Free Republic

Machines programmed to sort merchandise in warehouses hit kinks with cardboard boxes and turkeys; automation push reaches ‘peak complexity’An automated system for sorting merchandise at a Walmart warehouse in Seymour, Ind. Walmart (WMT) has relied for years on more than 140,000 warehouse workers to unload trucks, forklift pallets of merchandise into warehouses, sort and store the goods on towering racks, then reverse the entire flow to send them out to stores and homes. It isn’t an easy job. A worker might walk 20,000 steps a shift. It also isn’t all that complicated—unless you try to program robots to do it....

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Schneider says Amoris Laetitia is ‘against divine law’, must be ‘explicitly correctedAs the Pope gathers prelates to the Vatican to discuss Amoris Laetitia, Bishop Athanasius Schneider has expressed his concerns that the text is a practical “denial of the divine truth of the indissolubility of marriage” and an attack on the “ineffable sanctity of the Holy Eucharist”. The prominent prelate, auxiliary of Astana in Kazakhstan, gave a wide-ranging interview to the Catholic Herald recently, discussing issues such as the Society of Saint Pius X, the traditional Mass, Amoris Laetitia (AL), the recent document commemorating Nostra Aetate...

A Wisconsin congressional candidate has been arrested on hate crime charges after he went on a vulgar caught-on-camera rant against an Israeli dad with his young son in the car — after he was triggered by an anti-Hamas bumper sticker. Matthew Arndt, 54, allegedly cut off the 41-year-old father on a road in the Milwaukee suburb of Mequon Thursday morning, flipping him the bird and cursing at him before pulling into a gas station, where the dad followed him and began filming the explosive encounter. “Do you want to tell me something?” the father asked. “Yeah, you’re a f------ piece...

Polls have opened to replace Sir Keir Starmer in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election at 7am this morning. The north London constituency has been safely held by Labour since it was created back in 1983. Sagal Abdi-Wali, the current Camden Council leader, is gunning to replace the former Prime Minister as the party's MP in the crunch mid-term contest. But Labour's long-lasting streak is being challenged by Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who hopes to secure his own seat in the House of Commons. There are 13 other candidates in the by-election, including the Conservatives' Ewan Cameron, Reform UK’s...

Democratic star James Talarico has taken a nearly two-week hiatus from the campaign trail amid the final push before the midterms, causing Democrats to sound the alarm. The Texas state representative has been absent from in-person campaign events for 12 days after contracting the flu, giving his scandal-ridden Trump-endorsed opponent, Ken Paxton, ammunition ahead of the crucial election on Nov. 3. “He’s, like, really sick. Believe me, we don’t want this right now,” a Texas Democrat affiliated with the Talarico race told NBC News. “We’d rather have him on the trail.”

Theresa M Long, MD, MPH, FS@LTCTheresaLong·5hAmazing man- SSG Alonzo Lundsford shot 7 times- one of which was to the head (that is now public knowledge) Read that again shot point blank 7 times by that man. I was a new doctor rotating on the surgery service on that day. At the purple heart ceremony he talked about struggling with not being about to stop it...I was like, " you are like a wall of power...you stopped 7 bullets, who else could have done that?" I often wondered how many were saved because it took so many bullets to take down...

Video shows Douglas County K-9s performing rappel training by: Adam RosenPosted: Oct 8, 2026DENVER (KDVR) — Whether or not you’re a dog lover, this may be one of the most absurd images you’ll ever see. Yes — that is a dog rappelling down a building. Fear not, though, as it’s a training exercise recently performed by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and their K-9 deputies. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office shared a video of training, as deputies worked to teach their K-9s how to rappel in a situation such as a robbery or even a shooter, catching a suspect by...

Hamas is generating as much as $5 million a day from goods entering Gaza while rebuilding tunnels, accumulating weapons, and planning possible attacks on Israeli troops, including attempts to kidnap soldiers, according to separate Israeli television reports this week citing security officials. Neomi Neumann, a former head of research at Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, told the Kan public broadcaster on Thursday that Hamas continues to exercise effective control over Gaza’s population through a decentralized system of taxation, aid distribution, and covert enforcement. Neumann, now an adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, estimated that Hamas earns...

The European Parliament on Thursday approved a resolution calling on the European Union to add people and entities linked to the Muslim Brotherhood to its list of terrorist organizations, amid growing concerns over the group’s influence and Islamist threats across the continent. With the resolution passing 381-167, with 15 abstentions, the measure now goes to the European Council, which determines the EU’s political direction, after lawmakers called on member states to develop a joint strategy to counter what they described as “Islamist infiltration and Muslim Brotherhood networks.” As part of the broader effort to counter the growing influence of Islamist...

Echoes of War@EchoesofWarYT108 years ago today, a red-headed farmer from Pall Mall, Tennessee did something in the Argonne Forest that still doesn't seem real.Alvin York grew up dirt poor, a hard drinker and brawler, until a religious conversion in his twenties changed his whole life. When the draft notice came in 1917, he asked to be exempted as a conscientious objector. His church opposed war and so did he. The Army said no.His battalion commander spent hours going through the Bible with him, trying to convince him that a man could fight and still be right with God. York went...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal notes “changing understandings of gender,” says Church must discern how to change. At Leo XIV's meeting marking ten years of Amoris Laetitia on October 8, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão delivered a speech on the challenges facing families in Asia. He is the President of the Conference of Bishops of India.Discussing changes in the “identity, nature and composition of the family,” the cardinal observed that “new forms of partnership and cohabitation are emerging, amid changing understandings of gender and relationships in urban settings.”Reflecting on what the Church has learned from its pastoral work, Ferrão declared: “Pastoral work is...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea,or maybe you'd like a pumpkin spice latte?Or maybe you'd prefer a nice, rich hot chocolate?Topped off with great conversation and music. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a glass and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you...

For the first time in its history, the American Association of University Professors has endorsed a political candidate, and—you guessed it—he’s a democratic socialist. On July 30, the organization formally endorsed democratic socialist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate in Michigan’s Democratic primary, positioning him as a “fierce champion for debt-free and tuition-free higher education” and an ally in its fight against “the Trump administration’s ideological assault on the sector.” This decision is, of course, deeply dangerous. For one, it signals to an entire generation of young people that to be college educated in America is, well, to be a...

A dad accused of sending his estranged girlfriend plunging to her death from a 15th-floor New York City balcony while she clutched their eight-month-old daughter flashed an evil smirk as he was perp walked. Angel Carrasco, 31, was taken into custody by US Marshals and NYPD officers on Wednesday. The arrest came a day after 23-year-old Nathaly Ramirez plunged from her apartment in the Bronx early on Tuesday. Carrasco allegedly shoved the young mother from the balcony while she held their daughter, also named Angel. Disturbing footage of Carrasco showed him being escorted by officers while grinning wildly. He rocked...

Roughly seven thousand years ago, something erased the majority of men from the human gene pool. Not a plague. Not a famine. Something else entirely, and the evidence is still sitting in your own DNA. We dig into the genetic study that first uncovered this bottleneck, the mass graves across Neolithic Europe that back it up, and the invention sitting at the center of it all, one so ordinary you would never suspect it. When Our Simplest Invention Killed 95% Of All Men Alive | 22:04 The First Dawn | 17.8K subscribers | 240,685 views | August 3, 2026

25-Year-Old Child Criminals Should criminals in their 20s be treated like children? Many states say yes. DA Mary Moriarty in Minneapolis and DA Larry Krasner in Philadelphia have Emerging Adult Units. The goal of both pro-crime systems is to treat criminals under 26 years old like children. As the Philly DA’s office puts it, these “young adults aged 18 through 25” will be put through a diversion system that will “resolve lower-level felony” crimes without actual consequences. For these 25-year-old children, “charges may be withdrawn or reduced in order to lessen the social and economic damage that a criminal conviction...

Colorado election and law enforcement officials hold security roundtable with Election Day nearing Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat, held a roundtable Thursday with election and law enforcement officials to address growing concerns about election security and misinformationColorado election and law enforcement officials hold security roundtable with Election Day nearing By: Ethan Carlson AURORA, Colo. — With Election Day less than a month away and ballots already arriving in mailboxes statewide, Rep. Jason Crow held a roundtable Thursday with local election and law enforcement officials to discuss election security, correct misinformation, and put a response plan in place for any issues...

The experimental pendulum saw that inspired this project is described in: Nicholas G. Blackwell, "Experimental stone-cutting with the Mycenaean pendulum saw," Antiquity 92, no. 361 (2018): 217 -- 232. doi:10.15184/aqy.2017.226 Could This Ancient Saw Explain Egypt’s Curved Stone Cuts? | 5:51 IntoTheMap | 24.6K subscribers | 70,980 views | October 2, 2026

In a stunning move, a federal judge on Tuesday referred Soros-backed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner for federal criminal investigation to determine whether he should be charged with conspiracy or obstruction of justice in his efforts to overturn a murder conviction. U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond, a George W. Bush appointee, said testimony from the DA's staffers described conduct by Larry Krasner and his top deputy, Matthew Stiegler, as "troubling." Larry Krasner and his attorneys are now being accused of committing crimes, such as suborning perjury, after they received a court petition to overturn a 2009 second-degree murder conviction. Dennis...

Intro: World situation on 8 October 2026 0:17 — ⚔️ "General Armageddon" returns: Surovikin's new mission 0:46 — 📰 The Telegraph: Putin orders destruction of Dnieper bridges 1:35 — 🕵️ Surovikin's path: from Wagner mut exile to comeback 3:03 — 🌉 Bridge strikes timeline: Southern Kyiv Bridge (Oct 1–2) 4:03 — 💥 Northern Kyiv Bridge hit (Oct 3–4) 4:33 — 🎯 Zaporizhzhia bridge: craters & six glide bombs (Oct 5–7) 6:03 — 🔮 What's next if Surovikin takes full command 6:14 — 🇺🇦 Zelensky demands Starlink authorization for deep strikes on Russia 7:22 — 🇺🇸 Ukraine–US talks set for Oct...