Free Republic

A restaurant burned by unreliable workers has bluntly advertised what they’re looking for with an ad that reads: “Now hiring: non-stupid people.” Santino’s Pizzeria hung the all-caps banner outside its Columbus, Ohio, storefront a few months ago in jest, according to local news outlet WSYX, but it’s just now raising eyebrows after a customer posted a photo of it on social media. Jayden Dunigan, whose family owns the restaurant, told WSYX that the sign was meant to be a joke, explaining the headache of spending the time and money to train new employees only to have them not show up...

An activist and political candidate warned a California state committee on reparations for slavery this week that there will be a “serious backlash” unless the state agrees to pay $800,000 to every eligible recipient. Deon D. Jenkins, a self-described “grassroots hip hop organizer for reparations,” testified at a hearing in Oakland (via the UK Daily Mail) that $800,000 was the appropriate amount, given the average home price in the state. He then warned that unless the panel complied with his recommendations, there would be repercussions. Brother deon moving the needle @DeonDJenkins #reparationsnow #Reparations #california #PBS pic.twitter.com/h6XbLwkf9U — POOKIE (@CousinPookieFBP) December...

Conservative media personality Megyn Kelly sparked criticism this week with a tweet expressing outrage at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to add a coronavirus inoculation to the required list of vaccinations for school children. “A scary # of kids are dying after taking the Covid vax — from myocarditis among other injuries,” Kelly wrote in her post on Wednesday afternoon. “HOW DARE THE CDC ADD THIS TO ITS LIST OF SCHOOL VACCINATIONS? Don’t listen. Be v careful w/ your teenage boys in partic but girls too. These are not honest brokers. This is dangerous!”

Chick-fil-A scrambled to explain itself after a reply to a customer with the phrase “your community” sparked allegations of racism. The social media backlash began last Friday after one user tweeted the message “grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets” to the fast-food giant’s official account.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) — a member of the January 6 Committee investigating the riot at the Capitol last year — said after the Los Angeles riots in May 1992 that he hoped then-President George H. W. Bush did not “encourage” any type of “backlash against the rioting” which occurred. Following the infamous Los Angeles riots, which broke out in the city after police officers were acquitted of beating black motorist Rodney King, now-congressman Raskin said that he would have hoped President Bush did not “anticipate or encourage a backlash against the rioting.”

Walmart has apologized for its controversial “Juneteenth” ice cream as pictures began to circulate over the weekend, and it plans to remove items “as appropriate” in response to the backlash. Pictures of Great Value’s Juneteenth “celebration edition” ice cream began to circulate across social media over the weekend. President Biden signed a bill last year establishing Juneteenth National Independence Day, commemorating the end of slavery.

In less than two weeks, San Francisco residents will cast a vote to recall three leftist school board members, Board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga, and Commissioner Alison Collins. These three have been criticized for several issues, including extended school closures in response to Covid-19, racial bias against Asian Americans, and the board’s zealous pursuit of social justice at the expense of providing quality education to all students.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is facing fierce pushback from Democrats as he implements a slew of conservative policies just two weeks after he formally assumed office. The businessman-turned-politician has hit the ground running, signing a number of executive orders aimed at banning mask mandates and what his office has called “inherently divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory and its progeny” from classrooms.

A Nevada school board member said he had thoughts of suicide before stepping down amid threats and harassment. In Virginia, a board member resigned over what she saw as politics driving decisions on masks. The vitriol at board meetings in Wisconsin had one member fearing he would find his tires slashed....“There is starting to be an inherent distrust for school boards, that there’s some notion that we are out to indoctrinate children or to undermine parents or things like that, when we are on the same team,”

The January 6 Capitol clash may be the gift that keeps on giving to cynics everywhere. In the coming months, Americans will likely see jaw-dropping bureaucratic debacles, stunning abuses by federal prosecutors, and appalling bloodlust by angry Biden supporters. Perhaps the least likely outcome is that the coming train wreck will restore faith in American democracy. The Justice Department declared last week, “The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Breach will be the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence.” The feds are sorting through “237,000...

A family who gifted the Tampa school $1.35 million wants their donation rescinded, tuition returned.At a fundraising gala in 2017, Anthony and Barbara Scarpo announced they had pledged $1.35 million to “our cherished” Academy of the Holy Names, a Catholic school in Tampa attended by their two daughters. The couple asked for their donation to be used toward the school’s master plan and for scholarships for disadvantaged students. They were named chairs of the academy’s fundraising campaign and the school renamed its auditorium the “Scarpo Family Theatre.”Four years later, the family and the school are at odds, with the Scarpos...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) meteoric rise in Republican politics is putting him on track for a possible clash with former President Trump, who is dangling the prospect of a third White House campaign. DeSantis’s popularity among the GOP faithful has mushroomed over his handling of the coronavirus, and he’s found himself at the center of several news cycles, including over his signing of a controversial voting restriction bill and the collapse of a south Florida condominium building. That support and attention, combined with his reelection fight next year, are fueling speculation that DeSantis is gearing up for a 2024...

Muslims attending a mosque in London have been pelted with eggs and stones in a suspected Islamophobic attack. The Met Police have launched an investigation after an incident outside the Ilford Islamic Centre that prompted condemnation from local politicians. Staff at the mosque said the items were thrown from a silver estate car by a white man with a shaved head, and that at least three other people were in the vehicle. Ahmed Nahwaz, director and secretary of the centre, said the incident was "a shame" but that the community remained strong.

When Orange County announced last week that it would be starting a vaccine “passport” pilot program this month, it caused uproar among some residents who believe it would encroach on their freedom. The announcement came amid a national conversation over potential government-issued vaccine passports, which the state and federal government aren’t requiring. About 200 residents showed up to speak at an Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday to voice their opposition to the county’s program. Orange County Health Care Agency Director Clayton Chau and the supervisors sought to allay their concerns before the public comment period. Chau said...

It was a touching moment when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris held a candlelight vigil to mark a milestone that still seems unfathomable, the loss of 500,000 Americans to the coronavirus. "For the loved ones left behind: I know all too well. I know what it’s like to not be there when it happens. I know what it’s like when you are there holding their hands, there’s a look in their eye and they slip away," said the president who has had his share of family tragedies.

The BBC has removed a controversial video that taught children between the ages of 9 and 12 that there are more than 100 gender identities after parents objected to the “educational” content.“We are aware that this particular film is being willfully misinterpreted by parts of the media and others on social media,” the BBC said in a statement. “As such, its original purpose and intention has been overshadowed. On this basis, we have made the decision to retire the film. We will continue to support teachers on this important topic in other ways.”The video was widely criticized in 2019 and...

Longtime Wall Street Journal opinion editor Paul Gigot defended an op-ed published over the weekend that drew the ire of many in the mainstream media by calling for the incoming first lady to drop her "doctor" title. Wall Street Journal contributor Joseph Epstein’s piece, “Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.,” argued that Dr. Jill Biden, who holds two master’s degrees and a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware, “should think about dropping the honorific, which feels fraudulent, even comic.” The op-ed sent liberals into a tizzy, as everyone from the...

Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom reversed course on closing playgrounds because of the coronavirus after citizens and even his left-wing colleagues and supporters called foul on depriving children of the opportunity to play outdoors. As Breitbart News reported, state lawmakers and at least one doctor spoke out against the closures.

The Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier has deleted a tweet that proved the backlash against the disgraced cable news network has exploded.On Saturday, yours truly wrote about how the backlash against Fox News hit Defcon 1. To backfill my case, I specifically focused on the withering responses to an innocuous tweet posted by Fox’s Special Report anchor Bret Baier…“Join me + @marthamaccallum tonight 8pmET on @FoxNews”:That’s it. That was all Baier tweeted. Nothing controversial. Nothing about the election. He didn’t try to defend his disgraced network’s indefensible decision to call Arizona early, a state that a week later is still too close to call.All Baier did, as I pointed...

President Trump has, in an executive cease and desist order, cut off taxpayer dollars to the funding of critical race theory and racist white fragility indoctrination of federal employees. The order quite aptly describes these training sessions as seeking "to undercut our core values as Americans and drive division within our workforce." It’s a bold move, and one that all Americans who value fairness and equality should applaud. However, there is bound to be fierce resistance to this common sense decision. Granted, we live in the era of Trump Derangement Syndrome—the woke resistance would protest a cure for cancer if...