Free Republic

A man-on-street video. The University of Michigan took some pretty big steps toward stifling free speech on its campus this month with its “Inclusive Language” program. They’ve even gone as far as to create a list of “unacceptable words”. Just how important is the 1st amendment to students today. I’m pretty sure that after watching the video, you’ll feel more compelled to protect the 1st amendment than ever before!

Julia Roberts as Mother Nature: She Wants to Kill Us A new environmentalist video calls mankind puny and threatens to wipe us out. By Jason Jones & John Zmirak Published on February 15, 2015Julia Roberts delivers a stone-cold video message from Gaia, courtesy of Conservation International. There is something bracing and powerful in this little film. We moderns surely do need to be reminded that material reality poses stark limitations on our narcissistic desires. We can’t foul our nest, wreck the only known habitable planet and expect it to magically fix itself. Thus far, we’re on board with Julia.Check the...

Mouthwatering photos of school lunches served around the world reveal even children in Ukraine, Estonia and Greece are treated to delectable meals each day. School children in America, meanwhile, aren't nearly so lucky. Whereas a kid in France might be treated to a juicy steak and a hunk of brie, the richest country in the world's youths are more likely to receive unidentified meat served alongside little more than a starch like white pasta, fries or a roll. The contrasts between America's school meals and those in far less fortunate economies are stark and suggest Michelle Obama's push for more...

The hunt for Earth-like planets around distant stars could soon become a lot easier thanks to a technique developed by researchers in Germany. In a paper published today, 18 February, in the New Journal of Physics, the team of researchers have successfully demonstrated how a solar telescope can be combined with a piece of technology that has already taken the physics world by storm—the laser frequency comb (LFC). It is expected the technique will allow a spectral analysis of distant stars with unprecedented accuracy, as well as advance research in other areas of astrophysics, such as detailed observations of the...

Alan Turing and the New Emergentists Erik J. Larson February 18, 2015 4:29 AM | Permalink The acclaimed Alan Turing biographical film The Imitation Game is up for multiple Oscars on Sunday. It is a tale of Turing as a tragic hero and misunderstood genius, irascible, certainly idiosyncratic, who insinuates himself into a job interview at Bletchley Park as a self-proclaimed mathematical genius, which later is born out as true. He "invents" the digital computer to solve the decryption challenge posed by the German Enigma machines, and thus saves the Allied powers from Hitler.  The film is a human-interest story,...

Three restaurant guests sit around the table eating, when one of them flips over the tray and tosses it away. Waiter runs toward them right away, apparently eager to find out why he did not enjoy his meal, so he could try to rectify it. As the guest continued acting like a prick, another member of the restaurant teams came over to enquire how he could be of assistance. The guest quickly turned to a bully and threw plates and utensils in his face. Then out of nowhere, a young ninja girl showed up and utilizing a high kick, removed...

ANKENY, Iowa —The Ankeny School Board voted unanimously Monday to accept the resignation of a teacher who police said was intoxicated and had been in her classroom. The vote was made Monday evening. Police said they were called to East Elementary School at 710 SE 3rd St. at 2 p.m. after receiving a report that a teacher was observed with a can of beer in her classroom. Police said the teacher was taken into custody after testing positive during a preliminary breath test. A bag in her classroom had two empty cans of beer and four additional full cans of...

Oklahoma lawmaker seeks to do away with AP history courses, says they emphasize ‘what is bad about America’ Lawmakers argue that AP courses are similar to Common Core and that they violate legislation since Common Core was repealed last year.

Following the footsteps of a public elementary school in Flushing, Queens, another public school in New York City has decided to go vegetarian. The Peck Slip School in lower Manhattan announced Monday that it will only be serving students plant-based meals due to its benefits not only for the kids but the planet as well, becoming the second non-charter public school in the U.S. to do so. […] The implementation of the vegetarian menu was done with the help of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a non profit dedicated to getting whole foods into schools across the New York...

A Firewall Between Science and Culture? Questions and Answers with John West, Author of Darwin Day in America Evolution News & Views February 16, 2015 12:27 AM | Permalink ENV: What is "Darwin Day," and why is your book titled Darwin Day in America?West: "Darwin Day" is Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12. There is a growing movement around the world to turn the day into a kind of secular holy day complete with its own rituals to honor Darwin. These Darwin Day celebrations expose just how much Darwinian evolution is like a secular religion for many of its proponents. At...

JACKSON, MI - Marion Blumenthal Lazan has experienced the horror of constantly having death on her mind. Blumenthal Lazan spent six and a half years in refugee, transit and prison camps, including the infamous Bergen-Belsen, during the Holocaust. As just a child she battled mental and physical hurdles, witnessing countless deaths each day. "When I talk about those years it is a long related nightmare, a very bad dream," Blumenthal Lazan said. "I separate myself from it ever having happen to me and that is how I deal with it." On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Blumenthal Lazan shared her story of...

It’s going to be a lot harder to suspend unruly students under the first overhaul of the public-school disciplinary code announced Friday by the de Blasio administration. No longer will inappropriate clothes, profanity and insubordination earn students an automatic boot from class. Principals will have to get permission from the Department of Education run by Chancellor Carmen Fariña before kicking out kids who talk back to teachers.

Do you agree? Good, then please pass this little summary to everyone you know. Or were you thinking, that’s crazy talk. Afraid not. It’s quite accurate, comparable to saying, “The sky is blue.” Reading instruction in our country has been insane and/or a criminal conspiracy for 80 years. The resulting illiteracy is a giant hemorrhaging wound. We cannot have a successful school system or a successful civilization unless children typically learn to read in the first grade or two. This is the 60th year since Rudolf Flesch wrote his famous book explaining why Johnny cannot read. Everything Flesch said in...

CINCINNATI, An Ohio teacher with a phobia of young children lost an appeal accusing her former district of failing to accommodate her disability. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati rejected the appeal from Maria Waltherr-Willard, 63, who had accused the Mariemont district of age discrimination and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Waltherr-Willard, a French and Spanish teacher, alleged the district knew she suffered from pedophobia, a fear of small children, when she was transferred in 2009 from Mariemont High School to the district's middle school. The teacher, who retired in January 2011...

(CBS) — We’ve been telling you about families whose children were diagnosed as intersex not clearly male or female. WBBM’s Steve Miller spoke with adults who underwent surgery as newborns and have faced a lifetime of grief. He was born in 1966 and grew up in a small Indiana town of about 800. His name is Alex McCorry

I follow Hoover on twitter. I guess they are part of a federal task force or symposium on cyber security....good enough.... But lately their tweets seem awfully infatuated with the fact that they are getting some face time with Hussein. As if Valerie's ward REALLY CARES about protecting Americans..... The same team that has the NSA monitoring every American suddenly wants to be sure we are secure? Don't make me laugh.

Today is the 206th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a day now celebrated by some as Darwin Day. Darwin, of course, is best known for his theory of evolution through natural selection. When Darwin's work was first made public in 1859, it shocked Britain's religious establishment. And while today it is accepted by virtually all scientists, evolutionary theory is still rejected by many Americans, often because it conflicts with their religious beliefs about divine creation.

Happy Darwin Day? If Darwin Day devotees want to be viewed as more than the mere members of a quirky cult, they need to start engaging their thoughtful critics. By John West Published on February 12, 2015 Today is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and enthusiasts around the globe will be marking the occasion with special dinners, lectures, birthday parties and more.Darwin boosters often insist they are inspired simply by a disinterested commitment to science, while their critics are motivated primarily by religion. But Darwin Day festivities make it painfully obvious that many promoters of Darwinian theory are just as interested...

A Florida school board has made a controversial decision to ban the distribution of religious and political material in its schools. The Orange County School Board previously allowed copies of the Bible in their schools, but they decided to reconsider the policy after receiving a request from the Satanic Temple to hand out Satanic coloring books. The board decided that to avoid legal action, it had to ban Bibles and any other religious material from being passed out to students. …

19-year-old Alecia Faith Pennington has spent her life so sheltered by her Christian fundamentalist parents that now, as a young adult, she is finding it almost impossible to prove to the government that she actually exists. In a video uploaded to YouTube and quickly going viral, Pennington documents the various ways her parents have managed to prevent leaving even a single speck of evidence to help her gain an official identity or to prove that she is a United States citizen. For starters, they gave birth to her at home, and declined to get a birth certificate or social security...