Free Republic

A former Los Angeles Unified School District employee has been charged in what prosecutors described as a pay-to-play scheme that directed more than $22 million in contracts to a single technology company, making it one of the largest money laundering schemes in the district’s history. Officials with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office allege that between 2018 and 2022, 53-year-old Pasadena resident, Hong “Grace” Peng, who worked as a technical project manager for LAUSD, of illegally awarding Innive, a Texas-based tech company, millions of dollars worth of contracts for work on the district’s My Integrated Student Information System (MiSiS)....

Heart-pounding audio captured the frantic moments before Sunday’s fatal collision involving an Air Canada passenger plane and a firefighting truck at LaGuardia Airport — with one air traffic controller admitting after they “messed up.” Air traffic controllers urged an incoming plane to go around as the crash unfolded on the ground, killing the jet’s pilot and co-pilot, according to LiveATC audio. The truck was cleared to cross the airport’s Runway 4 before air traffic controllers urged a Frontier plane bound for Miami and the vehicle to stop. “Stop, stop, stop, stop,” the controller frantically demanded. “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop....

The Oscars, once Hollywood's premier celebration of cinematic artistry, have increasingly come under fire for prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates over pure merit and storytelling excellence. Titled "Why the Oscars Suck: Diversity, Equity Inclusion Standards Fail Art," this critique highlights how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Representation and Inclusion Standards-introduced in 2020 and fully enforced for Best Picture eligibility since 2024-have transformed the awards into what many view as a politicized checklist rather than a genuine honor for filmmaking achievement.

Two people have been taken to hospital overnight after an alleged machete attack in the heart of Melbourne's CBD, days after a fatal stabbing in a separate incident in the city's outer north. Police allege a 25-year-old Manor Lakes man armed with a machete attacked a man and a woman near the corner of Queen and Flinders streets just after 2:30am on Monday. The woman in her 20s was transported to hospital in a serious condition with upper body injuries. The man, believed to be in his 20s, was treated for mid-body injuries and transported to hospital in a stable...

More than 30 arrests for charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, firing a weapon. Virginia just decided that the way to go is with the ‘free all the illegal alien criminals’ party. And that leads to women being stabbed to death at bus stops. By Muslim illegal aliens with 30 priors because arresting them and handing them over to ICE interferes with what is currently the supreme cause of the movement after previous stints with ‘BLM’ and ‘Hamas’ (not to mention the drag queens). It’s not good for America. It wasn’t good for Stephanie. But it’s working out pretty well...

Advocating for diverse viewpoints on campuses is now apparently akin to saying “All Lives Matter,” or pushing a supposedly sinister Make America Great Again plot. That’s according to two recent op-eds, penned by professors at Stanford and Johns Hopkins, opposing efforts to get professors and students with different opinions onto campus. Academia has lost public trust precisely because anyone not of the far-left is admonished on campuses. Accusing proponents of viewpoint diversity of being Trumpy conspiracists certainly doesn’t help. Any professor who truly cares about academia should want more views on campus, regardless of their own politics. “It’s profoundly anti-intellectual,...

Maryan Hashi remembers the thoughts running through her mind when she began hitting the ski slopes in northern Sweden. As a Black woman from Somalia, she felt like an “alien.” “Am I wearing the correct clothing for this? Does it fit? Do I look weird? Am I snowboarding correctly? Do they think it’s weird I’m on the slope?” she said. “But I carried on — I felt if I didn’t, I was never going to commit to anything in my life.” A few years later, snowboarding is the 30-year-old student’s big passion and it is helping her integrate into her...

I reveal here that I have finally read a likable DEI book, one that I found so because—beyond any doubt whatever—this book will infuriate the DEI faithful. Make no mistake, I don’t like this book in the same way I might enjoy a Douglas Murray takedown of leftist shibboleths or a Thomas Sowell skewering of the economic-egghead fringe. Rather, for DEI proponents, it’s a realistic adjustment of expectations in a post-Floyd era, in which the ashes of DEI doctrine are being scraped from the floor even as you read this. Authors Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow have at least one...

The BBC must stop box-ticking casting that 'shoe-horns' ethnic minority actors into period dramas, a review has urged. In a damning independent report into the corporation's content, the BBC was also told it needs to improve coverage of the working class and women over 60 if it is to keep engaging audiences. The broadcaster has been conducting 'preachy' diversity casting in a string of its dramas, resulting in ethnic minorities ending up in inappropriate settings, the review found.

Ranya Brooks will serve as the inaugural director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection, Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein announced Friday afternoon in an email to students, faculty, and staff. Brooks, who most recently served as director of workforce engagement for Harvard University Campus Services, will begin her new role on Jan. 26. The appointment follows a six-month search launched after the departure of Robbin Chapman, who previously led the school’s diversity office. Chapman left during the broader rebranding of the Kennedy School’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into what is now the OBCC. During the...

The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) has published its second “State of the Chief Diversity Officer” (CDO) report. Following up on the 2023 survey, the 2025 study shares some interesting findings. Have efforts to rid higher education of DEI’s influence been, from NADOHE’s members’ perspective, a decidedly undesirable success? The report received responses from 394 CDOs and academic diversity officers (ADOs) and asked how these roles had changed either positively or negatively since 2023. Although one might expect such a study to illustrate that DEI is in danger on higher-ed campuses, the findings don’t convincingly indicate...

As the Democrats continue to wail and screech over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis, Portland, and elsewhere, the receipts continue to pile up showing that they are in fact cheerleading and trying to protect some of the worst criminal elements in our society. One reality they continue to ignore is that if blue state “sanctuary” mayors and governors hadn’t purposefully reneged on their sworn duty to keep the public safe, and if ideologues like former President Joe Biden hadn’t opened the floodgates at the southern border to any and all comers, many of these enforcement operations...

You’ve heard of DEI in the workforce, but DEI in the National Football League isn’t all that different of a ball game. And after looking at the stats, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock determines it’s been doing far more damage than good. In 2018, 19 quarterbacks averaged more than 250 passing yards per game. Now, in 2025, there are only five quarterbacks who average more than 250 passing yards per game. “There are five quarterbacks that average more than 250 passing yards per game: Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, and Drake Maye. ... What are we watching? What...

The New Year festivities in the Netherlands left two people dead, saw 'unprecedented' violence against police and destroyed a 19th century Amsterdam church. A 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen and a 38-year-old man from Aalsmeer were killed in fireworks accidents. Three others were left seriously injured. One person has been arrested in connection to the teenager's death, but authorities have not yet revealed any information on the suspect's identity and an investigation is ongoing.

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2003272753953247254 0:53 VIDEO at link...............

For many of us who grew up in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Britain had a distinct identity—one rooted in tradition, culture, and a shared sense of belonging. But over the past few decades, that Britain has slowly transformed, replaced by a new, complex reality. From the days of neighborhood corner shops, Sunday roasts, and traditional family values, to a country that now feels more fragmented and uncertain. This video takes you through the journey of how Britain’s identity evolved and why so many of us feel like we're losing touch with the country we once knew. The slow disappearance...

During a press conference on Wednesday, a Providence-area radio host, Chas Calenda, directly confronted Brown University officials and law enforcement with information he has received about the school intentionally disabling surveillance systems due to DEI concerns. The response from university officials and the Providence Mayor indicate Mr. Chas Calenda’s informed accusation and question is directly on target. WATCH: In addition to information we previously shared {GO DEEP} reflecting requests from various “civil rights” and “humanitarian” groups who demanded Brown University disable their surveillance system, additional information about the issue comes via the Rhode Island ACLU making the same demand in...

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.

An Afghan national has been charged with the first-degree murder of his wife after he allegedly committed an honor killing in Washington state over the belief she was having an affair, local media reported, citing the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Sayed Sadat, 37, of Auburn, called police to his home on the morning of November 23, where he was said to have confessed to killing 43-year-old Geety Sadat. The couple’s three children, aged 6, 9, and 11, were in the family home at the time of the homicide, but were said not to have witnessed their mother’s death. Officers...

Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937. Congress requires the Pentagon to support Scouting America’s Jamboree, lending trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge. “The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” according to the group. “From the tremendous support of the West Virginia National Guard at our National Jamborees to Scout...