Free Republic

Officials from the National Science Foundation tried to conceal the spending of millions of taxpayer dollars on research and development for artificial intelligence tools used to censor political speech and influence the outcome of elections, according to a new congressional report. The report looking into the National Science Foundation (NSF) is the latest addition to a growing body of evidence that critics claim shows federal officials—especially at the FBI and the CIA—are creating a “censorship-industrial complex” to monitor American public expression and suppress speech disfavored by the government. “In the name of combatting alleged misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the 2020...

The Back to Ebonics movement has been around for a couple of decades. It gained some traction in the seventies during the era when everything Black was pronounced as beautiful. Emerging from the ugliness of segregation and Jim Crow laws which did see the systemic evisceration of the dignity of Black individuals, the Black is Beautiful slogan was understandable from the standpoint of psychological preservation. Ebonics—the Black Vernacular that is believed to capture the unique and singular way many Blacks speak—was regarded by many as a means of also protecting the dignity of Black self-expression. Few in academia, or in...

DEVELOPING STORY: A pro-Hamas mob stormed a campus building Friday at the University of Michigan.A U of M spokesperson told CBS News about 200 protestors “forcefully gained access to a locked Ruthven Administration Building.”“U-M Police report building occupants have safely left the building, and officers are working to restore order to the building,” the spokesperson said.

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly will be suspended by the program following self-imposed sanctions. Harbaugh had been facing a four-game suspension from the NCAA, but negotiations collapsed seemingly at the 11th hour. It now appears UM will attempt to cut off the NCAA Committee on Infractions before it can get involved. The program will suspend Harbaugh for all three non-conference games, according to multiple Monday afternoon reports. No official announcement has come from the university. If the reported suspension decision holds, Harbaugh will miss games against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green, and the star coach will then return...

If Jim Harbaugh is indeed staying with Michigan football for 2023, per his statement on Thursday afternoon, he’ll apparently have to deal with a Level I violation of NCAA regulations. The Detroit Free Press has confirmed that Michigan is expected to receive an official notice of allegations from the NCAA soon, charging the program with four Level II violations — those deemed “more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage” according to a description adopted in 2019 — and Harbaugh himself with a Level I violation — a “severe breach of conduct”...

Michigan State Spartans head coach Mel Tucker made good on a promise to "take swift and appropriate action" after unsportsmanlike conduct turned violent in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Four MSU athletes have been suspended for their alleged involvement in the assaults on Michigan Wolverines players Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green. On Sunday, Tucker announced that upon reviewing "disturbing electronic evidence collected to date," linebacker Itayvion Brown, cornerback Khary Crump, safety Angelo Grose, and defensive end Zion Young were suspended, "effective immediately." The four athletes allegedly targeted McBurrows and Green in the Michigan Stadium tunnel after the Spartans' 29-7 defeat in...

The university announced on Tuesday that the so-called “Galileo manuscript” – a one-page document that includes a letter accompanying the astronomer’s presentation of his telescope and his supposed notes observing Jupiter’s moons through his telescope in 1610 – was crafted by Tobia Nicotra, a well-known forger from Italy who was fined and sentenced to two years in jail for crafting fake Galileo documents in 1934. He also infamously produced fake autographs of Christopher Columbus and Mozart. The possibility came to light in May when the Georgia State University professor Nick Wilding expressed “serious doubts about its authenticity”. Wilding found while...

Incoming medical students walk out on an address by a pro-life speaker at the University of Michigan, July 24, 2022. | Screenshot from Scorpiio via TwitterPro-abortion medical students staged a walkout at the University of Michigan’s white coat ceremony Sunday in order to protest the keynote speaker, who is pro-life. In a video of the ceremony, dozens of students in white coats can be seen standing up and walking out as Dr. Kristin Collier, a clinical assistant professor at the Ann Arbor-based university, takes the podium. Other people, not clothed in white coats, can be seen leaving the ceremony as...

University of Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh is facing calls for his termination after he went public with his pro-life views. Harbaugh is a devout Catholic and said that “I believe in having the courage to let the unborn be born.” The response has been overwhelming and furious, but it is unlikely that Harbaugh (who just signed signed a 5-year, $36.7 million contract) will be canned. It is an interesting comparison to the successful campaign recently to force a NFL coach to withdraw his comments about Jan. 6th. Yet, if critics had their way, both coaches would be fired...

The Federal Reserve is going crazy on inflation news! The Fed is expected to raise their target rate to 2.875% by February 2023. With that expectation, mortgage rates (yellow line) are soaring. And with that, University of Michigan’s Buying Conditions for housing has plunged to 43, the lowest levels since 1982 as the US was trying to recover from Carter Malaise. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index just plunged to the LOWEST LEVEL in history on inflation and Fed’s reaction. Average REAL wage growth has now declined to -2.11% YoY. Do Washington DC politicians and bureaucrats feel like we...

In a stunning admission, CISA reports that voting machines are vulnerable to tampering and hacking. After two-plus years of denials from multiple government officials, politicians, and the legacy media, the much delayed Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) report “identifie[d] vulnerabilities affecting versions of the Dominion Voting Systems Democracy Suite ImageCast X.” The report warns the vulnerabilities present in the system software represent risks that “should be mitigated as soon as possible.” CISA also reported that ” it has no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections.” CISA Director Jen Easterly stated the same in a Tweet...

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — They railed against politicians, conducted military-style exercises and spoke darkly of confronting tyrants scheming to seize their guns and enslave them. Yet historian JoEllen Vinyard says the “citizen militia” activists she got to know in the 1990s didn’t seem like the types who would abduct a governor or stage a coup. “I don’t think they were dangerous,” said Vinyard, an Eastern Michigan University professor emeritus and author of a book about far-right movements in the state. “They reminded me of the good old boys I knew growing up in Nebraska.” But as four men charged...

A judge is withholding the release of an audit report of Dominion voting machines in Georgia. Now the federal government and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has inserted itself into the case and is asking the judge to delay the report longer.We reported on this case previously. Per our report a week ago:A federal judge is being urged to release a report that, despite the secrecy surrounding it, appears to indicate there are potential flaws in the Dominion Voting Systems’ equipment used in Georgia.“The public deserves to know the context of J. Alex Halderman’s claims and his testimony...

Researchers with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) found and extracted a mammoth tusk deep under the ocean. According to MBARI, their team spotted the tusk 185 miles offshore and 10,000 feet deep on top of a seamount in 2019. They returned on July 2021 to bring the tusk to the surface. "The researchers have confirmed that the tusk—about one meter (just over three feet) in length—is from a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)," reported the institute. They believe it could be the oldest well-preserved mammoth tusk recovered from this area of North America. The Columbian mammoth went extinct around 11,500...

Michigan's attorney general owned up to drinking too much before last month's widely-anticipated college football game between in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State in a self deprecating Facebook post that she has dubbed 'Tailgate-gate.' Nessel, a Democrat, said she had two Bloody Marys on an empty stomach while attending a tailgate party before Michigan State rallied to defeat Michigan 37-33 in a battle of then-undefeated Big 10 teams. She joked that 'as long as you put enough vegetables in them, it's practically a salad.'

Like many 6-year-olds, Julian Gagnon likes to pick things up off the ground. Sticks, rocks, you name it. Earlier this month, he made his most important discovery yet. Important enough to garner the attention of University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology. Julian found an ancient mastodon tooth during a Sept. 6 hike with his family at Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve in Rochester Hills. UM museum scientists verified its authenticity, and Julian will donate it to the museum to ensure its preservation. Julian is probably the first person to touch the tooth in 12,000 years, said Adam Rountrey, the paleontology museum’s...

A new electrode that could free up 20% more light from organic light-emitting diodes has been developed at the University of Michigan. It could help extend the battery life of smartphones and laptops, or make next-gen televisions and displays much more energy efficient. The approach prevents light from being trapped in the light-emitting part of an OLED, enabling OLEDs to maintain brightness while using less power. In addition, the electrode is easy to fit into existing processes for making OLED displays and light fixtures. "With our approach, you can do it all in the same vacuum chamber," said L. Jay...

The air was likely frigid as the hunter lit a small fire. The caribou would come in the morning—forced through the narrow strip of marshland where he camped. There was nowhere else to go. The land was flanked by water on both sides, and large stones had been laid out in slanting lines to funnel the animals into this bottleneck. The hunter struck his weapon to sharpen its edge in anticipation. In that moment, two glassy flakes splintered away from the point of impact and fell to his feet. They would be buried there for nearly 10,000 years.In 2013 those...

While Trump has clearly cemented a dominant position in the GOP, he hasn’t explicitly said whether he plans to take a crack at running for a non-consecutive term. Experts, however, say that waiting to announce a 2024 bid could be the best thing for his candidacy. “He has a lot to gain by waiting. He keeps his potential opponents off guard,” Ken Kollman, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, said. “Cruz, for instance, would not be able to go full force to run for president until he knows what Trump will do. Same with Hawley, Graham, Noem...

A coalition of students at the University of Michigan are demanding that the university remove Sabra hummus from cafeterias, end all university-sponsored trips to Israel, and more. The University of Michigan says they have been meeting with the student coalition. At the University of Michigan, a coalition of students is demanding that the university "liberate all peoples on campus" by removing Sabra hummus from cafeterias and ending university-sponsored trips to Israel. The Students of Color Liberation Front (SoCLF) issued a 15-page document of "collective demands." The demands range from fossil fuel divestment, pro-Palestinian causes, and a call on the university...