Free Republic

An astronomy course at prestigious Cornell University, concerned about racism in the universe, not just Planet Earth, asked the deathless question: “Is there a connection between the cosmos and the idea of racial blackness?” As famed author Heather Mac Donald, who has written numerous books, including “The War on Cops,” writes in City Journal, the course, titled “Black Holes: Race and the Cosmos,” notes in the catalog description that “conventional wisdom” asserts that the “‘black’ in black holes has nothing to do with race,” but astronomy professor Nicholas Battaglia and comparative literature professor Parisa Vaziri suggest the truth may be...

It started with my desire to learn about the Civil War. I wasn’t looking for history, I just wanted to know what would drive Americans to slaughter each other in such vast numbers (an estimated 640,000 to 700,000). I’ve written here about diving into Ken Burns’ Civil War series, and I lamented the utter waste of seeing another one on the horizon. There’s something that has been gnawing at me since then, since hearing the penetrating quotes of Frederick Douglass in particular regarding his experience as a slave, and in reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. I think...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge Wednesday threatened to throw out the guilty plea of a veteran U.S. narcotics agent who conspired with a Colombian cartel money launderer — an unexpected twist that could derail one of the most egregious misconduct cases in the history of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell was expected to sentence the disgraced agent, Jose I. Irizarry, but refused to do so over what she called a “totally unacceptable” legal dispute. “I have never seen anything like this,” Honeywell said, postponing the sentencing indefinitely. “I’m not even sure at...

The family of Tamir Rice has spoken out publicly to denounce civil rights activist, Shaun King. Considered a fund raising fraud, King has frequently been accused of using an anti-police, pro-critical race theory platform for profit and notoriety. Samaria Rice, mother of the deceased Tamir Rice, released an Instagram post calling out King’s new podcast episode titled “I spoke to Samaria Rice this past week.” She accused King of using communications with the family for headline-hungry activism.

As of the latest tally, after a year and change of school shutdowns, only 47% of California students have returned for on-campus instruction, including only 42% of secondary school students. The ‘distance learning’ has been going on for so long some parents have been forced to hire private tutors to teach their children Critical Race Theory and trans-sexual pronoun usage. In Los Angeles County, only 34% of students are back in school, which is just over one-third of students. Not that LAUSD kids would know that — because they haven’t taken a math class in over a year. After a...

Tuesday Shaun King published a lengthy piece on The North Star titled “I spoke with Samaria Rice this past week.” Samaria Rice is the mother of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old shot by police in a Cleveland park back in 2014. Today, Samaria Rice posted a statement on Instagram lashing out at King and accusing him of being a “white man acting black.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said Wednesday there is a “likely association” of “mild” heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults after vaccination with an mRNA COVID vaccine and a warning statement is warranted. According to a report by the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) Work Group, the risk of myocarditis or pericarditis following vaccination with the mRNA-based shots in adolescents and young adults is notably higher after the second dose and in males. “Clinical presentation of myocarditis cases following vaccination has been distinct, occurring most often within one week after...

When Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans for the state to pay off past-due rent for low tenants with federal relief money earlier this week, most state and national media outlets ran a headline along the lines of "Newsom says California will pay for past-due rent." "This cynical BS is why people hate politicians and maybe part of why our Governor faces recall," Preston tweeted Tuesday. "Rather than increase $ for back rent or issue a real eviction moratorium, Gov simply repackaged a prior announcement & went on a PR offensive. It has worked so far." Preston notes that Newsom first...

Joanne Linville, who was best known for playing a Romulan commander in “Star Trek,” died Sunday in Los Angeles, her agent confirmed to Variety. She was 93. Born in Bakersfield, Calif. as Beverly Joanne Linville, she was the first female actor to play a Romulan in the “Star Trek” franchise. Linville was a fixture on television from the 1950s to the ’80s, appearing in over 100 film and TV shows, including anthology series such as “Studio One,” “Kraft Theatre” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

San Francisco (USA), Jun 23 (EFE) .- The American software giant Microsoft will renew its popular operating system for Windows computers this Thursday with a version that will include "the biggest changes" of the last decade, which the media Specialists announced that it will be baptized as Windows 11. The Redmond company (Washington state, USA) will present the latest update of this historic software (Windows is 35 years old) at 11.00 a.m. on the east coast of the United States (15.00 GMT), at an event called "What's Next for Windows". The company's CEO, Satya Nadella, and the head of products,...

@TFASorg “Socialism doesn’t work. Now people will say, ‘No, we want kinder, gentler socialism.’ But the leaders of that system are moving away from it. Socialism doesn’t work.” - Rand Paul “If you want to help people, you have to believe in #capitalism. No other economic system helps people the way capitalism does. Capitalism allows excess money to flow back into the community.” - Rand Paul “The bigger your government, the less your liberty.” -Rand Paul

Happy Juneteenth! I hope you all had a lovely week celebrating the nation's newest federal holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery throughout the Confederacy. How could you not? The media was chock-a-block with commentators telling us what a fantastic, transformative event for our nation this was. But the media ignored the best part of all! What Juneteenth commemorates is not technically the abolition of slavery, but the notification thereof to a particular group of slaves. Although President Lincoln officially ended slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, it wasn't until two years later, on June 19, 1865,...

Educators around the US have come out to condemn the 'Dismantling Racism in Mathematics' programIt centers around a workbook which asserts that asking students to find the correct answer for math problems is inherently harmful for minoritiesSo far, the workbook is being used by school districts in Georgia, Ohio, California and OregonCritics say to it actually reinforces negative stereotypes and drives wedges between students according to their race'The workbook's ultimate message is clear: Black kids are bad at math, so why don't we just excuse them from really learning it,' one critic said The program was funded through a $1million...

As contractors widen Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia, they produce tons of excess dirt. So do excavators digging basements for homes or leveling land for commercial projects or schools. Some of that dirt – no one knows how much – ends up on Fauquier County properties. Some county officials think it is way too much. “Fauquier County is becoming, if not has already become, the dumping ground for Northern Virginia's fill dirt. And it's obviously a huge problem. And it's affecting people's lives,” county supervisor Rick Gerhardt (Cedar Run District) said at April’s Board of Supervisors meeting, as residents complained...

FBI Director Chris Wray on Wednesday pleaded with public companies and other hacking victims to avoid paying ransom, saying he fears it will only embolden cyber criminals to ramp up future attacks....The Justice Department has disclosed it managed to help the Colonial Pipeline Co recover some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom it paid to hackers... The FBI was able to recover those funds because it had a private key that it was able to use to unlock a bitcoin wallet holding most of the money. It was unclear how the FBI managed to access the key.

The state of Indiana has committed $475 million for what it calls “transformational” road infrastructure projects throughout the state. Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state would commit $75 million for improvements to 48 miles of U.S. 231, $200 million for a 25-mile extension of State Road 101 and $200 million to the Indiana approach to the Interstate 69 Ohio River Crossing. “Indiana’s location and extensive transportation network make our state one of the most attractive places in the country to do business and create jobs,” Holcomb said in a press release. “These projects will better connect our communities, enhance commerce...

HAZELTON — The West Virginia Department of Transportation has entered into a consent order with the state Department of Environmental Protection for violations of the water pollution control permit at the Interstate 68 Welcome Center near Hazelton. The order, signed March 10 by Division of Highways District 4 Engineer/Manager Michael Cronin, calls for the DOT to pay up to a total of $75,175 in civil administrative penalties and to hook onto the public sewer system, eliminating the treatment facility at the welcome center. Half the penalty, $37,587.50, is to be paid to the DEP within 30 days of the effective...

Amid mounting suspicion of a possible virus leak in a lab accident, Wuhan Institute of Virology has been nominated for China's top science award, according to a local media outlet Sina News. The Chinese Academy of Sciences reportedly nominated the Wuhan Institute of Virology for conducting "the most comprehensive and systematic identification research on the aetiology of Covid-19." "The project's results have laid an important foundation and platform for the follow-up research on the origin, epidemiology, and pathogenic mechanism of the Covid-19 virus," the Chinese Academy of Sciences was quoted as saying in multiple reports. Shi Zhengli, who directs the...

President Joe Biden suggested the Second Amendment has had limits from day one, during his Wednesday speech on crime and gun violence.“The Second Amendment from the day it was passed limited the type of people who own a gun and what type of weapon you could own,” Biden said.

"ATF will initiate proceedings," he said, to revoke the licenses of dealers that do not comply with laws on background checks, those that falsify records, those that fail to respond to trace requests of get in the way of ATF inspectors, noting that more funding would go to ATF to control and investigate gun dealers "who post the greatest risk to public safety." Garland said ATF would get more funding for this.