Free Republic

In Texas, pro-life activists sing 'Amazing Grace' to drown out pro-choice protestors

INDIANAPOLIS – Common Core hasn’t been fully implemented yet, but it’s already making it easier for teachers to inject their political preferences into their lesson plans. That’s the case in Indianapolis’ Cathedral High School, where English teacher Melinda Bundy ... “I didn’t want to teach the Constitution, I didn’t want to teach the Declaration of Independence,” ... teachers who use their classrooms to promote (usually) left-wing political causes. But under Common Core, those activist teachers will be able to excuse their behavior by simply saying, “Common Core made me do it.” Indiana lawmakers have prudently hit the “pause” button on...

On Memorial Day weekend, 2 million people marched in protests against seed giant Monsanto for the purpose of bringing awareness to hazards from genetically modified food, which it and other companies manufacture. Organizer Tami Canal said protests were held in 436 cities in 52 countries. Genetically modified plants are grown from genetically modified, or engineered, seeds, which are created to resist insecticides and herbicides so that crops can be grown to withstand a weed-killing pesticide or integrate a bacterial toxin that can ward off pests. The Chicago Tribune reported that because genetically modified organisms are not listed on food or...

DENVER (Reuters) - Gun-rights activists submitted a petition on Monday to initiate the first recall election of a state lawmaker in Colorado's history for his support of laws restricting firearms. If the Colorado secretary of state validates at least 7,200 of the more than 16,000 signatures submitted, state Senate President John Morse, a Democrat, would face a recall. The move is being watched nationally by both sides of the gun-control debate. In March, Morse helped lead the effort to pass a package of gun-control measures in the Democratic-controlled state legislature, including banning ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds and...

Progressive shareholders and environmental groups to call for the firing of Chevron CEO John Watson at tomorrow's annual shareholder meeting. Here's why.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Protesters rallied in dozens of cities Saturday as part of a global protest against seed giant Monsanto and the genetically modified food it produces, organizers said. Organizers said "March Against Monsanto" protests were held in 52 countries and 436 cities, including Los Angeles where demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know."… The U.S. Senate this week overwhelmingly rejected a bill that would allow states to require labeling of genetically modified foods.

An all-too-familiar scene was enacted on the campus of Swarthmore College during a meeting on May 4 to discuss demands by student activists for the college to divest itself of its investments in companies that deal in fossil fuels. As a speaker was beginning a presentation to show how many millions of dollars such a disinvestment would cost the college, student activists invaded the meeting, seized the microphone, and shouted down a student who rose in the audience to object. Although there were professors and administrators in the room — including the college president — apparently nobody had the guts...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Protesters were set to gather Monday in downtown Los Angeles to urge the owners of the Los Angeles Times not to sell the newspaper to “political propagandists”. Members of the self-described “progressive” Courage Campaign along with MoveOn.org and Daily Kos launched an online petition demanding the Tribune Company, publishers of the L.A. Times, to reconsider a rumored sale to billionaire businessmen David and Charles Koch. Protesters were expected to deliver some 100,000 Californian signatures calling on Tribune Company President Peter Liguori “to refuse to sell the paper to political propagandists” to the company’s headquarters near City...

PHOENIX - Attorneys for Gov. Jan Brewer told a federal judge Monday there is no legal basis to order the state to provide driver's licenses to certain illegal immigrants immediately, since they are not being harmed. Douglas Northup, the lead counsel for the governor and the state Department of Transportation, said those who qualify for the Obama administration's "deferred action" program want U.S. District Judge David Campbell to require the state to issue licenses, even before the case goes to trial. The governor directed ADOT last year not to give licenses to those granted the right to remain in this...

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!"...