Free Republic

It is one of the most famous social-science papers of all time. Carried out in the 1990s, the “blind audition” study attempted to document sexist bias in orchestra hiring. Lionized by Malcolm Gladwell, extolled by Harvard thought leaders, and even cited in a dissent by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the study showed that when orchestras auditioned musicians “blindly,” behind a screen, women’s success rates soared. Or did they? Nobody questions the basic facts that led to the study’s publication. During the 1970s and ’80s, America’s orchestras became more open and democratic. To ensure impartiality, several introduced blind auditions. Two economists,...

China’s assertive campaign to police discourse about its policies, even outside of its borders, and the acquiescence of American companies eager to make money in China, pose a dangerous and growing threat to one of this nation’s core values: the freedom of expression. The Communist state is becoming more and more aggressive in pressuring foreign companies to choose between self-censorship and the loss of access to what will soon be the world’s largest market. An old list of taboo topics, sometimes described as the “three Ts” — Tibet, Tiananmen and Taiwan — has been joined by newer subjects that must...

The Supreme Court granted the Michigan Republican party a win on Monday by throwing out a lower court ruling that required dozens of congressional and legislative districts to be redrawn due to concerns they had been gerrymandered by Republicans. The high court’s 5-to-4 decision reverses a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which demanded the state redraw nine congressional districts and 25 state districts by August 1. Monday’s decision also follows the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that it would leave gerrymandering cases to state courts. “Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach...

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) took a hard line on Israel Saturday saying "everything is on the table" in imposing a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. "It is the official policy of the United States of America to support a two-state solution, and if Israel is moving in the opposite direction, then everything is on the table," Warren said during a press availability with reporters Saturday. In a formulation more commonly deployed by previous presidents in threatening the use of force against America’s enemies, Warren repeated the phrase but did not clarify precisely what pressure—military or otherwise—might be brought...

Tennessee was so close to making Saturday’s rivalry game at Alabama interesting. Then Jarrett Guarantano fumbled, the Crimson Tide ran it back 100 yards to make it 35-13, and Vols fans were left with a sad feeling against the Crimson Tide for the 13th consecutive year:

A key plank in Democratic presidential contender Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s platform is that “the economy is not working for average Americans.” In a poll conducted by Marist, more than 60% of the voters questioned said the economy is working for them. Of the subgroups surveyed, 67% of college graduates, 64% of those without a degree, 68% of whites, 61% of non-whites, 63% of generation Z, 69% of generation X, 63% of baby boomers, 69% of the greatest generation, 69% of the silent generation, 60% of those in the west, 65% of those in the east, 67% of those in...

It’s become apparent that the chemistry in the Eagles locker room is off. Following an ugly 37-10 loss to the Cowboys Sunday, Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson spilled on what was going on behind the scenes of the team’s recent struggles. In a postgame interview with NBC Sports, Johnson explained that some of his teammates have been shirking their responsibility.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned the mandate to form a government to President Reuven Rivlin minutes after the end of the Simhat Torah holiday Monday night. President Reuven Rivlin received the message from Netanyahu. He will hold consultations with faction representatives and by law has three days to give the mandate to another candidate.

Attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have "utterly failed", Chancellor Angela Merkel says. She said the so-called "multikulti" concept - where people would "live side-by-side" happily - did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate - including learning German. The comments come amid rising anti-immigration feeling in Germany. A recent survey suggested more than 30% of people believed the country was "overrun by foreigners". The study - by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think-tank - also showed that roughly the same number thought that some 16 million of Germany's immigrants or people with foreign origins had...

Steve Schmidt, an ex-Republican strategist who worked for President George W. Bush and the late Senator John McCain, has slammed President Donald Trump and his administration for its "corruption." "The corruption is just unbelievable. And if you look back to the Republican convention, Joe, when we talked about it at the time, the chants of lock them up—what I said about it at the time was it was banana republicanism," Schmidt told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough during his Morning Joe show on Monday. "And the descent from the American republican into banana republic territory with all of this stuff has...

Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is holding a press conference on his ‘Humanity First’ platform Monday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. From the event’s description: Yang will speak about his “Humanity First” platform, including his flagship proposal, the Freedom Dividend, human-centered capitalism, and the mounting crisis of the automation of labor. The press conference is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.

CBS News correspondent Nikole Killion asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) why as a woman of color she would "back an old white guy" during an interview that aired Monday. The freshman congresswoman had announced she was endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president and appeared at a rally together on Saturday. “As a woman of color, why back an old white guy? And is this the future of the party?” asked Killion after Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the Sanders rally in Queens, N.Y. “I’m actually very excited about this partnership because it shows what we have to do in our country...

... these documents point to what Anthony Pelosi, a psychiatrist with the UK’s National Health Service in Glasgow and Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, calls “one of the worst scientific scandals of all time.” Eysenck is revered as one of the greatest psychologists in history, his fame built on his work concerning intelligence and personality testing, known as psychometrics. He long maintained the hereditability of IQ and personality traits and was a supporter of the work of people like Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, the somewhat infamous authors of The Bell Curve, a book that amongst other things...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a habit of bullying others to cover for and fix his policy blunders. In another display of political grace, Mr. Cuomo has ordered the utility National Grid to resume natural-gas hookups that were suspended after his senseless pipeline veto this spring. Mr. Cuomo wants to make New York ground zero in the left’s plan to purge fossil fuels. First he banned shale fracking in southern New York despite its huge potential to boost local economies. Then he blocked a natural-gas pipeline from Pennsylvania that would have reduced energy bills and reliance on heating oil....

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released new Clinton emails on the Benghazi controversy that had been covered up for years and would have exposed Hillary Clinton’s email account if they had been released when the State Department first uncovered them in 2014. The long withheld email, clearly responsive to Judicial Watch’s lawsuit seeking records concerning “talking points or updates on the Benghazi attack,” contains Clinton’s private email address and a conversation about the YouTube video that sparked the Benghazi talking points scandal ( Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01242)). This Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit led directly...

Exxon Mobil Corp. and New York’s attorney general are headed for a showdown this week over accusations the company deceived investors, a rare trial over how the oil industry accounts for the impact of climate change. The trial, which begins Tuesday in state court in Manhattan, is the culmination of a sprawling investigation into Exxon and its accounting practices that spanned four years and three New York attorneys general. It is expected to include as a witness former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was Exxon’s chief executive from 2006 to 2016. The attorney general’s office said the company told...

The International Maritime Organization's 2016 decision to ratchet down sulfur content in shipping fuels could result in global fuel shortages. Sunday, October 20, 2019 Image Credit: Flickr-Paulo O | CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Ross Marchand Ross Marchand Politics gasoline Fossil Fuels Environmentalism Fuel Tax United Nations Regulation With gasoline prices in California eclipsing $4/gallon, Americans have taken to nervously glancing at their gas gauges. Oil prices appear to only be going in one direction (up), with dramatic disruptions such as a drone attack on Saudi refineries disrupting fuel supplies. But things may soon get far worse if the International Maritime...

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A surprised customer at an Australian restaurant recorded video of a pelican casually wandering into the eatery and patiently getting in line. Jack Simpson captured video at the Cargo's Wharf Restaurant in Kiama, New South Wales, when a pelican walked in through the door and joined the crowd in line. The pelican got out of line after a few moments and wandered around the shop, with a crowd of onlookers following. The bird was eventually escorted out of the eatery without incident. VIDEO AT LINK...................

Asia specialist and distinguished columnist David P Goldman is convinced the US and Europe stand a chance against the Red Dragon – but the clock is ticking...

Elizabeth Warren is among the strongest contenders and Democratic hopefuls for the presidential election of 2020. During the fourth Democratic debate, on October 15, her “Wealth Tax Plan” received close attention as to how it could reduce income inequality in the United States.The central argument of Warren's the wealth-tax proposal is this: through a progressive wealth tax system — which means those with more wealth will pay higher tax rates — the wealthiest people in America will pay their “fair share” and that fair share will enable the equal redistribution of wealth. Set forth by French economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel...