Free Republic

Since Waymo arrived on the public stage as Google’s self-titled autonomous-driving project almost 20 years ago, the promise that self-driving cars would dramatically curtail crashes has remained just that. A handful of companies operate autonomous ride-hailing services in some cities (San Francisco is downright lousy with autonomous cars), but high-profile mishaps show how elusive real progress is. Yet Waymo may be heading in the right direction, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The nonprofit organization backed by the insurance industry and known for very thorough crash tests recently took a look at Waymo’s safety record. In a study...

US House of Representatives passes a $1.15T defense bill with provision deepening Pentagon-Israel weapons tech cooperation and funding $750M for joint defense programs.

Sunday morning, July 5, 2026. St. John’s Lutheran Church in Effingham, Illinois, sat peaceful under a quiet sky. Volunteers had just begun to arrive to prepare for services. Just the ordinary rhythm of a house of worship going about its day. Then a man driving a stolen car slipped inside, asking for the pastor. Church security didn’t blink. They noticed the out-of-state plates and saw the man approach. Safety team members made contact as he entered. The man asked for the pastor, but the safety volunteers sensed something was wrong. They called 911. Police rolled in. There was a struggle....

New Gallup data show that people are growing increasingly distrustful of major technology companies such as Meta, Apple, and Google, as well as a newer player in the surveillance industry, Flock Safety. Some people are even taking matters into their own hands by destroying the AI-powered surveillance cameras appearing in communities across the country. Flock Safety, a private surveillance technology company founded in 2017, has been earning a reputation as a herald of the much-feared Orwellian “surveillance state.” Although a private company, Flock’s business model operates by selling AI-powered camera and audio detection systems to local and state governments for...

Imagine a world run by AI agents. What does it look like? What are the values or societal priorities? Is it a safer or more dangerous world? Enterprise AI startup Emergence AI is trying to find out. The company just launched Emergence World, a research lab dedicated to stress-testing the long-term viability of continuously-running AI systems. The organization ran five 15-day simulations, each governed by a different AI: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and a fifth simulation run by a mix of models to see what kind of world each one builds, and whether it holds.Each simulation netted wildly different outcomes....

Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing a sweeping criminal justice package next legislative session that would expand state oversight of local prosecutors, create a governor-appointed state prosecutor, and make district attorneys subject to impeachment. During a Thursday press conference with law enforcement officials and Republican lawmakers, Abbott framed the proposals as necessary to protect victims and keep repeat offenders off the streets. “Our top priority must be public safety,” Abbott said. “We want to protect communities and prosecute criminals.” Abbott argued that too many dangerous offenders are being released back onto the streets because of decisions made by judges and prosecutors....

There have been 63 school shootings – meaning any time there is gunfire on a school campus – so far in 2026. They happen so often that preparing for one has become normal. Students as young as 4 years old routinely practice for the possibility of a school shooting with lockdown drills – typically, hiding in the corner of a dark classroom, behind a locked door. Pauls Valley High School in Pauls, Oklahoma, went into lockdown on April 7, 2026, after an armed gunman fired shots inside the building. Kirk Moore, the school’s principal, tackled the gunman and got shot...

One of the distinct differences between the Deomocrat and Republican candidates vying to be the state's next governor were their answers to the question of whether truck drivers should be able to understand English in order to be licensed to drive on the roads? Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) says "yes, it is a matter of public safety. The inability to read and understand roadside signs has a direct impact on crashes that kill other drivers and the passengers in their vehicles. Drivers who do not understand English make serious errors--like going the wrong way on freeway lanes, making...

Most people have never heard of Mrinank Sharma. That is part of the problem.Earlier this month, Sharma resigned from Anthropic, one of the most influential artificial intelligence companies in the world.He had led its Safeguards Research Team, the group responsible for ensuring that Anthropic’s AI could not be used to help engineer a biological weapon.His final project was a study of how AI systems distort the way people perceive reality. It was serious, consequential work for humankind.His resignation letter was seen more than 14 million times on X.It opened with the words, “the world is in peril.”And it ended with...

This video shows bodycam footage and other recordings of the aftermath of UPS Airlines Flight 2976, which crashed on October 31, 2025. The crash occurred shortly after takeoff, with the plane landing on a recycling facility and causing a massive fire and explosions due to the combination of jet fuel and stored fuel oil (5:09). Key points from the video: Initial Response (0:11-1:59): First responders arrive to a chaotic scene of heavy black smoke and a large fire. Police work to evacuate people and shut down roads. Worsening Situation (2:45-5:47): Officers discover the plane was fully loaded with fuel for...

El Salvador earns the U.S. State Department's top safety rating amid harsh crackdown on gangs, while European countries face rising security threats. The U.S. State Department has dramatically updated its travel advisory for El Salvador, granting the country a Level 1 safety rating—its highest—making it now safer than many European nations, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. These countries, which all remain at Level 2, continue to warn travelers to 'exercise increased caution.' This marks a stark contrast, particularly as the advisory highlights the escalating risk of terrorism in these European nations, compounded by...

Even foods most Americans consider "healthy" can pose serious foodborne illness risks, experts warn — and several say salads, sprouts and deli meats are among the everyday items they personally refuse to eat. One Seattle attorney who has spent decades litigating some of the country's worst foodborne illness outbreaks recently told The Washington Post that his well-done burger and steak order has prompted chefs to come out and ask what's wrong with him. "I explain what I do for a living," Bill Marler told the outlet. "It's an occupational hazard." He said he no longer touches bagged salads, fruit cups...

The families of victims killed in the UPS Airlines MD-11 freighter crash last month are set to file a wrongful death lawsuit against multiple parties. According to reports, the suit alleges negligence on the part of UPS and also names engine manufacturer GE Aerospace and planemaker Boeing, which took over McDonnell Douglas, the MD-11's original manufacturer. Last month's tragic crash led to the death of 14 people, including the three-person crew and another 11 people on the ground, after the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighter's left engine ripped off the airframe during takeoff, sending it plummeting into an industrial park. The...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that state and federal authorities apprehended 31 illegal immigrant commercial truck drivers during a one-day enforcement sweep along Interstate 40, escalating concerns about unvetted and improperly licensed commercial drivers operating nationwide. The joint “commercial vehicle enforcement” operation took place on November 11 in Wheeler County and involved the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). During 105 commercial vehicle inspections, DPS troopers were unable to verify the lawful presence of 31 truck drivers, even though each presented a state-issued...

johnny maga @_johnnymaga The CEO of the “North American Punjabi Trucking Association” fears some of his drivers will quit trucking, as they’re “not feeling safe” amid political backlash in the aftermath of two horrific deadly crashes in recent weeks. I wish I was making this up.

For the better part of a year, we've been reporting about Richard Cox, the Tier III registered child sex offender currently terrorizing women and girls in and around Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia. Cox has repeatedly exposed himself and engaged in lewd acts in locker rooms, and authorities have turned a blind eye because Cox "identifies" as a woman. Advertisement Back in September, we learned Cox, a registered child sex offender, had schedules for children's swim classes on his phone, presumably so he could be in the locker room before and after those classes took place. VA's Democratic gubernatorial...

“If mayors can’t keep their trains and buses safe, they don’t deserve the taxpayers’ money,” Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy said, making it clear that the DOT is investigating the devastating Charlotte stabbing. “I stand firm with President Trump’s message of zero tolerance for criminality, especially on our federal DOT funded public transportation,” Duffy said on X. WATCH — Make Cities Great Again!:

Over 100 people showed up for Miami Beach’s rainbow crosswalks that are currently in the political crosshairs across the state of Florida. “Our rights are on shaky ground everywhere, but especially here in Florida,” said activist Paul Thomas. Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Transportation has ordered communities across the state to remove colorful crosswalks

"The latest school shooting at a nonpublic Christian school in Tennessee sadly confirms what we already know – our schools are under attack."Two years before a shooter opened fire on students attending daily mass in Minneapolis, the leaders of independent and Catholic schools in Minnesota begged Democrat Governor Tim Walz for help securing their schools, according to a 2023 letter reviewed by The Daily Wire. The funding was never authorized.In a letter dated April 14, 2023 that specifically addressed “school safety in nonpublic schools,” Tim Benz, the president of MINNDEPENDENT and Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic...

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump lacked the authority to fire three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ordered their reinstatement — teeing up another high-stakes court clash centered on Trump's ability as commander-in-chief to remove or otherwise control the members of independent agencies. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox, a Biden appointee, sided with the three ousted members of the board — Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. — in ruling that their firings were unlawful and ordered all three members to be reinstated to their posts. In...