Free Republic

The Left’s march through Western institutions in the forms of DEI/CRT, “social justice”, and all manner of woo-woo wokeism has consequences. Let’s take schools of medicine for $200, Alex. One of the premier medical schools, UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, is failing. Up to half of UCLA medical students now fail basic tests of medical competence. Whistleblowers say affirmative action, illegal in California since 1996, is to blame. ... “One professor said that a student in the operating room could not identify a major artery when asked, then berated the professor for putting her on the spot. Another said...

A DEI-fixated dean at UCLA's world-famous medical school has allowed standards to plummet by discriminating against white and Asian applicants, it is claimed. The David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles boasts Nobel Prize winners on its faculty and accepts just 173 students out of the 14,000 who apply to it each year. But it has plunged from sixth to 18th place in the rankings since the appointment of Jennifer Lucerno as dean of admissions in June 2020 amid claims that the admissions bar for underrepresented minorities is now 'as low as you could possibly imagine'. 'All the normal...

The 80 year old billionaire wed his 30 year old boyfriend Donovan Michaels in Beverly Hills, they say. Two couples attended the small ceremony which was held in the shroud of secrecy. Congrats to all. Geffen, a media mogul, is said to be worth $7.7 billion. He’s used much of his wealth in enormous acts of philanthropy, endowing museums, arts centers, and hospitals. In the past Geffen was famously linked with Cher. But in more recent years he’s had a string of boyfriends. And now he’s tied the knot. Joni Mitchell sang that Geffen was a “free man in Paris”...

Spencer Elden, the man who, as a baby, posed for the iconic cover image to Nirvana’s Nevermind is reportedly suing the band and Kurt Cobain’s estate, claiming he was exploited for the picture. Court documents allege the band “knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so.” According to Elden, photographer Kirk Weddle took pictures of his naked body “in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals.” The suit further alleges that Cobain “agreed to redact Spencer’s image by releasing the album with a sticker strategically placed over Spencer’s...

The Lincoln Project is taunting former President Trump in a new attack ad, saying the former president got "played" by the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C. "The swamp won, Donald," a narrator says as the ad opens with clips of snapping turtles, alligators and other swamp-dwelling animals pouncing on unsuspecting prey. "Mitch McConnell's Washington consultants are making big money using your name," it continues. "We don't know if Mitch gets a cut. But what do you think, Donald?" The video then shows a clip of McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate minority leader, pledging support for Trump at last year's Republican National...

The Lincoln Project, a GOP anti-Trump group, on Wednesday launched a $4 million ad buy targeting Senate contests in Maine, Alaska and Montana. The buy, which was first reported by Axios, will air for seven to 10 days in key markets in the three states. The ads in Alaska and Maine express support for challengers to Republican incumbent Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska). The spots are dubbed "Real" in Alaska and "Strong" in Montana. The group endorsed Democrat Al Gross in its ad in Alaska ahead of the state's Democratic and independent primary on Aug. 18. Meanwhile,...

GOP group the Lincoln Project says it raised $16.8 million in the second quarter of 2020 as it ramps up its anti-Trump efforts ahead of the general election. In a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Wednesday, the group said it spent $7.2 million and has $10.8 million cash on hand. It also owes more than $263,500 in debt. Among the organization's most prominent donors are billionaire hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel, who gave $1 million, business magnate David Geffen, who gave $100,000, and Bain Capital chairman Joshua Bekenstein, who also gave $100,000. The Lincoln Project was founded late...

The ballot item, Measure R, spearheaded by actor, director and producer Rob Reiner and backed by entertainment-industry figures including Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks and David Geffen, passed with 59 percent of the vote, according to election results released today.

The chattering class who thinks President Trump is a misogynist and believes his entire party has an ongoing War on Women, seems to have no problem with their team mates mocking Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her looks. “I feel like Sarah Huckabee Sanders left and right eye switched places or something,” comedian Akliah Hughes wrote on Twitter. Why, I’m so old I remember when “little eye” was cool:And the bullying from the anti-bully party of inclusion only gets worse from there: next, a gay writer for the Daily Beast assumes it was okay to call a girl names as long...

Officials in Beverly Hills say they tried it all: educational campaigns, usage restrictions and written notices for people suspected of wasting water. Despite those efforts, the community missed its savings target every month since June, when a statewide 25% reduction in urban water consumption became mandatory amid the punishing drought. As a result, state regulators fined the city, saying publicly that its water wasters "should be ashamed." About four months ago, city officials got tough. Beverly Hills sent letters to dozens of customers in November warning them of high water use and urging them to cut back. The city also...

“Just because you buy the front house, doesn’t mean you own the beach,” says Tony Salaza. “The beach is for everybody.” He gestures towards a sweep of architect-designed houses to his left. Over the past few years, many of Malibu’s 13,000 residents have been watching with alarm as public access rights to the 27-mile coastline have come under threat. Many celebrities and multimillionaires own sprawling Malibu homes overlooking the Pacific, including actors Robert Redford and Angelina Jolie, the rapper Dr Dre, the director Rob Reiner and media mogul David Geffen. In an effort to protect their privacy, some homeowners have...

Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen and Larry Ellison will join together in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers if the NBA's board of governors votes to force Donald Sterling to sell the team, Geffen told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Wednesday. Geffen said he and Ellison would run the team, while Winfrey would be an investor. "Oprah is not interested in running the team," Geffen told Schaap. "She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise. "The team deserves a better group of owners who want to win. Larry would sooner die...

Gay Marriage Effort Attracts a Novel Group of Donors ADAM NAGOURNEY and BROOKS BARNES March 23, 2012 LOS ANGELES — On a warm Friday afternoon three years ago, Rob Reiner, the director, arrived for lunch at the Beverly Hills estate of David Geffen, the entertainment mogul. Mr. Reiner and his political adviser, Chad H. Griffin, had spent six months drafting an ambitious legal campaign aimed at persuading the United States Supreme Court to establish a constitutional right of same-sex marriage. Mr. Reiner, joined by Mr. Griffin and Mr. Reiner’s wife, Michele, told Mr. Geffen they would need $3 million to...

...five well-known Hollywood Democrats -- David Geffen, Bob Iger, Peter Chernin, Haim Saban, and Ari Emanuel -- are hosting a November 4 fundraiser for Ari's brother Rahm Emanuel in his bid to become Chicago's next mayor. Rahm, a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Illinois' 5th Congressional District (2003-2009), resigned as President Obama's White House Chief Of Staff on October 1 to throw his hat into the mayoral race following the retirement of Richard M. Daley whose last name more or less owned that political office the way most families would takeover the dining table. The Hollywood fundraiser will be held...

Some of Hollywood’s most recognizable names are digging into their deep pockets to help Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, one of the Senate’s most reliably liberal voices — and a top Republican target this fall. Among Feingold's contributors are filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Harvey Weinstein, actors Michael Douglas and Edie Falco, as well as NBC’s Jeffrey Zucker, music executive David Geffen, and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, according to CQMoneyLine.com. Writer and producer Tom Fontana, creator of the television series “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Oz,” also ponied up for Feingold, as did actress Kathryn Erbe, who has...

As you start to read all this, you'll laugh at how incestuous it all gets. Let's start with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which as I've noted in the past is tied in with the Soros foundation. Together, the two worked on something called The Project on Death in America.(PDIA) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2341083/posts And speaking of Mr Soros, he himself(his foundations) have given directly to NPR. Compared to some of the other numbers I'm seeing, it's a small amount of $250,000. But it doesn't matter. Soros money is soros money in my book. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2396058/posts Additional information about RWJF can be found here....

The Stooges, Genesis, ABBA, the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the shrine's 25th annual ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. They'll be joined by David Geffen and a cadre of songwriters -- Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, Jesse Stone, Mort Shuman and Otis Blackwell -- who will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Fuse TV. Surprisingly not making the cut were KISS and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who...

November 24, 2009 Glamour and Taste: Obama Tent Feast To Curry Favour With India Giles Whittell in Washington The Obamas' first state dinner is in honour of an abstemious vegetarian There will be music from the composer of the Slumdog Millionaire theme, food from an Ethiopian-born Swedish chef and cedar chips sprinkled on the roofs of the portable lavatories. There may also be the faint patter of drizzle on canvas. The first state dinner of the Obama era, held tonight in a tent village on the South Lawn of the White House, will honour an Indian Prime Minister described by...

Obama hits Hollywood on fundraising trip U.S. president to tap movie, music executives at Beverly Hills hotel LOS ANGELES - President Barack Obama looked not for votes in California on Wednesday but for millions of dollars to aid Democratic campaigns, including at a fundraiser hosted by such Hollywood names as Steven Spielberg. Like Bill Clinton and other top Democrats before him, Obama visits the Golden State now and then to tap wealthy, liberal-leaning activists, especially in Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Wednesday night's two-tiered event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel offered tickets ranging from $1,000 to $15,200. The lower prices bought...

David Geffen, the former record executive who made an offer for the Los Angeles Times two years ago, now wants to buy the New York Times, according to people close to the situation.