Free Republic

Trajan's Baths in Oppian Hill will host a new museum where visitors to Rome can admire the Great Mosaic and the Painted City, two massive ancient artworks buried near the Colosseum that are estimated to date from the 1st century... The "Painted City" fresco and "Great Mosaic" were discovered in an underground gallery during excavations in the 1990s of the Baths of Trajan on the Oppian Hill near the Colosseum. After being hidden underground for centuries, its blues and terracotta colors are still clear but faded... The Painted City is a ten-square-metre fresco belonging to a building that predates Trajan's...

We have uncovered new information and accusations about the cargo airline operating the Amazon Prime Air plane that crashed in Miami on Sunday, killing five people in a van inside the airport perimeter and in a Toyota Corolla outside the perimeter. This cargo airline, called 21 Air, has a documented history of hiring foreigners who can’t follow instructions from air traffic controllers, as well as a reputation for hiring incompetent pilots who can’t pass basic training at other airlines, according to industry professionals who say they have first-hand knowledge of the company’s operations. We’re going to go through the evidence...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Congress prepared to return to work next week, one major lingering question was answered as the Senate approved a request from Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell that will allow him to work remotely from the grave. McConnell, who hasn't been present to attend to any Senate business at the Capitol since mid-June, submitted a request through his office to be able to perform his duties remotely from the comfort of his grave, which Senate leadership officially granted. "It'll be just the same as he was when he was here in person," said Senate Majority...

Vice President JD Vance is everything, everywhere, all at once, lending a hand to midterm candidates around the country, headlining MAGA Inc., fundraising dinners, and taking questions in the White House briefing room. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has been a repeat visitor to the early caucus state of Iowa, he hosts a podcast and syndicated radio show, and he has positioned himself as a different kind of Republican from Donald Trump and Vance. And what is Marco Rubio doing to lay the groundwork for a potential 2028 presidential run? Almost nothing. So while Cruz and Vance will both be appearing...

Recently, Luke Burgis, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Catholic University of America, posed a provocative question: “What is the strongest argument from the political Right AGAINST Great Books programs?” In my view, the Great Books is a fine program for lifelong learning. 15,000 people a year participate in discussion groups affiliated with the Great Books Foundation. By contrast, a parallel lifelong learning project—the daily two-pages-a-day study program of the Babylonian Talmud known as Daf Yomi—drew over 90,000 people (almost all of them men) to the official completion celebration of its seven-year cycle at MetLife Stadium, with a further 7,000 at the major...

Explanation: Is this star winking at us? The central object in today’s animation is not one but two stars. XZ Andromedae, indicated by the bold lines, is an Algol-type eclipsing binary with a nearly edge-on orbit from Earth’s perspective. The bottom light curve shows the amount of light from the system dim and brighten as the cooler star eclipses its hotter, brighter companion. Analysis of several XZ Andromedae light curves indicates there may be two other stars orbiting the system. This particular light curve was created with Citizen Astronomy, an open-source software for differential photometry. The software takes the difference...

A recent story out of North Carolina confirmed that women are self-administering the abortion pill far beyond the FDA-approved 11 weeks — and it's had devastating results. Key Takeaways: * The FDA has been relaxing safety rules on the abortion pill for over a decade, leading to a lack of oversight and a lack of care for women who take it without medical supervision. * Easier access to the abortion pill via telehealth has led to horror stories of babies found in toilets and in dumpsters. * Taking the abortion pill after the first trimester, outside FDA-approved limits, increases the...

After an Amazon cargo plane crashed at Miami International Airport, killing five people, one of the pilots reportedly told his wife over the phone that his "career was over," according to a new report. Abraham Altamar told CBS News that he had witnessed the fiery wreck on Sunday while he was working in a nearby building. He did not identify which of the two pilots he spoke with. Altamar was on FaceTime with his wife when he said the pilot approached him. "He was, like, shaking and, and a little injured in his forehead and his hand," Altamar said. "I...

Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfal·17hResearchers spent 500 hours and $70,000 and found LG TVs logging plain text transcripts in standby, mapping every device in the house, and feeding it to LG's ad armUnplug the internet and it saves the files until you plug back in.LG says its TVs don't record ambient conversations.The evidence begs to differ.216 million of these are sitting in living rooms.Where are the regulators?Writer: Danielhttps://x.com/Braiinsforge/s~~~~Grok's explanatory summary:Mario Nawfal's post summarizes a Gamers Nexus investigation showing LG smart TVs scan home networks for devices like phones and smartwatches, log voice inputs as plain-text transcripts, and send data to LG Ad Solutions....

Is the Cybercab cheaper than Waymo? Will Uber drivers lose jobs? What makes the Cybercab efficient? Summarise the video This video from Best in Tesla argues that Tesla’s upcoming Cybercab will significantly outperform competitors like Waymo and disrupt Uber’s current business model by offering a more cost-effective and efficient autonomous ride-hailing service. Key Takeaways: Cost Efficiency: The video estimates the Cybercab will cost approximately $17,500 to produce, compared to an estimated $100,000 for a Waymo robotaxi (1:23 - 2:49). This results in a massive gap in depreciation costs per mile (3:00 - 3:19). Operational Simplicity: Unlike Waymo, the Tesla Cybercab...

Kiano Vafaeian should be alive. Claire Elyse Brosseau is alive. In Canada, that difference may have less to do with a clear medical standard than with geography. The Canadian pro-euthanasia movement has spent years assuring the public that their Medical Assistance in Dying [MAiD]came with safeguards. Including: two independent assessors and that the person asking for death be facing grievous and irremediable suffering. They promised that mental illness alone was to remain excluded. The promise was simple: vulnerable people would be protected, and despair would not become a channel to death. Then came Kiano. Kiano was born March 14, 1999....

British police said Wednesday that they have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that anti-immigration party Reform UK broke rules barring foreign donations. Last week, Channel 4 broadcast an undercover investigation in which two senior Reform UK officials appeared to discuss ways money from an American financier could be channeled through his U.K.-based son to get around the rules. U.K. electoral law says parties can only accept donations from British voters or U.K.-registered businesses .... The party suspended Dan Jukes, a longtime adviser to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and party policy chief James Orr, after the documentary was aired....

DALLAS, TX — With the pivotal midterm elections less than two months away, the nation's most prominent members of the Republican Party prepared to gather in Dallas to get advice from the Cowboys on how to blow everything in November. With President Donald Trump set to headline the party's first midterm convention, officials said they couldn't think of a better plan to formulate a losing strategy than to congregate in the city with a football team that is unparalleled in choking when it matters most. "They're the experts," said one GOP insider. "We're getting down to crunch time now, so...

Igor Chaika - newly appointed head of Russia's federal agency for foreign aid - has become an internet sensation after a press conference photo sparked a flurry of memes It was then quote-posted in a viral piece of satire on Tuesday (September 8), as users zeroed in on Chaika’s striking physique.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that the war with the United States could come to an end if Washington stops threatening Iran and meets a series of conditions set by Tehran, including demands concerning its nuclear program. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohibi, quoted by Iran's Fars News Agency, said that if the United States seeks to end the current situation, it must completely halt the war and refrain from making further threats against Iran. He added that Iran's conditions include the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Lebanon, an end to the blockade imposed on Yemen, the...

ransomnote: The prior posts in the series are here: John “TIG” Tiegen @TigTiegen: 12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI [Introduction and Day 1 of the 12 day series]John “TIG” Tiegen @TigTiegen: 12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI [Day 2 and Day 3 of the 12 day series]John “TIG” Tiegen @TigTiegen: 12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI [Day 4 of the 12 day series]John “TIG” Tiegen @TigTiegen: 12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI [Day 5 of the 12 day series]John “TIG” Tiegen @TigTiegen: 12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI [Days 6, 7 and 8 of the 12 day series] John “TIG” Tiegen@TigTiegen12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI: DAY 9 - 1 of 4TYRONE...

Anytime we interact with anyone, we do what we call a warrants check and we run them through our computer system So whether you're a United States citizen or whether you're here illegally, we run your information through our system. And when we get a hit that says you're wanted on a warrant, then we arrest you. If we get a hit that says ICE has an interest in you, then we contact ICE andsee if they want to execute their federal action and then we hold you and turn you over to ICE. Listen, let's make this really clear....

The Liberals continue to rise in public opinion, according to new figures from Novus published by GP and TV4.

Erobella recently published the Out on Campus: The LGBTQ+ College Index 2026, which measures how “supportive and inclusive” the universities across the country are. The study examined whether universities have professionally staffed LGBTQ+ centers, provide gender-inclusive housing, have written policies that protect trans students from discrimination, have a student health insurance plan that covers gender-affirming care, and allow chosen names and pronouns to be used on official records. Out on Campus also analyzed the city where the school is located by measuring its score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, the number of LGBTQ+ venues nearby, and whether...

The FBI is investigating after digital scans of more than 153 million U.S. and Canadian driver’s licenses were reportedly offered for sale on the dark web. The records may have originated with an identity-verification provider that processes IDs for businesses, although investigators have not confirmed the source of the data. Consumers potentially affected should consider freezing their credit and closely watching financial accounts because a stolen license can provide criminals with valuable information for identity theft.