Free Republic

A wave of investigators descended on comedian Carlos Mencia’s Encino mansion Thursday as officers moved methodically through the property, hauling out boxes, sealed cases, and bags of materials tied to a sweeping tax fraud investigation. Photos from the scene show a heavy presence from the California Franchise Tax Board enforcement team, with officers posted across the driveway and front entrance as they carried evidence containers from inside the home to waiting vehicles. Multiple images capture officers actively removing stacked banker-style boxes and hard cases from the residence, staging them outside the property in organized piles. Black duffel bags and additional...

I nearly failed out of grad school, defending Chomsky's theory of syntax. Half a decade later, I'm done pretending it was worth it. Chomskyan generative grammar -- X-bar theory, Government and Binding, the Minimalist Program -- was taught to me at the University of Pennsylvania as the only legitimate science of language. It was the gatekeeper, the screener, the thing students were washed out of linguistics PhD programs over. As I've come to discover, decades of work in dependency grammar and construction grammar -- frameworks I was told didn't exist, didn't matter, or had been "subsumed" -- were doing better...

High-Level Overview: The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure is hitting severe physical, economic, and social constraints. Tech giants have committed trillions of dollars to construct massive hyperscale data centers, but nearly half of the projects scheduled to open in the United States this year have already been delayed or canceled. The briefing investigates how the friction between digital ambition and physical realities—ranging from severe power grid bottlenecks to intense local community pushback—is halting the global AI buildout. The Creator's Main Argument: The primary thesis of the video is that the explosive, unconstrained AI data center boom is hitting a...

Giorgia Meloni has said she was left 'stunned' after Donald Trump mocked her over a photo taken at the G7, claiming the Italian PM had been desperate to pose with him. Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani scrapped a June 21 trip to Washington in protest, writing on X that the 'grave and offensive words of President Trump ... offend the whole of Italy.' Trump told Italian TV channel La7 that Meloni 'wanted a picture with me so badly' at this week's summit in France and that he agreed only because he 'felt sorry for her.' He went further in the...

Many Americans will have the day off on Friday, June 19, to celebrate Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. While most stores will remain open, some services will be unavailable. The stock market and most banks will be closed on Friday. While many stores will remain open, make sure to check local store hours as they may vary by location. Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved people that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Read on...

How would a leadership challenge work and who could stand?MPs unhappy with Sir Keir remaining in post could try to force a leadership election. This would require 20% of the party's MPs to back a replacement candidate. There are 403 Labour MPs, so the support of 81 would be needed. Once a Labour leadership election is triggered, other candidates could join the contest if they also had 81 backers. Sir Keir would not be required to gather support as he would be automatically on the ballot paper if he chose to contest the leadership election. He would continue as prime...

In Germany, Antifa groups are targeting AfD politicians and anyone suspected of affiliation to the party by increasingly violent means. Protesters take part in a demonstration outside the Hyparschale hall in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, venue of a regional congress of the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, on April 11, 2026. - RONNY HARTMANN / AFP. Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament member Michael Meister was brutally attacked outside his private residence in Rostock on Wednesday night, in what is being investigated as a politically motivated assault by suspected left-wing extremists. Meister said he first felt “pressure in his back”...

Its scene was sketched by the Italian artist Battista Franco Veneziano before 1530; the sketch is currently housed at the Städel Museum in Germany.The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the US also has a 16th-century sketch of the sarcophagus, attributed to an unknown artist.In 1882, it was included in the book Ancient Marbles in Great Britain by Adolf Michaelis.In 2010, an anonymous visitor posted a picture of the object in the Blenheim grounds to TripAdvisor with the Blenheim Palace, "a flower bed that looks like a Roman lenos sarcophagus". A lenos sarcophagus is one that is shaped like a bathtub...The...

I read this website most days because as a conscientious shopper (prices, health, trends in retail) it's very interesting and sometimes eye opening. Today's offering confirms what a lot of us are experiencing - higher costs means purchasing fewer items of better quality, and Shrinkflation is pissing us off. I'm not sure how much I can copy and paste, but here goes. I reformatted for easier reading.

For two decades, the Spanish town of Numantia defied the might of the Roman Republic. Numantia: Ancient Rome's Vietnam | 10:03 toldinstone | 633K subscribers | 56,715 views | June 12, 2026

I just left my car at a local tire store to get some new rubber for my Mustang. I was first in line as the store opened for the day at 7 o'clock. The manager unlocked the door, but there was no 'crew' to be seen, which I thought was kinda unusual. There are six bays but only one guy showed up for work. A white guy. I left the key with the manager as I work across the street, and I told him I'd call. He said they may not be able to get to it today....................

Today's episode: Epic Failure.

It’s heartening to see foreign soccer fans, especially the Europeans, marvel at their U.S. discoveries. They’ve been awed by Buc-ee’s, Waffle House, and Bass Pro Shops, the best examples of Americana. But what we’re seeing also makes us wonder how long America will still be America. “Soccer fans like Freddy from Germany are embracing U.S. culture as they crisscross the country — and going viral,” says Danielle Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute. “Thousands of Europeans are seeing more of America this summer than many New York Times staffers ever will,” tweets Jimmy G. Germans and Scots are singing “American Pie”...

A Pennsylvania minor league baseball team has forfeited a scheduled game after several players refused to wear special jerseys planned for the organization’s annual Pride Night event. The York Revolution announced Tuesday that its June 18 game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs would not be played after multiple players objected to wearing uniforms created for the promotion. “It is with great disappointment that the York Revolution have issued important changes to our 11th Annual Pride Night on Thursday, June 18,” the team said in a statement. “Most significantly, the scheduled game between York and Southern Maryland will not be...

A woke Colorado woman who stormed out of a local barbecue restaurant because it was playing the national anthem says she will never return. Autum Trayler, 24, filmed her horrified reaction to the patriotic tune blaring inside Mission BBQ in Arvada. 'I'm not doing none of this,' said Trayler in the June 9 clip, which racked up nearly 8,000 views on TikTok. 'Help me,' she whispered as she gestured to the camera with a fist and mimicked choking herself out of disgust. Trayler, of Denver, also wrote in her caption that she was not in a safe space and added...

Less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the flu vaccine optional for U.S. servicemen and women, an outbreak on a Texas air base has sickened nearly 160 people, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Hiya kids! Hiya, Hiya!Good Morning Crypto-FReepers.I see some of the same old faces out there.But that's OK - I like you anyway.Today's quote has meaning for us all!Ha Ha Ha!I'll be good - I will, (like heck) I will. Ha ha ha.This is today's quote: OYJJVK TIK MKIYEN DYSB SBK ZYFNS OXFSITIK TEJ KEJN DBKE GXC JFXQ JKTJ.-BKFM LTKE

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner's scandal-plagued rise is causing rifts within the Democratic Party, and several Democratic strategists who spoke to Fox News Digital warned of the long-term implications of the party embracing him. "Anyone paying attention to the intersection of culture and politics knows that my party pushed #MeToo well beyond the bounds of common sense long before Graham Platner's rise," Michael LaRosa, former press secretary to first lady Jill Biden, said about whether the #MeToo movement rings hollow within the party now that top Democrats have rallied behind Platner. "But the reflexive partisan instinct to circle the...

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My latest song. Enjoy the melody.