Free Republic

This week, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten assailed school choice for "undermining our democracy. Giving parents the option of selecting which school they want their children to attend introduces an unwarranted variation in what these children will learn. Disagreement and disunity are the inevitable outcome." "First of all, parents aren't qualified to judge what constitutes a good education," Weingarten argued. "The public schools have a uniform curriculum that is designed to ensure that every student receives an equal education free of the prejudices and misconceptions their parents seek to ingrain in their children." "Second, those running alternative...

A man wanted to get married. He was having trouble choosing among three likely candidates. He gives each woman a present of $5,000 and watches to see what they do with the money. The first does a total makeover. She goes to a fancy beauty salon, gets her hair done, new makeup; buys several new outfits and dresses up very nicely for the man. She tells him that she has done this to be more attractive for him because she loves him so much. The man was impressed. The second goes shopping to buy the man gifts. She gets him...

This brief summarizes a report that comprehensively examines nonviolent, cost-imposing options that the United States and its allies could pursue across economic, political, and military areas to stress—overextend and unbalance—Russia’s economy and armed forces and the regime's political standing at home and abroad. Some of the options examined are clearly more promising than others, but any would need to be evaluated in terms of the overall U.S. strategy for dealing with Russia, which neither the report nor this brief has attempted to do.Today’s Russia suffers from many vulnerabilities—oil and gas prices well below peak that have caused a drop in...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Wednesday she believed members of Congress should be allowed to trade stocks despite ethical questions, citing the “free market.” Pelosi, who routinely makes headlines with her husband for their prophetic ability to making winning trades, made the comment in response to a reporter who asked about a Business Insider story based on a five-month review that found a large number of lawmakers and their staffers had been late filing financial disclosures detailing their trades. “Should members of Congress and their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while serving in Congress?” the reporter asked....

Move over GameStop and dogecoin, the investing world has a new meme: Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and star stock-picker. Pelosi has become a regular feature on the biggest financial meme pages such as Litquidity and Parik Patel. And investing TikTok accounts are getting tens of thousands of views on clips about Pelosi's moves in the market. But why?A fateful Alphabet bet Central to the story of how Pelosi became the biggest meme on Wall Street is US legislation that forces lawmakers to disclose their and their family's trading activity. It means the general...

In this video, Patriot Nurse discusses tactics for forcing compliance and what to do to avoid vax in initial stages of forced compliance. The Government has put the burden on the corporations to enforce vaccination but will increase the pressure with more severe methods shortly after. This is a well thought out plan that we can put into effect ahead of time. Over the past decades, the healthcare industry in the United States has undergone a fundamental and troubling transformation in the quality and core characteristics of healthcare workers. This shift has brought Marxist ideology into healthcare. Real Talk: How...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) weighed in on invoking the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump Thursday, saying he does not think it is “appropriate” at this point but did not rule it out for future incidents. “As to the 25th Amendment being invoked, I do not believe that’s appropriate at this point,” Graham said in a video statement. “I’m looking for a peaceful transfer of power, I’m looking for the next 14 days to reset, and we will hand off power in a traditional sense.”

Have a few questions and my head is spinning.

The trader sold 19,000 put options on the S&P 500 Index obligating him or her to buy the market benchmark at 2,100 on Dec. 18, 2020, data from New York-based options analytics firm Trade Alert showed. As long as the index doesn't drop more than 22 percent from its current level of 2,582 by that date, the bet will earn the trader roughly $175 million in premiums. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold billions of dollars in stock index options between 2004 and 2008, betting that markets would rise over the next 15 to 20 years. Although the trades were made anonymously,...

If Israel and Iran want to set new rules for the game played on the Syrian front, and if they would rather avoid all-out war, they should look back at the understandings reached between Israel and former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in Lebanon back in 1976. Both parties could stand to learn from what happened there.After the events of “Black September” in 1970, the PLO was expelled from Jordan, taking up residence in Lebanon. This led to a conflict with the Christian population, which appealed to the Syrian army for help. Long seeing themselves as the patrons of Lebanon, responsible...

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We have applied. How have any of your doctors, emergency rooms, or other providers reacted when you show them your card? Do they discount you right there? Any rejections? Are skeptical docs placated after bills are paid well and on time? I'd love to hear how it's working for you.

With the deadline to sign up for Obamacare having come and gone, many Americans have decided to “opt out” of President Obama’s signature health care reform law, choosing instead to pay the $95 penalty for sidestepping the individual mandate. “For many Americans opting out of Obamacare is the best decision they can make, but it's important that they do it the right way—just refusing to buy health insurance and not having another way to pay for catastrophic medical expenses is a mistake,” Sean Parnell, author of the newly-released The Self-Pay Patient, told Breitbart News. “People who want to opt out...

The United States said Thursday for the first time that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against rebel forces, but emphasized spy agencies were still not 100 percent sure of the assessment, AFP reports. A senior White House official said that "all options are on the table" should use of the chemical weapons be confirmed, but a U.S. defense official stressed that a military intervention was not imminent and signaled spy agencies had differing opinions. "Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria," U.S....

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today filed a civil complaint in federal district court in Washington, DC, charging Intrade The Prediction Market Limited (Intrade) and Trade Exchange Network Limited (TEN), Irish companies based in Dublin, Ireland, with offering commodity option contracts to U.S. customers for trading, as well as soliciting, accepting, and confirming the execution of orders from U.S. customers, all in violation of the CFTC’s ban on off-exchange options trading. The CFTC’s complaint also charges Intrade and TEN with making false statements concerning their options trading website in documents filed with the CFTC, and...

"Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak believe that waiting for Iran to assemble nuclear devices may be too late. Iran’s Supreme Leader, President Ahmadinejad and Revolutionary Guard commanders have publicly threatened to incinerate Israel in a nuclear attack-a second Holocaust. Netanyahu has said “why wait?” While he has spoken with President Obama about this urgent matter, the President has not yet scheduled a meeting with PM Netanyahu during the 67th UN General Assembly session that recently opened in New York City."

Given that our illustrious President has been tearing down every established tradition of this great nation; has the time come to replace that tired old theme "Hail to the Chief" with something more modern and perhaps appropriate for the Chief Executive of a new era? We could even honor the great Robin Gibb on his very untimely passing. I propose that the next time you see the President makes his way to the dais that instead of the traditional fanfare that instead, "Jive Talking" or "Woman Man" be played.Thank you for your consideration

With healthcare reform law in legal limbo, Dems consider their optionsBy Julian Pecquet - 02/01/11 06:01 AM ET Healthcare reform supporters have begun to seek alternatives to the unpopular individual mandate at the heart of Monday’s surprising decision overturning the entire law. Officially, the Obama administration dismissed Judge Roger Vinson’s decision as a fluke. Two judges have already ruled that the mandate is constitutional, and a third struck down the mandate but not the rest of the law. “The department intends to appeal this ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler. “We strongly...

Joe Lieberman essentially has two options for 2012: Retire or become a Republican. The Connecticut senator and Democratic exile hasn't made up his mind whether to seek a fifth term, Lieberman and those close to him say. But if he does, the GOP ticket appears to offer his best shot at reelection. "That's his only hope," said John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO and a former state Democratic chairman. Even that, Olsen and others involved in Connecticut politics say, looks like a long shot. But no other avenue appears to be open to the 68-year-old Lieberman, who won a...

Much of the media's attention is focused on Election Day. But another event Tuesday could have a far greater effect on the one overriding issue that looks likely to lead to major Republican gains. The Federal Reserve, at a meeting of policymakers Tuesday and Wednesday, is poised to take dramatic steps to jolt the economy awake. With Ben Bernanke and Company running out of conventional tools to address the slump, the moment is one of the most crucial since the downturn began nearly three years ago. The Fed has already pumped money into the economy by buying over $1.7 trillion...