Free Republic

Media sites are taking action on several fronts as traffic referrals dry up and AI companies plunder their contentWhen the chief executive of the Financial Times suggested at a media conference this summer that rival publishers might consider a “Nato for news” alliance to strengthen negotiations with artificial intelligence companies there was a ripple of chuckles from attendees.Yet Jon Slade’s revelation that his website had seen a “pretty sudden and sustained” decline of 25% to 30% in traffic to its articles from readers arriving via internet search engines quickly made clear the serious nature of the threat the AI revolution...

Software companies that audit expense reports are adding a new arsenal of capabilities to try to detect receipts that have been created using A.I. chatbots.It wasn’t long after ChatGPT began generating realistic images that Anant Kale started seeing posts on social media that explained how it could be used to generate a pretty convincing fake receipt.That was, he recognized, his problem.As the chief executive of AppZen, a software used by finance teams to manage expenses, he had overseen the creation of fraud-detection tools that flagged A.I.-generated receipts. But this was different.“We were like, oh, shoot, this is too easy,” he...

Like millions of fellow 18-year-olds across the U.S., Zach Yadegari spent his summer preparing for college. Unlike most other freshmen, Yadegari doubts he’ll linger in academia for very long. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Cal AI, a calorie-tracking mobile app he launched from his parents’ home in Roslyn, New York, in May 2024 — and the app’s success to date makes him think he’ll take it full-time well before his class’ graduation date, he says. Cal AI’s users upload a photo of their food, and the app’s artificial intelligence-based software gives them an estimate of the total calories. The...

The Finnish air force was created in March 1918 following independence from Russia and actually predates the founding of Britain’s RAF. Its first military aircraft was donated to the fledgling air force that same year by Swedish aristocrat Count Eric von Rosen whose personal symbol just happened to be a swastika. This image, which was later to become a symbol of Nazi Germany was at the time considered to be quite acceptable and became part of the livery of Finnish air force planes for decades. Perhaps ironically, von Rosen supported the concept of National Socialism and was the brother-in-law of...

Kyiv says it needs all its drones for the battlefield, but manufacturers insist the foreign revenue from exports would let them expand their production.KYIV — Foreign drone companies are swarming Ukraine, hoping to be a part of one of the most exciting unmanned vehicle production hubs in the world. There’s one problem: Ukraine’s drone makers are severely limited in exporting their production and know-how. Drone use and production have skyrocketed in the war between Ukraine and Russia, now in its fourth year, because of these machines’ low cost and deadly effectiveness. The constant battle-testing has accelerated the pace of evolution...

The belief in talking to plants has existed for centuries. Ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and indigenous cultures, believed that plants responded to energy, emotion, and sound. In the 1840s, German professor Gustav Fechner suggested that plants might have feelings, laying the foundation for a more spiritual relationship between humans and nature. By the 1970s, the book The Secret Life of Plants popularized the idea that plants could react to music, emotions, and verbal communication. Although some claims were controversial, they triggered scientific curiosity that continues today.

Putin also said he doesn't see the need for foreign troops after a peace deal.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that his country's military would consider any foreign troops that appear on Ukrainian territory, especially before an agreed-upon ceasefire, to be "legitimate targets."His remarks came after European leaders said they finalized a plan outlining potential postwar security guarantees for Ukraine at a meeting in Paris on Thursday."As for possible military contingents in Ukraine, this is one of the primary reasons for Ukraine's involvement in NATO. Therefore, if any troops appear there, especially now, during the course of hostilities, we assume...

President Donald Trump has never played by the stale rules of Washington, and Americans are grateful for it. His bold call for a 2026 pre-midterm convention is a political masterstroke that will cement America First policies, energize the Republican base and ignite Generation Z voters. This convention is a seismic shift that sends a clear message to every politician: fight for the American people or step aside. The GOP’s victories, from retaking the White House and strengthening congressional majorities to delivering real wins on border security, tax cuts, a stronger economy and energy independence, set the stage for Trump’s call...

Billy Corben's TIFF-premiering documentary explores the rise and fall of the butter-loving Southern chef, revisiting her N-word scandal 12 years later.Bobby Deen, son of disgraced TV chef Paula Deen, has reservations as he sits down with Billy Corben, director of the new documentary, Canceled: The Paula Deen Story. “I don’t think it’s a great idea. Honestly. Why do you need a documentary?” Bobby asks with a pre-rueful chuckle, admitting that the only reason he’s there is because his mother and brother Jamie were doing interviews. Having seen the 103-minute final film, I can say that Bobby needn’t have worried. It’s...

Models for reconnaissance, rescue, interception and attack are changing the way both sides operate“It’s more exhausting,” says Afer, a deputy commander of the “Da Vinci Wolves”, describing how one of the best-known battalions in Ukraine has to defend against constant Russian attacks. Where once the invaders might have tried small group assaults with armoured vehicles, now the tactic is to try and sneak through on foot one by one, evading frontline Ukrainian drones, and find somewhere to hide. Under what little cover remains, survivors then try to gather a group of 10 or so and attack Ukrainian positions. It is...

VIDEOMeet the deranged faces of the new Democrat party. They are utterly bereft of anything resembling policy ideas. All they have is red hot TDS hate to the extent that they have become sick Hopium Ghouls fantasizing openly about the termination of President Trump. Their deranged facial expressions reflect the sickness of their souls as they are so far gone that they have graduated from their "When It Happens" fantasy of a few months ago to "Has It Happened?" desperation Hopium.Has it happened? Has it Happened that they have been committed to insane asylums?

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prince Hisahito is the first male royal to reach adulthood in 40 years. Many people in Japan worry he could be the last.The elaborate palace rituals to formally recognize Hisahito as an adult on Saturday are a reminder of the bleak outlook for the world’s oldest monarchy. Much of this comes down to its male-only succession policy and dwindling numbers.Hisahito is second in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne and is likely to become emperor one day. After him, however, there is nobody left, leaving the Imperial family with a dilemma over whether they should reverse a...

Trump’s control over DC police is set to expire next week on September 10 if Congress doesn’t act. President Trump, on August 11 signed an executive order declaring a “crime emergency” and invoking powers under section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act to federalize the police. The Home Rule Act requires Congressional approval for the President to federalize the police for more than 30 days. However, earlier this week, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an executive order for local law enforcement to work with federal officials indefinitely. Bowser previously admitted that Trump’s crackdown on crime in the city was...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Turkson rebukes bishops and priests who continue to ‘deny climate change’Environmentalist Cardinal Peter Turkson slammed Catholic clergy who consider so-called climate change 'irrelevant' a decade after Laudato Si' was released.Cardinal Peter Turkson, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, lamented during an interview published this week that there are still several Catholic bishops and priests that “deny climate change” despite the purported progress made by Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical letter Laudato Si’ that called for “climate and ecological justice.”During part of an interview with the Austrian newspaper, Der Sonntag,...

A sprawling Hyundai manufacturing plant in a quiet southeast Georgia community became ground zero on Thursday for one of the most extensive immigration raids in recent US history. The operation, months in the making, ended with 475 arrests, most of them Korean nationals. As state troopers blocked roads leading to the plant and set up a security perimeter, nearly 500 federal, state and local officers poured into the sprawling battery production facility, still under construction.Agents moved swiftly, lining up workers along the walls. Word of the raid spread across the property, triggering a scramble among workers who attempted to flee,...

At least 300 people were arrested in London on Saturday under British terrorism laws during a protest of the government’s decision to ban a pro-Palestinian activist group. The group, Palestine Action, was designated a terrorist organization in July after two of its members broke into a British military base and damaged planes to protest Britain’s military support for Israel. It was the first organization to be banned under a segment of Britain’s legal definition of terrorism that covers serious property damage, rather than violence against people, to advance a political cause. The designation put Palestine Action on the same legal...

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China after their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, expressing his annoyance at New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order. "Looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China. Later on Friday, however, he told reporters he didn't think the U.S....

Among President Trump’s long list of perceived political enemies, one lawmaker has drawn outsize scrutiny from the administration: Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Trump has routinely fixated on the California senator, who investigated Russia’s 2016 election interference and served as the lead manager on Trump’s first impeachment. Schiff was also a member of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, laying blame for the riot with Trump. Since taking office for the second time, Trump has not just repeatedly bashed Schiff but tapped his powers to go after his adversary. The administration has launched a probe...

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is standing in the way of a bipartisan push to tighten sanctions on the country of Georgia, which lawmakers and advocates say is the best way to stand up for pro-democracy forces and counter Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence in the country. Mullin is blocking passage of the Megobari Act — titled the Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act — bipartisan and bicameral legislation that codifies sanctions against officials in the ruling Georgian Dream party for human rights abuses, corruption, undermining democracy and deepening ties with American adversaries. In a...

In old 1980s horror movies, a knife-wielding, flannel-wearing serial killer is routinely killed—until he or she isn’t, and the franchise inexorably moves on to “Slasher the Sequel: This Time It’s Worse than Personal.”I recall such mythic movie murderers not as a (literally) dead-end jaunt down memory lane but as a cautionary tale for Republicans and, indeed, all who hope to see the recent significant reductions in federal spending and, concomitantly, cuts in the administrative state’s bureaucracy to be made permanent. (The image of Elon Musk—the DOGE—clad in black and waving “the chainsaw for bureaucracy” is an irony worthy of the...