Free Republic

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg criticized the Biden administration for pushing for censorship around COVID-19 vaccines, the media for hounding Facebook to clamp down on misinformation after the 2016 election, and his own company for complying in an appearance on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. Why it matters: Zuckerberg's three-hour interview with Rogan gives a clear window into his thinking during a remarkable week in which Meta loosened its content moderation policies and shut down its DEI programs. Driving the news: The Meta CEO said a turning point for his approach to censorship came after Biden publicly said social media companies were...

Melania Trump has done her best to stay out of the spotlight throughout her husband’s presidential tenure and political career. Now, in a memoir titled Melania set to be published a month before election today, she has openly chosen a side in America’s abortion wars. The Guardian obtained a copy of the memoir, and published the former—and possibly future—First Lady’s pro-abortion declaration: It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government. Why should anyone other than the woman herself...

One of the greatest moments in live television history

[partial list] Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld … Singer B.J. Thomas … Eric Carle is best known for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," … Edgar Harrell was the last surviving Marine of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis … Michael Collins was one of the three-person crew on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969… Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh … G. Gordon Liddy was a former FBI agent who engineered the burglary that led to the Watergate scandal… George Segal was best known as a comic actor… Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh started his radio career in 1971...

A senior adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development repeatedly promoted a false conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman participated in a Satanic ritual, CNN reported Thursday. John Gibbs, who has worked as a senior adviser since last August, tweeted multiple times about a conspiracy theory that John Podesta participated in a Satanic ritual involving bodily fluids. The claim originated within the far-right after WikiLeaks in 2016 published a hacked email linked to Podesta in which there is a reference to a "spirit cooking dinner," which conspiracy theorists inferred was a satanic ritual. –– ADVERTISEMENT ––...

"(I) submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good," he said.

... The former investigator, Bradley F. Podliska, is an Air Force Reserve officer and also claims Republican leaders on the committee retaliated against him for taking leave to go on active duty, which if true would be a violate of federal law. ...

Why is the U.S. sending its troops to finish off a fractured band of bush fighters in the middle of Africa? Political payback for the quiet sacrifices of Uganda's troops in Somalia could be one reason, experts say. President Barack Obama announced Friday he is dispatching about 100 U.S. troops — mostly special operations forces — to central Africa to advise in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA is a guerrilla group accused of widespread atrocities across several countries. The first U.S. troops arrived Wednesday. Long considered one of Africa's most brutal rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance...

The Air Force on Friday fired the general in charge of all land-based nuclear missiles, the second time in a week that a senior commander of the country’s nuclear arsenal has been let go for allegations of personal misconduct. Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, commander of the 20th Air Force, was removed from his job “due to a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership and judgment,” said Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick, an Air Force spokesman. Air Force officials said Carey has been under investigation since this summer for allegations of “personal misbehavior” but would not specify what prompted his...

Even as Newt Gingrich’s campaign teetered on the edge of collapse in March, the wife of a casino mogul gave a pro-Gingrich super PAC another $5 million. The contribution brought the Adelson family’s pro-Gingrich tally to $20 million — a figure Sheldon Adelson himself was floating in December, POLITICO reported. The Adelsons almost single-handedly funded Winning Our Future’s operations since its inception in December, but in recent days, Adelson has signaled he will put his wealth behind establishment Republican candidates. The super PAC, Winning Our Future, ended last month with $5.76 million in its account, having raised $5.05 million while...

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein woke to a headache yesterday. One of his vice presidents chose to resign via the New York Times opinion page, saying that he no longer wanted to take unfair advantage of the firm’s customers. But the people who should go to bed worried tonight are New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Goldman’s PR crisis is New York’s fiscal crisis. Goldman veteran Greg Smith wrote that he was leaving the company after nearly 12 years because its culture was “as toxic and destructive” as he’d ever seen. He claimed that Goldman’s business model...

US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday released hundreds of pages from files on Michael Jackson, revealing the agency assisted in the child molestation probes involving the late pop icon. Responding to requests from various media organisations, the FBI issued more than 300 pages of documents relating to Jackson, who died in June at the age of 50 following an overdose of prescription drugs. The documents contained no new information about Jackson's mysterious death, which is the subject of a criminal investigation targeting the singer's personal physician, Conrad Murray. However the papers reveal information about a 1992 extortion plot involving...

The Kansas City International Airport has added several foot-washing basins in restrooms to accommodate a growing number of Muslim taxicab drivers who requested the facilities to prepare for daily Islamic prayer, WND has learned. The move concerns airport police who worry about Middle Eastern men loitering inside the building. After 9/11, the airport beefed up its police force to help prevent terrorist attacks. "Why are we constructing places of worship for them inside our airports?" said an airport official who requested anonymity. "Why are we catering to their rituals? We don't do it for any other religion." Other major airports...