Occupiers Celebrate 4th of July March by…Burning American Flags and Vandalizing Police Property

If ever you hear someone talk about how peaceful and American the Occupy movement, you need only to send them this story.

Local news reports out of Oakland, Calif., have noted that the Occupy Oakland group held a march on the 4th of July that resulted in vandalism of a police headquarters and a patrol car. And while that’s true, The Blaze has found some of the pictures and video from the event that paint a much more sinister picture — a picture filled with burned American flags and anti-American sentiment.

For a little background, here is how the Oakland Tribune describes what happened:

The march began about 8 p.m. near 14th Street and Broadway, continued down Broadway to police headquarters at Seventh Street and Broadway and then moved to other streets before coming back to Frank Ogawa Plaza. The one arrest occurred at the plaza.

Sgt. Roland Holmgren said protesters painted “kill cops” on a door at police headquarters and similar messages at City Hall, the police Internal Affairs Division near City Hall, a clothing store, hotel and a bank.

Protesters also spray-painted a patrol car parked near Seventh and Washington streets, punctured one of its tires and broke a window, Holmgren said. The garbage bin was set ablaze near 11th and Clay streets.

But that doesn’t do what happened justice. A search of the group’s regular internet haunts shows the extent of the vandalism and the anti-American sentiment.

For starters, it should be noted that the march was dubbed “Fu** the Fourth,” hardly a name meant to celebrate patriotism. A flickr page shows some of the vandalism on the police. But the real tone of the event is captured on a Facebook page sympathetic to the cause. It includes the police photos but also goes further and shows some of the group burning American flags and attaching them to what appears to be City Hall:

Read more here.

July 4 — the sum of our struggles, strife and exceptionalism as a people

For many of us the Fourth of July means barbecue — hot, beer — cold and fireworks to mark the birth of a nation.

Let me tell you about a Fourth when I learned how much more it means.

On a warm evening about thirty years ago we watched fireworks from the balcony of my father’s office on the East River. As the sound of the explosions bounced off the skyscrapers around us like thunder a broad, strong looking man stepped inside the office and stood in the corner his face almost paralyzed with anxiety.

I summoned my father and we went to him. The man quietly explained that the sound of rockets being shot into the air followed by the flash of lights and color and deafening noise returned him to the fields of Vietnam where he served as United States Army Ranger.

My father put his hand on his shoulder and agreed that the fireworks reminded him too of the mortar fire he experienced and the loves lost as a Marine at Iwo Jima. Within a few minutes his wife and many of the partygoers returned inside knowing that someone was not feeling well and gathered in quiet support.

The Army veteran seemed embarrassed and apologized,” I’m sorry to break up the party.” My mother responded with tears in her eyes, looking at the veterans of two wars “If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t be able to have this party.” And then the Ranger led us all back to the fireworks.

Read more here.

Happy 4th of July! Happy Independence Day!

People ‘Reverent of Individual Liberty’ as ‘Extreme Right-Wing’ Terrorists

Are you “reverent of individual liberty?“ Are you ”suspicious of centralized federal authority?“ Do you think there is a ”grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty?”

Well, then you fall into the category of “extreme right-wing” terrorist, according to a new study out of the University of Maryland, which was funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security.

The study, titled “Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970-2008,” was conducted by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the university. The organization has received roughly $12 million from DHS and is set to get another $3.6 million in future funding. It is also listed as one of DHS’s “Centers for Excellence” on the agency’s website.

The study says right-wing extremists are “groups that believe that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack and is either already lost or that the threat is imminent.”

Further, right-wing extremist groups “believe in the need to be prepared” by taking part in “paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism.“ Groups may also be ”fiercely nationalistic“ and ”suspicious of centralized federal authority.”

Right-wing extremism also involves a belief in “conspiracy theories that involve grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty,” the study claims.

Interestingly, in an oversight that is not explained, the report barely mentions radical Islam. Instead the study lumps religious terrorist groups into one category and describes them as “groups that seen to smite the purported enemies of God and other evildoers, impose strict religious tenants or laws on society (fundamentalists), forcibly insert religion into the political sphere.”

The recently appointed director of the START center is Bill Braniff, who argues that widespread “Islamophobia” is present in law enforcement training materials. He was quoted in a July 2011 NPR article saying, “I think this is something that happens across the nation fairly consistently… No one is tracking this with numbers, but anecdotally we are hearing about it all the time. The Muslim-American community is being preyed upon from two different directions.”

Read more here.

God Bless the USA!!

A fun Independence Day list of things that are now considered taxes

The list is literally endless, because of the endless number of things ideologues can come up with. But these are some of the top tunes.

1. Congress can force you to buy an electric car.

2. Congress can force you to buy solar panels.

3. Congress can force you to buy and install a remote-control thermostat for your home.

4. Congress can force you to buy internet service.

5. Congress can force you to buy particular kinds of food.

6. Congress can force you to buy contraceptives for yourself.

7. Congress can force you to buy biofuels, even if you don’t have any use for them.

8. Congress can force you to donate to political causes and “charities.”

9. Congress can force you to pay union dues.

10. Congress can force you to buy the New York Times.

11. Congress can force you to buy “green travel” packages.

12. Congress can force you to buy a 3-bedroom, 2-bath townhome with a 1-car parking spot for your electric car.

13. Congress can force you to pay for soccer, gymnastics, and ballet lessons for your children.

14. Congress can force you to pay for a gym membership.

15. Congress can force you to rent a 2-bedroom apartment with no parking space.

16. Congress can force you to borrow money.

17. Congress can force you to pay for a state-college education for your children, regardless of where or whether they actually attend college.

17. Congress can force you to buy a goat.

19. Congress can force you to hire people.

20. Congress can force you to buy mass transit passes, whether you use mass transit or not.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th! Atheists proclaim ‘God-LESS America’

Last July 4th, WND reported on the failure of the group American Atheists to find pilots willing to fly “Godless” banners over American cities in all 50 states. Some 80 percent of pilots refused the jobs, saying things such as, “I’m not going to hell flying that sign.”

According to the atheists’ website, this year they aren’t trying to be quite as ambitious.

Instead of trying to locate pilots in all 50 states, this year the group plans to hire one pilot to fly a banner above New York City on the 4th of July.

According to the group: “In celebration of the rise of atheism in America, American Atheists flew aerial banners across the country on July 4th in 2011. … The banners proudly stated, ‘God-LESS America’ and ‘Atheism Is Patriotic.’ The banners brought the breadth and patriotism of the movement into America’s conversation.”

However, when so many pilots the group tried to hire refused the work, the atheists cited the need to keep up their efforts.

“Originally, we had planned on flying banners in all 50 states, representing the fact that atheism is the fastest growing segment in all 50 states, but we were unable to find pilots in many states willing to fly our banners, representing a clear reminder of the work we have to do,” said the group.

The group seems confident they will find one pilot to help declare their message.

Of this year’s attempt the group says, “Continuing this mindset, American Atheists again will fly a July 4th banner in 2012 in New York City.”

“The banner will again read, ‘Atheism Is Patriotic.’”

Last year, American Atheists claimed:”The reality is that there is still a lot of bigotry out there and many companies refused to fly our banners. This just emphasizes the importance of doing this campaign!”

A statement on the atheists’ website declares atheism is the only “theological position that is directly aligned with American freedom.”

But as WND reported last year, many atheists have expressed reservations about the group’s banner plan.

After announcing its aerial campaign in 2011, several comments on the American Atheists website seem to find fault.

“The first statement can easily be read to imply ‘Atheism is Patriotic, Religion is Not’ by a biased viewer,” said one commenter. “Point of fact: biased viewers comprise most of the intended audience. Why put it up in the first place?”

Read more here.

‘F–king Nazi Pigs!’: An occupy 4th of July

The “Occupy” crowd is assembling in Philadelphia through July 4th for a “national gathering” and, despite the usual claims of non-violence and tolerance, a wave of video and social media has revealed quite the opposite.

On the movement’s website, the event is described:

From June 30th to July 4th, the Occupy movement will convene the Occupy National Gathering in the vicinity of Philadelphia’s Independence Mall for a week of direct actions, movement building and the creation of a vision for a democratic future. The National Gathering will kick off with a massive march with Healthcare-Now! in solidarity with their fight for the right to health. On July 5th we will conclude by joining Guitarmy for a 99 mile march from Philadelphia to Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.

There is even a promotional video. See it, below:

Read more here.