Free Republic

Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin's gubernatorial victory in Virginia in November 2021, widely credited to his promise to restore parental rights in public schools in the Democratic-leaning state, set off panic in the national education establishment. Newly disclosed records reveal the American Federation of Teachers hired a prominent Democratic pollster the following month to survey parents and devise messaging to shore up AFT's weaknesses – particularly by tarring dissenting parents as racists – and shared it with a senior Department of Education official. Deputy Assistant Secretary Montserrat Garibay, who came to the feds from the Texas chapter of the AFL-CIO, which...

A California dad has blasted his son's school for giving the child a book about a transgender boy - then allegedly forcing him to explain it to kindergartners. Carlos Encinas' 11-year-old son was assigned to read a book called 'My Shadow is Pink' in his fifth-grade class on May 1 at La Costa Heights Elementary School in Carlsbad north of San Diego. The book centers around a boy who describes his father's shadow as 'big' and 'blue' and his dilemma with his own shadow, which he feels is pink. 'My heart skips a beat as I put on a dress,'...

Transexuals think we're after them, so they are developing the intention to come after us first. There is a long history of Jussie Smollett type, self-poised persecution-perception among trans-sexual and homosexual activists, devolving down ultimately to the fact that they are unable to force approval for their lifestyle, beyond maintaining the "we're born this way" argument. A year ago, the straw man was Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Nashville Christian School shooter. There is some disagreement about the reasons for keeping their manifesto confidential: The school, the victims' families and the trans community feel it is an issue of damping down...

U.S. — College Students protesting Israel announced an indefinite hunger strike on Monday, which they say will occur between the hours of 10 AM and 5 PM, with an hour for lunch at noon with only some light snacking permitted from time to time. "We mean business!" said Princeton University student Jezebel Bashar. "It will be hard to eat absolutely nothing for part of the day followed by an after-lunch period of a few hours of not eating again, but we are committed!" On the first day of the hunger strike, protestors appeared visibly weakened with many resorting to emergency...

It's rarely great news when an area gets blanketed in volcanic ash – but University of Barcelona researchers have discovered it has a rare combination of useful properties, which make it remarkably useful as an energy storage medium. We've written a number of times about super-cheap thermal energy storage, and a number of other times about highly efficient heat batteries operating at super-high temperatures. The cheapest of these 'brick toasters' use the most abundant of materials, and the most efficient can handle extraordinarily high temperatures using materials like liquid tin and carbon materials – but volcanic ash, as it turns...

U.S. — As former President Donald Trump continued to build a sizeable lead in a majority of swing states, the latest polls suggest President Joe Biden would need twice as many fake ballots to win the election this year. The startling poll results presented the Biden campaign with a sobering reminder that the standard number of fake ballots used in previous election years needed to be increased significantly for him to win again in November. "We've got to double our target number of fake votes this year," said a Biden campaign insider under the condition of anonymity. "In previous years,...

Washington CNN — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday reflected on her experiences as a barrier-breaking public figure, telling a crowd in blunt terms that sometimes they need to take it upon themselves strive for their own opportunities and successes – even if others may doubt them. “We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open,” Harris said in a moderated conversation with actor and comedian Jimmy O. Yang in Washington. “Sometimes they won’t – and then you need to kick that f***ing door down,” she added, to applause and laughter from...

Howard University was forced to cancel a graduation ceremony after furious relatives began banging on doors and smashing windows after the auditorium hit capacity. The graduation ceremony for the historically black college's College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences was shut down before the keynote address after space ran out at the Cramton Auditorium in Washington DC. Relatives of some of the graduates were seen on video chanting 'Let us in' as they pounded on the doors as the ceremony began on Thursday. Images showed a shattered glass door as the angry relatives tried to push their way past security....

VIDEO LINKS AT SITE................. A local father’s distressing ordeal has captured the attention of thousands online after he posted a video alleging that the principal at White Oak School in Parkville, Maryland, held his 11-year-old son “hostage” and refused to disclose his whereabouts or condition. The father, with a TikTok username of theprototype88, also known as King B., detailed the incident in a video that has since gone viral with almost 8 million views. In his emotional account, he claims that he rushed to the school after being informed by the vice principal that his son might have ingested a...

Families today don’t all look the same, like they did in 1950s TV shows—and that’s a good thing. More children than ever are being raised by single parents, adoptive parents, same-sex parents, or in blended families. They all deserve respect and support. Some, like LGBTQ families, might feel excluded on Mother’s Day. Here’s how you can help them feel seen and supported if they want to be included.

TEL AVIV — With Biden delaying shipments of U.S. weaponry, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today they will just obtain it from the Taliban instead. "The Taliban has over $80 billion worth, so no big deal," explained Netanyahu at a press conference. "Honestly, the transaction and shipping will be way more efficient than dealing with the American government." Biden handed over $86 billion in American weaponry to the Taliban in 2021, but denied shipments to Israel last week over concerns that they might not be as responsible as the Taliban. "We just don't trust the Jewish nation, they're very sneaky,"...

Dozens of students at Duke University walked out on legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s commencement speech on Sunday, with some chanting "free Palestine," according to videos of the ceremony posted on social media. The student protesters staged the walkout just as Seinfeld, who is Jewish and a vocal supporter of Israel, was introduced, according to the videos. Some students carried Palestinian flags as they left the stadium. Other graduates and guests chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" as the comedian took the stage to receive an honorary degree. Seinfeld delivered his speech without major interruptions, Reuters reported. The "Seinfeld" star opened his speech with...

I am watching the silly squirrels in my back yard. Why are they behaving that way? They throw themselves up in the air and flip over ... then squirm all around. They do this repeatedly

Some Morehouse College students aren’t looking forward to hearing President Biden speak at their graduation ceremony later this month. Several gathered at the men's HBCU (Historically black colleges and universities) on Wednesday to call out the school’s decision to invite Biden, calling it purely political. "The general feeling on the ground is that we don’t want him here," a student named Malik told WSB-TV in Atlanta. "It’s very obvious that we’re being used to score political points and get more Black votes. It is so obvious that it’s just about the presidential campaign." The students’ issues with Biden speaking ranged...

Some Los Angeles parents are putting up a fight against the city's most progressive activist groups, with violence in the school district nearly doubling since police were removed from school campuses following the riots over George Floyd's murder in 2020. Maria Luisa Palma, a member of the Parents Advisory Committee in Los Angeles, organized an independent petition in February calling for the return of police on school campuses as district data revealed that violent incidents rose from 2,315 in the 2018-2019 school year to 4,569 in 2022-2023. "We've seen a huge increase from our kids," Palma told Fox News Digital...

A Columbia professor was quickly shut down after warning her colleagues that the Morningside Heights campus had been infiltrated by outsiders with “known ties to terrorist organizations.” Professor Carol Ewing Garber immediately had her mic muted after speaking out about campus security at the May 3 Zoom meeting of the university’s faculty senate — which was held hours after the school’s Hamilton Hall was overrun by a mob of Hamas-supporting students. “There really is a need for good security on campus and it was very clear . . . that the university was unable to do that given the number...

CLAREMONT, Calif. (KABC) -- Graduates from Pomona College in Claremont will have to travel more than 30 miles for their commencement ceremony Sunday, as administrators seek to avoid a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. The college said it will provide graduates transportation to the new venue, the Shrine Auditorium in University Park. "We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of these changes made to ensure that the Class of 2024 can graduate with their loved ones in attendance," the college said on its website. Most parents who spoke with Eyewitness News said they are furious with the decision.

Firsthand notes from a wokester graduation ceremony. “We sit on stolen land” said the speaker at the University of Minnesota graduation ceremony, asking everyone in the auditorium to acknowledge that “fact.” “Racism is endemic, systemic in this country,” said another presenter. “We must make certain we are striving for equitable outcomes in the future.” “It is not enough for us in the nursing program to heal the human sick and wounded. We must also strive to heal the planet,” said a third, referring to climate change. “Diversity is our strength,” said yet another. All the proud parents, friends, and family...

A defiant French teacher is still in the classroom after being fired by the Department of Education — crowing that the city “can’t touch me” despite the sexually-charged accusations that got her sacked, including making nearly 30,000 late-night texts to a schoolgirl. Dulaina Almonte, 33, lost her job at Harry S. Truman High School in The Bronx in 2020 after the Special Commissioner of Investigation substantiated claims of her creepy behavior with teens. “I can’t be guilty if I’m still a teacher,” Almonte — who now teaches at a Bronx charter school — boasted to The Post this week.

Police disbanded the two-week-old pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania this morning, resulting in 33 arrests of those who defied orders to leave, 6ABC reported. A Penn spokesperson said the university’s police department and the Philadelphia Police Department began an operation around 5:30 a.m. to dismantle the encampment. Protesters received a two-minute warning 20 minutes later to leave. Some of the protesters defied order and locked arms by the Benjamin Franklin statue on College Green. Thirty-three people were arrested without incident and cited for defiant trespass, according to the university. “Those who chose to stay did so knowing that...