Free Republic

Every time windows are smashed and clashes erupt with police at Occupy protests in Oakland and San Francisco, one group is in the thick of it: masked, black-clad anarchists known as the Black Bloc. Police say they are pure trouble and point to conflicts at last week's May Day rallies as the most recent example. Most pacifist protesters wish they would go away. Hard-core Occupiers say they like having them around to diversify their movement's tactics. Exactly who makes up the Black Bloc is, by design, a bit of a mystery. Adherents rarely reveal their identity and say they aren't...

The paid informant who helped orchestrate the FBI sting that resulted in the arrest of five anarchists for allegedly plotting to blow up an Ohio bridge is a convicted felon who was arrested on bad check and theft charges in the midst of his cooperation with federal investigators, The Smoking Gun has learned.Shaquille Azir, 39, was named in a pair of felony indictments filed in January in Cuyahoga County, according to court records. Azir, who TSG has identified as the informant in the federal bombing case, is accused in the indictments of passing bad checks on July 25, 2011 and...

May Day demonstrators who marched through Seattle turned violent Tuesday, with black-clad protesters using sticks and bats to smash stores and automobile windows.

SEATTLE -- Some May Day protestors are running rampant in Downtown Seattle, smashing windows at businesses and cars as they marched through city streets Tuesday afternoon. Video from Air 4 has shown smashed windows at a Wells Fargo, a Downtown Federal Courthouse, and Niketown, among others. KOMO News reporter Joel Moreno says he and his photographer had been hit with a paint bomb while covering the march and ensuing riot. He says about 50 people clad in all black outfits were throwing paint at buildings and cars, marking the anarchist symbols, "but there were certainly others not dressed in black...

www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com presents Larken Rose, a noted libertarian, perhaps bordering on anarchist, spoke at the Ron Paul/End the Fed Rally in Philadelphia, this Sunday, 4/22/2012. Rose was quite impassioned, and he rallied the crowd. His perspective on government is that the functions it performs, it performs badly; individuals acting in concert could do a much better job. Rose's belief is that while limited government is a worthy goal of any society, in actuality it never works out the way it's intended to. Once Da Boyz have been given the right to tax, this quickly becomes the right to steal. This is...

Talking heads, bloggers and pundits who repeat the cop-out falsehood that “Obama is in over his head” are leading the masses astray and lulling them back to sleep. Count the number of times you’re hearing or reading daily that “Obama is in over his head”. Obama is not in over his head, he’s over their heads and therefore over some of the heads of the badly misinformed We the People. Barack Hussein Obama is no accident. He’s the slick and well-trained lead Agent of Change, handpicked by the far left to force Free World leader America into a socialist state....

Of the many roles Pat Robertson has assumed over his five-decade-long career as an evangelical leader - including presidential candidate and provocative voice of the right wing - his newest guise may perhaps surprise his followers the most: marijuana legalization advocate. "I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."

You called, you emailed, you bombarded their Facebook page with outrage. And Shirley Bunn is now back on the job. The Arlington School District this weekend reinstated Bunn. You may recall from our post a week earlier that she had been suspended for telling a frequently disruptive Hispanic student "Go back to Mexico", after he repeatedly asked her for a set of forms in Spanish, yelling "I'm Mexican...I'm Mexican". Even after Ms. Bunn told him he could get Spanish-language forms in the main office, the kid continued to harrass her for Spanish forms, yelling "I'm Mexican...I'm Mexican", after which Bunn...

A group of protesters who said they were illegal immigrants created a commotion Wednesday night in Raleigh as the N.C. House Select Committee on Immigration Policy spoke about recent arrests of illegals in Rockingham County. Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page was present during the protest. Earlier, Page had provided information to the committee dealing with recent arrests regarding drug trafficking in his county, and also supplied further information on the National Sheriff’s Association’s stance on immigration issues, immigration reform and border security. This was the group’s third meeting, and much of the focus was on the business side of immigration....

CHEYENNE — State Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has seen the national debt rise above $15 trillion and protest movements grow around the country. Wealthy Americans are fleeing the country, he says, and confidence in the dollar has taken a hit around the world. If America’s economic and social problems continue to escalate and spiral out of control, Miller said, Wyoming needs to be ready. So, he’s introduced legislation to create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government....

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he supports the idea of allowing illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses as long as they have been in the United States for a number of years without committing other crimes. Baca's comments Thursday come as Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has also expressed support for driver's license for illegal immigrants. Baca said such licenses should only be issued after illegal immigrants fill out comprehensive applications, similar to those for citizenship. The sheriff also said the licenses should be up for renewal annually, and be noticeably different than those issued to citizens....

Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institue and Doug Casey of Casey Research joined me today for a lively discussion about the need for government and why it always turns out wrong. Amazingly, these two prominent advocates of personal freedom have never met before. They vehemently disagreed on the possibiliteis of an anarchical society; Doug believes it's the only sensible way for people to co-exist, and Yaron believes it's a sure pathway to tyranny. The discussion then turned to the state's monopoly on force, where Doug's belief is this inevitably leads to grave injustice, and Yaron insists force be...

Gary Gibson of www.WhiskeyandGunPowder.com and Jeff Berwick of www.DollarVigilante.com join your humble host for a no holds barred discussion of why they believe that anarchy is the best course for humanity. While one can question the practicality of a world without government, Gary and Jeff have really thought things through and believe that we are all grown-up enough to live without the guiding hand of all knowing government. And while that may or may not be the case, governments today are teetering on the edge and we may have no choice but to prepare for life without them. Certainly government...

"This bankrupt belief has taken complete control of our government, educational system, medical industry, and our corporations. And unless we demand better from each other and our political leaders, our society is doomed to collapse under the crushing weight of the Corruption of America. It's time we got back to our traditions as Americans and started doing more to take care of our families, communities, and ourselves." This is a small outtake of a very long article. If you have 15 minutes go and read this as the author raises some very good points about things that are leading to...

Occupy protesters try to disrupt ports; police make arrestsBy Mike Pearson, CNN updated 5:27 AM EST, Tue December 13, 2011 (CNN) -- Occupy protesters succeeded in shutting down overnight operations at California's port of Oakland on Monday night after a day of similar protests in several other U.S. cities. The protests in Oakland have "disrupted workers trying to get to work and impaired the port's ability to operate," port spokesman Issac Kos-Read told CNN. Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said the port has told its members not to report for work for the overnight...

ROME — The director of a Rome office of Italy’s tax collection agency was wounded in the hands and eyes on Friday after opening a letter bomb, Italian police said. The man was hospitalized but the extent of his injuries were not immediately known. The police were investigating what they said was a stapled package mailed through the Italian postal system. Prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation into whether the letter bomb’s senders had terrorist aims, the ANSA news agency reported. The explosion in Italy comes a day after German authorities intercepted and defused a package bomb mailed to...

In more than two dozens cities across the nation Tuesday, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement took on the housing crisis by re-occupying foreclosed homes, disrupting bank auctions and blocking evictions. Occupy Our Homes said it's embarking on a "national day of action" to protest the mistreatment of homeowners by big banks, who they say made billions of dollars off of the housing bubble by offering predatory loans and indulging in practices that took advantage of consumers. In Atlanta, Occupy Our Homes activists went to the courthouses in three of the area's largest counties, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Fulton,...

There are many reasons to think Ron Paul is a bottom feeder. He refuses to support a Constitutional amendment to protect normal, heterosexual marriage. He voted to turn the United States military into a San Francisco bath house by repealing DADT. He wants to see drugs and prostitution legalized. He thinks Islamo-Nazi Iran should have a nuclear weapon. He surrounds himself with lunatics like Cindy Sheehan's love slave, Screwy Lewy Rockwell. In general, there isn't a sewer RuPaul (H/T: Mark Levin) isn't too proud to hunt for food in. Then, there's this. From CBS News: *********************************** "Libertarian Congressman Ron Paul...

The “Occupy London” movement stormed the offices of a mining company called Xstrata today, as reported by The Australian, which found the story of great interest to its readers because Xstrata has extensive operations in Australia: About 60 protesters got inside Panton House, Occupy London Stock Exchange (OLSX) said, where the diversified Anglo-Swiss firm has its British office. Another 200 were held outside within a police cordon, in the heart of central London's West End entertainment district. Some covered their faces with masks as they swept through the building. The protesters reached the roof and unveiled a banner reading "All...

"I think the problem is that the poor children, keep in mind it's 42% of poor children who live at or near poverty, it's 25% in poverty. Our audience needs to keep that in mind." Cornel West said on MSNBC this afternoon. "Poor children need more than just a $1,000 for their family, they need a war against poverty to make it a major priority in the way which we have a priority for Afghanistan, and a priority to bail out banks, and a priority to defend corporate interests when it comes to environmental issues," West said about more and...