Articles Posted by Lazamataz
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This is (possibly, depending on the feedback I get) going to be the first chapter of the sequel for my first novel. This will be in the "Dimensions" universe. Critiques and reviews welcome! SpritesSprites, they called them. Cute name for them, but they were very dangerous. Martini adjusted his exosuit for an excursion onto the surface of Europa. This was the Jovian moon that had long fascinated Earth’s scientists. Those scientists were intrigued by the possibility of life under the kilometers of ice, in the oceans beneath. Pedro Martini didn’t care about any of that. He was here to find...
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This is a must-listen LOL https://www.facebook.com/reel/1799550127329039
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X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she’s stepping down after two years running Elon Musk’s social media platform. Yaccarino posted a positive message Wednesday about her tenure at the company formerly known as Twitter and said “the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with” Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, maker of the chatbot Grok. Musk responded to Yaccarino's announcement with his own 5-word statement on X: “Thank you for your contributions”. Musk hired Yaccarino, a veteran ad executive, in May 2023 after buying Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and cutting most of its staff.
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Recent information from July 7, 2025, indicates that Planned Parenthood has sued the current Trump administration over a new law in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that would strip Medicaid funding from its health centers. Planned Parenthood argues this provision is unconstitutional and specifically targets them to punish them for their association with abortion services, even though federal law prohibits using these funds for abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood has stated that this measure could lead to the closure of nearly 200 clinics nationwide. An Obama-appointed judge, Judge Indira Talwani, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts...
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As we reported earlier this month, many ChatGPT users are developing all-consuming obsessions with the chatbot, spiraling into severe mental health crises characterized by paranoia, delusions, and breaks with reality. The consequences can be dire. As we heard from spouses, friends, children, and parents looking on in alarm, instances of what's being called "ChatGPT psychosis" have led to the breakup of marriages and families, the loss of jobs, and slides into homelessness. And that's not all. As we've continued reporting, we've heard numerous troubling stories about people's loved ones being involuntarily committed to psychiatric care facilities — or even ending...
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On Friday, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump's executive order targeting legal firm Susman Godfrey, ruling it was "unconstitutional from beginning to end." This is the fourth defeat in court Trump has suffered since imposing punitive measures on a number of law firms that either were involved in legal cases against him or represented his political rivals. Newsweek contacted the White House and Susman Godfrey for comment on Saturday outside of regular office hours via email and telephone respectively. Why It Matters In March, Trump issued a slew of executive orders targeting law firms resulting in a number taking...
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Hello everyone! I recently released my very first science-fiction, political-thriller novel on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. I've been told that the work seems to embody the writing style of a Tom Clancy or a Michael Crichton, blended with an Isaac Asimov. While this is high praise, indeed, I want to go to the next level. Enter an analysis of a very quiet, very low-action scene in the first season of Game of Thrones. That analysis is here.The analysis is stellar. The writing is stellar. The analysis talks about how: Robert Baratheon was not a lecherous drunkard, but actually a very...
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After four consecutive months of year-over-year inventory increases, California is now solidly a buyer's market, which means the supply of homes is greater than the demand for properties in the state. That is happening in part because, as real estate analyst Nick Gerli put it, "no one is buying homes in California." Home sales in the Golden State are hovering just below the lows of the Great Recession, according to a recent report by Realtor.com, as sky-high prices and elevated mortgage rates keep buyers on the sidelines of the market.
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Sad news, Freeper JustAmy has passed on. Her real name was Amy Defendis. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
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Using AI to help write? The short answer is, I don't. There is a person, Tim Boucher, who has used AI to write at least 97 books. That's impressive, but I would wager that if I got into reading one of them, it would be an intolerable slog that I wouldn't be able to get through. That is because of my observations when getting AI to experimentally generate some fiction. Everything it writes is very hackneyed, very trite material. Everything always ends up positive, everyone is happy, there is little conflict or conflict resolution, and every character has the exact...
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Recently, a statue of a black woman was unveiled on Times Square. It is almost a parody of itself, depicting an overweight, angry-looking black lady.I like to consider myself helpful, so for the next statues commemorating this kind of person, allow me to enter these ideas:Title: EBT ANGERTitle: I'M TOO SEXY FOR MY SHIRT
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In a swift and controversial move, the Nevada State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 245 (AB245), a sweeping new gun control measure. According to the official bill overview (AB245 Reprint 1, adopted April 21, 2025), this legislation targets residents under the age of 21, making it illegal for them to possess, handle, or control semiautomatic shotguns and semiautomatic centerfire rifles. The bill passed along party lines with a 27–15 vote, signaling sharp political division over firearm rights in the state. At its heart, AB245 bans most adults under 21 from owning certain types of firearms, even though these individuals are recognized...
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The big names in artificial intelligence—leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others—still confidently predict that AI attaining human-level smarts is right around the corner. But the naysayers are growing in number and volume. AI, they say, just doesn’t think like us. The work of these researchers suggests there’s something fundamentally limiting about the underlying architecture of today’s AI models. Today’s AIs are able to simulate intelligence by, in essence, learning an enormous number of rules of thumb, which they selectively apply to all the information they encounter. This contrasts with the many ways that humans and even animals are able...
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Hey folks. Some time back I submitted the first few chapters of a book I'm writing (with an idea initially created by a friend). I had a few reviews, but the one that I found most useful was a private email, outside of Free Republic, that started: "I made it to page 28. Not gonna sugar coat this... it was a slog. " ...and, frankly, it was. When I re-read it, it was almost horrible. No real conflict to speak of. Chapters that simply made NO sense to the overall arc. So I re-wrote it. I punched it up quite...
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President Donald Trump has stated multiple times that he wants to eliminate income taxes and replace them with tariffs. Such a decision would be one of the most significant changes to the tax code in decades, and it could help Americans save a lot of money. The government still needs to collect funds, so the tax code could shift to a combination of tariffs and sales tax. However, even if the IRS isn’t eliminated, Trump has floated the idea of no one paying taxes if they earn less than $150,000 per year. According to the TaxAct tax bracket calculator, a...
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Recently, Activist Judges (I call them 𝐏𝐨𝐩-𝐔𝐩 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬©) have been hamstringing President Trump in nearly every effort he has taken to try to right the country. From interfering in ending Birthright Citizenship, to any Federal Funding Freezes, to Federal Employee Buyouts, to Access to Treasury Records...even trying to TURN PLANES OF DEPORTED GANG MEMBERS AROUND IN MIDAIR... there is nothing these people will not attempt to block.Trump’s 2025 term shows an extraordinary rate—46+ judicial interventions in under two months, which dwarfs Biden’s 5 TROs in four years, Obama’s 20 in eight, and Trump’s own first-term 40 in four. There is...
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I've noticed, over the years, that very old Free Republic accounts, accounts that have been inactive for months or years, suddenly reactivate.... but their politics are suddenly suspect. Be they Zeeper-oriented (that is, super-favorable to Ukraine) or, conversely, super-favorable to Russia, or even suddenly-liberal... these accounts reactivate with a flurry of posts that are contrary to conservatism. Are these real Freepers who have had a change of heart about their politics? Are these real Freepers who feel the need to jump on the forum with propaganda and support for one side or the other per the Ukraine/Russia war? Or are...
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The night was electric, pulsing with the raw energy of a nation clawing its way back from the abyss. Donald Trump stood at the podium, a lion surveying his den, commanding the chamber with the weight of history pressing against his shoulders. The air was thick with expectation, with defiance, with the unshakable spirit of America refusing to be broken. And then, the moment came—the kind of moment that strips away the political filth and reveals the soul of a country. A boy named DJ, clad in the crisp uniform of a police officer, stood proud and unwavering, though the...
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Ok, so, I have a serious question. Light is not infinitely fast, and it is the universe's speed limit. Things that have mass cannot travel at the speed of light. There are galaxies and objects over 93 billion light years away. But the age of the universe is 13.8 billion years. Even if Star A was travelling at the opposite direction of Star B, and even if it was traveling at the impossibly-fast speed of light, it could only be that the two stars are 26.6 billion light years apart. But we see objects 93 billion light years away. Please...
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(Washington, D.C.) Washington, D.C. – In an unprecedented legal move, D.C. District Judge Ira Tarded has issued a court order declaring a state of war between the United States and Russia. This action follows a contentious meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump, which reportedly ended without resolution. "This court order formally declares a state of war between our country and Russia," Judge Tarded announced from the bench. "I hereby order the mobilization of 350,000 troops and all related war material to be staged in Ukraine. Further court orders will be forthcoming, instructing our forces on...
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