Free Republic

When President Elect Donald Trump named Ayn Rand as his favorite writer, and The Fountainhead as his favorite book, last spring, few Objectivists took notice. With his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States tomorrow, perhaps it’s time we should. Others -- critics of Rand and Trump -- aren’t shying away from the topic. “Ayn Rand acolyte-Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists,” wrote Washington Post National Political Correspondent James Hohmann in a piece last month. At the same time, one prominent Objectivist, Onkar Ghate, called Trump’s election “One Small Step for Dictatorship.” Both positions are exaggerated....

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, under fire over the tax consequences of renouncing his U.S. citizenship, said on Thursday he is obligated to and will pay 'hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government.' The social media entrepreneur and investor said in a statement, emailed to Reuters by a spokesman, that his decision to move to Singapore was 'based solely on my interest in working and living' there.

Could Obama's carbon emission policies re-create the economic conditions that led to Southern secession?Who Pays for Cap and Trade? (Wall Street Journal, 3/9/09, A18) describes how Barack Obama's proposed carbon taxes and cap-and-trade mandates will affect different regions of the United States. The table shows per capita carbon emissions in tons. Highest are Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, West Virginia, Montana, Louisiana, Indiana, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Iowa. All are either Red States or conservative Blue States. Lowest are NJ, FL, WA, OR, MA, CT, VT, CA, NY, and RI. All except Florida are reliable Blue States with high populations of latte-sipping...

More National Guard troops went to work Friday on the Arizona-Mexico border, all part of Operation: Jumpstart. Right now, there are about 750 troops working in Arizona. About 300 are from Arizona and another 150 are from New York. 200 just went to work Friday from Kentucky. News 4's Lupita Murillo was there, and shows us just how these fresh troops are helping the Border Patrol. -------------- We're just east of an area known as Smugglers Gulch and this is where members of the Kentucky National Guard are building a road. The 206th Engineer Battallion is clearing the way for...

A bit foggy on ideas this week, I decided to see what the first picture was if I Googled for images on the word "chasm". Though this is not the first picture that was found, it is the first place that was found, and it's called "The Chasm" in Milford Sound, New Zealand. Now here's a mini-challenge: where's your favorite chasm*? It has to actually be (officially) named "chasm" -- gorges, canyons, and gulches don't count. (I did a bit more Googling, and found a mind-blowing... well, have fun.) *and no chasmas from Mars, either