Free Republic

Institutions of higher education are bracing for a crunch, if they aren’t experiencing one already. Slowing population growth, mounting skepticism of academia, and various other factors have provoked college leaders—at least perceptive ones—to craft novel strategies to navigate these perilous waters. Universities will be increasingly competing for a shrinking pool of customers in the years to come. How these institutions differentiate themselves and win over students will determine their ability to survive in the 21st century. Universities, like firms in any stagnating market, will need to find new revenue sources or cut costs. There is no other way out of...

Israeli forces also bomb weapons depots in southern Syria and the capital Damascus, Israeli media reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered Israeli forces to “seize” a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, after a lightning advance by Syrian opposition forces ended Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

The Supreme Court follows the election returns. That’s an old saying from a fictional Chicago bartender named Mr. Dooley. And now it appears that locally, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct likewise follows the election returns. Which is not good news for District Court Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph, the disgraced $207,855-a-year hack who got her black robes the old-fashioned way. She was a member of the Democrat State Committee. From Brookline. How much more do you need to know about her? But here’s more proof of terrible she is: She was appointed by busst-out Gov. Charlie Baker. Of course...

In an interview on “Meet the Press,” President-elect Donald Trump outlined his plan for immigration policy, emphasizing deportation for those in the United States illegally. Trump expressed a commitment to removing illegal immigrants, starting with those who have committed crimes and expanding to others without specifying which crimes would be prioritized. This approach may also involve U.S. citizens choosing to leave with family members who are undocumented. Trump’s stance reiterates a key aspect of his campaign platform. He also suggested terminating birthright citizenship via executive action, forecasting potential legal opposition. Amid controversies surrounding family deportation, Trump spoke of treating families...

President-elect Trump reacted Sunday morning to the news that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus. "Assad is gone," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could...

The Gates Foundation played a crucial role in making the vision of Common Core a reality. In the past, state’s rights would get in the way of implementing such broad and national goals...While the Obama administration did not actually create the Common Core academic standards, they fast-tracked their implementation at the state level by making the “new college and career-ready standards a key component of applying for the grant money.”

JUST IN: Trump announces RFK Jr. will investigate the link between vaccines and autism as the head of the HHS. NBC's Kristen Welker asks if Trump wants childhood vaccines to be eliminated. TRUMP: "If they're dangerous for the children." "If you take a look at autism, you go back 25 years. Autism was almost nonexistent. It was, you know, one out of 100,000 and now it's close to one out of 100." "Something is going on. I don't know if it's vaccines. Maybe it's maybe it's chlorine in the water, right? People are looking at a lot of different things....

The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare (UNH) CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday has sparked public scrutiny of health insurers, especially regarding their use of AI in evaluating claims. The incident also comes as several insurance providers have been facing litigation over their coverage practices and the potential impact they have on patient care. Thompson was fatally shot in New York City on Wednesday morning, just hours before he was set to speak at the insurance firm’s annual investor day. Multiple outlets reported on Thursday that shell casings from the shooting had the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” written on them. The...

A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday. Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum. Including the Dallas-based auction house's fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5...

President-elect Donald Trump said that both Iran and Russia are in a "weakened state" following Syria being taken over by rebels. "Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success," Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. "Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin."

No one seems sure who first said it, maybe Joseph Goebbels, but in any case, it’s a tried-and-tested Alinskyite tactic: accuse your enemy of what you’re doing. Barack Obama is a practiced expert at this, and he gave a master class in it on Thursday at his Obama Foundation’s Orwellian-named Democracy Forum. With some notable and revealing difficulty in getting the words out, Obama accused the Republicans of doing everything that the Democrats have been doing for the past few years: rigging elections, weaponizing the justice system, and trying to ensure that they would remain in power on an indefinite...

Erdoğan’s speech at the 7th Religious Council in Ankara vilified the West’s progress as built on blood and exploitation, while championing the rise of a so-called divine Islamic civilization—a bitter irony given the Islamic Caliphate’s own legacy of conquest, subjugation, and brutality etched into history. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the 7th Religious Council in Ankara, delivering a speech on the state of Islamic civilization while highlighting the event’s focus on integrating artificial intelligence and digitalization into religious practices. ... Erdoğan sharply criticized the foundations of Western development ... Historical Context For centuries, Turkey was the seat of the...

Special Dispatch to the New-York Times. WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Dec. 7. Richmond papers of Monday, Dec. 5, are recorded here to-day at the office of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The following details of military operations in Georgia and elsewhere will be found of interest: From the Richmond Whig, Dec. 5. The Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel of the 1st inst, contains the following: "Telegraphic communication with Millen has been reopened. WHEELER was still engaged in fighting the Federals on Wednesday. Results unknown. It is reported that a party of SHERMAN's scouts visited Demara's Ferry on Sunday. They remained sometime in the vicinity, taking...

On November 27, a powerful force led by Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive in northern Syria. Taking advantage of the dysfunctional Assad regime forces – the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) – and Russia’s preoccupation with its grinding war in Ukraine, HTS and its Turkish-supported allies advanced to the south – and swiftly liberated the city of Aleppo from Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad, his SAA and his Russian backers. (snip) The Russians know Tartus is in trouble. On December 3, commercial satellite imagery revealed that every major Russian warship known to operate from Tartus – three missile...

798,643 views Dec 1, 2024 Untamed Motors 62.6K subscribers #vehicles #carmarket #marketcrash The Car Market crash of 2025 starts now… here’s proof. The writing is in the wall and something has got to give… and soon! What do you think? Do you think we’re heading toward a legitimate car market crash in 2025? Let me know your thoughts. See the video!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZSLsSGRlGk

THE DAMAGE BIDEN HAS DONE. Joe Biden will be president for the next 47 days. That’s enough to make anyone nervous. The 82-year-old president had to be forced, by his own party, to withdraw from the 2024 race because he is no longer mentally and physically up to the job. But, of course, he is still in the job. With a world full of dangerous conflicts, that Biden is in charge for 47 more days, especially with Vice President Kamala Harris in a deep post-defeat funk, is deeply worrisome. The immediate problem will end on Jan. 20, 2025, when Biden...

A Biden administration appointee has reached a contract agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union representing more than 40,000 Social Security Administration workers, that would allow federal workers to work from home until 2029. This comes amid a series of organized efforts from Biden's White House to impede President-elect Donald Trump's efforts to reform the federal workforce through his newly implemented Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bloomberg reported that the deal was brokered by President Biden's recently departed Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O'Malley. The updated contract protects telework until 2029. The agency will maintain its...

Memeing a murderer If you spotted the person who shot Brian Thompson, would you a) turn them in to the police or b) continue to go merrily about your day? Judging by the gleeful reaction to the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder, 99% of the United States would choose option b.

From our episode • The amazing story of IDF Captain and ... with Chaim Meisels. He is the great-grandson of the Satmar Rebbe, R’ Beirach Moshe. About eight years ago, Chaim chose to immigrate to Israel and enlist in the IDF. Chaim left everything behind, enlisted in the IDF combat unit, and was sworn in at the Kotel. Chaim served as a commanding officer in the Egoz program, a special forces unit and then was in Golani. Here he discusses the IDF's presence in Rafah and the hunt for Hamas leaders. Transcript linked below video.

American schoolchildren’s math and reading scores saw “a marked decline” — again — falling further behind their own scores before the COVID-era lockdowns, trailing even more foreign nations, and fueling calls for President-elect Donald Trump to reform or abolish the Department of Education. American students participate in two international tests — the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) — at ages nine and 13. American fourth graders scored 18 points lower in the 2022-2023 school year than in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic closures. Eighth graders’...