Free Republic

“Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.” - Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto Controversy is swirling around an art event in Grand Rapids. An art festival is bringing a Down’s syndrome drag show from Britain, called Drag Syndrome, to town. The controversy isn’t aimed at Daniel Vais the London-based group’s founder and artistic director. Nor is it aimed at DisArt, the group organizing their Grand Rapids appearance but rather at Peter Meijer, the owner of the venue who has decided he doesn’t wish to make his establishment available for this...

The powerful DeVos family said on May 22 that it will no longer provide financial backing to a Michigan congressman who is the first and only Republican to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. DeVos family members have not donated to Rep. Justin Amash (D-Mich.) during the current campaign cycle and do not plan to do so in the future, according to the spokesman for the family’s RDV Corp., Nick Wasmiller. After Amash accused Trump of impeachable conduct, two pro-Trump Republicans announced they will challenge him in the state’s primary election. Amash has not faced a primary challenge...

An internal memo between high-ranking officials within the Department of Education says Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has the authority to tell states and school districts whether or not they can use federal funds to arm teachers – an authority she has repeatedly denied having. The memo, presented Wednesday during a House Education and Labor Committee hearing, where the secretary was testifying on the administration's education agenda, outlines allowable uses of federal funding for school safety measures and specifically assesses the potential use of funds for firearms and firearms training. "The Department's Office of the General Counsel has advised that...

Right-wing Christian groups in the United States spent at least $50 million (€56 million) on supporting far-right activists and campaigns in Europe in recent years, according to an investigative report. Publicly available financial filings showed 15 conservative non-profit organizations spent some $51 million in Europe from 2008 to 2017, the report by UK-based openDemocracy found. The filings did not detail what the money was spent on, but openDemocracy said the groups used it to: lobby European Union officialschallenge anti-hate speech laws in European courtssupport anti-LGBT+ and anti-abortion campaigns in eastern and southern Europe. […]Two of the organizations named in the...

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has reportedly opened an investigation into several universities at the center of a college admissions bribery scandal. Politico, citing individuals familiar with the investigation, reported Monday that the Department of Education is looking into whether the universities broke laws or rules “governing the Federal student financial aid programs” or “any other applicable laws." **SNIP** The Education Department sent letters to the presidents of Yale, UCLA, Stanford, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Georgetown University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California informing them that the universities faced a “preliminary...

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is recovering after undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone suffered in a cycling accident. A department spokeswoman says DeVos is resting at home after the Thursday surgery. She is expected to recover fully. The spokeswoman did not immediately answer questions about the accident or the nature of DeVos’ injury. (Snip. Not much more article after this...)

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stirred up a hornets’ nest when she recently proposed a substantial revision of the rules for Title IX cases. Under the rules imposed during the Obama administration, colleges and universities were expected to follow procedures that stacked the deck against students accused of sexual assault or harassment. Those rules were heavily criticized by conservatives and liberals alike. Notably, many members of the faculty of Harvard Law School signed a letter attacking the Obama rules for their blatant unfairness. Among the changes proposed by Secretary DeVos is to allow cross-examination of hostile witnesses by counsel for...

Secret Blackwater tape might not be all it's hyped up to be about Erik Prince. A few media outlets claim they have a secret audio recording that contains 3,500 words made by Prince. It is a rare item because the Blackwater owner has always tried to ban journalists from his public speeches.Blackwater has dealt with a lot of controversy during the past five years. Erik Prince is the reclusive owner of the special operations company. He rarely gives public speeches and when he does he attempts to ban audio recording and videotaping. One media outlet claims they have obtained an...

For those awaiting a restoration of rational discourse in American politics, well, you’ll have to keep waiting. No other conclusion is possible after seeing the reaction to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s long-awaited regulatory proposals last week on handling accusations of sexual abuse on campus. From California Democrat Maxine Waters: “Betsy DeVos, you won’t get away with what you are doing. We are organizing to put an end to your destruction of civil rights protections for students.” Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Facebook that the proposal “would return us to the days when schools swept rape and assault under...

The Department of Education has issued its long-awaited proposed regulations reforming sexual-assault adjudications on college campus. Not only will these rules restore basic due process and fairness to college tribunals, but they also — given how basic the changes are — highlight just how ridiculous university kangaroo courts have become. First and perhaps most important, the rules will not only require colleges to permit cross-examination of witnesses (including the accuser), but will also prohibit universities from relying on the statements of any witness who refuses to submit to cross-examination. Cross-examination is so fundamental to adversary proceedings that it’s is simply...

No one can accuse Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of inaction. Just within the past few weeks, her Department of Education announced the overhaul of two major Obama-era regulations. The next stage of DeVos’ agenda will review several of the rules governing which higher education institutions and programs are eligible for federal funding, with an eye toward giving colleges more flexibility. The changes DeVos will likely attempt highlight a dilemma all conservative higher-education reformers face: the tension between promoting innovation and protecting taxpayers. While still in development, DeVos’ agenda comes down firmly on the side of creating a more hospitable environment...

This would almost be amusing if it weren’t such a serious subject. Still railing against the “campus rape culture” theme, one feminist and social political activist has published a poison pen letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in the WaPo this week. Jess Davidson is taking issue with a proposed rule change at the Department of Education which would more strictly define sexual harassment and identify who should receive reports of such crimes. Davidson’s complaint is once again based entirely on the constantly evolving definitions of Title IX and she concludes that DeVos is trying to “sweep rape back under...

Rich DeVos, a self-made billionaire who co-founded Amway and purchased the Orlando Magic in 1991, died Thursday in Ada, Mich., due to complications from an infection. DeVos was 92 years old. DeVos, who underwent a heart transplant in 1997 at the age of 71, attended some Magic home games during the 2017-18 season. DeVos took over as the Magic’s owner when he purchased the franchise for $85 million from Orlando real estate developer William duPont III after duPont experienced financial difficulties. Forbes recently estimated the Magic’s value at $1.225 billion, 19th out of 30 NBA teams. Forbes also approximated DeVos’...

Erik Prince, the founder of private security company Blackwater, has found himself embroiled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. During the campaign, Prince reportedly met at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., operative George Nader, and social media specialist Joel Zamel to discuss a potential pro-Trump social media influence operation. He also met with Russian sovereign wealth fund manager Kirill Dmitriev during the transition period—a meeting reportedly planned to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia. Those revelations raise questions about his relationship to the Trump administration—questions...

Betsy DeVos’s Department of Education plans to rescind a controversial Obama-era rule aimed at protecting students from career training programs that fail to prepare students for decent paying jobs and saddle them with debt. The Department released a document Friday outlining a proposal to scrap the gainful employment regulations. The rules, developed under the Obama administration required all programs that explicitly prepare students for careers — such as cosmetology and culinary training programs — prove that graduates were earning enough to repay the debt they incurred to complete the program. Many of these programs are at for-profit colleges. Programs that...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement today on the Department of Education’s proposal to abandon an Obama Administration-era “gainful employment” rule—which would hold predatory career training programs accountable when their students are unable to find jobs that allow them pay back their loans. By its own analysis, the Department’s proposal will cost taxpayers $5.3 billion over ten years.

In light of LeBron James and Akron Public Schools’ creating the I Promise School for 240 third- and fourth-graders, thousands of folks have been inspired. They’ve been inspired to the point at which they have put a petition together calling for current U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to be fired. Indeed, they want James to be hired. […] As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, 4,240 people had signed the petition. …

Two years into the Trump administration, aggrieved activists are not only accosting Cabinet members or driving them out of restaurants -- they're increasingly taking out their frustration on inanimate objects. A burst of anti-Trump vandalism against possessions and property associated with administration officials is the latest flare-up in a “resistance” that has taken many forms. Last year, protesters marked the anniversary of President Trump's election by screaming at the sky. Lately, the tactics have become more confrontational, touching off a national debate over civility in politics. But smashing and spray-painting are yet another outlet. Here are some of the items...

A $40 million yacht owned by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was reportedly untied from the dock at a northern Ohio marina and set adrift. The captain of the 163-foot yacht, named "Seaquest," called the Huron Police Department early Sunday morning when the crew realized the boat was floating in the Huron Boat Basin, The Toledo Blade reported. The yacht hit a dock, causing between $5,000 and $10,000 in damage, the newspaper added, citing a police report. Investigators are hoping surveillance footage will show who untied the yacht from the dock. It is one of 10 boats owned by DeVos and...

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos set off a furor over comments she made to members of Congress suggesting that schools should decide whether or not to report undocumented students and their families to federal immigration authorities. "I think that is — that is a school decision," DeVos said during her testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee after Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., pressed her on the issue of undocumented students. "It's a local community decision and again I refer to the fact that we have laws and we also are compassionate and I urge this body to do its...