Free Republic

As the artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing industries explode, trained STEM professionals are in high demand. Mathematics is foundational to these fields.But mathematics is missing an important ingredient: people who are female or gender-diverse. In New South Wales, for example, only one-third of high school graduates who complete mathematics at the highest level are female or gender-diverse. And when students choose university courses in December, a large proportion of these highly qualified people will step away from mathematics and STEM.

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s ban on military service by individuals who identify as transgender or have gender dysphoria, staying a lower-court order that blocked War Secretary Pete Hegseth from enforcing the policy. The 2–1 decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sharply rebuked U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, concluding that her ruling in March overrode military judgment and applied a standard of review the courts are not entitled to use when second-guessing force-readiness decisions.

Those television shows featuring LGBT characters are being canceled right and left, and that means nearly half of all LGBT characters will be disappearing from television next season, a Protestia report revealed. The confirmation actually comes from GLAAD, a high-profile LGBT lobbying group. Among those departing will be 61% of transgender characters, the report said.

Gov. Greg Abbott originally called for the removal of rainbow crosswalks and other symbols of pride from public roads across Texas on Oct. 8, saying they pose safety concerns and misuse taxpayer dollars. In a statement, Abbott said any city that does not comply within 30 days could risk the “withholding or denial of state and federal road funding and suspension of agreements with TxDOT.” Almost a month later, the City of Dallas has submitted a request for an exception from compliance with the standards outlined in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) October letter. "The City of Dallas installs...

A Maryland mayor’s decision to eliminate the city’s only rainbow crosswalks has become the latest flash point in a nationwide campaign to strip LGBTQ+ symbols from public spaces. The Salisbury crosswalks, installed in 2018 and repainted each year by volunteers, were removed on November 11 after Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor ordered crews to mill away the paint at dawn, The Washington Post reports. Taylor, who narrowly won office in 2023, said the city must ensure “neutrality” on government property.

For the first time since 1988, the US government will no longer commemorate World Aids Day, according to reports. The state department has directed its employees and grant recipients not to use US government funds to mark the event – which falls annually on 1 December – and not to promote the day publicly. The news was first reported by the journalist Emily Bass and confirmed in an email viewed by the New York Times. Employees and grantees could still “tout the work” on Aids being done through various programs “to counter this dangerous disease and other infectious diseases around...

The U.S. Supreme Court could soon extend its administrative stay in the Texas redistricting case that has generated nationwide controversy and headlines for months. If so, a legal analyst told CBS News Texas that it will become a clear signal that the Justices will keep the 2025 congressional maps in place for next year's all-important midterm elections.

bout two years ago, an HIV outbreak was first identified in Penobscot County, Maine, home of Bangor. In recent weeks, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed another case, bringing the total of new HIV diagnoses in the cluster to 30. Of note, 29 of those people were coinfected with hepatitis C virus; 29 reported injection drug use within a year of their HIV diagnoses; 27 have been unhoused within a year of diagnoses; 20 were linked to care within 30 days of diagnoses; and 16 of the 27 people currently living in Maine were virally suppressed at...

The United States will need more than 1,500 additional experienced HIV health care providers to meet goals for HIV testing and treatment, according to an analysis presented at IDWeek 2025. The study identified substantial geographic and racial/ethnic disparities, with especially pressing shortages in the South. As HIV treatment has improved, fewer people living with the virus are developing advanced immune suppression and opportunistic illnesses. Modern antiretroviral therapy is highly effective and generally convenient and well tolerated, so some routine HIV care can now be managed by primary care providers. But people aging with HIV have a host of coexisting health...

A handful of Democrats in Congress who served in the U.S. military and intelligence community are raising eyebrows with a new video encouraging current service members to refuse to follow "illegal orders" issued by the administration of President Donald Trump. "We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe," the lawmakers say, taking turns in brief clips. "We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now." "This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence-community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore...

Treatment Action Group (TAG) is profoundly disappointed and outraged at the lack of health care protections for people living with and affected by HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C (HCV) in the bill to end the U.S. government shutdown. With only a promise of a future vote to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, millions of people now face unaffordable health insurance costs. As we approach World AIDS Day on December 1, we demand that legislators defend access and affordability of health care, especially for those with preexisting conditions. Several of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, which...

Having a cat as a pet could potentially double a person's risk of schizophrenia-related conditions, according to an analysis of 17 studies. Psychiatrist John McGrath and colleagues at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research in Australia looked at papers published over the last 44 years in 11 countries, including the US and the UK. Their 2023 study found "a significant positive association between broadly defined cat ownership and an increased risk of schizophrenia-related disorders."

Most school clubs just hold regular meetings where the students engage in whatever activity or subject they are focused on. The club is about socializing, fun, and self-development. GSAs purport to be just like other clubs, but they are vastly different. A major part of the GSA mission is to “create change” throughout the entire school. The goal is for every student and staff member to accept and support the LGBT agenda (including whatever new “identities” are concocted). And no one dares to openly dissent from the GSA message. The LGBT movement’s radical “change” push is designed to overlay the...

And finally, another reason Jocelyn Benson doesn’t want the DOJ to investigate Michigan’s voter rolls is that, given the many ways elections are stolen, the DOJ is likely to discover that Michigan’s voter rolls are among the most corrupt in the nation. A good place to start is with some of Michigan’s OLDEST “ACTIVE” voters… At 115 years old, Naomi Whitehead is America’s oldest living citizen. If Naomi is the oldest living citizen in America, how is it possible that Michigan currently has 333 ACTIVE voters listed on its voter rolls who are 115+ years old? A whopping 257 of...

U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to make official a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender patients at Catholic hospitals. The step formalizes a yearslong process for the U.S. church to address transgender health care. From a Baltimore hotel ballroom, the bishops overwhelmingly approved revisions to their ethical and religious directives that guide the nation's thousands of Catholic health care institutions and providers.

Advocates for student loan borrowers and Democratic lawmakers in Congress are sounding the alarm that recent legislative changes made by Republicans could result in substantial financial penalties for those who are pursuing student loan forgiveness. Last week, Protect Borrowers (a student loan borrower advocacy organization) released a detailed analysis suggesting that, after congressional Republicans declined to extend tax relief for many Americans who are pursuing student loan forgiveness under income-driven repayment plans, borrowers could get slammed with thousands of dollars in unexpected tax liabilities. Senate Democrats followed up the analysis with a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that...

After publishing for more than two centuries, Farmers’ Almanac will release its final edition in 2026, according to the Associated Press. The decision was announced Thursday by the Maine-based publication, which first printed in 1818. “It is with a heavy heart,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement, “that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future.” Publishers cited...

For years, Missouri lawmakers have heard warnings that enacting policies targeting the LGBTQ+ population could drive individuals and businesses out of the state. Local officials and chambers of commerce raised red flags about potential impacts on recruitment and retention of employees, as well as the ability to lure businesses to the state. Now, studies are showing that the state’s actions have already pushed LGBTQ+ Missourians to move — taking their tax dollars, and even businesses, elsewhere. Analysis by the Movement Advancement Project estimates that around $362 million to $879 million in household income has left the state, a number that...

A study presented at the recent 20th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2025) has found that the apparent rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), at least in gay and bisexual men with HIV in France, are due to more frequent testing rather than more infections. Dr Sophie Novelli of the Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP) of the French national scientific health research agency INSERM presented data from 2016 to 2023 taken from the PRIMO cohort. PRIMO is a long-standing cohort, founded in 1996, of people diagnosed with HIV during very early infection. It includes men and women of all...

We apparently are not on a roll with some kind of conservative momentum. Leftist Democrats of the worst kind made inroads into political power yesterday. — NYC elects a radical Muslim. — Virginia threw out all reason and elected radical leftists to the Governorship and Attorney General, who had made violent threats. — Democrats flipped two red seats in MS breaking the Republican supermajority. — in my neck of the woods, Texas senate district 9 is going to a run-off after a DEM bested two Republicans for a plurality of votes. This was surprising as the polling place I revisited...