Free Republic

Microsoft’s new service for automatically writing AI-based code, Copilot, has sparked outrage in the Open Source community.“Microsoft loves open source.” So much has been put on this slogan recently, only to change the Open Source community’s perspective toward the Redmond company.And while Microsoft was no longer demonized as the worst thing that could happen to the Open Source, certain of the Redmond tech giant’s tactics remained regardless of the times.It must be said unequivocally, now and forever, that Microsoft loves open source! However, with one additional qualification: when it can generate a profit from it.While this may appear to be...

QUESTION: Will you explain what Socrates foresees for after 2032 at this year’s WEC in November? I’m more concerned about my grandkids. A lot of people seem to be plagiarizing you these days. But all they have to offer is an opinion and we all have opinions. Socrates has been the only thing that has ever been consistently correct. ANSWER: I have warned that the Economic Confidence Model and how markets even trade themselves is always fractal. We are completing the end of the BIG ONE. I think a lot of people are starting to see this too. The End...

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LBERTON, Ga. — Part of a mysterious Georgia monument was destroyed overnight, leading to an active police investigation in Elberton, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. A Channel 2 Action News viewer shared photos of the Georgia Guidestones in which a part of the monument appears to have crumbled. Elberton police and the GBI are investigating how the monument was destroyed.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) reacted to the Highland Park parade attack during a Monday press conference by suggesting America’s Founding Fathers would not support a “constitutional right to own an assault weapon.” Pritzker tweeted a video of his comments on the attack, saying, in part, “Our Founders carried muskets, not assault weapons, and I don’t think a single one of them would have said that you have a constitutional right to an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine.” In another portion of his comments Pritzker said, “It does not have to be this way, and yet we as a...

Mina’s World, the West Philadelphia coffee shop that drew local and national attention as a community-oriented and LGBTQ inclusive space, has closed. “We don’t have enough money to continue operating,” read the message posted Friday on Mina’s Instagram. “The People’s Fridge will stay in place for this moment — if we are asked to move it we find another host in West Philly. “Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the ways we were able to.” *SNIP* In recent weeks, evidently a dispute had arisen between some of Mina’s employees and the cafe’s owners. Sonam Parikh and Kate...

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall. The new rules, unveiled Tuesday morning, allow for long nails, face tattoos, and coloured hair among other changes. Part of the changes mean members can wear intermixed uniforms as both the male and female catalogues are open to all members. "The Canadian Forces Dress Instructions are about 50 years old and so the policy as a whole was overdue for revision. The appearance of the Canadian Armed Forces has not kept pace...

very cool video...and the libs thought this jet was gone for good..https://youtu.be/fXfmvzsaTp0

Former Disinformation Governance Board leader Nina Jankowicz is worried Americans face a bleak future after the Department of Homeland Security reportedly “paused” their effort. “The problem is there are very real national security issues here, and not being able to talk about this in a mature way is a real disservice to the country,” Jankowicz told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday. Jankowicz criticized Republicans and conservative activists after resigning three weeks after she announced her new position as the head of a Disinformation Governance Board on social media.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The federal indictment against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Wednesday sent shockwaves through the halls of state and local government, with politicians from both sides of the aisle condemning Madigan's alleged behavior as "deplorable" and "disturbing."Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, a political foe of Madigan's for years, said Wednesday "may be the darkest day in Illinois government history." "This is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan, but it's an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades," he said. "But the public needs to get answers from the speaker,...

Nine Republican leaders from across Pennsylvania on Wednesday endorsed Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor over their own party’s nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, saying he is an extreme candidate who would undermine democracy.

Thousands of Dutch farmers are blockading highways and food distribution centers to protest new Nitrogen rules that will force approx. 30% of Dutch cattle farms out of business, according to government estimates. Police opened fire on a 16-year-old in a tractor yesterday, videos show. The boy is now in jail. (snip) UPDATE: Dutch MP Geert Wilders posted a letter from the government of Floevoland province stating that farm landconfiscated in Nordoostpolder will be used for an asylum center:

San Diego is witnessing the largest exodus of police officers from the city since 2009 and the majority of them are quitting because of the city's continued obsession with covid vaccine mandates. Perhaps the smartest move the people of Los Angeles County ever made was to elect Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who refused to enforce unconstitutional vax mandates. The decision probably saved them from losing a quarter or more of their law enforcement officers within the sheriff's department. Contrast this with the LAPD, which was not so lucky. Officers have quit in droves or were fired, with over 2200 employees refusing...

Challenging popular Evangelical belief, controversial televangelist Creflo Dollar, one of America's most flamboyant proponents of the prosperity gospel, has renounced tithing and all his previous teachings on the subject as "not correct." He also urged his followers to "throw away every book, every tape and every video I ever did on the subject of tithing" but says he will not apologize for his error. In a Sunday sermon billed "The Great Misunderstanding," the founder and senior pastor of the nearly 30,000-member World Changers Church International headquartered in College Park, Georgia, said he is aware that his declaration will cause him...

It has been revealed that Hunter Biden had contacts for Google officials and US-China policy officials: Hunter Biden’s hard drive contained an enviable lineup of contacts for top US officials tasked with overseeing the US-China relationship, and at least 10 senior Google executives — raising new questions about the extent to which Joe Biden’s well-connected son could have leveraged his connections for personal profit, The Post has learned. They were in a position to aid Hunter in his quest for unlimited wealth, crack and hookers Many of the top-level government officials would have been in position to help Hunter Biden’s...

Abstract: The rollout of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the general population is controversial. The ratio of vaccine risk to benefits likely has swung more towards risk than during the original randomized trials, due to dose-dependent adverse events and to fixation of immune responses on a variant no longer circulating, yet the evidence underpinning mass use of boosters is weaker than was the evidence for the original vaccine rollout. In light of an unsatisfactory risk-evidence situation, aggregate weekly data on excess mortality in New Zealand are used here to study the impacts of rolling out booster doses. Instrumental variables...

Australia's 2021 Census reveals that the percentage of people identifying as Christian has dipped below 50% for the first time, a drop of 17 percentage points over the last 10 years. At the same time, the number of people who describe themselves as "non-religious" has risen.The diversity in the religions Australians identified is increasing, "reflecting continuing changes in our social attitudes and belief systems," the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.While Christianity remains the most common religion in the Oceania country, with 43.9% identifying as Christian, it's down from 52.1% in 2016 and 61.1% in 2011.The Sydney Morning...

One of the more popular grievances from the contemporary left revolves around the notion that our nation has been subverted by “minority rule.”Here is the pollster Nate Silver:“Despite the various, very serious threats to American democracy, things would *mostly* be fine if the balance of elected power more closely reflected the popular will (e.g. Senate seats proportional to population, no Electoral College, less gerrymandering).”Silver is confusing the inability to coerce others with minoritarianism. It is not a serious threat to American democracy that New Yorkers are unable to dictate Oklahoma’s abortion laws. Nor that Texans can’t compel Rhode Islanders to...

Police in Georgia reportedly are investigating an explosion Wednesday targeting the Georgia Guidestones monument, which the state says is known as "America's Stonehenge." Images circulating on social media purportedly show significant damage to the granite tourist attraction in northeastern Elbert County. The Elbert County Sheriff's Office is among the law enforcement agencies investigating and a bomb squad has been called to the scene, according to Fox5 Atlanta. "Known as America's Stonehenge, this 19-foot-high monument displays a 10-part message espousing the conservation of mankind and future generations in 12 languages," according to a description on the state of Georgia’s tourism website....

This Fourth of July, watching people fight over what the Constitution means, I ask people, if you could change the Constitution, what would you change?"The forefathers knew what they were doing," said one woman.But the Constitution originally accepted slavery. It's good that we can amend it.So what should we change?"Add a balanced budget amendment," suggests Glenn Beck.David Boaz of the Cato Institute recommends 18-year terms for the Supreme Court. "Maybe confirmation fights would be less bitter and partisan."Others suggest term limits for Congress. Stossel TV's Mike Ricci takes the idea further. "If your father, mother, siblings, uncle, cousins were elected...