Free Republic

The Biden White House will issue an executive order on Monday in an early effort to regulate the AI industry, per reports. Axios reports that the White House will host an event on ensuring “safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence” at 2:30 pm eastern time on Monday, during which an executive order on the industry is expected to be announced. The event comes shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris (named “AI Czar” by the Biden administration earlier this year) and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are set to appear in the United Kingdom for an international summit on AI.

Spain passed a decree this week limiting the use of air conditioning in public buildings as part of a strategy to conserve energy and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. Spain itself does not depend on gas from Russia, but its government is working to increase energy efficiency as the European Union looks to reduce reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year alone. “Energy savings are the quickest and cheapest way to address the current energy crisis, and reduce bills,” the European Commission said last week when it unveiled details of its REPowerEU plan “to...

Biden’s calls to overturn the PLCAA would be a way to sue firearms makers into bankruptcy. “He wants to drive us out of business,” Mark Oliva, the director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade group, told NBC News. “So it’s a very scary proposition, and we take it very seriously.”

The contentious cap-and-trade bill that caused Republicans to flee the Senate for nine days was effectively pronounced dead on Saturday. But it may have a chance at resuscitation. During a press conference today, Gov. Kate Brown said she is prepared to use her executive powers and direction of state agencies to propel the policies behind the bill forward, over Republican objections. The 2019 legislative session ended Sunday, meaning executive action from Brown is the last chance the legislation has at progressing this year. Brown said of House Bill 2020: "Let me be very, very clear: I am not backing...

A Sacramento-based Third District Court of Appeals has overturned the 2017 conviction of five men who were caught with marijuana in their prison cells, after California passed Proposition 64 legalizing recreational use of the drug. But that doesn’t mean inmates can light up joints while behind bars.

Macron wants to pass a series of laws by decree in order to speed through reforms — and not everyone is happy about it. But can he actually do it? Macron, France’s soon to be youngest ever president at 39, has major plans for France, including a “simplification” of France’s labor laws and cuts to the public sector and public spending. But to bring these plans to action, the president-elect has said he will not wait for the backing of the French parliament — which he he is unlikely to get a majority in anyway. Instead Macron is planning to...

After the usual "assault rifles" are "weapon of war" used by "mass murderers" anti-AR agitprop, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey dropped this bombshell at The Boston Globe. The Massachusetts assault weapons ban mirrors the federal ban Congress allowed to expire in 2004. It prohibits the sale of specific weapons like the Colt AR-15 and AK-47 and explicitly bans "copies or duplicates" of those weapons. But gun manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to define what a "copy" or "duplicate" weapon is. They market "state compliant" copycat versions of their assault weapons to Massachusetts buyers. They sell guns without a flash...

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama said Thursday that despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s tie vote, which essentially blocks his immigration plan, the millions of illegal immigrants that he sought to make legal with his executive action will remain a low priority for deportation by his administration. “Enforcement priorities developed by my administration are not affected by this ruling. This means that the people who might have benefited from the expanded deferred action policies – long-term residents raising children who are Americans or legal residents – they will remain low priorities for enforcement. As long as you have not committed a...

President Obama's weekly remarks Hi, everybody. Thirty years ago, there were 500,000 people behind bars in America. Today, there are 2.2 million. The United States is home to 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Every year, we spend $80 billion to keep people locked up. Now, many of the folks in prison absolutely belong there — our streets are safer thanks to the brave police officers and dedicated prosecutors who put violent criminals behind bars. But over the last few decades, we’ve also locked up more non-violent offenders than ever before, for longer...

Climate Change: President Obama's proposal to cut U.S. emissions by 28% over 10 years as America's contribution to a global climate treaty will devastate our economy while doing nothing to reduce temperatures. The "Clean Power Plan" that the Obama administration submitted Tuesday to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change met an end-of-March deadline for contributions to a treaty in the final stages of negotiations. But the proposal, known to climate negotiators as an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, isn't new. Obama announced the goal of reducing emissions by 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 as part of a joint climate...

The Venezuelan parliament has approved a law giving President Nicolas Maduro the power to legislate by decree for nine months in the face of what he describes as threats by the U.S. government. The so-called “anti-imperialist” law passed on Sunday will be in effect from the time it is published in Venezuela’s Official Gazette and until Dec. 31. …

President Obama said Sunday that he plans to proceed with an executive order to ease immigration laws before the end of the year, despite dire warnings from Republican leaders that it will damage his relationship with the new GOP-run Congress. Mr. Obama said that he’s waited a year for the Republican-run House to act on the bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Democrat-run Senate, and he can’t wait any longer to address the country’s immigration problems. “I’d prefer and still prefer to see it done through Congress. But every day that I wait, we’re misallocating resources, we’re deporting people that...

President Obama said Sunday that he plans to proceed with an executive order to ease immigration laws before the end of the year, despite dire warnings from Republican leaders that it will damage his relationship with the new GOP-run Congress. Mr. Obama said that he’s waited a year for the Republican-run House to act on the bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Democrat-run Senate, and he can’t wait any longer to address the country’s immigration problems. “I’d prefer and still prefer to see it done through Congress. But every day that I wait, we’re misallocating resources, we’re deporting people that...

On April 9th, a large group of Democrat representatives sent a letter asking President Obama to prohibit the importation of "military style, semiautomatic firearms." Led by Reps. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), the letter was signed by "about 80" Democrats. According to The Washington Times, Conyers and Engel are basing their request on the 1968 Gun Control Act, which they claim gives Obama "broad authority to prohibit guns and ammunition from being imported into the country." The exception would be if the products are "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." The...

WASHINGTON/PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing Co , the world's biggest airplane maker, on Friday said it had received a license from the U.S. Treasury Department to export certain spare parts for commercial aircraft to Iran under a temporary sanctions relief deal that began in January.

The National Labor Relations Board has abandoned the administration’s attempts to force businesses to post pro-union notices in workplaces. Two federal appeals courts struck down an NLRB rule that would have forced employers to put up the signs. The NLRB had until Thursday, Jan. 2, to appeal the cases to the Supreme Court, but quietly allowed the deadline to pass. A NLRB spokesman said the agency was not prepared to comment on the matter. Critics of the posters celebrated the NLRB’s decision. The “unanimous voice of the judiciary has forced the Obama Labor Board to

Some highlights from White House press secretary Jay Carney’s Q&A with reporters on Monday: -- Carney said that “you’ll be seeing more of” the use of executive orders. “Why use it? Because we have to do everything we can,” he said of the economy.

Note: The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-extension-benefits-same-sex-domestic-partners-federal-emplo Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Presidential Memoranda The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 02, 2010 Presidential Memorandum-Extension of Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Federal Employees MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Extension of Benefits to Same-Sex Domestic Partners of Federal Employees For far too long, many of our Government's hard-working, dedicated LGBT employees have been denied equal access to the basic rights and benefits their colleagues enjoy. This kind of systemic inequality undermines the health, well-being, and security...