Free Republic

A bar ethics complaint has been filed against New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly making prejudicial statements about the “Cornell 7” in the days before being appointed special prosecutor to look into criminal charges for the Ivy’s Chi Phi frat members, The Post has learned. Two days before she was appointed special prosecutor to reopen an investigation into a 2024 alleged gang rape at Cornell University’s Chi Phi house, James posted on social media: “What this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable.” “To her, and to all survivors: you’re not alone. We stand...

Statement on Trump Suspending Microsoft from the PERM Program: This is a crucial issue for me as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, the only member of Congress to have actually had an H-1B visa, and the Representative for tens of thousands of Microsoft workers. The administration has been consistently working to take away legal pathways for immigrants to contribute their talents to our country, and this is yet another of those attacks. The PERM program is the first step toward an employment-based green card for countless workers who want to contribute to this country, and it lays out...

President Trump said Friday he had granted approval for “tiny cars” to be built in the United States, a move that would expand the availability of similar smaller vehicles that are popular in Asia. “I have just approved TINY CARS to be built in America. Manufacturers have long wanted to do this, just like they are so successfully built in other countries,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “They can be propelled by gasoline, electric, or hybrid. “These cars of the very near future are inexpensive, safe, fuel efficient and, quite simply, AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW!”

WASHINGTON — President Trump announced he’s resurrected Christopher Columbus from being canceled and blasted “radical left communists” who tried to destroy the explorer’s legacy. Trump lauded the famous Italian American’s accomplishments in a ceremony at the White House as he prepares to add a statue of Columbus to the Rose Garden, where it will join statues of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. “I resurrected Christopher Columbus,” he announced to great applause from the Italians in the room. “He’s been rehabbed 100 percent, and he’s been resurrected in the true sense,” he added. “He’s back to where he should be.” He...

A baby product that was found to contain various forms of alcohol is being recalled. Pacific Health Sciences is voluntarily recalling a batch of Babies’ Magic Tea brand Baby Sleep Gripe Water, according to a notice posted on the website of the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said tests found “ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol that were not declared on the product label.” “Measured levels were approximately 8.3 percent ethanol, 0.35 percent methanol, and 0.48 percent isopropanol. These substances were not listed on the label. Their presence may pose a risk depending on the amount consumed and the age and...

Elon Musk is moving closer to competing for the monthly cellphone bill that millions of Americans pay to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. SpaceX has agreed to acquire a nationwide wireless spectrum portfolio that would help its Starlink Mobile business expand service from both satellites and equipment on the ground. The announcement came Thursday, October 8, and the stock-market reaction continued Friday morning. MarketWatch reported Verizon shares down approximately 6%, with AT&T and T-Mobile each down about 9% in morning trading. Those figures are an intraday snapshot, rather than closing prices. For consumers, the potential payoff is more competition and better...

The Iron Curtain is cracking. A civil war is brewing inside the DSA over its support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — with his socialist comrades up in arms over his attendance at an Oct. 7 vigil and his support of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Youth chapters within the New York City Democratic Socialists of America endorsed a protest outside City Hall Wednesday — on the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel — condemning the mayor’s “failures to uphold his commitment to the Palestinian Liberation Movement.” Sources said that the heads of the local chapter moved swiftly to...

Trade between Russia and Iran grew by more than 21 per cent in 2025, with positive growth continuing in the first seven months of 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Putin said this during a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Turkmenbashi, where the leaders discussed bilateral cooperation under their strategic partnership agreement. He said the agreement, signed in early 2025, provided a framework for expanding cooperation across various sectors and strengthening economic ties between the two countries. Putin also highlighted growing humanitarian ties, including cultural exchanges and other joint activities organised in both countries. Pezeshkian reaffirmed Iran’s...

The Renoir Museum is getting back two of its paintings that were taken during a pre-dawn raid. The paintings were recovered by the local authorities in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in southern France, where the museum is located. Mayor Bryan Masson, a member of France’s far-right National Rally, said in a statement that these “two paintings are far more than works of art. They are part of our city’s history, our cultural heritage and the legacy Auguste Renoir left to Cagnes-sur-Mer. Their recovery is a tremendous relief for the people of Cagnes-sur-Mer and for everyone who cares deeply about our museum.” Related Articles...

President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia will supply millions of tons of diesel to the global market under a deal he struck with President Vladimir Putin. Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons immediately thereafter, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Moscow will then deliver another 3 million tons of diesel based on the condition of Russia’s refineries, Trump said. Diesel prices have surged around the world as Ukraine has pounded Russian refineries, forcing Moscow to ban diesel exports to the global market. Iran...

The ability of U.S. families to stay current on their debts worsened over the past three years, hitting levels not seen since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. In the central bank’s Survey of Consumer Finances, researchers found that while wealth disparities narrowed somewhat, the ability to meet debt payments deteriorated significantly. “Families were more likely to be behind on their financial obligations than at any point since the 2010 survey,” stated the survey, a data-rich document the Fed releases every three years to chronicle the nation’s financial health. The country in 2010 was...

President Donald Trump formally established a “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook made false statements related to “one or more mortgage instruments,” the White House announced Friday. The extraordinary announcement is the latest development in Trump’s long-running effort to fire Cook, a nominee of former President Joe Biden, from the central bank’s board. Trump, who frequently urges the Fed to lower interest rates, recently said the failure to do so by his handpicked chair Kevin Warsh is the fault of a “hostile” board. The committee comprises three executive branch officials, including Kevin Hassett, Trump’s...

SpaceX announced an agreement on Thursday to “acquire a nationwide low-band spectrum license portfolio” that will establish the foundation to help the company become a “major mobile carrier” in the United States. “With this new spectrum and our Gen2 constellation, Starlink Mobile can ensure Americans have access to high-speed mobile broadband no matter where they are,” the company stated. CNBC has more: Shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile tumbled in extended trading. The deal involves the acquisition of a spectrum portfolio from Grain Management, which specializes in digital infrastructure, and is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission. SpaceX...

Republican attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy dropped a withering 52-count “public indictment” against Democratic incumbent Letitia James — accusing her of “dereliction” of duty ahead of their debate Thursday. The sweeping accusations were part of a cheeky campaign stunt that Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, wielded to argue her opponent has been too busy taking aim at President Trump to address the needs to New Yorkers during her two-terms. “The People do not allege that the defendant has been idle. They allege that she has been busy with the wrong things,” said Komatireddy, who also listed the “Exasperated People of...

WASHINGTON — Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed repeatedly refused to answer whether he considers Iran or Israel to be the “greater threat to the United States.” When presented with that question during his debate Thursday against Republican Senate hopeful Mike Rogers, El-Sayed ripped it as a “ridiculous hypothetical.” “Here’s what’s happening right now: our ostensible ally in Israel has lobbied us to go to war with Iran,” El-Sayed, a Democrat, replied. “We have watched as Iran has responded by bombing all kinds of countries in the Middle East and then choking off the world’s energy supply.” “This is a situation...

A grove of rare American chestnut trees that supplies restoration seedlings in West Virginia has become the focus of a dispute over massive data center development, with an Alaska political connection through major donors to gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. The American Chestnut Foundation’s West Virginia chapter has warned that development around the former state tree nursery in Mason County could jeopardize trees that provide most of the nuts it collects for seedling production for the once nearly extinct tree. The chapter identified 200 American chestnuts at the site and said their loss would significantly affect its ability to supply seedlings...

A Wisconsin congressional candidate has been arrested on hate crime charges after he went on a vulgar caught-on-camera rant against an Israeli dad with his young son in the car — after he was triggered by an anti-Hamas bumper sticker. Matthew Arndt, 54, allegedly cut off the 41-year-old father on a road in the Milwaukee suburb of Mequon Thursday morning, flipping him the bird and cursing at him before pulling into a gas station, where the dad followed him and began filming the explosive encounter. “Do you want to tell me something?” the father asked. “Yeah, you’re a f------ piece...

[Note: This is the Abstract of an ACM study, which I broke up into paragraphs for readability.] AI assistants are increasingly framed as digital coworkers rather than tools. In immersive settings such as VR, AI embodiment design choices can become salient social signals that shape human–AI interaction. We investigate how such choices influence users’ perceptions of and behavior toward AI coworkers by employing three functionally identical AI assistants varying in human-likeness and gender presentation. In a controlled study, 189 knowledge workers completed work tasks with them, provided ratings, and allocated monetary rewards; we additionally interviewed 34 participants. Our results show...

Employees at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago are unionizing over their working conditions, claiming their benefits have been cut and workloads are increasing just four months after the center opened in June. Workers circulated a letter to staff Wednesday announcing their intent to unionize, complaining about “increasing” workloads “vague responses” from administrators to a list of complaints they’d raised, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Some of the complaints suggested that the $900 million presidential center could already be facing financial trouble. Such complaints have led to a “high turnover rate,” with exiting employees “taking with them their institutional knowledge...

Four astronauts returned to Earth Thursday morning, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles after spending nearly eight months aboard the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev splashed down at 8:34 a.m. PDT, according to NASA. The landing marked the end of the Crew-12 mission, which began in February and included scientific research and four spacewalks aboard the orbiting laboratory. The crew launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Feb. 13 aboard...