Free Republic

The Clintons have always had an uneasy relationship with money. Bill never had any. And although Hillary had a comfortable upbringing, she didn't take the path to riches that her Yale Law degree might have provided, choosing instead to do public interest law right out of law school and marry a man with great political ambition. But, clearly, both Bill and Hillary wanted the good life -- and the money it takes to provide it. Nothing wrong with that, but the means by which they've enriched themselves have been unsavory at best. And all this makes suspicious the recent revelations...

A controversial US pastor has defended trying to buy a $65million private jet with worshippers' donations and responded to critics by claiming 'the devil is trying to discredit' him. Reverend Creflo Dollar, 53, launched an appeal last month for 200,000 people to each donate '$300 or more' so that he could purchase a Gulfstream G650 to replace his current damaged aircraft.

A study of the Bay Area region finds that San Francisco is becoming less diverse as surrounding counties increase multicultural populations. CityLab noted the study's starkest findings in the PolicyLink study: San Francisco is predicted to be the "whitest county" in the Bay Area by the year 2040. San Francisco is the only county in the Bay Area that is becoming less diverse; surrounding counties are becoming more diverse as soaring rent prices continue to drive people into other cities and towns. "It's startling because the city's diversity and identity as a progressive, inclusive city is seriously at-risk," Sarah Treuhaft,...

What Is Temptation, Why Does God Permit It, and What Are Its Sources? By: Msgr. Charles PopeI will be on the Catholic Answers radio show today (Monday, March 23) at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. The topic will be temptation: what it is and how to avoid and overcome it.  I’ve assembled some notes in preparation and I’ll present them (in two parts) in the blog. Today’s post focuses on what temptation is, why God allows it, and what its sources are. Tomorrow I’ll present the second half of the notes, which center on how to avoid and overcome temptation.What is Temptation? A seminary teacher of mine once defined...

Isaiah 23:17 [Full Chapter] At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. One of my friends said he decided not to pay his taxes to the gummit this year. Rather, he gave it to a Mexican who was mowing a lawn and said he was just skipping the middle man. He asked, what is the point of contributing his hard earned money to a broken political system when it is going to end up...

Proverbs 15:27 The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live. So Harpy has her hand caught in the cookie jar. There is no definitive proof she was taking bribes using the Clinton Foundation, but it is pretty obvious she was. Just like we can assume every white cop is a racist wanting to arrest and shoot an innocent black child, we can assume Hillary was using her personal email server to hide the graft and corruption she was taking for her own personal gain. The one thing we do know about Hillary is...

The Clinton Foundation will get new leadership in the form of longtime Clinton ally and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala as it continues to face ongoing questions about its foreign fundraising practices, former President Bill Clinton announced in Coral Gables, Florida on Friday. The news of Shalala’s new role comes as the foundation has caused all-but-certain 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton some political trouble in the final weeks before her expected campaign roll-out. Republicans have latched onto reports that the foundation resumed accepting money from foreign governments after Clinton left the State Department in 2013 — a...

It has long been remarked that a certain Dogpatch air hangs over Bill and Hillary Clinton. They have, apparently, led separate lives for quite a few years, but one quality that they share is greed. Indeed, they seem unable to restrain that grasping instinct even when it undermines their presumably more important goals–as, for example, when Hillary extracts $300,000 from universities for 45 minutes of platitudes. Tomorrow’s Washington Post reports that while Hillary was Secretary of State, “[t]he Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from seven foreign governments.” How many millions? Weirdly, the Post doesn’t say. It does tell us...

Bill and Hillary are reportedly using tax advantaged strategies used by multimillionaires. Bill and Hillary Clinton are finding their way around an estate tax they have long supported, a cause they said would prevent the U.S. from being overrun by inherited wealth. The Clintons are employing a series of financial planning strategies that will help reduce the tax burden on future recipients, which can be as high as 40%, Bloomberg News reported.

Anybody paying attention to what has happened in our nation, and worldwide for that matter, regarding the lack of reverence for the dignity of life, is probably aware of the advances the culture of death has made over the past several decades. Here is some of what has happened:In 1968, a committee of 13 men at Harvard Medical School endorsed brain death as legal death; in 1981 it was approved by the American Medical Association. This has a profound effect on decisions regarding life and death and has placed physicians as the sole decision makers of who is alive and...

.....A newly published story in the Washington Post notes that Clinton often earns $300,000 or more per speech. On top of that, the prominent Democrat places many a demand on those who want to book her, including having “room temp sparkling and still water” and “two long rectangular (chair) pillows” on hand, according to the contract negotiations the Post obtained. Clinton’s fees have surprised some who booked her, according to the Post story. When UCLA hired her to give a talk earlier this year, a university official noted that Clinton’s spouse—as in former President Bill Clinton—came cheaper. “Wow! She (gets)...

Pope Francis warned Thursday that planet earth would not forgive the abuse of its resources for profit, urging the world's leaders to rein in their greed and help the hungry -- or risk a doomsday scenario in which nature would exact revenge. "God always forgives, but the earth does not," the Argentine pope told the Second International Conference on Nutrition (CIN2) in Rome, a three-day meeting aimed at tackling malnutrition, a global scourge which afflicts poor and rich alike. "Take care of the earth so it does not respond with destruction," he warned representatives from 190 countries gathered for...

The head of the Federal Communications Commission unveiled a plan Monday aimed at delivering high-speed Internet to classrooms and libraries around the country. To pay for the $1.5 billion proposal, the agency is planning a substantial increase in government fees on all monthly phone bills.

We’ve known liberals are cheap, miserly (dare I say niggardly?) in their approach to charity which actually requires giving one’s own money away instead of passing laws to force the rest of us to fund charitable causes. Those who followed politics during the embarrassment of the Clinton brothel years remember that Bill Clinton donated his used underwear to charity in order to gain a tax credit. This fits right in with new data on who gives and who does not give. We now have proof that liberals are cheap and conservatives are generous. A recent report from The Chronicle of...

Global climate models have underestimated the amount of CO2 being absorbed by plants, according to new research. Scientists say that between 1901 and 2010, living things absorbed 16% more of the gas than previously thought.

Money

.....Obama is coming to the city today to raise money for the Democratic party. The president is expected to arrive at JFK Airport around 1:30 p.m. From there he will head to Manhattan for two events involving the Democratic National Committee.

Hungry for a means to supplement is budget, the US Forrest Service is proposing new regulations that would allow it to charge visitors $1500 if they want to take pictures in wilderness areas. Liz Close, the Forest Service’s acting wilderness director, called the new fees “essential to our mission. These wilderness areas belong to the government. Why shouldn’t we get revenue from what is our property?” Close warned against thinking that “these areas are too vast for us to enforce collection. We are watching from both the ground and the air. Rangers randomly patrol with orders to seize any cameras...

Luxury watchmaker Hublot has launched its newest timepiece in New York City. The Swiss watchmaker was joined by brand ambassador Dwyane Wade for the unveiling of the Classic Fusion Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat star’s second timepiece with Hublot....

..... Obama is interrupting a weekend trip to return to the White House. The White House says Obama has changed his plans for Friday and will return to Washington late in the evening after fundraisers in Rhode Island and New York. He had planned to spend the night in New York. Presidential aides say the change in plans was not related to any current events and was the president's personal choice.