Free Republic

Press Secretary: In order to reduce the travel time for ships traversing between the Gulf of America and the Atlantic Ocean, the President and Governor of Florida announce a joint project to build a large canal traversing the Florida / Georgia State line. This is an essential project in keeping with the Commerce Clause. Further, in order to accommodate the ever-increasing size of ships, all bridges spanning the canal will be constructed as draw bridges. I will now take questions.

Google plans to add its AI assistant Gemini into Google Maps so drivers can ask complex questions and complete tasks using voice commands. The move intensifies Google’s competition with OpenAI and Meta as tech giants race to embed artificial intelligence into everyday tools and services. Drivers navigating traffic on their morning commutes will be able to do much more than just find directions and the nearest gas station on Google Maps. In the coming weeks, Google will add its artificial-intelligence-powered assistant Gemini into Google Maps, making it possible for drivers to get answers to more complex questions while they’re on...

While some people last Friday dressed in Halloween costumes or handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, a group of U.S. data scientists published a list of “dearly departed” datasets that have been axed, altered or had topics scrubbed since President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year.The timing of the release of the “Dearly Departed Datasets” with “All Hallows’ Eve” may have been cheeky, but the purpose was serious: to put a spotlight on attacks by the Trump administration on federal datasets that don’t align with its priorities, including data dealing with gender identity; diversity, equity and inclusion;...

That is the loaded questionI’m watching JAM and the Buttered Biscuits (formerly the Jeffrey A. Meyer Band) at The Shanty Shack in Santa Cruz. Their original songs have such great funk grooves I see a man eat chicken with his jaw chewing in time to the beat. The audience is reserved, they quietly watch, nobody dances. Then the band breaks into a funk version of the Beatles song “Eight Days a Week.” A young woman with black hair to her waist twirls onto the dance floor, her shoulders and hips roll like they’re wired to the bass line. She throws...

---SNIP--- The documents — which were released by the alleged hacker on LeakForum and reviewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian — include internal University talking points, memos about donors and their families, receipts of bank transactions, and personal identifying information. In a message accompanying the data, the group claimed that it gained “full access” to a University employee’s PennKey account and export data on “1.2 million University of Pennsylvania students, alumni, and donors” from University databases

Rapper 50 Cent declared that 'New York is over' after Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor and urged locals to flee to the Louisiana city he poured millions into reviving. After Tuesday's election, in which Mamdani assumed his victory over Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, Jackson reiterated his discontent with the far-left politician. He shared an image of a tombstone that read, 'RIP NYC,' with the city's death date as 2025. The pro-Trump artist, 50, has been flooding his social media with posts denouncing the Democratic-socialist mayoral elect while prompting like-minded New Yorkers to leave the Big Apple...

With Bill Gates retreating from his high-profile climate crusade, the stage has opened for more unconventional actors to step into the planetary arena. Enter Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and self-styled architect of humanity’s future in space.This week, Musk floated an audacious vision: a vast swarm of orbiting satellites, not merely to beam internet or data, but to harvest solar energy and regulate how much sunlight reaches Earth. On Monday, he wrote on his platform X:A large solar-powered AI satellite constellation would be able to prevent global warming by making tiny adjustments in how much solar energy reached...

https://babylonbee.com/news/christians-in-nigeria-disguise-themselves-as-palestinians-so-people-will-care-about-them-being-genocidedYELWATA — In a last-ditch effort to survive, Christians in Nigeria disguised themselves as Palestinians in hopes that people around the world would suddenly care about them being genocided. The oppressed and beleaguered followers of Christ reported that dressing up as Palestinian people was perhaps their last hope to get the attention of protesters, influencers, podcasters, news reporters, and Hollywood celebrities and make them care about their being eradicated by Islamic terrorists. "It would be great if this works," said one Christian man who feared for his life. "We're getting wiped out here, and nobody seems to notice. But we've...

These longtime lovebirds are a rare breed. The newly crowned “oldest married couple” in the world is an adorable pair of former Big Apple centenarians who met during World War II — and now swear by the power of staying curious, having lunchtime beers and simply “loving each other.” With a combined age of 216 years and 132 days, Eleanor Gittens, 107, and Lyle Gittens, 108, of Miami, were given the title by the Guinness World Records on Wednesday. They are both the oldest living married couple (aggregate age) and the oldest married couple ever (aggregate age). The pair, who...

Updates to the long-awaited project linking Spain and Morocco suggest that the dream of an undersea tunnel across the Strait of Gibraltar is now within technological reach. The German firm Herrenknecht, a global leader in tunnel-boring technology, has completed a feasibility study confirming that the infrastructure, while highly complex, is technically achievable. Commissioned by Spain’s Secegsa (Sociedad Española de Estudios para la Comunicación Fija a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar) under the Ministry of Transport, the report marks a milestone for a project studied for over fifty years. According to Vozpópuli on Wednesday, the Spanish government has had the report...

RICHMOND, VA — As part of his staff's afterparty after winning election as Virginia's next Attorney General, Jay Jones's campaign sent out a celebratory text message threatening to kill everyone's children. Despite the scandal that erupted in recent weeks stemming from his controversial messages advocating for the killing of his political opponents and their children, Jones sailed to victory to land the AG slot, with his aides marking the occasion with another horrifying text threat. "Honored to be your next Attorney General and death to anyone who opposes me!" the text message read. "Though MAGA extremists tried as hard as...

In the German town of Overath (North Rhine-Westphalia), this year’s Christmas market has been cancelled. The cost of protecting visitors from potential terrorist attacks exceeds the organizer’s budget. The city refuses to cover the expenses. A capitulation to Islamism. It wasn’t long ago that Christmas markets were among the social highlights of the year. Whether in small towns or major cities -- they were meeting points for friends and family, for mulled wine, sausages, and quiet conversations wrapped in winter’s cold and early darkness. Places of Togetherness There was this special peaceful coziness. A place where community was celebrated --...

Explanation: Sometimes galaxies form groups. For example, our own Milky Way Galaxy is part of the Local Group of Galaxies. Small, compact groups, like Hickson Compact Group 87 (HCG 87) shown above, are interesting partly because they slowly self-destruct. Indeed, the galaxies of HCG 87 are gravitationally stretching each other during their 100-million year orbits around a common center. The pulling creates colliding gas that causes bright bursts of star formation and feeds matter into their active galaxy centers. HCG 87 is composed of a large edge-on spiral galaxy visible near the image center, an elliptical galaxy visible to its...

Pro-Palestinian positions may have fueled Mamdani’s politics and established his early volunteer base, but they didn’t win him the election. The New Yorkers who voted for him “overwhelmingly” said cost of living is their top issue, reported CNN. For most New Yorkers who hit the polls, questions about Mamdani’s attitude toward Israel — and even concerns about antisemitism — paled in importance beside affordability. Yet one tone-deaf Jewish leader after another pleaded with voters to reject Mamdani because of his highly critical attitude toward Israel. That stance, they said, could lead to attacks on Jewish New Yorkers. Exactly why should...

Scientists have unlocked a surprising clean energy breakthrough using an unlikely source from the poultry industry. In a potential breakthrough for green energy technology, scientists at ETH Zurich and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) have developed a membrane for hydrogen fuel cells made from discarded chicken feathers—an abundant waste product in the global poultry industry. The new membranes are made from keratin, a structural protein that makes up the bulk of feathers. Extracted and processed into amyloid fibrils, the keratin forms a thin, proton-conductive layer at the heart of a hydrogen fuel cell. According to the research team, the material...

CNN analyst Van Jones sounded off after New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s fiery victory speech, suggesting the far-left Democrat may have alienated the same voters who helped him win. At just 34, Mamdani became the first Muslim, first South Asian, and first democratic socialist elected mayor of New York City. His campaign centered on grassroots organizing, affordable housing, and public transit — all themes that drew strong support from young and working-class New Yorkers. “I think he missed an opportunity,” Jones said during CNN’s post-election coverage. “The Mamdani that we saw on the campaign trail — who was a...

Researchers at Penn State have proposed a novel design for a lithium-ion (Li) battery. It could address the long-standing performance and stability issues of standard Li batteries in extreme temperatures. The design, dubbed the All-Climate Battery (ACB), was developed to fix a core flaw in standard Li batteries, which were only optimized to work efficiently around 25°C or slightly above. That’s why these standard batteries struggle in modern applications, such as electric vehicles, data centers, and extreme environments. The battery tech loses power when cold and faces instability issues when hot. “Now that these batteries have been integrated into electric...

Even as New York City mayoral-race polls started to point to a victory for Zohran Mamdani last night, Andrew Cuomo’s biggest fans refused to give up the fight. One of the most recognizable faces advocating for Cuomo in his final push was Debra Messing, who has spent the past 48 hours posting Islamophobic content and misinformation about Mamdani on her Instagram Story. Messing participated in early voting last week, writing in a post that she opted for Cuomo because “we need someone with experience.” “Our city is too massive, complex, and consequential to have someone 33 years old who has...

A 39-year-old woman is being held in Switzerland after a body was found "severed in two" in France, Swiss authorities said Wednesday. The French woman, who lives in the Swiss village of Sainte-Croix, was "placed in pre-trial detention following her arrest on November 2 by a border guard patrol," police in the Vaud canton of western Switzerland said in a statement. "She is suspected of having set fire to her home and of being involved in the disappearance of her landlord," police said. Multiple sources told the AFP news agency Tuesday that a French woman residing in Vaud had been...

Alligator gars: putting the “gar” in gargantuan for 100 million years. Dr Solomon David, AKA The Gar Guy, said it’s the largest alligator gar he’s ever seen in the field. Image courtesy of Dr Solomon David ================================================================== The Mississippi River floodplains are home to one of Earth’s most impressive river monsters: the alligator gar. Known to science as Atractosteus spatula, it is the largest of the gar species alive today and among the largest fish in North America. Dr Solomon David, AKA “The Gar Guy”, has had more experience than most with these freshwater giants. So, when he messages you...