Free Republic

An expert and entrepreneur in the field of artificial intelligence warned that while the new technology has the potential for massive benefits, it could also prove "too powerful and too disruptive" for humanity, expressing doubt about the federal government's ability to address such a challenge. Kevin Baragona worked as a software engineer but recognized the potential impact of AI, which led him to start DeepAI in 2016 to help bring the new technology to fruition. The free online service is growing rapidly, with users increasing tenfold over the past year. DeepAI was the first company to offer an online AI...

U-571 U-571 is truly an "on the edge of your seat" film about a US Navy crew trying to sail a Nazi U-Boat to England in 1942 (won't explain how that happens, see the movie). In one scene, the boat is attacked by depth charges from a German destroyer. The crew turns to the young skipper for guidance and asks what they should do to save the boat and their lives. He says he doesn't know. Somehow they survive this attack. The wise, crusty Chief then has a fatherly chat with the skipper in a quiet moment over coffee....

Former Target executive said the retailer's biggest mistake was selling 'tuck-friendly' swimwear for Pride, which has led to a $12billion loss since mid-May. Former Target Vice Chairman Gerald Storch believes the company's controversial 'tuck-friendly' swimwear set Target's Pride collection apart from others for the worst. 'I've never seen a case where one item, that tuck swimsuit, that's really what made the difference versus the competitors. That's where the big mistake [was] made,' he told Fox and Friends. He said other companies carried colored plates and gingerbread houses and that's 'fine' because 'who cares? Everybody carries that stuff.' Target suffered another...

Former Defense Secretary General James Mattis famously said, "PowerPoint makes us stupid." Like many among today's top military brass, he sees our culture's addiction to PowerPoint as a threat to the efficiency and effectiveness of our armed forces. Similarly, many CEOs have banned PowerPoint from their meetings, including Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Twitter's Jack Dorsey, LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and the late Steve Jobs. Smart leaders hate PowerPoint because business presentations straitjacket meetings into a slow-moving linear direction. This discourages conversation and discussion, turning the other attendees into passive chair potatoes. PowerPoint--when used as designed--reduces attention, understanding,...

MIAMI -- North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with three felony counts of voting in a North Miami Beach district even though he no longer lived in the area for which he cast a ballot. Each count carries a possible five-year-prison sentence. Later in the day, CBS News Miami's cameras captured DeFillipo as he left jail, refusing to answer questions from reporters. DeFillipo's attorney Michael Pizzi, calls the arrest politically motivated. "The mayor has explained over and over again, and under oath, he always intended to and always lived in North Miami Beach."...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Fights against “Sterile Traditionalism”n a message to the May 28 Festa del Voto in Sassari - celebrated since 1943 when a vigil to Our Lady of Grace protected Sassari while other Sardinian cities were bombed - Francis mentions the Mediatrix of all graces which in December 2019 he called "foolishness."He added his inevitable buzzwords ("pastoral conversion", "spiritual renewal", "synodality") and then threw a tantrum, “Do not give in to the temptation to remain anchored in a nostalgic popular piety that consists only of external rites or in a sterile traditionalism that is rather the expression of the...

Miami-Dade Police Officer Anna Elicia Perez found herself in handcuffs last week after she and a pregnant woman allegedly confronted and beat up a man who was dating them both, say local authorities. The alleged incident went down at Miller's Ale House in Palmetto Bay last Friday, after Perez, 34, and Mila Zuloaga, 35, apparently discovered their unnamed boyfriend was seeing them both. Both women reportedly thought they were in monogamous relationships with the victim, while Zuloaga is seven months pregnant and lives with him. It's unclear how they made the connection or linked up, but according to CBS...

A pair of senior partners at the California-based mega-law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith split from the company last month to build their own “compassionate” firm, but internal emails show they used wildly offensive and demeaning language — repeatedly referring to women as “c–ts” and a judge as “sugar t-ts.”

Russia has enough Iranian-made suicide drones to keep up attacks on Ukraine every day, a Ukrainian Air Force official warned. Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said Russian forces have more than enough supply of Shahed-136 drones to keep up the attack, Ukrainian news outlet NV reported. "Shaheds are now launched so often that it is not clear whether they are (supposed to be) detecting or depleting our air defense," Ihnat said, according to NV. "It's all in one: both detecting and, surely, depleting." Russia has been using the unmanned loitering munitions to relentlessly bombard Ukrainian cities and targets in recent...

[Catholic Caucus] Burke Warns of "Persistence Of An Ideology"Recent statements by Cardinal Roche confirm "the persistence of an ideology" which, through the [failed] Novus Ordo, sought to "manipulate and betray" the Church's infallible teaching on the Eucharist and Holy Orders, writes Cardinal Burke.In the preface to a French republication of Cardinal Ottaviani's prophetic Critical Examination of on the Novus Ordo (1969) he explains that it is clear that many find in the Roman Rite a living source through which they can unite with Christ," and that there is "no reason to discourage them."Burke analyses that in the Novus Ordo there...

Fusion GPS, a contractor that worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, reportedly withheld over 1,500 documents from Special Counsel John Durham. These documents were sought during Durham’s investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe. Fusion GPS cited attorney-client privilege in their refusal to hand over the documents, a claim that has been contested by many legal experts​. According to the initial report, Durham did not take legal action to acquire the documents. On Friday, Paul Sperry, a senior reporter for Real Clear Investigations, broke the news on Twitter, stating, “BREAKING: Hillary Clinton campaign contractor Fusion GPS held back...

At least three school pupils have been injured in a knife attack in Sweden after two rival gangs fought at a sports event, according to local media reports. The students were rushed to hospital following the stabbing at a sports facility in the town of Eskilstuna, reports TV4. The TV station had initially reported that the attack took place at a school but the headmaster later said the pupils had been at a different location at the time of the incident. .....

This isn’t surprising. The committee, which was entirely handpicked by Nancy Pelosi, was never concerned with an objective presentation of facts. In fact, we’ve known since 2021 that the committee doctored text messages to make them look incriminating. Just the News identified at least two instances where the committee’s video montage, which was broadcasted live and on C-SPAN in June 2022, did not disclose that the audio had been overlaid from another unidentified source onto the original silent footage. Numerous current and former Capitol Police officials, along with important lawmakers and congressional aides, have confirmed that the closed-circuit cameras used...

A supervising detective involved in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Donald Trump prosecution has been suspended for his contact with the former president’s ex-lawyer and bitter adversary Michael Cohen, law enforcement sources told The Post. Jeremy Rosenberg who investigates financial crimes for Bragg, had his gun removed recently for his interactions with Cohen, the sources claimed. “The office is conducting a review of an investigator’s compliance with internal office protocols,” a Bragg spokeswoman said. A law enforcement source said Bragg’s office is looking at how Rosenberg shared communications about Cohen with the office. Cohen’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis said: “The...

SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — A bill is being discussed in the state legislature that is an indirect, if not direct, result of Shasta County dumping the Dominion Voting Machines in favor of hand-counting ballots. County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen spoke at the Redding Rotary Club Lunch Meeting on Friday. She says assembly bill 969 (AB-969) has been introduced by Assembly Member Gail Pellerin, a retired county clerk who represented parts of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. The proposed law "would prohibit a county board of supervisors from terminating an existing voting system contract without a...

YouTube has announced a reversal of its “election integrity” policy, stating that it will now leave up content that makes claims of fraud, errors, or glitches in elections, including the much-debated 2020 presidential election and previous US elections.The company confirmed this decision to Axios on Friday, emphasizing that maintaining the policy may hinder political speech without effectively reducing the risk of real-world harm or violence. The policy was initially established by YouTube in December 2020, after the much contested 2020 election. However, with the changed landscape and the 2024 campaigns well underway,...

An internal City of Dallas “gender transition” toolkit requires all public employees to use a transitioning person’s preferred pronouns regardless of personal beliefs. The document, obtained by The Dallas Express via an open records request, lays out the protocols and procedures adopted by the City to “support an inclusive and productive workplace environment.” Officially titled “Workplace Gender Transition Protocols & FAQ,” the document was lauded by City staff during a recent City Council committee meeting, with Human Resources Director Nina Arias telling council members, “I would like to highlight our gender transitioning information toolkit,” as a part of Dallas’ efforts...

When President Joe Biden published his proclamation saluting “pride month” for 2023, he checked every box on the progressive agenda. Gays? Naturally. Lesbians? Of course. Bisexuals, transgenders, “queer” and “intersex”? Check. Check. Check. And check. All told, it’s 900-plus words of blather about Biden’s aims to ease the plight of the sexually disoriented population of the United States — but it’s the last line that says more than the White House ever intended. At the end of the “Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month, 2023” on Wednesday, the president declares the month of June to...

When Sam Dogen retired at age 34 with a net worth of $3million he vowed never to return to his grueling job in investment banking. As a pioneer of the FIRE - financial independence, retire early - movement, he had meticulously planned for 13 years to ensure he had a passive income of $80,000 a year in retirement. But a decade later, Dogen, now 45, is being forced to join the ranks of the unretired. Amid soaring inflation and rising costs, he needs to go back to work to be able to afford his kids' college tuition, which he has...

“I am very sort to inform you, Ambassador Burns, that our esteemed minister of national defense, Li Shangfu, will not under any circumstances at this time have a dialogue with Lloyd Austin. It has come to our attention that Lloyd Austin is not a real defense secretary, and his superior, Joseph Biden, is apparently not a real president of the United States of America. We have learned Lloyd Austin speaks for only a portion of your country’s armed forces and that Joseph Biden isn’t in control of your country’s nuclear weapons. This is an alarming revelation—your house is not in...