Free Republic

MIT scientists have developed a system called Enterprise that provides cognitive abilities to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The system provides high-level decision making abilities to robots. ... One part of the Enterprise system is called "captain," which makes high-level decisions related to the entire mission. Another part of the system works like a navigator that plans out a route for achieving the mission goals. The Enterprise system also has a component that works like an engineer or a doctor, which repairs and diagnoses problems autonomously. Williams has also worked with NASA's Ames Research Center. The space agency has similar systems...

<p>According to the government, the Social Security trust fund is due to go broke in 2033. But two recent studies show that the Social Security Administration is using incorrect accounting procedures and that the fund will run out of the money years before that.</p>

State Department apparently reverses course on controversial decision. The Iraqi nun who was denied entry to the United States because, apparently, the State Department feared she would illiciltly overstay her visa has finally been granted one. Dominican Sister Diana Momeka will be joining a delegation that includes Yazidi and Turkmen Shia in mid-May. Nina Shea, a religious freedom advocate with the Hudson Institute, confirmed to National Review that Sister Diana will receive a visa. The nun is expected to testify before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, Nicholas Frankovich reported. Other details of her itinerary have not yet been set: Last week, American advocates...

The National Security Agency's massive data collection program has prompted lawsuits, internal reviews and a fierce congressional debate over whether to scrap it. But Director of National Intelligence James Clapper apparently forgot the program even existed during a key hearing two years ago. ....

<p>How long will it take for Democrats to realize that Hillary Clinton is terrible candidate who will lead them to disaster in 2016? That is the key question that most of them are unable to face as the former first lady and disastrous secretary of state rides momentum (and her potential opponents’ fear of her retribution) toward the nomination. Once she is nominated in late July, 2016, they will be stuck with her, an act of God being the only out. So they have a year to think it over.</p>

SAN DIEGO -- Imagine the following pep talk that a young Ted Cruz might have gotten from his father, Rafael, about 35 years ago."My son, I was tortured in a jail cell in Cuba, but I managed to come to the United States and build a life so that you could live your dreams. I grew up speaking Spanish, but I made sure you spoke English so you could go far. If you study hard, you can attend great universities. You can clerk for the chief justice of the Supreme Court, become a great trial lawyer and argue nine cases...

With the nation’s economy at its healthiest since the Great Recession, a surprising trend is emerging among the states—large budget gaps. An Associated Press analysis of statehouse finances around the country shows that at least 22 states project shortfalls for the coming fiscal year. The deficits recall recession-era anxiety about plunging tax revenue and deep cuts to education, social services and other government-funded programs. The sheer number of states facing budget gaps prompted Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service to call the trend a sort of “early warning.” …

Crosses in every room at Washingon D.C.’s Catholic University of America are a human rights violation that prevent Muslim students from praying. That’s the complaint to the Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights filed by a professor from rival George Washington University across town. GWU Law School Professor John Banzhaf takes the Catholic institution to task for acting “probably with malice” against Muslim students in a 60-page complaint that cites “offensive” Catholic imagery all over the Catholic school, which he says hinder Muslims from praying. Baffled Catholic University officials say they have never received a complaint from any of the...

<p>The recent spectacle of Pamela Geller, the erstwhile journalist who organized a provocative contest in Texas of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, gives pause to even the most passionate defenders of the First Amendment.</p> <p>Not since Westboro Baptist Church’s “God Hates Fags” message and Florida pastor Terry Jones burning the Koran has the principle of free speech been so sullied and abused.</p>

Dr. Ben Carson, GOP presidential candidate who launched his campaign Monday, made his way down Main Street in Greenville, South Carolina, to the South Carolina Freedom Summit on Saturday, stopping to chat with voters. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, spoke with the voters attending Artisphere, a street fair where hundreds of small business owners hosted booths showcasing their goods. It’s an every Saturday morning event in Greenville, but Saturday was special, as most of the customers took time to meet and chat with Carson. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Carson said that small businesses are an important issue for...

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) has yet another challenge on his hands when it comes to righting the state’s precarious financial situation. As is so often the case in the Land of Lincoln, the problem is their bloated, underfunded public workers union pension system. The programs are facing billions of dollars in shortfalls with no relief in sight, and a recent effort to remedy the situation just went down in flames. A 2013 law which sought to reform the system by eliminating automatic increases, reducing future benefits and generally curbing the growth of the debt has been rejected by...

With the first votes on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would fast-track TPP just days away, it’s looking like Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)54% expects Americans to accept former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA)7% Obamacare logic for the trade deal: you have to pass it to find out what’s in it. “If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door,”...

  God bless Pam Geller, if you'll excuse the expression. And screw you if you don't. We've had it, and Pam Geller is the tip of the spear. Pam organized a "Draw Muhammad" contest in Texas. The winner of the contest was Bosch Fawstin, a Muslim apostate. He has interesting things to say about Islam: Breitbart News: Are people wrong when they refer to Islam as a religion of peace? Bosch Fawstin: There are so many people that talk about this issue out of their ass. This is an ideology that we have to understand before we say a word....

Baltimore is awesome! Watch the Orioles! Watch the Ravens! Take a boat tour in the harbor and then dine in one of the fabulous restaurants with a view. Visit the aquarium! You will love Baltimore! Link to revised economic development / Chamber of Commerce video)

When Attorney General Eric Holder’s reign at the Justice Department ended earlier this month, readers of National Review probably hoped it would mean the end of stories about Holder’s seemingly inexhaustible misbehavior and legal shenanigans. But apparently he could not leave without one last abuse of taxpayer funds. Holder is the only attorney general in history to be held in contempt of Congress. But that didn’t stop the Justice Department from releasing a nine-minute paean to him, which paints him as a cross between Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa. It’s entitled “Attorney General Eric Holder: The People’s Lawyer.”...

Oliver Wendell Holmes made the analogy during a controversial Supreme Court case that was overturned more than 40 years ago. Ninety-three years ago, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote what is perhaps the most well-known -- yet misquoted and misused -- phrase in Supreme Court history: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic." Without fail, whenever a free speech controversy hits, someone will cite this phrase as proof of limits on the First Amendment. And whatever that controversy may be, "the law"--as some have curiously...

As the City of London celebrates a Conservative victory, it must also face a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. That poll must happen by the end of 2017 if David Cameron is to honour the Tories’ manifesto commitment. The prospect will now dominate debate in the business world until polling day. Not every business leader wants the UK to stay in the EU, but it is reasonably clear that most do. In the City and financial establishment, opinion is even more one-sided in favour of membership. Expect to see a full-throttle lobbying campaign, accompanied by dire...

House Republicans will vote next week to ban most abortions after the fifth month of pregnancy, ending an intraparty debate that drove a wedge between the GOP and its pro-life base when party leadership had to cancel a vote on the bill the night before the March for Life in January. “Life is precious and we must do everything we can to fight for it and protect it,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) told The Weekly Standard on Friday. “Our commitment for the House to consider this important legislation has been steadfast and I am proud of the...

The Patriots are concerned that quarterback Tom Brady could face a suspension ranging from six and eight games, according to a report from CSN New England. Any punishment from the NFL would result from the recent Ted Wells report, which stated "it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware" that footballs were deflated below the league's minimum requirement against the Colts in the AFC Championship. Following the AFC Championship and leading up to the Super Bowl, Brady told reporters he was confident that no one in the Patriots organization broke any rules. Footballs must...

It seems almost ungrateful to complain about the announcement that the U.S. added 223,000 jobs to the economy in April, dropping the official unemployment rate to 5.4 percent, particularly after the dismal showing in March. Economists saw those numbers as reason for a “sigh of relief,” as one put it. But the truth is that for many American workers, the jobs recovery hasn’t yet provided real relief — and there is still a lot of ground to cover before the country can be said to have truly recovered the losses from the Great Recession. The labor force participation rate remains...