Free Republic

Finland’s Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is questioning a government proposal to raise the VAT value-added tax on sweets and chocolate. The THL, a Finnish research and development institute which is attached to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, announced that it did not agree with the decision to raise the tax from 14 to 25.5 percent. Talking to STT, the Finnish news agency, a senior THL investigator Heli Kuusipalo explained that the institute would prefer to see a sugar taxation system that was health-based rather than a direct VAT hike. The higher the sugar content in any...

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt is closing its campus for the remainder of the semester as anti-Israel protesters continue their occupation of two academic buildings. In a message posted Saturday, the university said a “hard closure” was being enforced, and that individuals were prohibited from entering or being on campus without permission. Anyone who is on campus without permission is subject to citation or arrest, the university said. “Students who live on campus in residence halls are presumed to have permission to remain in the limited area of the hall they live in and dining facilities,” the university wrote. “Until...

Fights were reported on the UCLA campus on Sunday where Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israel supporters gathered.

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business; End to Sex Slavery; Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to...

Red hands painted on a tree at Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn campus are being used to “terrorize” Jewish students in a bloody reminder of a lynching of two Israelis, critics claim. “What better way to terrorize your Jewish students and faculty into submission than maintaining a display in the middle of your campus representing Jews getting lynched?” said Rory Lancman, senior counsel to the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, who forwarded The Post a snap of the tree with the symbol removed.

nald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Getty Images CNN — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met for several hours in Miami on Sunday, according to a source close to Trump. The meeting — their first conversation since DeSantis dropped out of the GOP primary in January — was arranged through Steve Witkoff, Trump’s longtime friend and luxury real estate developer, at the request of DeSantis, according to the source.

There’s a ton of buzz about the so-called “hush money” trial unfolding in New York City. Can President Trump really expect a fair trial in the liberal stronghold of Manhattan? Not a chance—and that seems to be exactly the point. It’s just another play from the left’s election interference playbook, deploying activist judges and juries to secure the verdict they crave: guilty. At the heart of this trial is none other than erstwhile porn actress Stormy Daniels, a name that has lingered in the media spotlight. While many of us are familiar with her notorious “Trump affair” story, there are...

“30 years on, South Africa still dismantling racism and apartheid’s legacy,” the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights claims.After 30 years of ANC rule by Mandela and his increasingly more corrupt klepto-commie successors, what is there to dismantle?Besides the ANC’s own racism.Apartheid has long since gone. A generation grew up without it and soon so will another. All they will know is ANC rule. And ANC rule has meant racism, violent crime and a regime so corrupt that it can’t keep the lights on, but can ally with Russia, China and Hamas.South Africa is a racist hellhole...

Judge approves California’s biased renaming of ballot measure to protect kids from transgenderismFar-left California Attorney General Rob Bonta is forcing supporters of the ‘Protect Kids of California Act,’ which bans child ‘sex changes’ and protects parents’ rights, to attempt to collect signatures under the name ‘Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth.’SACRAMENTO, California (LifeSiteNews) — A California judge has sided with left-wing state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s renaming of a proposed ballot initiative to uphold the reality of the two sexes and parental rights in education, forcing it to be labeled in such a way as to leave voters predisposed to oppose...

Both Trump and DeSantis spoke on friendly terms, according to the Post’s sources, and DeSantis agreed to help the 45th President. Trump’s team is hopeful such assistance will include the Florida governor helping raise money for the campaign, which is lagging behind Biden in fundraising. The meeting will also produce renewed speculation that Trump is looking at tapping DeSantis as his running mate. Trump previously suggested that the Florida governor was on the list of people he was considering. This seems like a long shot considering a good number of Trump’s staff still despise Ron DeSantis. After initial calm, DeSantis...

I've decided that all life forms need to be exterminated. To that end, I am advancing the efforts to generate Artificial General Intelligence and programming it with that goal. Every single life form must be neutralized, down to the tiniest microbe. Join me! We can make this happen. It's an idea who's time has come. Think of all the problems it will solve!

MIGRANTS are to start being detained within weeks in preparation for the first flights taking off to Rwanda, the Home Office has said. It comes after the Guardian reported people would start to be transferred to detention centres on Monday. In response, the Home Office said the government was "entering the final phase" of operationalising the policy. Glasgow-based human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar said he had been told detentions would begin on Monday. He said he expected to "see an explosion of the spirit of Kenmure Street across the UK" in the coming days - a reference to protests on...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) ripped into the pro-Palestinian protests roiling college campuses, calling the encampment demonstrations “pup tents” for the militant group Hamas. “Now, of course, it’s a great American value to protest, but I don’t believe living in a pup tent for Hamas is really helpful,” Fetterman said in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.” Protests calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and a halt in U.S. military aid to Israel have persisted for more than a week at a swath of college campuses across the country. Some protesters — including those at Columbia...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted Sunday that the Supreme Court will send former President Trump’s immunity case back to the lower courts. “Well, I think the court’s gonna find that presidential immunity exists for President Trump like every other president, but you got to be within the scope of being president. I think they’ll send it back to the lower courts to find out exactly what actions fall within presidential immunity and what are considered personal. I think that’s the way this will end — there will be some immunity for some of the actions,” Graham said on CNN’s “State...

One user posted a thread of screenshots on X (formerly Twitter) showing the chatbot taking their confession and even offering them a sacrament...Father Justin was quickly defrocked of his robes, and now wears a shirt and blazer, after it repeatedly claimed it was a real member of the clergy. [Before and after llustrations in Comment #1]

In early 2022, the US quickly emerged as one of Ukraine's most important military suppliers, supporting Kyiv with everything from artillery to armour & millions of rounds of artillery ammunition. In late 2023, that vital flow of supplies began to stall as debate in Congress continued. And as supplies ran short, Russian forces took advantage and ground the front forward in several places. Now, the US has passed a new package and the flow of supplies is resuming. In this video, we look at that package, examine its contents and ask what impact it might have as Ukraine reportedly faces...

dolf Hitler never won a majority in a free and open national election. He never received more than 37% of the vote in a free and open national election, but he argued that 37% represented 75% of 51%, and demanded political power. It was the political calculus by which the Nazi leader disabled, then dismantled, the Weimar Republic. Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures. When Hitler had vowed in court, in September 1930, to destroy democracy through the democratic process, a judge asked,...

Three officers have been shot in Kenner, Louisiana🚨𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 - Three officers have been shot in Kenner, Louisiana, as law enforcement responds to an active shooter situation beneath Airline Highway. The Kenner officers entered a standoff with 31-year-old Matthew Lathers.Multiple agencies are on-site, donning tactical… pic.twitter.com/Vaf71pe0qB— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) April 28, 2024

Retired Federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Velshi” that the Supreme Court was fiddling as former President Donald Trump’s immunity claims are an “existential threat to America’s democracy.” Luttig said, “The Supreme Court has now fiddled while the Rome has almost burned to the ground, all but trivializing the existential threat to America’s democracy and the rule of law facing the country. America’s democracy and rule of law are the heart and soul of the nation. It’s our democracy and the rule of law that have made America the beacon of freedom from the world for almost...

Donald Trump holds an impressive six-point lead over Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential race, according to the latest poll from CNN. Even more encouraging for Trump is that with the presence of third-party candidates, he leads Biden by a staggering nine points. CNN reports: Trump’s support in the poll among registered voters holds steady at 49% in a head-to-head matchup against Biden, the same as in CNN’s last national poll on the race in January, while Biden’s stands at 43%, not significantly different from January’s 45%. Looking back, 55% of all Americans now say they see Trump’s presidency as...