Free Republic

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's top court weighed the budget repercussions of ruling on a pension dispute between Gov. Chris Christie and public workers' unions on Wednesday while one justice wondered if the state had engaged in a "bait and switch." The state Supreme Court probed whether the state has a contractual obligation to pay what it agreed to in a 2011 pension overhaul law and tried to get lawyers from both sides to explore whether such a finding would represent an overstepping of the courts' role and put it in the middle of the state budget process every...

In my column today, I mention the dispute about whether the knife carried by Freddie Gray qualified as an illegal switchblade. Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore, says it clearly did not, which means police did not have probable cause to arrest him for carrying the knife. Mosby cites "Maryland law," which defines a switchblade as a knife with "a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife." But according to The Baltimore Sun, the police task force that investigated Gray's death "studied the knife and...

Respectable opinion can’t bear the idea that she has become a symbol of free speech, which once upon a time was — and still is, when convenient — one of the highest values of the media and the left. If Geller were a groundbreaking pornographer like the loathsome Larry Flynt, someone would already be planning a celebratory biopic of her life. If she were a gadfly sticking it to a major Western religion rather than to Islam, she might be considered more socially acceptable. Instead, her provocations are deemed almost as shameful as the intentions of the men who wanted...

An NHS doctor enslaved a man in his home for 24 years after smuggling him into Britain as a child, a court heard yesterday. Emmanuel Edet demanded to be called ‘master’ as he beat his victim and subjected him to a ‘life of misery’, it was claimed. Edet, 60, and his wife Antan, 58, a senior hospital nurse, are accused of stripping Ofonime Inuk of his passport and making him work up to 17 hours a day.

Initial jobless claims rose slightly last week from a 15-year low while planned layoffs surged in April to a three-year high, providing mixed signals about the health of the labor market ahead of Friday's jobs report. About 265,000 people applied for first time unemployment benefits in the week ended Saturday, up from the previous week's 262,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had expected claims to rise to 280,000 after hitting the lowest level since 2000 the previous week. The four-week average, which smooths out some volatility, fell to 279,500 last week. That was the lowest level since May 2000....

Wednesday's release of the Ted Wells Report brought with it a conclusion that it was "more probable than not" that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" regarding the deflation of Patriots game balls. Brady's agent, Don Yee, issued a response Thursday, obtained by NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport. "The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It's omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. One item alone taints this entire report. What...

I'm trying to figure something out for work, but my math skills are not very good. How do I calculate percentages if an event reoccurs multiple times? Suppose there is an event that has the chance of occurring on in 6 times (like rolling a dice and getting a "five"). What are the chances I will get a "five" if I roll the dice six times?

Underwater explorers in Madagascar say they have found what is thought to be the treasure of notorious Scottish pirate William Kidd. Soldiers on Sainte Marie island have been guarding the 50kg silver bar after divers brought it to shore. Madagascar's president as well as UK and US diplomats received the suspected treasure at a ceremony on the island. Capt Kidd was executed in 1701 for piracy after returning from a voyage to the Indian Ocean.

The people of Israel wanted a king. They heard of the nations around them, and they were told that these nations had strong central governments. Each was led by a king, who embodied the power, prestige, and glory of his nation-state. The system of civil rule in Israel at this time was based on decentralized tribes. Each tribe had a system of judges. There was no legislature. There was no central civil government. Samuel was both a priest and a civil judge. Representatives of the people of Israel came to him and asked him to anoint someone to serve as...

So Obama's coming to Portland today for some sort of fund raising. Total traffic snarl expected. What's this costing us this time?

Prosecutorial mistakes and a politically correct judge exposed Americans to a potential massacre. The Garland, Texas, police officer who gunned down two Islamic terrorists not only saved the lives of his fellow officers and the innocent citizens at Pamela Geller’s “Draw Muhammad” contest, he saved the consciences of federal prosecutors and a federal judge from a terrible burden — the knowledge that they botched a case that could have prevented a massacre. Shooter Elton Simpson should never have been in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015. He should have been serving time in federal prison. As has been widely...

A new report released by the Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI) says that only 16 percent of 15- to 17-year-old teens in Baltimore have been raised in an intact, married family. The report, released Wednesday and compiled in light of the recent Baltimore riots, cites Census Bureau statistics showing that, in terms of family units, Baltimore is “one of the five least intact counties of America,” along with Cuyahoga, Ohio; the Bronx, N.Y.; the District of Columbia; and Shelby County, Tenn. The report cites studies indicating that children who grow up in intact, married families are...

Pondering Prudence and Its “Parts” – A Reflection on the Sometimes-Misunderstood Virtue of Prudence By: Msgr. Charles PopeAs a follow-on to yesterday’s post on the spiritual work of counseling  the doubtful, I would like to say a little more about prudence.Prudence is often misunderstood by those who reduce it to mere caution or reluctance to act. It is true that sometimes prudence indicates caution and that hasty action is seldom prudent. However, sometimes it is prudent to act quickly. Having long discussions about the best way to put out a house fire before acting is not prudent. Quick, expedient action is the...

Duration of your existence in my presence is wholly reliant on the length of your total surrender of you to My Spirit. Do you truly want answers to your day I have already laid out before time or thought then come and drink from the eternal waters of my wellspring for truly I AM your future as you just reside in me and find your abiding and eternal rest. Just let go . . . Jeremiah 29:11-13 11 For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace...

I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is lit­er­ally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it. That's why it's not displayed on the wall. It's a false idol." .... Portman grants she's "quite leftist" (particularly in relation to Israeli society), but in Paris, she says, "You really feel like a capitalist, [and you feel the] socialist difference in a major way. Like, the strike thing is a real phenomenon. You think it's just a stereotype, but it's totally the case...

Pope Francis has said that Roman Catholic priests can begin pardoning women who've had abortions and doctors who have performed the procedure starting in 2016, changing long-standing Catholic practice. The Vatican insisted, however, that it continues to look at abortion as a sin. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, announced Francis' decision earlier this week, and said: "The missionaries of mercy are priests sent out by the Holy Father at the beginning of Lent. The Pope is sending them out [to dioceses and parishes] as a tangible sign of how a priest should...

When the forces of American progressivism emerged in the 1880s and 1890s, those who would one day be labeled as conservatives, classical liberals, and libertarians found themselves quite ill-prepared for the intellectual and political onslaught. Perhaps the best analyst at the time progressivism emerged, somewhat surprisingly, was E.L. Godkin, the venerable founder of The Nation. t was the rights of man that engaged the attention of the political thinkers of the eighteenth century. The world had suffered so much misery due to the results of dynastic ambitions and jealousies, and the masses of mankind were everywhere so burdened by the...

The owners of the colossal mansion at the center of the award-winning 2012 documentary 'The Queen of Versailles' are nearing completion on the 90,000-square-foot single-family home after experiencing some recent financial success. Time-share mogul David Siegel, 80, and his 49-year-old wife Jackie started construction on the Orlando, Florida mega-mansion more than a decade ago but had to but the home up for foreclosure after taking a huge hit in the 2008 financial collapse. But after sales rebounded at Siegel's company Westgate in the past few years, the Siegels took the home back off the market and construction workers are back...

henever Republicans talk about trimming the federal food stamp program, Democrats decry them as cold, heartless or worse. But new research shows that cutting food stamps could actually make the country healthier. The U.S. Department of Agriculture looked at data from 2007 through 2010, then compared average weights of those on food stamps — officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — to those who weren't.

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s [author of "The Harbinger"] passionate warning to the United States Supreme Court at the 2015 “Washington: A Man of Prayer” service has gone viral, garnering over 2.3 million views just on one website hosting the video. And the media organization garnering the most views resides in an unlikely place – the African nation of Nigeria. The Nigerian website NigeriaCamera posted Cahn’s address from last Wednesday, “God’s Warning to America,” on its Facebook page, where it has been attracting viewers at a staggering rate. Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/warning-from-americas-prophet-goes-global/#Y2yfroSiwJxVws8T.99