Free Republic

If all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players, where does that leave non-human figures, like artificial intelligence chatbots? As it turns out, A.I. can hold its own against humans—even the Bard himself—when it comes to writing poetry. A.I. chatbots can imitate famous poets like William Shakespeare well enough to fool many human readers, according to a new paper published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. In addition, many study participants actually preferred the chatbot’s poetry over the works of renowned writers. Researchers asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5 to generate poems in the style of well-known authors,...

Could the $50 purchase of an ancient coin by a Rutgers astronomer have unlocked the mystery of the Christmas Star? For years, scientists have looked, with little success, to astronomical records for an explanation of the magical star that guided the Magi to Christ's manger. Intrigued by the image he found on the latest addition to his coin collection, Michael Molnar thought there might be more to learn by looking, instead, at the teachings of ancient astrologers.Molnar argues in his book that the Star of Bethlehem was not a star at all, but rather a regal portent centering around the...

The Japanese company that owns tire maker Dunlop shuttered a century-old New York factory — and fired 1,500 workers — as it moved manufacturing overseas. Sumitomo Corp, the Tokyo-based conglomerate that boasts a market capitalization of more than $25 billion, closed down the Dunlop plant located in Tonawanda, near Buffalo, on Nov. 7. The closure is the latest blow to the Western New York area, which like much of the Rust Belt has seen its manufacturing sector decimated by companies shifting production overseas in recent decades. The company said that cost controls and investments in the aging facility were not...

Panic engulfed MSNBC headquarters on Wednesday after parent company Comcast confirmed a massive spinoff of its cable properties — with a top executive even suggesting the left-leaning network may be forced to change its name. ... Staffers fearing looming layoffs peppered him with questions about if the network will need to change its name, logos and headquarters after reports surfaced that the new entity could be cut off from the reporting muscle of NBC News, ... “Everyone is in a panic because everything is up in the air, ... Comcast announced Wednesday that MSNBC — home to anchors that include...

The billionaire is chair of India's Adani Group conglomerate and one of the world's richest people...The indictment alleges Adani and others misled U.S. investors when they were seeking capital to finance...solar energy contracts...Gautam Adani is the second richest person in Asia, with a reported net worth of $85 billion.

On Wednesday, the Bucks County commissioners' meeting was packed with citizens who were fed up with Democratic officials' alleged attempts to count illegal ballots in the recount of the Senate race between incumbent Bob Casey (D) and Dave McCormick (R). ---SNIP--- The first speaker revealed a bombshell announcement, stating that she planned to file a criminal complaint against Ellis-Marseglia and Vice Chair Robert Harvie Jr. "Diane's actually right, though: The law doesn't matter anymore in this country because people like you violate it all the time, and all we the people do is sit here and complain," the resident said....

A landmark COVID-19 vaccine autopsy study has been republished in Science, Public Health Policy, and the Law. This follows its controversial withdrawal by two prior journals.The study, led by Nicolas Hulscher, an epidemiologist at the McCullough Foundation. provides what he describes as “robust evidence” linking the vaccines to fatal outcomes. It claims these findings meet the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) criteria for a “Class I recall.”A Class I recall is defined by the FDA as necessary when a product poses “a reasonable probability” of causing severe health consequences or death. The study calls for immediate regulatory action.Hulscher hailed...

It has come to my attention that some Democratic lawmakers and talking heads are blaming Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss on transgender people. Or, more specifically, Democrats being too nice to transgender people. “The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York who won his reelection, told The New York Times. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports.” Another Democrat, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, told NYT, “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather...

A rare fifth-century amulet depicting a Biblical demon slayer may corroborate missing scripture that claimed King Solomon had power over evil.The 1,600-year-old bronze pendant, found in Turkey, featured imagery of Solomon defeating the devil with the ancient Greek inscription, 'Our Lord defeated the devil.'Solomon, the son of King David, was the focus of a chapter written between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, but it was not accepted into the canonical Bible due to its emphasis on magic and demonology.Titled 'Testament of Solomon,' the book begins with the Archangel Michael gifting Solomon a magical ring to summon, interrogate and control...

Paul Simon has abandoned one of his biggest hits, a decision that was entirely out of his control. The acclaimed singer-songwriter, now 83 years old, has been open about his ongoing battle with hearing loss. While the condition has forced him to retire from touring, Simon has continued performing occasional concerts. During a recent conversation with CBS Mornings, the musician explained how he manages his condition – and why it made him retire one of his most popular songs. “There’s only about 6% [hearing] in my left ear,” Simon explained, noting how he has to use multiple monitors during performances....

A Chinese vessel has been implicated in what has been described as the sabotage of undersea telecom cables in the Baltic Sea, a body of water dubbed the "NATO Lake" due to its location between alliance members. The Yi Peng 3 had passed close to both cables around the time each was cut on Sunday and Monday, according to maritime tracking group Marine Traffic. The vessel was then followed by the Danish Navy, according to open-source intelligence analysts. "Ship suspected of damaging comms cables x 2 in Baltic Sea has been detained by Danish Navy," posted OSINT account auonsson on...

[Video at URL] Old video (2007) of President Biden calling for the President to be impeached if they attacked another nation without being attacked or credible threat we were about to be attacked. ...

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt says his state is creating a plan to deport criminal illegal immigrants who are in custody in state prisons, in a boost to President-elect Trump’s proposal to conduct a mass deportation operation next year. Stitt announced that he is directing the state’s commissioner of public safety to lead the effort to expel inmates in Oklahoma prisons who are in the country illegally, by creating a plan to deal with them. That plan will be delivered by January, and the state says it will consult with the Trump transition team and incoming administration to implement it....

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has heaped praise on Keir Starmer’s economic policy, as the UK prime minister used their first meeting to raise concerns about sanctions on MPs and the treatment of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai. During their conversation at the G20 summit in Rio, the first meeting between the UK and China’s leaders in six years, Starmer said he would be keen to host a full bilateral meeting with Xi and the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing or London as soon as possible, aimed at turning the page on frosty UK-China relations. In a marked change of...

North Carolina sheriffs must comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests with the passage of House Bill 10 over Governor Roy Cooper’s veto Wednesday. The bill will also funnel more than $2 billion to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship school voucher program over the next decade — expanding the program to allow students of all income levels to receive taxpayer funding for tuition at private schools in the state. The state House of Representatives voted to override Cooper’s veto by a 72-44 margin Tuesday, with three Democrats joining all Republicans present in favor. On Wednesday, the state Senate followed suit,...

Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections. This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect...

Voters in Cook County and Chicago appear to have booted another judge from the bench, this time in an apparent end to the judicial career of a man who famously changed his Eastern European name to one that sounded Irish, in an apparent bid to improve his chances to win election, but then was accused of living outside Cook County while serving as a judge on the county's bench, in an alleged violation of the law. On Nov. 20, with the deadline for counting late-arriving ballots in Illinois now passed, Cook County Judge Shannon O'Malley appeared to have fallen short...

Vladimir Putin has not been seen or heard from in the public eye since he made World War Three nuclear threats 12 days ago, sparking suspicion about his whereabouts. Rumours of Vladimir Putin's ill health have been swirling for years. The Russian President, 72, has not been seen in 12 days since he issued apocalyptic World War Three nuclear threats over the use of long-range Western missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory. It is unclear if the Kremlin dictator is unwell, on holiday or has simply chosen to remain out of sight. According to the Faridaily Telegram channel, which monitors...

Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as education secretary, incorrectly claimed in 2009 that she had a bachelor’s degree in education on a questionnaire for a Connecticut Board of Education post, according to news reports at the time.McMahon received a bachelor’s degree in French and a teaching certificate from East Carolina University, according to her alma mater’s announcement that she would deliver the 2018 commencement speech.The error on the questionnaire was reported by the Hartford Courant during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She said at the time that she mistakenly thought her degree was in education...

Robert Bork really, truly wanted to be remembered as a great judge. And in 1987, he reached the apex of his career: President Ronald Reagan nominated him to succeed Justice Lewis Powell on the Supreme Court. He was so close! Alas, after his bitter, divisive (and ultimately unsuccessful) confirmation hearing, he became known for something else:/bôrk/ (verb): To obstruct or oppose someone, particularly a candidate for public office by systematically defaming or vilifying them. “We must Bork that guy!” said the Democrat.It’s unusual for a person’s name to be given the anthimeria treatment. (South Park’s “Faith Hilling” episode notwithstanding.) It’s...