Free Republic

Here’s his letter about it to the company. It’s just a request, not a ban. If he made it a ban, then employees would have to enforce it. And he’s quite candid about his misgivings over putting an unarmed worker in the position of telling someone who’s packing that they’re unwelcome. Lots of grumbling about this on Twitter this morning, which surprised me. Surely there can’t be that much overlap between fans of open carry and fans of pumpkin spice lattes. Turns out I had missed the news about “Starbucks Appreciation Day” by gun owners last month, though. This isn’t...

Starbucks says guns are no longer welcome in its cafes, though it is stopping short of an outright ban on firearms. The fine line that the retailer is walking to address the concerns of both gun rights and gun control advocates reflects how heated the issue has become, particularly in light of recent mass shootings. Most states allow people to openly carry licensed guns in some way and many companies do not have policies banning firearms in their stores. But Starbucks has become a target for gun control advocates, in part because of its liberal-leaning corporate image. In turn, gun...

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is seeking action from the United Nations over the new president of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) membership in an organization that encourages boycotts of Israel. In a letter to the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), Wilfried Lemke, the center’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, called for newly elected IOC head, Thomas Bach, to be pressed to resign his Chairmanship of the German agency for boycott of Israel.

Folks, In honor of the 'Total Recall' victory in Colorado last night, I want to ask for your help in participating in the "Trillion Dollar Boycott" of Gun Grabber States, that will cost you nothing. One of the largest expenses each of us pay, are insurance payments (Home, auto, life, etc). For me, it's over $5,000 per year - that's $50,000 over 10 years. When I found out my hard earned dollars I was paying for insurance were going to a Yankee Gun Grabber state, I decided to change my insurance provider and now support a company located in a...

The European Union (EU) is seeking to reassure Israelis who are concerned about the economic harm caused by the EU’s decision to forbid its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, or giving scholarships or research grants to bodies in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. A senior delegation from the European Union will arrive in Israel early this week to examine ways of preventing damage to Israeli entities operating beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines. …

Forty-one days after legendary Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder vowed to boycott Florida, Miami Beach’s sultry sultry summer evenings called out to him and he couldn’t resist. Jose’ Lambeit’s Gossip Extra broke the story Tuesday that the legendary recording artist spent the weekend in South Florida’s legendary South Beach before jetting off to Los Angeles. During a Canadian performance on July 14, Wonder told the audience he would boycott Florida, saying, “for those of you who’ve lost in the battle for justice.. we can’t bring them back. What we can do is we can let our voices be heard.” He made...

Jerusalem -The 73-year-old singer became the latest high-profile act to come under pressure not to perform in Israel after activists in his native Wales used the title of one his most famous songs, "It´s Not Unusual", to urge him to cancel the show at Tel Aviv´s Nokia Arena on October 27. The Cardiff Palestine Solidarity Campaign said its petition, "It´s Not Unusual To Boycott Apartheid", had attracted more than 1,000 signatures. It provoked a sharp retort from Israel´s consulate in New York, which used the same song as the title of a mass email campaign, "It´s Not Unusual To Love

Activists from several Chicago community groups on Thursday called for a one-day boycott of Chicago Public Schools because of what they say are discriminatory practices against poor African-American and Latino students. The group is asking students to skip school Wednesday and parents and supporters to forgo a Chicago Board of Education meeting to attend a rally in front of the board's downtown office, followed by a march to City Hall. **SNIP** The activists said the school district's decision to close 49 elementary schools and a high school program has destabilized minority communities and put student lives in danger. Many mentioned...

רוג'ר ווטרס, כדאי שתוריד את התצלום שלי מהוידאו ארט בהופעות שלך. אם כבר חרם- אז עד הסוף.— Bar Refaeli (@BarRefaeli) August 21, 2013 Bar Refaeli thinks Roger Waters is "comfortably dumb" when it comes to his boycott of Israel. The Pink Floyd frontman penned an open letter to his "colleagues in rock and roll," calling on them to not perform in Israel and to draw attention to the crimes of "apartheid" and "ethnic cleansing" there

San Antonio City Councilwoman District 9 Elisa Chan enters a briefing room for a press conference at City Hall, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013. In a secret recording by former staff member James Stevens on May 21, Chan condemned homosexuality and described it as "disgusting". At the press conference, Chan reiterated her rights to free speech and personal opinions. "Political correctness will not win this dayÉ.I stand strong in my First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech," she said.     GetEQUAL Texas has issued a travel advisory for LGBT people considering visiting San Antonio. “GetEQUAL TX alerts those traveling...

Lee Daniels, director of "Lee Daniels' The Butler," can't seem to keep his charges of racism straight. I always thought that a sure sign of racism was how much rural whites love to see black people "perform." But now Daniels is claiming that he had to stock his latest film with white actors out of the fear that, unless he did, rural whites would not want to see a film starring only black people: The new movie “The Butler” has a unique political feature: Portrayals of five U.S. presidents. (Robin Williams plays Dwight Eisenhower, James Marsden portrays John F. Kennedy,...

An MK from Israel’s second largest party has warned that settlement-building risks cutting off Israel from the West. Ofer Shelah, a Knesset deputy from the centrist Yesh Atid party, a key member of Israel’s ruling coalition, whose leader, Yair Lapid, is the country’s new finance minister, made the statement in Hebrew on his Facebook page on Wednesday (14 August). Referring to new EU guidelines which block funding for Israeli entities which operate on Palestinian land, he said: “The price of occupation that … used to be some abstract, philosophical notion, nowadays is concrete, obvious—and unbearable.” He noted that settlement-building “will...

Israel warned on Wednesday that it might shun a key EU research program unless a compromise is found over the bloc’s guidelines which boycott Israeli entities operating beyond the Green Line. Israel’s position was spelled out at a meeting with the European Union on the Jewish state’s participation in Horizon 2020, the bloc’s six-year funding plan for research and innovation, the foreign ministry said, according to AFP. … Horizon 2020 aims “to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the sources of pollution that account for around 80% of the overall pollution of the Mediterranean Sea: municipal waste,...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Councilman Nick Mosby's resolution calling on the city to review doing business with Florida firms due to the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law will be given a committee hearing like its sponsor wanted. The resolution encourages the city to review doing business with firms in that state, not because Mosby wants to see the law abolished, but rather to consider the "the subjective nature in which it's been applied in the state of Florida," Mosby told Patch. The resolution, according to the meeting agenda, calls for: Divestment from the State of Florida FOR the purpose of requesting that...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday said he opposed boycotting the Sochi Olympic Games despite new Russian anti-gay laws, instead urging nations to wave rainbow flags during the opening ceremonies to show support for gay rights. “That'd be pretty embarrassing for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Schumer said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” “Let our athletes participate but still make a stand.” In June, Putin signed a law banning gay “propaganda” and imposing fines on those holding gay pride rallies. The law has generated an international backlash ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has called...

If Councilman Nick Mosby has his way, Baltimore government would boycott Florida-based businesses in protest to the state's stand-your-ground law after George Zimmerman's acquittal. Mosby intends to file a resolution on Monday to encourage city agencies and investment boards to avoid doing business with companies in the Sunshine State. He hopes that would pressure the legislature there to rethink a law that allows individuals to use lethal force, if necessary, to defend themselves in public places. The resolution also calls on city officials to avoid traveling to Florida or attending events in the state. "Ultimately, the purpose of the legislation...

The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “politically charged flight of speculative fiction.” Newsmax refers to it “sci-fi socialism” and “political propaganda.” Variety said its one of the “more openly socialist political agendas of any Hollywood movie in memory, beating the drum loudly not just for universal healthcare, but for open borders, unconditional amnesty and the abolition of class distinctions as well.” [snip] Blomkamp, who rose to fame with the Oscar-nominated sci-fi hit “District 9” in 2009, said his highly-anticipated film has no agenda whatsoever, and claims he isn’t a political filmmaker. “’Elysium’ doesn’t have a message,” Blomkamp told Wired Magazine,...

According to Essence magazine, the GRAMMY Award winning gospel dou Mary Mary will Join Stevie Wonder in his Florida concert boycott following the acquittal of former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. "We will stand with Stevie Wonder & boycott Florida until the Stand Your Ground Law is changed," the pair reportedly told their Twitter followers. The pair explained "We love our fans but we MUST do something. We understand that a No from us isn't as big as a 'No' from Stevie Wonder, but if all our voices join together we can REALLY change things." Before the announcement, Mary Mary singer...

In a recent article I called for economic sanctions against Florida to compel business and political leaders in that state to change the “Stand Your Ground Law” that provided the basis for the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. There are times when there is a convergence of ideas, a meeting of minds, such that a particular strategy has the potential to galvanize a movement. This appears to be one of those times. The idea of boycotting Florida is not a Ron Daniels idea or Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) call. Rather,...