Free Republic

Joe Biden’s senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions. Biden’s aides are deeply concerned about a range of current and former officials who could find themselves facing inquiries and even indictments, a sense of alarm which has only accelerated since Trump last weekend announced the appointment of Kash Patel to lead the FBI. Patel has publicly vowed to pursue Trump’s critics. The White...

Veteran lefty political analyst Van Jones said he is “nervous” about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances at the polls Tuesday — after her campaign focused on out-of-touch celebrity endorsements. Jones, a former special adviser to President Barack Obama, said Harris’ “star-studded” campaign events in the days leading up to the election felt eerily similar to the final days of Hillary Clinton’s failed White House bid in 2016. The political analyst admitted he was skeptical that her final swing-state push, which has featured celebs like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey, will actually convince working-class people to vote blue. “The...

Critics of President Joe Biden ripped the octogenarian for campaigning in New Hampshire on locking up former President Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris has not yet condemned Biden’s statement, though the Trump campaign has called on her to do so. “We gotta lock him up,” said Biden before backtracking on his remarks Tuesday. “Lock up him politically. Lock him out, that’s what we have to do.” The statement comes as Harris and Barack Obama are campaigning on the seriousness of what a president says, claiming Trump’s words represent a threat to democracy. “When Donald Trump repeatedly lies or cheats...

In a rare admission, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Friday that Russia is sustaining “significant losses” in the war on Ukraine. “In recent days, we have seen significant losses in Ukraine, they exceed the classical figure,” he said, according to the Kremlin. The Russian president also confessed that Russian forces were dealing with artillery problems, adding in his remarks that “Yes, we still do not have enough of these modern weapons, but the defense industry, the country's military-industrial complex is developing rapidly.” The dispirited comments about Moscow’s prospects in the war come just as Ukraine has launched a series of...

FIRST ON FOX: The Biden administration acknowledged in a memo, accidentally leaked on Friday, that charging fossil fuel companies less to drill would provide "greater energy security" despite its plans to hike royalty fees. Former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton recommended late last year that, as part of its climate agenda, the Department of the Interior (DOI) move forward with higher royalty fees for an oil and gas lease sale spanning 958,202 acres in the Cook Inlet off the coast of Alaska, according to the memo obtained by Fox News Digital. DOI Assistant Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis...

In 2014, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed suit against the University of North Carolina. Its complaint argued that the university had engaged in intentional discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity to the detriment of SFFA members. The suit followed in a line of cases challenging the admissions policies of universities, where students from certain groups were given preferences over students who were not in those groups. In a pair of 2003 cases involving the University of Michigan, the Supreme Court ruled that universities were in violation of the law if they used a rigid quota system (Gratz...

The University of California (UC) Board of Regents announced Nov. 18 to eliminate standardized tests from the admission process, without any alternative exam to be adopted in the foreseeable future. The board originally approved in May 2020 the removal of standardized testing—for applications for admission to the nine UC colleges—and planned to put an alternative test in place of ACT and SAT by 2024. During the board’s meeting on Thursday, the regents reached a consensus to keep exams out of admission requirements for a longer time, in favor of practices promoting educational equity and quality. “UC will continue to practice...

A federal judge endorsed the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) use of race as a factor in screening applicants after ruling that the university did not discriminate against white and Asian American applicants.No discrimination: Judge Loretta Biggs ruled on Monday that the UNC’s undergraduate admissions process had not been discriminatory toward specific race groups, reported CNN.The group Students for Fair Admissions alleged in its 2014 lawsuit that UNC deliberately discriminated against certain members by including race in its admissions process.According to the suit, UNC allegedly used “racial preferences in undergraduate admissions where there are available race-neutral alternatives capable of achieving...

The nine campuses of the University of California system will no longer consider standardized testing scores as part of the admission process beginning in the fall of 2021.The change is the result of a legal settlement (pdf) of a lawsuit brought by groups that claimed that the traditional SAT and ACT tests are racist.Under the settlement, the university, which enrolls some 225,000 undergraduate students, said it won’t consider SAT or ACT scores sent along with admissions applications until 2025. The university further stated that it had no current plan to consider the scores after 2025.The settlement specifies that the university...

C’mon man, did ya really mean to say that, Joe?! (Not that it’s news to anyone paying attention.)

Just this week, enraged that they will lose control of the Supreme Court, the Democrats threatened that if they ever take control of the government again, that they will admit as many states as they need to in order to take control forever, and prevent Republicans from ever regaining control. Well, it goes much further than that. Earlier this year, Harvard Law Review published the blueprint of the actual MASTER PLAN. Admit enough new states so that they can pass new amendments that will completely rewrite our constitution, and our government. Some excerpts: "If we truly hold to be self-evident...

This is suppoedly the ANTIFA COMPTROLER taking full responsibility for the western states wildfires. Tell me if you think if it is real or not. If fact checkers say it is wrong, how would they know that?

A Christian university affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention has garnered controversy over rescinding a graduate student’s admission because he is in a same-sex relationship. Alex Duron posted a letter he received from Union University on Facebook last week, noting that his admission to a nursing program was rescinded because he was found in violation of the school’s Community Values Statements for Graduate and Non-Traditional Programs. Duron denounced the decision of Union as “Bigotry, Prejudice, Heterosexism, Homophobia” and took issue with the fact that the university receives federal funding. “Union University may not be right for me. I can accept...

Many bar and dorm room conversations probably have centered on what colleges would look like if SAT scores were the sole criteria for admission. People have had their suspicions and cite anecdotal observations but now Georgetown University has quantitatively answered the question as least as far as elite universities go. Anyone with a passing awareness of today's college admission policies knows that the student makeup would change if academics were the sole criteria. How much they would change is the question. As to whether using just SAT scores -- i.e. academic performance -- is good or bad is another matter. Back to the...

On one hand you have spoiled, unmotivated and wealthy scions that just don't care and well-meaning parents push them into college to "make something positive happen." However, they can afford their college education. On the other hand, a vast majority of young adults who never had a job and know nothing about finance, signed documents promising to honor their college loans. Know this, the Millennials will be the largest voting block and WILL elect someone who will make laws forgiving their college debts. Taxpayers (read You) will be on the hook.

Athletic coaches at USC, UCLA and Stanford got the boot Tuesday after federal prosecutors announced more than 50 people have been indicted in a college admissions bribery scandal. Coaches were among those charged with racketeering conspiracy for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for admitting students as athletes, regardless of their ability. UCLA says its soccer coach Jorge Salcedo has been placed on leave pending a review and will have no involvement with the team. The university said in a statement Tuesday it’s a “potential victim of a fraudulent scheme” but that it’s not aware of any student-athletes who are under...

MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint List), who participated in the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla which ultimately resulted in the cutting of ties between Israel and Turkey, on Sunday night said the reconciliation agreement between the two countries was a clear “admission of murder” by Israel. "Israel's agreement to transfer 21 million shekels to the Turks constitutes a clear admission of guilt. Even if Israel does not acknowledge it, it is a confession to the murder of nine people, wounding of dozens, kidnapping and piracy in international waters and false persecution,” she charged. Zoabi called for more flotillas like the Marmara one...

The American Center for Law and Justice is suing a Maryland community college after a student was denied admittance into a program because he said God is the most important thing in his life. Brandon Jenkins, a prospective student in the radiation therapy program at the Community College of Baltimore County, exceeded the minimum requirements for entry into the program, but after completing his exam and interview process, he received a notice informing him that he was not selected for the fall 2013 term. When Jenkins followed up with members of the CCBC staff to find out why he was...

Joe Daniels, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, has announced a $24 mandatory admission fee for the 9/11 Memorial. It’s a museum, not a movie. It’s a memorial, not a theme park. What do they charge at Gettysburg? Pearl Harbor? Salaries at the “non-profit” 9/11 Memorial and Museum are obscene. This allegedly non-profit organization is supposed to be a tribute to 9/11 victims. “It was built to tell the story of 9/11 to future generations about the worst day in American history. It was never intended to be a revenue-generating tourist attraction with a prohibitive budget and...

NEW YORK — Faced with hefty operating costs, the foundation building the 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center has decided to charge an admission fee of $20 to $25 when the site opens next year.