They say there are only two sure things in life: death and taxes. Try as we might, it's virtually impossible to escape the clutches of the Grim Reaper or the Tax Man. Both will get you eventually.

And as anyone who has been through an IRS audit or suffered a tax penalty can attest, the power that the Internal Revenue Service wields is enormous. As John Marshall famously concluded, "the power to tax is the power to destroy." Indeed it is, and because of this it is imperative that the IRS conducts itself in a sterling manner. The American people should be able to trust that an entity with so much power is completely ethical, fair, and impartial. Anything less would be a grievous betrayal of the public trust and the Constitution.

Sadly, we're discovering that the IRS has been less than scrupulous in its treatment of conservative non-profits in recent years. According to the admissions of Lois Lerner, head of the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, "about 75 groups with 'tea party' or 'patriot' in their names received extra IRS screening between 2010 and 2012." Specifically, conservative groups applying for non-profit status in TN, TX, KY, and OH were subjected to intrusive questions about their donors and subject to long delays. In some cases, letters were sent to big donors to these groups suggesting that their contributions could be retroactively taxed under the gift tax. more >>

Reaction to the guilty verdict of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, convicted of murdering three babies born alive in his clinic, was swift Monday from Christian and pro-life leaders, who while applauded justice being served in Gosnell's case, said there are many more abortions and "Gosnell-like" atrocities to stop across the nation.

"The guilty charge of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, dethroned ruler of 'Gosnell's House of Horrors' may spark justice for more women and babies across America," said Dr. Alveda King, director of African American Outreach for Gospel of Life Ministries. "Justice is served with this verdict, but injustice will continue unless we end abortion in this country. Gosnell was not the only abortionist who killed mothers and their born babies, he was just the one who got caught. Now we have to turn out attention to charging, trying and convicting others like him."

On Monday, Gosnell, 72, was acquitted in the fourth baby's death, but found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of an adult patient. The jury, comprised of seven women and five men, reached a verdict on all 268 charges on the tenth day of deliberations. Gosnell now faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole. A separate set of jurors will reconvene on May 21 to consider whether he should be executed. more >>

Later this month, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will decide the most controversial issue in its 103 year history-namely, whether or not every chartered Boy Scout unit will be required to foster open homosexuality in their units by accepting "openly homosexual" boys.

Then about 30 days after the BSA decision, the nation will receive two key critical decisions from the US Supreme Court on same sex marriage that will have dramatic consequences on the entire country.

If you think it is just a coincidence that these two matters are being decided so closely to each other, one right after the other, on similar topics -- think again. It is strategic and calculated timing on the part of gay-rights operatives at the highest levels. more >>

Singapore's Commissioner of Charities(COC) has given City Harvest Church Pastor Kong Hee and seven of his staff more time to submit official protests against a proposal to have them permanently removed from the ministry's board. The COC has also lifted its suspension of Kong's wife, Sun Ho, allowing her to resume her executive duties at the church. The news comes just two days before Kong heads to court to fight charges related to the mishandling of church funds.

In a statement shared with supporters on City Harvest Church's Facebook page and website Monday, Executive Pastor Aries Zulkarnain revealed, "This morning, Sun, wife of our senior pastor Kong Hee received a letter from the Commissioner of Charities. In the letter, COC informed Sun that the suspension of her status as an Executive member of City Harvest Church has been lifted. The suspension of her executive powers has also been lifted.

"Both suspensions have been lifted with immediate effect. Sun is once again able to exercise her executive powers for City Harvest Church. She is once again an Executive member of the church she co-founded." more >>

Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states, benefited the pro-life cause and harmed the movement in favor of legal abortion, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who favors legal abortion, said Saturday. Her argument in favor of "judicial restraint," as she called it, could have implications for pending gay marriage cases.

"That was my concern, that the court had given opponents of access to abortion a target to aim at relentlessly. ... My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to have stopped the momentum that was on the side of change," she said before a University of Chicago Law School audience, according to Associated Press.

Ginsburg told the audience that she preferred a "judicial restraint" approach to the expansive approach of Roe, which took the decision away from legislative bodies. She would have preferred for the judges to have only struck down the Texas abortion law, rather than decide the issue for all 50 states. more >>

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that it will no longer use the terms "mother" and "father" when collecting information about a student's legal parents when those parents apply for federal student aid. Instead of using the words "mother" and "father," the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid form (FAFSA) will use "Parent 1" and "Parent 2."

The announcement states that the changes to the 2014-2015 federal student aid form "more accurately and fairly assess students' need for aid" and that "Gender-specific terms fail to capture income and other information from one parent when a student's parents are in a same-sex marriage under state law but not federally recognized under the Defense of Marriage Act."

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "All students should be able to apply for federal student aid within a system that incorporates their unique family dynamics…. [that] provide[s] an inclusive form that reflects the diversity of American families." more >>