Free Republic

Brethren, Peace be with you. The recent attempt by a number of misguided children to reenact a black mass in Harvard University brought to mind that incident almost six years ago, when a third-rate scientist in the University of Minnesota also abused academic freedom and basic human respect in his own show at desecrating the Eucharist. Both activities, the black mass, and the teacher's rant, were satanically inspired, the difference being that one acknowledges the inspiration, while the other denies it. This brings to mind a question that might be in the minds of some: does harming the Eucharist somehow...

Thought experiment: Imagine you are a national security reporter, covering the release of a massive, 2,000-page report on domestic intelligence gathering activities and future threat assessment from the National Security Agency. But instead of issuing the full report, the NSA issues a 30-page “Summary for Policymakers” (SPM) written by political appointees at the Justice Department, promising that the full 2,000-page report will be released a few days later. Would you print a front-page story based only on the 30-page summary, or would you demand to see the full report? If you’d go with the politically massaged summary, then congratulations​—​you too...

Federal judge approves set asides and racial quotas for transportation contracts in California. A federal judge last week granted the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) the right to discriminate against white business owners and men when awarding contracts. The Pacific Legal Foundation had filed suit against the department on behalf of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of San Diego, insisting that its racial quota program violated the voter-approved Proposition 209 prohibition on race- and sex-based preferences in public contracting, employment and education. US District Court Judge John Mendez weighed the arguments, denied the Pacific Legal Foundation's motion and granted summary...

Background: In 1931 the Davis-Bacon Act was adopted to create a "prevailing wage," usually the union rate, for any construction contract over $2,000 funded in whole or in part by the federal government. The benefits of the "prevailing wage," however, go to a very few at the expense of taxpayers and the Act is a prime example of unfunded mandates and government waste. Davis-Bacon inflates the cost of federally funded construction projects by as much as 15%, discourages economic growth, and raises federal spending. In fact, Davis-Bacon Act wages cost taxpayers over $1 billion annually, in addition to the $100...