Free Republic

The Graham Platner scandal in Maine goes beyond the Nazi tattoo, the rape fantasies, the allegations of domestic abuse, and Jenny Racicot’s rape claim, which ended his campaign. Now, the Democratic Socialists of America are urging their candidates to never work with Morris Katz, Platner’s top aide, or his firm in future elections. Katz isn’t a DSA member, but the drama surrounding Graham Platner's inevitable downfall won’t end when he files his paperwork to quit before the July 13 deadline, something Katz says he will do despite delays on the matter (via The Intercept). Members of the Democratic Socialists of...

A European professional basketball player was fatally shot and two people wounded when gunfire erupted Friday night at a packed Harlem basketball tournament, cops and witnesses said. Kinu Rochford, a standout at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was struck twice in the head at around 10:30 p.m. at the Kingdome Basketball Tournament in the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on Lenox Avenue, police said. Rochford, 35, who was playing in the tournament, was shot while watching between games, according to cops. Witnesses said Rochford was struck the second time when he was already on the ground bleeding. Cops have...

The developer of a sagging Midtown Manhattan skyscraper has been accused of carrying out unauthorized construction after two columns buckled and several floors collapsed. The owner of the the 37-story office building on East 42nd Street performed construction that went beyond previously approved plans, according to a complaint filed by the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) on Tuesday. Specifics of the complaint against the owner, listed as 235 Fee Owner LLC, are not yet publicly available but the DOB's portal stated that 'no support of excavation has been approved.' Construction crews evacuated the skyscraper just after 8am Tuesday...

One of the biggest prosecutions to come out of January 6 is now permanently closed. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly granted the Justice Department’s unopposed motion to dismiss the case against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola with prejudice. That last phrase matters. No pause, no delay, and no future administration gets another shot at this prosecution. The case is over. The ruling came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the four men’s judgments on May 21. The appeals court sent the matter back so the trial court could consider the...

America’s love affair with the Blizzard is on ice. Since early 2025, Dairy Queen has been in a franchise meltdown, closing at least 46 locations nationwide, with Texas taking the biggest hit after the chain operator, Project Lonestar, refused to renovate its restaurants, which got them iced out of the DQ family. Between February and March alone, 42 Texas locations shut down, leaving Lone Star cravers to fend for themselves. (Or finally try a McFlurry.) In Alaska, three DQ locations in Anchorage, Wasilla and Palmer all shuttered at the start of July, leaving the 49th state with just one Blizzard...

In Mayor Karen Bass’s Los Angeles, the rule of law is separate and not equal when it comes to street food — with illegal immigrants and rogue vendors getting a free pass on violations while citizen restaurateurs and licensed food stands are subjected to fines, high costs, burdensome regulations, and even closures. In short, L.A. and the surrounding counties have two sets of rules. Other progressively-run cities like New York and Minneapolis also are catering to “vulnerable” and undocumented immigrant street vendors. But California is leading the way in sanctuary food practices. The Los Angeles County Health Department, citing immigration...

Leo XIV has repudiated the authority of the Catholic Church: here’s howSynodality not only diminishes ecclesiastical authority but destroys it. On June 26, Leo XIV told an “extraordinary consistory” of cardinals that they “are called to be builders of Christ’s communion, a communion that takes shape in a synodal Church.” [1]The construction of the Synodal Church, which accompanies the building of a new society called variously the “city of God,” the “new Jerusalem,” and the “civilization of love,” was a central theme of his recent “encyclical letter” Magnifica Humanitas.Leo told the cardinals that during the consistory they would “explore Magnifica...

28 Russian Ships Hit in One Night! Tankers and Tugs Suchomimus In the Ukraine War, Ukraine hits 28 Russian shadow fleet tankers and tugs in one night, bringing the total to 76 different vessels hit by drones in six days in the Sea of Azov. This is the work of Magyar group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11kn6vpgzzE

This is something I haven’t seen noted anywhere–the New York Times is expanding geographically, by adding “local newsletters” for metro areas outside of New York. The first one will be in the Twin Cities: The New York Times is piloting a local newsletter for the Twin Cities. It said: "Our hope is that The Local: Twin Cities can serve as a model for similar future efforts elsewhere around the country" https://t.co/6LvGQxgpZU — Press Gazette (@pressgazette) July 9, 2026Apparently the Times thinks the Star Tribune and other local left-wing news outlets are too weak to get the job done. They could...

Graham Platner announced he is "suspending my campaign to be the next US Senator from Maine. Despite winning the Democratic primary last month with 150,000 votes--more than any other candidate in Maine's history--wealthy donors are demanding I step aside. The campaign of smears--that I am a Nazi, that I sent unsolicited photos of my penis to women, that I sexually abused other women--failed to deter voters from choosing me to be the Party's nominee. Now these potential donors are saying they won't provide any money for my campaign to continue to November. They will only donate if another person is...

FBI director Kash Patel abandoned a planned flight to see his girlfriend perform in Chicago on the same Friday he turned up at the White House, in an episode the Trump administration insists had nothing to do with any frustration over his conduct. MS NOW reported that Patel abruptly cancelled the trip on the morning of 10 July 2026 after senior officials, who the outlet said had grown frustrated by a series of controversies, summoned him to the West Wing. The White House flatly rejected that account, telling the outlet the suggestion he was called in over frustration was 'totally...

The White House says it found these bizarre items at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History: — A sadomasochistic "crotch harness" — A "trans nonbinary" person's "chest binder" — Pages from a 6yo girl's diary in which she prays every night for male genitalia to grow

By Dr. John BergsmaOrdinary Time focuses on the growth of the Church. I would prefer we called it “Extraordinary Time,” because there is nothing ordinary about the Second Person of the Divinity becoming en-fleshed in our presence through the Sacrament. Be that as it may, the Readings for this Lord’s Day are clearly united by the motif of sowing the seed of God’s Word. 1. The First Reading (Isaiah 55:10-11) is one of the earliest passages in Scripture where an explicit analogy is drawn between the natural cycles of agriculture and the fertility of God’s Word: Reading 1: Isaiah 55:10-11Thus...

The residents of the tiny village of Haytor Vale - where neighbours are accustomed to feeling so safe they can leave their doors unlocked - are a community in shock. Home to fewer than 200 people and nestled on the edge of Dartmoor, this peaceful valley is reeling with the knowledge that police suspect foul play in the death of the former government minister. Widdecombe was found dead on Thursday morning. As a police investigation and manhunt continues - and amid the tributes and grief - there is also whispered concern that a perpetrator could still be at large. "It...

11 July 2026 Saint Benedict, Abbot on Saturday of week 14 in Ordinary Time St. Benedict Church, Ridgely MDReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingIsaiah 6:1-8Isaiah's lips cleansed with a burning coalIn the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet, and two for flying. And they cried out to one another in this...

The Los Angeles Unified School District could run out of money within about a year and is showing severe signs of financial distress, according to county education authorities. The nation's second-largest school district, which serves more than half a million students, faces possible insolvency, prompting the Los Angeles County Office of Education to take action. "I think it's something everyone was hoping would be avoided, but I don't think it's really a surprise to anyone," educational consultant Jamie Bacall said. County officials said LAUSD is projected to be more than $230 million in the hole by November of next year....

Göbekli Tepe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, and it's not hard to see why. Image credit: Resul Muslu/Shutterstock.com ============================================================================ Did a cataclysmic comet impact 13,000 years ago spark the rise of civilization? That's the explosive claim behind a study of carvings at the world-famous site of Göbekli Tepe, which researchers say encode not just a catastrophic comet strike, but the world's oldest solar calendar. Located in southern Türkiye, Göbekli Tepe is a pre-pottery Neolithic complex that is estimated to be around 12,000 years old. Analyzing an intricately carved pillar at the site, the study authors propose...

The proposed Massed Modular Aircraft would not necessarily replace every capability of the MQ-9 Reaper. The Pentagon wants these low-cost drones to feature modular designs. GA The U.S. Department of Defense is searching for a new generation of low-cost combat drones that can perform many of the same missions as the MQ-9A Reaper without carrying its hefty price tag. The step suggests a major shift in military approach as modern battlefields increasingly favor large numbers of affordable, expendable drones over a smaller fleet of expensive aircraft. Low-cost, long-range unmanned aircraft For this, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has launched...

Meta has abruptly taken down a new feature that allowed people to use its artificial intelligence (AI) tool to make fake images from user content on Instagram. The feature was part of a broad rollout of Muse Image, a new AI image generation tool Instagram's parent company released on Tuesday. It allowed users of the Meta AI chatbot to tag public-facing accounts on Instagram and quickly use content on those accounts to create AI-generated or altered content and images. The feature quickly sparked blowback due to privacy concerns, leading Meta to admit it had “missed the mark" so it was...

President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him. Maybe he should dispatch Mr. Rubio permanently to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, where U.S. commandos had carried out the proudest foreign policy achievement of Mr. Trump’s second term: the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president. Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested. And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr. Rubio does...