Free Republic

As the WallStreetBets saga that has so captivated both Wall Street and social media has come to its roller-coaster conclusion, brokerage platforms such as Robinhood and TD Ameritrade now have the legacy of restricting trading of high-volatility stocks. But while brokers are attempting to address the problem on their own platforms, it’s possible that pro-regulation advocates could see the fracas as a mere opportunity to advance the burdensome regulatory agenda they've wanted to advance for years.For the uninitiated, the current situation arose from a popular Reddit forum urging its users to target GameStop (GME), a stock heavily shorted by hedge...

COTTONWOOD, CALIFORNIA — In Woody Clendenen's barbershop, a standard haircut costs $15. Seniors get a discount for $12, and liberals are charged $40. At least that's what the sign at his local Cottonwood shop in Northern California's Shasta County says. His small business is donned with Trump 2020 gear, support to create the new state of Jefferson, and copies of the Constitution for customers to read or take. He's got regulars who stick around just to talk politics and feel a sense of normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them are maskless and aren't told to follow any health...

Russia said on Friday it would be ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions, a statement that Germany described as disconcerting and incomprehensible.Ties between Russia and the West, already at post-Cold War lows, have come under renewed pressure over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. >>>“We don’t want to isolate ourselves from global life, but we have to be ready for that. If you want peace then prepare for war.”

A restaurant in California, that refused to allow one of its employees to wear a Black Lives Matter mask during working hours, is now receiving death threats. The Girl and the Fig in Sonoma, California, was forced to close after receiving a barrage of death threats after a former waitress, Kimi Stout, complained about being refused a request to wear a BLM mask.

Here is all the proof you should need to refute those, including Ted Cruz, that President Trump, and his team, did not prove Vote Fraud in court. Of 22 cases where the judge actually allowed evidence to be heard, he won 15 of those cases.

From Bumble Home Page: Why Bumble? Bumble was first founded to challenge the antiquated rules of dating. Now, Bumble empowers users to connect with confidence whether dating, networking, or meeting friends online. We’ve made it not only necessary but acceptable for women to make the first move, shaking up outdated gender norms. We prioritise kindness and respect, providing a safe online community for users to build new relationships.

Here’s the secret banks in Indiana don’t want Hoosiers to know. Big banks discriminate. They do it all the time and they’re fighting hard to make sure that doesn’t change. Banks have been openly discriminating against businesses they feel have fallen out of political favor. The firearm industry knows this all too well. This has been happening since the Obama administration, when then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder instituted Operation Choke Point. It was an illegal scheme contrived to use the muscle of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which backs banks’ assets with taxpayer funds, to force banks to deny banking...

Klete Keller, a two-time Olympics gold medallist swimmer, is facing new charges in connection with the 6 January riots at the US Capitol. The 6ft 6in (1.9m) tall swimmer was identified in photos of the riots because of his stature and the fact he was wearing a Team USA jacket. He was initially charged with three counts, but this was increased to seven by a grand jury earlier in the week. Mr Keller has not commented on the charges against him.

Cruise Ship COVID Outbreak Swiftly Dealt With A relatively small cluster of COVID-19 cases onboard Mein Schiff 2 was swiftly dealt with by both the vessel and the Spanish authorities. TUI-Cruises’ Mein Schiff 2 was sailing on its ongoing voyages to the Canary Islands when the cruise line identified four guests infected with the virus. Health Measures Work The cruise line has managed to keep the cluster contained to just four guests who tested positive by the end of the voyage, while the other 996 guests, and 800 crew members, all tested negative. TUI Cruises stated: The extensive health and...

New study suggests monetary reparations for Black descendants of people enslaved in the United States could have cut SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 rates both among Black individuals and the population at large. Researchers modeled the impact of structural racism on viral transmission and disease impact in the state of Louisiana. The higher burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Black people also amplified the virus's spread in the wider population. Reparations could have reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the overall population by as much as 68 percent.

Here is some election analysis about Colorado voter data which is stunning. Colorado was already a mail in vote state that mailed out ballots. COLORADO POPULATION AND VOTER FACT CHECK.. The population of Colorado in 2020 was 5,807,719, a 0.85% increase from 2019. The population of Colorado in 2019 was 5,758,486, a 1.08% increase from 2018. The population of Colorado in 2018 was 5,697,155, a 1.42% increase from 2017. The population of Colorado in 2017 was 5,617,421, a 1.33% increase from 2016. *Accordingly, the population of Colorado increases by roughly 1-1.5% per year.. ** Nationwide - Trump Boosted his Hispanic...

Dan Crenshaw does social media good. What he may lack in depth perception, he makes up for in a Don Henley-esque way of getting down the heart of the matter. This is no doubt to in response to the latest casualty of the culture wars, Gina Carano. In case you didn't know, the former Star Wars star is right-leaning. She was found guilty of the high crime of tweeting right-leaning opinions. Ironically, the same week we found out far-left director Joss Whedon may have allegedly been abusing his female stars for decades. But again, he was far left. So ......

President Joe Biden said that the United States is facing a “national emergency” in the coronavirus pandemic and his administration is working to supply enough COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate 300 million Americans. “We’re in a national emergency,” said Biden, wearing a mask during remarks to scientists at the National Institutes of Health just outside Washington, DC on Thursday. “This will be one of the most difficult operational challenges we have ever undertaken as a nation. It’s going to take time,” Biden said. He also used this opportunity to attack President Trump. Biden said the coronavirus vaccination program he inherited from...

First lady Jill Biden has a valentine for the American people: giant pink, white and red hearts bearing calls for “unity,” “hope” and “love” installed early Friday on the North Lawn of the White House. “I just wanted some joy,” the first lady told reporters during a surprise visit to the lawn with President Joe Biden and their two German shepherds, Champ and Major. “I think things have been so — with the pandemic — everybody’s feeling a little down, so it’s just a little joy, a little hope, that’s all.” The oversized hearts, also emblazoned with words like “kindness,”...

<p>White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo attempted to quash a story about his relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond “by issuing threats and using derogatory language to another reporter pursuing it,” according to a stunning new report from Vanity Fair. The reporter Ducklo threatened with “derogatory and misogynistic comments” in addition to threats such as “I will destroy you” was Politico’s Tara Palmeri.</p>

BEIJING—Chinese authorities refused to provide World Health Organization investigators with raw, personalized data on early Covid-19 cases that could help them determine how and when the coronavirus first began to spread in China, according to WHO investigators who described heated exchanges over the lack of detail. The Chinese authorities turned down requests to provide such data on 174 cases of Covid-19 that they have identified from the early phase of the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The investigators are part of a WHO team that this week completed a monthlong mission in China aimed at...

House Republicans are already feeling confident of taking back the majority in 2022, and some key Democrats are focused on the warning signs. Both centrist and liberal Democrats are concerned that if Speaker Nancy Pelosi drags the party too far left, it will be doomed to defeat. “You know, 2022 is already looking like a pretty formidable challenge for reelection,” said California Rep. Scott Peters, the vice chairman for policy for the New Democrat Coalition. In a discussion about party politics with Simon Rosenberg of the liberal think tank NDN, Peters echoed other top Democrats who said that the GOP...

Analysis: The Communion Controversy Could be Far Greater Than Just Pro-Abortion PoliticiansCanon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.” WASHINGTON — Once again, U.S. bishops are debating whether to apply the canonical penalty of denying Communion to unrepentantly pro-abortion Catholic politicians.While this conversation has been occurring for years within the conference, what is new is that some bishops are now framing this discussion within the broader topic of general worthiness to receive Holy Communion. Catholics in general, they argue—not just pro-abortion politicians—need...

Too few Americans understand the threat that China’s governing philosophy and structures pose to the US. China envy runs strong among America’s progressive elite. The Communist Party of China’s hold on power and centralized decision-making has long appealed to progressives infuriated with their inability to mandate solutions to global warming (and other progressive priorities). Tom Friedman, an established bellwether of elite opinion, has been voicing this exasperation for more than a decade. Last weekend he reduced the genocide in Xinjiang to “bad stuff with the Uighurs,” of less concern than Chinese excellence in high-speed rail. Far too few Americans grasp...

February 12 is the anniversary of Lady Jane Grey‘s beheading at the Tower of London. The Protestant teenager was the designated successor of sickly boy-king Edward VI, but popular and aristocratic support went for Mary Tudor in a landslide. The Nine Days’ Queen landed in the Tower and copped to a treason charge on a tenuous deal for mercy (not applicable to her sponsors and allies, many of whom went to the block). But a January 1554 Protestant rebellion that had Protestant restoration as part of its programme made it a dangerous indulgence for Mary to keep her cousin’s neck...