Free Republic

The year 2015 was a dismal one for American public education — at least by the numbers. But don’t blame the kids. Parents are missing in action. Except most Asian-American parents, that is. They tend to oversee their children’s homework, stress the importance of earning high grades and instill the belief that hard work is the ticket to a better life. And it pays off. Their children are soaring academically.

Camille Cosby to speak on the record: Judge rules Bill Cosby's wife must give deposition in defamation suit brought against him by seven of his alleged victims Bill Cosby's wife Camille will be forced to give a deposition in a defamation case brought against her embattled husband by seven of his alleged victims. Camille and her lawyers had filed a motion on Wednesday arguing that she should not have to testify against her husband or share any information from private conversations between the two, but a judge in Massachusetts dismissed her entire motion on Thursday. This means that Camille is...

The dabate continues: do we stick to our principles, or do we run to the middle? Since Romney’s shocking defeat, this debate has taken on a new sense of urgency, with the thinking that if Obama was reelected, even Hillary can win this thing?!? Nobody changed teams, obviously…. The moderates remained moderates, and are “now more then ever”, energized to crush the right wing, that “cost us” an important election…. The conservatives, are equally incredulous, and fear a do-over with another moderate, will net us exactly the same results as last time…. THIS DABATE ACTUALLY SEEMS TO BE, BETWEEN REASON...

Feds seize over $1 million in cash hidden by disgraced Massachusetts politician Over $1 million was seized as part of the federal investigation into John George Jr., the disgraced former state representative and selectman from Dartmouth, who once represented the 9th Bristol District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. George hid the cash in safe deposit boxes he kept at banks in New Bedford and Fall River, according to investigators. Conor Berry cberry@repub.com BOSTON -- More than $1 million in cash. Stuffed into safe deposit boxes. Filled to the brim with wads of $100s, $50s, $20s ... The money was...

A man in Massachusetts says someone has been stealing Donald Trump signs from his yard for months. He has finally caught the thief red-handed. Joe Ricci says this was the final straw. Surveillance video captured what he says has been going on for months. Someone taking those big blue "Trump" signs right out of his yard. "He saw my truck wasn't in the driveway, so he grabs the sign and off he runs." His camera is close enough and clear enough, he says, to identify the person in the video as his neighbor's teenaged son. We blurred his face because...

John George - a former Massachusetts state representative who was convicted earlier this year for embezzling money from a taxpayer-subsidized bus company he owned - is in hot water again for not properly reporting $1 million in cash hidden in safety deposit boxes. The disgraced Democrat was required to disclose his financial assets before being sentenced in July of 2015. George "only reported about $160,000 in bank accounts and another $28,000 in cash," according to Boston's WCVB. Just this week, however, U.S. Marshals gained access to safety deposit boxes owned by George and discovered more than $1 million cash in...

The First Amendment right to freedom of religion seems to be utterly meaningless to liberals in government today as they continue to make rulings that are the equivalent of ripping the Constitution to pieces and wiping their backsides with it. Courts in Massachusetts are now telling Catholic schools they have no choice but to hire homosexuals, despite the fact doing so goes against their beliefs. This is exactly why separation of church and state exists. Not to keep God out of government, but government out of the church. From Christian News: A state court in Massachusetts has ruled that a...

Prosecutors: Gun used to kill Officer Sean Collier . A man who loaned a gun used by the Boston Marathon bombers to kill a police officer was sentenced Tuesday to the 17 months he has already served and apologized, saying his actions were "dumb." I was young, dumb, and thought I could outsmart everyone," 22-year-old Stephen Silva told a judge in U.S. District Court. He pleaded guilty to gun and heroin distribution charges last year.

Republicans on Monday blasted Secretary of State John Kerry for suggesting in a letter to his Iranian counterpart that the administration could help the country get around new visa restrictions passed by Congress. Instead of bending over backwards to try to placate the Iranian regime, the White House needs to be holding it accountable for its recent missile tests, its continued support for terrorism, and its wrongful imprisonment of Americans, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif ... Kerry responded to these concerns in a Dec. 19 letter to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif -- and suggested the...

Donald Trump has to be happy seeing this: he is leading Marco Rubio by 23 percentage points in the Overtime Politics Massachusetts primary poll. The surprising thing here is that Ted Cruz isn't sitting in 2nd, but instead he's an additional 5 points behind Rubio at 12%. Since this is the first poll taken after the Dec. 17th debate, it looks like Cruz's comments about carpet bombing Syrian cities may have backfired. Poll Results: Donald Trump – 40% Marco Rubio – 17% Ted Cruz – 12% Ben Carson – 7% Jeb Bush – 5% Rand Paul – 3% Chris Christie...

BOSTON, Massachusetts, December 21, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – A Massachusetts judge sided with a practicing homosexual who sued a Catholic school for acting to uphold its Catholic identity. In a first of its kind case, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins ruled that Fontbonne Academy discriminated against Matthew Barrett for his sexual orientation and gender in violation of State law when it withdrew a job offer in 2013. Barrett had been offered the position of food services director at the all-girls Catholic prep school in Milton, MA, but the offer was later rescinded after Barrett had listed another man as his...

An all-girls Catholic prep school in Massachusetts violated state anti-discrimination law by rescinding a job offer to a man in a same-sex marriage, a judge ruled. Matthew Barrett was offered a job as Fontbonne Academy's food services director in 2013, but the offer was withdrawn days later after he listed his husband as his emergency contact. Barrett sued, alleging that the Milton school discriminated against him based on sexual orientation and gender. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins agreed, rejecting Fontbonne's claim that hiring Barrett would infringe on its constitutional rights because it views his marriage to a man as...

A Massachusetts Superior Court judge has ruled that a Catholic school committed sex discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination against a gay man when it rescinded the offer of a food services job to him because he is married to another man. Matt Barrett filed a discrimination suit against Fontbonne Academy after he said the school pulled a job offer after he listed his husband as his emergency contact. Barrett was hired by the all girls Catholic school in Milton in July 2013. But two days later he was asked to return to the school. He said they rescinded the offer...

A state court in Massachusetts has ruled that a Catholic preparatory school violated the state’s antidiscrimination law when it rescinded a job offer to a man because he was married to another man. Matthew Barrett had accepted a job as Food Service Director at the Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic girls school. On his employment forms, he listed his husband as his emergency contact — a move that led the school to rescind the job offer.

A Massachusetts teenager accused of raping and brutally killing his high school math teacher in 2013 was found guilty of first-degree murder on Tuesday. Philip Chism, 16, was also found guilty of raping Danvers High teacher Colleen Ritzer in the high school bathroom and stealing her underwear, but not guilty of raping her in the woods outside the school. Members of Ritzer's family cried uncontrollably in the courtroom on Tuesday as the verdict was read. Chism showed no emotion, but his mother sobbed quietly as she learned her son's fate. Ritzer, 24, was a popular teacher doing her dream job,...

It seems a majority of Massachusetts voters actually prefer boring to blustery. In a recent poll that gauged support for governors across the United States, Baker earned a 74 percent approval rating from Massachusetts residents, a level of support no other governor could reach. How does Baker make boring so appealing? He seems to have figured out three qualities that are critical for getting things done, even in a state where his own Republican party is still a distinct minority. For one thing, he plays well with others. Unlike his predecessors, Baker goes out of his way to make nice...

After a landlord was convicted of pushing her Muslim tenant down a flight of stairs, a judge ordered her to respect the rights of all Muslims and to take an introductory course on Islam. Now the highest court in Massachusetts is being asked to decide whether the judge violated the landlord's constitutional rights. The Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments next month in a case that poses interesting legal questions at a time when the country is grappling with anti-Muslim backlash following deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, both allegedly carried out by radical Muslims. The case centers...

Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday he does not believe that "the American people, who predominantly do believe in what is happening with climate change," will elect a president who does not "understand climate change" or is not committed to the type of global agreement reached in Paris. "I think, frankly, a lot of members of Congress are on the wrong side of history, and I don't believe you can be elected president of the United States if you don't understand climate change and you're not committed to this kind of a plan," Kerry told ABC's "This Week" from...

Kerry Says Paris Agreement Crafted To Avoid Congress By SARAH WESTWOOD 12/13/15 10 Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the climate agreement reached this week in Paris did not contain any enforcement provisions because Congress would not have approved them. "It doesn't have mandatory targets for reduction and it doesn't have an enforcement, compliance mechanism," Kerry said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday." Kerry said such mechanisms were not included because Congress would have refused to greenlight the deal. Binding legal requirements would have made the Paris agreement a treaty, requiring approval from two-thirds of the Senate. Because...

The mother of a Foxborough High School student says a photo of her daughter with an American flag was rejected by the school for being "offensive." In a widely shared Facebook post, Lisa Truax wrote that the Red Wing Diner, which employs her daughter, purchased a page in the school yearbook to congratulate her. The photo shows her daughter posing in front of a draped American flag. "Does anyone find this photo offensive? Apparently Foxboro High School finds it offensive," Truax wrote. "They won't allow the picture in the yearbook because it's the American flag. We are American! We live...