Free Republic

NASA on Tuesday announced that it would delay its rescue mission for two astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS), in order to “complete processing” on a new SpaceX spacecraft that will be used in the operation. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were only expected to be on the station for a week, have been stranded in space since June because of safety issues related to their Boeing spacecraft. The two Americans were expected to be rescued in February, but the operation will now be delayed until at least late March. If they are...

Five Palestinian families on Tuesday (Dec 17) sued the State Department over Washington's billions in military aid to Israel, demanding the enforcement of US rules to curb arms flows due to allegations of human rights abuses. The complaint, filed on Tuesday and to which the State Department has 60 days to respond, calls for the implementation of the so-called Leahy Law, which the plaintiffs and rights group say Israel has been illegally exempted from. The law prohibits the provision of security assistance to units facing credible allegations of human rights abuses. Since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in...

Donald Trump is stoking political mayhem in Canada ...

Two men from New York died from pneumonia they contracted from bat feces — after they used the excrement as fertilizer to grow marijuana, a new study found. The unidentified men from Rochester, ages 64 and 59, smoked pot that had been tainted with a fungus found in the bat droppings, known as guano, that caused fatal lung infections, according to a study published in Open Forum Infectious Disease earlier this month. Their deaths were not connected to each other, which the researchers said highlights a growing trend of using bat waste to produce marijuana since the drug has been...

In the face of critical legacy media reports and opposition on Capitol Hill, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is working to forge a more direct line of communication with the American people through a playbook-style newsletter. The Trump transition is launching a newsletter on Tuesday with the goal of establishing “transparent communication” with the public on Trump’s future policies and plans, The Daily Wire has exclusively learned. That newsletter is specifically aimed at Americans looking for real information about the transition process, who are frustrated with the mainstream media’s aggressively critical reporting on Trump. “For far too long, the American...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

World models take inspiration from the mental models of the world that humans develop naturally. Our brains take the abstract representations from our senses and form them into more concrete understanding of the world around us, producing what we called “models” long before AI adopted the phrase. The predictions our brains make based on these models influence how we perceive the world. ... While the concept has been around for decades, world models have gained popularity recently in part because of their promising applications in the field of generative video. ... While a generative model trained on years of video...

The U.S. Navy’s ambitious modernization program for its Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers has largely failed to meet its objectives, resulting in billions in wasted taxpayer dollars, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Since 2015, the Navy has invested approximately $3.7 billion in modernizing seven cruisers, but the program’s outcomes have fallen dramatically short of expectations. Of these vessels, only three will complete the modernization process, with none achieving the intended five-year service life extension.

Five years after weathering a major Republican House leadership controversy, Burrows finds himself at the center of another skirmish — this time as he seeks the speaker’s gavel himself. Five years ago, Rep. Dustin Burrows’ reputation sustained a major blow among his House colleagues. The Lubbock Republican resigned as chair of the House GOP Caucus after it was revealed that he and then-Speaker Dennis Bonnen tried to collude with a right-wing activist by providing a list of 10 GOP members they believed should be targeted by the activist’s political organization in the upcoming primary. The actions amounted to a shocking...

NCAA President Charlie Baker sent a message to women's college athletes who are uncomfortable sharing locker rooms with transgender athletes on Tuesday, putting the responsibility for their own safety squarely on the women themselves. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over legalized sports gambling, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questioned Baker about the NCAA's policies that have allowed trans athletes to compete on women's teams. Hawley confronted Baker about the NCAA policy that states "transgender student athletes should be able to use the locker room, shower and toilet facilities in accordance with their gender identity." Baker, the former Republican governor of...

Wow. No wonder all the traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange broke out in a USA, USA, USA” chant when Trump visited last week.The HOTLINE has frequently reported on the rising global dominance of American stocks. The end of November marked a new milestone: US equities now represent over 65% of global market capitalization. Japan is number two at just 5.5%. China’s companies are about one-twentieth as valuable as U.S. firms.If the Magnificent Seven tech companies were a separate stock market, they would be nearly as valuable as all the rest of the companies publicly traded...

China is urging colleges and universities to provide "love education" to emphasise positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family, in a bid to boost the country's flagging birth rate. College students will be the biggest driver of fertility but they have significantly changed their views on marriage and love, the Jiangsu Xinhua newspaper group said, citing China Population News, an official publication. "Colleges and universities should assume the responsibility of providing marriage and love education to college students by offering marriage and love education courses," the publication said. The state council, or cabinet, rallied local governments in November to...

Newly uncovered photos and online accounts purportedly associated with the Wisconsin teen school shooter suggest a deeply disturbing obsession with other school shooters such as Columbine killer Eric Harris — and even show her wearing a t-shirt of his favorite band. A now-eerie snapshot of Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, 15, was posted on her father’s Facebook page and shows her aiming a rifle at a shooting range wearing a shirt from the German industrial rock band KMFDM. Harris was seen in photos also wearing one of the band’s T-shirts before he and Dylan Klebold went on to murder 13 people in...

The Telegraph understands that Mr Musk has significant concerns about the UK’s Online Safety Act, which requires social media companies including X – which he owns – to regulate their content. Scrapping or amending the legislation may become a key request of Mr Trump when he enters trade negotiations with Britain next year. Mr Trump’s team has warned that the UK must choose between a closer trade relationship with either the US or the EU, suggesting that talks could end with tariffs of up to 20 per cent on UK exports if the incoming president is not placated. Mr Farage...

Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Farage, the Reform leader, said Mr Musk “left us in no doubt that he is right behind us” and launched “ongoing negotiations” about a financial contribution. It is the first time that either Mr Farage or Mr Musk has acknowledged rumours that the latter is considering a multi-million pound donation, which could be the largest in British political history. The SpaceX and Tesla entrepreneur is a vocal critic of the Labour Government and has accused Sir Keir Starmer of eroding freedom of speech by running a “tyrannical police state”. Mr Farage shared a photograph of...

After ducking questions for much of the day, Madison, Wisc. Police Chief Shon Barnes finally revealed the identity of the suspected shooter found dead inside a private Christian school on Monday. While there is currently no evidence suggesting that the suspect is transgender, Chief Barnes said that he won’t even consider whether gender status or ideology was a factor. In earlier press briefings, Barnes first denied knowing if the body found was either “male or female,” then later said he would not reveal the students “gender.” Chief Barnes’ obfuscations and the terminology he used throughout much of the day fueled...

With the Boston Celtics on pace to shatter the NBA's record for 3-pointers attempted by a team this season, and 3-pointers in general being up across the league, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday night that the league is studying the trend. He also said criticisms of offenses becoming "cookie-cutter" and that teams are copying each other is something he thinks the league should take seriously. "The answer is yes, [we are having] many discussions about the style of basketball [being played]," Silver told a small group of reporters Tuesday night before the championship game of the league's second annual...

Not only did President-elect Donald Trump handily win the election on Nov. 5, he also won the popular vote with over 77 million votes. Now on top of that, most Americans are also approving of his transition moves. This is despite the efforts of many in the media/many Democrats trying to tank his nominees. Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman · Follow WOW—CNN just released a poll showing that 55% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the transition. You know they hate giving Trump positive press. It seems once again, just like with the election, Americans are tuning out the...

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday night nominated former Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker for U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas. Trump has spent the past six weeks since he was elected back to the White House by filling out his Cabinet and other key roles in his administration. Other recent ambassador picks include Kimberly Guilfoyle for ambassador to Greece, and former ambassador to El Salvador Ronald Johnson for ambassador to Mexico. The former president praised Walker as a man who has spent decades as an ambassador to children, military servicemembers, and athletes around the world. Walker played as a running...

Elon Musk has met Nigel Farage and Nick Candy, Reform UK’s new treasurer, at Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, reviving speculation the tech billionaire could fund the hard-right party. After the meeting on Monday, Reform released photos of Musk sitting with Farage and Candy, and standing with them beneath a portrait of a young Trump at the US president-elect’s Florida home. The party released a statement by the Reform leader and Candy in which they said they had met Musk for an hour. “We learned a great deal about the Trump ground game and will have ongoing discussions on other...