Free Republic

Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled 'Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,' to 'reduce structural barriers that result in inequities in pay and access to employment.' Some Massachusetts leaders praised the move as important for establishing an 'inclusive' workforce. ... Massachusetts will no longer require a college degree for a large majority of government jobs due to a new state executive order intended to make the commonwealth more “inclusive.” Governor Maura Healey signed the order, titled “Instituting Skill-Based Hiring Practices,” on Jan 25. The document asserts that “skills-based hiring practices will strengthen the Commonwealth’s workforce, increase access to quality jobs for...

Social media is a fickle mistress. She’ll shine a light on a product and then just as quickly cast a shadow over it. That’s basically the abridged life story of the Stanley cup, that enormous, pastel-colored insulated tumbler peddled so hard online that even your dad’s accountant probably owns a couple. Now, a flood of social media posts are circulating the fact that Stanley cups are manufactured using lead—a known toxin. (Stanley’s website does disclose the use of lead.) The discourse has spawned a flurry of jokes about the wholesome brand, which started as a thermos for tough guys and...

The deal includes provisions to raise standards for asylum screening and to process claims faster, ends the practice known as “catch and release,” and provides a new authority to close the border when crossings reach a set threshold. The full supplemental — which includes funds for the border, Israel and Ukraine aid, and other foreign policy priorities — totals $118 billion, with about $20 billion going to the border component. Lankford called it “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close our open border and give future administrations the effective tools they need to stop the border chaos and protect our nation.”

Actor William O’Connell, who played a “Star Trek” villain and a Clint Eastwood nemesis, is dead at the age of 94. According to Deadline, which said a family friend informed the outlet of his passing, he died Jan. 15 at his home in Sherman Oaks, California. No cause of death was revealed. O’Connell was a 1st lieutenant in the 45th Infantry during the Korean War. For his service, he was honored with the Bronze Star and other commendations. O'Connell appeared in multiple TV shows in the 1960s, including “Highway Patrol,” “Peter Gunn,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Dennis the Menace,” “Bonanza,” “Batman”...

A new report is highlighting how federal COVID funds were used in Washington state to give $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive federal economic impact payments during the pandemic due to their immigration status. The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in funding overall from that program. The...

There is currently a war being waged against America that threatens the very liberty of our nation — and it’s one you might not expect. It's not the war on free speech or freedom of religion. It's the war on beef. Who better to discuss this war than American cattle rancher Shad Sullivan? Shad is the R-CALF USA Private Property Rights Committee chair. In this episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast," Shad and Glenn discuss the “war on beef” and why it matters to everyday Americans. Shad explains the issues with California’s Prop 2 and Prop 12 and how they...

Six Loudoun County residents who allegedly tried to vote twice in last year’s election are under investigation by Virginia State Police. Samantha Shepherd, a spokeswoman for the Loudoun County Office of Elections and Voter Registration, said the voters may have forgotten they voted early or by mail when they showed up at the polls on Election Day. Shepherd said the voters were issued provisional ballots, but their ballots weren’t counted when officials found they had already voted. A total of 141,012 voters casts ballots in Loudoun in November. “It’s not anything that diminishes the integrity of the system or the...

The continued embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM combined with a broad decline in academic standards is producing a generation of scientists who are less capable than their predecessors, warned some scientists in recent interviews with The College Fix. From easier math classes in high school to the elimination of standardized tests to extreme grade-inflation to DEI tropes that elevate lived experiences and ways of knowing over facts and data, the trend represents a pressing problem for science professors working to protect STEM and preserve its standards and meritocracy. Alex Small, chair of the physics and astronomy department...

JERUSALEM — Criticism of President Joe Biden by a far-right minister in Israel’s government who said Donald Trump would allow more freedom to fight Hamas sparked outrage there on Sunday, highlighting the sensitivity of relations as Washington provides key support for the offensive against the militants in Gaza. The Biden administration has skirted Congress to rush weapons to Israel and shielded it from international calls for a cease-fire in the four months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. But the White House has urged Israel to take greater measures to avoid harming civilians and facilitate the delivery...

From prime minister to prison in less than two years, Imran Khan and his party have fallen dramatically from political grace. But the PTI says it has not given up its belief that it can win this week's general election in Pakistan, despite its founder being jailed in cases he says are politically motivated, and barred from running for office. The party is aiming to overcome the authorities' crackdown with the help of a social media fightback - and new candidates, many of them untested. Rehena Dar is being swept along the back roads of Sialkot, past the posters of...

Joe Biden has privately ripped Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as a “bad &-+()+- guy” as the Gaza war rages and negatively affects the president’s reach with young voters, well-placed sources say in a new report. Biden has grown suspicious of the Israeli prime minister as the conflict nears its fourth month, deriding Netanyahu with the comment and saying the PM is all too eager to drag the US into an all-out war against Iran-backed terror groups in the Middle East, sources who have talked with the president told Politico.

Warning comes after New York's Mayor declared social media a public health hazardSocial media use could soon be viewed as being equally harmful to society as smoking in public, a leading expert has said. The comments come after New York's Mayor Eric Adams declared social media to be a public health hazard last week. A trend analyst said the decision led to parallels with how attitudes towards smoking evolved over the years. "Smoking used to be ubiquitous and it was perfectly acceptable for people to smoke in front of their children, as well as other people's children," said economist and...

WASHINGTON, DC — Organizers of the Presidential Groundhog Day Celebration report President Biden did, in fact, see his shadow after emerging from the West Wing late Tuesday Morning and immediately attempted to shake its hand. "Hey lookathat," Biden commented to no one in particular. "It's old Bill whatshisname. C'mere Bill, let me shake your hand. Where'd you go, Bill?" White House staff spent the better part of the morning trying to corral the President back indoors after photographers caught Biden chasing his own shadow around the historic Rose Garden with his arm awkwardly outstretched. At one point, Jill Biden grabbed...

President Biden joined family at a swanky Los Angeles restaurant on Sunday, in celebration of his son Hunter’s 54th birthday. Biden joined his son, Hunter, and his grandson, Beau, at the Ivy restaurant on Sunday. Biden spoke with other restaurant patrons seated outside and embraced his son outside of the restaurant. Hunter Biden has long had a close relationship with his father, whom Hunter credits with saving his life as he spent years struggling with addiction.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is slamming Harvard for hosting a Palestinian professor who has blamed Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. The Democratic lawmaker said he was "truly appalled" that Harvard’s Kennedy School would platform Dr. Dalal Saeb Iriqat, a columnist and associate professor at Arab American University Palestine. Dr. Iriqat is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs on March 7 for a seminar series called "Middle East Dialogues." "I am truly appalled that the Kennedy School would platform an individual who celebrates and justifies Hamas’ October 7th killing of...

Japan's Moon lander ended up on its nose when it made its historic touchdown on the lunar surface. A US lunar lander has "no chance" of making a soft landing on the Moon due to a fuel leak. We've set foot on the Moon multiple times. So why all the recent mission failures?

Illegal immigrant youths protesting for more rights traveled from the elite Brophy College Preparatory school to the state capitol on Wednesday. The march was coordinated by Aliento, a pro-illegal immigration activist nonprofit, as part of the organization’s annual Education Day. The illegal immigrant activists advocated for free college and drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, as well as occupational and professional licenses. Among Aliento’s featured illegal immigrants was Esveidy Rodriguez Melendez, a 20-year-old justice studies sophomore at Grand Canyon University (GCU) as well as an intern with Aliento. In a press release, Melendez complained that she had faced “major barriers” to...

Biden is losing to Trump by five points in the new NBC poll. Biden is getting smoked in almost every category, including having the necessary mental and physical health to be president, not, one assumes, an incidental matter when you are seeking to be president again. These numbers represent such a debacle, I understand why so many smart people assume that Democrats will switch out Biden — because he represents an insane bet for their party. I don’t think that’s going to happen, though. They’ve got to, as I mentioned the other day, hope the economy keeps improving and that...

In 2022, Congress changed the electoral count act, moving up the deadline by which one of the final steps in the election process must be completed – the transmission of the certificate of ascertainment of who won a state’s presidential electors to Congress. Early that year, then-Senator Ugenti-Rita introduced a bill to expand the threshold to trigger a 100% machine recount to from one tenth of one percent to half a percent, a bill that would have applied to the 2020 presidential election had it then been the law. Though legal experts say that it is questionable whether Congress itself...

Biography of Mengele from family background and childhood, education, eventual affiliation with Nazi Party, through his career on the Eastern Front and crimes at Auschwitz, and flight, aliases, up to his death.