Free Republic

*The racist backlash against "The Little Mermaid" is impacting the film's reviews on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). According to People, Disney’s live-action re-imagining of the beloved 1989 animated classic is getting a lot of “unusual activity” on IMDB, specifically when it comes to ratings for the movie. The film opened Friday to $117 million at the domestic box office over Memorial Day Weekend. According to The Washington Post, "The Little Mermaid" received 41,000 user ratings on IMDB but more than 39 percent of the ratings are 1 star, Variety reports. IMDb revised its rating system as a result of...

Here is my "brilliant" idea. Stay on sites like FB. But post on a regular basis that you REFUSE to do business with ANY of their advertisers. It is very simple to do. And, if enough people did it, it should send a clear message that makes BT (and their sponsors) nervous. Meanwhile, you continue using their resources.

The newly rebellious senator has become an outspoken dissident in Trump’s Republican Party, just in time for the president’s impeachment trial..... Mitt Romney is leaning forward in his chair, his eyes flashing, his voice sharp. It’s a strange look for the 72-year-old senator, who typically affects a measured, somber tone when discussing Donald Trump’s various moral deficiencies. But after weeks of escalating combat with the president—over Ukraine, and China, and Syria, and impeachment—the gentleman from Utah suddenly appears ready to unload.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) issued a statement Friday tearing into President Donald Trump over the Mueller report, declaring he was “sickened” by its findings. Romney wrote, in a statement posted to Twitter, that it was “good news” Mueller’s team found insufficient evidence to charge Trump with conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election. “The business of government can move on,” he said. “Even so, I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President,” Romney continued. “I am also appalled that, among other things, fellow...

Bezos — a self-described “family man” — has been whisking his mistress off to exotic destinations on his $65 million private jet, sending her raunchy messages and erotic selfies — including one steamy picture too explicit to print here — and having secret rendezvous at palatial private estates. During a blockbuster four-month investigation, The ENQUIRER tracked Bezos, who turns 55 on Jan. 12, and secret lover Sanchez across five states and 40,000 miles, tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and “quality time” in hidden love nests.

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s widely criticized response to white supremacist violence in Virginia has left Democrats in a quandary: how to seize the moral high ground without getting sucked into a politically perilous culture war. Democrats have denounced Trump for blaming “both sides” for deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and, more recently, for defending Confederate monuments. But the party faces a complex task: While addressing race and history in ways that reflect the party’s values, Democrats also need to focus on issues like jobs and the economy that resonate with a wider range of voters, including white independents,...

Desperate parents and friends have been searching frantically for loved ones after the terror attack on the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday night. Fourteen people have been confirmed missing by family and friends following the attack by Salman Abedi that killed 22, among them youngsters. Scores were also injured in the suicide bomb attack outside the main arena at around 10.30pm, after the US singer's performance.  Nell Jones A 14-year-old girl, believed to have been using crutches on the night of the concert, has been reported missing. Members of her family are in Manchester searching for her. Her cousin, Hollie Webb, wrote...

Facebook now offers more than 50 ways for users to identify their gender. Says one exec, “Gender neutral is kind of the new thing.” With Bruce Jenner’s transition to Caitlyn, transgender issues have become front and center in the mainstream cultural conversation. But among many young people, there is a much bigger conversation going on about gender. The whole notion of “binary” — female and male — gender norms is being seen as limiting, and unnecessary. At elite liberal arts colleges like Vassar and Wesleyan, students have earnest conversations about gender being a “social construct,” and bathrooms are “gender neutral,”...

Denial. Denial is safe. Comforting. Religiously and relentlessly abused by politicians who don't want nor can face reality. A word synonymous with "muddle through." Ah yes, that "muddle through" which so many C-grade economists and pundits believe is the long-term status quo for the US and the world just because it worked for Japan for the past three decades, or, said otherwise, "just because." Well, too bad. As the following absolutely must read report, which comes not from some trader of dubious credibility interviewed by BBC, nor even from an impassioned executive from a doomed Italian bank, but from consultancy...

WASHINGTON (AP) - China's drive to transform itself into a major military power is being pursued in a secretive manner that increases the potential for misunderstanding and military conflict with other nations, the Pentagon says in a new report. The Defense Department's annual assessment, released Monday, says Beijing is upgrading its hefty arsenal of land-based missiles, modernizing its nuclear forces and expanding its fleet of attack submarines. The effort comes as China has suspended military-to-military talks with the U.S., which could reassure the U.S. about the motives behind Beijing's military buildup. U.S.-China relations have been particularly strained in recent months,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eye-popping health insurance premium increases of up to 39 percent are not an exception but a worrisome sign of the times, the Obama administration said in a report Thursday. Proposed premium increases by Anthem Blue Cross for Californians purchasing their own coverage set off a wave of criticism and forced the company last week to announce a postponement. Now, the Health and Human Services Department says similar pressure on premiums is being felt in at least six other states. "This shocking increase isn't unique," said the report, being presented by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a news conference...

The White House Friday highlighted a new multi-million-dollar technology fund for Muslim nations, following a pledge made by President Barack Obama in his landmark speech to the Islamic world. The White House said the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) had issued a call for proposals for the fund, which will provide financing of between 25 and 150 million dollars for selected projects and funds. The Global Technology and Innovation Fund will "catalyze and facilitate private sector investments" throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the White House said in a statement

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats on a House committee are seeking detailed financial records from dozens of large insurance companies, officials disclosed Tuesday, part of an investigation into "executive compensation and other business practices" in an industry opposed to President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul health care. The request included records relating to compensation of highly paid employees, documents relating to companies' premium income and claims payments, and information on expenses stemming from any event held outside company facilities in the past 2 1/2 years.

CLERMONT - Clermont police have interviewed one suspect who is admitting to putting up the dozens of posters pasted around the city depicting President Obama as the Joker character from the Batman film The Dark Knight, city officials confirmed. Assistant City Manager Darren Gray said city officials have an individual "admitting to putting up 500" of the posters. Clermont Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the male individual has admitted to putting up some signs, but investigators suspect others were involved and their investigation is continuing

The Science and Public Policy Institute announces the publication of Climate Money, a study by Joanne Nova revealing that the federal Government has a near-monopsony on climate science funding. This distorts the science towards self-serving alarmism. Key findings: The US Government has spent more than $79 billion of taxpayers’ money since 1989 on policies related to climate change, including science and technology research, administration, propaganda campaigns, foreign aid, and tax breaks. Most of this spending was unnecessary.....

ISLAMABAD – Taliban militants from Pakistan's Swat Valley are tightening their grip on a neighboring northwest district closer to the capital — patrolling roads, broadcasting sermons and spreading fear in another sign that a government-backed peace deal has emboldened the extremists to spread their reign. Pakistan's president signed off on the peace pact last week in hopes of calming Swat, where some two years worth of clashes between the Taliban and security forces have killed hundreds and displaced up to a third of the one-time tourist haven's 1.5 million residents. The agreement covers Swat and other districts in the Malakand...

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Production of steel, cement, chemicals and other energy-intensive products could move overseas unless a proposed bill to fight global warming gives U.S. manufacturers tax breaks or other subsidies, an industry coalition told lawmakers on Tuesday. "If the U.S. enacts tough global warming regulation but other key manufacturing nations do not, production of energy-intensive goods may well shift to the unregulated countries," said John McMackin on behalf of the Energy-Intensive Manufacturers' Working Group. The coalition includes steel companies US Steel (X.N) and Nucor (NUE.N), paper producer NewPage Corp_[NEWPG.UL], aluminum manufacturer Alcoa (AA.N) and chemicals giant Dow...

Over the years, some of my wildest critics seem to have assumed I am Jewish. At the same time, some of my closest friends wish I were. So let me set the record straight: I live in New York. I have a wife who craves Chinese food. And people I trust tell me I practically invented the word "chutzpah."

James Hansen, a climate modeller with Nasa, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. "The democratic process doesn't quite seem to be working," he said.

BEIJING (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wants China to continue investing in the United States because the two countries' financial futures are closely tied together. "I certainly do think that the Chinese government and central bank are making a smart decision by continuing to invest in Treasury bonds," she said during an interview Sunday with the popular talk show "One on One.""It's a safe investment. The United States has a well-deserved financial reputation." To boost the economy, the U.S has to incur more debt, she said, shortly before departing for Washington. "It would not be in...