Free Republic

AI is Not Ready for Prime Time: The Infrastructure and Human Reality GapArtificial Intelligence has captured the imagination of investors, companies, and the public alike, promising unprecedented efficiency, automation, and insight. Headlines trumpet AI’s transformative power, but a closer examination reveals a significant gap between hype and operational reality.1. The AI Bubble: Investment vs. ValueAI has attracted billions of dollars in investment, reminiscent of the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. Startups and established companies alike promote “AI-first” futures, claiming humans will be replaced, efficiency will soar, and profits will skyrocket. In practice, however:Most AI applications are effective only in...

Messaging app Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov warns that a “dark, dystopian world” is approaching, as governments worldwide are rolling back privacy protections. “I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating. Our generation is running out of time to save the free internet built for us by our fathers,” said Durov in an X post on Thursday. “Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures,” said Durov, referencing the European Union’s Chat Control proposal, digital IDs in the UK and new rules requiring online age checks to access social media in Australia. “What was once the promise of the free...

Let’s talk about the deal. For two years, Gaza’s position was that it won’t release the hostages without a full withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire. Today they gave up on both key objectives. The IDF is still in Gaza and negotiations will start only after the release of the hostages. An unkind voice would call it surrendering and I’ve never been accused of kindness towards the enemy. So what happened? Israel dropped a few bombs on Qatar. Suddenly, the puppet master behind Hamas discovered that he was not immune. Qatar was just another Arab country that Israel bombed at will....

In the wake of a devastating fire that burned a circuit court judge’s home to the ground, Democrats briefly attempted to spin a conspiracy that a right-wing extremist, inspired by the Trump administration, had committed an arson attack. However, their theory, at least at the time of writing, appears to have gone up in flames. South Carolina Judge Diane Goodstein’s home was destroyed over the weekend as she was out walking her dogs. Her husband, former Democratic State Sen. Arnold Goodstein, their son, and a third person were in the home at the time of the fire, but thankfully escaped...

Restoring Freedom One Meme at a TimeIn the struggle over who controls the public mind, words have become weapons. Over the past several decades, progressive movements have learned that the easiest way to win an argument is to silence it. They did not outlaw speech — they simply redefined it. By labeling disagreement as “hate speech,” “racism,” or “phobia,” they turned moral accusation into political power.The effect was profound. Many Americans withdrew from public debate rather than risk reputational ruin. Institutions, corporations, and media outlets fell in line, adopting the new language rules as a form of insurance against attack....

Confused or dishonest “populists” are attacking Trump antitrust officials for focusing on censorship and DEI rather than mundane economic issues. In doing so, they forget why the MAGA movement turned on Big Tech in the first place. America First Conservatives reject laissez-faire tech regulation because of Silicon Valley’s jihad against free speech, where dissidents were censored just for going against woke dogmas and being deemed “bigoted” by liberal apparatchiks. Fortunately, many parts of the tech industry appear to be turning a new corner. With X leading the way, free speech is now making a comeback on tech platforms. The Trump...

The Engines of Wealth: From Conquest to CodePreface: Understanding the DNA of Human ActionHuman history is shaped by the tension between constant biological drives and changing social environments. Across centuries, people have sought the same essentials — food, clothing, shelter, and security — yet the mechanisms to achieve them have evolved dramatically. Civilizations rise and fall not because human nature changes, but because the systems that organize labor, energy, and capital shift in response to crisis, innovation, and opportunity.This essay traces three transformative forces that have repeatedly restructured societies and economies: war, which expanded wealth through conquest; plague, which redistributed...

Defending AI-Assisted Writing: A Modern Tool for Creativity and ResearchIn today’s fast-paced world, the process of writing for publication—whether essays, articles, or books—has evolved. One of the most common questions I receive is whether I “used AI” to write a particular piece. The simple answer is yes, but that requires context. AI is not a replacement for human thought or creativity; it is a tool, much like a research library or an editorial team.When I write, the ideas and structure are mine. I may compose a first draft, then use AI to edit, clean up language, and refine flow. I...

THE LEGEND OF BIG BALLS CONTINUES TO GROW. 🚨 JUST IN: Edward Coristine AKA “BIG BALLS” says his GRANDFATHER was a DOUBLE-AGENT 🚨“My grandfather was a KGB double agent for the Americans. He died so that I could come here and live in the free country I love.” 🤯 pic.twitter.com/SpYxvXouTY— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 30, 2025He worked for Line X which is like this sophisticated KGB line, but he actually joined the CIA and he gave the CIA a bunch of valuable intel right around the Cold War. This has been public knowledge for quite some time. However, this is...

FeatureTilly Norwood and the Illusion of RealityHollywood fears job losses from AI actors. But the greater threat may be to truth itself.By The HermitNot long ago, a new name appeared in Hollywood chatter: Tilly Norwood. She looks the part of a rising young actress, the kind casting directors might call “a natural.” But Tilly is no actress at all. She is an AI-generated creation — a digital performer assembled from algorithms, capable of smiling, speaking, and captivating an audience without ever setting foot on a soundstage.Tilly is part of a new wave of “synthetic talent.” AI agencies now maintain rosters...

Federal agents executing a search warrant at the downtown office of former National Security Adviser John Bolton in late August seized a cache of documents marked as classified, according to court documents. The office mission was the second such search conducted by the FBI following an early-morning raid at Bolton's home. The application for the warrant at his office, according to the filing, was to search for "evidence of a crime" and to locate potential "contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed." An inventory of the property taken at Bolton's office indicates several electronic devices, as well as...

A wicked leftist from California is not taking the reality of consequence culture very well after mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination. As The Gateway Pundit reported, influencer Megan Farina went on TikTok earlier this week and posted a video poking fun at Kirk’s death by making a sarcastic and evil remark. This is what Farina said about Kirk. Does she sound like someone who deserves any sympathy? “Gather ’round, b****es,” she said, in a vocal fry register that speaks of someone who’s spent too much time with wannabe girlbosses and/or smoking Marlboro Reds. “Join hands and bow our heads in thoughts...

They hate you and think your normal American beliefs are "fascist." Case in point: A group of adults on Facebook who infiltrated group chats and coordinated to destroy students for wanting to start a Turning Point USA chapter in the Spring Branch school district at Stratford High School in Houston. https://x.com/M4LHarris/status/1968756309609570494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1968756309609570494%7Ctwgr%5E0a7fa75bf619ab6bee9ae31b8cc4ad343b452139%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnotthebee.com%2Farticle%2Ftexas-ag-to-investigate-facebook-group-that-doxxed-kids-who-want-to-start-tpusa-chapter-at-their-school Here is the part where they name the students/teachers who want to start the TPUSA chapter (names redacted): The group claims, in direct contradiction to the FBI, the governor of Utah, District Attorney Jeffrey Grey, the accused shooter's own family, and the accused shooter's own messages, that the suspect...

The department chair of World Languages and Cultures at the University of Alabama in Huntsville expressed strong resentment in recent social media posts for fallen Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, attempting to belittle Kirk's well-established Christian faith. Leslie Maxwell Kaiura is a self-proclaimed "progressive Christian feminist and LGBTQ ally." "It is spiritually exhausting and demoralizing to see Christians praising a man who used racist, sexist, homo/transphobic language and minimized the problem of gun violence," she wrote. "Jesus never treated the marginalized people or the 'sinners' of his day with mockery or rejection." Kaiura shared a post, again attacking Kirk's...

The Permanent Record: From Empty Threat to Everyday Reality When I was a student back in the 1950s, we used to joke about the phrase “That’s going on your permanent record.” It was a hollow threat from teachers, something said when a kid stepped out of line — broke a rule, said something smart-alecky, or handed in an assignment late. We all laughed quietly to ourselves, because we knew there was no such thing. There was no record, and certainly nothing “permanent.” Today, that joke is no longer funny — because it has come true. We now live in a...

I have been trying to visit the website keepandbeararms.com. It has been available for years. I was able to obtain an image of the site which showed today's date, but I cannot actually connect with the website itself. One resource, isitdownrightnow.com told me it had been down for more than a week, but I remember seeing it last week. My suspicion is some browsers can see it and others cannot. Please report if you can bring it up or not.

Heather Cox Richardson, a center-left historian with the biggest following out of any individual on Substack, spread an appalling lie about Charlie Kirk’s assassin in a post published Sunday. Richardson has over 2.6 million subscribers to her Substack, a newsletter presumably read by scores of center-left, ‘normie’ liberals. She is a history professor at Boston College, has interviewed former President Joe Biden, and is planning to interview with The Bulwark. By no means is she a fringe figure, nor is she, at least on the surface, a radical; if anything, she is someone who would be welcomed on a show...

Professionals across many industries have been terminated, suspended for gleeful social media posts.... The legacy media is slamming what many outlets have described as a "cancel culture" campaign from the right targeting those who've been fired for celebrating the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk. However, several outlets are downplaying the callousness of the social media posts in question. "After Kirk’s killing[,] a growing chorus of conservatives wants his critics ostracized or fired," a headline from The Associated Press read Sunday. The AP wrote, "After years of complaints from the right about ‘cancel culture’ from the left, some conservatives are...

This is REALLY bad… Kash Patel just told the Nation by way of Fox News that the suspected Charlie Kirk shooter, Tyler Robinson, had a text message exchange with another person (not disclosed who) where he told them he had a chance to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it. If this is proven, then it seems to me that other person is complicit and should also be charged. Watch here: VIDEO AT LINK................ FULL TRANSCRIPT: My job as FBI director is not to speak to motive, it’s to speak to the facts, and that’s what...

The 22-year-old suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing appears to have confessed to friends in an online chat shortly before turning himself in to law enforcement, according to two people familiar with the chat and screenshots obtained by The Washington Post. “Hey guys, I have bad news for you all,” said a message from an account belonging to the suspect, Tyler Robinson, on the online platform Discord. “It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.” The message was sent Thursday night, about two hours before officials said Robinson was taken into custody. A member of the group...