Free Republic

Students at Le Moyne College in upstate New York are calling on the school to cancel the upcoming commencement speech by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. More than 600 people have signed the Change.org petition, which criticizes the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York for, among other things, his stance on “sexual violence.” The petition states that Le Moyne “does not, in any way, support sexual violence.” …

Quick! The bad guy/super villain has left the room! Plug in a mysterious device that’ll hack up their computer while an on-screen progress bar ticks forward to convey to the audience that things are working! It’s a classic scene from basically every spy movie in history. In this case, however, that mystery device is real. Samy Kamkar — developer of projects like that massive worm that conquered MySpace back in 2006, or SkyJack, the drone that hijacks other drones — has released a video demonstrating the abilities of a particularly ridiculous “necklace” he sometimes wears around. Called USBdriveby, it’s a...

It is since 2012 that the Vatican, under Pope Benedict XVI, spoke of the “State of Palestine” in its official documents. So the decision of the Holy See to recognize this non-existent state should not be a surprise. But the treaty is the first legal and bilateral document in which the Vatican speaks of the “State of Palestine” and no more of the “Organization for the Liberation of Palestine” (PLO): it is, in fact, an official recognition. A symbolic and historic breakthrough. When the Vatican recognized Israel, at the beginning of the Nineties, it happened within the framework of Oslo...

I wonder if any college level literature courses teach George Orwell’s 1984 anymore. They evidently don’t teach it at the University of Colorado-Boulder, judging by a new campaign launched by the school to urge students to report the names of those responsible for any “bias-motivated incident” via an online form.The Campus Fix: The “Bias Incident Reporting” effort aims to “address the impact of demeaning and hurtful statements as well as acts of intolerance directed towards protected classes,” CU Boulder’s website states.Examples of bias, according to a corresponding poster campaign highlighting the reporting system, include calling people names or making...

Canada’s largest union of elementary teachers is hosting an event next week aimed at training teachers on how to push homosexuality in kindergarten through grade 8 by creating Gay-Straight-Alliance (GSAs) clubs in schools. “Attend this symposium to find out what others are doing and how you might begin or continue your own school’s GSA journey,” states the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) in its brochure about the May 22-23 event. Teachers attending the event will learn about “LGBTQ community resources and how to use them” in the classroom as well as how to “raise awareness” among children from the...

I am organizing the first annual "Prepper Fest & Survival Expo" in Grand Junction (Western Colorado), July 25th and am in need of some assistance. Specifically, I am seeking presenters who can present on a variety of Prepping, Homesteading, Sustainable Living, and general Survival topics. The presentations will be done in a classroom setting @ the venue, complete with A/V setup and PC/Projector. We will have the equipment necessary to do remote presentations, so this is not necessarily limited to those available to be @ the show. Each presentation should last approximately 45 minutes, and include an additional 15 minute...

The good news for my generation is that we finally make up a controlling portion of the working population. The bad news is, that there probably aren't enough blankies and nap rooms to accomodate all of us as we graduate into the real world. At least, as some of us graduate into the real world. Others of us have too many things to do to take time out of our day to cuddle stuffed animals and gripe to each other about the cultural appropriation and microagressions typically associated with the Patriarchy. Thankfully, college students have no such demands on their...

Law enforcement authorities have charged four people in connection with the theft of more than $870,000 from two public schools in Chicago through a fraudulent billing scheme, records show. Named in arrest warrants were: Jermaine Robinson, 36, of Chicago; Sidney Bradley, 46, of Chicago; Albert Bennett, 49, of Carpentersville; and Paul Simmons, 55, of Calumet City, according to Cook County court records. All four were charged with felony theft of government property, court records show. Cook County Judge Nicholas Ford on Tuesday set bail at $400,000 for Robinson and $200,000 for Bradley, Bennett and Simmons. Bennett and a fifth man...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday proposed the idea of public boarding schools, saying there are “just certain kids we should have 24/7.” “One idea that I threw out … is the idea of public boarding schools,” Duncan said at the National Summit on Youth Violence Prevention in Crystal City, Va. “That’s a little bit of a different idea—a controversial idea—but the question is do we have some children where there’s not a mom, there’s not a dad, there’s not a grandma, there’s just nobody at home? There’s just certain kids we should have 24/7 to really create a safe...

Ethicist Peter Singer Says Don't Pay to Treat Disabled Babies Wesley J. Smith May 12, 2015 7:16 PM | Permalink Peter Singer is a bigot. Rather than believing in universal human equality, he would invidiously measure the capacities of human beings to determine whether they are "persons." Those with insufficient capacities are to be deemed human "non-persons," of lesser moral value, and hence, potentially subject to both killing and objectification for harvesting, medical experimentation, etc. He also supports health care rationing based on quality of life. This blatant medical discrimination would victimize babies born with severe disabilities -- whose care,...

The record busting growth of Antarctic ice is threatening the viability of Australia’s Mawson Antarctic research station. According to The Australian; Satellite observations show a new daily record being set for ­Antarctic sea ice every day for the past two weeks. Annual records have also been broken every year for the past three years. Rob Wooding, general manager of the Australian Antarctic Division’s Operations Branch, said expanding sea ice was now causing serious problems. Last year, fuel supplies were flown to Australia’s Mawson base by helicopter because the harbour had failed to clear. Dr Wooding said the situation was “unsustainable”.

Astronomers have been arguing over just how many spiral arms our galaxy exhibits. Is the Milky Way a four or two-armed spiral galaxy? Astronomers had often assumed the Milky Way was potentially a four-armed spiral galaxy, but comparatively recent observations from NASA's Spitzer telescope implied the galaxy had two spiral arms. In 2013, astronomers mapped star forming regions and argued they had found the two missing arms, bringing the total number of arms back to four. The case for a four-armed Milky Way may have just gotten stronger. A team of Brazilian astronomers used star clusters embedded in their natal...

Divers in Madagascar have found a silver bar weighing about 50 kilograms (110 pounds) that they believe was part of the treasure of pirate Captain Kidd. The bar was presented to Madagascar's president, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, in a ceremony Thursday on the island of Sainte Marie, near the country's northeast coast. The bar was found in a bay off the island, the diving team said. The team was led by Barry Clifford, an American undersea explorer who has been searching for pirate treasure for many decades. Clifford believes there could be more treasure on the bay floor where he found the...

With the 25th anniversary of The Hubble Space Telescope fast approaching, Brady and Keith look at a priceless artefact - Sir Isaac Newton's very own reflecting telescope.

Brady and Keith look at some of The Royal Society's collection of standard weights and measures - including a particularly special one that even Keith had never unpacked before!

College should be a place of new ideas and challenging views. Instead, liberals have made it a place of fear and intimidation. The root of nearly every free-speech infringement on campuses across the country is that someone—almost always a liberal—has been offended or has sniffed out a potential offense in the making. Then, the silencing campaign begins. The offender must be punished, not just for justice’s sake, but also to send the message to anyone else on campus that should he or she stray off the leftist script, they too might find themselves investigated, harassed, ostracized, or even expelled. If...

Looks like it's legitimate, but I never saw this one before .... anyone ?

Link only due to copyright. WWII vet flies Spitefire for first time in 70 years