Free Republic

Ice New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called on protesters rallying under the “Abolish ICE” banner to occupy border crossings, airports and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices across the country. Ocasio-Cortez made the comments during an interview on Monday with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, speaking alongside Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau. Asked by Goodman about her decision to leave New York to join protests at the U.S.-Mexico border just days before the primary in which she defeated Democratic Representative Joseph Crowley in a stunning upset, Ocasio-Cortez said, "There is no convenient time" to "stand up against human rights violations."...

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked a proposal that would split the state into three from the November ballot. The court wrote that it took the step “because significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition’s validity and because we conclude that the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election.” Last week, an environmental group sued to have the measure removed from the ballot. To substantially alter the state's governance under the California constitution, the group argued, a constitutional convention would need to...

The California Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in favor of opponents of a plan to divide California into three, saying the measure should not appear on the November ballot. The court instructed Secretary of State Alex Padilla to refrain from putting the measure before voters pending further review, “because significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition’s validity, and because we conclude that the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election...” The environmental nonprofit Planning and Conservation League and political attorneys alleged that breaking up...

It was always the same M.O.: The man disguised as a ride-share company driver would pull up outside a bar in San Francisco, approaching a woman who appeared to be looking for her ride. The car would have ride-share tags on it. But when the woman got in, the driver would not take her home. Instead, he would take her elsewhere and violently rape her. It happened first in 2013. Police were able to obtain forensic evidence from the sexual assault — the suspect’s DNA — and promptly entered it into the FBI’s national database known as CODIS. But there...

The chair of the House Intelligence Committee accused the FBI and Department of Justice of stonewalling a sprawling investigation into claims the Trump campaign colluded with Russia with the hope of running out the clock until the November elections, when they anticipate Democrats will regain control of the House and dissolve an ongoing probe that has uncovered evidence U.S. officials sought to cripple Trump's campaign. Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), in a wide-ranging audio interview with his House colleague Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), accused top officials at the FBI and DOJ of "putting all their chips on the Republicans...

An app meant to keep readers informed about the Qanon conspiracy theory has been removed from the App Store. As first reported by NBC News, the “QDrops” application would send users alerts for new developments in the theory, but was pulled by Apple on grounds of violations of its App Store Guidelines… QDrops, developed by a “husband and wife team” from North Carolina, originally launched on iOS back in April and peaked at No. 10 of all paid applications in the App Store and No. 1 in the entertainment category. The app was available for $0.99, which means Apple was...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLcoOIDJBsc

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Monday that Mexico had been more successful than Russia in influencing U.S. elections by "packing" the American electorate with its own people. Carlson said Russia has, in fact, sought to meddle in U.S. affairs. But other countries, like Mexico, had been more successful in doing so, he said. "I don't think Russia is our close friend or anything like that," Carlson said. "I think of course they try to interfere in our affairs. They have for a long time. Many countries do. Some more successfully than Russia, like Mexico, which is routinely interfering in...

San Francisco residents will vote this November on whether the city should increase taxes on large businesses to pay for the homeless and housing services, according to the Associated Press. The news outlet reported that the city elections department verified on Monday that supporters of the measure had collected the required amount of signatures to place it on the ballot. If passed, the measure would raise more than $300 million annually for housing and shelter beds for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so. Up to half of the money would go towards permanent housing, and about...

House Republicans grilled former FBI lawyer Lisa Page behind closed doors on Monday as they sought to make the case that bias influenced the bureau’s investigations of President Trump and Hillary Clinton. It was the second day of a grueling interview for Page, whose emails and text messages with FBI agent Peter Strzok have been cited by GOP lawmakers as suggesting the FBI was biased against the Republican presidential candidate. Lawmakers from the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform committees remained mostly tight-lipped on the details of her testimony, though multiple Republicans praised her as cooperative and forthcoming....

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested the Kremlin is blackmailing President Trump Monday, suggesting Russia has something against the president as the two world leaders met in Helsinki, Finland.Her comments came as Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press conference wrapping up their summit, which lasted several hours. Every single day, I find myself asking: what do the Russians have on @realDonaldTrump personally, financially, & politically? The answer to that question is that only thing that explains his behavior & his refusal to stand up to Putin. #ABetterDeal — Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 16, 2018 Early Monday,...

The GOP Speaker Paul Ryan attacked President Trump today after his meeting and press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ryan released the comments after the press conference this morning. Nancy Pelosi urged Paul Ryan to take a stronger stance against the Republican president.

What if the bluest state in the country stole a third of a billion dollars from victims of chicanery and the media refused to notice?    I have been stunned at the lack of media coverage of California’s foiled robbery of almost a third of a billion dollars. That’s right: under Governor Jerry Brown, the Great State of California helped itself to hundreds of millions of dollars – money that was supposed to go to home owners, and you probably didn’t hear about it. Bib Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle was one of the few to cover this...

California has long been known as the land of “fruits and nuts” – a mentality that permeates every aspect of life there – and it never ends. The latest fiascoes involve “law and order” – or at least, what one would assume deals with the law and the orderly adherence to it. But this is California we’re talking about, and like Alice through the Looking Glass, nothing is what it seems. The state has passed gun-control laws, laws regulating items purchased, requiring ammunition identification that is impossible to do, and even changing the laws to reduce the penalties for crimes....

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, in her first one-on-one interview since taking office, said homeless advocacy groups that receive funding from the city need to better educate the homeless to "clean up after themselves." "I work hard to make sure your programs are funded for the purposes of trying to get these individuals help, and what I am asking you to do is work with your clients and ask them to at least have respect for the community — at least, clean up after themselves and show respect to one another and people in the neighborhood," Breed told the Investigative...

<p>But promoting socialism, sky-high taxes, and open borders is probably not going to help them trounce the GOP in November. The activist base of the Democratic party is lurching left fast enough that everyone should pay attention. Activists matter because their turnout in low-turnout primaries and caucuses almost propelled leftist Bernie Sanders to victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unseated New York congressman Joe Crowley, the No. 4 ranking House Democrat in a low-turnout primary. She benefited from organizing support from the Democratic Socialists of America. Leftists have also upset establishment Democrats in statewide primaries for governor in Colorado and Maryland.</p>

California gangster rap star YG was arrested on Thursday and charged with felony robbery, according to TMZ.

Anthea Butler Democrats will lose in 2018 if they don't shut up about civility and shout about our democracy dying Rejoice, Republicans, you will have another majority on your hands, because Democratic messaging for the 2018 election cycle is nonexistent. Harsh? Not even. The unimaginative leaders of the Democratic Party — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez — have been playing nice and talking about the virtues of "civility," while the Republican Party has been accusing Democrats of backing Communism and supporting the violent street gang MS-13. (Trump has...

It's a basic truism that a trip to the DMV is usually an exercise in punishing frustration not unlike the outermost circles of hell in Dante's Inferno, a "house of suffering" where "no thing gleams" and the air is filled with sighs of despair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l278LLK4FwU