Free Republic

Speculation is swirling on social media about the future of Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after several of his events were canceled over the weekend shortly before an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico over the course of three interviews that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago against her will, a claim that Platner denied in the story. Additionally, the report says that a man Raciot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also...

Augusta, Maine — “Maine Democratic Party leadership takes seriously our responsibility to hold every candidate who seeks to represent our state to the highest standard. Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further. Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. The Maine Democratic Party leadership stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation. We respect the women who made the hard decision to come forward. Speaking up is...

July 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday that Walmart would lower prices on many products, including ground beef, after a request from his administration. The retailer said ​customers would save on items including meat, produce and soda at its Walmart ‌and Sam's Club stores this summer. Record-high beef prices have strained the wallets of U.S. consumers who also paid much higher gasoline prices after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February. ​Prices for steaks and hamburger meat soared after a persistent drought burned pasture ​lands and hiked costs of cattle feed, forcing U.S. ranchers...

A SLEEK superyacht cuts through crystal-clear water, like something from a Bond movie, and you wonder which high-rollers might be living it up on board. But this promo video, complete with dreamy music wafting on the air, is not for luxury holidays. Very far from it. Instead, The Sun can today reveal a British-Albanian gang is busy smuggling hardened criminals across the Channel into the UK on such vessels — and many have previously served jail time here then been deported. It arouses less suspicion than the countless rubber dinghies crossing daily from France, and yachts docking at small marinas...

Toyota Motor said it is investing $3.6 billion to move production of the Tacoma midsize pickup truck from Mexico to Texas. The San Antonio plant currently produces the Toyota Tundra full-size pickup truck, including a hybrid variant, and the Toyota Sequoia SUV hybrid. The automaker said last year that it plans to invest up to $10 billion more than previously expected by 2030 in the United States. Toyota Motor on Monday announced that it is investing $3.6 billion to move production of the Tacoma midsize pickup truck from a plant in Mexico to its San Antonio, Texas, manufacturing campus. The...

From Judge Steven Merryday (M.D. Fla.) today in Trump v. N.Y. Times Co. (for the Complaint in the underlying case, which involves various statements about Trump's early life and business career, "A public figure, perhaps the world's most prominent public figure, whose actions and remarks routinely generate immediate global news coverage, sues a newspaper, perhaps the world's most prominent English-language newspaper, along with the world's largest trade book publisher and three authors. The plaintiff initiates in the Middle District of Florida an action for defamation arising from two articles and a book, researched, written, and edited in New York but...

First of all, I’d like to address the absolute hubris of New York City thinking it is “all that, and a pair of leotards”. So what if financial folks settled there? Does that make you better than other cities! And just because the communist Mamdani gets elected in the oh so great city, the rest of us should just roll over to New York wisdom? I don’t think so. New Yorkers must be extreme idiots to elect such a low life. And I don’t mind saying so. As for the rest of us, just put New York on IGNORE. We...

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Two 18-year-olds are facing several charges after court documents say they had a homemade “plasma cannon” on the property of Smith High School in Greensboro. Solomon Caravello-Bell and Chayce Harricharan were arrested July 5, according to a magistrate’s order filed in Guilford County. Court documents show Caravello-Bell and Harricharan are charged with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, malicious use of an explosive to damage property, felony breaking and entering and possessing an explosive on educational property. According to the magistrate’s order, investigators said the suspects had a homemade plasma cannon at Smith High School. The...

A Florida lawyer who describes himself as Donald Trump’s boyhood “best friend” is pushing the president to declare a national emergency to enable him to take control of November’s midterms, according to a report. Peter Ticktin, 80, is a long-time believer in the claim that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Trump by a vast voter fraud conspiracy told CNN in a new interview that the threat remains real.

The Democratic Socialists of America platform calls for ambitious reforms, including the adoption of a new constitution and allowing noncitizens to vote, according to its program for 2025 and 2026. Socialists have been on the rise after candidates such as Melat Kiros and Darializa Avila Chevalier beat longtime Democratic incumbents and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated the Democratic establishment in last year’s mayoral race. The DSA has backed anti-establishment views and candidates, claiming that neither political party represents “working people.” “Today, working people have few good options,” the organization wrote. “In most political races, Americans will have the...

A sizable share of Democrats support the federal probe into California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife as the duo claims President Donald Trump is directing a politically motivated attack against them, a new survey shows. A Daily Mail/JL Partners poll found 27% of Democrats support the probe into California’s first couple, with 14% saying they “somewhat support” the investigation and 13% saying they “strongly support” it. Last month, Newsom announced he and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom were the targets of a federal investigation by the US Department of Justice. The investigation, which involves the FBI and IRS, has...

The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic (also known as Diogenes of Sinope) could have been the first anarchist, or the first absurdist, or the first satirist, or the first naturalist — depending on the reader’s point of view. By today’s standards, Diogenes was a homeless man by choice whose life goal was the search for wisdom. His unique approach to life had absolutely nothing to do with society’s norms and rules — either now or back in ancient times. He found the shelter he needed inside an enormous ceramic pot, rejecting all comforts and luxuries — yet his observations...

LIVE: Chaos ERUPTS At Khamenei Funeral In Iran - Infighting Inside IRGC

@PolitlcsUK WATCH: Nigel Farage threatens a Sky News journalist who asks about his undeclared gifts from convicted criminal George Cottrell "You harass my family anymore, there will be serious consequences" A Sky News spokesperson said: "Sky News has not contacted anyone from his family about the story" UPDATE: Farage denies Sky News' claim that they didn't harass his family "This is an outright lie from Sky News. They hounded my daughter at her house, just days after The Times published where she lives. Despicable behaviour from the media"

HEADLINES: America's 250th was raucous; ICE arrests 100,000 in five days; Ds want to lower the threshold for the wealth tax The News of Today is the History of Tomorrow

This time, instead of appearing in a Broadway play, Ketanji Brown Jackson decided to style herself as the "People's Champion" on the cover of a black beauty magazine. No, really! THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION!! This is just like that time Oliver Wendell Holmes appeared on the cover of Men's Fitness. Except that never happened. Because we used to be a serious country. There was a time when the courts were seen as dignified. The Supreme Court was the most dignified of all. (I used the past tense there on purpose.)

Unusual timing: Elaine Chao met China's vice president in Beijing three days after McConnell's hospitalisation, prompting questions about priorities and public perception. Health concerns: Medical experts warn McConnell, 84, is 'unfit to serve' after reported cardiac arrest and prolonged hospital stay, urging him to retire immediately. Political stakes: McConnell's condition fuels speculation over early retirement and the potential for a Democrat to fill his Senate seat before his planned departure.

A new Federal Reserve working paper found the record surge in illegal immigration during the Biden administration triggered higher home prices and rents. The findings arrive as immigration remains a polarizing political issue. Republicans argue former President Joe Biden’s border policies strained housing and public resources, while Democrats say immigration helped ease labor shortages and supported economic growth. The paper, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, combines immigration court records with government administrative data to measure how the unprecedented wave of illegal immigration between 2021 and 2024 affected local labor and housing markets.

Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly seen band is on the left and is the central band of our Milky Way galaxy. Our Sun orbits in the disk of this spiral galaxy so that from inside, it appears as a band of comparable brightness all the way around the sky. The less commonly seen band, on the right, is zodiacal light -- sunlight reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our Solar System. Zodiacal light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. On some...

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv and Moscow's troops were still battling for the key eastern town of Kostyantynivka, which the Kremlin has claimed it has captured. Moscow earlier this week announced it had taken the outpost -- on the way to important hubs in the Donetsk region -- but Kyiv has denied that as a "lie", saying that it is defending the town. "Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has already claimed as his own, but it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there," Zelensky said in his daily evening...