Free Republic

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The interim vice provost for diversity at the University of Kansas has resigned after acknowledging that a message he sent out to the campus on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was largely plagiarized. D.A. Graham’s resignation was accepted Wednesday and is effective immediately, Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer said. Graham, interim vice provost of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, told the Lawrence Journal-World on Monday that he didn’t intentionally plagiarize the “2022 MLK Jr. Day of Reflection” text he sent to all faculty, staff and students. “It was an oversight on my part,” Graham said. “I was trying...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is threatening to recoup COVID-19 relief funds sent to Arizona over state provisions that it says discourage families and school districts from following federal guidance recommending face coverings in schools. At issue are two state programs meant to help schools and students but direct funding away from jurisdictions with mask requirements. Arizona’s Education Plus-Up Grant Program provides $163 million in funding to schools, but districts that require face coverings are ineligible. And its COVID-19 Educational Recovery Benefit Program provides for up to $7,000 for parents if their child’s school requires face coverings. In a...

A very high profile anti-Capitalist from Canada named Naomi Klein has been invited by Pope Francis to join forces with Climate Change activist and senior aide to the Pope, Cardinal Peter Turkson. Together they will lead a prominent conference on the environment with churchmen, scientists, and activists. The conference will exclude climate change doubters and moderates. The Pope had walked back some of his comments on the economy which were anti-Capitalist but Klein says he got it right the first time – we need to overturn Capitalism. Klein spoke at Occupy Wall Street, is, according to the guardian, is a...

Video has emerged purporting to show a police dog mauling a man at an anti-lockdown protest in Amsterdam. The footage, which was published on social media by an account called Guerrilla Reporters, appears to have been filmed during an anti-lockdown protest held in the Dutch capital on Sunday. In the video, a police dog is seen apparently biting a man’s arm as other officers used batons against the surrounding demonstrators. At the time of this reporting, the local police have not confirmed the veracity of the video, however, a report from the public broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) features an...

Consider U.S. farmers happy. They are exporting record volumes of products to China. Shipments of soybeans, corn and pork are bringing smiles back to the American heartland. Or, to put this another way, Beijing is effectively acknowledging it cannot feed the Chinese people. China's leader, Xi Jinping, recently made such an admission. Last August, he announced what became known as the "clean your plate" campaign to end what he called a "shocking and distressing" waste of food. Just about everyone saw this effort, to get the Chinese people to eat less, as a warning of food shortages to come. Chinese...

Henry Sire Backs Rumours: Francis Seriously Ill“As the New Year approaches, I should mention that many Vatican insiders say that Francis is ill with cancer and has limited time left,” the historian Henry Sire wrote on Twitter.com (December 27).LifeSiteNews.com journalist Maike Hickson has also heard these persistent rumours from her Vatican contacts,“Cardinals are said to be meeting in preparation for a future conclave. God finally is the author of life, and He will decide. We keep praying for Francis and resist his errors,” she comments.

BLM is vicariously (if not legally) complicit in looting, rioting, anti-Semitism, support for Hamas, and incitement of violence against law enforcement professionals and others. Robert A. Heinlein wrote that "The man who eats meat cannot sneer at the butcher." While it's legal to eat meat, it's illegal to attend dog fights. If people who attend dog fights didn't pay admission fees or place bets, the hands-on perpetrators would have no incentive to abuse the dogs. We contend similarly that any organization that supports the Black Lives Matter Global Network is vicariously (if not legally) complicit in looting, rioting, anti-Semitism, support...

A group of Black Lives Matter activists told Indiana middle school students during a spring 2020 lecture that they live in a world where 'crime is made up' and black people are more likely to be 'enslaved' for their actions. Video of the talk - which featured Indy10 BLM activists Jessica Louise, Kyra Jay Harvey, Michelle Anastasia and Leah Derray - was recently leaked by Tony Kinnett, district science coordinator and instructional coach for Indianapolis Public Schools. The footage shows how teachers permitted the guest speakers to tell students they were living in a 'misogynistic, masculine society' that uses white...

A record number of Democrats say they approve of socialism, even as Americans overall remain steadfast in their opposition. A record-high 65 percent of Democrats tell the Gallup polling organization they have a positive view of socialism, a drastic increase over the 53 percent who said the same in 2010. Gallup has conducted six polls since 2010 asking Americans if they have a positive or negative view of small business, free enterprise, capitalism, “big business,” socialism and the federal government. Gallup’s 2021 poll found 60 percent of Americans approving of capitalism and 38 percent approving of socialism. That figure has...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California workplace regulators were poised Thursday to extend the state’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with some revisions that business groups say could worsen the labor shortage. The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised temporary rule would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. Both would be prohibited from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone infected with the virus. The revised temporary rules would require that exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or, if they...

As the delta variant of COVID-19 spread across the United States this summer, the virus appeared to take a particular toll on unvaccinated pregnant people, with deaths dramatically increasing in the summer months. The number of pregnant people who died of COVID-19 spiked sharply in August and September, with more than two dozen deaths recorded in each of those months, according to data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 40% of the 248 deaths among pregnant people since the start of the pandemic occurred since August, the data shows. The number...

Millions of Americans have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic with the help of direct cash payments from the U.S. government, via stimulus checks, extra unemployment benefits and the expanded Child Tax Credit. But that last financial buffer may come to an end on December 15 when the IRS sends out the sixth — and potentially last — check to parents. That would close the door on the nation's biggest federal cash-assistance programs, which began in 2020. Experts credit those six months of direct payments with helping millions of low- and middle-income families afford basics like food, rent and car repairs, as...

Administrators at a Chicago Public Schools high school have shot down an attempt by a right-wing group to form a chapter on the Northwest Side campus of “an organization promoting racial intolerance.” Meanwhile, Chicago police said they are investigating a social media post by a longtime CPD sergeant that praised supposed efforts by students to start the group, Turning Point USA. Taft High School Principal Mark Grishaber said in a letter to the school community earlier this month that he was “disturbed” by efforts to launch a Turning Point chapter at Taft. The right-wing organization has a presence at more...

Both Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly touted huge crowds ahead of their "History Tour." But it kicked off at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, with many empty seats, according to local media. "Massive crowd headed into FLA Live! The Trump/O'Reilly History show starts soon...," O'Reilly, the former Fox host, wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

The owner of a wine and beer bar who openly flouted Gov. Tim Walz's executive orders to shut down last winter during the COVID-19 pandemic was found guilty of six criminal misdemeanor counts Thursday by a Freeborn County jury. A jury of three women and three men took only an hour of deliberation to convict Lisa Hanson, the 57-year-old bar owner, after a three-day trial punctuated by Hanson's repeated attempts to argue that Walz's orders were unconstitutional. Judge Joseph Bueltel followed the reading of the verdict with a scathing denunciation of Hanson's behavior, explaining why the governor's orders were legal....

The UK is facing a substantial wave of Omicron infections in January without further restrictions, scientists say. The number of deaths from the variant by the end of April could range from 25,000 to 75,000 depending on how well vaccines perform, they said. But the experts behind the study said there was still uncertainty around the modelling. In the worst-case scenario tougher restrictions may be needed to stop hospitals being overwhelmed, they said. The study is by an influential group of disease modellers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) who also advise the government - but...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration has ordered U.S. government agencies to immediately stop financing carbon-intensive fossil fuel projects overseas and prioritize international collaborations to deploy clean energy technology, according to U.S. diplomatic cables. The cables, seen by Reuters, say U.S. government engagements should reflect the goals set in an executive order issued at the start of the year aimed at ending American financial support of coal and carbon-intensive energy projects overseas. "The goal of the policy described below is to ensure that the vast majority of U.S. international energy engagements promote clean energy, advance innovative technologies, boost U.S. cleantech competitiveness,...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The owner of a bar in Albert Lea was found guilty Thursday of six criminal misdemeanor charges and sentenced to 90 days in jail for defying Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders to close her business last winter. The jury found Lisa Hanson, 57, guilty after deliberating for an hour, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. Prosecutors had asked that Hanson be fined $500 and jailed for several days, but Judge Joseph Bueltel gave her a 90-day jail sentence and a $1,000 fine, saying he wanted to send a message to people who violate executive orders. “You wanted to make...

NEW YORK (AP) — A surprise year-end decree by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordering virtually all businesses in his city to get workers vaccinated has sowed confusion and frustration — and could set off a mad holiday dash to force vaccine holdouts to choose between jabs or jobs. Tens of thousands of unvaccinated New Yorkers and their employers are now thrust into an unwelcome reckoning over the mandate, set to go into effect two days after Christmas. Francisco Marte, who employs 16 people at three bodegas across the Bronx, is in a precarious position: Force the shots...

It’s not your grandfather’s Republican Party now, unless your grandfather was a fascist. The GOP is dangerous, and we must take action to make sure our children live in a free country. … Few Republicans nowadays have that much patriotism. In fact, the party has become a corrupt force spouting violent rhetoric and plotting to overthrow our democracy. It’s not your grandfather’s Republican Party now, unless your grandfather was a fascist. I’m not asking you to become a Democrat. I’m asking you to become an anti-Republican. Here are six reasons why it’s time to get serious about the GOP threat:...