Free Republic

It’s no secret that car manufacturers are getting creative with their revenue streams through subscription services and paywalled features, but some moves are pushing the boundaries of consumer patience. A Jeep owner recently shared his frustrating experience about a pop-up ad that relentlessly invades the infotainment screen, with no ability to turn it off, every time his car comes to a stop. Welcome to the future of driving, where your car tries to sell you something while you’re stuck at a red light. The frustrated Jeep owner took to Reddit to share his ongoing battle with the incessant pop-up ad....

“White Fragility” author Robin DiAngelo was hoodwinked into dipping into her own pocketbook to pay reparations to a black producer in podcaster Matt Walsh’s upcoming documentary “Am I Racist?” An undercover, man-bun-wearing Walsh, 38, goaded DiAngelo into ponying up cash to his producer named Ben to compensate for the sins of the past by first coughing up the money himself. Walsh, who had been conducting an interview with DiAngelo for a documentary project while feigning anti-racist sentiments and posing as an activist,*** “This is Ben, a producer on the film. I thought it would be a powerful opportunity to speak...

Another day, another instance of Scarlett Johansson hurling herself off a public relations cliff: The former Ghost In The Shell actress gave a new interview to As If magazine this week, touching on a wide variety of issues germane to her career. Topics ranged from the good (Directors shouldn’t force performers to be physically miserable instead of just, you know, acting!), to the obvious (Lost In Translation is about a relationship, not a place!), to the “Oh god, here we go again (Scarlett Johansson should be allowed to play any part she wants, and nobody should be allowed to yell...

Last Sunday, as most of you know, the Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose. Strewn about the millionaire’s abode were sixty bags of un-used smack along with five empty/used bags of the “Ace of Spades”. According to the reports, those who discovered the dead thespian said he was found deceased with a needle in his arm. Not a pretty picture. Later that same night, as the news channels began to report on Hoffman’s death, the various talking heads began to wax eloquently about how he was a great actor, a normal guy, who rode his...

PYONGYANG, North Korea — Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh took the stage in North Korea during a concert for new leader Kim Jong Un, in an unusual performance featuring Disney characters. Performers dressed as Minnie Mouse, Tigger and others danced and pranced as footage from “Snow White,” “Dumbo,” “Beauty and the Beast” and other Disney movies played on a massive backdrop, according to still photos shown on state TV. The inclusion of characters popular in the West — particularly from the United States, North Korea’s wartime enemy — is a notable change in direction for performances in Pyongyang. Actors...

Remember the film “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” in which Pee Wee Herman visited a California roadside attraction that featured giant concrete dinosaurs? Well, that roadside attraction on Highway 10 near Cabazon, formerly known as “Claude Bell’s Dinosaurs,” has now been bought out by fanatics who’ve turned it into a creationist museum. Long time LGF reader “Ringo the Gringo” visited this place recently, and filed a must-see photo essay at Ringo’s Pictures: The Lion, The Lamb and The Velociraptor - Cabazon, March 2009.

Embedded Conference Special Events Keynote Speaker: Al Gore THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY Tuesday, April 3 . 11:00AM - 12:00pm Consistently an active leader in technology, Vice President Gore discusses technological advancement and the potential of user involvement. He identifies key opportunities and challenges, charting a new digital society. Al Gore was inaugurated as the 45th Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1993. He is an active leader in technology and telecommunications and is keenly focused on global warming. His pioneering efforts to protect the earth's ozone layer and to clean up toxic-waste dumps were outlined in his...

Fellow FReepers, Last night I watched the Discovery Channel's debut of Grizzly Man, a documentary based upon the life of Timothy Treadwell. The film was mostly footage that Treadwell shot himself in Alaska, but also included interviews with close friends and associates. The dude was a nut, plain and simple. What he was thinking, I will never know. The film didn't do a very good job of explaining exactly what happened when he was killed. But it sounds like he happened upon a bear and before he could remove the camera lens cap, it attacked. Thus, there is audio of...