Free Republic

Fearful that unrestrained development of artificial intelligence could lead to human extermination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) has introduced legislation that would establish a new federal Department of Artificial Intelligence (DAI). "Right now we face the total anarchy of the free market with regard to who will be permitted to develop this technology," the Senator complained. "We need government to step in and take control to ensure that this technology is properly managed." "All the big AI firms agree that a public-private partnership along the lines of that between the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the pharmaceutical manufactures would be the...

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees voted Monday to accept a task force's recommendation to remove former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's name from a building and a scholarship. On Jan. 30, the Department of Justice released millions of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Mitchell's name appears more than 300 times in those files. In 2019, Mitchell was mentioned as an associate of Epstein's in testimony from one of the financier's victims. Mitchell, however, was never directly linked to child sex abuse. Advertisement A spokesperson for Mitchell said the former...

A University of Georgia student survived a plunge from her eighth-floor apartment, authorities said Monday, after she had been “dancing on a couch near a window” and fell out. The terrifying fall from the Rambler Athens Apartments at 558 W. Broad St. in Athens happened at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, according to police records. The “student was dancing on a couch near a window that was open” and “fell from the 8th floor window and landed on the pool deck below,” the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a statement to NBC News.

LONDON — The British government issued an official public apology on Tuesday for interrupting whatever it was the nice Muslim men in unmarked vans were doing at 1:00 a.m. outside a military base used by U.S. forces. The five men were quickly released after brief questioning, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham personally calling each one to offer an apology for the intrusion. "We're terribly sorry for getting in your way, chaps," said Burnham. "We'll get you right on your way in a jiffy. It was that bloody fool of a farmer, calling the police and starting this whole nonsense. Really,...

Lindsay Clancy and her legal team returned to court on Tuesday, arguing that the state of Massachusetts failed to prove she killed her children — a claim that prosecutors called “laughable.” This marks the first hearing since Clancy’s triple murder trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month. The hearing in Plymouth Superior Court, which began just before 10 a.m., included a number of motions filed since the trial concluded. Judge William Sullivan immediately punted some of those motions to a later date, noting that he, and some parties, were not ready for them to be argued. One of those...

Five men suspected of plotting a bomb attack on an RAF base were released on bail on Monday after experts found no trace of explosives. Fears of a terror attack were downgraded just 36 hours after the group of British nationals were arrested by armed police close to RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire. Counterterrorism police said they were still investigating whether the men, aged in their mid-twenties and living in London, were proxies for a foreign state. It followed speculation that Iran could be responsible, after the regime issued threats against Fairford because it is a staging post for US strikes...

War Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans to reduce by 20% the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals during his State of the Force address on Wednesday. Hegseth approved reduction plans for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the military's joint pool earlier this month, according to memos seen by Fox News Digital. The services were directed to implement the plans and complete the reductions by Jan. 1, 2027. Wednesday's address in Quantico, Va. is expected to lay out Hegseth's priorities for the military in the year ahead, with the reduction in senior leadership positions among the changes...

No one would claim that the Iran War has been a political godsend for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But some Israel-First conservatives are willing to say—and lately have been incessantly saying—that the Iran War hasn’t been a political scourge. Those Israel-First conservatives are wrong, even if the devil is, at least partly, hidden in the details. The Iran War has damaged Trump’s approval ratings, consumed his presidency, and darkened the GOP’s prospects in the upcoming midterm elections. A chief proponent of the argument that Trump hasn’t suffered all that much from the Iran War is Ben Shapiro...

Throughout Graham Platner's Senate campaign, Democrats at the state and national levels repeatedly demonstrated that, at bare minimum, they were going to look away from the well-documented evidence of his antisemitism, his anti-Americanism, and his complete lack of respect for women and the boundaries they set. Worse than that, though, were the Democrats like Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) who not only knew about the scandals but who excused them by proclaiming that they had gotten to know Platner and that he was a "changed man" who was no longer sexting women who weren't his wife on problematic social media apps...

For years, privacy advice has been relatively straightforward: turn off location services, strip location metadata from photographs, keep your face out of pictures, and be careful about what personal information you post online. Artificial intelligence is beginning to complicate that advice. A new generation of AI systems doesn't necessarily need you to explicitly reveal where you are or even who you are. Instead, machines are becoming increasingly capable of extracting clues buried inside photographs, videos, voices and surveillance footage -- clues most people would never notice. Some of these technologies have obvious benefits. They could help locate hostages, identify criminals,...

Mahmoud Abbas stood before the United Nations last week--virtually--and delivered an astonishing message to the world. The Palestinian Authority's reform job is essentially finished. "We have completed the national reform program," Abbas declared, claiming his government had strengthened transparency, accountability, financial management, the rule of law and the fight against corruption. He said the Palestinian welfare system had been transformed. Education was being reformed according to international standards. Democratic renewal was underway. The Palestinian leadership rejected terrorism, extremism, antisemitism and hatred. There was just one problem. Nine days earlier, the United States government had reached almost the opposite conclusion. The...

🚨 BREAKING: New records prove disgraced Special Counsel Jack Smith not only obtained FINANCIAL RECORDS from EVERY DAY AMERICANS donating to Republicans — but Smith spied on communications between JOURNALISTS and GOP or Trump-aligned officials, per Fox JACK SMITH HAS TO BE LOCKED UP!! SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY RAGES: "Every member of this committee ought to be OUTRAGED for what happened to their constituents!" Apparently, some of the donations were as little as $5...THAT'S who Jack Smith was worried about Per Grassley, the feds will "forever possess" thousands of people's bank information as part of this sham investigation Jack Smith trampled...

Key Points A U.S. ban on imports of various Canadian goods, including many alcoholic beverages and dairy products, came into force on Tuesday. President Trump said he expects Ottawa to capitulate in the countries’ trade dispute, as Canadian officials insist they will not sign a deal that is bad for the country. Officials from both sides continue to engage in discussions over tariffs, which are hurting many small businesses. ==================================================================== The White House banned imports of some Canadian vehicles, dairy and alcohol products on Tuesday, as officials sent mixed signals on the prospect of a trade deal. The long list...

Florida Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon raised more than $270,000 in tax-exempt funds in 2024 through a charity she said would support Cafe Resistance, her black power-themed bookstore and coffee shop. But Nixon ultimately placed the store under her for-profit LLC, failed to file the IRS disclosure that would detail how the charity spent its money, and reported to the state of Florida that $214,000 went toward unexplained “other” expenses, the Free Beacon’s Andrew Kerr and Thomas Catenacci report. The missing Form 990 was due in November 2025 and would have provided a thorough accounting of the charity’s spending and...

Russia was behind an arson attack on an Estonian defence company in the capital Tallinn last month, authorities say. Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the attack on Milrem Robotics - which supplies Ukraine with unmanned military vehicles - was ordered by Russian special services, but gave no details. Moscow has been accused of launching sabotage attacks in a number of Nato countries that have been helping Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Russia denies such allegations and has been quick to reject the Estonian accusation, too. But EU countries have rushed to Estonia's...

Consumer confidence plunged in September, falling well below expectations as investors face a wave of headwinds. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 81.9 from the previous month's reading of 88.6, which was revised down from 89.4, per Conference Board data published Tuesday. Economists had been looking for a sharply higher reading of 89.

Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband Bryon Noem just months after the Daily Mail exposed his crossdressing online porn fetish. Court documents filed by Noem back in April state that basis for the divorce is 'irreconcilable differences.' This is a developing story...

President Donald Trump on Monday called for Axios to "withdraw" a "hoax" story that reported he offered sanctions relief and frozen funds to Iran. Trump issued the denial on Truth Social after Axios reported, citing U.S. officials, that he was willing to provide Iran economic relief in return for "concrete" concessions involving Tehran's nuclear program. "Axios just released a story that 'Trump' offered Sanctions Relief and Frozen Funds to Iran. This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING!" Trump wrote. "Axios' story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome," he added. "They...

The Protect College Sports Act, a bill aiming to rein in what its supporters call a "Wild West" era of college athletics, cleared its most significant hurdle yet on Monday when the Senate passed it by a bipartisan vote of 77-22. The bill would grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in order to restore its five-year eligibility rule and transfer limits. The legislation would also codify the regulation of name, image and likeness deals that have transformed college athletics in recent years by allowing athletes to be paid — some of them as much as millions of dollars per...

The job market is booming for young people – but not those with college degrees. Are employers finally coming to realize that colleges these days mainly produce coddled, know-nothing, whiny, entitled brats? A recent analysis from Burning Glass Institute found that unemployment among those 22-34 years old without a college degree is lower than it’s been in decades, but those with college diplomas are having a much harder time finding work than before.