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We’ve been having a debate about “book bans” in recent years, but given the steep decline in student literacy, the deeper question is how any child would even notice whether a book is available in a school library. The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford recently published an eye-opening study documenting steep declines in student test scores, especially in reading. Over the past 10 years, reading scores have declined in 83% of America’s school districts. What looked like a COVID-driven catastrophe is instead part of a long-running trend. Reading scores were falling at a similar clip prior to the pandemic, from...

Explanation: Comet R3 PanSTARRS might be best remembered as an Orion comet. A key reason is because Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was near its most spectacular -- in terms of tail visibility -- when passing in front of the iconic constellation. Although rare, other bright comets, too, have ventured across Orion, including Lovejoy in 2015, Hale-Bopp in 1997, and the Great Comet of 1264. Best visible in long duration exposures, the featured image was captured last week from the Craigieburn Mountain Range in New Zealand. Visible in the deep background image are the Orion Nebula, Barnard's Loop, and through R3's...

Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman wanted to ban backyard barbecues for residents during certain high fire danger days across the city. Raman introduced a motion Wednesday directing city officials to examine emergency restrictions on grilling during Red Flag Warning days, when high winds and dry conditions significantly increase wildfire danger across Los Angeles. The proposal specifically asks officials to consider possible limits on backyard barbecues, fire pits and other open flames in residential neighborhoods during those high-risk weather events.

I've been a FReeper since 1997. I'm also one of the tech guys for The Gateway Pundit and other websites. As a way to support both sites, I created a Free Republic share button for TGP. FR doesn't appear to have a logo, so I styled the share button after this site's favicon. You can see it by clicking to an article; it's to the right of the Linked In share button: So ... is this cool, a subtle way to remind TGP readers of the value and relevance of FR and to make sharing posts on FR a bit...

Following a third round of talks between Lebanon and Israel held Thursday and Friday in Washington, the United States said the ceasefire between the two sides has been extended and that separate security discussions will be launched later this month. “The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an X post following the talks. The two sides will reconvene political talks on June 2 and June 3, Pigott said.

Nicholas Kristof raped my dog. At least that is what I have heard, from an anonymous source. A source who is intensely hostile to the New York Times columnist. And that’s good enough for me. Now I come to think of it, my pet pug has had a strange look on his face lately. As it happens, the rumor that I have just attempted to spread is far less lurid and fanciful than the one that the New York Times chose to spread around the world this week. In a piece that has already been widely debunked, Kristof claimed that...

Eleven foreign "far-right agitators" have been blocked from entering the country to attend a rally organised by anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson, the prime minister has said. Tens of thousands are expected to join the Unite the Kingdom event on Saturday, while an annual pro-Palestinian demonstration takes place in another part of London. Sir Keir Starmer has said "we're in a fight for the soul of this country" ahead of the protest. The Metropolitan Police is anticipating one of its busiest days in recent years, and has drafted more than 4,000 officers over fears of clashes if the rival protests coincide....

This video discusses the sentencing and legal proceedings of four men involved in the June 2024 murder of Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio (real name Charles Andrew Jones II) at a hotel in Tampa, Florida. Key events and points covered: Guilty Verdicts: All four defendants—Isaiah Chance, Shawn Gathright, Rashad Murphy, and DaVon Murphy—were found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy (0:01-1:02). Penalty Phase: The video focus es on the sentencing phase, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. It details what life in prison without parole entails in Florida, including the lack of parole and the potential for forced labor...

On Shabbat morning of February 28, as Jews gathered in synagogue to read from the Torah about the importance of remembering – and destroying – the evil Amalek, American and Israeli fighter jets began their own destruction of the Iranian military. Since then, not only have America and Israel been cooperating at closer levels than ever before, but for the first time, Jewish and Christian soldiers have been fighting shoulder to shoulder, representing a new chapter in Judeo-Christian civilization. Ten weeks later, this coming Shabbat will serve as another historic milestone. Never before in American history has a president invited...

Key Points Canada is allowing 49,000 Chinese-made electric vehicles to be imported for retail sales annually at a tariff rate of 6.1%. That’s opening the market for auto dealers in the country to sell Chinese EVs. “I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” Michael MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, told CNBC. ============================================================ HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Michael MacGillivray sees the arrival of Chinese electric vehicles in Canada as a potential game changer. “I think it is going to a be a huge eye-opener,” said MacGillivray, who oversees 10 dealerships...

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement on Friday that attributed 246 suspected infections and 65 deaths to a new Ebola outbreak in the remote Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Africa CDC said it was convening an emergency meeting with health officials from the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and other global partners to coordinate a response to the outbreak, including cross-border surveillance of the possible spread of the deadly disease. The statement said most of the infections to date have been reported from two areas within the Ituri province, Mongwalu and...

From October 2022 to February 2025, the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center released more than a thousand deportable illegal immigrants onto the streets in direct defiance of over 1,150 immigration detainers lodged with local officials, according to ICE records obtained by the CIS. In terms of noncompliance, the CIS reported that Fairfax County, over that period, outpaced many other uncooperative facilities of much larger U.S. cities, including San Francisco County Jail at No. 9 with 462 declined detainers, Minnesota's Hennepin County Jail at No. 11 with 363, and New York City’s Rikers Island at No. 16 with 237.

ATLANTA — Waymo’s self-driving cars can be seen all over Atlanta streets, giving rideshare trips through Uber. But what happens when they’re empty? In one northwest Atlanta neighborhood, the residents say dozens of Waymo cars end up circling their cul-de-sac. “It’s almost every little cul-de-sac in our area, so I think it’s a problem,” one neighbor, on Battleview Drive, told Gehlbach. On a dead end street, Waymo after Waymo after Waymo drive on, usually early in the morning. “I think yesterday morning, we had 50 cars that came through between 6 and 7,” a neighbor told Channel 2 Action News....

David Blackman, a native of Plano, Texas, was thrilled to be starting law school at Penn State in the fall of 2025. A former 911 call operator and a veteran of the Texas State Guard, Blackman, 26, loved the university’s football team and its location in the Appalachian Mountains. “I’ve been a fan of Penn State since I was a teenager,” Blackman told the Washington Free Beacon. He arrived on campus in August 2025, a 50 percent merit scholarship in hand, excited for game nights in Beaver Stadium and a three-year reprieve from the Texas heat. Then he sat through...

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s point man for Medicare and Medicaid, says the billions of entitlement fraud being uncovered in Democrat states may be intentionally driven by politics rather than incompetence. “I do think it's a feature for some of these states,” Oz told Just the News in a wide-ranging interview Thursday night in which he detailed why the administration led by Vice President JD Vance temporarily pulled $1.3 billion in Medicaid funding from California and uncovered foreign fraudsters stealing taxpayer welfare monies. “Republicans always suspected there was fraud of this magnitude. Democrats feel embarrassed that it's gotten this...

The National Rifle Association is suing Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger for her signing of a measure to make illegal the buying, selling, importing, manufacturing and/or the transfer of assault weapons in the state. The NRA filed lawsuits in both federal and state courts, arguing the law is unconstitutional. Supporters argue the legislation removes "weapons of war" from the streets, making Virginia safer from violence, but opponents argue the law punishes law-abiding citizens, WRIC reported. “As promised, we are taking Abigail Spanberger to court," the NRA, the Second Amendment rights group said in a statement. "Throughout the legislative session, the...

Surging Treasury yields sent the stock market a warning on Friday amid a sell-off in global bonds.The 30-year Treasury yield (^TYX) rose 10 basis points to reach 5.12%, its highest level since June 2007. The 10-year benchmark yield (^TNX), meanwhile, climbed 11 basis points to 4.57%, its highest level since May 2025. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, meaning that when yields rise, prices fall.Both bonds broke above the key psychological levels of 5% and 4.5%, respectively. As Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre has written before, the 5% zone for the so-called long bond represents a danger zone that...

Why do modern Christians instinctively assume that Christianity depends so heavily upon their own ability to preserve it? That assumption says more than people realize. Beneath much of modern religious culture lies a quiet distrust that the Church can truly carry and preserve the faith through history. The burden therefore falls upon the pastor, the scholar, the movement, the denomination, or eventually the individual believer to rescue Christianity from corruption.

Hi ya'll, I have beeen here since 1998...actually before that and I changed my user name to Positive, and the prior history disappeared. Shame faced promo. I have examined life for 29,220 days...my ThatOldGranddadDube podcast is a rear view mirror observations basicically to offer tips on leading a preductive life with access to a Grandad. The fathers of my parents died while they were adalesents so I never knew either of my grandfathers...now I have been a grandfather for 25 years and a ggf for a few months. I've had millions of experiences...maybe you might be of the opportunity to...

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., introduced legislation to improve menopausal and mid-life health care for women, featuring AI for better diagnostics. The Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act calls for a strengthened public health apparatus for women’s midlife care, including public outreach campaigns, research programs and treatment. It specifically calls for more government oversight efforts to gauge the safety and efficacy of AI-powered devices for new treatments and diagnostic tools designed for addressing midlife, perimenopause or menopausal symptoms.