Free Republic

President Trump's Religious Liberty executive order, like many of his orders, set out good general principles. The principles, e.g. "It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce Federal law's robust protections for religious freedom" are good. The actual legal authority is limited. It's a good start for a much broader program. The order largely takes on the Johnson Amendment. But as a practical matter, that needs to be repealed by Congress. And it should find its way to the agenda. President Trump can try to limit its enforcement, but as long as it's there, it's a...

The Internal Revenue Service is demanding a whopping $7 billion or more in back taxes from the world’s most profitable hedge fund, whose boss’s wealth and cyber savvy helped Donald Trump pole-vault into the White House. Suddenly, the government’s seven-year pursuit of Renaissance Technologies LLC is blanketed in political intrigue, now that the hedge fund’s reclusive, anti-establishment co-chief executive, Robert Mercer, has morphed into a political force who might be owed a big presidential favor.

Summary: Although people living in consumer-based cultures such as the US often believe that they will be happier if they acquire more money, the findings of a newly published paper suggest that there may be downsides to this pursuit.

I've previously argued that the Trump administration should stop funding the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development because of its advocacy of higher taxes and tax harmonization. At the time, I was told that my position could be perceived as hypocritical because our government is responsible for the adoption and enforcement of the hideous Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Let me address this omission. FATCA, which was passed in 2010 by a Democratic Congress and enacted by President Barack Obama, requires law-abiding Americans with legitimate bank accounts outside the country and foreigners working in the United States to turn over...

Three South Jersey teens were honored for their honesty after they found thousands of dollars on the ground and returned the money to the school it belonged to. Fabian Villanueva, 14, was walking in Vineland, New Jersey last December when he found a clear envelope holding more than $17,000 in cash and checks behind a fence and covered with leaves outside of a home. “I just panicked,” Fabian said. “I couldn’t believe what I saw.” Fabian, a freshman at Cumberland County Technical Education Center, showed the money to his older brother Nichael Villanueva and his friend Christopher Diaz. “My mom...

WILMINGTON, Ohio -- For 14 years, Debbie Solsman worked as a beloved lunch lady at Denver Place Elementary School in Wilmington, Ohio. She was fired by the district in February, and her supporters raised an angry social media storm. When a child doesn't have money for lunch, Solsman said they're given a cheese sandwich. She said she would upgrade the lunch for those without money, or give them extra food if they were still hungry. "If they didn't have enough money in their account, they would get a cheese sandwich instead ... The other kids knew when they walked out...

In their 2017 infrastructure report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the United States a dismal D+—and for good reason. ASCE notes, for instance, that each day 188 million trips are made across the nation’s 56,007 structurally deficient bridges. Another catastrophe like the 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis (which killed 13 people and injured 145) seems only a matter of time. In fact, just this past week an elevated section of I-85 collapsed in Atlanta after a fire. A recent state inspection had found numerous cracks and spalling (concrete deterioration) in the structure.  ...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The eurozone’s top official said “fatigue may have played a role” for comments he made last month that unleashed a storm of criticism across southern Europe. In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, published Monday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the scale of the backlash made it look like “I committed a war crime.”

You are more than just just a tongue of men and angels , Yeah more than this, for your purpose and life is mine for I hold you in My Hand as a songbird singing out My Love for My Children. So do not cage My Love but set it completely free for only through this freedom shall they receive My unconditional Love " Through Grace " carved out in My Word for truly the words I desire for you to form from their mouths upon their tongues are Eternal Life all from the fruit from The Tree of Life....

The reply of Eugenio Ajroldi di Robbiate, director of the communications office of the Order of Malta, to what was published on March 23 by Settimo Cielo on “the mystery of those 30 million Swiss francs,” has not been passed over in silence by other knights of the Order, closer to the mental workings of former Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing, forced to hand in his resignation last January 24 to Pope Francis in person. This is what is attested to in the following letter, from a person very well-informed on the affairs of the Order, rich in information that...

Just under $2 billion has been wiped off the value of bitcoin in under three days as a fight over the future of the technology underpinning the cryptocurrency wages on. Bitcoin was trading at around $1,142.60 at time of publication, giving it a market cap of $18.53 billion, according to CoinDesk data. This is down from highs of $1,255.32 on Tuesday, which valued the total bitcoin pile at $20.36 billion. Meanwhile, rival cryptocurrency ether is up over 84 percent from highs of $29.87 on Tuesday to trading at all-time highs of around $55 on Friday, according to Coinmarketcap.com. The market...

You my children have been orchestrated for My will and glory but are you accomplishing my will at this very moment or have you put me on pause for I AM your Redeemer, Lord and God . My yoke is easy there is no striving but a beautiful flowing river of Life and this is the wellspring I call to that abides in you ! My law is Love and My Rudder for your life is intimacy with me . So come even now and walk with Me in the Garden of your Destiny for there is fruit of My...

Your submission to strict obedience has released angels of favor never heard of or known before, Truly your obedience has lowered a ladder and opened a door , much in the way I did for Jacob I NOW do for you , Remember My Virtue "abides in you ", For truly your walk of Holiness changes others DNA, As the woman with the issue of blood was healed that day, So pay no attention to those that say with them you must go, For Truly My Voice is all you need to KNOW , I" AM your TRUE SHEPHERD "...

Today I was having a friendly argument with a friend. He was upset that many people are getting excited that under the USA Trump will have NASA return us to the Moon and build a moonbase. His argument was that was too costly. That the money would be better served helping poor people, building hospitals and schools, and fixing the deteriorating American infrastructure. He just could not listen to reason. Nasa budget is $14 Billion. The budget for HUD is many hundreds of times larger than that. In fact, Obama routinely gave away amounts approaching the NASA budget on mere...

The convicted mastermind behind the world's largest online narcotics emporium has been sentenced by a federal judge to two terms of life in prison and three lesser sentences, USA Today reports. The judge also ordered Ross Ulbricht, 31, to forfeit $184 million dollars. The website made over $187 million before it was shut down in 2013. The government estimated that roughly $1.2 billion in illegal drug transactions took place on Silk Road. The judge said it was a "demand expanding operation" and that what Ulbricht did was thoughtful, as opposed to just being an economic experiment. She added that he...

I wait upon the waters for you in the midst of your storm. Now is the time for your walk of Faith . . . Step out of doubt and find your trust knowing I am The finisher of your faith and come to me even now for I have laid a table before you to eat from, for my showbread "declares" life everlasting "IS" yours right now ! "Come" for I AM The Peace for your heart. I have met you with a Yes and Amen now walk in your answer for you have received your request. Matthew 14:22-33...

A California high school has made millions of dollars from the initial public offering of shares in Snap Inc., the company behind the Snapchat photo messaging application.

There was no press honeymoon for President Trump during his first month in office. A meticulous new study by the Media Research Center finds that 88 percent of the broadcast news coverage of Mr. Trump and his team was “hostile” during the first 30 days of office. The coverage was intense and plentiful. The study, which analyzed both tone and content for evening newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS, found that the “Big Three” networks produced 16 hours of coverage on the new president and his staff. That is over half — 54 percent — of their total coverage for...

Leading evangelical Pastor Tim Keller is stepping down from his role as senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. But the move is not a shock to church members. The transition has been planned for years. Christianity Today reports Keller made the announcement at all eight of the multi-site church's services Sunday. The goal has been to transition the 5,000 member megachurch into three smaller, separate congregations with a pastor for each location. While Keller will no longer be the church's pastor on July 1, he's definitely not calling it quits. "I'm not retiring. Moving into a...

It was Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman who made famous the adage, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Professor Friedman could have added that there is a difference between something's being free and something's having a zero price. For example, people say that there's free public education and there are free libraries, but public education and libraries cost money. Proof that they have costs is the fact that somebody has to have less of something by giving up tax money so that schools and libraries can be produced and operated. A much more accurate statement is that we...