,” Taylor Swift told the German publication RTL. “I’m not planning to stop encouraging young people to vote and to try to get them to talk about what’s going on in our country. I think that’s one of the most important things I could do.” In October 2018, Swift...

Taylor Swift says her new music carries some “political undertones” after speaking out in favor of Tennessee Democrats in 2018. “Invoking racism and provoking fear through thinly veiled messaging is not what I want from our leaders, and I realized that it actually is my responsibility to use my influence against that disgusting rhetoric. I’m going to do more to help. We have a big race coming up next year," she wrote.

Even after making a left-wing turn, pop megastar Taylor Swift once again finds herself the target of the woke masses Wednesday night after a performance of her’s that many thought ripped off Beyoncé. During Swift’s performance at the Billboard Music Awards Wednesday, Taylor Swift used a marching band drum line and stood in a signature pose, leading many viewers to compare her performance to Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella appearance. (VIDEO) ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco) by Taylor Swift (Live From The Billboard Music Awards)One social media user posted a photo to Instagram comparing the two performances: ....Debates...

MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers on Tuesday backed the international use of a Russian alternative system for the global financial messaging network SWIFT designed by Moscow to eliminate the risk of Western sanctions. Russia has held talks with China, India, Iran and Turkey about joint use of Russia's financial messaging system, said Anatoly Aksakov, who heads the Russian Banking Association and a financial committee with the lower house of parliament. "As the system has proved to be viable and efficient, it draws interest from both Russian and foreign players, it is proposed to give any legal entities, Russian...

On May 17, I published an article in the Italian newspaper La Verità about pope Benedict’s abdication. A few days before, in a renowned Italian geopolitical magazine called Limes, Professor Germano Dottori had argued that Joseph Ratzinger’s 2013 abdication, and the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation in 2011, after a financial storm sold to public opinion as a “public debt” crisis, were the result of pressures on the part of Obama administration in the United States. According to Dottori, Obama was eager to dethrone Benedict XVI for two reasons. On the one hand, his presidency was close to...

She’s really ‘committed’ to that new cause of hers, isn’t she? She couldn’t *possibly* have been just pandering to the crowds after the super-heated partisanship of the Kavanaugh hearings, could she? Yes, yes she could. We say that because for all of her ‘impassioned pleas’ for liberal fans to vote against that Tennessee candidate that ‘scares’ her so, she didn’t even register to vote, herself. At least, her name isn’t showing up in the register. Swift reportedly owns two homes in Nashville, Tennessee, both of which are in Davidson County. She also has several other residences in New York, Beverly...

THE KFC TAYLOR SWIFT SPECIAL

Marsha Blackburn, a Republican Senate candidate in Tennessee, responded Tuesday to Taylor Swift’s social media dig against her, and the pop star's announcement that she would be voting for Democrats in the midterm elections. [snip] “Of course I support women and I want violence to end against women,” Blackburn said. “I've been very active in abuse shelters and child advocacy centers. I've been advocating for women in equal pay since I was 19 years old and making certain that woman have the opportunity for maximum pay and have a good record on that.” The congresswoman continued: "We're getting ready the...

Here's a sampling of headlines today from what are generally respected outlets: Buzzfeed: "Taylor Swift's Instagram Post Has Caused A Massive Spike In Voter Registration" Daily Beast: "Taylor Swift: Voter Registration Spike Follows Star’s Political Awakening" Washington Post: "Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Democrats causes spike in voter registrations" Variety: "Taylor Swift’s Political Comments Lead to Spike in Voter Registration" I'd give the Daily Beast a little credit for hedging some, but then there's the lede: "Taylor Swift’s first foray into politics appears to have produced impressive results." All the outlets made the same argument: that, a.) there was an increase in voter...

Taylor Swift has, admittedly, been reluctant to publicly voice her political opinions throughout her career. However, on Sunday night, a day after wrapping up the United States leg of her Reputation tour, she took to Instagram to share a lengthy post about the midterm elections in November.

Taylor Swift has broken her long-held public political silence in an Instagram post encouraging her followers to vote in the November midterm elections and slamming Republican Tennessee representative Marsha Blackburn. “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift began the post, which was accompanied by a moody, black-and-white photo of the superstar. “I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the...

On a White House conference call with Iran experts last week, a senior administration official said the Trump administration will reimpose sanctions on financial messaging services later this year. That might sound boring. But the administration official was referring to what could soon become another major fight between the Trump administration and Europe. Why this matters In the context of Iran sanctions, "financial messaging services" refers to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) — a linchpin of the global financial system that facilitates payments across borders and connects more than 11,000 banks around the world. SWIFT cut off Iran...

WEYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Taylor Swift is helping ease the pain of a Massachusetts city mourning the recent loss of a police officer. Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund tells The Patriot Ledger that Swift donated “a significant number of tickets” to the town for her shows this weekend in Foxborough, which were distributed among city police officers.....Hedlund says there were enough to send “every police officer, firefighter and extended family to the concert, and then some.” The extras were passed on to other nearby police departments.

U.S. Capitol Police have arrested a male Democratic operative for assaulting a female Interior Department communications official following a House budget hearing Thursday. The assault happened after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke finished testifying on the department’s 2019 budget proposal before the House Committee on Natural Resources. The suspect identified himself as a reporter with American Bridge and pushed a female Interior Department communications official to the floor, chasing after Zinke, The Daily Caller News Foundation learned. Interior communications director Laura Rigas was “greatly alarmed and extremely irate that a female senior member of my DOI Communications team was physically assaulted...

An operative for a political committee that supports Democrats has been charged with assault following a confrontation with a staffer for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke outside a congressional hearing. Capitol Police charged Wilfred M. Stark, 49, of Falls Church, Virginia, with simple assault following a confrontation with Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for Zinke. Stark works for American Bridge 21st Century, a group that supports Democratic candidates. According to a police report, Stark approached Zinke after a House hearing Thursday and started yelling at him. Zinke continued walking out of the hearing room at the Longworth House Office Building and Stark...

December birth baby Taylor Swift is finishing 2017 in grand fashion. She just turned 28 and has the best-selling album of the year, a feat that was accomplished just one week after its release. Young, rich, talented, and the world is hers...what's not to be happy about? According to liberal America, everything.

The ACLU and Taylor Swift are squaring off after the singer tried to get an article detailing how white supremacy movements have embraced her lyrics and music videos, and how her silence has exacerbated the matter, pulled from a website. On Monday, the ACLU sent a letter to Swift's legal team arguing that an article posted by PopFront that links the star to the white supremacy movement should not be taken down -- as Swift has requested -- because the writer has the right to free speech.

The Russian government will intensify efforts to cut the country’s dependence on US payment systems and the dollar as a settling currency, said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday, as quoted by RIA Novosti. ... US President Donald Trump approved the law imposing new restrictions on the Russian banking and energy sectors.... The new law will punish individuals for investing more than $5 million a year or $1 million at a time in Russian energy export pipeline projects or providing such enterprises with services, technology or information support.