Free Republic

A growing number of the world's super rich are preparing for the apocalypse by purchasing 'doomsday bunkers'. But don't expect the one per cent to slum it out in drab, concrete dwellings as they survive the end of the world - these bunkers feature some of the most lavish layouts imaginable that are designed for the more modern survivalist. 'Your father or grandfather's bunker was not very comfortable,' Robert Vicino, CEO of Vivos, told CNN. 'They were gray. They were metal, like a ship or something military. And the truth is mankind cannot survive long-term in such a Spartan, bleak...

The US current account deficit shrank dramatically in Q4.Beating expectations of -$129 billion by 8 standard deviations, the $112.4 billion print is the smallest deficit since Q2 2015. So 30 economists were way off the estimate with both trade and capital inflows improving -  the balance of goods and services deficit widened to $132.32b (compared to $116.23b prior quarter), and the balance on primary income widened to $61.5b (compared to $41.6b prior quarter).The current account deficit represents 2.4% of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter after 2.5% in the prior quarter.This smaller-than-expected current account balance is a positive for...

Billionaire "philanthropist" George Soros has a very successful model. He's set up think-tanks, advocacy shops, and phony democracy groups to promote his left-wing hobbyhorses – letting convicts out of prison, legalizing drugs, promoting LGBTQ social engineering, pushing his version of democracy via "color revolutions," ending any meaningful definition of citizenship, swinging the Catholic Church toward materialistic socialism, incentivizing welfare over work, financing racial rage and identity politics, promoting the E.U. and other super-states, promoting atheism, financing global elites and their vast salaries – the full Uniworld Insta-Swede Eurotrashia vision. Well, he's got company. Lifezette's Polizette believes that his successor may...

Lisa D. Cook, a Michigan State economist who served on President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), took sharp aim at her old boss's successor in an appearance at the Center for American Progress (CAP) on March 15, 2017. "I was waiting to see what they did when the first jobs report came out," she said at CAP. "They embraced it." She went on to claim that "during the campaign, she was horrified that Bureau of Labor Statistics statisticians were under attack." Actually, one thing she did not do was to compare the numbers in the latest jobs report with...

The US has announced a ban on large electronic devices from cabin baggage on passenger flights from eight Muslim majority countries. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said extremists were seeking "innovative methods" to bring down jets. Bombs could be hidden in laptops, tablets, cameras, DVD players and electronic games, it said. The measure will affect nine airlines operating out of 10 airports. Large electronic devices will only be allowed on board in checked baggage. Phones are exempt from the new rules The nine airlines affected are: â—¾Royal Jordanian â—¾Egypt Air â—¾Turkish Airlines â—¾Saudi Arabian Airlines â—¾Kuwait Airways â—¾Royal Air...

Budget: Let's start with a basic fact. Contrary to news reports last week, President Trump is not eliminating funding for Meals on Wheels. He's not even cutting it. How do we know this? Meals on Wheels says so. A statement issued by Meals on Wheels America on Thursday notes that 35% of the revenues at the 5,000 or so local Meals on Wheels programs come via the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. Trump's budget outline says nothing about this program whatsoever. What Trump's budget does propose is cutting is the corruption-prone Community Development Block Grant program, run out of Housing...

A proposal to spend $10 million next year to provide health care to 15,000 of the most chronically ill members of Idaho’s health coverage gap population failed in the Idaho Senate on Monday after nearly two hours of debate. The bill, proposed by Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, who co-chaired an interim legislative working group that examined options for the state’s gap population, failed on a 13-22 vote. Those in the gap are the estimated 78,000 Idahoans who earn too much to qualify for Idaho’s limited Medicaid program, but not enough to qualify for subsidized insurance through the state’s health insurance...

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government has referred Rupert Murdoch's planned 11.7 billion pound ($14.4 billion) takeover of European pay-TV group Sky to regulators to decide if the deal is in the public interest. Media Secretary Karen Bradley told parliament it was important to seek advice from the regulator Ofcom on whether the deal would give Murdoch and his companies too much control of Britain's media, and whether the new owner would be committed to broadcasting standards.

Federal investigators are examining whether far-right news sites played any role last year in a Russian cyber operation that dramatically widened the reach of news stories — some fictional — that favored Donald Trump’s presidential bid, two people familiar with the inquiry say. Operatives for Russia appear to have strategically timed the computer commands, known as “bots,” to blitz social media with links to the pro-Trump stories at times when the billionaire businessman was on the defensive in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, these sources said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused by the FBI of ordering a campaign...

President Donald J. Trump will hold a rally at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Freedom Hall. RSBN will be on hand at the rally with a full crew to bring you live coverage beginning at 3:30 PM ET.    LIVE Stream: President Donald Trump Holds Rally in Louisville, KY 3/20/17   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrR7Fq5OQa0  

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll fight a proposal to eliminate a 52-year-old federal agency that seeks to create jobs. McConnell told WYMT-TV Saturday that he’s opposed to the proposal to do away with the Appalachian Regional Commission, which is contained in President Donald Trump’s budget for Fiscal 2018. In fact, McConnell said, “We are not going to allow any cuts” to the commission. …

David Rockefeller, the famed banker and philanthropist, died Monday at age 101, according to a spokesperson for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Rockefeller served as chairman and CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank, which after a series of mergers is now JPMorgan Chase (JPM). But he was also born into great wealth as a grandson of John D. Rockefeller, who was the founder of the Standard Oil empire and America's first billionaire. According to Forbes, David Rockefeller was worth $3.3 billion at the time of his death, making him the world's oldest billionaire. He died in his sleep Monday morning of congestive...

During the hearing today in the Senate Judiciary Committee over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, pro-abortion Democrat Dianne Feinstein slammed the potential High Court pick. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Feinstein drew on the issue of abortion for her criticism — saying that she probably will oppose Gorsuch because he believes “the intentional taking of a human life by private persons is always wrong.”“President Trump repeatedly promised that his judicial nominees would be pro-life, and automatically overturn Roe v. Wade,” she said. “Judge Gorsuch has not had occasion to rule directly on a case involving Roe. However, his writings do raise questions. Specifically,...

David Rockefeller, the banker and philanthropist with the fabled family name who controlled Chase Manhattan bank for more than a decade and wielded influence around the world even longer as he spread the gospel of American capitalism, died on Monday morning at his home in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. He was 101. Mr. Rockefeller could well be the last of an increasingly less visible family to have cut so imposing a figure on the world stage. As an advocate of the economic interests of the United States and of his own bank, he was a force in global financial affairs and...

Protecting American jobs was a signature theme of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign. A frequent target of candidate Trump was the H-1B visa program. The program, created more than 25 years ago, allows American companies to fill gaps in the workforce from overseas with highly skilled employees, who can’t be found in the U.S. Many businesses use the program as intended, but we discovered more and more are taking advantage of loopholes in the law to fire American workers and replace them with younger, cheaper, temporary foreign workers with H-1B visas. But before the American workers walk...

RENTAL prices are about to soar even higher in Melbourne, but people are already on the brink and living in dodgy conditions just to be close to the city. People have been so desperate for cheaper rent, they have even resorted to paying about $100 a week for tents set up in backyards and on balconies, that were advertised on Gumtree. Others share a small living space, with a number of curtains strung up so each housemate can have their own space. Renters are also sharing bedrooms, with one ad on Gumtree offering a bed in a room with three...

California Gov. Jerry Brown asked President Donald Trump on Sunday for federal emergency assistance for the fourth time in just two months since the new administration took office, putting the nascent “CalExit” movement in a difficult position.

'I've lived here 50 years and no, we've never had anything like this,' deputy mayor says Another winter blizzard is hitting Churchill, where people are already desperate for groceries that have been delayed since the last blizzard two weeks ago. "A lot of families are suffering because they have young children and they need milk," said local resident Lana Bilenduke. No bread or vegetables are for sale at the local store and meat is scarce, she said. "Everyone's in a crisis until we get our groceries in." The northern Manitoba town is in the midst of near-zero visibility, wind gusts...

David Rockefeller, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who was the last in his generation of one of the country's most famously philanthropic families, died Monday. He was 101. Rockefeller died in his sleep at his home in suburban Pocantico Hills, New York, according to his spokesman, Fraser P. Seitel. He was the youngest of six children born to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. With the passing of his siblings, he became the guardian of his family's fortune and head of a sprawling network of family interests, both business and philanthropic, that...

With the election of Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Senate, we have an unprecedented opportunity to roll back the worst economy-killing laws and regulations of the Obama and Bush eras. Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and the Keystone pipeline top the list, but there are hundreds more no one outside specific industry niches has even heard of, cumulatively equal if not more destructive. One example: TEFRA 1706, the Tax Equity and Fairness Reform Act of 1986. Buried inside it is Section 1706, dealing with regulation of independent computer consultants, laying out over a dozen "tests" of the independence of...