Free Republic

Imagine this scenario: you're worried you may have committed a crime, so you turn to a trusted advisor — OpenAI's blockbuster ChatGPT, say — to describe what you did and get its advice. This isn't remotely far-fetched; lots of people are already getting legal assistance from AI, on everything from divorce proceedings to parking violations. Because people are amazingly stupid, it's almost certain that people have already asked the bot for advice about enormously consequential questions about, say, murder or drug charges. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, anyone's who's done so has made a massive error — because unlike...

'Ignore the medical reality, strip the context, and turn her child into a propaganda weapon.'Media outlets have employed a photo of an emaciated Gaza child to substantiate claims that Israel is intentionally starving residents of the Hamas-controlled zone.But the legacy media never reported that the child, now 20 months old, suffers from numerous medical problems — nor that his three-year-old brother looks healthy with no signs of malnutrition, according to an investigation.This viral image of a child in Gaza was misreported as proof of starvation caused by Israel. In reality, Muhammad’s health condition, not hunger, is the issue. It’s time...

Pro tip: Planes can't fly in water. Hoy en el Festival Internacional Aéreo de Gijón podía haber ocurrido una desgracia, si no es por la pericia del Capitán Botana a los mandos del F18 Superhornet. 🙌🏻Se comentaba que algún pájaro pudo haber tenido la culpa. ¿Qué opináis?@GijonAirshow @A3Noticias @lanuevaespana pic.twitter.com/PkzU07kxU3— VISUAIR (@Visuair) July 27, 2025I'm glad Captain Botana was able to recover that spin at the Gijon Sir Show on Sunday, but holy moly that was close. Another angle: Gijon Airshow, Spain F-18 low pass yesterday. Anyone want to share what they believe happened here?📹: u/FirebirdWS6dude pic.twitter.com/4mE6mMYG39— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler)...

Donald Trump has delivered on two of his campaign promises with no taxes on overtime and no taxes on tips in his 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' but there are strings attached. Trump has claimed that his bill 'prevents the largest tax hike in history and unleashes economic growth.' The bill was signed into law on Friday, containing two provisions that allow individuals to deduct tip wages and overtime from their taxes. Despite claiming there are 'NO tax on Tips' and 'NO tax on Overtime,' there are limits on which taxes can be deducted and by how much. Also, not...

The man behind The Washington Post's "Pinocchios" is leaving the paper without anyone to fill his shoes. Glenn Kessler, the editor of The Fact Checker, announced Monday he has taken a buyout, ending his lengthy career at the Post. "After more than 27 years at The Washington Post, including almost 15 as The Fact Checker, I will be leaving on July 31, having taken a buyout," Kessler wrote on his Facebook page. "Much as I would have liked to keep scrutinizing politicians in Washington, especially in this era, the financial considerations were impossible to dismiss." Kessler said he wrote or...

NEW YORK — For years, Marianne Hirsch, a prominent genocide scholar at Columbia University, has used Hannah Arendt’s book about the trial of a Nazi war criminal, “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,” to spark discussion among her students about the Holocaust and its lingering traumas. But after Columbia’s recent adoption of a new definition of antisemitism, which casts certain criticism of Israel as hate speech, Hirsch fears she may face official sanction for even mentioning the landmark text by Arendt, a philosopher who criticized Israel’s founding. For the first time since she started teaching five...

Houston, TX — Scattered among three different affiliates, Planned Parenthood currently operates 30 brick-and-mortar clinics in the state of Texas – none of which have been able to perform abortions since 2022, and none of which have been allowed Medicaid reimbursements since 2021. Despite Planned Parenthood’s constant outrage over being recently defunded at both the state and federal level – touting that it offers “other services” in order to downplay a grisly business model centered around killing prenatal children – last week’s news out of Texas proved what more and more Americans are coming to suspect: the only things keeping...

In his first few days guiding aircraft at the Oakland, California, air traffic control center, trainee Ryan Higgins deleted a plane’s data from the radar screen. It was untrackable for a few frantic moments while more experienced controllers made sure the plane was on a safe path. The rookie mistake rattled Higgins and earned him a stern rebuke.By that point, Higgins, a promising candidate with a college degree, already felt slighted by the veteran Federal Aviation Administration controllers who are responsible for training recruits under the agency’s apprenticeship system. He witnessed another trainee get cursed out in front of his...

Rising violent extremism linked to leftist and pro-Palestinian suspects in the U.S. flies in the face of legacy media narratives that President Donald Trump’s return to office would embolden right-wing extremists. Law enforcement has grappled with a wave of alleged or confirmed arsons, shootings, threats against government officials and mass rioting stemming from outrage at Trump’s policies or U.S. support for Israel. In the months following Trump’s reelection, media outlets and “experts” quoted in their articles predicted that America might see a resurgence of mostly right-wing or white supremacist violence on his watch.

Less than a day after city workers painted an iconic tunnel in downtown Los Angeles white, vandals tagged it again. ... The 2nd Street Tunnel, which was opened in 1924 to relieve congestion in the nearby 3rd Street Tunnel, is a widely-photographed location, especially for fans and makers of cars; the Los Angeles Times in 2009 referred to it as “the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have never heard of.” The 2009 article noted that, between 2006 and its publishing, 73 commercials for auto brands were shot in the tunnel. It’s also been used in many movies and music...

Avian Flu Wiped Out Poultry. Now the Screwworm Is Coming for Beef.First came bird flu, which led to the culling of large swaths of the nation’s poultry flocks and the soaring egg prices that helped undermine President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s re-election. Now, ranchers in Texas and officials at the Agriculture Department are raising the next alarm: the New World screwworm. Texas livestock producers and ranchers fear the United States is ill-equipped to handle a potential outbreak of screwworm, whose incursion into the country appears increasingly likely. With beef prices already soaring, the screwworm, whose Latin name roughly translates to...

Republican leaders in the House are investigating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on two California cannabis farms from earlier this month after unaccompanied minors were discovered working as laborers there by federal agents. The joint operation — carried out earlier this month by ICE and CBP officers — focused on two marijuana growing facilities. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom originally commented on the raid and was heavily critical of the federal government. This led CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to break the news to him that they found 10 juveniles, eight of whom were alone.

President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal if Washington’s NFL team did not restore its name to a racial slur, despite decades of psychological research showing the negative mental health impacts of Native American mascots. The president is demanding a private company change its name to something that researchers have linked to a variety of negative mental health outcomes, particularly for children, said Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians. The organization has been pushing back on stereotypes of Native Americans since the 1950s, including Native sports mascots. “This is a big...

Employees at aviation and aerospace company Volonaut have been watching a few too many movies. For the general population, though, that's a good thing. While many young males were dreaming of light saber battles or flying through the wilderness on a speeder bike, Volonaut founder Tomasz Patan was thinking about how to build his own futuristic equipment. On Wednesday, the company revealed it had created a real-world "Star Wars" method of transportation. While the Death Star may have been too big of a project, Volonaut's feat is still incredibly impressive, as the company revealed a real-life speeder bike, listed on...

In a historic pivot, the Pentagon is reportedly halving its planned purchase of F-35 stealth fighters, signaling a significant shift in U.S. airpower strategy. The move is a long-overdue break from a history of bad procurement choices, like rejecting the superior YF-23. Many would argue the F-35 is a vulnerable “procurement Frankenstein,” unsuited for a future war with China or Russia.

Summary15% tariff on EU goods, less than feared, but higher than hoped French PM savages agreement, no comment from Macron Deal brings relief but leaves unresolved questions European stocks rise BRUSSELS, July 28 (Reuters) - France denounced the trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S. as a "submission" on Monday though other EU states largely backed a deal they acknowledged was lopsided but which averts an economically damaging trade war with Washington.The framework deal, announced on Sunday between two economies accounting for almost a third of global trade, will see the U.S. impose a 15% import tariff on...

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump is DONE with Putin. He just said he's lowering the initial 50 day deadline for sanctions on them to 10 days... "I'm gonna make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days, from TODAY. There's NO reason in waiting. No reason in waiting. I wanna be generous, but, we don't see any progress being made."

A gunman shot dead five people in a busy market in Thailand on Monday — with chilling video capturing him calmly walking with the gun in his hand just before the mass shooting. The unidentified killer was seen wearing a T-shirt and shorts as he walked toward a market in the capital, Bangkok, with a handgun in his right hand and a large backpack worn to cover his chest and stomach, according to the clip obtained by The Sun. The dead were four security guards and one merchant, according to Siam Bunsom, the commander in chief of Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police...

NATIONAL MILK CHOCOLATE DAY Dive into the ever-popular National Milk Chocolate Day on July 28. When it comes to chocolate, this sweet easily pleases. Since the days are heating up, melt that chocolate down. Drizzle it on some ice cream or mix it into some popcorn. Nobody said this holiday would be difficult. #MilkChocolateDay We've been adding milk to chocolate beverages since the mid-17th century. But, in 1875 Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henri Nestlé with the liquor. It's been milk chocolate bliss ever since. Solid chocolate, when combined with either powdered, liquid...

Kenneth Harris spent most of his days in Atlanta yearning for a life in a place where his dark skin color is not a source of suspicion, but a mark of a shared heritage. His chance came two years ago when he bought a one-way ticket to Kenya. The 38-year-old retired veteran has found a community in the east African country’s capital, where he now runs an Airbnb business. He loves admiring Nairobi’s golden sunset from a rooftop terrace, and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in a tastefully furnished apartment in an upmarket neighborhood. Harris is part of a growing wave...