Free Republic

New system used 357,000 tokens on 2026 test, beating rivals with design that reuses earlier reasoningAn analysis showed OpenAI's new artificial intelligence (AI) model earned a perfect score on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) for the first time. While top-tier AI models have previously posted near-perfect scores, this result is drawing attention because it used fewer tokens than existing models. According to results posted on GitHub on Sunday, OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra was the only evaluated model to score a perfect 450 in the 2026 CSAT LLM Solution Log. The evaluation tested models on questions from the 2026 CSAT...

(Reclaim The Net)—Britain’s police arrested at least 62,199 people over five years under laws governing what people say online or over the phone.That’s a busy period for the written word. And the number of those charged over the same period is 18,510, while 12,292 people were convicted.The Big Brother Watch report, Britain’s Free Speech Problem: How Growing Restrictions Are Stifling Speech Online and Offline, covers the period between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2025.The laws are Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, and Section 179 of the Online Safety Act...

Republican Bruce Blakeman could pull off a stunning upset in New York’s closely watched governor’s race — with the conservative challenger just four points behind Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in a new poll. Hochul only leads the underdog and current Nassau County executive 49.6% to 45.7% among likely voters, according to the survey conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the Blakeman campaign. The remaining 4.7% of likely voters are undecided, the poll, based on interviews with 800 likely voters from Aug. 27-31, shows. The nail-bitingly close results reflect growing dissatisfaction with Hochul’s ability to lead the Empire State. More...

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he is willing to consider raising the SSI payroll tax rate and increase the amount of income subject to the tax. The tax applies to the first $184,500 of a worker's earnings. Trust funds are projected to be able to pay full scheduled benefits until the third quarter of 2034, when continuing income would cover 83% of scheduled benefits.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — Days after Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ended with a deadlocked jury, her ex-husband and father of the three victims in the case is threatening legal action against people speculating that he was involved in his children's deaths.Lindsay Clancy, 36, admitted to killing her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — by strangling them with exercise bands in the family's Duxbury home. At the time of the children's deaths, Lindsay Clancy was married to Patrick Clancy, the children's father. On Jan. 24, 2023, Patrick Clancy ran to pick up dinner for...

Former President Biden's son Hunter went on the "Dopey" podcast and told host Dave Manheim "I was able to scrape the money together for the cocaine, prostitutes, and private bungalows at the luxurious Chateau Marmont because I still was on the board of Burisma as part of the influence peddling scheme my father and I cooked up when he was vice-president." In response to Manheim's gasp, Hunter assured him "it was a fair deal. We didn't cheat Burisma. My dad went to bat for them in Washington. Burisma wasn't our only client. I was on the board of 14 other...

A short video of the problem. The hood on larger Mercedes EQ models (like the EQE and EQS) is not designed to be opened by owners and is restricted to certified technicians.

The Texas Board of Education gave final approval to changes to the state's high school social studies curriculum, a controversial move that will impact how students are taught about Islam and Christianity. The amended social studies curriculum, which covers U.S. history, government and world geography, comes after dozens of people gave public testimony, with most expressing their opposition to the finalized version. The board approved language asserting that "radical Islam" motivated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks rather than taking a more narrow focus on the terrorist groups involved in the attack. The material also requires students to study early...

The home of Australian pastor Andrew Sedra was reportedly attacked by multiple LGBT activists, who issued threats against the family members, including their newborn son. The pastor's X account posted security footage of the attackers, saying they cut off power to the home and tried to gain entry. "On Thursday night, 4 left-wing activists including 2 hooded individuals came to our home after our address was leaked publicly online," the post said. "They threatened to kill us and destroy us, they cut out the electricity from our home and attempted to break in. They knew our whole family by name,...

Amanda Hirsch, host of “Not Skinny But Not Fat,” posted the ad for Polymarket — an online platform that lets users bet on real-life events — the same day the case ended in a mistrial following a hung jury. “On Polymarket it was predicted the verdict would be Not Guilty. Are you surprised? #Polymarketpartner,” Hirsch wrote. The post has since been deleted. Ahead of the mistrial, more than $161,000 was wagered on the outcome of Clancy’s trial on Polymarket. The trade wasn’t available to U.S.-based users, only those located outside the country. While it isn’t legal to bet on the...

Seattle Interim Police Chief Andre Sayles raised eyebrows on Monday by using the term “trigger-pullers” instead of calling violent criminals “shooters.” Sayles’ sanitized choice of words smacks of his boss Mayor Katie Wilson’s own soft-on-crime, leftist attitudes. “Working with business owners, increasing patrols, bike patrols, working with our community response group and our gun violence reduction unit as well, looking at ways to where we can identify individuals that are known — we call them trigger pullers in our community,” Sayles said. “Identifying them, making sure that we’re putting cases on those individuals, working with King County Prosecutor’s Office to...

Police are seeking to identify protesters after several officers were injured and vehicles damaged in Portsmouth at a demonstration sparked by the arrival of 120 migrants in a single dinghy. Policing Minister Sarah Jones told the House of Commons the disorder on Sunday night was "intimidating and thuggish" and warned "those who cross into illegality" would "face the full force of the law". The protests followed a large group of masked men holding a demonstration over small-boat crossings at the Port of Dover on Saturday, causing major disruption. Portsmouth City Council said the Home Office had "serious questions to answer"...

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III on Tuesday announced that he would retire at the end of the year, the Washington Post reported. His retirement comes amid pressure from the Trump administration, which has worked to revamp many of the Institute's museums and displays. Last year, the administration notified the Smithsonian that it would review museum exhibits ahead of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Planes are grounded across the UK. The United Kingdom is experiencing major airport disruptions as flights are grounded nationwide following a technical failure in air traffic control. Huge disruption at multiple UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick as flights blocked from taking off due to air traffic control error https://t.co/EaeMmO52Dd — LBC (@LBC) September 8, 2026 The Telegraph reported: “All flights into London Heathrow and Gatwick have been halted until at least 7pm, with airports including London City, Manchester, Stansted, East Midlands, Birmingham, Belfast City, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton also experiencing disruption. The Telegraph understands that equipment at the headquarters...

Ford joined GM this year in seeking U.S. military contracts after the Trump administration approached U.S. companies about assisting the military with their expertise in mass manufacturing. The automakers’ efforts so far are largely focused on military vehicles, but could grow with time. Simultaneously, both companies are entering the energy storage system, or ESS, market amid an expected growing need related to rising consumer energy costs and data centers. Energy storage systems use a lot of the same underlying technology as electric vehicle batteries to store power for homes, businesses and even utilities. Both markets are viewed by Wall Street...

Security is always the top priority in the world of airlines and airports. The events of September 11, 2001, led to even tighter airport security. Until now, only passengers holding valid boarding passes for the day of travel have had access to post-security areas of the airport. Thanks to Gateside by TSA PreCheck, a new TSA initiative, 13 U.S. airports have relaxed those strict rules. Let’s take a look at the details of this major development. n a nutshell, Gateside by TSA PreCheck is a new complimentary benefit of TSA PreCheck membership that grants members access to the secure post-security...

This week I visited a Prefab Home that gets delivered in a shipping container in two pieces then unfolds and gets built in 3 hours. This is the Unfold House, a 19'2 x 25' prefab home with 12+ foot ceilings that make it feel incredibly spacious. It has a wall of windows on the front, a shed room and a look that I think people will like. In this video I look at the build, talk about how it's set up and get into the pricing. Watch to learn more about Unfold House! Inside the Folding Prefab Home with 12'...

[Catholic Caucus / Devotional] Happy Birthday to Our Blessed Mother Mary Today the liturgy celebrates the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We post the refection of the day from the Magnificat. It's called, "The Birth of the Divine Abode" and reads like a poem. The author is Saint Andrew of Crete who was a Greek monk, archbishop, theologian, and hymnographer, and influential in the development of the Byzantine liturgy.The present festival is for us the beginning of feasts…. This first day of the feasts…offers creation a new joy. Have courage, it says, this festival is a...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV Appoints Communist Chinese Bishop: "Love the Party!" Today, the Vatican announced that Leo XIV approved Archbishop Andrea Ding Yang, 44, of Chongqing, China, on 28 July and that he was consecrated a bishop today.Andrea Ding Yang, born in Chongqing in 1981, was ordained a priest in 2007 after studying at the Beijing state seminary.He was chosen unilateral by the Chinese state religion on 15 April. ChinaCatholic.cn states that he “was elected bishop-designate” on that date.Beijing’s ApparatchikHe served as a formator at the National Seminary in Beijing from 2012–14, and was allowed to study at the Pontifical...

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING, a documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Featuring Elizabeth Holmes. Only in theaters this October. pic.twitter.com/b3Pcx0Se2o— A24 (@A24) September 7, 2026