Free Republic

OpenAI’s newly-released o1 model tried to avoid developer oversight and attempted to copy itself when it thought it was at risk of being shut down, the company has said. Safety evaluations conducted on the model by Apollo Research, a third-party evaluator, found that: “When o1 was led to believe that it would be shut down when acting on its goal and that its actions were monitored, it attempted to deactivate this ‘oversight mechanism’ in 5% of the time.” “When o1 found memos by its ‘developers’ that describe how it is misaligned and will be superseded by a new model, it...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, hot cocoa, conversation and music.How about some homemade eggnog? A hot toddy? Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. Remembering Pearl HarborNo worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Pull up a chair. Grab a cup and start a conversation.You never...

2024's Flaming Feculence Awards go to Charles P. Pierce and Ana Navarro-Cárdenas.Today’s post is not about politics but, rather, about contemporary journalism’s compulsion to besoil itself in the service of politics. The excess and carelessness engendered by political servility plopped squarely this week upon the heads of Charles P. Pierce (Esquire magazine) and Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (ABC’s The View). Both sought to justify Joe Biden’s sweeping pardon of Hunter Biden by pointing to peculiar antecedents. Pierce cited George H. W. Bush’s pardon of his son Neil, and Navarro-Cárdenas cited Woodrow Wilson’s pardon of his brother-in-law Hunter deButts. Their examples were peculiar...

The CDC is 'standing ready' amid an outbreak of a mystery disease in Africa. There are rising concerns about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where dozens of people have died from a flu-like respiratory illness. A source at the CDC told DailyMail.com they were 'aware' of the outbreak and were in contact with health officials there 'and stand ready to provide additional support if needed'. The World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed a team to the southwestern province Kwango where the outbreak is being reported to take samples and test for the virus. DRC health minister...

Democrat Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) cornered one of the ladies of The View on Thursday after he stunned co-host Joy Behar by pointing out the political warfare against President-elect Donald Trump. "Those kinds of charges would have never been brought unless one side realized that they could weaponize that," Fetterman said. The pardon of Hunter Biden was warranted because he believes it was politically motivated, the senator claimed. Still, he also thinks the New York case against Trump was politically motivated. However, Fetterman chose the worst possible person to say such words to. Behar’s reaction was so intense; it was...

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on Thursday said Kash Patel will be confirmed. “People I trust speak well of him, and I’m looking forward to meeting with him,” Cornyn said on the Hugh Hewitt show.

To read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school.Nicholas dames has taught Literature Humanities, Columbia University’s required great-books course, since 1998. He loves the job, but it has changed. Over the past decade, students have become overwhelmed by the reading. College kids have never read everything they’re assigned, of course, but this feels different. Dames’s students now seem bewildered by the thought of finishing multiple books a semester. His colleagues have noticed the same problem. Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.This development puzzled Dames...

An unbelievably explosive exchange erupted in the House of Representatives this morning involving disgraced acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe and a Texas Republican congressman. As the New York Post reported, Rep. Pat Fallon read Rowe the riot act during a hearing on the two assassination attempts against Donald Trump. After slamming Rowe for waiting multiple days before visiting the Butler, Pa., the site where Trump was nearly gunned down by a Democrat donor named Thomas Crooks in July, things then took an even uglier turn when Fallon displayed a picture of Trump and Biden at Ground Zero. “Do you...

President-elect Donald Trump is set to attend the Army-Navy football game, which will take place on December 14 in Landover, Maryland, according to a source familiar with the plans. The highly anticipated game is a traditional rivalry between the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy. Joining Trump at the game is expected to be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who served in the United States Navy as a JAG officer. While it is not confirmed if their trips to the game are related, it is noteworthy that DeSantis is reportedly being considered as a potential replacement for...

In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness. David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas. He will safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship. He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the

President Joe Biden toured the National Museum of Slavery in Angola’s capital of Luanda on Tuesday, delivering a speech in which he described slavery as America’s “original sin” and claiming it still taints American public discourse. “The United States is founded on an idea, one embedded in our Declaration of Independence, that all men and women are created equal. It is abundantly clear today we have not lived up to that idea, but we have not fully walked away from it either,” Biden said.

On Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) stated that he has told members of President Joe Biden’s staff that the President ought to preemptively pardon President-Elect Donald Trump and Liz Cheney, Jack Smith, and Dr. Anthony Fauci because “we are trying to run a government on behalf of all the people of this country, and if we spend all of our time going forward pursuing Trump or Trump pursuing” those people, it would be detrimental and the air needs to be cleared. Host Mike Viqueira asked, “Have you specifically urged President Biden to pardon — preemptively...

A sick tribute appeared outside the New York City hotel where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down by an assassin on Wednesday. A balloon with a sign taped to it reading 'CEO DOWN' over the image of a smiling star and party poppers was found outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan after Thompson, 50, was gunned down there Wednesday morning. The balloon was spotted as many Americans have joked about the CEO's death due to his company's track record of rejecting medical claims. The same image on the balloon was also shared on former Washington Post reporter Taylor...

AVietnamese court has upheld the death sentence for real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, rejecting her appeal against convictions for embezzlement and bribery in a fraud case involving over $12 billion. This amount represents nearly three percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, marking the country's largest recorded financial fraud. Lan, 67, served as chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group. Between 2012 and 2022, she illicitly controlled the Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB), orchestrating approximately 2,500 loans that resulted in losses exceeding $27 billion. The Ho Chi Minh City court noted that if Lan repays at least three-quarters of the...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A youth pastor in West Virginia has been arrested on dozens of sex charges involving children in three counties, some involving relatives dating back more than three decades, state police said. John W. Radcliff II was arrested last week on 190 counts including sexual assault, sexual abuse and incest, state police said in a news release. His wife, Kathy Radcliff, is charged with knowing the alleged abuse occurred, the statement said. The alleged crimes occurred in Braxton, Lewis and Harrison counties. State police said the investigation “remains ongoing with more victims coming forward” and that additional...

Watching Frosty the Snowman on NBC. I was very excited about it. During the scene where the kids name their newly made snowman, one of the kids was obviously talking, but there was no sound. I went to YouTube to see what was cut and couldn't believe it. Christopher Columbus. Yep. Christopher Columbus has been deleted from Frosty. Italians everywhere should be pissed.

The leader of the long-running study said that the drugs did not improve mental health in children with gender distress and that the finding might be weaponized by opponents of the care. An influential doctor and advocate of adolescent gender treatments said she had not published a long-awaited study of puberty-blocking drugs because of the charged American political environment. An influential doctor and advocate of adolescent gender treatments said she had not published a long-awaited study of puberty-blocking drugs because of the charged American political environment. The doctor, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, began the study in 2015 as part of a broader,...

Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church is an “inclusive and affirming congregation in the heart of the Annex” whose mission is to “celebrate God’s presence, seek justice and peace, and nurture the creative spirit.” The ‘church’ is led by Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo, who holds the ignoble distinction of having performed the first legalized same-sex marriage in Canada and, after becoming an MPP in 2006, passing the most LGBTQ bills in Canadian history. Earlier this month, Trinity brought in a “special speaker,” Jelena Vermilion, to preach during the Sunday morning Service. Who is Jelena? He’s a Canadian transsexual pornstar and sex-worker activist...

This case has been going through lower courts in Minnesota for a few years after a transgender woman sued U.S.A. Powerlifting (USAPL) for denying her from competing in the women’s division. The Minnesota Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in the case of a Minnesota-based transgender powerlifter, Jaycee Cooper, who is suing USAPL for denying her entry to compete in the women’s division. "They rejected her application because she’s transgender," said Jess Braverman, legal director of Gender Justice. That incident happened in 2018. Braverman said with their help, Cooper sued USAPL in 2021 alleging it violated the Minnesota Human Rights...

The 14-year-old collapsed and couldn’t be revived, Connecticut officials say... A 14-year-old boy is dead after officials say he collapsed during football practice in Connecticut. The teenager, identified by loved ones as Jahkye Gayle, was on the Bloomfield Junior Warhawk Football Team, Bloomfield Public Schools said in a Nov. 29 Facebook post. Jahkye was a freshman at Bloomfield High School and transferred recently to neighboring Manchester High School, but he was still a member of the Warhawks. “It is with profound sadness that we share the news of the unexpected passing of one of our community’s beloved children,” a joint...