Free Republic

Subway announced Wednesday it is banning the open carry of firearms in restaurants across the nation. WRAL reports the ban applies even in states where open carry is legal. Guns.com notes Subway’s firearm policy now says the restaurant chain requests “guests (other than authorized law enforcement) refrain from openly displaying firearms inside restaurants — even in states where ‘open carry’ is permitted.”

Patrick Harrington is sitting on a rock high on a hilltop...his head in his hands. The owner of Kindness Yoga, and one of the most well-known yogis in Denver, is struggling to piece together the words to explain what happened — in the span of a week — to his once-stellar reputation and his 19-year-old business. He is stunned, though remorseful. He is eager to speak up, yet on edge for fear of saying anything that could make all of this any worse. Harrington, a straight, white guy who expanded Kindness to nine studios and 160 employees across metro Denver,...

Berlin’s Mohrenstraße (Moor Street) underground station is set to be renamed due to racism concerns. While the name of the station has been criticized for decades, the debate came to a head in recent weeks on the back of Black Lives Matter protests across Germany and the world. During one Black Lives Matter protest, demonstrators covered the station’s name with cardboard to “rename” it as “George Floyd Street”. BVG, the city’s transit authority, announced on Friday said the time for the debate surrounding the station’s name has come to an end. …

The Cleveland Indians said Friday it will consider changing its name amid civil unrest over systemic racism and police brutality. “We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality,” the team said in a statement Friday. “Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community. “We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization...

Before getting to the meat of this story, I should probably start with a bit of disclosure. When I was younger, I used to play Dungeons and Dragons. I mean… I played it a lot. Probably obsessively. It started when I was in the Navy, but carried on well into my thirties. That fact is probably what later led me to become somewhat addicted to the online roleplaying game Everquest. So yes… I was one of those nerds.

Most of Facebook’s top 100 advertisers have not joined the boycott against the social media website and its sibling website Instagram, according to a CNN Business analysis released Wednesday. Hundreds of companies have pledged to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram for a month-long boycott as a protest of how the social media company has handled hate speech and misinformation. But CNN Business’s analysis based on data from market research firm Pathmatics found most of Facebook’s top 100 advertisers, like Walmart, American Express and Home Depot, have not joined the boycott set to begin Wednesday. Out of the 25 biggest...

(AP) PARIS – French cosmetics giant L’Oreal said Saturday that it will remove words like “whitening” from its skin care products, a move that comes amid global protests against racism sparked by the death of George Floyd in the United States. The company said in a statement Saturday that it “has decided to remove the words white/whitening, fair/fairness, light/lightening from all its skin evening products.” L’Oreal’s decision follows a similar move by Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever on Thursday. It is among a number of companies that have been the target of criticism in the wake of Floyd’s death following his arrest...

New York (AFP) – Sports giant Nike reported a surprise loss Thursday as shutdowns due to COVID-19 prompted a big drop in revenues in spite of higher online sales. Nike reported a loss of $790 million in the quarter ending May 31, which translated to a loss of 51 cents per share compared with analyst expectations for nine cents per share in profit. Revenues tumbled 38 percent to $6.3 billion following huge declines in sales in most of the world. In North America, the company’s biggest operating region, revenues plunged 46 percent to $2.2 billion. A bright spot was online...

Packet rice brand Uncle Ben’s, a staple in cupboards and larders across Britain, is set to be re-branded amid anti-racism protests across the world by the Black Lives Matter movement. In a move they hope will “help put an end to racial injustices”, bosses behind the well-known brand have today revealed they are set to “evolve” the visual identity of its products, which are sold in thousands of supermarkets and shops across the UK. It comes as bosses behind American syrup brand Aunt Jemima, which has in the past been available in UK supermarkets, also announced they would be changing...

The ORIGINAL NEVER TRUMPER Hue Hewitt Now Promoting IT IS OK to kneel for the NATIONAL ANTHEM because it does NOT mean what it use to. Turn off Hugh Hewitt!!

The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix will get a new name and image, Quaker Oats announced Wednesday, saying the company recognizes that "Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype." The 130-year-old brand features a Black woman named Aunt Jemima, who was originally dressed as a minstrel character. The picture has changed over time, and in recent years Quaker removed the “mammy” kerchief from the character to blunt growing criticism that the brand perpetuated a racist stereotype that dated to the days of slavery. But Quaker, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, said removing the image and name...

By force-feeding its viewers an unwanted diet of systemic racism and social justice, ESPN has thinned its viewership to an all-time low. The blundering miscalculation sank ESPN's audience this week to the lowest numbers in its 41-year history. Good luck defending this hair-brained strategy to your advertisers, ESPN. Clay Travis, of Fox Sports Radio and a frequent ESPN "Woke Center" critic, put it all into perspective on his Outkick The Coverage blog.: "The network, which has become more left wing than MSNBC and CNN combined over the past several weeks, has completely abandoned sports coverage. The result? Viewers, many of...

The NFL is committing $250 million over 10 years to social justice initiatives, targeting what it calls “systemic racism” and supporting “the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by African Americans.” The league, which has raised $44 million in donations through its Inspire Change program, announced the additional $206 million commitment Thursday. It plans to “work collaboratively with NFL players to support programs to address criminal justice reform, police reforms, and economic and educational advancement.”

Little Britain has been removed from Netflix, BBC iPlayer and BritBox amid concerns that the use of blackface characters on the series is no longer acceptable. In an apparent reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests, Netflix pulled the Matt Lucas, 46, and David Walliams, 48, series on Friday, along with the pair’s other comedy Come Fly With Me.Then yesterday the BBC and BritBox both confirmed they had also decided to remove Little Britain saying “times have changed” since the show first aired. The shows include scenes where the comedians portray characters from different ethnic backgrounds with the use of...

June is Pride Month, which means it's officially time to celebrate and support the LGBTQIA+ community with parades, marches, and other events. At least, that's what it means most years. Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pride will have to look a little different in 2020. But then, it's never been all about the festivities anyway. Whether you're a part of the LGBTQIA+ community or not, we've uncovered a variety of ways to take action during the month of June—from asking people about their preferred pronouns, to supporting businesses owned by LGBTQIA+ people.

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WJAR) — Military and police discounts will no longer be offered at Allie's Donuts, according to a statement posted on its Facebook and Instagram pages. "A note to the officer who profiled the Providence firefighter the other night: That is an example of terrible job performance," Allie's wrote in a story on its Instagram page Saturday. "If you were an athlete, you'd be cut from your team. If you were our employee, we would fire you immediately. But, you are a police officer. And despite being the ones responsible for protecting the law, you may be considered...

Ben & Jerry’s has put out a call for customers and ice-cream lovers to “dismantle white supremacy” and “grapple with the sins of our past” as sweeping protests over the in-custody death of George Floyd roar on across the country. “All of us at Ben & Jerry’s are outraged about the murder of another Black person by Minneapolis police officers last week and the continued violent response by police against protesters,” they said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday. “We have to speak out. We have to stand together with the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression because of...

Toy company Lego requested Tuesday that marketing affiliates immediately cease advertising several of its law enforcement-related products and to even pull them from websites "in light of recent events," as protests rage nationwide over the death of George Floyd.

A Department of Defense adviser resigned, effective immediately, from the military's science board citing what he believed to be a violation of conduct from Defense Secretary Mark Esper. In his resignation letter, James Miller Jr., the former under secretary of defense for policy from 2012 to 2014, recalled that he swore an oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States ... and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same," similar to what the defense secretary had done before he took office. "On Monday, June 1, 2020, I believe that you violated that oath,"...

Left-wing actor and comedian Seth Rogen launched a profanity filled rant at his followers who disagreed with his support for the anti-police Black Lives Matter movement, urging them to unfollow him and even telling them they don’t “deserve” his movies. Rogen posted a photo on Instagram on Monday reiterating his support for the movement, with the caption: “If this is a remotely controversial statement to you, feel free to unfollow me.”