Free Republic

How bad is Jeb Bush's Bush problem? A new Quinnipiac poll suggests it is very bad. The national survey shows Bush running well behind Donald Trump and Ben Carson, tied for third place in the GOP race with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. But that is not the most serious problem for Bush in the poll. Quinnipiac pollsters asked respondents a simple, open-ended question: "What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jeb Bush?" Quinnipiac published a table of all the responses given five or more times. Here is the list of the top eight...

A judge on Monday unsealed the court documents of a grisly murder of a Christian man, allegedly at the hands of three Muslim immigrants in Portland, Maine. In those documents, which had been sealed since the three men were charged Aug. 11, police said they found the brutally beaten body of Freddy Akoa lying on the living-room floor in his apartment. He was the victim of a savage attack that took place over several hours. According to the autopsy report, he had cuts and bruises all over his body, with the fatal blows coming to his head. Akoa, who had...

program. A judge on Monday unsealed the court documents of a grisly murder of a Christian man, allegedly at the hands of three Muslim immigrants in Portland, Maine. In those documents, which had been sealed since the three men were charged Aug. 11, police said they found the brutally beaten body of Freddy Akoa lying on the living-room floor in his apartment. He was the victim of a savage attack that took place over several hours. According to the autopsy report, he had cuts and bruises all over his body, with the fatal blows coming to his head. Akoa, who...

IT was snowing in Maine on Jan. 9. I’d been to the dentist’s the day before. The staff there were pleasant enough when I changed genders 12 years ago. “We’ll just change your forms,” the receptionist had said, cheerfully. “It’s no problem.” That day, Papi Edwards, 20, a transgender woman of color, was shot to death outside a hotel in Louisville, Ky. If you’d told me in 2000, as a transgender woman just coming out, that I was a person of privilege, I’d have angrily lectured you about exactly how heavy the burden I’d been carrying was. It had nearly...

Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents revealed yesterday that EBT cards (debit cards that are loaded with funds for welfare programs, like SNAP and TANF) are being used as currency to buy drugs. In the past 11 months, MDEA agents have found 40 EBT cards in 25 drug enforcement operations.

On Facebook, James Melanson reported that he was assaulted, called “faggot,” and claims he was not taken seriously by a police officer at the scene. “If you’re queer,” he wrote, “Get a tazer. It’s the only protection you have here… Queer people are not safe in Portland. We’re not.” The following is sourced from Melanson’s origin message. He gave me permission to repost it here. So, long story short, but I was physically assaulted by a homophobe from Maryland today. I’m fine. My chest still hurts from where he punched me (also punched me in the face, but my face...

House Democrats who are a "no" on the deal (9 of 44 needed to override potential veto): Steve Israel, New York Nita Lowey, New York Ted Deutch, Florida Grace Meng, New York Kathleen Rice, New York Albio Sires, New Jersey Juan Vargas, California Eliot Engel, New York Brad Sherman, California Note: 150 House Democrats signed a May letter supporting the then-unfinished Iran negotiations and none have come out against the deal since it was completed. Senate Democrats who are a "no" (1 of 13 needed to override potential veto): Chuck Schumer, New York Senate Democrats who are a "yes": Tammy...

President Barack Obama’s Iran deal looks increasingly likely to survive a challenge from congressional Republicans after several swing Democrats said they would back the deal just as the Senate sped toward recess on Wednesday. Minutes after Senate leaders locked in an agreement to begin debating the nuclear deal on Sept. 8, Independent Maine Sen. Angus King came to the floor to announce his support for the agreement. King’s decision will make it hard for GOP opponents to block the lifting of legislative sanctions when the Senate votes no later than Sept. 17. Story Continued Below “This is the most difficult...

LePage (Maine) considers program to offer green cards to foreign investorsOne option is to create a regional center like one in Vermont that officials say has helped generate $500 million in investments, and another $500 million in commitments. The LePage administration is considering establishing a program that would help Maine businesses lure foreign investors by giving those investors permanent U.S. residency. Maine would be the third state, after Vermont and Michigan, to create such a program, which allows foreign nationals to obtain a green card if they invest in projects that create jobs. The investment program, called EB-5, was...

Maine’s highest court on Tuesday rejected a national anti-gay marriage group’s latest bid to shield the identities of the donors who contributed to its effort to defeat the state’s gay marriage law in 2009. The National Organization for Marriage had sought permission to delay submitting a campaign finance report that the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices ordered it to file last year when it fined the group $50,250 for its involvement in overturning the law supporting same-sex marriage six years ago. But the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said Tuesday that NOM can’t put off filing the report...

On an afternoon like any other, I was in a store like any other, a general store. I got to the register at the same time as another customer and motioned for him to go first. His clothes were worn but neat, his skin was tan but clean, and his sunglasses were spotless: he was unmistakably from out of town. He approached the register and made a request under his breath, “papers.” “What?” replied the cashier as a line formed behind me.

CALAIS, Maine — Calais officials say an officer who shot a dog Sunday night acted properly. Calais Police Chief David Randall said the department received a call at approximately 9:59 p.m. July 19 about two dogs that tried to attack a third dog at a home on South Street. People at the residence got their animal inside, then attempted to get the other two dogs out of their yard, according to the police chief. “The dogs attempted to bite them,” Randall said. When the officer located the dogs and tried to get them into the police car, one of the...

Education remains separate and unequal nearly everywhere in the United States, but Confederate-flag-waving Southerners aren’t responsible for the most racially divided schools. That title goes to New York, where 64 percent of black students attend schools with few, if any, white students, according to a recent report by the Civil Rights Project. In fact, the Northeast is the only region where the percentage of black students in extremely segregated schools — those where at least 90 percent of students are minorities — is higher than it was in the 1960s. Schools in the South, on the other hand, saw the...

For a late Independence Day present to patriots, Governor Paul Le Page signed LD 652, the Maine constitutional carry bill.   The law will go into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns.  The bill was signed this today, July 8th, 2015, in a ceremony that was closed to the press.  I received notice from the press secretary, Adrienne Bennett, that the bill was signed about noon, central time.   Further confirmation comes from wmtw.com: AUGUSTA, Maine —Maine Gov. Paul LePage has signed a bill that will allow residents to carry a concealed handgun without obtaining a permit. Maine will become...

AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday signed into law a bill to nix the concealed gun permit requirement in Maine. The law, dubbed “constitutional carry” by supporters, won support from a broad bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House and Senate. It will take effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends. The bill is one of only a handful that LePage has signed or let pass into law without his signature after pledging in June to veto all bills passed by the Legislature in protest of its unwillingness to adopt his policy agenda.

A rare orange-brown split-colored lobster has turned up off the coast of Maine.

A scheduled Q&A quickly turned into a political rally as 7,000-8,000+ show up for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ event in Portland, Maine. Here is a shot of the crowd: Mario Moretto of the Bangor Daily News reported that the crowd was estimated to be 7,000 with more people coming in....

Governors in New Hampshire and Maine are set to make a decision on if the carry of a concealed handgun without a permit will be signed into law in coming days. In New Hampshire, Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) has promised gun control groups she would veto a narrowly successful measure placed on her desk this week. In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage (R) earlier voiced support for a proposal that passed the state legislature by large margins, but has since vowed not to sign any bills under protest of the lawmakers’ refusal to act on eliminating the state’s income tax. LePage’s...

LD 652/SP 245, known as the constitutional carry bill, has been passed out of the special appropriations table, been  approved of in the Senate (again) by a 23 to 12 vote, and will now go to Governor Paul Le Page for signature or veto.   It does not appear that the legislature will be in session for three consecutive days in July, so if Governor Le Page does not sign the bill, it will not become law. Governor Le Page said that he would not sign the bill if it required Maine residents under the age of 21, on active...

CENTER LOVELL, Maine (AP) — State police say the owner of a Maine inn who held an essay contest to give away her business made more than $900,000 through the endeavor. The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1Ugn5dO ) reports that state police said in their investigation that Janice Sage, owner of the Center Lovell Inn, charged a $125 entry fee per essay and got 7,255 entries. Sage won the 210-year-old inn in a similar essay contest in 1993