Free Republic

In a renewed drive to regulate the Internet, the FCC has announced scaled-back ambitions for Net Neutrality, but only after an appeals court ruling that the FCC had "overstepped its authority." To evade the court ruling, the FCC aims to impose Net Neutrality - equal treatment for all web traffic, compelled through government regulation - by "regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks."

Some people accuse me of “red-baiting” or “McCarthyite” tactics when I use the “M-word” (Marxism) or the “S-Word” (socialism) to describe McChesney, the Free Press, and the movement they have spawned. But these are labels with real meaning and ones that McChesney himself embraces in his work. In his 1999 book Rich Media, Poor Media, he says that “Media reform cannot win without widespread support and such support needs to be organized as part of a broad anti-corporate, pro-democracy movement.” He casts everything in “social justice” terms and speaks of the need “to rip the veil off [corporate] power, and...

Speaking out against the Iraq war left the Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon and her family facing death threats and a stream of vicious attacks from the public and the media, she reveals today. Sarandon, who is hoping to play 'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan in a film about the mother's protest over her son's death in Iraq, said she feared for her safety because of the 'horrifying' way in which she was targeted by newspapers, radio phone-ins and people in the street. In an interview on the Jonathan Dimbleby Programme that will be aired on ITV1 today, she said her stance...

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Monday that there is a climate of fear running through newsrooms stronger than he has ever seen in his more than four-decade career. Rather famously tangled with President Nixon and his aides during the Watergate years while Rather was a hard-charging White House correspondent. Addressing the Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan, occasionally forcing back tears, he said that in the intervening years, politicians "of every persuasion" had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a "new journalism...

VENICE, Italy (AFP) - US actor Tim Robbins took the film version of his ribald anti-Bush play "Embedded/Live" to the Venice film festival, while audiences delighted in Indian director Mira Nair's colourful adaptation of Thackeray's classic novel "Vanity Fair". Robbin's angry satire about the Bush administration's war in Iraq (news - web sites) and the complicity of the mainstream US media in its reporting from the early days of the war is the polar opposite of Nair's sumptuous examination of race and class. "Embedded" was born as a play in a 30-seat theatre in Los Angeles in July 2003 and...

Elton John has said stars are scared to speak out against war in Iraq because of "bullying tactics" used by the US government to hinder free speech. "There's an atmosphere of fear in America right now that is deadly. Everyone is too career-conscious," he told New York magazine, Interview. Sir Elton said performers could be "frightened by the current administration's bullying tactics", The singer likened the current "fear factor" to McCarthyism in the 1950s. "There was a moment about a year ago when you couldn't say a word about anything in this country for fear of your career being shot...

“Call you a waitperson?” I asked. What the hell was a waitperson? But that was what a girl told me to refer to her as after I called her a waitress. The year was 1991 and it was my first introduction to the totalitarian phenomenon known as “political correctness” or PC. I had been previously shielded from it, although my friends who graduated from Michigan or Michigan State were already well familiar with its iron requirements. I was lucky to have attended a Jesuit university which, back then, was devoid of a womyn’s studies program or a queer devotional center...

WASHINGTON – “Lethal Weapon” actor Danny Glover is the latest celebrity facing an icy brand of national pride that puts the pinch on public figures who question American foreign policy. A threatened boycott seeks to force telecommunications company MCI to dump Glover as its pitchman because of views he expressed about Cuba and against the Iraq war. Similar frostiness extended to the Dixie Chicks, and actors Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon when they came out against war in Iraq. Glover said this chill comes from right-wing factions that he denounced as self-appointed thought police. “It’s basically this rabid...

Thursday, May 1, 2003 5:30 p.m. PST William Morris Agency brings down web site critical of anti-war celebs HollywoodHalfwits.com The web site Boycott-Hollywood.us was shut down today due to legal measures brought by attorneys on behalf of the William Morris Agency, which represents various Hollywood celebrities. The web site was known for providing a platform for the public to exercise their free speech rights by commenting on actors who criticize President Bush and the war efforts. Apparently, free speech is a one way street in Hollywood. The law firm Rintala, Smoot, Jaenicke and Rees appealed to domain registrar Dotster.com and...

Our own personal wind chill Well, folks - it's been a blast and it's been fun. Apparently, our domain registrar (namesdirect.com - subsidiary of Dotster.com) have caved to the pressures of the William Morris Agency giant. On April 29, 2003, Dotster.com received a letter from the William Morris Agency in regards to this website. Their complaint accused us of liable and potentially other civil and criminal offenses. This is another fine example of how Hollywood feels that their opinion and view is the only one that matters. Average citizens are disallowed the free expression of our point of view because...

Tim Robbins’ histrionic speech at the National Press Club on Tuesday, was further evidence of the paranoid bubble-world the Hollywood left inhabits. It all began when he and his “partner,” actress Susan Sarandon, were invited to speak at baseball’s Hall of Fame awards, which were to coincide with the 15th anniversary of “Bull Durham,” a film in which they both starred. Their invitations were recently revoked by the hall’s president, Dale Petroskey, who didn’t feel like providing yet another platform for their hugely unpopular anti-war statements. Ever since, they--and a host of other slighted celebrity pundits--are carrying on as if...

TIM ROBBINS: Thank you. And thanks for the invitation. I had originally been asked here to talk about the war and our current political situation, but I have instead chosen to hijack this opportunity and talk about baseball and show business. (Laughter.) Just kidding. Sort of. I can't tell you how moved I have been at the overwhelming support I have received from newspapers throughout the country in these past few days. I hold no illusions that all of these journalists agree with me on my views against the war. While the journalists' outrage at the cancellation of our appearance...

CELEBAPPEAL Shielding stars from chill winds! Today's actors and pop musicians face challenges never before encountered by celebrities. Suddenly, it is no longer guaranteed that bashing one's country and leadership in time of war will automatically result in unwashed masses bleating like sheep and agreeing with every star utterance. With the onset of the Internet, talk radio, and alternate cable television news channels, the public is actually less willing to support unconditionally the golden words dripping from famous personalities. Radical leftist stars need your help! Don't let Susan, Tim, Janeane, Natalie, Michael, and others suffer. It's a First Amendment thing--because,...