Free Republic

George Orwell’s “1984” is perhaps one of the most-referenced books of the modern age. Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” is considered a masterclass in social prescience. Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson’s “Lord of the World” has been hailed as prophetic by the late Pope Benedict XVI. Even C.S. Lewis’s “That Hideous Strength” is fast becoming a staple in the discourse of Christian conservatives. What do all these works have in common? Yes, they were all penned by British authors within the first two-thirds of the 20th century. But as far as their content, these works share three key characteristics: each centers...

Anyone who relies on the voice of reason cannot ignore Immanuel Kant. April 22 marks the 300th anniversary of the German philosopher's birth. What does the author of "Perpetual Peace" still have to say to us today? If you want to understand the world, you don't necessarily have to travel it. Take one look at Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). On April 22, the world celebrates the 300th anniversary of his birth. The German philosopher never left his East Prussian home of Königsberg — now Kaliningrad and part of Russia — yet this did not stop him from trying to understand the...

How do you get past Writer's Block?

This week is the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron’s death. The most famous poet of his age (an odd phrase now) died fighting for Greek independence in the marshes of Missolonghi. “Who would write, who had anything better to do?” he once said. There was a strange contest over his body and memory: The lungs and larynx remained in Greece but friends carried the rest back to England, where huge crowds followed the funeral procession. A month after his death, his former editor burned his memoirs, worried they would damage the reputation of a superstar read around the world. Does...

A £560,000 prize was on offer for scholars who could read the ancient Roman texts buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Scrolls cocooned in volcanic ash that consumed the Roman city of Pompeii have been deciphered for the first time in 2,000 years. Using AI researchers were able to discern some meaning from the writings which were discovered in the doomed ancient Italian city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. ...In a statement the Vesuvius Challenge revealed some of the information hidden until now in the scrolls which appear to be philosophical treatises concerning...

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state of Utah and its prison system after a transgender inmate “removed her own testicles” in response to “unnecessarily delayed” treatment for her gender dysphoria. The lawsuit alleges that the incarcerated transgender woman – unnamed in the complaint – was discriminated against by the Utah Department of Corrections following “multiple requests to UDOC staff for treatment for gender dysphoria, including multiple requests for hormone therapy” upon entering the state prison system in 2021. The inmate was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in June 2022, nine months after she first requested hormone therapy,...

America fascinated me as America fascinates every newcomer. Nineteen years old and fleeing the study of medicine at my Nigerian university, I longed to be a writer, to live a life of the mind. From my first days, I watched and read and learned. I was struck by the excess and the newness of America, by its flagrant contradictions, but mostly by how identity as an idea shaped so much of American life....... Shortly after the Black American George Floyd was murdered by a White police officer, a woman told me she had just read Americanah. “You are a prophet;...

Are YOU living in a secret forever chemical hotspot? Interactive map shows parts of US where cancer-causing PFAS toxins are most common in drinking water - after Biden's new ban More than 70million Americans live in homes with PFAS-contaminated water PFAS have been linked to cancers, fertility complications, hormone disruption and liver damage READ MORE: How cancer-causing chemicals found in food packaging have seeped their way into animals Biden today announced a crackdown on forever chemicals in American drinking water that will force utility companies and local governments to strip the toxins from tap supplies. More than 70million Americans live...

The Life of Frederick William Von Steuben: Major General in the Revolutionary Army - tells the story of Baron Steuben, who had been an officer in the Prussian army. Considered one of the fathers of the United States Army, he had a leading role in improving the Continental Army during the American Revolution and turning them into a professional fighting force. https://librivox.org/the-life-of-frederick-william-von-steuben-by-friedrich-kapp/

For any American curious about the full extent to which cultural Marxism and left-wing political dogma have infected the intelligence community, J. Michael Waller’s new book, Big Intel: How the CIA and FBI Went from Cold War Heroes to Deep State Villains, is a good place to start. Big Intel is part spy thriller, part historical account, and part political clarion call, all wrapped up in a horrifying true story. No one could be a more perfect fit to tell this story than Waller, who has devoted his life to studying foreign propaganda, political warfare, psychological warfare, and subversion. He...

Scholastic is both a publisher and a distributor of books. It’s well-known for publishing educational material for schools, teachers, and parents, as well as books and resources for children. Scholastic’s publishing arm is responsible for producing a wide range of content, including books, magazines, and digital products and includes popular series and titles that cater to children and young adults. Scholastic is also well-known for its book fairs in schools where it children can attend and purchase books without direct parental supervision—and some of the stuff you might find at these book fairs is rather disturbing. So parents, beware. First...

North Carolina’s first Black-owned children’s bookstore, Liberation Station is being forced to move out of downtown Raleigh after only being open for less than a year. Liberation Station reportedly opened on Juneteenth last year. The book store is known for hosting events for the community and selling children’s books written and illustrated by Black and underrepresented authors and illustrators. “Unfortunately, we live in a country that has given permission to the nameless and faceless people to make threats and cause harm, emotional harm,” owner Victoria Scott-Miller said. On Monday, Scott-Miller took to her Instagram to tell her followers that the...

There are a lot of people out there who think I have a lost my marbles for coming to the conclusion that a large percentage of books written prior to the 1900s are the only books you can trust when it comes to American History. What people fail to understand, is that the 1619 Project is actually not new. Sure, it's relatively "new" to use racial issues as the focal point, but manipulating U.S. history to advance progressivism goes back to the Progressive Era itself. In his book "American inquisitors; a commentary on Dayton and Chicago", Walter Lippmann wrote the...

An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot created by New York City to help small business owners is under criticism for dispensing bizarre advice that misstates local policies and advises companies to violate the law. In responses to questions posed Wednesday, the chatbot falsely suggested it is legal for an employer to fire a worker who complains about sexual harassment, doesn’t disclose a pregnancy or refuses to cut their dreadlocks. Contradicting two of the city’s signature waste initiatives, it claimed that businesses can put their trash in black garbage bags and are not required to compost. At times, the bot’s answers veered into...

The Korean alphabet, hangul, is “the most scientific writing system.” One often hears that in South Korea, a society that has taken to heart Asia scholar Edwin O. Reischauer’s description of hangul as “perhaps the most scientific system of writing in general use in any country.” But whatever their scientific credentials, all the other writing systems in use (and indeed out of use) have fascinating qualities of their own, a range of which are explained in the UsefulCharts video above on the writing systems of the world — not just the alphabets of the world, mind you, but also the...

A team of scientists from the University of Tokyo has revealed a major breakthrough that allows them to create realistic 3D holographic displays using an ordinary iPhone screen. While conventional approaches to holography involve complex and expensive laser emitters that have limited their practical use, the researchers behind this novel approach say their work could lead to dramatic improvements in holographic displays for virtual reality applications, including gaming, training, and even advanced military applications. 3D HOLOGRAPHIC DISPLAYS LIMITED BY COST AND COMPLEXITY In science fiction, holograms are used for anything from basic communications to advanced military weaponry. In the real...

The movie came out on January 25, 2024. There had been very little of the usual promotion. Lockshin’s name was omitted from posters. His name was absent from all marketing materials, such as they were. In any event, the movie was a sensation. The public went to see it, quickly making it the top-grossing Russian movie of all time, in the over-18 category.Furious, the state and its propagandists got to work. As Lockshin says, “a whole campaign” was launched against him and the movie. Propagandists called him a “criminal” and a “terrorist,” and demanded that the movie be pulled from...

The claws were bad enough in the first place—nasty, crawling little death-robots. But when they began to imitate their creators, it was time for the human race to make peace—if it could! The Russian soldier made his way nervously up the ragged side of the hill, holding his gun ready. He glanced around him, licking his dry lips, his face set. From time to time he reached up a gloved hand and wiped perspiration from his neck, pushing down his coat collar. Eric turned to Corporal Leone. “Want him? Or can I have him?” He adjusted the view sight so...

If the answer isn't given, I will eventually give it.

Harvard University has removed the binding of human skin from a 19th Century book kept in its library. Des Destinées de l'Ame (Destinies of the Soul) has been housed at Houghton Library since the 1930s. In 2014, scientists determined that the material it was bound with was in fact human skin. But the university has now announced it has removed the binding "due to the ethically fraught nature of the book's origins and subsequent history". Des Destinées de l'Ame is a meditation on the soul and life after death, written by Arsène Houssaye in the mid-1880s. He is said to...