Free Republic

Pro-mask zealots have caused incalculable damage to society over the past two and a half years. It spans from their denial of evidence that masking does not work to forcing toddlers to mask in many parts of the country. But many have assumed that masking would be a temporary intervention, endlessly asking the inevitable question, “Why is it so hard to wear a mask?” Recent news out of UC Berkeley shows exactly why so many people have pointed out how ineffective universal masking has been. Because “experts” have lied to the public about the effectiveness of masks for so long,...

An off-campus co-op for students at the University of California, Berkeley named the 'Person of Color Theme House' has banned white guests from entering common areas of the house. A list of house rules revealed that occupants were told 'many POC moved here to be able to avoid white violence and presence, so respect their decision of avoidance if you bring white guests.' While the student house aims to have an 'inclusive' environment, the rules specifically state 'white guests are not allowed in common spaces,' according to the list, which was posted on Reddit. The accommodation, which is located close...

There is no greater injustice in economics than Seth Smith; just hearing his name makes me boil with anger and depression and nihilism. It is so sad. Now that his killer’s court case came to a conclusion this week, and we have ostensibly obtained some semblance of closure, I am sadder than ever. Seth Smith was a double major in economics and history at UC Berkeley. He was only 19 but a third-year student, scheduled to graduate next spring at the age of 20... he must have been very smart. He was a beautiful and brilliant young guy who had...

UC Berkeley scholar’s old lecture resurfaces and prompts criticism, debate “That’s why I am coming up with this recent understanding that to abolish whiteness is to abolish white people. That’s very uncomfortable perhaps, but it asks about our definitions of what race is and what racial justice might mean.”

OK, we learned something new today. We’ve written a lot about DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) but we’d never heard of DEIBJ, which stands for “diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice” (how soon until we see DEIBJ+). The Skimm interviewed UC Berkeley’s new Vice Chancellor of Equity and Inclusion, Dania Matos, who describes the emotional toll of her $325,000 a year gig. At the time of her interview, she’d only been at UC Berkeley for about a month, so her typical day consisted of “holding informal and formal listening sessions focused on truth-telling, trust, and transformation.” The Skimm asked her...

Last December news leaked that the Breakthrough Listen project, part of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), had picked up an unexplained signal from the direction of Proxima Centauri. Although everyone involved stressed how unlikely it was that our first evidence for alien intelligence would come from the nearest star to our Sun, some dared to hope. Further research, however, has made Earth-based interference a near-certain explanation. There are many reasons to study Proxima Centauri besides the possibility of technological radio emissions. Australia’s giant Murriyang radio telescope was pointed towards the star primarily to study stellar flares, but in the...

A prominent climate physicist has resigned from one of his roles at the University of California, Berkeley, after he said faculty members would not agree to invite a guest lecturer to the school who had come under fire for his political views. The lecturer, Dorian Abbot, a geophysicist, has been criticized for opposing affirmative action programs and other initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion at colleges and universities.... ...The Massachusetts Institute of Technology this month rescinded a lecture invitation to Abbot, a geophysicist and associate professor at the University of Chicago, amid public backlash over an op-ed he co-wrote...

Vermont’s socialist democrat Senator Bernie Sanders was once the toast of the left. He said all the right things about any given subject, promoted socialism, and was consistently voted the most popular politician in America. Now, it would appear Sanders’s political career has lived long enough to see him become the villain. It looks as if the left is now turning on him. Big time. Sanders apparently made the unforgivable move of ruining Neera Tanden’s chances for the Biden administration’s Management and Budget office. Sanders questioned Tanden about her “vicious attacks” against both Republicans and hard-leftists, including himself.... Sanders being...

Three weeks ago I processed the Capitol insurrection with my high school students. Rallying our inquiry skills, we analyzed the images of that historic day, images of white men storming through the Capitol, fearless and with no forces to stop them. “This,” I said, “is white supremacy, this is white privilege. It can be hard to pinpoint, but when we see, it, we know it.” Across our Zoom screen, they affirmed, with nods, thumbs-ups, and emojis of anger and frustration. Fast-forward two weeks as we analyzed images from the inauguration, asking again, “What do we see?” We saw diversity, creativity...

A San Francisco high school teacher wrote an op-ed claiming Sen. Bernie Sanders “manifests privilege” for wearing his meme-evoking inauguration outfit. Ingrid Seyer-Ochi, a former UC Berkeley professor, wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that the Vermont senator’s choice of recycled wool mittens was integrated into her class discussion on US diversity and discrimination.

A 60-year-old black man has been arrested for the murder of a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student. On Monday, the Alameda County district attorney’s office filed felony charges against Berkeley resident Tony Walker for the June murder of UC Berkeley student Seth Smith.

BERKELEY, Calif. - The man suspected of killing a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student in June has been charged with murder Berkeley Police Department said on Monday. Tony Walker, 60, of Berkeley was arrested at his home August 20 for the shooting death of Seth Smith on June 15. Smith, who was set to graduate from Cal next year, was found on the sidewalk of Dwight Way near Valley Street. Alameda County District Attorney's office charged Walker, a convicted felon, with murder as well as a number of criminal enhancements. Police had offered a $50,000 reward for information in this case....

Last week, I posted an item about a Psychology Today article titled "The Ideological Animal" (now fully available at the website). The article purports to explain what motivates those of us who made the post-9/11 shift from left to right and it uses my story, as well as the discussion group I started, the 9/11 Neocons, as an example. As I indicated at the time, I have no serious complaints about the article's take on me, which I found to be generally fair. Mostly, I objected to the inaccurate use of the term "pro-war rallies" to describe my days as...

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) sent a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos concerning the University of California at Berkeley's Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) and its potential misuse of federal funds under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA). By way of background: Title VI grants use taxpayer money to "develop a pool of international experts to meet national needs" in the field of "international studies and world languages." Programs supported by Title VI must "reflect diverse perspectives and a wide range of views" for the purpose of aiding U.S. national security. The Middle East Forum's Campus...

More than 750 lecturers at UC Berkeley fear for their jobs after the university expanded its hiring freeze. Lecturers with six years or less of experience on campus originally were exempt from the hiring freeze announced April 1. But UC Berkeley officials subsequently revised the terms of the freeze to include those lecturers... [subscription required]

While public universities across the nation ban conservative speakers or permit students to violently protest them, one of the offending colleges has erected a Palestinian terrorist shrine. The University of California Berkeley, successfully sued for discriminating against speakers with conservative views, has allowed a student group at the taxpayer-funded institution to construct a display honoring distinguished female terrorists from Palestine. A New York-based newspaper dedicated to covering Jewish and Israel-related issues provides details and photos of the UC Berkley sanctuary honoring the jihadists involved in bombings and hijackings. This is the same university that wasted public funds to fight...

A popular conservative YouTube channel has posted a widely watched video featuring students at the University of California, Berkeley answering how many genders they believe exist. Will Witt of PragerU recently visited the UC Berkeley campus and asked multiple students on camera questions about how many genders there are and if it was OK for men to use the same bathrooms and locker rooms as women. “Infinite,” answered the first student in the video, adding that she believed “you can’t put things in boundaries. You can define yourself as whatever you want.” Other students responded by saying there was “a...

Radio, IR and optical observations show evolution of plumes and their impact on belts and zones Storm clouds rooted deep in Jupiter's atmosphere are affecting the planet's white zones and colorful belts, creating disturbances in their flow and even changing their color. Thanks to coordinated observations of the planet in January 2017 by six ground-based optical and radio telescopes and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a University of California, Berkeley, astronomer and her colleagues have been able to track the effects of these storms -- visible as bright plumes above the planet's ammonia ice clouds -- on the belts in which...

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky argued last week that the recent Alabama abortion bill is “unconstitutional.” In an interview with Berkeley News, UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky argued that the recent Alabama abortion bill is “unconstitutional.” “The Alabama law is clearly unconstitutional,” Chemerinsky said in the interview. “And it’s what’s next. Whatever federal district court, whatever (U.S.) Court of Appeals, hears it would have to declare it unconstitutional. Now, that doesn’t mean that the court will have to take the case. It could be that the lower courts declare it unconstitutional, and the (Supreme Court) decides...

The University of California, Berkeley has joined the growing list of universities tied to the sweeping college admissions scandal — as a former Canadian football player allegedly paid someone to take the SATs for his sons, one of whom was on the school’s rowing team. David Sidoo, who played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and later the Canadian Football League, was busted March 8 on charges related to the scam, ABC affiliate KGO-TV reported. Sidoo allegedly paid someone $200,000 to take the SAT for his sons in 2011 and 2012, according to court documents obtained by the station.