Free Republic

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.It's a profound quote today from a profound thinker.I'm not sure I completely agree with it.Hope you like it.Have fun!!! Ha Ha Ha!I'll be good - I will, (like heck) I will. Ha ha ha. R ETHJ HK TH GHQN NTYHVQPCRTC KPYDDLPT DLN VTZVNBDRHTPXIN PXRIRDS HK GPTDH NINUPDN LRB IRKN XS YHTBYRHVB NTONPUHQ.-LNTQS OPURO DLHQNPV__ HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

My latest song. Burn rubber.

President Trump kicked off a campaign rally in Georgia with a fiery defense of his tariff policy, arguing he has the “right,” as president, to set them. The Supreme Court could rule as soon as Friday on the legality of Trump’s tariff agenda. “I have to wait for this decision. I’ve been waiting forever, forever, and the language is clear that I have the right to do it as President, I have the right to put tariffs on for national security,” Trump said. He argued the tariffs against countries like China and Canada were targeting nations that have “ripped us...

"It's the only launch vehicle that can meet the orbit, the schedule and the cost to achieve something unprecedented with emerging technology."A history-making robotic rescue mission scheduled to launch next year will fly on a rocket dropped from a plane.In September, NASA announced that it has chosen Arizona company Katalyst Space Technologies to boost the altitude of its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope whose orbit has gotten dangerously low since its November 2004 launch...The $500 million Swift observatory was built by Orbital Sciences, a company that in 2014 became Orbital ATK, which was then acquired by Northrop Grumman...

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled out of a speaking engagement at UCLA due to security concerns. “We always follow our security team’s guidance. This situation is no different,” a CBS News spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The lecture honors the memory of slain Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Pakistani jihadist terrorists in 2002. “We are working with the university to reschedule for a different date,” the network spokesperson added. Steve Lurie, UCLA’s Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Safety Officer, told Fox News Digital the university had a “comprehensive security plan” in preparation for Weiss’...

(The Center Square) - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 1 over whether to uphold birthright citizenship in the United States. Trump v. Barbara challenges President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order that denies birthright citizenship to children in the U.S. born after Feb. 19, 2025, whose parents are either illegally present or temporary residents of the United States. The case has far-reaching consequences and could fundamentally redefine the 14th amendment, an addendum to the U.S. Constitution that provided citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans. Legal analysts said much interpretation of the 14th Amendment has shaped...

A “vermin infestation” has forced a well-known steakhouse in Marina Del Rey to shut its doors. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse — a spot that charges diners more than $70 dollars for a filet and $20 bucks for cocktail was shut down on Feb. 17, according to the Los Angeles County Public Health Department. During the inspection of the upscale establishment, the health inspectors found several violations. Two of the five violations were categorized as “Major.” The two major violations were for “no insects, rodents, birds or animals present” and “food contact surfaces: clean and sanitized.” The other violations included equipment storage...

"So that you may approve the things that are excellent" (Phil. 1:10). In a world of mediocrity and confusion, God calls you to excellence and discernment. There's the story of a pilot who came on the loudspeaker mid flight and said, "I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is we've lost all our instrumentation and don't know where we are. The good news is we have a strong tail wind and are making great time." That's an accurate picture of how many people live: they have no direction in life but they're getting there fast! We...

A nonprofit executive accused of stealing $132,000 in public money to fund her lavish lifestyle is being held behind bars. Amy Knox, who was COO of Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego, pleaded not guilty to allegedly stealing cash for plastic surgeries, credit card bills and luxury vacations to Hawaii and Disneyland. The 45-year-old faces six felony counts of fraud and misappropriation and faces up to seven years in prison. Late Wednesday Knox pleaded not guilty to the charges in San Diego State Supreme Court. Her bail was set at $200,000. On Thursday she remanded in custody at the Las...

Elon Musk knows something Jeff Bezos doesn’t. Each has had turns as the world’s richest man, and both are media overlords. But whereas Musk’s purchase of Twitter arguably won a presidential election and briefly put the fate of the United States federal government in Musk’s hands, Bezos’s purchase of the Washington Post has bought him nothing but grief. No election victories, no sway in Washington, just the hatred of the journalists he subsidizes to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Media power in the 21st century is about platforms, not publications. Bezos shouldn’t have needed Musk to teach...

Steven Spielberg, phone home! The legendary “E.T.” director and California resident has moved to Manhattan amid a billionaire exodus from the Golden State — as voters eye a controversial wealth tax. But the move, first reported by the LA Times, allegedly had nothing to do with the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. “Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” spokeswoman Terry Press said. Press did not answer queries about Spielberg’s stance on the proposed tax, which would slap a one-time...

Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, France’s President Emmanuel Macron criticized social media companies over their pledged commitments to free speech and lack of algorithm transparency. “Some of them claim to be in favor of free speech. We are in favor of free algorithms, totally transparent,” Macron said. “Free speech is pure bulls**t if nobody knows how you are guided to this so-called free speech.” The remarks come as Macron and his government move to expand regulation of social media platforms in France. Paris is seeking to fast-track legislation that would ban social media access for children under 15 before...

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, consistent with a stabilizing labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 206,0000 for the week ended February 14, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest week. Last week's drop marked a signficant decline in claims since they jumped to 232,000 at the end of January. The number of people filing new claims fell to 206,000 in the most recent week. Minutes of the Federal Reserve's January 27-28...

The talks are still alive. Just. Iranian and US diplomats, engaging indirectly through Omani intermediaries, have yet to make any substantive progress towards a framework of understanding that governs further talks – as Kafkaesque as that might sound – but they are talking, and that is the best that the diplomats can hope for right now. What separates Iran and America is a vast chasm between their respective red lines, and beyond that, the very substance of the talks themselves. The US is not willing to countenance an Iran that enriches uranium, has a ballistic missile programme and arms proxies...

More than 240 million gallons of raw sewage has spilled into the Potomac River since a pipe burst last month, and the lackluster response of the DC Water Board is raising questions about the competency of those in charge.Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes was appointed as Chair of the DC Water Board by the Democratic Mayor of Washington D.C. Muriel Bowser, despite lacking expertise in wastewater management or engineering.Though Morris-Hughes has an extensive background in administering federally-funded workforce programs, that experience has done little to mitigate the effects of what may be the largest sewage spill in U.S. history.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday abruptly announced that it would stop enforcing a new rule requiring disability ratings to be calculated by how well veterans function on medication and not solely on the underlying condition or injury itself.

If you’ve been curious how to become an AI Engineer, the first thing to know is the job has evolved rapidly since generative AI went mainstream. A few years ago, AI engineering looked a lot like traditional machine learning — building and training models from scratch. Today, companies are hiring AI Engineers who can integrate powerful pretrained models, deploy LLM‑powered applications, and ship real AI features that solve real business problems. The job description has changed and so have the skills employers expect. To keep up with this shift, we built a brand‑new AI Engineer career path at Codecademy. Our...

America’s top 1% enjoy a fifth of the economy’s income and pay nearly a third of its federal taxes. Many politicians think they should cough up much more. Zohran Mamdani, New York’s mayor, wants a new 2% city levy on incomes over $1m. Virginia, Rhode Island and Washington state are weighing up similar measures; Californians are likely this year to vote on a “one time” 5% levy on billionaires’ wealth. In Europe, too, there is a similar clamour to target the wealthy. France has seen a popular campaign for a wealth tax. And with Sir Keir Starmer weakened or doomed...

He wrote to Truth Social Thursday night: 'Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War... to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)' Trump added that they will also aim to release 'any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.'

Three Men and a Baby” is an unlikely comedy that ended up being the top-grossing film of 1987 because of its poignant themes. Despite its stereotypical caricature of bringing up babies, this light-hearted snipe at intentionally single-parent families argues that babies need not just mothers but fathers, too. In the 100-minute gag that this film is, it might take as many as three bungling men to care for a baby. In real life, a caring father and mother will do just fine. Sure, any couple won’t mind occasional help from friends or family, even the bungling kind. In its prankish,...