Free Republic

Georgetown sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson has made a very profitable career out of peddling lies about race in America. Unfortunately, there is a large market for the kind of falsehoods Dyson specializes in, especially among the liberal elite readership of The New York Times and on tony ultra-liberal college campuses. It is fashionable in these precincts to deride the rest of America as hopelessly racist and backward, and doing so doubtlessly provides some people a certain cheap thrill of smug moral superiority. But what is profitable for Dyson and pleasurable for ultra-liberals is poisonous for both America as...

Elizabeth Warren took one of her characteristically earth-shattering ideas to the Daily Show Thursday night: “If we would reduce the interest rate on student loans, young people would have a lot more money to spend.” “Right–and then they could buy more weed and then they’d be quieter!” Stewart interjected. That wasn’t quite the point Warren wanted to make—but it does a good job of highlighting how ridiculous her economic thinking–or lack thereof–is. Warren has tried—and failed—in the past to lower student loan interest rates by raising taxes on the wealthy. On Stewart’s show, she continued her never-ending quest to convince...

How do you respond to challenges that seem beyond your capabilities? Some people feel overwhelmed with a sense of inadequacy, and therefore give up and walk away from the situation. Others approach the undertaking with confidence in themselves and their own abilities. For believers, neither one is the appropriate response—one exhibits a lack of trust in God, and the other displays pride. The apostle Paul described the right approach in 2 Corinthians 3:4-5. Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in Christ. There’s nothing within us that makes us competent for the opportunities God gives us. He alone is the...

The central banks don’t like that cash makes it hard to cut rates to below zero. 0% is pretty much as far as they can go (though there are exceptions such as in Denmark.) Bloomberg reports;

The trailer was taken down minutes after being leaked on multiple sites. A trailer for Zack Snyder's upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice leaked online on Thursday before being taken down minutes later. A YouTube user uploaded the handheld camera or camera phone capture of the trailer, which has Portuguese subtitles.

This was the horrible week in which millions of Americans paid their taxes to the ever increasing and intrusive federal government. This year, the tax burden has grown with Tax Freedom Day appearing on April 24, meaning that Americans will spend approximately one third of the year working for government before they can provide for their families. Taxes are certainly oppressive in this country. Compared to last year, tax revenue increased 4.3% to $1.478 trillion in the first 6½ months of the 2015 fiscal year. Even worse, the insatiable federal government continues to spend money with reckless abandon. Through April...

It was a dull day for the broad market, but there were individual winners. A resurgence of the initial public offering (IPO) market was relatively quiet, save for the high- profile debut of Box Inc. (BOX) and Shake Shack (SHAK). And until this week, with SHAK soaring, both IPOs were seen as a cautionary tale that buttresses the notion that 2014 was the top. Last year saw the most IPOs since the year of the crash, raising almost as much money.. The following blew away the consensus: Etsy Inc. (ETSY) +88%Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) +17%Party City Holdingco Inc. (PRTY) +22%...

Conspiracy theorists are working overtime to explain why Walmart suddenly closed 5 stores in 3 states this week, laying off 2200 workers. The stores are expected to reopen in 6 months. The company claims the closings are releated to ongoing and pervasive plumbing problems. But the conspiracy theorists believe it has more to do with workers who took part in the Black Friday strike than with faulty sewers. Business Insider: Wal-Mart employees say they were completely blindsided by the news, having been notified only a couple hours before the stores closed at 7 p.m. Monday. "Everybody just panicked and started...

A federal law passed in February 2012 to help middle class families by creating jobs and cutting payroll taxes included a section mandating the creation of a nationwide interoperable broadband communications system for law enforcement and first responders. The system, which is being created under the direction of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), seeks to create a nationwide broadband network capable of being used for a variety of law enforcement purposes including remote surveillance, mobile biometric applications like field fingerprint scanning and facial recognition, as well as automated license plate reading. The system is currently in a pilot phase...

"It's scary and it knocks the breath out of you." Maggie Karner is not unrealistic or "romantic" about death and dying. And she should know. "It takes a long time to come to terms with a disease -- especially a terminal illness. And then you start thinking; 'OK, this is the new me. This is the new normal. And I can still appreciate every moment.'" Earlier this spring, when I co-hosted a National Review Institute panel on assisted suicide with Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, we began it with a video of Karner. No speech is as compelling...

The Washington Post Energy and Environment Obama to visit Florida Everglades on Earth Day — to talk about climate change Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus Share via Email Share on WhatsappShare on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Tumblr Resize Text Print Article Comments 4 By Chris Mooney April 18 at 6:20 AM A bird flies over the sensitive ecological landscape of the Everglades National Park, home to many endangered and rare plants on March 16, 2015 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Saturday morning, President Obama gave a speech on climate change...

Francis Cardinal George lost his long battle with cancer and died today. This is what I wrote about him back in 2012: Francis Cardinal George of the Archdiocese of Chicago is alleged to have predicted that for upholding the teachings of Christ he will die in his bed, his successor will die in a prison cell, and his successor will be executed in a public square in Chicago. Therefore, I am unsurprised that he has written an open letter exploring the “Chicago Values” cited by Mayor Emanuel when he decided to attack the free speech rights of Chick-Fil-A: Recent comments...

As the Framers knew, we are unlikely to outgrow human nature. So what happens when we decide we’ve outgrown a Constitution designed to protect us from human nature’s foibles? The question arises, yet again, thanks to Senator Bob Corker. The Tennessee Republican, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is author — along with Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) — of a ballyhooed bipartisan bill that is being touted as the derailment of President Obama’s plan to trample congressional prerogatives en route to a calamitous “deal” that will facilitate jihadist Iran’s nuclear-weapons ambitions. (I use scare-quotes because...

Less than a week after announcing his 2016 campaign for president, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida doesn't need to worry about money. It's as good as in the bank. "Marco Rubio will have the resources necessary to run a first-class campaign, that’s already been determined," said billionaire Florida auto dealer Norman Braman, a former Jeb Bush supporter who is now one of Rubio's highest-silhouette donors. Annandale Capital founder George Seay, who is hosting a Rubio fundraiser with the moneyed Dallas elite at his 7,000-square-foot, seven-bath home on Tuesday, said: "Marco has had zero trouble raising money." At least seven...

Despite questions of the Rev’s financial irregularities and allegations of shakedowns, they support him. Several big corporations sponsored the annual convention last week for National Action Network, Al Sharpton’s in-the-red nonprofit, according to a list obtained by National Review. Sponsors included AT&T, Viacom, Walmart, Perennial Strategy Group, Combs Enterprises, Comcast Corporation, McDonald’s, Ronald Perelman, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Forest City Ratner, Time Warner Cable, Barney’s, Coca-Cola, Essence Communications, Ford Division, Home Depot, Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the NBA, Verizon, Colgate Palmolive, Macy’s, NASCAR, OraSure Technologies Inc., Best Buy, Greentrack Inc., the IM Foundation,...

Texas is poised to become the largest state in the U.S. to allow citizens to openly carry handguns, a change long sought by gun-rights activists. The Texas House of Representatives on Friday voted 96-35 to allow residents with concealed-handgun licenses to openly carry their guns in public in holsters. A similar open-carry measure passed the Texas Senate last month; the two open-carry bills must be squared before being sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has indicated support for the idea. In contrast to its reputation for being permissive on firearms, Texas is one of six states, including California, New...

The SEC and IRS, among other government agencies, love, love, love administrative subpoenas to snoop through emails without probable cause. Techdirt writes: The story that we keep hearing is that two government agencies in particular really like ECPA's outdated system: the IRS and the SEC. Since both only have administrative subpoena power, and not the ability to issue warrants like law enforcement, the lower standards of ECPA make it much easier for them to snoop through your emails without having to show probable cause. Last year, in a Congressional hearing, the SEC's boss, Mary Jo White, was questioned about this...

...'Isis' has been taken off from the formal checklist of names of foreseeable future hurricanes as it was now considered inappropriate mainly because of the eponymous militant group....

A look at some of the signers of the open letter to Pope Francis.Escalating the attacks on Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco for continuing to uphold Catholic teachings, 100 self-described “Catholic leaders” have signed an open letter to Pope Francis, calling for the archbishop’s removal. In a full-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, the petitioners claim that Cordileone has “fostered an atmosphere of division and intolerance” by asking K–12 Catholic-school teachers in the Bay area to “violate their individual consciences by accepting a morality code” based on the Church’s teachings.“Instead of your famous words, ‘Whom am...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Samuel New International Version (NIV) 13 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes. 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let...