Free Republic

Tea Party Re-Flexes Its Muscle By Janie Lorber Roll Call Staff Jan. 7, 2013, 6:55 p.m. The state of the tea party evokes Mark Twain: Reports of its death were an exaggeration. Tea party activists who say they deliberately sat out the fiscal cliff debate are ready to reassert themselves as Congress and the Obama administration take up the debt ceiling and automatic spending cuts under the sequester. The Tea Party Patriots, a national umbrella organization that claims 15 million supporters, is urging its members to confront lawmakers in their districts. They want Congress to let the $109 billion in...

President Obama is hosting a closed-door White House meeting Tuesday morning with labor leaders and liberal activists to discuss his stance in negotiations with House Republicans on the looming budgetary fiscal cliff. One day later, Mr. Obama plans to have a similar private discussion with business leaders. Vice President Joe Biden will also attend the Tuesday's gathering, which is being billed as a discussion of "the actions we need to take to keep our economy growing and find a balanced approach to reduce our deficit," according to a White House release. Several labor leaders plan on attending, including Mary Kay...

Here they come again. California unions are once again meddling in Arizona politics on behalf of illegal aliens, and against the interests of their own American workers. The deceptively-named "Campaign For Arizona’s Future" - which was funded by the national mega-labor unions AFL-CIO and UNITE HERE is spending millions to try and defeat Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The group, which calls its campaign "Adios Arpaio", is mostly comprised of the same Los Angeles-based activists which protested in 2010 after the passage of S.B. 1070. They claim to have registered over 36,000 - mostly Hispanics - in Maricopa County, AZ to...

PHOENIX — Civil rights groups are dropping their bid to stop police from enforcing the "papers please” provision of SB 1070, at least for the time being. Linton Joaquin of the National Immigration Law Center said it makes little sense to spend time appealing last month’s order by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton letting the law take effect. That followed a Supreme Court ruling in June saying there was no basis for her original 2010 injunction declaring the provision was pre-empted by federal law. And Bolton specifically denied a request by the civil rights groups for a new preliminary...

The California sea otter, whose luscious coat was so coveted by fur traders that the species was nearly wiped out, is holding steady in its west coast sanctum despite a record number of deaths, including an alarming uptick in shark attacks. .... The number of bite wounds found on the otters, almost all of which appear to be from great white sharks, were perplexing to scientists considering that only 339 of the toothy predators were recently counted in local waters, far fewer than researchers expected. In addition to the increase in adult otters, there were also more otter pups in...

"...A pro-gun group claims it flipped the script on Chicago's firearms buyback program by selling old, broken rifles to the city and then using the money to buy guns and ammo for an NRA-sponsored shooting camp for kids..."

Activists Seek to Reignite Debate Over Elizabeth Warren's AncestryBy Meghan Kiesel | ABC OTUS News – 3 hrs ago Despite Republican attempts to turn Elizabeth Warren's Cherokee heritage - or lack thereof - into a campaign issue, her self-identification with the tribe despite a 1/32 share of ancestry has not affected her standing in opinion polls. A recent Boston Globe poll suggested more than 70 percent of voters said the controversy wouldn't affect their vote. That hasn't stopped a small but committed group of Cherokee women from dogging Warren on the campaign trail, irked that she has called herself Cherokee....

Remember when the Boston Globe prematurely declared this political scandal over last May? Good times.  Four outraged Cherokee activists who say Elizabeth Warren’s campaign has ignored their emails and phone calls will trek to Boston this week in hopes they can force a meeting with the Democratic Senate candidate over her “offensive” Native American heritage claims.“It’s almost becoming extremely offensive to us,” said Twila Barnes, a Cherokee genealogist who has researched Warren’s family tree. “We’re trying to get in contact and explain why her behavior hurts us and is offensive, and she totally ignores that. Like we don’t exist.” Late...

This activist thinks women have the right to “bare” more than just arms. “I want people to know . . . it’s legal for a woman to be topless,” Johnston said. Moira Johnston, 29, drew a lot of attention during a topless protest yesterday in Union Square Park — and that’s exactly what the dancer wants.

Private pilots who may want to fly near Chicago on the weekend of May 19-20 have been warned they could be shot down, and a Red Cross memo suggests there could be mass evacuations of the city in the event of riots by left-leaning activists protesting the NATO summit. Less than a day’s drive away, however, near Jefferson City, Mo., at the same time there will be an event for Americans who also are worried about the nation. But instead of protests and riots, participants will focus on how to build up America, repair it and stabilize it for future...

Police detained two leftist activists Sunday at Ben Gurion International Airport Sunday afternoon after they held up signs that said "Welcome to Palestine." Forty anti-Israeli activists were refused entry into Israel in the hours between Saturday night and 3:00 p.m. Sunday. They were all taken to questioning in the Interior Ministry office at the airport, pending their repatriation. The two leftists unfurled the signs immediately after Police Central District Commander Maj. Gen. Bentzi Sau gave reporters a briefing on the situation. As they were led away, nationalist Israeli activists shouted at them: "Go see what is going on in Syria!"...

Syrians are voting Sunday on the draft of a new constitution that would limit the presidency to two seven-year terms, beginning with this year. The new constitution also theoretically calls for the creation of a multi-party system. Polls opened across the country at 7:00 a.m. Local time, and are scheduled to close 12 hours later. Some 14.6 million eligible voters have allegedly been asked to cast their ballots for or against the new constitution in more than 14,000 polling stations. The document was drafted to quiet the critics of the government's brutal year-long violent campaign against civilians protesting the regime...

Actress' claim to be gay by choice riles activistsLISA LEFF The Associated Press Posted: Sat, Jan. 28, 2012, 12:19 AM SAN FRANCISCO - Cynthia Nixon learned the hard way this week that when it comes to gay civil rights, the personal is always political. Very political. **SNIP** While the broader gay rights movement recognizes that human sexuality exists on a spectrum, and has found common cause with transgender and bisexual people, Nixon may have unwittingly given aid and comfort to those who want to deny same-sex couples the right to marry, adopt children and secure equal spousal benefits, said Jennifer...

Report: Undercover police had kids with activistsBy: The Associated Press | 01/20/12 6:22 PM Britain's Guardian newspaper said Friday that two undercover police officers have fathered children with the activists they were spying on. Key details were hazy but the revelations are the latest in a series of reports which has cast doubt on whether undercover police in the U.K. go too far in seeking to infiltrate environmental, animal rights and extremist groups. British authorities are already preparing a report into the use of undercover officers after one of them caused a trial to collapse when his cover was blown.

Dozens of anti-Israel activists attempted to barge into the Israeli consulate in Boston over the weekend in protest over Israel's seizure of the Canadian-Irish flotilla ships that attempted to sail to Gaza. Bearing PA flags, the activists attempted to storm the building but were turned back. They swore to return, shouting slogans about how the “apartheid regime in Israel must fall.” The activists were “spillovers” from the Occupy Boston protests, one of many being held in the U.S. demanding social justice. At least three people have been arrested on drug charges in the protests over the past several days, and...

[Editors' Note - Crowdsourcing: At the end of this post, you will find links to download the #OccupyWallStreet email archive described earlier today by Andrew Breitbart. Send your thoughts, observations, and findings to feedback@breitbart.com, or post them in the comment section.] On August 10, 2011, the hacker group “Anonymous” announced that it would join the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. That’s what sparked my interest in monitoring #OccupyWallStreet. I reached out to a colleague and asked if he would be interested in studying the protest with me. At first, it seemed disorganized, and we believed it would only be a few...

The debate on the intentions of Glenn Beck and other Christian evangelicals rages on, and Dr. Gadi Eshel, a Land of Israel activist, told Arutz 7 Tuesday that while he did not believe that Beck's intentions were improper, rejecting the friendship of evangelicals could cause anti-Semitism. Eshel was responding to comments by Jerusalem City Council member Mina Fenton Monday, who voiced vociferous opposition to Beck's appearance in Jerusalem on Wednesday, saying that his rally was designed to encourage missionary activity. Eshel told Arutz 7 that Christians like Beck supported Israel because they were strong believers in the Bible, and not...

Tea party activists confronted Barack Obama in Decorah, Iowa tonight during one of his stops on his Magical Mysery Tour. The tea party activists asked Obama about Joe Biden’s comments that tea partiers were “terrorists.” Obama refused to answer the question.

(And you wonder why Britain is in trouble ....) After just one day of classes at her summer school of choice, Emily Birkenshaw had already learned a crucial lesson: how to "go floppy" when facing arrest. "You're heavier then, so you can't be carried," she said, with the genuine delight of a new recruit. The 24-year-old been practising by linking arms with her classmates and singing loudly at a pretend policeman. "It just felt really empowering," she said. "If that happened [in real life] – and I hope it wouldn't – I'd know how to do it without getting hurt."...

Israel has turned the tables on flotilla activists and is conducting a “fly-out” deportation of activists who tried to sail to Gaza Wednesday, less than two weeks after a “fly-in” by activists succeeded in little more than gaining a blub in the media. One of the pro-Hamas supporters who was on the “fly-in” will participated in the “fly-out” Wednesday after the Interior Ministry completes deportation procedures. The 15 foreigners aboard the French "Dignity” boat were stopped en route to Gaza by Navy commandos, who overtook the boat without opposition and brought the crew and passengers to the port of Ashdod....