Free Republic

A computer science professor from Oklahoma State University is warning that artificial intelligence could trigger a massive population collapse, leaving Earth with just 100 million people by the year 2300. And it wouldn’t happen through nuclear war or robot uprisings, he says. Just pure, relentless obsolescence. “It’s going to be devastating for society,” said Subhash Kak, author of The Age of Artificial Intelligence, in an interview with The Sun. “I think people really don’t have a clue.” Kak believes that while robots will never become conscious, they will replace most human jobs, including those in law, education, and even relationships....

A court has sentenced comedian Leo Lins to more than eight years in prison for inciting intolerance through a stand-up performance viewed by over three million people on YouTube. On Tuesday 3 June, Brazilian comedian Leo Lins was sentenced to over eight years in prison for making discriminatory remarks in a stand-up routine that targeted a wide range of minority groups — including black people, obese individuals, elderly people, those living with HIV, homosexuals, evangelicals, Indigenous communities, people from the impoverished northeast of Brazil, Jews, and people with disabilities. The federal court in São Paulo ruled that the right to...

Why did the star lot of the spring season, a bronze head by the master sculptor Alberto Giacometti, fail to sell at Sotheby’s? Alberto Giacometti’s 1955 bust, “Grande tête mince" (“Big Thin Head”), carried a pre-sale estimate of $70 million in Sotheby’s Modern evening auction. The auctioneer started the bidding at $59 million dollars. But no one bid - the piece went unsold. It was the second high-profile lot to disappoint in two days. Andy Warhol’s “Big Electric Chair” (1967-68) was withdrawn from Christie’s 20th century evening auction the day before. Is the fine art market in trouble?

In Texas statutes, Section 46.05(a) lists some items that are forbidden to knowingly possess, manufacture, repair, or sell. The statute includes short-barreled firearms, which have been heavily regulated by the federal government since 1934. SB1596 strikes short-barreled firearms from the list of prohibited items. From SB1596: Any of the following items, unless the item is registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms andExplosives or otherwise not subject to that registration requirement or unless the item is classified as a curio or relic by the United States Department of Justice:(A) an...

President Donald Trump shared on Wednesday that he wants the debt limit “scrapped,” which Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has also called for. Trump issued a statement on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon. “I am very pleased to announce that, after all of these years, I agree with Senator Elizabeth Warren on SOMETHING. The Debt Limit should be entirely scrapped to prevent an Economic catastrophe,” he wrote. “It is too devastating to be put in the hands of political people that may want to use it despite the horrendous effect it could have on our Country and, indirectly, even the World,” he...

A new poll from the Congressional Leadership Fund, first released to Notus on Wednesday, gives former Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage a notable lead over incumbent Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) in the race for Maine now highly contested Second Congressional District (CD2) House seat. The poll found that Gov. LePage is leading Rep. Golden by five points among likely voters. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they would support the former governor, while just 43 percent said they would vote for the incumbent. The Republican candidate’s lead did not appear to be the exclusive result of LePage’s significant name recognition as...

President Trump, angrily, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, February 28: “You don’t have the cards! You’re buried there! Your people are dying! You’re running low on soldiers!” Since that time . . . In March alone, the Russians suffered an estimated 41,000 combined killed or wounded in action, with 272 Russian tanks, 1,644 artillery systems, and 607 combat armored vehicles destroyed or disabled. (Since the start of the war, Russia has lost an estimated 12,835 tanks and armored vehicles, 305 aircraft, and 22 naval vessels.) Without anything resembling a manned navy, Ukraine has largely nullified the...

During the 2021-2025 administration of President Joe Biden, the United States devoted significant taxpayer funds to a network...of United Nations agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs). The partnership established aid waystations all along Latin American illegal-migration routes, and it encouraged and facilitated at least 10 million foreign nationals from 180 countries to cross the U.S. southern border - at U.S. taxpayer expense.

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Great View From The “Office”! U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II’s prepare for re-fuel from a KC-46A Pegasus assigned to the 334th Air Refueling Squadron, McConnell Air Force Base, KS, during exercise Cope North 22 on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Participants exercise Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, concepts during Cope North 22. ACE is Pacific Air Forces’ model to project combat power via a network of distributed operating locations throughout the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Amy Picard) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting...

A woman declared dead by the coroner after her husband found her unresponsive in bed was being placed in a coffin when morticians made a startling discovery — she was very much alive. The horrifying tale from the Czech Republic unfolded when an 88-year-old woman, who was thought to be dead, showed signs of life in her coffin. According to Blesk.cz, the husband of the woman thought to be deceased called the Pilsen emergency services to potentially help his wife. The husband told the emergency dispatcher that “she didn’t move, she didn’t breathe,” according to the report. When paramedics arrived,...

This is just a rough AI translation of the original Japanese to English below: “On the 4th, North Korea's KIM JONG-UN, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, met with the secretary of the General Secretary of Security Council of Russia Mr SHOIGU. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on the 5th. Mr. Kim promised to unconditionally support Russia's position on Ukraine and other international issues. KCNA reported, "Mr. Kim has promised that North Korea will continue to unconditionally support Russia's position and foreign policy." According to KCNA, Kim said that North Korea would responsibly comply with...

Afghanistan Myanmar (Burma) Chad Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Eritrea; Haiti Iran Libya Somalia Sudan Yemen

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza because it was not linked to the release of hostages. All 14 other members of the council voted in favor of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory. The resolution before the U.N.'s most powerful body also did not fulfill two other U.S. demands: It did not condemn Hamas’ deadly attack in Israel on Oct. 7,...

Three days on, and Ukraine is still digesting the full implications of Operation Spider's Web, Sunday's massive assault on Russia's strategic aviation. On Wednesday, the agency which orchestrated the attack, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), released additional, vivid footage of the attacks in progress, as well as tantalising glimpses into how the whole complex operation was conducted. Satellite images that have emerged since Sunday, showing the wrecked outlines of planes sitting on the tarmac at the Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo and Belaya airbases, also help tell the story of the operation's unprecedented success. For Ukrainian observers, the whole operation, a...

Reporting Highlights Temp to Permanent: There’s periodic debate over the 120,000 foreigners annually awarded temporary H-1B visas, but almost no attention to the process by which many receive green cards. Filled, Then Verified: Foreign workers are eligible for permanent residency only when no U.S. citizens can do the job — but companies confirm that after foreigners have been employed as temps. Lost in Print: The law also requires that companies advertise these jobs in the classified ads of Sunday print newspapers, decreasing the chances that U.S. applicants see the listing. It’s a tough time for the rank-and-file tech worker or...

Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, will travel to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, German and U.S. officials said on Saturday. This will be Merz's first visit to the United States since taking office on May 6, and comes amid high tensions between the trans-Atlantic partners over trade and the Russian war in Ukraine. The visit was confirmed by a German government spokesman and a White House official.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must give more than 100 migrants sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador a chance to challenge their deportations. U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg said that people who were sent to the prison in March under an 18th-century wartime law haven’t been able to formally contest the removals or allegations that they are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He ordered the administration to work toward giving them a way to file those challenges. The judge wrote that “significant evidence” has surfaced...

Freedom requires a price to be paid by every generation 1. While most of America remains blissfully uniformed by our establishment press, the world's two greatest superpowers are being manipulated by Dark Forces inside and outside our government, into a major military confrontation that no country wants, and no sane person would ever want. 2. I have no role in the Trump Administration, but over a long career in the active uniformed military, specifically military intelligence, I have made it a point to cultivate many sources of information around the world. From what I can piece together, I want to...

When a judge starts out his opinion with Kafka, you know you're in for a ride.... This case — J.G.G. v. Trump, involving the removal of Tren de Aragua (TdA) members pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act — has already been a ride-and-a-half. There's a new twist to it, as Judge James Boasberg has now issued a new ruling on the case. And, yes, his opinion begins with Kafka: "One morning, Kafka’s Josef K. awakens to encounter two strange men outside his room." [snip] Subsequently, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and refined some of their claims. In Wednesday's order,...

A military expert has warned that British cities could fall into a state of 'civil war' within five years because a breakdown in law and order. David Betz, Professor of War in the Modern World in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, cautioned that the UK and France are among the nations likely to struggle to maintain peace in the years ahead due to a multitude of social and economic issues - creating the risk of so-called "feral cities". It follows the shocking riots that gripped Paris after PSG's victory in the Champions League at the weekend,...