Free Republic

Since its founding nearly two decades ago, Zillow has revolutionized the way Americans buy, rent, sell — and fantasize — about housing in the US. But a settlement that breaks the grip of powerful real estate agents could trigger a range of problems for the platform already suffering from declining traffic in an increasingly competitive housing market. The company’s stock has dropped nearly 13% since Friday’s $418 million settlement between the National Association of Realtors and groups of home sellers which ended the standard 6% commission for Realtors. It’s a sign that investors fear the settlement could have seismic effects...

July 22, 2021 (Children’s Health Defense) – As cases pile up (445 as of July 9) of the reportedly “rare” neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome in people who received a COVID vaccine — forcing the sluggish U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add a warning label to the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot — scientists are issuing urgent warnings about a possible tsunami of other types of neurological injuries.Immunologist J. Bart Classen, one-time National Institutes of Health (NIH) contract scientist and proprietor of Classen Immunotherapies, a Maryland biotechnology firm, published a paper in February outlining the potential for messenger RNA...

President Donald Trump officially declared a national emergency over the Wuhan virus Friday, invoking the Stafford Act to release additional resources to combat the nationwide outbreak for state and local governments.“Through very collective action and shared sacrifice, national determination, we will overcome the virus… This will pass,” Trump announced from the Rose Garden. Trump also ordered the opening of “emergency operation centers” and requested that every hospital “activate its emergency preparedness plan” in the wake of the outbreak.According to the latest numbers as of Friday afternoon, nearly 1,300 Americans have tested positive for the virus and 31 people have died,...

Major League Soccer’s new policy that bans political displays at matches is stirring controversy in the Pacific Northwest, where supporters’ culture is often intertwined with politics and social issues. The Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers have banned signs and flags with the "Iron Front" symbol, which they say has become appropriated by some in the loosely structured antifa movement, at times in the context of violence.

“Real estate brokers and agents invest resources into obtaining property listings,” wrote NAR, which counts 1.3 million real estate agents as members. As such, NAR said agents have “rights and responsibilities to control the distribution of their listings.” Any “appropriation of a commercial entity’s data, work product, or intellectual property for exploitation by another commercial entity is not justified,” NAR added. But while Zillow argued for the “democratization” of data, NAR said calls for greater access to MLS data are “based on faulty expectations that unrestricted access to listing data will help consumers.” Instead, NAR said, “forcing brokers to provide...

Dear John: When will the US understand that the universal sport of soccer cannot exist in our country? It is a poor man’s sport where no equipment is needed, only a ball and a field in which to kick it. It cannot survive in the US for three reasons: Boring, boring, boring. The most excitement is among the spectators who burn or stampede the stadiums or kill the goalie or referee — which is where the term “fan” was derived: “Fanatic.”

Housing Numbers - Are They Being Cooked?September 1,2010 The Market Ticker Karl Denninger I have a very disturbing email that came in this evening. It alleges out-and-out fraudulent reporting of home sales in one of the regional MLS systems. That is, prices paid that are in fact much lower than the "sold" prices reported in the MLS. The person in question claims to have seen over 100 of these in his area. I have copies of two, and it appears, from the evidence that I have, that at least for those two the claim is accurate. One in particular I...

OK... I will make this as brief as I can: My Step-Father is a Real Estate agent just outside of Houston, TX (Tomball and the Woodlands area). He uses Windows XP, and has a history of computer troubles, mostly related to scripts and worms that for some reason every Anti-Virus he has ever used just won't seem to keep out. I have jokingly told him to buy a Macintosh next time around... but he has held to his Realtor-related business requires Windows. Fine... Well, about every two weeks, his Internet Explorer (latest version) will not work at all - it...

Beckham's first goal in a Los Angeles Galaxy uniform came Wednesday night, and it couldn't have come at a better time or in a more impressive fashion. His curling 30-yard free kick past D.C. United goalkeeper Troy Perkins helped remind fans from New York to Los Angeles why Beckham is worth watching. Now, instead of ditching their tickets to Saturday's Los Angeles Galaxy-New York Red Bulls game at Giants Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET) faster than lead paint-covered toys, New York area soccer fans are looking for as many tickets as they can get. What can we expect this weekend at...

WHO knew it would take a world-famous soccer superstar to finally get the passions for professional football roiling through Los Angeles once again? Of course, we're talking "futbol," as soccer is known in much of the world, and not the National Football League. Within hours of the announcement that David Beckham - the English soccer superstar known for his singular sartorial style as well as his Spice Girl wife - was joining the L.A. Galaxy, the buzz of excitement across Tinseltown was greater than anything the NFL could have inspired. This is the biggest sports news to hit Los Angeles...

   Canteen Sports Corner     Welcome to the Canteen Sports Corner! Any stories you see below can be found online somewhere. We're just here to give a sports update of what's happening around the world of sports!! Enjoy!   ~ College Football ~ Match Of The Week Preview: (By MikeFromOhio)   Week Six brought the first major upset of the year down on the plains in Auburn. Arkansas went in and physically dominated Auburn for 4 quarters en route to a shocking 27-10 victory over the Tigers. Florida followed that up by winning rather easily against LSU at...

2006 SIERRA MIST MLS ALL-STAR GAME Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill. Saturday, Aug. 5, 2005 (6:30 p.m. ET; Live on ESPN)

ROME (AFP) - The World Cup in Germany is set to become a battleground between facists and Muslims, an Italian member of a new European neo-Nazi movement warned. In a statement published by Italian daily Repubblica, the memeber of AS Roma's notorious ultras hooligan group claims neo-Nazis across Europe met in Braunau in Austria to plan attacks against supporters from Islamic countries during the World Cup in Germany from June 9 to July 9. "We are united. For the first time we are talking and planning together, with the English, the Germans, the Dutch, the Spanish, everyone with the same...

David Beckham has hinted that he may be prepared to play in the United States before he ends his career as signs of his growing popularity in that part of the world were evident ahead of England's friendly international with Colombia. Beckham was greeted with the kind of media frenzy and flashing light bulbs that have probably not greeted a soccer player in America since the days of Pele, George Best and Franz Beckenbauer in the mid 1970s as he gave his pre-match press conference. In the immediate term the 30-year-old sees his playing career at Real Madrid and he...

Major League Soccer reached an agreement with the city of San Antonio and could have a team there by the start of next season. MLS will grant San Antonio a team, given the city has several elements in place. Finalized plans for a state-of-the-art soccer training complex is one of the demands the league has made. The others are that 5,000 season tickets are sold by August 17 and that an ownership group is firmly in place. "Led by Mayor Ed Garza, the City of San Antonio has aggressively pursued bringing a Major League Soccer team to the market," MLS...

D.C. United completed its return to glory Sunday, winning its fourth Major League Soccer championship in nine seasons with a wildly entertaining 3-2 victory against the Kansas City Wizards at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. United's triumph in MLS Cup 2004 before 25,797 at the Home Depot Center was its first since 1999, when it capped a run of appearances in the first four MLS title games with a then-third championship. Eskandarian's strong left foot carried United to glory. (Juan Miranda/MLS)

WASHINGTON (April 3) -- Chants of "Freddy, Freddy" echoed throughout the stadium Saturday whenever a D.C. United player missed a scoring chance early in the second half. Finally, in the 61st minute, the moment arrived. Flashbulbs popped amid the roars as 14-year-old soccer prodigy Freddy Adu entered the game and became the youngest athlete to play in a major American league in more than 100 years. No one in the stadium sat down for the next 10 minutes. Fans waited for magic that never came. Adu had few quality touches and never took a shot in Saturday's 2-1 victory over...

<p>"I've told Kevin Hartman he's in big trouble," Leiweke says. "If he's not playing well, I'm going to have a BB gun up here and be able to shoot him."</p> <p>Hartman is a goalkeeper for the Los Angeles Galaxy, a Major League Soccer team that will host the Colorado Rapids on Saturday to debut The Home Depot Center, a 27,000-seat soccer showplace 20 minutes south of downtown Los Angeles, on the campus of California State University-Dominguez Hills.</p>