Free Republic

The rackin' frackin' sassafrassin' salty language on hundreds of Maine license plates is one step closer to being removed from the road. Maine's secretary of state released draft rules Thursday that would eliminate references to genitalia, sex acts and profanities that proliferated after the state severely loosened language restrictions on so-called vanity license plates in 2015. The rough and foul language on the plates led to a steady stream of complaints.

Former New York City Mayor and Trump Attorney Rudy Giulian was set to testify before Liz Cheney’s Jan. 6 Committee on Friday.But then the committee told Rudy he could not record his testimony and they would not allow it to be live broadcast as he had requested.

More than 40 years after blazing a trail for female video game characters, Ms. Pac-Man was inducted Thursday into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, along with Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sid Meier's Civilization. The Hall of Fame considers electronic games of all types each year — arcade, console, computer, handheld and mobile. Inductees are recognized for their popularity and influence on the video game industry or pop culture over time. The Ms. Pac-Man arcade game was released in 1981 as Midway's follow-up to Pac-Man, which entered the hall as part of...

<p>Biden will speak in Cincinnati three days after a primary election that saw Republicans nominate author and venture capitalist JD Vance for the Senate seat while Democrats selected Representative Tim Ryan. Vance calls Cincinnati his hometown.</p><p>Ryan won’t be at the speech, according to two officials familiar with his plans. His absence suggests Democrats running in the most competitive congressional races regard Biden and his low public approval ratings as a drag on their chances.</p>

Archaeologists from an Egyptian archaeological mission have discovered 85 tombs, a watch tower and a temple site at Gabal El Haridi in the Sohag region of Egypt.Previous surveys of Gabal El Haridi have revealed significant archaeological material from the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom to the late Roman Empire and Coptic period.During the latest season of excavations, researchers found a mudbrick tower that was used to levy taxes and guard the traffic on the Nile River. The tower dates from around the reign of Ptolemy III, the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222...

<p>CLINTON, S.C. (WSPA) – Four students have been expelled and a fraternity has been removed following an investigation into an incident that happened at a women’s lacrosse game at Presbyterian College in February.</p><p>School leaders said on February 11, a group yelled racist remarks at the Howard University women’s lacrosse team.</p>

WASHINGTON — The FBI is quietly suspending the security clearances of employees who attended protests before last year’s Capitol riot, The Post has learned. The decision is drawing pushback from Republicans who say the FBI staffers aren’t charged with crimes and are having their First Amendment rights trampled. The FBI’s move was described in a Friday letter from the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. “One such targeted employee is [redacted] working in the FBI’s [redacted] who also honorably served in the United States military for over 20 years,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

While appearing at an event to raise money for Republican candidates in Kerrville, Texas, Logan was asked by an audience member what happened to her job at Fox News. Logan replied that she got the axe when she compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to a notorious Nazi war criminal. "I was on a show, I think it was with Pete Hegseth, who's a great person," she began. "And Anthony Fauci had just done an interview with Margaret Brennan at CBS... and she asked him about the criticism he was getting, and he said, 'Well, I am science, so anyone who questions...

Some Republicans want a special counsel appointed to investigate presidential son Hunter Biden's shady business dealings in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere. The calls started in the last months of the Trump administration, when revelations about his activities, and suspicion that his father, President Joe Biden, might have been involved, began to emerge. William Barr, declined to appoint a counsel, explaining that the case was being handled "responsibly and professionally" within the Justice Department by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware. This week, Barr, now a year and a half out of office, said he still believes his decision was the...

Archaeologists in Alabama have discovered the longest known painting created by early Indigenous Americans, a new study finds. Indigenous Americans crafted this 1,000-year-old record-breaking image — of a 10-foot-long (3 meters) rattlesnake — as well as other paintings, out of mud on the walls and ceiling of a cave, likely to depict spirits of the underworld, the researchers said.The cave has hundreds of cave paintings and is considered the richest place for Native American cave art in the American Southeast, the researchers said. To investigate its historic art, the team turned to photogrammetry, a technique that involves taking hundreds of...

President Miguel Diaz-Cabnel went to the explosion place to assist the injured citizens, who are being transferred to emergency hospitals. On Friday morning, a strong explosion occurred at the Saratoga Hotel in downtown Havana for a crack in a liquefied gas supply tube. The facade of the historical building was practically destroyed, so the Police had to close traffic for collapsing danger. So far, authorities have confirmed that eight people have died, 19 citizens were injured, and other 13 remain missing...

Daniel Lüdin... swept his metal detector across the ground, a “strong signal” suddenly emitted from the machine... he was shocked by what he found: a clay pot filled with 1,290 coins.In accordance with proper archaeological protocol, Lüdin reburied the pot and contacted local experts, who dated the cache of coins to the fourth century... At the time, Switzerland was part of the Roman Empire.Based on the coins’ composition—copper alloy and traces of silver... was simply a large stack of “small change,” equal to about two months of earnings for a soldier, per the statement. Collectively, the coins amounted to as...

FFormer Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke Friday on the “national security concerns” he had about Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. “[Dr. Oz] engaged in the Turkish political process. That raises, in my mind, lots of judgments about his priorities,” Pompeo said in a phone call to reporters. (RELATED: Dr. Oz’s Work For Turkish Airlines May Violate Federal Lobbying Law, Advocacy Group Claims) Oz maintains Turkish citizenship and cast a ballot in the country’s 2018 presidential election, ABC News reported. He had previously said he has “never been politically involved in Turkey in any capacity.” Pompeo, who is...

A nearly completely intact clay oil lamp from 2,300 years ago was found near a stone bath during recent conservation work at the Mount Gerizim National Park....said Netanel Elimelech, director of the park... “We found a lot of clay sherds lying around, but to find something complete with signs of its use is pretty nice. You can still see the black marks of burning from when the lamp was used. It throws you back (in time.)”The archaeological complex on Mount Gerizim, located outside of Nablus, was excavated in the 1990s under the leadership of archaeologist Dr. Yitzhak Magen. Recently conservation...

Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022. Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter. “A net loss of $3.1 billion was primarily attributable to a mark-to-market loss of $5.4 billion on the company’s investment in...

Arab Islamic "Palestinian" butchers targeting another peaceful, pious town * Elad, a Haredi town (which means, overwhelmingly avoiding serving in the army - conscientious objectors) is what is called 'within the Green line.' * Days after Hamas head called to atrack Jews with axes & shooting. Prepare the axe - he said. * Attackers hit with an axe to the head. * The attackers shouted Allah Akbar. * It came hours after a councilman spotted illegal Arab residents staying and he was rather arrested by an (Haaretz type) ultra liberal police. * Hamas blessed the butchery. * "Palestinians", such as...

After the dramatic sinking of the missile-cruiser Moskva by a Ukrainian missile battery on April 14, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is down to just three major surface combatants. The best and most important of them might be the new missile-frigate Admiral Makarov... Commissioned in 2017, Admiral Makarov is the third, last and most modern vessel in her class. All three of the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates belong to the Black Sea Fleet. Armed with 24 Buk medium-range surface-to-air missiles and eight Kalibr cruise missiles, all in vertical cells, the frigates can escort other vessels and also attack targets on land....

Former state Rep. Vernon Jones, a conservative Democrat-turned-Republican running for Congress in Georgia, labeled the Democratic Party “the most extreme organization in the world” as he recalled the party’s support for slavery and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as its current attacks on law enforcement and “independent think[ing].” In a video posted Thursday, Jones blasted the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden attacked MAGA — the acronym for former President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”

width =65% The California two-spot octopus displaying its blue eyespot. (Judit Pungor/UC Berkeley) Squishy cephalopods never cease to amaze with their clever features, including brained arms, color-shifting camouflage, escape artistry, and puzzle-solving skills. New analyses of squid, octopus, and cuttlefish (coleoid) genetics reveal their genomes are just as deliciously weird as the animals themselves. The cephalopod genome "is incredibly churned up," says developmental biologist Caroline Albertin, who led one of two new studies identifying strange twists in these cephalopods' genetic histories. In a massive effort, Albertin and colleagues sequenced three soft-bodied cephalopod genomes: the California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) –...

Former Nevada Attorney General and current Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt, backed by former President Donald Trump, showed a commanding lead in the Nevada GOP primary, according to the most recent poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill. The poll showed that Laxalt has a 23-point lead over his closest competitor. Of the 1,000 very likely voters in the Republican primary, 50 percent said they would vote for Laxalt in the primary on June 14. The closest Republican primary competitor in the polls is Sam Brown, whom only 27 percent said they would vote for. There were also four percent who...