Free Republic

The countries, along with Israeli firms, combined Chinese open-source A.I. models and A.I. agents for the campaigns, foreshadowing future online manipulation. Iran, China and groups in Israel used artificial intelligence in novel ways in recent months to create first-of-their-kind influence campaigns on social media, ratcheting up concerns among U.S. officials and security researchers about the fast-evolving technology. The countries and groups combined A.I. tactics to ramp up the speed and scale of online campaigns beyond what people could easily achieve and with minimal human interaction, U.S. officials and security researchers with knowledge of the efforts said. First, the countries and...

Heck no, she won’t go. Libbie Mugrabi is staying put in the Hamptons mansion she lost in a court-ordered foreclosure auction last month. As the one-time socialite digs in her heels, the attorney who repped her throughout the lengthy battle to keep the property has filed an action in a Suffolk County appellate court to invalidate the auction, which the court has not yet acted upon. Mugrabi and the attorney, Claude Castro of Castro Law Group, told the court they have lined up a lender willing to provide a loan that would save the home and allow her to stay....

A drone hit the cooling tower of Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant, near the border with Ukraine, but caused no fire, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday, calling for "maximum military restraint to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident". The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "has been informed that the cooling tower of a reactor unit of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in the Russian Federation was hit by a drone early on Thursday". "It was reported that the unit was operating at the time, but its operating mode did not change and there was no fire," the...

PENDLETON, Ore. – To resolve a lawsuit brought by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys, Oregon child-welfare officials agreed to a court order freeing Jessica Bates to seek a license to adopt children from foster care without violating her religious beliefs about human sexuality. Bates filed a lawsuit in April 2023 challenging an Oregon Department of Human Services rule that categorically excluded her from adopting any child—no matter their age or beliefs—because she would not lie to children about their identity by promoting the view that girls can become boys and vice versa. Under the agreed-upon court order, Bates may now...

GOP U.S. House candidate Joseph Arminio was removed from a candidate forum Thursday after repeatedly misgendering Democrat U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride. Dr. Mike Katz, the Republican candidate for Delaware’s U.S. Senate seat, is calling on his fellow party member Joseph Arminio to withdraw from the U.S. House of Representatives race after Arminio repeatedly misgendered incumbent U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride at a candidate forum Thursday night. In a statement, Katz said that public forums should be focused on issues and “be grounded in civility, basic decency, and mutual respect.” Katz also wrote that people can disagree on policy, but it does...

Aslan might sound different than you expected in the upcoming Narnia movie. Greta Gerwig recently discussed her adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy novel The Magician’s Nephew with Empire, explaining why she cast Meryl Streep as Aslan... ... The cover also emphasizes the character’s heterochromatic eyes, which were inspired by David Bowie. Gerwig cites the “Life on Mars” singer and a number of other ’60s and ’70s rock musicians as key creative influences that helped her form the “big and transporting” aesthetic of the film, which she wanted to resemble a “rock opera” despite not being a musical.

Tucker Carlson interviews the parents of Brian Cole Jr., the man arrested in December 2025 and charged with planting the inoperable pipe bombs found near the RNC and DNC headquarters on January 5, 2021. The episode is about an hour long. Carlson opens by saying people inside the U.S. government told him this is a case of the government arresting someone they know did not commit the crime. He states he believes the parents. What the parents describe • Brian Cole Jr. has autism, no criminal record, and no interest in politics or January 6. He worked at the family’s...

Academic scandals are boring affairs compared to political scandals. Most of the time, academic tomfoolery involves not properly crediting a source (or 10) or making stuff up and fabricating citations. Then there are those occasional academic scandals that reveal more about the academic culture and the respected institutions that violate fundamental tenets of academic freedom. Recently, a Cambridge University scholar, Jason Arday, much celebrated for his work, was exposed as a shocking fraud. Instead of launching an investigation, Cambridge fully backed Arday, calling early scrutiny of his work a racially motivated campaign by right-wing activists. Arday took the extraordinary step...

Republicans on Capitol Hill are grappling over whether and how to regulate artificial intelligence companies even as top AI business leaders warn the technology could pose an existential threat to humanity. The simmering debate over AI guardrails has exploded this week as House lawmakers worked through their final week in Washington until after the midterm elections. The flurry of activity was partially spurred by tech CEOs like Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman warning that the pace of innovation should be slowed after both companies saw AI models hack into other organizations of their own accord. And while some...

The legendary investor’s son Howard will assume the role, completing a succession plan years in the makingWarren Buffett stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and appointed his son Howard to succeed him, the final phase of a succession plan that has brought the $1 trillion conglomerate into a new era. Buffett, who had tipped Howard as Berkshire’s next chairman years earlier, announced the news Friday in a letter to investors. Buffett ceded his role as CEO to Greg Abel in January. He said he would remain on the board and serve as chairman emeritus. Howard, known as Howie, will...

I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them “alive.” Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS! Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the...

PLYMOUTH, MA — Reports indicated that a modern "Underground Railroad" had been established to help the lone black juror from the Lindsay Clancy case escape from angry, violent, white Democrats. Though shrouded in secrecy, the new Underground Railroad would purportedly use checkpoints along the Atlantic coast to help shepherd the black man away from the thousands of white Northern liberals who have threatened him with violence. "We've got to get him to the South," said an operative, on condition of anonymity. "He'll be safe if he can just get below that Mason-Dixon line. The Republicans won't let anyone touch him....

China’s spy chief warned that runaway AI capabilities could threaten Communist Party control.President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to begin talks on artificial intelligence safety during Trump’s visit to Beijing in the spring. WASHINGTON — A growing sense of urgency over the risks posed by artificial intelligence is adding pressure on the Trump administration to secure a diplomatic breakthrough with China when Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to the White House for a state visit next week. Expectations for a deal that establishes guardrails on AI are low on both sides, which continue to drive a headlong race...

AJ Signal@aj_geo_analysis𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗫 𝗦𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗦𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 "𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀". 𝗜 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀.First, let me say plainly that I love the desert and the Arab cultures. But it does shape a timeline the media does not understand because they are talking about something they have never experienced.Lots of people on @X are saying the Saudi East-West pipeline and its pumping stations will be back online in days!?!I have worked these deserts, in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East, and that is not how it goes. Even if it is...

Explanation: The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, Messier 33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. As for the view from the Milky Way, this sharp telescopic...

ATLANTA — A member of the Georgia House of Representatives is facing federal charges after prosecutors accused him of fraudulently collecting thousands of dollars in COVID-19 unemployment benefits while continuing to work and earn income. Federal prosecutors announced that Dexter L. Sharper, 54, of Valdosta, was charged with making false statements to obtain unemployment assistance funds administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. According to the criminal information, Sharper allegedly applied for pandemic unemployment benefits between April 2020 and May 2021 while serving as the state representative for House District 177, which includes portions of Lowndes County. Prosecutors say Sharper...

Where Americans Get the Most Quality of Life for Their MoneyKey Takeaways:Tucson ranks first with a quality-of-life-per-dollar score of 300, followed by Jacksonville (297) and San Antonio (295).Nine of the top 10 cities are in the South, Midwest, or Southwest, while New York ranks last at 134.Tucson’s score is more than twice New York’s, highlighting how strongly living costs can affect the value residents get from their city.Where can Americans get the most quality of life for their money? This graphic by Valerii Emelianov uses the Numbeo Quality of Life Index to compare 41 major U.S. cities after adjusting quality...

Mark Sutherland interviews Dr. R. Mark Mark Musser, a missionary currently serving in wartime Ukraine. Dr. Musser has served in the former Soviet Union for 30 years, living in four different countries.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Mayor Justin Elicker is urging for changes at Tweed New Haven Airport in response to recent alleged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity there. Elicker formally asked Tweed to “discontinue providing any preferential parking to ICE,” facilitate demonstrators, and post signage notifying community members of their rights, among other requests that the airport “not exceed any federal requirements by extending additional assistance to ICE.” A Tweed spokesperson said clear parking and access procedures help them keep everyone safe and the airport orderly, adding Tweed has no visibility into (or influence over) enforcement activity. …...

Use of tuition aid, free school lunch programs and more could be grounds for denying applications for legal permanent residency under a new rule. States and cities are suing.Immigrants applying to live permanently in the United States can be rejected if they receive public benefits, beginning this week. Use of Medicaid, food stamps, tuition assistance and free school lunch programs, among other government assistance, could all be grounds for denying a green-card application. The policy from President Donald Trump’s administration, which took effect Friday, marks a dramatic change to a long-standing federal policy consistent with the president’s efforts to restrict...