Free Republic

The ‘iDIVERSE’ program bars white and Asian researchers from applying.. The University of California, Los Angeles, medical school was hit last week with whistleblower allegations that its admissions office has for years discriminated on the basis of race, in violation of California law, by holding black and Latino applicants to lower standards than their white and Asian counterparts. The allegations triggered an email message from the dean of the medical school, Steven Dubinett, who denied the claims and said that students and faculty "are held to the highest standards of academic excellence." He subsequently told an obscure Los Angeles Times...

An American Airlines plane came close to smashing into a private aircraft on the runway of Reagan National Airport on Wednesday morning, according to reports. Audio shows an air traffic controller canceling the take off clearance for the AA flight 2134 as the private King Air plane was set to land on an intersecting runway at 10:21am local time. As the cancelation goes through, the pilot in the private aircraft, a Hawker Beechcraft, reveals he's already on the ground in Arlington, Virginia. Regan National Airport is also known as DCA. The King plane was cleared to land at Runway 33....

Seattle-bound United Airlines flight taking off from Chicago O'Hare aborted takeoff after engine caught fire.. ... The FAA said it has halted arrivals into the airport. ... the plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. "We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers, ... The ordeal came as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York issued a ground stop by Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

The Left’s march through Western institutions in the forms of DEI/CRT, “social justice”, and all manner of woo-woo wokeism has consequences. Let’s take schools of medicine for $200, Alex. One of the premier medical schools, UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, is failing. Up to half of UCLA medical students now fail basic tests of medical competence. Whistleblowers say affirmative action, illegal in California since 1996, is to blame. ... “One professor said that a student in the operating room could not identify a major artery when asked, then berated the professor for putting her on the spot. Another said...

There’s been a shocking update in the Scottie Scheffler saga. The world’s top golfer was arrested for allegedly “dragging” a police officer during a confusing and chaotic moment en route to the golf course.. As it turns out, ESPN reporters were also on the scene and revealed the true story. According to them, the Keystone cop managing the traffic went on an unhinged power trip and turned into a banshee. He was not “dragged,” the ESPN reporters claim. Once this news broke, charges were quickly dropped against Mr. Scheffler. We thought that was the end of it—aside from the massive...

A DEI-fixated dean at UCLA's world-famous medical school has allowed standards to plummet by discriminating against white and Asian applicants, it is claimed. The David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles boasts Nobel Prize winners on its faculty and accepts just 173 students out of the 14,000 who apply to it each year. But it has plunged from sixth to 18th place in the rankings since the appointment of Jennifer Lucerno as dean of admissions in June 2020 amid claims that the admissions bar for underrepresented minorities is now 'as low as you could possibly imagine'. 'All the normal...

UNC system spends at least $90 million per year for some 686 staffers under DEI umbrella, watchdog found The UNC System Board of Governors on Thursday voted to repeal a five-year-old policy mandating diversity, equity and inclusion offices on each of its 17 campuses, paving the way for diversity jobs to by cut systemwide. The axed policy had also required the UNC system office plus all UNC universities to work toward DEI goals. The 24-member board voted by voice; two black trustees voted no on the new policy... The vote prompted protests near the meeting, some of which become violent,...

The German liberal press had waxed lyrical over Moise Lohombo and how he had turned his life around after a life of crime. He's just been sentenced to nine years for beating and raping his own mother ... A Congolese refugee, previously described by the German press as a success story for integration, has been jailed for nine years after being convicted of beating and raping his own mother. Moise Lohombo, 30, was sentenced by the Wiesbaden District Court for an offense the judge claimed was so cruel he told the court he thought he had misread the case file....

In dissertation titled 'Cite a Sista,' Tracie Jones-Barrett stole an entire passage on 'ethical considerations' from her classmate.. In June 2021, a year into the cultural aftershocks of George Floyd's death, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set out to meet the moment, as so many other schools had, by hiring more diversity officers. MIT welcomed six new deans of diversity, equity, and inclusion, one for each of the institute's main schools, as part of a "DEI Strategic Action Plan" launched the previous year. Aimed at boosting the representation of women and minorities, in part by developing DEI criteria for staff...

'Equity' means realizing 'treating everybody the same might not be enough,' VA official Shawn Liu says .. Joe Biden's Department of Veterans Affairs is offering race-based training programs and workshops that exclude white veterans—programs that one legal expert says are "of dubious constitutionality and legality." The programs are taking place in at least four states, a Washington Free Beacon review of online offerings found. In Battle Creek, Mich., for example, the VA offers a "BIPOC Support Group," an "8-week curriculum designed to provide support for Veterans that identify as people of color/BIPOC, or as multiracial or biracial," according to a...

A state examination of the office that handles criminal prosecutions in St. Louis is being delayed because auditors can’t find former Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick said Monday. Fitzpatrick said in a news release that auditors have tried for several months to contact Gardner, including trying to serve her with a subpoena. Her whereabouts remain unknown, he said. “This is a pattern of behavior with Kim Gardner, who hasn’t shown a willingness to be transparent or accountable,” Fitzpatrick, a Republican, said in a news release. “Without question, she knows our audit is ongoing and that we want...

Some aviation experts argue the FAA’s focus on ‘diversity’ instead of ’merit' in hiring pilots and controllers is leading to serious safety concerns... As the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to pursue a criminal case against Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating dozens of airplane incidents since January, including one in which a Swiss Air jet almost collided with four other planes on the runway at JFK International Airport in New York City. The FAA has more than 100 aviation accidents and incidents since the beginning of 2024. These include airplane and helicopter crashes, equipment and mechanical malfunctions,...

Top aides to Biden secretly hatched a plan this past fall to replace White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by recruiting outside allies to nudge her out the door ... Jean-Pierre, who made history in May 2022 by becoming the first black and first openly gay person to hold the position, had developed the exasperating habit of reading canned answers directly from a binder to reporters at her regular briefings — offering what her superiors viewed as a less-than-compelling pitch for the 81-year-old Biden as he readied his re-election campaign. De facto White House communications chief Anita Dunn, 66, the...

Southwest Airlines issued a press statement Thursday declaring their intention to fire around 2,000 employees and cancel service to four airports following financial difficulties. “[W]e are implementing cost control initiatives, including limiting hiring and offering voluntary time off programs. We now expect to end 2024 with approximately 2,000 fewer Employees as compared with the end of 2023,” Bob Jordan, the president and CEO of Southwest Airlines ... Jordan also announced that the company was shutting down its service to three airports in the United States and one in Mexico. “[W]e have made the difficult decision to close our operations at...

Program will address ‘insidious problem’ with racism in medicine: nurses association Nursing students at the University of Illinois soon will receive “diversity, equity, and inclusion” training via virtual reality courtesy of a $20,000 grant to address racism. The American Nurses Association, which awarded the grant through its National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, says the funds will address an “insidious problem” with racism in nursing. But other medical professionals and scholars say the project is a waste of money. The university’s College of Nursing plans to use the grant to hire a software engineer to create virtual reality training...

An armed U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris‘s protective detail fought unarmed with other detail agents on Monday morning. The incident occurred at the Washington, D.C.-area Andrews Air Force Base, before Harris arrived, and after the agent suffered what the Secret Service has characterized as a medical incident. The Washington Examiner is aware of the agent’s name and specific detail responsibilities but is withholding those details for privacy reasons. The Washington Examiner understands that the agent became aggressive with other agents. When the special agent in charge and a detail shift supervisor attempted to calm the...

Swiss Air flight aborts takeoff from JFK, safely leaves minutes later... A Swiss Air flight traveling from New York City to Zurich last week had to abort takeoff, averting a "potentially dangerous situation," the airline confirmed. Flight LX17 from John F. Kennedy Airport left the gate at 4:21 p.m. April 17, according to FlightAware. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff at the same time an air traffic controller on another frequency cleared four other jets to cross the runway, according to audio obtained by NPR. "Due to the high level of situational awareness and quick reaction of our crew, a...

Are you aware that there have been two near-catastrophes at major American airports (DC Reagan and NY JFK) where airplanes were cleared to cross runways as another airplane was taking off? A runway collision on takeoff is almost by definition the deadliest form of airline disaster, since two or more airplanes, at least one fueled up for the coming journey, collide at takeoff speed, likely engulfing them in fireballs. That is how the deadliest airline disaster in history, happened in Tenerife, killing 583 people. The first incident took place last Thursday, April 18, at Reagan National Airport when the tower...

Why wasn’t this prosecutor sanctioned and jailed? A top prosecutor from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office screamed at the judge overseeing the RICO trial of rapper Young Thug. Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love shouted at Judge Ural Glanville on Wednesday after she was told she wasn’t properly handling the RICO case against Young Thug, AKA, Jeffrey Williams, and other defendants. “Well, then you all should have gotten yourself together beforehand,” the judge said to Love. The judge continued, “Have a seat, madam! Have a seat! You better exclude that and next time, make sure you’re prepared!” “You continue...

That’s taking time when they go in for their upgrades, and that’s taking a little bit longer than expected.. We have been documenting the U.S. Navy’s troubles with one of its premier amphibious assault ships, USS Boxer (LHD-4). This Wasp-Class ship, per the Navy’s description, is “[t]he largest of all amphibious warfare ships [and] resembles a small aircraft carrier.” It is capable of Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) fighter jet operations, meaning that because Boxer does not have launch catapults, it can’t launch classic aircraft carrier fighter jets like the F/A-18, but it can launch the venerable Harrier jump jet...