Free Republic

Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Stacy Davis Gates recently said that “all children belong to” the union. Seriously. For real. According to the Daily Caller, Gates trashed President Trump for diminishing the power of teachers’ unions during a recent City Club Chicago event, going so far as to characterize Trump’s education agenda as a “re-litigation” of the Civil War. All while complaining about the failing state of Chicago schools. Gates told the crowd, “The children are always ours. Every single one of them, all over the globe.” Gates then mocked parents who might disagree by saying “CTU thinks your children...

Every year, our nation sets aside the second Sunday in May to rightfully honor and pay tribute to the mothers in America. After all, if it weren’t for our mothers, none of us would be alive. This year, I was struck by the degree to which a growing portion of our society appears to believe that Mother’s Day should be updated to also include those who own pets; now referred to as “pet moms.” Yep, you read that right: some want pet owners honored right alongside actual mothers on Mother’s Day. Apparently, 60 percent of those who participated in a...

Enlarge ImageParent trap. Parasitic wasps inject caterpillars with a virus to disable their natural defenses and allow wasp larvae to grow within caterpillars' bodies. Credit: : Image courtesy of Alex Wild/myrmecos.net Ancient Virus Gave Wasps Their Sting By Rachel ZelkowitzScienceNOW Daily News12 February 2009There's no consent for these surrogate parents. Tens of thousands of wasp species lay their eggs inside caterpillars, injecting toxins that paralyze the hosts and allow their young to feast on the innards with impunity. Researchers have long wondered what exactly these toxins are and where they came from. The answers, a new genetic analysis reveals,...

A couple of gay penguins are attempting to steal eggs from straight birds in an effort to become "fathers", it has been reported. The two penguins have started placing stones at the feet of parents before waddling away with their eggs, in a bid to hide their theft. But the deception has been noticed by other penguins at the zoo, who have ostracised the gay couple from their group. Now keepers have decided to segregate the pair of three-year-old male birds to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season. A keeper at Polar Land in Harbin,...

If you've driven through any large city (and many smaller ones), you've probably been exposed to what's called a "red-light district." It is a seedy, run-down area of town with porn shops, bars and strip clubs – a place where anything goes. Few people would want one of these blighted areas in their backyard or want their children exposed to the filth and perversion there. But most of us don't realize that we have a red-light district just down the street from our homes. And our children are not only allowed to be there, their presence is actually required by...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - An initiative filed by proponents of same-sex marriage would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriage annulled. Initiative 957 was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance. That group was formed last summer after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington's ban on same-sex marriage. Related Content: Washington Defense of Marriage AllianceUnder the initiative, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children in order to get a marriage license, and if they did not...