Free Republic

A transgender killer smirked at her victim's relatives and refused to apologize because her gender identity made her 'vulnerable', as she was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. Moses Jacob Lopez, 30, brutally stabbed cab driver Reese McDowell Lawhon to death in his car in April 2023 with bladed brass knuckles after suffering a mental health episode while on a night out partying in Portland. Lawhon had picked her up after a 911 operator suggested she call a cab home. Lopez senselessly stabbed him in the chest without provocation. At her sentencing on Wednesday, Lopez callously justified the murder by...

A paper (PDF) from researchers at the University of Cambridge, supported by voices from numerous academic institutions including OpenAI, proposes remote kill switches and lockouts as methods to mitigate risks associated with advanced AI technologies. It also recommends tracking AI chip sales globally. The Register reports: The paper highlights numerous ways policymakers might approach AI hardware regulation. Many of the suggestions -- including those designed to improve visibility and limit the sale of AI accelerators -- are already playing out at a national level. Last year US president Joe Biden put forward an executive order aimed at identifying companies developing...

Two teenagers have been charged as juveniles in the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting, despite a prosecutor previously saying they would be accused as adults. The suspects, who remain unidentified by authorities, are charged with gun-related offenses and resisting arrest, said The Jackson County Family Court division. 'It is anticipated that additional charges are expected in the future as the investigation by the Kansas City Police Department continues,' the Office of the Juvenile Officer said in a statement. Missouri law dictates that juvenile hearings are not open to the public. It's possible the suspects could be charged as adults if...

Using antidepressants during pregnancy or while breastfeeding can damage a baby’s brain and increase their risk of suffering mental health problems in the future, a study found. Prozac, also known as fluoxetine, increases levels of mood-boosting serotonin in the brain - but scientists discovered this can affect a child’s developing prefrontal cortex. They also found the drug can pass into the breast milk of new mothers who take it and end up being fed to newborns. Research suggest that between 300,000 and 400,000 kids are being exposed to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) drugs each year in the US during...

Lonely on Valentine’s Day? AI can help. At least, that’s what a number of companies hawking “romantic” chatbots will tell you. But as your robot love story unfolds, there’s a tradeoff you may not realize you’re making. According to a new study from Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included project, AI girlfriends and boyfriends harvest shockingly personal information, and almost all of them sell or share the data they collect. “To be perfectly blunt, AI girlfriends and boyfriends are not your friends,” said Misha Rykov, a Mozilla Researcher, in a press statement. “Although they are marketed as something that will enhance your...

The U.S. believes Russia wants to put a nuclear weapon in space, according to reports sparked by a top Republican warning about a 'serious national security threat'. House Intel Chair Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio said members of Congress had been made aware of the threat which is reported to be related to Russia and its threat from space - but wouldn't go into details. It later emerged that it was related to Moscow's plan to put a nuclear weapon into space to target and destroy satellites the world depends on, ABC News reported. Turner asked the president to declassify...

Women who've had a Covid-19 infection have less desire, arousal, satisfaction, and fewer orgasms compared to those who've never been infected, a first-of-its-kind study suggests. Researchers in three states compared the sexual function of more than 1,300 women who either never had Covid, had been infected with the virus, or suffered from long Covid - those who contracted the infection at least three months before the study. They also measured the participants' levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The team found that women who had never had Covid had 'significantly higher' levels of desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction than the...

Recent years have seen successive waves of book bans in Republican-controlled states, aimed at pulling any text with “woke” themes from classrooms and library shelves. But at the same time, the appropriate response is, in principle, simple... and we can replace those individuals with people who want to reverse those policies. Defeating the open conspiracy to deprive students of physical access to books will do little to counteract the more diffuse confluence of forces that are depriving students of the skills needed to meaningfully engage with those books in the first place. As a college educator, I am confronted daily...

Horrified air passengers screamed and were left 'traumatised' yesterday when a German husband started coughing up 'litres of blood' in front of his wife before collapsing and dying mid-flight. The man - who was travelling with his Filipina wife - had got on with 'cold sweats' and was 'breathing much too quickly' before passengers rushed to help him, offering chamomile tea and taking his pulse. But as the plane took off, his health went quickly downhill. The man was said to have been spitting into a bag when a 'gush of blood' came out of his mouth and nose, splattering...

A transgender Muslim woman is suing her ex-boyfriend for throwing out her surgically removed testicles, which she left rotting his fridge. On Wednesday, a district judge in Pontiac, Michigan, denied small claims petitions from a pair for former lovers who were battling each other in court. The claims centered around the testicles of Brianna Kingsley, also known as Zahrah Bri-Zee Muharib, who identifies as a Muslim woman. Kingsley, a transgender woman, has claimed that her ex-boyfriend, William Wojciechowski, 'retains possession of my surgically extracted testicles, preserved in (a) Mason jar, kept in (the) fridge next to the eggs' and demanded...

<p>Security researchers have warned that millions of hacked toothbrushes could be used in a massive cyber attack.</p><p>Internet-connected toothbrushes could be linked together in something known as a botnet, which would allow them to perform a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that overloads websites and servers with huge amounts of web traffic.</p>

The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it is immediately outlawing scam robocalls featuring fake, artificial intelligence-created voices, cracking down on so-called “deepfake” technology that experts say could undermine election security or supercharge fraud. The unanimous FCC vote extends anti-robocall rules to cover unsolicited AI deepfake calls by recognizing those voices as “artificial” under a federal law governing telemarketing and robocalling. The FCC’s move gives state attorneys general more legal tools to pursue illegal robocallers that use AI-generated voices to fool Americans, the FCC said. “Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities,...

The Washington Democrats’ plan to ban the most popular tires won’t advance during this legislative session. But you shouldn’t think for a moment that the plan won’t eventually come to fruition. It’s not dead — it’s just in a different form. House Bill 2262 has emerged as the latest legislative head-scratcher. It aims to steer us toward a greener horizon by mandating low-rolling resistance tires on passenger vehicles. All other tires, which include the vast majority of the ones currently used by drivers, would be banned. Violate their tire ban, and you’d be subject to a fine of up to...

Aussies are vowing to boycott Bonds after the underwear company used a bearded, non-binary person to model a bikini. The iconic Australian underwear brand used two non-binary models with 'they/them' pronouns to advertise its $18.99 'Retro Rib™ Seamless Tonal Hi Bikini' as part of its Pride 2024 range. The collection is aligned with a Pride campaign showcasing transgender models, drag queens, as well as people who identify as gay, bisexual and pansexual. But one of the models, 'Mikey' - who is 1.99m tall and has a beard and a bulge under his bikini bottoms - has outraged some customers who...

Jussie Smollett is trying to get his conviction for faking an attack overturned again - this time claiming he should never have been prosecuted in the first place. The Empire star is arguing he shouldn't have been charged with felony disorderly conduct in December 2021 because prosecutors made a deal to dismiss the first indictment. Smollett's attorneys filed legal documents with Illinois Supreme Court detailing the deal, which involved him doing community service and forfeiting his bond in return for charges being dropped. The actor is taking his appeal to the state's highest court after it was previously denied by...

chambersCredit: Cryonics Institute Several facilities in the US, UK and across the world have morgues full of frozen human heads, bodies and even pets waiting for science to let them live again. The controversial process of being cryo-preserved has been dubbed a "lottery ticket to immortality" by some hopeful people. The hope is that people with terminal illnesses could be woken up a time when such diseases and illnesses are curable. But the goal of cryo is still a long shot - and coming back to life is still not a guarantee. Advertisement More than 500 people are floating inside...

The pilot program is being rolled out at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, with 500 families involved, The New York Post reported. A family of four will get a card loaded with $1,000-a-month, equivalent to $35 a day. But 50 Cent took to Instagram on Saturday to hit out at the scheme and suggested Donald Trump is the answer to the city's problems The rapper shared a post on Instagram about the plan to hand out pre-paid cards for migrants to buy food and baby supplies. 'WTF Mayor Adams call my phone,' he wrote. 'I don't understand how this works,...

Most employers hire individuals based on their qualifications - but a new study has claimed the process may be unfair. Researchers at the American Psychological Association are now claiming that socioeconomic disparities should be the focus when seeking potential employees. The team conducted five experiments where participants were given background information about the two types of candidates, revealing those who learned about merit-based hiring perceived it as less fair. Researchers concluded that merit-based hiring fuels racial inequality as 'members of marginalized racial groups tend to experience socioeconomic disadvantages more often than members of privileged racial groups.' The study included examples...

CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — The couple accused of burning a cross facing their Black neighbor's home could soon be kicked out of their residence outside of Conway. Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson asked an Horry County court to declare Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett's residence along Corbett Drive a public nuisance. Butler and Harnett face several charges and are being federally investigated for potential civil rights violations after police said they erected and burned a cross over the Thanksgiving holiday as a means to intimidate their neighbors, Shawn and Monica Williams. James Battle, a special prosecutor who handles nuisance actions...

The daughter of notorious pedophile teacher Mary Kay Letourneau has given birth to a baby boy, according to a report. Letourneau who died of colorectal cancer in 2020 first raped her former second-grade student Vili Fualaau when he was just 12 and she was 34. They eventually had two daughters together including Georgia, 25, who announced her pregnancy back in September with a post on her private Instagram page. 'Cried this morning talking to my son about how much love I feel for him already,' she wrote. 'I love you my baby boy.' People magazine reported that Georgia has since...