Free Republic

AMHERST, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts at Amherst has banned Iranian nationals from admission to certain graduate programs in a move that school officials say aligns its policy with U.S. sanctions against Iran. The university will no longer admit students from Iran to some programs in engineering and natural sciences.

House Speaker John Boehner’s on-staff amnesty advocate Becky Tallent is in talks with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s potential presidential campaign for a job, meaning if she takes it she’d leave Boehner’s office. Tallent is former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)—having personally crafted the amnesty bill McCain and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced in the twilight years of the George W. Bush administration—and then also worked on immigration policy for the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Jeb’s team is looking to hire Rebecca for policy,” a former George W. Bush White House aide told Breitbart News. “The...

Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenberg is engaged. A spokesman for the Amherst Democrat confirmed Thursday that Rosenberg is planning to marry his domestic partner, Bryon Hefner. The two have been together since 2009. The relationship between the 65-year-old Rosenberg and the 27-year-old Hefner briefly became news last year after Hefner allegedly mocked outgoing Senate President Therese Murray on Twitter and boasted about his influence in the Legislature. That prompted Rosenberg to reassure his Democratic colleagues that he planned to enforce a "firewall" between his personal and professional lives. Rosenberg was elected by his fellow senators to replace Murray, who stepped...

The head of Boston's transit agency has abruptly quit her $220,000-a-year job after the closure of the area's transport service for more than 24 hours twice in the last fortnight. Beverly Scott, 63, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, announced her resignation in a letter to the board. She gave little explanation for her reasoning, but said she would work until April 11 to enable a smooth transition. In her resignation letter she said: 'During these past two years-plus, it has been an absolute pleasure and honor to serve with and lead this dedicated team of transit professionals...

MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott jetted off at taxpayer expense nearly every month during her two-plus-year tenure — sometimes several times a month — to conferences and meetings around the country, even as the troubled transit system was collapsing around her, a Herald review shows. A review of Scott’s monthly expense reports provided by the MBTA as part of public records request shows she spent 106 days traveling out of state while at the helm of the T, taking 30 trips in 24 months. During that time, Scott, who announced yesterday she’s stepping down in April, racked up $56,753 in...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker believes Mitt Romney is a "good man and would have been a good president," but now that the former Massachusetts governor has officially backed out of the 2016 race, Walker would like his support among the list of possible Republican presidential hopefuls. "I would love to have his endorsement," Walker told Fox News Channel's Bret Baier during a segment that aired Friday of an interview that will be running as part of a series surrounding potential 2016 candidates. At the same time, Walker said that he thinks it is "a time for new fresh ideas," and...

Based on historical patterns, the next president is likely to be a GenXer. This is not good news for the many baby boomers running, or thinking about running, in 2016. When voters decide it is time to move the presidency on to the next generation, they keep electing presidents in that next generation, or they go on to the one that follows. They do not go back. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were from the baby boomer generation. Barack Obama is from the Gen X generation (those born 1961 to 1981). If the pattern holds, the next president will...

SPRINGFIELD — Police are investigating the death of a 1-year-old infant on Cass Street who suffocated over the weekend as her family administered a home remedy for head lice. Springfield Police spokesman John Delaney said no charges have been filed, but the matter is being investigating by Springfield police detectives. The name of the child was not disclosed to the press.

Susan Sarandon, Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton are among the more than 90 entertainers urging Sen. Elizabeth Warren to throw her hat in the 2016 presidential race. The group — which also includes Mark Ruffalo, Natasha Lyonne, Julia Stiles, and “The Avengers” director Joss Whedon — penned an open letter this week to the Massachusetts Democrat, pushing her to make a White House bid.

Liberal activist groups have more than 200 “house party” events planned across the country this weekend as part of an effort to get Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, to run for president in 2016. The “Run Warren Run” campaign, comprised of members from the groups MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and Ready for Warren, is planning more than 200 “organizing house parties” in 46 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam to try to develop ideas for how they can convince her to run.

WASHINGTON — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress in March, it is unclear whether everybody invited will actually show up. Democrats have criticized House Speaker John Boehner for circumventing the administration when he invited Netanyahu to speak, and the White House has already said Obama will not meet with him when he’s here. BuzzFeed News asked several Senate Democrats whether they planned on skipping the speech or not. Most said they either hadn’t thought about it or they hadn’t decided. But there were no hard answers in the negative. Only one senator definitively said...

Mitt Romney’s not running for President again, telling supporters that it’s time for the Republican Party to look to other leaders for its future. Democrats may wonder whether they have to tell Hillary Clinton the same thing. In a PPP poll taken this week, Hillary Clinton can’t get to 50% against any Republican challenger paired against her, even Romney: The automated poll of nearly 900 registered voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, found that 48 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, compared to 43 percent who viewed the former secretary of State favorably.While Clinton...

Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch belonged to a student group that brought Jew-hating Palestinian terrorists to Harvard Law School every year she was a member. Lynch belonged to the Harvard Black Law Students Association (BLSA) from 1981-1984 when she was a student. During those years the radical black group brought representatives from the Palestinian Liberation Operation (PLO). The group’s leader, Mohammed Kenyatta, called for the “liberation of Palestine” and expressed support for the terrorist organization. The BLSA defended bringing the terrorists in a letter to the editor of the Harvard student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. Jewish student organizations protested the...

One of the left-wing groups pushing for an Elizabeth Warren presidency is no fan of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Democracy for America (DFA) announced this week that it will be supporting seven progressive Chicago Aldermen that the group says Emanuel, President Obama’s former White House chief of staff, has attacked. The DFA’s effort highlights the ever-more apparent rift in the Democratic Party between the progressive so-called Warren-wing of the party and more establishment Democrats.

The self-important Boston Globe ran an editorial that is a microcosm of how the Left manages to be so consistently wrong on so many substantive issues. The piece had to do with the supposed wrongheadedness of Republican House Speaker John Boehner. It seems that according to the Globe, Boehner has committed some kind of treasonous act by inviting Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, to address a joint session of Congress without asking permission from their boss President Barack Obama. The writer moans that such an undercutting of Obama’s authority will damage the delicate negotiations Obama is in with the Iranians;...

As she reportedly lays the groundwork for an all-but-declared presidential run in 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton leads Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts by commanding margins in new polls testing Democrats’ preference for their 2016 presidential nominee. In a head-to-head matchup, Mrs. Clinton leads Mrs. Warren, 62 percent to 22 percent, when respondents were asked who they would vote for if the 2016 Democratic presidential primary were held in their state today, according to a Rasmussen poll. Sixteen percent were undecided and 18 percent said they had not heard of Mrs. Warren.

As darkness began to set in, colonials began to attack the front of the column. There were a few cavalry units made up of older, experienced men who rode to within shot of the front of the column, dismounted and fired with great accuracy, then mounting and riding away only to reappear elsewhere. Now and then, the Regulars would fire cannon scattering the Militia who would quickly materialize again as the British column approached Menotomy. At Jason Russel’s house, British soldiers invaded the house killing eleven Americans, including Russel who was later found bayoneted at the foot of the stairs....

Minute Man Monument at Lexington Green "By The Rude Bridge That Arched The Flood, Their Flag to April's Breeze Unfurled, Here Once The Embattled Farmers Stood, And Fired The Shot Heard Round The World."  wpi.eduDepartment of Military Science - Worcester Polytechnic Institute On the 15 of April 1775, when General Thomas Gage, British Military Governor of Massachusetts, was ordered to destroy the rebel's military stores at Concord. To accomplish this he assembled the "Flanking units", including Light Infantry and Grenadiers, from his Boston Garrison. In charge he put Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn. He also composed...

With Republicans in Congress split over the best approach to Obama's executive amnesty - and with many establishment Republicans splitting form grassroots Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration more generally - it's clear that immigration will be a hot-button primary issue in 2016. ... So where do the potential candidates stand? Here's a rundown: ...

BOSTON —Winter is making up for lost time. A storm that is potentially historic is now in the forecast, according to the National Weather Service.