Free Republic

At least 58 Democrat members of the state House of Representatives will flee Texas and head to Washington DC to block Republicans from advancing new voting laws through a special session of the legislature. Under the Texas Constitution, the lawmakers risk arrest by fleeing town during a special legislative session. The new bills, House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 1 will add new ID requirements for mail-in voting and ban some early voting – floor votes on both bill were expected to take place this week, but Democrats are fleeing in private jets to block the measures. NBC News reported:...

Cuba protests: Thousands rally against government as economy struggles https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57799852 Cubans Denounce ‘Misery’ in Biggest Protests in Decades https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/world/americas/cuba-crisis-protests.html Biden calls on Cuban government to listen to protesters https://www.ft.com/content/ea060122-11fd-48cc-b77e-4d8a38b975b1

The New York Times described chants of “freedom!” at thousands-strong peaceful protests in Cuba on Sunday as one of several “anti-government slogans” popular among the congregated. The Times also erroneously reported the protests were about “food and medicine shortages.” “Shouting ‘Freedom’ and other anti-government slogans, hundreds of Cubans took to the streets in cities around the country on Sunday to protest food and medicine shortages, in a remarkable eruption of discontent not seen in nearly 30 years,” the Times wrote.

Thousands of Cubans took to the streets on Sunday in a number of cities to protest against human rights abuses, a lack of freedom, and a worsening economic situation in the communist-ruled country. Videos uploaded to social media appear to show demonstrations in a number of towns and cities, including the capital, Havana, on Sunday. Protesters, chanting in Spanish, said they “weren’t afraid” of the regime led by Miguel Diaz Canel, and said they wanted access to COVID-19 vaccines and an end to the regime. It comes amid reports of gas, electricity, and vaccine shortages across the Caribbean island nation....

Sen. Marco Rubio accused the Biden administration Sunday evening of silence on Cuba after a day of the biggest anti-regime demonstrations in decades. The Florida Republican had spent much of the day tweeting about 20 videos of protests against the communist dictatorship, and then he noted that President Biden had been maintaining radio silence. “The people of #Cuba bravely take to the streets against 62 years of socialist tyranny. 12 hours later President @joebiden @POTUS has yet to say a word about it,” Mr. Rubio wrote.

As we previously reported there are thousands out in the streets across Cuba, from small towns to big cities, calling for freedom from the Communist government and chanting “we are not afraid!”People are saying it’s the largest mass protest since 1959. If you know your Cuban history, that’s the last time the government changed hands — when Fidel Castro took power. So, that’s an incredibly significant thing to say.I have been covering Cuba since the 1994 rafter crisis. I have never ever seen anything like the protests today.https://t.co/h8Ukuvpfp3— Frances Robles (@FrancesRobles) July 11, 2021From NY Times: Carolina Barrero, a Cuban...

You have to give the White House credit. When they latch onto a narrative, they stick with it regardless of how obviously false it is. Case-in-point: The spin they’re putting on the Cuban protests happening right now. They demand freedom. They are sick of long bread lines and inadequate socialized medicine. They want their government to stop being Communist. But to the White House, the cries against socialized medicine are actually demands for more vaccines. No, really. According to Just The News: In a rare outbreak of mass protests in Cuba, thousands of people on Sunday marched through the streets...

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Chanting “we are not afraid,” thousands of Cubans took to the streets Sunday to demand the end of the communist dictatorship. The COVID crisis has only exacerbated the unrest on the island nation, which is why protesters also called for food and vaccines.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is loosening its ban on protests and rules against athlete expression for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The IOC's executive board voted to approve guidelines clarifying Rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which prohibits athletes from making any sort of political expression, particularly on medal podiums, in the field of play and at opening and closing ceremonies. Athletes have pushed back on the rule for years and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee took the unprecedented step in December of urging the IOC to "end the prohibition of peaceful demonstrations." The new policy allows athletes...

Black Lives Matter must reframe their case, acknowledging the falsity of their initial allegations, or risk sanctions for alleging facts without evidentiary support.A federal judge on Monday dismissed all but two of the claims Black Lives Matter and several individual demonstrators brought against Donald Trump, William Barr, and others in the sprawling lawsuit filed after the clearing of Lafayette Square on June 1, 2020.Bigger than this legal defeat, however, was the report from the inspector general of the Department of the Interior disproving many of the substantive allegations in the plaintiffs’ complaint — all of which the court had accepted...

We now know the name of the Chinese defector who has been working with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for a few months and what his position within the Chinese military and government was, among other details.Matthew Brazil and Jeff Stein at Spy Talk reported on the “rumor,” and gave the name and background of the rumored defector:Chinese-language anti-communist media and Twitter are abuzz this week with rumors that a vice minister of State Security, Dong Jingwei (董经纬) defected in mid-February, flying from Hong Kong to the United States with his daughter, Dong Yang.Dong is, or was, a longtime official...

One woman is dead after a man drove into a crowd of protesters late Sunday night in Minneapolis. The suspect is in custody, according to the city's police department. Demonstrators were gathered to protest the June 3 shooting death of Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a 33-year-old Black man, by U.S. marshals in Minneapolis. At about 11:39 p.m. Sunday, a car sped into protesters that were standing along Lake Street and Girard Avenue in the city's Uptown area, hitting and injuring at least three people. It's unclear how many protesters were at the scene at the time. An adult woman critically...

StopHate.com released their outstanding documentary on the Jan. 6 Protest and March in Washington DC. The film combines numerous clips including video of: ** The unprepared and understaffed Capitol Police. ** Four skinny police officers blocking a march of over 100,000 patriots from passing through their bike rack barrier on way to the US Capitol. ** Open doors and open hallways inside the US Capitol. ** Police firing gas canisters and sound grenades on the massive Trump crowd without warning. ** Music blaring from cars set up to agitate the protesters. ** Capitol Police pushing a Trump supporter off of...

Angry protesters lit fires, looted stores and taunted cops in Minneapolis Thursday after officers shot and killed a man — who was a fugitive who whipped out a handgun when authorities closed in on him. Members of a US Marshals task force were attempting to arrest the felon around 2 p.m. on a state warrant for being a criminal in possession of a firearm, authorities said.

The repressed island nation of 11 million people is at a precarious tipping point, with the economy in tatters and the clamour for personal freedoms growing as more Cubans gain access to the internet. There have been protests, hunger strikes and even clashes with police as an underground opposition movement has increasingly ventured into the open.

A bill expected to soon be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott will allow police to charge protesters with a felony if they are accused of obstructing emergency vehicles when blocking the street. House Bill 9, which passed in both bodies of the Texas Legislature on Monday, would make blocking an emergency vehicle a state-jail felony punishable by up to two years in jail. It also requires anyone who receives probation for blocking a roadway to serve at least 10 days in jail. ...Abbott tweeted his support for the bill Saturday. "Peaceful protest doesn’t include blocking roadways and preventing...

As Police Week Ends, the Big Lie Continues The police are an impediment to those seeking to overthrow the established order. They stand in the way of ill-gotten power and wealth. It’s therefore imperative for “revolutionaries” to discredit law enforcement. It is known by many names: Große Lüge, the Big Lie, dezinformatsiya, and disinformation. But they all mean the same thing—false, misleading information; distortion or mischaracterization of facts solely for the purposes of deception. At the close of National Police Week, it’s still evident that the police are a major target of The Big Lie, and understandably so: they are...

Portland, Oregon, residents surveyed about the city’s downtown said they plan to visit less frequently, mainly citing the homelessness and rioting that has plagued the area in the last year, according to a new poll. Respondents to the poll commissioned by The Oregonian newspaper used words like "dirty," "trash," "riots" and "unsafe" to describe the heart of the city, which appears to have deteriorated during the coronavirus pandemic and social unrest of the past year. Downtown Portland, once a cultural and tourist center, is now rife with homeless tents, smashed windows, graffiti, trash and boarded-up businesses, the newspaper reported. And...

Following days of deadly protests across Colombia against a planned nationwide tax increase, President Iván Duque has withdrawn the proposal that he insisted was needed to fix the country's pandemic-battered economy. Protests that began last week have led to multiple deaths, and they continued over the weekend despite a promise by Duque on Friday to remove some of the bill's most controversial provisions. On Sunday, he announced the proposed overhaul would be shelved and replaced. "I am asking Congress to withdraw the law proposed by the finance ministry and urgently process a new law that is the fruit of consensus,...

More than a thousand people reported lasting health effects after being exposed to teargas during protests in Portland, Oregon, last summer, according to a newly published scientific study. Nearly 900 people reported abnormal menstrual cycles, including intense cramping and increased bleeding, that began or persisted days after their initial exposure to the teargas. Hundreds of others complained of other negative health impacts, including severe headaches, nausea, diarrhea, and mental health concerns. The new research, based on an online survey of more than 2,200 people, challenges claims that the health consequences of being teargassed are minor and temporary, said Dr Britta...